Treats for the Sweet

I was late getting up this morning (7:30 instead of 6:30), so I didn’t give Mary her thyroid pill early enough. She has to wait an hour after taking it to eat or drink anything, so I just wake her up and then she goes back to sleep. I just went in to wake her and she said she wants to lay a little longer, to come back later. I asked what exactly “later” meant—15 minutes? Half an hour? Half an hour. Ugh, that means she won’t get up till 9:00, which is a bit late, although that’s when she used to get up, I believe, when I first moved in. I always thought that was my favorite time to get up, but lately I realized that it’s just too late. You’ve already missed a lot of the morning and the afternoon is fast approaching if you get up at 9:00. I told her alright, but that didn’t mean she could stay up tonight until 11:00 or 12:00. However I know from experience that we do tend to go to bed late on Fridays. I think maybe there are later movie on. Although as far as that goes, Mary can get up and go to bed with 15 minutes left to a movie! She used to frustrate me (before I took over the remote! Just joking, but sort of not—before I participated more in choosing what we watch, I’ll say) because she would watch 20 minutes of a sitcom and then change the channel. She wasn’t really watching.

She didn’t want to get up but she lying in there singing. I wish I had a tape recorder! She sounds just like Grandma used to!

Did I tell you the daughter of her last husband is in town (from California) and is visiting us today? I thought she’d never come to town because her health was too bad for traveling and she didn’t have enough money. I think she must be around 65 and used to be a massage therapist and general hippie/rights activist. I’ve always really enjoyed talking to her on the phone and can’t wait to meet her.

Oh, sure enough, when I handed Mary a bag of jellybeans the other day (her favorite candy next to candy corn—both of which she gobbles down like a little piggy, or should I say “old piggy”), I knew she would try to feed them to the cat! After our puppy was put to sleep several years ago, I found several jellybeans around, which led me to suspect that Mary had been feeding them to her. I got some kitty treats, put them in a jar for easy access and even labeled them (when I noticed that Mary didn’t know what they were and was afraid she’d try to eat them—who knows!), but she still doesn’t remember that they’re there. Very frustrating! The cat seems to be liking them more and more. She’s really just an odd cat. I’m trying to get Mary to lure the cat up into her lap, but Mary doesn’t quite get it, or doesn’t have the patience or something. I want the cat to know that she gets treats from Mary, not from me, so she’ll go to Mary. Yesterday I put the cat on Mary’s lap twice and petted/brushed her like crazy while Mary fed her treats. She actually stayed for a bit and seemed less uncomfortable than the other times. After Mary went to bed, the cat jumped up in her chair! She’s there now, too. I was sitting in that chair reading the newspaper this morning and the cat jumped up and lay in my lap. I do so hope she starts lying in Mary’s lap! (If nothing else, writing about this may eventually teach me the difference between “lay” and “lie!”)