Laughing

So yesterday when we were cleaning up my mother in law's house, there were some tears shed.  Her two boys are having a hard time know that their mom's time is coming to an end.  They are both in denial that they could lose her very soon and yesterday things really hit for them.  It was really good for them to have each other and to be there to share some funny stories and just laugh.

We also had some pretty good laughs and by the end of the night were getting very silly.  My mother in law is a hoarder of plastic bags.  I swear we must have pulled at least a million plastic bags out of that house.  Every single box, drawer, cabinet, shelf, cupboard and nook and cranny was shoved full of plastic bags.  Every single item she owned was in a plastic bag.  Even used items, like her shoes were kept in plastic bags. She truly was a bag lady!  I did find about a dozen cloth/vinyl bags that I brought home so I can save a little money at the grocery store.  They give you 5cents back at Winco if you bring your own bags.  I wonder if I had brought all of the plastic bags if they would have given me something.

Another thing we had a good laugh about was her Earthquake Preparedness Kit.  Here in California everyone is encouraged to keep one in the house.  We are expecting the 'next big one' any day now and you must be prepared with food, water, a flashlight and extra batteries, radio, can opener, you know, things you will need to survive when the power goes out and and emergency happens.

Well, we came across a trash can that had a sealed lid and her son says, oh, that's her Earthquake Kit.  So, we open it up and it is filled with packing peanuts!  The whole trash can.  At the bottom of the can was a can of Raid!  I guess she was thinking that during an earthquake, she could climb into the trashcan and be protected from falling objects and then after the earthquake, when all of the cockroaches survived, she could kill them?  We just laughed and laughed.

At the very end of the night, as I was opening one of the last boxes, I screamed.  In it was a blonde wig.  My mother in law has short, brown hair.  This wig scared me something awful!  The very next box had a bright purple wig!  There are just some things you should not know about your in-laws :)  Turns out, in her different chorus numbers, she would wear these different wigs to match other people in the group.  I tried the wigs on and don't think they are quite my style.  Maybe I could wear it to school one day, but I think I need to learn how to hide my real hair :)

It felt good to laugh after such a tough day.  I wonder if she hid these little surprises to keep us motivated.