Not really ha-ha funny, but she does have a sense of humor. We visited again today, bringing over several items she asked me to order online for her. I already had one thing in reserve for her, for a stocking stuffer, so I told her “No, don’t pay me back for that, because I was going to give them to you anyway.” She stuffed an extra $10 in cash in the envelope for me above what I said the other items cost. I took it out, left it on the counter; she told me that’s your money, and reiterated that she only owed me $30, for the other two items, not $40. She didn’t complain.
Then, she put another item on my list to order for her. She can’t use a computer to order stuff online for herself. She can barely use an ancient iPad to read her email. These are Snoozies brand house slipper with non-slip soles. The soles are thin, but they have little polyurethane dots on the bottom.
I bought her a pair several years ago, on a lark, and she loved them so much that since then, I’ve bought her a few more pairs at her request. They don’t last that long before the soles wear out (maybe a year), but she can walk in them in the house using her Rollator. She now wants two or three more pairs. No problem. I have to order them online, since I can’t just walk into any gift store and find them. She wants to pay me for them, but I want to give them to her as a Christmas present.
She’ll get her slippers, and I don’t want cash back for them. She got a box of grapes from her “canteen,” today and gave them to us as a treat. They call it The Bistro there, but it’s basically a cafeteria/canteen with a fancy name. This year, the grapes have been soooooo good, and we like them better than a slice of cake or a brownie, anyway. That was so thoughtful of her.
Also, she did mange to get my email, and see the attached picture of the black bear wood carving I commissioned from a very talented neighbor. We sourced a 4′ long, 18″ diameter maple log from our own property, so he didn’t have to find one elsewhere and charge us extra for it. The artist had to have a friend come by with a flatbed truck to haul off the log, and it was interesting watching the loading procedure. Anyway, the artist sent me a sketch, of what he thought we had in mind, beforehand, we agreed to that, then he came by with a contract for us both to sign (very fair terms), when the maple log got hauled off.
He started off with a chainsaw to rough it out, then did the detail work with some Dremel tools. All the while, he sent me progress pictures. We were unable to stop by his place to discuss staining options as he suggested, because we were away, but I asked for black bear colors. He did such a good job. As part of our contract, he asked for the right to take a picture of it to use for promotional purposes. I thought that was fair. I had the right of refusal if I didn’t like the finished product, and would have lost my deposit on it if I had refused to take delivery, but this bear is so fantastic!
AFAIK, he’s gotten a lot more commissions since then to do wood carving for other people. His wife told me he went to art school. It shows. He’s retired now, but if he can earn some extra bucks on this avocation of his, good for him! He’s got talent!