30 September 2009

what's age got to do with it?

My dear parents visited with us last week. I swear, by the time they left, I felt like I was their age.

My stubborn (he's a Taurus through and through), 83-year-old father refused to let up on the house work. He not only scrubbed our deck, but got on his hands and knees to stain it! He would only let me get new rags for him, or a deck chair to sit for a moment. Then, he insisted on pruning each shrub, bush and tree in our yard while I held the clippings bag for him. At first I thought he didn't trust me to do anything, but I realized it was just his sheer determination to contribute something to our house.

Meanwhile, my 86-year-old, Aquarius mother was constantly washing clothes, sweeping our hardware floors or trying to help me cook. She's a gabber, so as long as we were talking or laughing, she was content.

All in all, by Sunday night, Richard and I were beat and we had hardly done anything.

Tonight, Richard's parents arrive. His dad is a Taurus too, so we're looking at two weeks of paint patching, more staining and a multitude of other jobs getting done.

Good thing Richard and I are flying to Acapulco in two weeks -- we'll need the rest from all their hard work!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My folks are coming this Saturday to help me fix our leaking shower unit and do a couple of (little) things at our place... Now you have me freaking out!!
--dq