In Which I Curse My Lack of Camera And Eat

Terri came to Mom & Dad’s a couple days before I got there so she could go home early for her grandson’s birthday. So Friday she packed up and headed back to Fort Worth. Not only was it another lazy morning for Mom and Dad and myself, it was an entire day of utter relaxation. Quite nice!

I did manage to wash my jeans so I would actually have something to wear for the rest of the trip. But other than that it was just a day of not much of anything.

Our entertainment came in the form of watching Michele dumpster dive. Mom, Dad and I took a walk around the complex to throw some trash in the dumpster and get the mail. Dad hung out on the sidewalk while Mom and I went to throw away the trash. I opened the lid and threw my bag in and then Mom threw her bag in. Unfortunately she also threw in the mail key. So once we stopped laughing I thought to climb in and find it – luckily limbs from trimmed bushes were the only other things in there. I walked back to the apartment to get a step stool because I’m not quite as nimble as I used to be. About that time Michele came driving around on her way back from the Motor Vehicle Department (should be DMV instead, don’t you think?) to renew her license. She was looking rather pretty for her picture. Too bad the MVD was closed.

Michele, being the thin and active person I want to be when I grow up, played the hero for us. I would say close your eyes and imagine this, but then you couldn’t read what to imagine. So just imagine this with your eyes open:

Shelli, hanging over the edge of the dumpster, feet up in the air and me ready to grab her feet (or so I told her, anyway) in case she started to fall in, grappling for the bag Mom had tossed in. She managed to grab the bag which happened to have the key ring stuck to it. She pulled the ring off the bag and proceeded to drop the keys into the trimmings.

This would be the point in the story where I thought to myself, “Self, you probably should have gone to the bathroom before your little walk around the complex.” Poor Dad. He and his walker were hanging out across the small parking lot, watching three of his four females doubled over, wiping tears from their faces and at least two of us doing something akin to the potty dance.

So our brave hero went in again, this time having to lean a little further in than the first time. Michele is 5’2″ and I really wish I could have taken a picture of  her – head and arms inside the dumpster and feet spread apart for leverage and flailing in the air. Really, this telling just does not do the whole thing justice. But, alas, we had only gone to throw out garbage and get the mail. Why would I ever think I’d need Precious with me? After it was all over I wanted to ask her to go back and recreate the scene for me, but I pretty much knew the answer so I decided against it.

Lucky for her, the keys hadn’t fallen through the branches, but were sitting right on top. Of course, we all had visions of her grabbing for the keys and knocking them to the bottom of the dumpster. I’m glad that didn’t happen because it really would have been too much.

All that excitement was very exhausting so we got the mail (with the errant key), and went back to the apartment where we proceeded to rest up from our traumatic experience. Michele was so worn out she had to go home. Or maybe she just wanted to shower.

Mom made New Mexican red enchiladas that evening. I must say “delicious” yet again (and it’s not the last time I’ll use the word in this series, either).

That evening I thought to expand Mom’s horizons and introduce her into the televised world that is anything but a news show. So we decided to watch Two Weeks Notice. She sounded slightly skeptical about liking it, but Terri called to tell us she was nearly home and told Mom it was a cute movie. Then Michele called about something and she told Mom it was a cute movie. Guess what Mom thought about it. She thought it was a cute movie.

Thus ended the “nothing” day. One of the best days of the trip!