Laura

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troutbend
Name:
Laura
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Estes Park, CO
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08/01
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Married
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Hotel - Hospitality

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This Oughta Be Good

Parenting & Family > Christmas with Family
 

Christmas with Family

My cousin Betsy is coming over for Christmas dinner, so tomorrow we need to tidy up the house and polish the silverware. Betsy goes to adult daycare three times a week, and when she calls me once a week to tell me she is doing fine, she always points out that she stands back to the let the people in the wheel chairs go ahead of her "because I'm a nice person."

I wasn't here for Thanksgiving so Mr. Troutbend took her to the buffet at one of the local casinos. He had told me she wished several people "Happy Thanksgiving" but today I got more details. He said when she wished people Happy Thanksgiving she felt the need to point out how nice it was of her to greet them. "See how nice I am? I told them Happy Thanksgiving. That's what I do because I'm a nice person." Right in front of those same people, everyone standing in the elevator. Up until that, they probably thought she was a friendly older woman, but ended up thinking she's a couple sandwiches short of a picnic and how soon is that door going to open and let us out of here.

We'll have ham and broccoli rice casserole, roasted brussels sprouts, with cake and ice cream for dessert. And cranberry sauce. After Betsy opens her Christmas gifts, we'll go back to her apartment and do some maintenance on her furniture: tighten up the dining room chairs, see if it's possible to fix the recliner. I have to try to think of something besides a gift card to give her, and go buy it tomorrow, unless I can find some extra thing lying around the house to wrap up.

She's hard to buy for. One of her favorite things was an old 1980s electronic game that finally gave out. She kept telling us how she needs an iPod or iPad or similar device to replace it because that's what her friends have. We know she wouldn't be able to figure out how to use it, and the staff people who come in to help her cook dinner would not help her with it. For Easter I sent her a Nintendo DS game with Wheel of Fortune cartridge. I found a used one for about $80, played it to make sure it was easy to use, and sent it to her. Mr. TroutBend showed her how to use it, and they played several rounds on it. But she later told me it's stored under her bed because she can't remember how to use it, so we'll have another tutorial. If that doesn't work, I'll take the game back because it's no use under the bed.





posted on Dec 23, 2015 8:22 PM ()

Comments:

Betsy is in a cloud, but seems happy to be there. At least she's not complaining. Yes, there is a reward waiting for you somewhere for being so good to her.
comment by tealstar on Dec 25, 2015 1:28 PM ()
Merry Christmas!
comment by hobbie on Dec 24, 2015 6:59 PM ()
You, too. We have a Good Kitty Christmas stocking, and told each of the cats they are the Good Kitty. Eloise's Christmas present is a tube of cat toothpaste and a brush thing that we put on our finger to rub her gums. She doesn't really mind the taste, but resents having to open her mouth. S-(hit)(ty)'s present is we let him make a catnip mess on the living room floor and he gets to eat Eloise's food.
reply by troutbend on Dec 24, 2015 8:27 PM ()
Have a great holiday and plenty of food!
comment by jjoohhnn on Dec 24, 2015 11:53 AM ()
Absolutely, same to you and Donna. One of my flood friends shipped me a ham dinner - ham, broccoli-rice casserole, apple slices, sour cream coffee cake. It really took the worry out of what to have for Christmas dinner, and some happy leftovers.
reply by troutbend on Dec 24, 2015 8:24 PM ()
Somehow I don't feel like a nice person today. Could it be because
I rolled out of bed at 4:30 a.m. to make a pie and put a roast on to
cook? My coffee should kick in soon and make me nicer.
comment by elderjane on Dec 24, 2015 3:18 AM ()
I know the feeling. Gary's cousin Chris made a pecan pie for Thanksgiving that had a lot of maple syrup in it, and it didn't set up like it should have. I'm not sure if it was some difference in the chemical makeup of the sugars.
reply by troutbend on Dec 24, 2015 10:54 AM ()
In a few years, I too may be greeting people and then letting them know I greeted them because I'm nice. Only I might say "...because I'm f'n nice!" There is an Amazon Fire tablet now out for $50 (I just got this for our family grab bag gift) but having it might make her want to buy all sorts of expensive games, etc. so might not be ideal. Gift cards are great.
comment by drmaus on Dec 23, 2015 10:23 PM ()
She's very bright in a lot of ways, but certain areas of life are beyond Betsy's capacity. There's no way she would be able to figure out how to use an Amazon fire. She can't adjust her own thermostat. She has a VCR, and I set it up to record The Price is Right. All she had to do was rewind it when she got home and press Play, and she couldn't do it. She used to live in a group home, and the other people ran the VCR for her. The staff (she's a ward of the state) could take 20 seconds to rewind the tape for her when they come to help her cook supper, but they refuse to get involved in client-owned electronics.
reply by troutbend on Dec 24, 2015 10:02 AM ()
Santa will reward you for all your kindness to cousin Betsy--I'll tell him about it!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
comment by greatmartin on Dec 23, 2015 8:44 PM ()
That will probably help. At age 66 Betsy still believes in Santa - she told me she knows he's not real, but she likes the idea of it, and any time she gets a chance, she likes to have her picture taken with him.
reply by troutbend on Dec 24, 2015 10:57 AM ()

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