I'm Back. And in the nick of time too..

I trust everyone had a splendiferous CHRISTMAS. Mine was fine, thanks for asking. I'm back at the ranch, and for that I'm eternally grateful. Let me not sound like an asshole in saying that. I love my Mom. I really do. But dang we work each other's nerves after a short while.

I have told you already that Mom got into real estate back in the early 80's. When not many women were in the business. She worked her way into a position where she started her own company. Not a franchise, mind you, her own real estate company. She worked her ass off. Plus took care of my brother and I. I imagine it was pretty hard. There were lots of things she denied herself so we'd have a roof over our head, and food in our bellies.

She's still running her own show now. Only has one other agent besides herself, sells a house or two every other month. She also owns a couple duplexes, and rents them out. Plus some rental management on the side. Not in a bad way. But she's weird. I love her to death, but she's strange sometimes. For example: Never remarried, never really hooked up with anyone. Now she says all the guys her age want someone to haul them to their doctor's appointments, and to make sure their lunches and dinners are on the table at the appropriate times. She dosen't want that. She dosen't want anyone infringing on her time. She also buys things compulsively. In her bathroom, there are no LESS than 10 bottles of shampoo open at any given time. No lie, there are bottles of shampoo that were there when I lived there...I moved out in '83. She refills them with other shampoo. A Dollar General store opened in town, and she thinks that is the greatest thing since sliced bread. DG brand this, DG brand that. Bottles and bottles of cleaning supplies, shampoo, soap, kitchen stuff. It's amazing. The woman has absurd amounts of shoes....half of which, she dosen't wear....Same for clothes. I'm itching to get her cast off clothes and sell 'em on eBay, since there are things she's worn once, then put in the closet and forgot about. And stuff she's never worn, never even taken the tags off...It's just weird. Since she's a 'self made' person, and pretty smart, she feels she knows everything, and butts in on every conversation, adding her two cents. I've called her on that several times. She gets defensive with me, and says she gets so excited to add her part to the story, that she forgets her manners. She interjects, "Oh thats a good thing." in almost every good conversation, and "Oh thats a bad thing" for negatives. It's maddening. Also, being that her office is in her house, half the town drops in during the course of a day, to have a cuppa coffee, and gossip. Therefore she knows EVERYTHING that goes on. Or at least a version of it. She also dotes on her animals. She has two little dogs, and 2 cats. The cats live upstairs, because they're only used to her, so they're spooky with anyone else. The dogs are dogs, and are always happy to see anyone. She treats them like kids. Okay, so when I write that down, it dosen't seem so awful.

The scary part is...

I'm starting to see a lot of her in me. In what I do, in what I say. And the more time I spent with her, the more I see it.

And it freaks me out.

But since I see a lot of that in me, I can also try and change it before I'm 66 (like her) and totally set in my ways. Eee. I'm scared now.

She has said some really hurtful things to me in the past. Under the guise of 'I'm entitled to my opinion..' Finally I told her that indeed, she IS entitled to her opinion, but I'm not. That pissed her off, and she's been 'behaving' a little better since. She wants me to move home, and go into business with her. Thats a butt-clencher for sure. I live 50 miles away, and that is just fine by me. I could only see feuding if I moved down there.

But I love her, and worry about her. Moms and daughters, it's a weird, weird thing.