Seasons Passing and Passing and Passing

My eldest granddaughter will be attending Middle School next year. She’s growing up too fast! Thursday was awards day at school for the fifth graders graduating from elementary school. The homeroom parents and the PTA really made the day special for the kids. After the awards ceremony, there was a little reception (for lack of a better word) outside under the basketball court cover and the parents were invited to stay for cake and punch. After the reception, they were served a pizza lunch. Cake first; pizza second - a dream lunch for any child I should think. The kids get out at 11:30 am next Tuesday, the last day of school. That afternoon the PTA is hosting a pool party for the fifth graders at our neighborhood pool. We went bathing suit shopping Friday evening just for the occasion, especially since last year’s suit no longer fits her. Sigh, she’s growing up so fast! I know, I said that already.

Thursday was also the last Musical of the season with my cultural friends, Beverly and Janice. We saw “The Drowsy Chaperone,” and it was hilarious. We have already purchased tickets for the next season. I really love those evenings out.

Friday was uneventful except I had lunch at a wonderful friend’s home after which we went shopping. I am redecorating my kitchen and have asked her advice. She really has an eye for such things. I have no creativity what-so-ever. My eldest daughter will probably be glad to hear that I have decided to get rid of my out-of-date wallpaper. I have really enjoyed the wallpaper and it hadn’t even occurred to me to change it until she mentioned the possibility of a much needed re-do. I have warmed up to the idea and now have added yet another project on our long to do list. Hubby looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned to him what I’d like to do. I’m sure he was moaning inside. He doesn’t want to say goodbye to the wallpaper either, but for different reasons!

Today was belt testing for the kids’ Taekwondo Academy.. Both eldest granddaughter and grandson did well. The granddaughter hates to spar but she is very good at it. The grandson got in some good fighting as well. I think they both probably passed their test and will soon be Sr. Blue Belts, adding a black stripe to their belt.

I think that catches me up on my blog. Now if I can just catch up with other stuff.

Mama Spider

I was in the garage this morning and noticed a huge spider inches from my feet. It was big, fat, brown and hairy - probably about four inches from leg to leg (and not stretched out legs). Without panicking (Hubby had already left for work) I calmly went into the kitchen and got a glass to put over it. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t want to smash it because I was hoping to identify it. I didn’t want to let it go free, for obvious reasons. So, I covered it with a glass and went about my day thinking I’ll let Hubby take care of it later. After school my grandson was looking at it and came into the house and told me it was a female spider. “Really, how can you tell?” I replied. “Because it has a bunch of babies,” he answered. My heart sank. I imagined the ending of ‘Charlotte’s Web’ when hundreds of baby spiders hatch out of the egg sac. Sure enough, there was an egg sac and a bunch of itty, bitty spiders crawling all over the place under the glass. “Look how cute,” the three-year old exclaimed. Her favorite video is ‘Wilber’ (translated Charlotte’s Web). At least she wasn’t afraid of it. Now the eleven year old granddaughter is a different story. She joined me in feelings of being totally ‘creeped out.’ The boy was thrilled, of course. He wants to take it to school tomorrow. When Hubby came home, we transferred the new mother and babies to a jar (that was challenging) and put the lid on it. Hubby wanted to know if I wanted to put a hole in the lid. “Yeah, right,” I’m thinking. But since I’m trying not to be so sarcastic these days I sweetly said, “I think the babies might escape if we put a hole in the lid.” “Oh, yeah, the babies,” he muttered, returning to sanity. We spent quite a bit of time on the internet trying to identify it but we are far from experts on arachnids (it’s a word, I looked it up!). So now the jar is sitting on the desk with a big ole spider in it. I think the mother has eaten some of the babies and the babies are crawling all over the mother. Maybe they are trying to eat her. As I recall in the movie, Charlotte died before her little ones came into the world, leaving Wilber to take care of the egg sac. So why isn’t this thing dead yet? And I don’t remember any cannibalistic scenes either!

Counting Down the Days

We are counting down: four and a half days left of school. I hope the eight year old makes it. He is really struggling to pay attention at school and at home. His conduct grade has plummeted. He is ready for summer, and so am I. No more homework battles until August!

Hubby and I had a very productive Memorial Day weekend. We worked in the yard on Saturday. After church on Sunday, he started sanding the arbor swing so we can refinish it. He used the sander I bought myself for Mother’s Day and he really liked it. On Monday, he finished sanding while I cleaned inside the house (yuck!). Our internet was down most of Sunday and Monday, so I couldn’t post or check email. Did anyone miss me? It nearly drove me crazy! I’m going to be short on this post because it is late and I’m tired. More tomorrow….

Sharing Joy, Thankfulness and Grief

We have an All-Star catcher in the family. Congratulations, darling Shelby! I wish I could be there to watch you play! Tell your grandma, “thanks for the pictures!”

The pictures below are of the concrete truck my brother (Shelby’s papaw) was driving when it decided to crash. He was bruised and banged up but they tell me he is okay. When I talked to him a few nights ago, he said the doctor is keeping him off work awhile. Hmm. I plan to do more research this weekend (talk to someone else) to see if indeed he really is okay. From the looks of the pictures, it’s amazing that he was not killed or hurt worse than he is. I now have a picture file folder entitled ‘Accidents – D and B. I hope I’ve just stored the last of these types of pictures in there! I love you guys! Stay safe!

Today is the funeral of Steven Curtis Chapman’s five year old daughter, Maria Sue. I am so sad about it. It breaks my heart when I hear of children dying. It is such a tragedy for the family in more ways than one. I don’t know why I want to post this but please join with me and thousands of others in prayer for this family. I pray an extra measure of peace and comfort for their teenage son, who was involved in the accident and for the family members who witnessed it. Steven Curtis Chapman’s music is an inspiration to many.

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/

http://chapmanchannel.typepad.com/inmemoryofmaria/

With Hope ------Steven Curtis Chapman
(Album: Speechless, 1999)

This is not at all how

We thought it was supposed to be

We had so many plans for you

We had so many dreams

And now you've gone away

And left us with the memories of your smile

And nothing we can say

And nothing we can do

Can take away the pain

The pain of losing you, but ...

We can cry with hope

We can say goodbye with hope

'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no

And we can grieve with hope

'Cause we believe with hope

(There's a place by God's grace)

There's a place where we'll see your face again

We'll see your face again

And never have I known

Anything so hard to understand

And never have I questioned more

The wisdom of God's plan

But through the cloud of tears

I see the Father's smile and say well done

And I imagine you

Where you wanted most to be

Seeing all your dreams come true

'Cause now you're home

And now you're free, and ...

We have this hope as an anchor

'Cause we believe that everything

God promised us is true, so ...

So we can cry with hope

And say goodbye with hope

We wait with hope

And we ache with hope

We hold on with hope

We let go with hope

Home from Rio

Hubby is home from Rio de Janeiro. His flight arrived around about 5:10 am. He had to sit all night beside a belligerent, foul-mouthed “big ole boy” (his description, not mine) who was so intoxicated they wouldn’t serve him an alcholic drink on the plane. Thankfully, he passed out shortly into the flight. Trouble was that he and his blanket were all sprawled out in a seat that was too small for even a small person. So, Hubby shared his seat. Wasn’t’ that nice of him? He said he preferred the beautiful Brazilian woman who sat beside him on the way down. Really? I would have, as well. Here are a few pictures he took with his BlackBerry but he only had time to be on the beach when the sun was going down and the moon was coming up. I’m guessing the shots don’t really give the scenery its due justice, but hey, I’ve never seen Cococabana Beach, have you? At my request he attempted to take a picture of himself. I think he deliberately included the lady in the bra because he sure wasn't concentrating on taking a good shot of himself! (I originally put 'chick' instead of 'lady' but erased it - probably not nice.) The three-year old has been following her Papaw around all morning; talking, talking, talking. He has learned in a very short while that if he doesn’t answer her questions, she will keep asking them until he does. I’m grateful for the break. My throat is a little worn out from coughing and drilling the 8-year old on his spelling words yesterday evening. He practiced those words all week and he is still having difficulty with a few words like ‘caution’ and ‘imitation’ and ‘quotation.’ With school almost out for the summer, I think he is having a problem concentrating on anything. I have to constantly tell him to zip his pants. What’s with that? Is it a normal boy thing?

Well, I better get started on the chores, again. It seems like I never finish them. And now there’s a big suitcase of laundry to do. I’m so glad he’s home, honest, but I just can’t convince him that it would be absolutely wonderful if he had the hotel do his laundry before he comes home from his trips! I’m not complaining, but….okay, I’m complaining. I stop that now and count my blessings. I'm so glad to have a washing machine and a dryer! Many people do not. How's that?

The Joys of Watching a 3-Year Old

One day last week as I was working on my computer, I realized my 3-year old granddaughter was very quiet in the living room. When she’s awake, quietness usually sends up a red flag. “Whacha doin, Sweetie?” I called out. “Reading to my dollies,” she answered. I peeked around the corner then grabbed the camera to capture this picture. Although technically one is a teddy bear and the other is not her doll, she was ever so quietly 'reading' a story to them from the little inspirational book she received for her birthday from her friends across the street. She loves that book and I guess she wanted to share. She has such an imagination (which is one of the many things I love about her) and believes possession is ownership, especially when her brother and sister are not around (normal for a toddler, but difficult at times). Which explains why we have her toys in the den and we just bought a lock for the bedroom to protect her sister’s ‘stuff.’ She has been sleeping with me this week since her Papaw is out of town. Dispite the extra room in the bed, she still insists on being right up next to me. Last night I was on the edge about to fall out of the bed and so I got up as she was sleeping and went to the other side. A little while later she sat up and whined, "I was on that side!" Rather than point out that she was no where near that side of the bed, I scooped her up and said, "let's just share this side of the bed." Sharing is not a well-received notion either but she was happy to be snuggling again. Since she is at her last day of Mother's Day Out today, I should be napping!

Oldest daughter's gall bladder surgery is scheduled for June 27. Please pray that she won't have another episode before then. Youngest daughter received a raise at work. A prayer of thanks would be appreciated also!

Eight year grandson's latest joke: What kind of pen doesn't write? "A safety pin," I guessed. "Wrong, it's a pig pen! Ha!" The eleven year old granddaughter chimed in with a joke she swiped from her brother, "When is a car not a car?" "Hmm, I don't know." "When it turns into a driveway! Ha, ha, ha!" Never a dull moment around here!

Feeling Thankful and Rested

Hubby made it to Brazil and is in the Marriott Hotel across from the Cococabana Beach (poor thing). He’s there on business so I doubt he’ll enjoy the beach much but I’m sure it’s a great view. I was actually all by myself in the house last night. I dozed off reading and woke up with a jolt to the ice maker filling with water, that’s how quiet it was. At first I thought it was water in the sink running and started to become alarmed there may be someone in the house, especially since I left the doors unlocked (not smart since we have had some home invasions in the area). After a half a minute of rationalizing that I was not going to get robbed or murdered, I locked the doors, set the security alarm, and headed for bed. I slept like a baby with not one person to wake me up with their snoring or whining to get in bed with me.

I have had a very nice weekend so far. I played Bunco with the ladies’ group at church on Friday night. I won the prize for the most loses. Yep, there’s good in everything. Yesterday, I took my treasured friend, Janet out for a birthday lunch and then we shopped a little. The picture was taken last summer at the zoo.

The church service today was very uplifting (even sitting through it twice to work the power point). Sunday school was interesting, as usual. We are reading a book entitled, “The Sacred Romance, Drawing Closer to the Heart of God.” Good reading…I recommend it.

I check my email after church and found out my brother, Bill, was in a major accident yesterday. Here is part of the email his wife, Debbie (still recuperating from a serious care accident) sent me: “Angels were watching over Bill again. He was driving the mixer truck today and a tire blew. The truck ended up on the passenger’s side against an embankment. Bill was hanging there by his seat belt. The windshield broke into a million pieces and landed on him. He managed to climb up and out the driver's door and walk on the truck to the back and get on a hillside (he was about 10 feet in the air). He is bruised and battered with a few scrapes. Not one broken bone or cut. I am just in awe that he survived at all. After we left the ER we went over and saw his truck. The cab of it is smashed down to the door on the passenger side. The side is smashed so far in that we don't know how there was room for Bill. No one can believe that he lived. There were no other vehicles involved. He was over in Ohio on a dirt road somewhere. Thank God for taking care of him and letting him come home again.”

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I think I have about 30 minutes to get something posted today. “Go, Diego, Go” is entertaining the three year old for now but once that’s over I won’t be able to concentrate. It’s amazing how needy children become when you get on the phone or when you sit down at the computer.

It’s been a tiring week. I thought the youngest granddaughter was over her asthma. She hasn’t had an attack in a long time and since both her mom and brother grew out of it around 2 years of age, I was hoping she would too. But it came back full force this week and I had to take her to the doctor on Tuesday. The doctor now wants her to do three months of breathing treatments and steroids to get her lungs strong again. Our share of the medication was $236! I just don’t know about all this. I want to trust the doctor but I’m leery about leaving her on steroids for three months. Needless to say, she doesn’t feel well and she’s very cranky. I’m a little cranky myself. But at least she slept all night last night.

Both of the older children had to work on projects for school. The fifth grader's project is on the history of the six flags of Texas and the second grader's is an economic project. He had to make a product to sell at the economic fair at school today. His poster to advertise his product was due yesterday and the actual product was due today. He made 24 bookmarks. Add that to a sick kid, three meetings and Taekwondo lessons (they have a belt test coming up and need to attend at least twice a week to prepare) and it makes for a crazy week. Oh, and we had a storm early Thursday morning and the power was out at our house and the school from about 3am until sometime in the early afternoon. All three children hung out with me yesterday. I’m glad it’s Friday, but I have a busy weekend planned. Bunco with the ladies at church tonight and a birthday lunch and shopping with a friend tomorrow. I also will run the visuals at church on Sunday so I’ll be there for both services. I may take a nap in a little bit. I’ve made myself tired. But, first, I have to run a couple of errands. Later!

Mother's Day 2005 and 2008

For my regular readers (that sounds funny – what am I, a columnist?) who do not want to sign on to make comments (or can’t) I have decided to make it easier for you. I have adjusted the blog spot to allow comments without logging on to google. I think I still have to approve them before they are published but at least you don’t have to do anything extra except sign your name or nickname (so I’ll know who you are). I feel like I’m in a one sided conversation and would love to hear from ya’ll. Hint, hint! Okay, now that I have that off my chest, onward…

Yesterday was nice. I slept longer than usual so Hubby and I went to the late church service. The kids were with their mom and Hubby left right after the offering to help count it. He’s a counter every second Sunday of the month. So I sat quietly by myself totally relaxed and engrossed in worship. They had three baptisms. It brought back memories of three years ago when my two youngest grandchildren were baptized on Mother’s Day, 2005. Here are a few pictures. Their Aunt S. is their sponsor and godparent. Yesterday was also Pentecost Sunday. How fitting to be reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit as one adult and two children were being baptized. How wonderful to be reminded that God is active and alive in the hearts of my precious grandchildren. I can’t imagine how but I know He loves them even more than I do.

Later, I chatted on the phone with my eldest daughter as we drove to my youngest daughter’s apartment for a delicious lunch prepared by her roommate (except for the potato salad daughter made - she makes a great potato salad – it runs in the family). We spent a relaxing afternoon by the pool. Here are a few of the ba-zillion pictures I took. I just love digital cameras. You can just keep clicking away until you get a few good pictures or until you run your batteries down. While watching the kids swim, we took turns talking to Hubby’s mom. After dessert and presents, we headed home with kids in tow. I ended the day by reading the comment my eldest daughter wrote in my blog. You are a sweetie! I love my girls. Yep, yesterday was nice. As a matter of fact, it was great! Even the weather was great!

Happy Mother's Day!

I have an awesome mother-in-law.

She hates it when I send her serious cards in the mail and prefers funny ones so it doesn’t make her sad. She’ll be happy to know that I didn’t send a serious Mother’s Day Card. But then, I didn’t send a funny one either (more on that later). I knew I wanted to write a post in her honor today. She has been like a mother to me, especially after my own mother passed away in 1991. I remember being so comforted by her tight squeeze as she mourned with me that evening. So, at the risk of making her mad at me for being serious, I continue. I’ll try to interject some humor to lighten it up a bit for her.

I have known her for 34 years and she has always been loving and kind to me; even when her only son and I moved her grandchildren 1200 miles away. And even when she couldn’t smoke in our house after she traveled 1200 miles to visit us. I can be a big pain in the rear when it comes to cigarette smoke. But she always made the best of it and never complained. I don’t feel too guilty about it because I think she has enjoyed sitting outside alone with Hubby making up for lost time as they shared ashtrays, lighters and countless cigarettes. On the other hand, the Louisiana and Texas summers and mosquitoes make it pretty miserable sometimes to sit outside for any length of time.

On our first official date, the car my future husband was driving had a flat tire. Really! I’m not kidding! It was one of many car problems he encountered while we were dating and for which he blames me (he claims he had no car problems before meeting me). Anyway, he ended up calling his sister to come and take us to get the tire fixed because the spare was flat, too. After that, he dropped his sister off and took me home. Keep in mind that we were at three far ends of the county so all this took a while. There was no time left to do anything else! That was the first time I met his sister, Brenda. I don’t remember when I first met his sister, Janet, but I remember when I met his mother. He either forgot to mention to her that we would be coming by or he didn’t think it was a big deal to drop in unannounced. She was in her nightgown. She handled it with dignity and made me feel very comfortable and welcomed.

She’s a strong and brave woman who has been through many tragedies in her lifetime. Her father drowned leaving behind eleven children. She has also lost her husband and her daughter, Janet, to cancer (Missy, my thoughts are with you today). Although I never met her first husband, Albert, she sat down with me early in my marriage and shared photos and memories about him. He died of cancer in 1963, when my hubby was seven years old. He had been sick for a very long time. As she shared her memories I was drawn into her past and felt so much closer to her. I really appreciated that she did that, even though it was probably painful for her. Her second husband, Russell (or Tever, as we call him) is a dear man who has been like a father to my husband. He often jokes around with me and I smile when I think of him. Although I know he gets cranky with her, it’s evident that he loves my mother-in-law very much. Last year, she also lost a granddaughter, Brenda’s youngest daughter, Tracie. I know this may be a hard day for both of them, so please keep them in your prayers.

Jean, back to the fact that you didn’t receive a card from us; sad, funny or otherwise, As your son, my husband and I ate dinner yesterday evening he mentioned that he didn’t get me a mother’s day card and that we could pick up my sander (my present) later that evening. I said, “That’s okay, I’m not your mother. You should be more worried that you didn’t send her one.” The discussion turned toward co-dependency stuff (by the way, I didn’t nag him to take care of his speeding ticket either and he almost got arrested. Not really, but he didn’t show up for court and had to rush down the next day to take care of it). Anyway, back to the dinner conversation. We are going to buy a plane ticket for you to come to Texas next month as a Mother’s Day gift. We hope you can use it. Please let us know a convenient date to come for a couple of weeks. Kirk said the flower beds look great so as you sweat in the heat, you can at least look at pretty flowers. We both wish you a wonderful and blessed Mother’s Day and we will call you later from Daughter #2’s house. We love and miss you!

Birds and Elephants

I have been sick the last two days so no posts. I did well to hold my head up yet alone think about writing anything in my blog. Poor hubby tries so hard to be a good nurse. He doesn’t give himself much credit for it but I think he does a great job. I’m feeling almost back to normal again, whatever that is.

I read in the paper that my granddaughter’s ophthalmologist drown in his swimming pool. I had thoughts of not telling her but with her mother’s help we decided she would probably hear it sooner or later and she needs to learn how to cope with life and death. I need not have worried. She had already heard about it at school but didn’t realize it was her doctor. It was her teacher’s eye doctor, as well. She seemed to take it well, but then, she only saw him once or twice a year. Sad, though, he was only in his 40’s.

On a lighter note, I am very pleased to announce that I finally saw humming birds at my new feeder. I was starting to think there were none around this year. We also have a cardinal couple that hangs out in the garden and on the fence. We think they may have a nest in one of the bushes but we are trying to stay away. They are so pretty. I love hearing the birds chirp and sing in the morning. I also love watching them out my living room window splashing and drinking from the bird bath.

My youngest granddaughter informed me after she apparently woke up from a dream a little while ago, “I went out in the grass and the elephants stepped on me. I want to sleep in your bed.” She’s sound asleep again and I’m wide awake! Darn those elephants!

Short Post for a Short Program

On Monday, I went with a friend to take her cat to SPCA. It was the first time I had ever been there. They had so many cats and kittens that needed to be adopted. There were dogs and puppies there, as well, but not nearly as many dogs as cats. It was sad. It made me glad that my daughter gave an abandoned kitten a home.

Today was my grandson’s end of the year music program at school. It lasted 15 minutes! It was the shortest program I have ever attended in my life! At least we only drove down the street. His other grandparents drove a lot further and I’m wondering if it was worth their gas money. Of course, he was very pleased that they were there so it was worth that. But they were a few minutes late because they couldn’t find the school and they almost missed it! I did get a picture of him in his Dr. Seuss tie. It was cute, but very, very short. And I paid $18 for a DVD! Okay, that’s probably enough complaining.

Update: My eldest daughter received the results from her ultrasound. She has multiple gall stones. So now we wait to see what the surgeon says.

Mostly Girl Stuff

Among the flurry of activities going on this weekend, my grandson attended a birthday party for a little girl in his classroom. I took him shopping on Friday evening with three coupons in hand from Build- A-Bear Workshop, which is where he wanted to get her present. He’s very coupon conscious and thinks if we have a coupon, by golly, use it! I discovered on this shopping trip that he is rather smitten with this little girl (he’s eight!). As we proceeded through the building stations, he decided to put a voice box in the bear that said, “I love you.” I tried to discourage it by saying, “How about a box that sings ‘Happy Birthday’ instead?” I finally had him talked into it and then discovered they were out of them. I caved in to his first choice, against my better judgment. We picked out an outfit (he couldn’t have cared less about that) then proceeded to the computer to type in the certificate. It was the most involved he ever got with picking out a birthday present for someone. On our way out of the store, I suggested that he must really like this little girl. “She’s my girlfriend,” he replied. “Does she know she’s your girlfriend?” I questioned, wondering how second graders have such a notion. “Yea, she told me,” he said. I couldn’t help but giggle a little at the thought of telling someone you are going to be their girlfriend. He added, “I needed Sissy there ‘cause I didn’t know what to do.” I suppressed another giggle and just smiled, wondering why he thinks his fifth grade sister would be such an expert on the subject. Anyway, I hope her parents don’t think the present is too ‘over the top’. Hubby picked him up from the party so I didn’t get a chance to talk with them but I think I’ll try to call her mother tomorrow.

While the grandson was at the birthday party, I took his sisters to an event at church. The women’s group had a doll making presentation given by a professional doll maker. Everyone brought dolls that have special meaning for them. The granddaughters brought their Middleton dolls (Abby and Lulu) and I brought a doll that my girl friend from high school made for my oldest daughter when she was a toddler. In the picture, it’s the one with the yellow yarn hair beside the youngest granddaughter. She doesn’t have a name, poor thing. My oldest daughter wasn’t much interested in dolls and sure didn’t name them. The granddaughters picked up the doll nurturing skills from their mother (we still have her Jessica and the three year old still plays with her even as old and tattered as she is). It was fun and interesting to see all the different dolls, old and new. All the girls from three to ninety ‘something’ enjoyed sharing about their dolls and why they were special to them. We took this picture early so there were many more dolls added later.

Speaking of the daughters, our youngest and her roommate moved into a new apartment last week. So the kids were extra excited to visit this weekend. It is so much closer to our house, it’s clean, it has several nice areas where they can play, and it has a pool and a park close by. A positive move for everyone, I think. The eldest daughter is feeling much better. Hopefully, she won’t have another gall bladder attack before she makes it to the surgeon on the 20th. No news on the ultra sound yet. I'll keep you posted, Grandma Jean!

Yesterday, Continued

Let me get back on my soapbox about the housework. Yesterday morning I had so many choices…what to do, what to do, what to do first! Pay bills, fold laundry and put more in the washing machine, work in my garden, or (you guessed it) clean the house. Well, since it usually gets hot in the afternoon, it’s best to work outside in the morning. And the beautiful spring weather is not going to last very much longer…so I worked in my flower beds. The three-year old granddaughter helped me dig holes and plant flowers with her very own Dora the Explorer garden tools, gloves included. She also helped with the mulch and the watering. I could only fill the watering can a forth of the way full so she could lift it. She had a blast and so did I. We wouldn’t have had near as much fun cleaning the house. Then it was lunch time and we had a picnic outside. After lunch, it was nap time. I usually have to lie down with her to get her to sleep, and today was no exception (otherwise, she just plays). Of course, I fell asleep. After about 45 minutes, I woke up thinking, “I need to get busy!” The nap rejuvenated me a little bit so I worked on the laundry and started picking up around the house. I knew I wouldn’t have time to completely clean it before the kids would be home from school but I completed the all the laundry, even put it away. The kids had Taekwondo from 5-5:45pm. After a quick bite to eat at Wendy’s we headed south to help their mom finish up her move to a new apartment (lots closer -Yea!) The kids took their baths at their moms so they were able to go straight to bed when we returned home around 10pm. Yes, I know that’s too late for a school night. So there are all my justifications for not cleaning the house today. Oh, well, there’s always tomorrow.

And here’s proof of my past lack of enthusiasm to be a diligent disciplinarian when it comes to my grandchildren. I have totally enable them to be lazy. This morning, at his request, I made my grandson cream of wheat for breakfast. As I multi-tasked, getting the three-year old her cereal and orange juice, serving his cream of wheat, and making toast, he sat in his chair doing nothing. “You need to eat, it’s getting late,” I remind him. His reply, “I’m waiting for you to get me a spoon.” Aye-yi-yi! I’ve created a monster! I very calmly pointed out that he had two hands and feet and was fully capable of getting his own spoon. On his face appears a half grin as he heads for the silverware drawer. I’m determined to change his motto from “Don’t do anything you can get Grandma to do,” to “I better take care of that myself if I want it done.” I wonder how long it will take to undo the damage.

Update on eldest daughter: Her doctor told her that her gall bladder needs to come out, which, of course, means surgery. She will have an ultrasound this morning (Friday) then next will be an appointment with a surgeon. I see a trip to Dallas coming up soon. And my friend’s son is doing better and will probably be moved out of ICU and to a regular room today. Thank you for your prayers.

Quotes from the three-year old:

“Papaw and I already had that word.” (Said after she told me that she wanted to see her mommy and I told her that she was working and that she would see her this weekend).

“My favorite colors are pink and chocolate.” (She is often asked what color of lollipop she wants).

“I don’t want to be grounded! I want to be happy!” (Don’t we all? I grounded/banned her from my bedroom for the rest of the day for getting into my things, again!)

"If you drink too much milk, you'll turn into a cow." (Relaying false information her papaw used to explain to her why he doesn't drink milk).

And finally, this morning she rose out of bed at 5am and I told her it was too early to get up. She asked, “Why are you up, Grandma?” “Because I couldn’t sleep,” I answered. “Oh, was Papaw snoring again?”

A Not So Cheerful Post

I have turned into a really, really bad housekeeper and often take the Scarlet O’Hara attitude. I’ll think about it tomorrow. Today, I’d rather….do anything else. I used to love to clean the house. It made me feel like I had accomplished something. Of course, I had more energy back then. I also required my girls to help as soon as they were old enough to learn how and I made them pick up their things. To hear them tell it, I was a slave driver. I know I’m doing my grandchildren a disservice by allowing them get away with leaving their stuff everywhere. Sometimes it’s just easier to let it go. Of course, it’s not the best or wisest thing to do. Perhaps I’ll encourage them be more responsible starting tomorrow (right after I pick up my stuff, of course). Hubby just left for work and asked me to lock the door behind him. “We don’t want anyone to come in and trip over something in the dark and sue us,” he teased.

Eldest daughter went to the emergency room with severe stomach pain yesterday. It appears it may be her gall bladder. Hopefully, she will be able to get into a gastroenterologist tomorrow. Please keep her in your prayers along with my friend, Sandra’s son, who is in ICU in Corpus Christi.

Today is the third anniversary of the death of my best friend from high school. Kristy was so generous with her love and time for others. She always looked for the best in people and was a great encourager. I met her when I was in eighth grade confirmation class. She was an answer to prayer. It was the first time I ever had a best friend. I have to smile when I think of the times we laughed so hard, especially at ourselves. She introduced me to a group of girl friends that were my salvation in high school. I was painfully shy and needed friends so badly. I thank God for bringing her into my life and I look forward to seeing her in heaven. For those in my family who knew Kristy, I found the link below to a memorial set up by Olivia in her honor.

http://www.virtual-memorials.com/main.php?action=view&mem_id=11856&page_no=1