Apr 03
Two breakfasts, two lunches, two floor sweepings, eight loads of laundry, two Dora shows, two puzzles, many trips to the potty, several hand washings, and I’m finally ready to start my morning.
Oh, I guess I missed my morning.
Now, down to the task of the day, sewing.
Apr 02
Last Monday: wash, clean, shop, more cleaning.
Tuesday and Wednesday, granddaughters here: zoo, swing, bikes, visit my mom with them, take them home.
Thursday: wash, clean, pack, finish website, shop, running out of gas.
Friday and Saturday: Off to Wilmington Ohio, enjoyed 2 days of wonderful music at Joe Mullins’s wonderful Southern Ohio Indoor Music Festival. More later, and Papa’s pictures later this week.
Sunday Morning: Back home quick to see GS1, home from the navy for the weekend. Short visit, but wonderful. I woke up crying at four this morning. Funny, I only cried the day after he left when I was alone. But I sure have missed him a lot. He has either grown taller, or is standing up straighter now. His Mom took him to the airport at 4:45 so he could fly back to Chicago. He showed us this little jem while he was here.
This Monday and Tuesday: granddaughters here again, and their brother came along for the ride. We’re off to the Toledo Science museum today. Zoo tomorrow if the weather is OK. Taking them to meet their parents Wednesday. See you Thursday!
Mar 22
Once upon a time, well, actually in October of 2003 I needed a car. I had recently quit working and economy was my main concern, so we bought a Neon that had been leased or used, possibly by a Chrysler employee. The car had about 10,000 miles, and standard options for an economy car. Not too long after I acquired the car, Papa’s company elected to provide a car allowance instead of a lease car for him and other employees who used a car for their jobs.
Papa came home and told me he would be driving the Neon as his work auto, since it was the most economical thing we owned. Since then, I have been driving our mini-van. We acquired the van when I realized that I was borrowing D2’s van each time I retrieved her children for a visit. Another factor was our travel down south for bluegrass festivals several times a year. We really didn’t (and don’t) want to take Lex that far from home. Lex is a nice thing, always been reliable, but is far from new. We figure, why temp fate? The answer, pretend we’re young again and camp with the van. It’s worked for several years.
The minivan is also a nice thing, but it is a little large for Granny to use to buy groceries and go to genealogy meetings. And, we’d like it to last as long as possible, so we can retrieve our grandchildren, use it for family trips, and whatever else.
We have been thinking about all these issues for a while, so yesterday Papa acquired the solution, a new small car to drive for work. It will be new enough to meet the company’s policy for the time remaining in Papa’s planned working career. It was a great deal, but not as great as the Neon. I guess it’s not 2003 anymore?
79,000 miles later, I have the Neon back. Tonight I cleaned the insides of both of my cars, and shampooed the carpets and floor mats. Tomorrow I’ll get the van’s oil changed, fill it with gas, wash it, and park it in the garage. The next day, I’ll do the same with the Neon—but it will be parked in the used car lot drive. I’ll be driving the Neon most of the time. It’s nice to have my car back again.
Mar 21
Unpleasant subject–well in this case, funny. If you own cats, you will eventually have a litter box. In the good old days, we lived in a rural environment and it was safe to let our cats outside. Here in the suburbs, we won’t let any of our cats out. Traffic is only one reason.
One of the best features of cats is the fact that the pretty much come trained. Cats always go to the same place, at least mine always have. You put the box out, watch the cat/kitten for an hour, see it sniffing, put it in the box, and your work is done. Well, almost done, you do have to clean and box–repeatedly. I just scoop mine out every morning. It’s not hard, gets done in a routine and isn’t forgotten that way.
The point of this post, the crazy cat we have now. Chloe LIES DOWN in the litter box. No kidding, each time I completely dump the box , clean it and put in new litter she runs for it. She gets in, rolls around, scratches to her heart’s content, and finally lies down. I wonder if I should import a pile of sand for her to play in?
Mar 20
I sure am happy to be home again. The past couple of days have been taken up by looking around, walking around, sleeping in my own bed, sitting in my own chair, using my big computer (as apposed to my laptop) and generally feeling happy
The best news is that GD1 is feeling “great”. She was running, riding her bike and generally causing havoc when I left. Back to normal, a good thing.
The catties seem happy too, but they were not too cordial when I first arrived. I brought toys, threw them around for the cats to play with, and so on. And, I have not had a cat in my lap since I returned. D1 asked if we missed Lucy/Lucifer/Squeaky (three names, one cat) last night. It could be good news that a cat was not pushing us around in the bed, or bad news, but my answer was something like “not at all”. Today Chloe was playing fetch with me, so I guess she forgives me, or at least likes the new toys
We saw some good music Friday night at the Kentuckians of Michigan. I’ll get the pictures posted today. Or tomorrow. Or whenever!
The sun is shining, that is good.
Mar 15
My grandson says I should have told him he did a bad job and not posted this. But, he did a good job, the machine was set wrong. I saw him carefully vacuum under everything and was puzzled when I saw the result. Investigation revealed that it wasn’t him, it was the machine, which I didn’t return to the normal setting. My problem, not his.
Mar 14
Yesterday was 70 degrees, but today was a good day. GD1 is back to being herself. S-in-L went to the gym in the morning and took GD2 to play in the kid’s area when he went. GD1 and I went to the home improvement store and got handles for her dresser. She carefully inspected everything that was available and settled for some shiny ones.
We went to Steak n Shake for lunch. She ordered a “hamburger without mustard or tomatoes or lettuce, but with ketchup.” And a chocolate shake with peanut butter cup pieces. She drank the shake, and ate a lot of the fries and at least half the sandwich. This is a child that isn’t really a great eater, who had eaten a pretty good sized breakfast.
Then, all 3 of the kids played outside in the rather damp but warmish weather till I was worn out. I pitched while all batted, caught and fielded.
It was a day of simple pleasures, remembering how it was to live in a different rhythm. And it was great to have GD1 acting pretty much like herself. It’s amazing how fast kids bounce back.
Mar 12
I’ve been here at D2’s home for a week. I haven’t been away from home for a whole week since I stopped working, unless Papa and I went somewhere together. Papa did come over here to visit me this weekend, and have some fun with the grandkids, and generally help out. Good thing, it’s easy for me to feel sorry for myself.
But, we are blessed since GD1 is home. Even with her weak smile and sometimes uncooperative attitude, she’s herself, and she is getting well!
So, I was catching up on reading while planning my next move to get her to drink something (she needs more liquids that she wants to drink). I read this. I don’t read this lady’s blog a lot, but Sista does. If you were feeling down in the dumps, read that, and cheer up.
Then, go do something for someone.
Mar 08
GD1 had her appendix removed Monday night. She’s only 4, and really a tiny girl. I made the drive pretty quickly, and even had extra underwear–but not a lot of extra underwear. D2 is at the hospital and has been there except for 2 showers since Monday. S-n-L has been there a lot also, but needed to work yesterday and will continue to through the weekend.
GS3 and GD2 and I are holding down the fort. I find that I can still change diapers, and match small socks and help with homework. I guess some things are like riding a bike. We hope GD1 will be home soon, but it’s hard to tell. Wish me luck!
Mar 06
How can a large, strong almost 16 year old grandson run the vacuum, and not remove any dirt from the floor. This is a highly efficient, very nice vacuum that I splurged on, not some old pile of junk.
Are your ready for the answer? I discovered this, when I used it the next day. A slight adjustment fixed everything!
