Caffeinated Cleaning

It was a tea party and the whole purposed of the tea party was to drink tea. Specifically, green tea from China in three different varieties representing the coming spring: earth, grass, flowers. The first one had the full, earthy aroma of a horse pasture. Fortunately the taste was a little more subdued, but it was still a very full earthy taste. Not my choice for a regular cuppa. The second one smelled and tasted like grass — regular grass as in a meadow. I declined the offer of a refill. The third was Jasmine pearl green tea. The hostess had found my weakness. I had three cups. We also had some of the best almond cookies I’ve ever tasted. I had several.

Generally I don’t do any caffeine after noon. The tea party started at 2:30 and ended at 5 p.m. We drove home, dropped off my husband and I went on to get groceries for my parents. Back at my parent’s apartment, I put the groceries away, cleaning out the refrigerator at the same time; noticed the dishes needed to be washed and washed them; put away the clothes which were piled on dad’s walker, which meant clearing enough space to get to the closet; noticed there was little space for Dad to walk to his bed so I spent the next hour cleaning the area from the bedroom door to his side of the bed. I hadn’t taken a “before” photo, but here’s the “after” photo:

The combination of caffeine and sugar kept me going for quite awhile. I found a whole box of hearing aid batteries, their old flip phone, a pair of shoes Dad wore 20 years ago, his old clarinet, a pair of jeans that is now 4 sizes too big, and his dirty clothes. Maybe I should do this more often. More jasmine pearl green tea, please. I had enough energy, I actually enjoyed myself.

I’m still waiting for a call from the dental office to see when I need to bring Mom and Dad back for their impressions. Dad asks about 20 times when he’s getting his teeth back. He doesn’t want to leave his apartment without his teeth in. I told him he looks cute. He laughed. Mom wouldn’t let me take her photo. I’ve been checking in on them daily, just to make sure they have enough food they can eat without their choppers. I think Dad’s eating more now then he was before the dentist took away his teeth. Mom, too, seems to like the attention this has brought. She’s getting care packages from my youngest brother and there’s always an extra root beer float from the activities director.