YAWN

Grandma is tired ! But it is the good kind of tired. The kind of tired that you get from playing with a two and a half year old for a week.
We are in Maryland playing with Kaelin, spoiling her and messing up her schedule just enough so that it will take mom and dad a week to get her back to normal. We are having a GREAT time ! We got to go to Kid Fit on Friday, shopping on Thursday, and tomorrow is Art! This little person has a better social life than I do. I am missing out on water aerobics and pilates back in Florida but am getting as much, if not more, activity and exercise playing with Kaelin. We are up and down off the floor 100 times a day. Yesterday we ran around the yard kicking soccer balls and chasing leaves. Today I even got to spend time with Kaelin's mommy and go shopping with my daughter who I don't get to see all that often. What a joy it is to see this amazing young woman raising such a fantastic little girl. Keri and Steve are incredible parents and we are so proud of them.
But our stay comes to an end on Tuesday when we will start the drive back to Florida by way of North Carolina. Husband has friends living in Wilmington so we will stop there and visit for a day or two. It is always hard to leave Kaelin and her parents but we will be back to visit again before too long if can't talk them into coming to Florida. It is going to be a strange holiday season this year. Kyle and his family will be in England for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Keri and her family are staying in Maryland for both holidays so I guess I will just have to focus on our newest little man, Smith and spoil him to pieces for the holidays. Too bad he is only 3 months old and won't know what the heck is going on.

AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Thank you Father Tom for this great thought. At mass today the homily was about being thankful for all we have. Even when it seems like we have nothing there is always something to be thankful for. Not feeling well today? At least you are alive! Bad hair day, at least you have hair. Kids driving you nuts, be thankful for them. They are a most precious gift.

And speaking of precious gifts . . . Ger and I were blessed with being able to take care of Baby Smith for 24 hours while his mom and dad got some much needed R&R. Ger and I drove down to Smith's house yesterday afternoon and sent K&K off for a night out in an ocean front room at a local hotel. And Smith and Grandma and Grandpa got to do some serious bonding. The little man is an angel and we had a fantastic time. We took Mookie the dog for 2 long walks around the neighborhood. Smith was very nosey on the first walk. The second walk put him right to sleep for a marathon 2 hour nap. Ger and I got to do some gardening while Smith snoozed in his stroller and we all slept like babies last night. Smith actually slept for 5 hours for one stretch so grandma got her beauty sleep also.

Smith is now 3 months old and is developing a personality along with an awareness of everything around him. He is fascinated with the mobile on his swing and thought his grandpa was the funniest thing he had seen in a long time. He spent a lot of time staring at me and smiling. Probably laughing at the "shot at and hit" look that I usually wear when babysitting. But what ever it was that caught his fancy, he liked it a lot and was a joy to be with.

As for mom and dad . . . they had trouble sleeping. I guess they just missed their little man too much. I think they should give it another try some time real soon!

Getting back to Father Tom and his sermon . . . THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS AMAZING GIFT OF FAMILY . . . ESPECIALLY GRAND KIDS !

Bats and Bathrooms Take Time

Our house is out to get us! I love my house, as I have said before, B U T . . . this is getting just plain silly. Just when we think we are done with "problems"/repairs along comes another surprise. Now, granted, if we would just leave well enough alone we would be OK but who can do that? Half the joy of having your own home is making it yours by adding your own touches.

The BATS did not add anything to our house except guano. But then, they came with the house so we really can't blame them on anything we did. The whole bat episode occurred about a year after we moved in. We were as surprised as anyone that we had bats in the eves of the house. Not only did we have bats (we are talking BATS . . . over a hundred of the little guys had taken up residence) but the bats had bats. Baby bats that is. And you cannot get rid of big bats until after August 15th (or some day in August) because baby bats are born in the summer and have to be given time to mature enough to fly away in the night before the house is sealed up. Heaven forbid we seal up some bats in our attic because they would then DIE and ROT and SMELL ! Bottom line, the bat project took us well over 3 months to complete.

Next, we move on to the WINDOW PROJECT. We decided to replace all the windows in our house. How long should replacing 17 windows take? A week? Two weeks? A month? How about 6 months! Let's just say that Bella Window company is the world's WORST window company! The owner took the measurements and measured 6 windows wrong. He ordered frosted windows for the garage and clear windows for the bathroom, just the opposite of what we wanted. He never got a building permit and work had to be stopped until he applied for one. The contractors he had doing the job were not listed in the contract and had to stop mid job to change contractors. It was a nightmare of blue tarps and plywood that just went on and on.

So you would think we would learn! Oh No, not us! What can we possible screw up next? (If Ger was doing the work, perish the thought, it would be expected to have all these problems. But these are "reputable" companies. Or so we thought.)

On to the bathroom shower project. Our bathroom is a mix of white and chocolate brown tile. (House was built in the 70's. That explains a lot.) It is actually not bad looking and the brown floor does hide all sorts of nasty dirt. BUT the brown shower stall is claustrophobic! Brown walls, floor and ceiling make for a nasty nasty shower space. And let me tell you how soap scum shows up on brown tiles . . . UGH ! So there we were walking through Home Depot a month ago when a nice young man says, "Are you thinking of refinishing your kitchen or bath?". Ger wanted to keep walking but I saw this as an opportunity from Heaven to rid myself of the brown shower. Bottom line, the salesmen came to the house, measured and ordered. Ta Da ! Piece of cake! Shower pieces will be in in about 4 weeks and then it is a ONE DAY installation. Let me repeat that, ONE DAY ! On Tuesday 3 of the 4 walls arrived. "OOPS!" says Home Depot, "They must have gotten the order wrong". (When, I must ask, was the last time you saw a 3 walled shower?) "BUT", says Home Depot, "we'll do the plumbing, have the inspector in and then you can use the shower till the 4th wall arrives, maybe by overnight." NOT ! The drain didn't pass the inspection and it will be another 4 weeks before the "OVERNIGHTED" wall arrives. Soooooooooooooooooooo, for the next month we will shower in the guest bathroom. (Thank goodness for that bathroom cause I think our neighbors would object to us bathing in the pool!)

And I'm not even going to tell you about the week long installation of my new dish washer.

My Core Is In Pain

There is no way a fat, old woman should be doing Pilates ! That is just common sense for most people but I am not most people. I am a wishy washy idiot who can't say "NO" to my neighbor.
We have "new" neighbors. Well, not that new. They moved in about 2 years ago but it has taken us that long to become friendly. The first year and a half were fine with the "Hi! How are you doing?" But we have advanced to dinner out together every so often, (usually at the free buffet at happy hour at one of the local spots) or the occasional watching their dog for a long weekend. But now it seems that neighbor Esther is making me her pet project. Her husband discovered "Healthy Living" several years ago and is now a marathon runner and triathlon competitor. He is 69 years old! Esther is a bit of a health nut and plays tennis, works out in the gym and does water aerobics. So it wasn't too long ago that she started working on me to join her at water aerobics. I figured "WHAT THE HELL". Pool, water, sunny Florida and activity . . . this is a win win. And so I agreed. Did I mention that water aerobics was at 8:30 in the MORNING! I don't do mornings ! But I figured once a week wouldn't kill me. And it didn't! It was actually fun and great exercise. Now that "The Season" (Snow Bird time) has begun water aerobics is on Saturdays at 10 AM. A much better time for sleepy old me.

Oh, but that was only the beginning. Esther had sucked me in for one activity so now she started laying the ground work for step two of her evil plan. YOGA she said . . . it's fun and good for the body and soul and it is being given at the local high school as part of the adult education program. It doesn't cost much and "IT WILL BE SO MUCH FUN". Yea, yea, it sounds like something I could/should do. I have always thought yoga would be something I would like to try. In a weak moment I agreed and off we went to register. Unfortunately all the yoga classes were filled so, "Let's do PILATES" said Esther. It's just like yoga but you work on your core more.

Dear God in Heaven what was I thinking when I agreed to do pilates. There are 6 people in the class, counting me and Esther. Tonight was class one and my core is sore ! How stretching can cause so much pain and produce so much sweat is beyond me. I am the oldest and fattest in the class, not to mention the least coordinated. But I went, I did and I am alive to write about it.

Did I mention that I am writing on my lap top in a prone position on the bed and will not move till morning. I HOPE !

I'M GOING NUTS . . . WALNUTS THAT IS

How do you lose a bag of walnuts? I am in the middle of baking banana bread and can not, for the life of me, find the bag of walnuts that I KNOW I have. They could be any where but it is driving me NUTS that I can not find them. But then this is the woman who, when in college and living in off campus housing, put a bowl of mashed potatoes in the cabinet when they should have gone in the fridge. My room mates remember that to this day and don't let me forget it! So the walnuts could be any where from the kitchen to the car. I solved the dilemma by using pecans. Not as good but they will do.

Thankfully I have gotten out of my funk over the walnuts with a Skype call to England to see and talk with Abby and Roman and their parents. Abby and Roman have skate boards that they bought for themselves with their allowance money. At one point they were laying in the street with the skate boards on their bellies. (It is actually the parking area in front of their house.) The 2 kids are following in the footsteps of their parents, they bring out the best in each other. Roman is just a happy, happy young boy and Abby is following his lead and coming out of her shy shell. The two of them seem to adore each other and it is wonderful to see this family so happy and relaxed. The family has found their niche in life and are loving being in England. They have so much more time to spend as a family and are taking full advantage of it. Today they were at Windsor Castle taking the tour once again. Abby never seems to tire of it and Roman was able to listen to the tour in Russian, much to his delight. (He had not been to the castle yet and had been asking about it.) His English is growing each day but this was a treat to hear all about this marvelous place in his native tongue.

Next weekend the family is off to Milan. Part work for Kyle and the rest will be a new adventure for all.

Suddenly a bag of walnuts seems pretty unimportant.