It was a busy weekend
Aug. 15th, 2011 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
effex* Spent the weekend helping clean out my Grandma's house and helping her move in to her new set of rooms (not really an apartment, though the retirement home calls it that). She's been putting off the move for a long time, refusing to plan for it, and the resulting confusion/familial tension sucked about as much as you'd expect.
* We're trying to find her a hobby (well, okay, a purpose) - aside from letter writing, she's only ever been interested in tutoring and house-keeping. She doesn't have the manual dexterity for art (like my other grandma) or anything to do with her hands, but we were thinking maybe adopting a military troop? Mentor local kids? Arg.
* Grandpa needs something too - Does anyone know of a... puzzle of the month or mystery of the month sort of thing? Where you get mailed some sort of activity/project on a monthly basis?
* I offered to be a back-up home for two of her cats if they couldn't find anyone else and, sure enough. After an intense bout of cat wrangling my Dad and I got them down to Dallas and installed under my bed. Susie went back with Dad to the ranch, since four cats is Too Many for one apartment and she'll handle the ranch better than the boys would. I miss her already.
* At some point during the packing up, Grandma filled three trash bags with family photos (mostly stuff sent to her when her when Great-Grandma/her mother-in-law died) and left them out on the cub with the trash. My sister spotted it and saved them, thank fuck, and we spent last night sorting through them. They cover 1912 - 1998ish and are really amazing - you see Great-Grandma growing up, then Grandpa, then Mom and her brother, then my siblings and I (not all in order. There is no order in trash bags).
* There were a couple of slides from Grandma and Grandpa's engagement party that really struck me - I haven't handled sides a lot and the clarity and color took me by surprise (especially compared to photos from the same time period). They were like tiny perfect windows to the past.
* Oh man, the photos of me. I was a tiny little thing with pretty dresses and waist-length sun-bleached hair until about 12, when I got beat with the puberty stick. Then it was bad skin, wonky teeth (I got braces at 17, totally worth it in retrospect), glasses, weight gain, moodiness, social awkwardness, and unfortunate fashion choices for 10 straight years. It was rough to see that shift documented, but a good reminder that I'm (finally, finally) moving past it.
* Grandma had us go through her house and pick things to keep. I mostly took practical stuff - trash bags and dishes and cans of soup, because my parents have dibs on the Eames lounge chair (1956 original with the rosewood, aaaaah, I've always loved that chair) - but when I was packing up she brought out a landscape painting I'd never seen before and asked if I wanted it. It was a wedding present to Great Grandma in 1926. I know. I think it's a print and I'll have to get it out of the frame to find out the artist, but it's lovely.
* I caved and bought a copy of Minecraft. BAD IDEA - I can already tell it'll be a timesink and I have too much else to do. Will have to figure out some kind of rationing system.
* We're trying to find her a hobby (well, okay, a purpose) - aside from letter writing, she's only ever been interested in tutoring and house-keeping. She doesn't have the manual dexterity for art (like my other grandma) or anything to do with her hands, but we were thinking maybe adopting a military troop? Mentor local kids? Arg.
* Grandpa needs something too - Does anyone know of a... puzzle of the month or mystery of the month sort of thing? Where you get mailed some sort of activity/project on a monthly basis?
* I offered to be a back-up home for two of her cats if they couldn't find anyone else and, sure enough. After an intense bout of cat wrangling my Dad and I got them down to Dallas and installed under my bed. Susie went back with Dad to the ranch, since four cats is Too Many for one apartment and she'll handle the ranch better than the boys would. I miss her already.
* At some point during the packing up, Grandma filled three trash bags with family photos (mostly stuff sent to her when her when Great-Grandma/her mother-in-law died) and left them out on the cub with the trash. My sister spotted it and saved them, thank fuck, and we spent last night sorting through them. They cover 1912 - 1998ish and are really amazing - you see Great-Grandma growing up, then Grandpa, then Mom and her brother, then my siblings and I (not all in order. There is no order in trash bags).
* There were a couple of slides from Grandma and Grandpa's engagement party that really struck me - I haven't handled sides a lot and the clarity and color took me by surprise (especially compared to photos from the same time period). They were like tiny perfect windows to the past.
* Oh man, the photos of me. I was a tiny little thing with pretty dresses and waist-length sun-bleached hair until about 12, when I got beat with the puberty stick. Then it was bad skin, wonky teeth (I got braces at 17, totally worth it in retrospect), glasses, weight gain, moodiness, social awkwardness, and unfortunate fashion choices for 10 straight years. It was rough to see that shift documented, but a good reminder that I'm (finally, finally) moving past it.
* Grandma had us go through her house and pick things to keep. I mostly took practical stuff - trash bags and dishes and cans of soup, because my parents have dibs on the Eames lounge chair (1956 original with the rosewood, aaaaah, I've always loved that chair) - but when I was packing up she brought out a landscape painting I'd never seen before and asked if I wanted it. It was a wedding present to Great Grandma in 1926. I know. I think it's a print and I'll have to get it out of the frame to find out the artist, but it's lovely.
* I caved and bought a copy of Minecraft. BAD IDEA - I can already tell it'll be a timesink and I have too much else to do. Will have to figure out some kind of rationing system.
