Nothing On The Telly

05 December 2020

1009

R. Linda:

Life is the same old, same old. Nothing new . . . well, kids and puppies are growing, and it is snowing (our first Nor'easter of the year, oh yippee!). So, what have I been doing to make my life interesting? Nothing at all. What have I been doing to exist under less-than-normal circumstances? Trying to adjust STILL.

I watched the first new episode of The Good Doctor because Mam will not let us watch anything else when it's on. It was a scary take on Covid 19, which had all of us squirming in our seats. In the next episode, no one was wearing all that protective gear and, when not in surgery, were maskless, not social distancing and well, what the hell happened? The other medical show Mam watches is a favourite of Tonya's, Grey's Anatomy. That show, thus far, has been consistent with a Covid theme and at least isn't scaring the hell out of you. We don't need any more of that. We get it. 

I watch a lot of telly because of me apple-cheeked, grey-haired Mam. She knits or does some kind of handwork with the telly going. I used to think it was just for the noise, but I made the mistake of coming in, sitting and clicking on another programme. I will tell ya I won't do that ever again! So all of us have got into the habit of watching the boob tube, as my middle child refers to it (he doesn't watch; he exercises his fingers gaming), and we all get to pick a programme, but mostly Mam picks them for us!

When she and my dad were together, they watched a lot of telly, which became a habit she had never thought to break. With Covid, we are a captive telly audience. Oh, we tried the game night thing, but a lot of cheating went on, so we stopped. So it was back to the telly. Night after night, from the end of dinner until time for sleeping, we watch and watch and watch! Just searching for a decent show is an argument waiting to happen. I'll find something like Fargo, and I'll get all kinds of objections, it being not suitable for kiddos (who, by the way, don't watch anything with us because it isn't Sponge Bob or Teen Titans), so where that comes from as an excuse I dunno.

Take Dancing With The Stars. Mam loves it, so we watch it under protest. She was disappointed Len Goodman wasn't back judging, so she took her upset out on Tyra Banks as you know and had a running commentary on Tyra's clothes, Tyra's screwing up her cue cards, etc. She loves that programme and the rest of us are bored to our back teeth. 

To liven O'Hare's life up, we threw him a family birthday party of just us. He wanted his fav lemon cake and reminded his mother several times a day he was looking forward to that cake and that cake only. On the birthday day (to which our newly minted 15-year-old was wished a happy 12th by his brothers), Tonya had gone out to buy groceries. She picked up the cake but hid it very well. She made sure she picked it up because if you recall the sad story of O'Hare's last year's birthday with smushed lemon cake, she was going to make darn sure that didn't happen again. 

So, for dinner, he wanted his fav buffalo chicken with mac and cheese. She made all that, complete with blue cheese dipping sauce and a salad. Then, the piece de resistance was expected. Just as we got the plates down, Tonya had a strange expression come over her face, and she said to O'Hare, "Oh gosh, I am so sorry. I forgot to order the cake."

"No, you didn't." Says he confidently.

"No, really, I spaced it. I am so sorry. But wait!" And she ran to the cupboard and got down a pack of Little Debbie chocolate chip mini-cakes. She stuck a candle in one, lit it, and now it was time for his face to fall. He suddenly realised she had forgotten his cake! So, trying to make the most of it, we sang Happy Birthday, and he was trying to smile, and then we told him to make a wish (which was I wish I had a lemon cake instead of a Little Debbie's) and blow out the one single candle. He did.

"I tink he got hiz wish." Me Mam said knowingly as O'Hare looked at her askance.

It was then Tonya made an excuse to go get his presents and instead brought out THE lemon cake. The only problem was that it said 12 instead of 15, but he was a good sport, and we all got laughs over it.

We told him since that was what he wished for, that was his only present. Yes, we all are demons we are. He got presents, so we made up for the razzing and such. 

That be it, other than decorating for Christmas (which is Mam's personal full-time job), we are all well and staying as safe as we can. Hoping your Thanksgiving was a good one and your life be as uneventful as mine!

Gabe

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