Washington NC Historic District

here’s to another post no one will read. The Mother in Law came for a four day visit. We managed to get through it without any arguments, drunken stupors or idiocy. This is refreshing. She can be quite entertaining when she’s not drunk and she kept a lid on the wine consumption, drinking only one bottle per day.

We’ll be creating a new website for her business. Hers is a good site, but it doesn’t load correctly with the proper smart phone type format. It’s made for a computer, not a “hand held” device. I formatted the deadmule.com site to fit any format. Good on me. It’s such a great little literary journal, 23 years online, so it gets lots of credit FROM ME. I love The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and enjoy working on it every month. A new website every month, created and formatted by me — quite an accomplishment and I’m proud of myself for maintaining it all these years. The internet archives have pages from the 1990s which amazes and amuses me.

Yes, the Dead Mule is amazing.

My dogs are suffering this summer. Bad skin problems. Not so much fleas as something in the yard. It’s been raining so much, the stuff we spray on the yard to kill bugs just doesn’t stick around long enough to do any good. So they have little sores and itchy spots. I gave Ziggy a Benadryl a day for 3 days and it seems to have helped her a bit. She’s better now, I say as I watch her scratch and jump around trying to get to her back to scratch at it. Biting at it. I may have to shove another Benadryl down her throat but it really traumatizes her when I do it.

Dogs are outside playing to the neighbor’s stereo. Just hanging out in the much needed sunshine, pooping and walking around. Better there than in the house.

I’m waiting for Jane to tell me they need Rob today but so far, so good. They like their Mule, he works for free and doesn’t complain when you ask him to help you throw your garbage into the dumpster. We’ve had a full trailer in the back driveway for weeks now, filled with kitchen sink and more from the demolition of their kitchen. They tried to empty it on a Sunday, weeks ago, but the dumpsters were full and not taking any more garbage. That’s what happens here, everyone goes to the dump on Saturdays and the dumpsters get filled up to the brim, not to be emptied until Monday or Tuesday. You’ve got to go on a weekday, I think. I’m curious as to when they empty it, because they’ve got a mountain of stuff to throw out at the house, just waiting for the empty trailer.

Then again, I’m surprised they didn’t come get the Boston Whaler for a boat ride today. They will justify “needing a break” and then not do the necessary housework. It’s who they are and I love them for it. I understand them better than they understand themselves. And I appreciate who they are and how much they love me. While I may seem to be complaining, I’m really not. I need to be careful and not say hurtful things. I need to remain level headed and right minded about who they are and how they accomplish / don’t accomplish things.

Dogs are ready to come in. Guess that sunshine only felt good for a short while. Zoey was lying in the sun but Ziggy was barking. I should have left them out there — oh well.

We have the Social Security disability hearing, with the judge and the attorney coming up on the 28th. Rob is freaking out, daily, about it. Lots to be panicked about so I’m making sure he takes an Ativan when he gets too freaky. I don’t get to go into the hearing with him, only the attorney attends the interview. Rob will have an extremely difficult time and I know he’s dreading doing it on his own. But the attorney is flying up from Orlando to be with him, which I consider pretty significant. There can only be one video, so it has to be the judge, therefore, the attorney must be here in person. She seems well-versed in social security jargon. We had a very long conversation wherein she asked Rob the questions the judge will ask. It noticeably freaked him out, but she did not talk about the rape, she asked him about his psychological problems and he responded just fine. He’s so unsteady, it was very difficult for him. This is year three of our initial filing. Three years! And now the new US budget wants to take money from vets and deliver it to the pentagon for more boom boom guns and less benefits for those who gave to the country. It’s sinful.

So today is sunny. The first sunny day in weeks. We are enjoying it the best we can, what with Rob having a panic attack every 20 minutes. The Ativan ought to start working soon, but sometimes I’m tempted, I swear, to give him 2 instead of one. I only take 1/2 of one when I’m panicked and it helps. His metabolism is just so different from anyone else’s, of course it is. enough of this nonsense. I’ll sign off now and hope no one is reading.