We made it out to go visit Grandma at the home today. This was a five day in the making happening, or should I say we tried three different times to leave one day I actually remembered I didn’t have the carseats and didn’t even try on that day. We had to switch the carseats to the other vehicle and life being life it was left. Then the day I had the vehicle with the seats in it the weather was just too nasty to try and take the children out. (Why I had the car with the seats in the first place as Husband took the 4-wheel drive vehicle to work.)
Then the next week after we take the car seats out we’re ready to go. I get the kids all set up, in their coats, go start the car to warm up, grab the first kid to put them in the car, walk out to the car annnnnd, no seats. Husband had moved them to the other room to mop, I did not see them in the morning and thought he must have put them in the car when I was out grocery shopping. By that time once I got the seats in the car and got the kids back in their winter attire it would have been well past lunch time at the home. Strike number three.
Today we actually made it. As always it’s an adventure. The parking lot has very few parking spaces, in good weather. The snow drifts are still taking up a good portion of the parking area. Maybe with all the snow melt over the past week they have gained back one space. Then just to make the parking matters worse there were three jackasses that felt the need to park their cars across the lines. Not just a little way but effectively taking up two entire spots. I was driving a Jeep Wrangler, it’s slim compared to other cars, even if they ere a little over the line I could have gotten into a spot but no. I was able to find a spot after someone left, luckily,otherwise I would have had to drive over a snow bank and park in their muddy dead grass area which is not for parking.
Once inside we ran into Grandma’s eating buddy. They have meals together. She said to me “Taking them to visit their grandma.” Not going to lie I REALLY wanted to say she’s MY grandma. I was thinking “really lady, Grandma is ninety to I look that old? She would have had me when she was 68.” I said nothing, of coarse.
Then on to the visit, which was as always glorious. She started telling me about how she is going home and this is pretty much how it played out….
Grandma: “That lady says that I’m not ready to go home.”
Me: “So, you’re planning on staying another month.”
Grandma: “No. That lady said I can’t go home yet that I’m not ready, so I went down and talked to them about staying for an extra two weeks…and you won’t believe this atrocity…and I know that my kids have talked to that lady already….if I want to stay an extra two weeks I have to pay for the WHOLE MONTH isn’t that ridiculous! So you know what I told them, ‘Well, I guess I’m moving out in two weeks then.”
*How she said some things made me think that she was fishing to start an argument, I kept my mouth shut*
“That lady said that if I want to go home I need to have someone living with me and I can’t go home until I can get in and out of bed myself.”
Me: If you’re not ready to go home yet, but you might be mid April but have to pay for a full month, why not just stay until the end of the month. It’s only an extra two weeks and much safer than going home early.”
Grandma: “Maybe.”
Oh, and then this conversation was followed up about how she got to go to the museum and it was super fantastic, and how she went to the store with a group and it was great.
But that brings us to the best part of the whole visit. She starts taking about her taxes. She tells me that she needs to get home because of her taxes.
Grandma: I just don’t know what I’m going to do about my taxes if don’t get home.
Me: “What about your taxes?”
Grandma: “Well, I have all the stuff here, but I’m not going to be able to take care of them if I don’t get home. So, I’ve decided what I will do. I am going to take everything and just mail it to them.”
Me: “them who?”
Grandma: “Oh the tax people, you know…where does it even go, Lansing.”
Me: “There is an address on your tax forms, typically all that information is there.”
Grandma: “Oh! It is! Well, ok, I’ll take all my stuff and just put a little note on it saying ‘I’m in a nursing home so you’ll have to take care of it this year.”
*pause*
Me: “uh….pretty sure the IRS doesn’t work that way.”
Grandma: “Well why not! I’m sending them everything.”
Me: “Why can’t you just have a tax professional do them or mom?”
Grandma: “Your mom doesn’t want to do that! And, I can’t get to a tax person. I went to that, whats that tax business…”
M: “H&R block?”
G: “Yes, that’s it…but last year I went with B & M to someplace in Granville. Where would I even find a tax person…”
(Grandville is a whole 5 minutes away from where the home is.)
M: “I have a tax person, would you like to use mine?”
G: “You DO!” (like this was the most amazing information ever that I would use a tax professional)
Then we discussed how she thought the tax preparer had to come out and do it in the nursing home and I kept trying to tell her that I could just bring her paper work to the tax guy and he’ll take care of everything and I’ll pick it up when it’s done. She also companied that it would way too much work to take care of. I even offered to go pick up her previous years’ tax paper work if it was needed. Thinking that she could just send all her paper work to the IRS (which is in Lansing, now if you didn’t know that) with a note that says in essence “you deal with this shit” was mind boggling and hilarious.
Either way, I think this tax issue had something to do with her wanting to get home so bad, maybe now that it will be taken care of she’ll settle down and take some time before making the leap to move back home.
Then just to ice the cake of grandma day I get a text from my mom (after calling her and telling her about the taxes thing) that says “Well, Grandma figured out how to use the cell phone, she racked up an extra $360 of charges.” This is after months of having issues with trying to get her to use the cell phone. My mom was heading to the home to visit with Grandma when she got the bill. I knew this so I sent back…
“Have fun! lol!”
Never Drink The Milk 