Nan

I spend a wonderful weekend in Philly. In addition to pictures and stories that I'll post later, I spent some time with BFF&exGF#2's very old and ailing Nanny. I love Nan. She's old, cranky, needy, loving, snuggly, cute, sassy and smart. I hung out at Nan's new (undesired, but one-floor) apartment on the couch while Danielle wiped down the kitchen and took care of other weekly tasks. Nan was in a great mood on Sunday, but still managed to complain about everything related to being old and feeble. In the midst of it, she moaned about her hands, "you know, these hands used to crochet, knit, do needlepoint…" Ding, ding, ding - I started paying extra attention, but before I could start speaking Knit, we were interrupted by the travils of daily life.

So during my scheduled weekend trip to Loop, we found big chunky "Peace Pink" Blue Sky Alpacas handpainted yarn (Nan can see light colors only) and big fat size 19 Crystal Palace plastic needles. Danielle will present the yarn and needles to Nan this weekend. I can't wait to hear her reaction. I am determined to get those wrinkly, achy, old hands stitching again. Keep your needles crossed ladies. Nan needs all your psychic-purl support.

In funny Nan news, here's part of an email that Danielle sent to me today:

I spent like 40 minutes on the phone last night trying to troubleshoot Nan's cable tv problems.

Nanny (shrieking): "donielle...my channels are fuzzy...all the ones i watch...it's like snow or something...here, 3...snow...6...snow...7...snow...8...snow...9...snow...10...snow..."

Danielle (sighing and laughing and thinking she needs video calling): "aww nan, did you break the tv again? okay nanny, let's see. can you please go to the tv in the bedroom and tell me if the same thing is happening?"

Nanny (mumbling): "11...snow..12...snow.."

Danielle: "so, snow in the bedroom too?"

Nanny (shrieking again): "what? you want me to go in the bedroom?"

Danielle: "nan, weren't you listening? yes...that way we can try to figure out if it's the cable or just something with the tv in the living room."

Nanny: "what? you think something is wrong with the cable?"

Danielle: "that's what we're trying to figure out! just go in the bedroom please and check the channels"

Nanny: "okay...hold on...hmm...33 is clear."

Danielle: "was that channel fuzzy in the living room?"

Nanny: "I don't know."

Danielle: "ughghghggh..nan! you aren't helping here. turn on channel 11, which you said was fuzzy in the living room and tell me if that one is fuzzy."

Nanny: "okay, yes, snow."

Danielle: "and you definitely get that channel normally?"

Nanny: "11 was my 12"

Danielle: "what? nan, I know the channels are different in the suburbs than in the city, but just tell me if you got channel 11 yesterday."

Nanny: "10 snow...9 snow...8...snow"

Daneille: "okay, okay, i know, snow! so all the low channels are snowy but all the high channels work?:

Nanny: "huh? what?"

Danielle: "nan, if you want me to help, you have to listen. flip through the high channels that you normally watch and tell me if they are coming in."

Nanny: "like my TBS? yes, 22 clear...23 clear...24 clear..."

Danielle: "okay enough. go in the living room and tell me if channel 22, 23 and 24 come in."

Nanny: "what? you want me to go in the living room?"

eheheheheheh. You can imagine how the rest of this conversation went. This is what I do with my evenings. I think that whole conversation would have worked better if Little Man had been holding the remote. Blog that!

I love old people. If I were a photographer, I would photograph wrinkly skin. But damn ... I feel Nan's frustration. Not being able to see well, walk steadily, drive, and walk more than 20 feet would drive me insane. I'll definitely be a cranky, needy, loving, snuggly, cute, sassy and smart old lady, and I hope that I have a granddaughter like Danielle that I can annoy.