SHE RENTS SHEETS! and What I Found

I am seventy-one-years old and did not know you can rents sheets. Where have I been?

Too late for me to do anything about it, I learned she needs pillows and sheets so she won't have to rent them again. They pay $20 a week for two pillows, set of sheets, and one blanket. That is just outrageous.

When they rented the room, they spent the night there. I wondered if they slept on the mattress. ewww. But, I did not ask.

Today, I called her. I have two pillows they can have. They were pillows I bought in about 1977 or a bit later, not sure. I think I used them until a few years ago. They are flat, need washing and have drool stains. I am going to wash these for her and dry them and hang in the sun to finish drying.

She can borrow the old top sheet that covers my plant, and I will wash that, too.

But, I gave her ideas for living with no bedding at all, or at least no pillows. Fold up some of the really large pieces of fabric I gave her. Sleep in more clothes. Cover herself with some of the really large pieces of fabric and her coats. It ain't pretty, but it also saves $20 each week.

She told me that in jail she had used rolls of tp for a pillow or folded up her towel. So, she has seen the ugly.

They were so eager to have "their own place" that they put down a $20 for bedding to do so. Did they not consider all this as they made plans for 13 months to move out?????

The plan come here Tuesday morning. Actually, have her bf to drop her off at the library and wait about an hour until I am ready. THEN:

sign up at one food bank
go to place that will give her some of this stuff she needs
go to one of the lunches
go back to 1st food bank where we will be in line by signing in
get food for both of us
get sheets if not gotten at first one
try to stuff all our freezer stuff in my half-full freezer
put the rest of refrigerated stuff in one of my crispers
take her to free clinic (more later in post)

Whew! I will be dead.

The surprise is that she will help me around here for the help I have given her. There is always something to do that I cannot manage. Besides, bf cannot get her until 5:30.

While she was pulling out the electric skillet, she pulled out a vintage popcorn maker--Mirro, aluminum. I will sell that. There is also a deviled egg plate, new. I bought it because it was dirt cheap on clearance and Easter cute! There is another vintage serving piece, a bunny or something, holding corn on a plate with three round serving dishes around that. Maybe it is a burro. It looks perfect for cinco de mayo. Maybe I forgot what it looks like...lol.

When I talked to her today, she surprised me. Yesterday, I had corn meal I was not using and knew it would spoil. I asked her if she could use it. She was thrilled, saying now she could make cornbread. She asked if it was possible to make it in a crockpot. I knew it could be done but had no recipe. Today, she said she made cornbread in the crockpot and it was perfect.

She is a good cook. At least, she lets nothing deter her and is willing to try different things to make a meal. She is going to open a can of beans and eat it with cornbread. Bf cannot stand beans but will eat the juice over the cornbread. He prefers grocery shopping for what he wants at the moment.

I think she has native intelligence. But, gumption is missing some times. I know it is her rotten meth teeth that partly hold her back because she said Saturday that she is so ashamed of her appearance. I have made suggestions about that. But, Tuesday, I am going to make her go in the free clinic, get papers to fill out, and watch her do it whether she wants to or not. You have to qualify to go to the free clinic. The first visit takes about two weeks to come about.

I am going to encourage her to buy a set of sheets with the $20. Years ago, someone said a set of sheets was $10 at Dollar General. I am not willing to do much driving and searching. DG is about four blocks from my house. Well, I suppose there is a DG close by most places. Well, we can go to the thrift store, first. She may not find any to be gotten for free.

Lest you assume I am pushy, let me assure you I am. When I taught GED, I called people long after they dropped out of my class "just to see how you are doing and did you get your GED?" One brother and sister did get a GED and told me it was because I kept encouraging them. She thanked me profusely for continuing to show I cared. Oh, I told these people I called/haunted that they did not have to come to my class if they preferred another teacher. No ego involved, just genuine concern.

Read the post just before this about--Are Old People Sleeping Wrong? I posted this just a few hours after posting it.

Your turn
Did you know a person could rents sheets, blankets?