Girls Day Out

Ocassionally, my sisters, my mother, my sister-in-law, and my daughter-in-law and my two granddaughters get together in Greensboro for lunch and visiting. It is usually a spur of the moment thing and all of us can't get there all of the time, but it's always fun! Our last outing was sometime in June (I know, I'm a little slow). We had lunch. I'm not sure what we had, but I do remember the tomato pie. Mama makes a good one! I think we had chicken and fruit, too, but who knows. Attendees this time were me, sister Judy, sister Mary, Mama, sister-in-law Renee, daughter-in-law, Shanna, and the granddaughters Gracie and Avery. It was fun, but Shanna, Gracie, and Avery are moving to Texas with the Daddyman, so I guess they won't make the next few we have! Here are some pics!

The top pic is of Mama playing with Gracie and Baby Doshi (Gracie's froggy companion). Or maybe they are playing with Clean Doshi. No one but Gracie can ever tell since both froggie companions look alike. The next picture is Renee, my brother's wife. Then there's the pic of Judy Mary, and Mama. and last, but certainly not least is little Avery. Those little girls are SO CUTE!!! Their MiMi loves them passionately!

What Is He Doing?

Well, I can't be quiet any longer about President Obama. What in hell is he doing? He's throwing up new legislation so fast that it's like standing in front of a machine gun. It's being pushed through without time to read and digest it. His power grabs are maniacal, and he is pushing this country down a road that we don't want to travel. The problem as I see it is that too few people are paying attention. Couple that with the fact that he has demonstrated a disturbing pattern of controlling the press, and what do you have? You have an uninformed public. What will we say when we have deficits so high that our great grandchildren won't be able to pay them off? What do we say now when he promises all these great things, but there is no way in hell to pay for them? What will we say when we lose all our rights as citizens? Has he forgotten the 10th amendment..."all powers that are not enumerated in the constitution are reserved for the people"? This is so scary that I can't even contemplate it. When we have gotten to the place that we allow the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama make decisions for us and we say nothing, then we have fallen far indeed. Find yourself a "tea party". Find yourself a demonstration. Find your pen and write to your congresspersons. Don't just sit around and think that you will get something for nothing. All of us will pay...pay with dollars, and pay with the loss of the America that we have become accustomed to.

Wake up!!!! Start paying attention before it is too late.

FINALLY...FOR SALE

After countless hours of cleaning out, cleaning up, and crying, our house in Charlotte is finally on the market! It is bittersweet. We have lived here for almost 30 years, a long time in anyone's book. A lot of living, a lot of loving, a lot of fussing, a lot of disagreement, a lot of life! Our boys grew up here. When we first bought this place we had to do some work on it before we could move in. We'd drag the boys over here in the evenings and on the weekends with a cooler of sodas and beer, some sandwiches, and some books in case they got bored ( often). I remember that they frequently fell asleep on the floor while JR and I just tried to "finish this one thing". :):) One time JR asked Adam to go to the refrigerator to get some mustard to put on our sausage biscuits...no matter that we had no refrigerator. Adam went up to the kitchen and returned very chagrined to admit that there was no frig. We laughed out loud at him, sweet thing that he was. Jon, being the oldest, was always on go...ready to help us in any way possible. When we finally moved in here, our neighbor, John Offerdahl, came over to introduce himself. Adam shot him with a water pistol. "Who are you"?, he said as he cut a stripe across John's chest. All the more impressive since Adam had a broken leg at the time. How do you measure all those memories?

Jon and JR spent the whole day Saturday getting Jon's 1957 Chevy up on the car carrier to take to the mountains. I don't think that they thought it would be so hard. It was. They leave in the morning to transport it. It's a pretty thing. And there's another one to go. Jim's 1957 Chevy convertible will be next. Guess what they will be stored in? You got it...shipping containers. Apparently, Jim has cornered the market on those things. Luckily, we have 45 acres on which to disperse them!

I have a picture somewhere of Jon and his prom date when he was a senior. I'm sure it's in the moutains right now, but when I find it I will scan it and share it. He and Cindi are standing in front of his 1957, looking like cats that just ate the canary.

I hope that someone will find this house and not be able to live without it. I hope that some other family will find life (good and bad) here. What better could I wish someone? I'll miss it, but it's time for us to move to the next part of our lives.

Adam is Moving

Adam is moving to Texas. He is going to begin his own business, his own vision, his own life. He is taking Shanna and Gracie and Avery with him. Of course he is! I am devastated. I am not sad for him. This is probably the right thing for him as he pursues his dreams and goals. But I have never been this far away from him,and I am sad for me. He is my baby...that will never change. I told Mama and she cried. She thinks she might never see him again. That could be right as she is not a "spring chicken" anymore. I know there are planes and there are cars. I figure that Judy (Shanna's mother) and I will take a road trip. We both will be living in the mountains, so that should be reasonably easy to arrange. And, we'll do Skype so we can keep in touch with the girls' growth. I read Shanna's blog a few minutes ago and she talked about never forgetting the birth of a child. So true. I'll never forget Adam's birth...it was easy and he was a very good baby. He was cuddly, snuggly, and soft. We used to call him the "Velcro Kid" because he spent so much time attached to us. Even when he got older and was bigger than I, he clung to me when he was tired. I remember one time when he was in college, we were somewhere with him and he was hanging on me. I asked him if it was okay for me to hang on him for awhile since he was making me tired. We both laughed. But...I'd like for that to happen again. I never feel like I see him enough, but that's not a bad thing. JR and I were apparently successful in rearing a strong and independent adult. We believe that is the job of parents. Still, you never get over remembering them as babies, children, young adults. It's hard to turn them loose. I love you, Adam.

The BGs...BFF

1st row: Lynn, Nancy Kramer

2nd row:Millie Snyder, Susan Gibbs, Valerie Crockett

3rd row: Mary-lynn Mitchell, Grace Mitchell, Gayle Aughtry,Vicki Jaus

Missing: Ann Baldwin

The BGs stand for "The Bridge Girls". We get together once a month for dinner and bridge. Sometimes we don't get to the bridge part, but we have fun trying. It works like this: a member hosts the evening and it is her responsibility to fix dinner. The rest of us show up about 6:00, eat, drink, and are merry for about 3 hours. Then all of us old people go home and go to bed!

There are 8 permanent members and 2 permanent subs, who are just like family to us and we've taken to inviting all 10 whether we need a sub or not. Most of us have been in education, though a couple have been in non-profits. Some of us are retired, some are only contemplating it, but we're all best friends forever. We laugh and cry together, having shared in many joyous and dark moments in each other's lives. We came to our friendships late. The common denominator was Millie Snyder. She knew us all and would NOT rest until she had managed to get two tables for bridge. We started with 4...Millie, Gayle, me, and Susan. That didn't last long and soon there were eight! Valerie and Ann are nominal subs...but we hardly ever have a time when all 8 of us can get there. So, we just started inviting everybody and there are always enough!

Following are some candid shots of the group. Let me declare right now that I love every single one of them and always will. Hopefully, they will not kill me for publishing these shots.

I will miss them when I move, but I am going to try to get back as much as possible. Thanks, BGs. You've touched my life in so many ways. I only wonder one thing: why have none of them volunteered to help me with my move???

I apologize for the placement of the pics. I just can't figure out how to get them where I want them!

They're Gooone...I thought

Ok. I thought the painters were finally gone...two weeks and a ton of heartburn! Of course, they forgot to paint the laundry room, so they had to come back. And...they forgot to paint the bathroom cabinets, so they had to come back. And...they forgot to paint the insides of a couple of the kitchen cabinets, so they had to come back. I'm tired of this come back stuff!!!!!

Well, they came back today. They got the laundry room, the kitchen cabinets, but not the bathroom cabinets. They're coming back tomorrow. If they weren't so nice, I'd just fire them!

A MiMi Weekend

It isn't often that I get to see all of my grandchildren in a single weekend, and it is even less frequent that I get to interact with all five of them in a weekend. But this weekend was special. Friday was Grandparent's Day at St. Gabriel's School where Katie and Lauren attend. After Mass, we visited the rooms where special activities were on display, where snacks were provided, and where we were able to meet their respective teachers. The school does this every spring on the Friday of the weekend when the second graders receive their first communions. Many grandparents come from near and far to witness this special time in the religious life of their grandchildren.

Friday was also Lauren's sixth birthday, so we went to Jon's and Patti's for a family celebration. Patti's parents were there, as were her sister and her family, and her aunt and her family. It was lots of fun since all of them are fun people. Lauren got some good presents and she was a happy camper!

The picture at the left is her pretty face and I love her passionately! The other pic is of her and her big sister, Katie. Katie is our oldest grandchild and is such a pleasure!

Katie and Lauren also have a brother, Jonathan, Jr. He is ALL boy! On Saturday I went to his little T-Ball Clinic game. It's not real T-Ball since the kids are all about 4 years of age, but the Y is training them in the rudimentary skills needed to compete. I say that with tongue in cheek because there is no such thing as "skill" in this group. The coach told them when he placed them in positons that they needed to stay as close to their positions as possible and not go running all around the field. Guess what happened? As soon as a ball was hit, all the fielders converged on the ball like sharks on chum! I laughed out loud! All the dads were in the outfield and were shouting advice to their offspring (girls and boys). Mothers were caring for younger siblings and were generally uninvolved in the goings-on! Jonathan can hit and throw, but he doesn't know to run when he hits, and he doesn't know who to throw to. So funny!!!

Not be be outdone, Adam's oldest daughter had her third birthday party on Sunday. Though she will not be three until May 9, the party was held Sunday because they are going to be out of town on her real birthday. I really think that Adam and Shanna used it as an excuse to party, but, let me tell you, Gracie was in her element! I got there about 3:00 and her other grandparents were there already. I was glad because the old folks could hang out together. Both the girls ate with us and we had a wonderful time. I was so glad to see many of Adam's and Shanna's new friends as well as some that I have known for many years. I got good "quality" time with Gracie and Avery (she is walking a little now at 11 months), and got lots of laughs with some of the children that were there. I think there might have been 9 or 10 children, the oldest being three! Gracie just ripped off wrapping and had NO idea of what was in her packages. She DID, however, like the digital camera that MiMi and PapaJim gave her!

I can't forget little Avery. She will be one year old on June 4. She has begun to walk a little and is such a pleasant baby. She liked the presents, too, and did her share of working on them!

I love this grandmother thing! I am so happy that I have been able to be a part of the lives of all five of them. How lucky can a woman get? It was a great weekend, and a welcome respite from the moving chores!