Blogger 365 Day 339 - Trying to prevent a BIll Bixby moment

          Yes, I am starting off the blog with an old (or is that olde) fashioned 1970's reference.  The problem is I am the Bill Bixby in question.  Right now I am borderline furious and if this were 70s television and I were Bill Bixby I am not sure what would keep me from going all Lou Ferrigno (Incredible Hulk) right about now.

      A couple of months before Ed left for Florida he tasked me with the job of getting rid of some tickets to sporting events for him, two hockey games and one football game.  The football game was for the Steelers - Kansas City game and when he handed me the tickets to hold on to I noticed the date, Dec 21st.  That got me to thinking that my mom doesn't get out much and the game is kind of close to Christmas, so I might be able to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.  I asked Ed if I could buy two of the tickets myself, then I would use them as a little bit of an early Christmas present by giving them to my mom and her husband. 

     So I get me two tickets and mail them home with plenty of time for them to get there and included a little note with them saying that they were an early Christmas present.  A few days later I even call home and confirm with my mom that the tickets got there and they had.  Cool, I usually try to get them one or two big "together" presents as well as a few smaller individual gifts each Christmas, I figured this would be one of those bigger "together" gifts since the tickets face value was $97 each.

     Well yesterday was the day of the game, and realistically if you are a Steelers fan (and they both are), it really couldn't have gone much better.  The Steelers won, and by winning they also clinched a playoff spot so the game ended up being a little more special than I would have originally thought when I first got the tickets.

     Tonight I called home, in part because I wanted to see how m mom was doing health wise, and in part to give her a heads up that another big "together" gift I got them would be arriving on Christmas Eve.  I might be working Christmas Day but at least the big present I wanted to get them would be there, even if I couldn't be.  So we start talking and as the conversation went I asked my mom how she liked the football game, to which she asked what game.  I said the game I sent you tickets for as one of your Christmas presents, to which she informed me that she didn't go, she didn't even know there were two tickets.  Instead her husband took the tickets and took one of his friends instead.  I can't begin to tell you how pissed I am to hear that.  Not just because he took something that was hers and just gave it to one of his friends, but because with all of her health issues he still felt it was perfectly okay to leave her home alone for hours.  Literally anything could have happened, she could have had another stroke, she could have tried cooking something and forgot the stove was on (she is still having memory lapses) just to name but a couple of the list of many reasons why she shouldn't be left alone for that length of time. 

     Yes, I am furious and I can honestly say that at this very moment I am glad I am working a double shift on Christmas Day, because in my current frame of mind being at home isn't in anyone's best interest.