SoapZone Community Message Board

Saturday night deep cleaning the fridge, trying to figure out where the bad smell--I thought some veggie was rotting--was coming from. I never did succeed, though cleaning the fridge helped. I need to deep clean the freezer next.

Our trip to church Sunday was interesting because they've closed one lane of 306 (the northbound lane) for the next six months (and likely longer) to work on a bridge and some nearby sewers. Dad knew about the road work but ignored the signs saying "detour"...and wound up driving up the closed road. Technically, it's only closed to northbound traffic--the southbound traffic is allowed to swing left and drive the "wrong" way on the northbound side (I don't know why, if they're working on the southbound lane, they didn't say the SOUTHBOUND lane was closed). What I *do* know is Dad blew past several arrows pointing to a detour, one giant electronic sign saying "his" lane was closed ahead and to take the detour, plus a large "do not enter" sign so he could continue driving up the hill as he normally would. And scaring the poop out of an oncoming driver who had the right of way (and scaring me too). He later claimed to have been confused and to have "missed" the signs...but he also said, defensively, that "his" lane was open, so why shouldn't he drive on it (uh, because drivers coming the other way were using it!). I suspect he was less confused and more...willful. We were able to squeeze past the other driver by using both the shoulder and an entrance to a church at the bottom of the hill (our church is at the top of the hill), but it was a tight squeeze. And now I'm worried that even though Dad's still (usually) an excellent driver, this might be the start of the end of his driving days. Mom gave up her driver's license willingly--she loved to be driven around, like Miss Daisy--but I fear it's going to be a fight when Dad's no longer capable of driving safely.

And then last night, I had a text exchange with Sis that, while I know she was coming from a place of love, made me angry. If you're not in certain parts of the US, you might not know there's a solar eclipse on April 8. As NE Ohio is "in the path of totality", this is a HUGE deal around here, with folks scrambling to get eclipse glasses and figuring out where to view the eclipse. Folks are coming from all around to view the eclipse; hotel rooms right now are either sold out or selling at 4x (or more) the usual rate. My aunt was just telling me a dinky hotel in Eastlake--a town that's not exactly a tourist destination--has rooms for two nights, $400/night. Anyways, Sis asked me a while ago if she and my BIL could come stay with us for a few days when the eclipse is happening. I said sure; Dad's not happy because he generally hates being around people for longer than a few hours and hates the "disruption" of house guests, but I told him to suck it up, it's not something Sis asks to do on a regular basis. The last time she stayed with us was well over 10 years ago, and you'd have to go back at least 20 years for the last time she visited with her hubby and kids and stayed with us (her kids--the boychild is now 6'5" and the girlchild 6' tall--slept on the couch and loveseat, respectively). And hello, $400/night hotel rooms...anyways, we have the space. I've already figured out Dad can stay in his room, Sis and BIL can have my room and I'll take the small bedroom with the twin bed.

BUT...

Sis is 6' herself, and BIL is 6'4". Both are considerably overweight. When I told Sis the plan, she asked me if I had a double or a queen size mattress. Or maybe a king? My room used to be her room; she KNOWS it's not a particularly big room (though there are folks on House Hunters who would rave about how "huge" my room is). I told her I had a double. Later, she texted me to say she'd pay for half if I'd buy a queen size mattress.

Um...what?

First of all, with my full mattress, I have about 6" between the end of my bed and the entertainment center on the opposite wall. Second of all, even paying half would be hundreds of dollars and I'm not working now. I politely declined, thanking her and telling her I didn't have the space...she texted me back and said she and BIL are "old" and can't sleep on soft mattresses anymore, so I should at least get a new mattress (she knows mine is old), and I should get an extra firm one "for them".

I didn't say anything to that but what I *wanted* to say was "I got an idea. If you need space and and an extra firm surface upon which to sleep, you can sleep on the floor!". The only reasons I'm not really, really, REALLY mad are a) again, she did at some point say a new mattress would be beneficial to me, and she's not wrong, so "a place of love", and she *did* offer to pay for some of it, and b) she is normally a pretty excellent sister, and while vacationing with her is...not ideal (I want to have a rough schedule, she wants to play it by ear 24/7), it's the only time we really clash.

Oh, she also mentioned something about going to Edgewater Park in Cleveland to view the eclipse. I told her to go right ahead but it would take her hours to make the 30 minute trip back (and possibly there), and our big backyard is well within the "path of totality" (a phrase I'm just about sick of hearing). She can go to an overcrowded beach and get gridlocked on the ride to and from but I plan to be steps away from MY bathroom, MY food, MY water and my closet when the weather changes. Because according to Sis, the temperature on April 8 in Cleveland in years past has ranged from 32-80°, and 60% of the time, it's been cloudy and/or precipitating. I will be SHOCKED if it's warm and sunny here two Mondays from now.