MIL in from Jordan

[BehindBlueI's]

We took her to Newport Aquarium today. I've never seen her smile as big as she did when she touched the star fish and anemone in the touch tank. Keep in mind her youngest daughter died a few months back so it's still a tough time for her so it's been very nice to see her have fun.

My wife has been good humoredly stuck in the middle of me telling my MIL she can do whatever she wants and my MIL telling me I can do whatever I want. In tie-breakers MIL has unfailingly sided with me. My wife always wants me to drive her car when we go on longer drives. I want to drive my truck. We took my truck on the Amish adventure, but today my wife wanted to take the car to Newport. MIL: Let him drive his truck. It's more comfortable and better for long trips, you're just being cheap about gas. (She obviously knows my wife very well).

As mentioned, my Arabic is only good enough to know the general topic of conversation. I heard my mother in law say 'tired' and asked my wife if MIL was tired. (No, she's afraid you are.) She got tired and her blood sugar got low at the aquarium and she said she'd go sit outside and wait for us to finish while she rested. ******** you will. You rest on this bench and I'll go beg/borrow/steal a wheelchair. I did and we pushed her through the rest of it.

I think maybe because she reminds me of my own grandmother so much I got really attached to her really quickly. It's going to be really sad for me when she flies out. I may take it harder than my wife...

I can't wait to take her to the zoo. She says the last big one she was at was Tel Aviv. I'm afraid St. Louis is too long a trip for her, but I'd love to take her to that one. Indy will do, though.

 

[Cameramonkey]

We took her to Newport Aquarium today. I've never seen her smile as big as she did when she touched the star fish and anemone in the touch tank. Keep in mind her youngest daughter died a few months back so it's still a tough time for her so it's been very nice to see her have fun.

My wife has been good humoredly stuck in the middle of me telling my MIL she can do whatever she wants and my MIL telling me I can do whatever I want. In tie-breakers MIL has unfailingly sided with me. My wife always wants me to drive her car when we go on longer drives. I want to drive my truck. We took my truck on the Amish adventure, but today my wife wanted to take the car to Newport. MIL: Let him drive his truck. It's more comfortable and better for long trips, you're just being cheap about gas. (She obviously knows my wife very well).

As mentioned, my Arabic is only good enough to know the general topic of conversation. I heard my mother in law say 'tired' and asked my wife if MIL was tired. (No, she's afraid you are.) She got tired and her blood sugar got low at the aquarium and she said she'd go sit outside and wait for us to finish while she rested. ******** you will. You rest on this bench and I'll go beg/borrow/steal a wheelchair. I did and we pushed her through the rest of it.

I think maybe because she reminds me of my own grandmother so much I got really attached to her really quickly. It's going to be really sad for me when she flies out. I may take it harder than my wife...

I can't wait to take her to the zoo. She says the last big one she was at was Tel Aviv. I'm afraid St. Louis is too long a trip for her, but I'd love to take her to that one. Indy will do, though.

Indy is an awesome zoo. Taking the kids Thursday as we have a membership. She'll probably like the shark tank if she likes touching.

 

[KokomoDave]

Louisville which is fairly close has a nice zoo and there is a awesome kangaroo rescue down there also. I doubt she will like the bourbon trail (Ha!).

 

[2tonic]

It’s awesome to hear that some people can still look beyond the politics and see that we really aren’t all that much different when it comes to what is right and what is wrong. We’ve more in common than not by a large proportion.

As Pat Travers famously sang "People are people wherever you go".

 

[firecadet613]

BBI she is very lucky to have you as a son in law...

 

[two70]

We took her to Newport Aquarium today. I've never seen her smile as big as she did when she touched the star fish and anemone in the touch tank. Keep in mind her youngest daughter died a few months back so it's still a tough time for her so it's been very nice to see her have fun.

My wife has been good humoredly stuck in the middle of me telling my MIL she can do whatever she wants and my MIL telling me I can do whatever I want. In tie-breakers MIL has unfailingly sided with me. My wife always wants me to drive her car when we go on longer drives. I want to drive my truck. We took my truck on the Amish adventure, but today my wife wanted to take the car to Newport. MIL: Let him drive his truck. It's more comfortable and better for long trips, you're just being cheap about gas. (She obviously knows my wife very well).

As mentioned, my Arabic is only good enough to know the general topic of conversation. I heard my mother in law say 'tired' and asked my wife if MIL was tired. (No, she's afraid you are.) She got tired and her blood sugar got low at the aquarium and she said she'd go sit outside and wait for us to finish while she rested. ******** you will. You rest on this bench and I'll go beg/borrow/steal a wheelchair. I did and we pushed her through the rest of it.

I think maybe because she reminds me of my own grandmother so much I got really attached to her really quickly. It's going to be really sad for me when she flies out. I may take it harder than my wife...

I can't wait to take her to the zoo. She says the last big one she was at was Tel Aviv. I'm afraid St. Louis is too long a trip for her, but I'd love to take her to that one. Indy will do, though.

Cincinnati has a nice zoo with a unique variety of animals not found in most zoos that I've been to.

It's probably farther than you want to drive but the Tennessee State Aquarium in Chattanooga is much larger than Newport and I enjoyed it much more than Shedd.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Cincinnati has a nice zoo with a unique variety of animals not found in most zoos that I've been to.

It's probably farther than you want to drive but the Tennessee State Aquarium in Chattanooga is much larger than Newport and I enjoyed it much more than Shedd.

Louisville which is fairly close has a nice zoo and there is a awesome kangaroo rescue down there also. I doubt she will like the bourbon trail (Ha!).

Louisville Zoo is very nice and we go there more often than Indy despite the obvious difference in distance. The Tennesse Aquarium is really nice as well, but yes further than we'll go with her on this visit. If you're making that trip, though, Nashville Zoo is big and has a lot of variety as well.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

So I had no idea this existed, but I searched for waterfalls near Indianapolis that you could drive to. MIL isn't able to walk very far so I didn't want a mile out and back trail or something. Upper Cataract falls came up and there's a parking lot right next to it. I thought my MIL was in distress for a minute when we got there, but she was literally moved to tears at the beauty of the sight and was thanking God for creating it. Again, just seeing things through her eyes has made me appreciate what we have more.

Just driving through farm country entertains her endlessly. So much corn, so many beans, so much green. She's talking to her sister now and I caught enough to know she's favorably comparing Indiana to California.

She's making cookies tonight.

 

[Cameramonkey]

So I had no idea this existed, but I searched for waterfalls near Indianapolis that you could drive to. MIL isn't able to walk very far so I didn't want a mile out and back trail or something. Upper Cataract falls came up and there's a parking lot right next to it. I thought my MIL was in distress for a minute when we got there, but she was literally moved to tears at the beauty of the sight and was thanking God for creating it. Again, just seeing things through her eyes has made me appreciate what we have more.

Just driving through farm country entertains her endlessly. So much corn, so many beans, so much green. She's talking to her sister now and I caught enough to know she's favorably comparing Indiana to California.

She's making cookies tonight.

Thanks for these stories. They are great.

Save some cookies for me. I'll be right over.

 

[printcraft]

So I had no idea this existed, but I searched for waterfalls near Indianapolis that you could drive to. MIL isn't able to walk very far so I didn't want a mile out and back trail or something. Upper Cataract falls came up and there's a parking lot right next to it. I thought my MIL was in distress for a minute when we got there, but she was literally moved to tears at the beauty of the sight and was thanking God for creating it. Again, just seeing things through her eyes has made me appreciate what we have more.

Just driving through farm country entertains her endlessly. So much corn, so many beans, so much green. She's talking to her sister now and I caught enough to know she's favorably comparing Indiana to California.

She's making cookies tonight.

Just make sure she's home by December... you don't want her to see the green turning to the frozen brown hellscape that is Indiana in winter.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Just make sure she's home by December... you don't want her to see the green turning to the frozen brown hellscape that is Indiana in winter.

She leaves in 8 days unless we convince her to stay longer, but yes I suspect Indiana would lose some of it's charm when the snows come. Fall would probably be good for her, though.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

insane a-holes with cataracts

I was lead guitar for them during their '94 summer tour. Got kicked out for drugs, I wasn't doing any.

 

[MrSmitty]

I worked with a lot of different people from all over the world, while at Jeffboat, to a man, they were all amazed with America, loved this country, they all saw the potential of this country, unlike people who were raised here, and think America sucks....Me, I've been to several countries around the world...America is the best place I've ever been. Funny how the people from the outside see the greatness, and the insiders see nothing but the bad....

 

[ditcherman]

She leaves in 8 days unless we convince her to stay longer, but yes I suspect Indiana would lose some of it's charm when the snows come. Fall would probably be good for her, though.

Our late sweet corn might be ready to pick before she leaves…not sure if they have sweet corn in Jordan, most city people get a big kick out of it.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Our late sweet corn might be ready to pick before she leaves…not sure if they have sweet corn in Jordan, most city people get a big kick out of it.

Jordan has good fruits and vegetables, it supplies a lot of the ME. I'll ask her if she wants some local corn, though. She did like the Michican cherries. My wife is cheap and choked on the price a bit but I told her "your mom wanted them, I'm not telling her no" and she got over it pretty quick. She gets irritated when I buy grapes that aren't on sale.

MIL is watching in rain from our sunroom. We had a few hummingbirds come fill up before the rain set in heavy. Getting ready to put the D'whali on the stove soon. (Stuffed grape leaves, but different than how my wife makes them)

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I got promoted yesterday after the waterfall trip. I'm now addressed as "mum", the rough cultural equivalent of "my boy" vs "son", a more prideful/affectionate address and indicates the same level of "son-ness" as birth or official adoption vs marriage into the family.

She's told the story to at least 3 family members this morning on the phone so my elevation is known throughout the realms. I feel like I've been knighted, only it's cooler. And it comes with cookies.

I'm helping cook this morning. By helping I mean fetching things, lifting things, tasting for sufficient salt levels, and generally staying out of the way otherwise. There's a giant pot of D'wali (a sort of stuffed grape leaves) merrily bubbling away on my stove now.

 

[eric001]

Really great heartwarming stuff BBI!

It's a pity your MIL isn't staying long enough to see things like Brown County in the fall--much beauty there.

Have you been able to take her to a farmer's market yet? This time of year there's a pretty good selection.
(from memory, haven't gone looking for one since before covid)

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Really great heartwarming stuff BBI!

It's a pity your MIL isn't staying long enough to see things like Brown County in the fall--much beauty there.

Have you been able to take her to a farmer's market yet? This time of year there's a pretty good selection.
(from memory, haven't gone looking for one since before covid)

We're going to try and take her to an orchard/farmer's market next week.

She said she will come back, so I hope to get her here in the autumn next time.

Any other ideas of things to show her are welcome. Just no rough terrain or long walks. She walks ok, but gets tired easy so maybe 1/4 mile max unless I can rent/borrow a wheelchair and help her once she's tired.

 

[Alamo]

… And it comes with cookies.

I'm helping cook this morning. …

Does Jordan have those amazing arabic dessert pastries, phyllo dough with honey and nuts and dates and cream cheese and more magic dough and more honey?

When I was in Saudi Arabia a few times there was a lot to complain about but the pastries were not one of them. They always had a bunch of them at the goat roasts, and those things were heavenly. You should convince mother-in-law to instruct daughter to bake a ton of them in honor of your promotion.

 

[KokomoDave]

The coffee in Jordan is crazy strong too!