What did I ever do whenI was raising my kids and didn't have parents to help me out? My mother died before my kids were born, my dad wasn't living near by and Husband's parents were not the baby sitting sort of grand parents. And so if I felt the need to get away I sucked it up and stayed home taking care of my kids.
It seems that now a days parents feel the need for ME TIME. What the hell that is is beyond me. Me time for me was the five minutes a day that I got to go to the bathroom without a little person attached to my leg. Me time didn't even come after the kids went to bed because at that point Husband felt I should be giving him my undivided attention. Me time was a non existent dream. There was never even a thought that as a parent I was entitled to time to myself. Me time would be that time far far in the very distant future that I would occasionally allow myself to dream about. That day when the kids were all grown and the house was paid off and the dog died so I could actually sit down and do something for myself!
But this is a different world. Parents seem to think that they are entitled to time off. Parenting has become a part time job at which the parent is actually allowed to step away from the roll of chief cook and bottle washer and have time to do things they like to do. The concept that a parent could actually do things they LIKED to do was unheard of. You did what was necessary for the well being of your child and then you went to sleep for a couple of hours, if your were lucky, and then started all over again.
As parents we actually cooked meals for our kids. No fast food, no take out, no microwave meals. You found the time to make a shopping list, get to the store and then prepare a full meal, complete with vegetables and dessert. My mom ALWAYS made sure there was dessert AFTER dinner. Now kids eat dessert FOR dinner if they are lucky enough to have parents who take the time to have food in the house.
Parents now seem to have the idea that they are entitled to much needed time off from parenting. The "adult vacation" without kids. If Husband and I wanted to have a vacation you can be sure there were 3 little people tagging along with us. We never even considered going away without the kids. It just wasn't done. A family consisted of a mom and dad AND the kids. No separate vacations, my kids didn't even get to go to sleep away camp in the summer. We were together 24/7 EXCEPT at night. That was the one time tat a parent got to "get away"from their kids. Come bed time the kids went into THEIR rooms where they stayed for the entire night. There was no sharing the bed with mom and dad. Husband barely tolerated sharing a bed with me never mind 3 kids. If someone got sick in the middle of the night I would be found sleeping on the floor of their room next to their bed. NO WAY were they permitted to share mom's bed. That too seems to be something the "modern" parent has been unable to fathom. Many of my grand kids don't even know they have a bed because they spend so many nights in with mom and dad.
All this comes from the fact that I just spent the past 4 days taking care of my grand kids. I ADORE my grand kids and enjoyed every minute of being with them. (Well maybe not so much at 7:00 AM when they get up.) BUT lets face it, taking care of kids when you are 40is one thing but taking care of kids when you are 72 is quite another adventure. The fact that these kids live in a house with stairs is a game changer right there. My old knees just don't do stairs that well any more and every time I had to go up or down these stairs I was reminded of my age. Luckily these 2 children happen to be awesome when it comes to taking care of themselves and going to bed at night so I think a good part of this past weekend turned into them taking care of me, rather than the opposite way around.
It has been a wonderful experience having this time with these children but I am not going to be lingering when their parents show up tonight with their sun tans and island adventure stories. I love them all but it is time for this grand ma to return to my child free life and to enjoying my remaining years of being a grand ma who only sees the grand kids when I want and then leave at the end of the day to collapse at home to enjoy my hard earned ME TIME !!
Monday, November 20, 2017
Thursday, November 16, 2017
TRCE
Happy Thanksgiving from me and my grand kids. This being "THE HOLIDAY SEASON" I am being inundated with holiday pictures and crafts from my grand kids and naturally I am l loving it. For as much as I am trying to clean out "memories" from the past and make my new home less cluttered I am soft when it comes to throwing out anything that was given to me by my kids or grand kids. I still have ceramic creations from all three of my kids that I just can not part with. They do not fit into any decor nor will you ever find the likes of them in Better Homes and Gardens but they are treasures that I just can't get rid of.
About 2 weeks ago Kaelin and Finn arrived with a "lovely" Fall wreath that Kaelin had made. They had both gone to a craft class at Michaels and learned how to make wreaths and so I naturally was the recipient of one of the creations. It is hanging proudly on the front door and each time I open or close the door another small piece of the wreath hits the ground. I figure I will have nothing remaining by Christmas and so will be ready for their next creation.
Inside the house there are several works of art hanging in various spots through out the place. I still have some of Kent's art work from when he was a child along with framed finger paintings done by Abby and Kaelin when they were no more than 2 years old. These treasures are just as important to me as an original van Gough would be to someone else. Most recently I framed a wonderful piece of art done by Kaelin just before Halloween. I just loved it so much I had to hang it up for everyone to see. Unfortunately this condo has limited wall space as most of the walls are taken up with built in shelves or mirrors. So if you get to visit you will be subjected to sleeping in a guest bedroom that is filled with all my grand kids art.
Besides being the proud owner of some wonderful pieces of art I am blessed to have grand kids who write me notes. Abby and I will go on sprees of letter writing back and forth between Florida and Atlanta and Kaelin and Finn are forever slipping me little notes scribbled out on any one of the numerous note pads that I forward to them from my endless collection. These are the REAL treasures!! There is nothing like a note on a little piece of paper slipped into your hand as you are leaving to warm your heart and bring tears to your eyes. I carry one such note with me in my wallet. It is so beat up and falling apart that I know I should just throw it out but I can't bear to part with it. This note was given to me by Kaelin on my of my trips to Maryland. Kaelin was teaching herself how to write in script, (something that is no longer taught in school). She was very proud of her accomplishment so she wanted to share her talent with me. I will treasure it forever.
About 2 weeks ago Kaelin and Finn arrived with a "lovely" Fall wreath that Kaelin had made. They had both gone to a craft class at Michaels and learned how to make wreaths and so I naturally was the recipient of one of the creations. It is hanging proudly on the front door and each time I open or close the door another small piece of the wreath hits the ground. I figure I will have nothing remaining by Christmas and so will be ready for their next creation.
Inside the house there are several works of art hanging in various spots through out the place. I still have some of Kent's art work from when he was a child along with framed finger paintings done by Abby and Kaelin when they were no more than 2 years old. These treasures are just as important to me as an original van Gough would be to someone else. Most recently I framed a wonderful piece of art done by Kaelin just before Halloween. I just loved it so much I had to hang it up for everyone to see. Unfortunately this condo has limited wall space as most of the walls are taken up with built in shelves or mirrors. So if you get to visit you will be subjected to sleeping in a guest bedroom that is filled with all my grand kids art.
Besides being the proud owner of some wonderful pieces of art I am blessed to have grand kids who write me notes. Abby and I will go on sprees of letter writing back and forth between Florida and Atlanta and Kaelin and Finn are forever slipping me little notes scribbled out on any one of the numerous note pads that I forward to them from my endless collection. These are the REAL treasures!! There is nothing like a note on a little piece of paper slipped into your hand as you are leaving to warm your heart and bring tears to your eyes. I carry one such note with me in my wallet. It is so beat up and falling apart that I know I should just throw it out but I can't bear to part with it. This note was given to me by Kaelin on my of my trips to Maryland. Kaelin was teaching herself how to write in script, (something that is no longer taught in school). She was very proud of her accomplishment so she wanted to share her talent with me. I will treasure it forever.
But above and beyond the pleasure I get from looking at these wonderful works of art there is the mystery of deciphering just what exactly the message is on these little notes that I receive. Most times I can figure out the phonics of the words and come up with a reasonable translation but every now and again the words allude me. As is the case of the most recent contribution from Finn. Finn and his mom Keri were discussing the menu for Thanksgiving dinner and Finn decided to write it down so they would have it to refer to come Turkey day. Item number one was TRCE. Luckily Finn had given me this note the other day when I was at their house, (how great is it that they live 2 minutes away from me!!!) Fortunately for me the note came with an illustration to help me translate.
TURKEY!
How could I not know what TRCE spelled. So when I got a copy of the menu I knew exactly what that first item was. I'll let you try to figure out the rest.
Give up?
How about MASPTATOS - Mash potatoes of course. That was an easy one.
MRSHSCAMMELAS - marshmallows (on the sweet potatoes)
and finally the hardest one of all that took Keri and I about an hour to figure out:
BARESOS
otherwise known as cranberries. I really don't know how that translates but that is the only thing on the menu that we can figure is a possibility.
You just have to love kids !!!!!!!
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
I'M NOT LISTENING !!!!
Today was one of those mornings that all the stars were NOT in alignment for me and some thing had it out for me to screw with my head. (That doesn't take much.)
Do you ever feel like something is telling you, "DON'T DO IT!"? What ever "IT" happens to be. Well this was definately one of those mornings that I was getting major signs and signals to stay in bed and go back to sleep for another 3 or 4 hours. Or at least for another 20 minutes.
First of all I woke up at 7:30 AM which as you all know is a completely unnatural time for me to wake up, never mind GET up. But the angels were calling me this morning and they woke me right up out of a sound sleep whispering in my ear, "Come on Cath, get your lazy bones out of that bed and go to mass. You've been thinking about getting to daily mass so here we are waking you up to do just that!" And so there I was AWAKE but still fighting those little voices that were encouraging me to move my bones. Now at this point I have the devil on one shoulder and my angels on the other shoulder all fighting for my attention and I'm still not sure just who I'm going to listen to. Naturally the devil's voice is the louder one and it is telling me I really don't have enough time to get moving and out the door to make it to 8:30 mass. By now the clock has ticked away a good 15 minutes and I am still wavering in my decision of how I will spend my morning. I stopped to check the mass times at all the surrounding churches just in case one of them might have a 9 AM mass but that wasn't the case. (Who am I kidding, I knew that fact all along.) It was 8:30 mass or nothing, unless I wanted to wait till 5:30 and go to a near by church that had that late mass. And the clock is continuing to tick away the minutes! I knew full well that if I didn't go to mass NOW I was not going to get there at all, no matter what my intentions were. And so at 8:05 I got my butt moving at hyper speed and was out the door by 8:17. (If I had gotten out of the bed when I first thought about going to mass I would have had a good 35 minutes to get ready but instead I let the devil play with my head so I was now rushing like a lunatic to drive the 8 minute drive to my church. And so began the HARD PUSH on the part of that nasty little devil to keep me from actually arriving at the church in time for mass.
As I left the house the sun was shining brightly ! It was a beautiful morning! And yet in the span of 2 minutes it started to rain. The sun was still shining but it was raining. Not uncommon for Florida but by the time I got into my car the sun was GONE and the sky was opening into a total deluge. Thankfully I had grabbed a light jacket on my way out the door, (only because it was sitting on the chair by the door and I know how cold the church can be.) Unfortunately, my "car umbrella" was sitting on the chair on the patio and I did NOT pick that up to take along with me. At this point I knew the devil was up to his tricks and was going to mess with me all the way to church which naturally got me even more determined to get there on time. I managed to catch EVERY red light between here and my church. A total of 5 red lights that at 8:15 in the morning are usually green all the way. Not this morning. And then there was the 300 year old man driving down the road in front of me who wasn't going more than 15 miles an hour in the 45 MPH zone.
As I swung into the church parking lot the sky was continuing its down pour so I knew I was going to get wet. But luckily there were bunches of parking spaces right in front of the chapel so I could jump out of the car and run into the chapel without too much damage. Funny joke ! Mass was NOT in the chapel but rather in the main church of which the closest door was a good 500 yards away. It was shorter to run back to the car, move the car to a closer parking spot on the side of the church and make the second mad dash for the door. At this point I am muttering under my breath how the damn devil is pulling out all stops to keep me from getting to mass this morning and I'll be damned if I am going to let him win this battle.
I made it soggily into the church, put on my jacket because the church WAS freezing, especially since I was now thoroughly soaked and sat myself down in perfect time for the beginning of mass.
And ever since that moment my day has been PERFECT ! No more blockades in my way. The sun was shining brightly when I left mass and it hasn't gone in since then. It's the most beautiful warm sunny day that we have had in a while so I think maybe God is smiling at me for putting up such a good fight.
Do you ever feel like something is telling you, "DON'T DO IT!"? What ever "IT" happens to be. Well this was definately one of those mornings that I was getting major signs and signals to stay in bed and go back to sleep for another 3 or 4 hours. Or at least for another 20 minutes.
First of all I woke up at 7:30 AM which as you all know is a completely unnatural time for me to wake up, never mind GET up. But the angels were calling me this morning and they woke me right up out of a sound sleep whispering in my ear, "Come on Cath, get your lazy bones out of that bed and go to mass. You've been thinking about getting to daily mass so here we are waking you up to do just that!" And so there I was AWAKE but still fighting those little voices that were encouraging me to move my bones. Now at this point I have the devil on one shoulder and my angels on the other shoulder all fighting for my attention and I'm still not sure just who I'm going to listen to. Naturally the devil's voice is the louder one and it is telling me I really don't have enough time to get moving and out the door to make it to 8:30 mass. By now the clock has ticked away a good 15 minutes and I am still wavering in my decision of how I will spend my morning. I stopped to check the mass times at all the surrounding churches just in case one of them might have a 9 AM mass but that wasn't the case. (Who am I kidding, I knew that fact all along.) It was 8:30 mass or nothing, unless I wanted to wait till 5:30 and go to a near by church that had that late mass. And the clock is continuing to tick away the minutes! I knew full well that if I didn't go to mass NOW I was not going to get there at all, no matter what my intentions were. And so at 8:05 I got my butt moving at hyper speed and was out the door by 8:17. (If I had gotten out of the bed when I first thought about going to mass I would have had a good 35 minutes to get ready but instead I let the devil play with my head so I was now rushing like a lunatic to drive the 8 minute drive to my church. And so began the HARD PUSH on the part of that nasty little devil to keep me from actually arriving at the church in time for mass.
As I left the house the sun was shining brightly ! It was a beautiful morning! And yet in the span of 2 minutes it started to rain. The sun was still shining but it was raining. Not uncommon for Florida but by the time I got into my car the sun was GONE and the sky was opening into a total deluge. Thankfully I had grabbed a light jacket on my way out the door, (only because it was sitting on the chair by the door and I know how cold the church can be.) Unfortunately, my "car umbrella" was sitting on the chair on the patio and I did NOT pick that up to take along with me. At this point I knew the devil was up to his tricks and was going to mess with me all the way to church which naturally got me even more determined to get there on time. I managed to catch EVERY red light between here and my church. A total of 5 red lights that at 8:15 in the morning are usually green all the way. Not this morning. And then there was the 300 year old man driving down the road in front of me who wasn't going more than 15 miles an hour in the 45 MPH zone.
As I swung into the church parking lot the sky was continuing its down pour so I knew I was going to get wet. But luckily there were bunches of parking spaces right in front of the chapel so I could jump out of the car and run into the chapel without too much damage. Funny joke ! Mass was NOT in the chapel but rather in the main church of which the closest door was a good 500 yards away. It was shorter to run back to the car, move the car to a closer parking spot on the side of the church and make the second mad dash for the door. At this point I am muttering under my breath how the damn devil is pulling out all stops to keep me from getting to mass this morning and I'll be damned if I am going to let him win this battle.
I made it soggily into the church, put on my jacket because the church WAS freezing, especially since I was now thoroughly soaked and sat myself down in perfect time for the beginning of mass.
And ever since that moment my day has been PERFECT ! No more blockades in my way. The sun was shining brightly when I left mass and it hasn't gone in since then. It's the most beautiful warm sunny day that we have had in a while so I think maybe God is smiling at me for putting up such a good fight.
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
MEMORIES
Lets start by saying sorry for the gap in blogs. Its been busy around here with settling into the new place, wonderful grand kids and visits from the Michigan Man. As you may have noticed I usually only blog when I am bored, angry or unhappy. The past month has been filled with so many blessings that my brain hasn't had time to write. That's a good thing for me but I know some of you seem to enjoy my ramblings and so I apologize to all for my lack of attention to your needs.
With that said let me tell you about one of the BIG things that is taking my attention these days.Ever since I sold my wonderful home that Ger and I shared here in Florida I have had to rent a storage unit for all the "things" that I just couldn't part with but didn't have the space for in my tiny tiny cave of a condo. The majority of those things being photo albums. LOT AND LOTS of photo albums. My close friends and family can tell you that I always have a camera in hand and love to capture every moment when I'm with those friends and family. Over 45 years that adds up to A LOT of pictures. And being the compulsive person that I can be I always was right up to date in putting the photos into albums so that the memories would be saved forever or until I croak and my kids toss EVERY THING into a dumpster. Because you know that is exactly what is going to happen. And so to spare my children the burden of tossing all these albums I decided to go through them and take out all the photos that my kids and friends might like and toss the rest. Who knew what a Herculean task this would be when I finally emptied the storage unit and brought all the "stuff" here to the new condo.
The photo albums are now in a plastic bin in the shed that is attached to my new condo. Most people keep garden tools in their shed. I have photo albums!
The trip down Memory Lane starts in 1973 when Kyle was born. Good God were my children EVER that small and adorable? It's funny how I can look at some of the photos and remember the EXACT moment when that picture was taken and others are just a blur of a memory from Oh so long ago. I feel like I am a traveler in time, visiting places and people that I haven't thought of in years. The vividness of the memories amazes me and has brought about a ton of tears and just as much laughter. I just keep saying over and over, "Where have those years gone?" How is it possible that I have traveled through this life so quickly and reached this point where my brain is filled with so many memories? How blessed I am to have these memories and how blessed I have been to have had all these amazing experiences over the years.
I have albums and albums recording our 10 years of family camping trips all over the United States. These make up the bulk of the collection and are wonderful to go through but who needs 10 albums of pictures of rocks, mountains, rivers and lakes? As much as I enjoy looking at them and remembering the places I just have to toss them. Pictures of people are being put into LARGE manila envelopes so I can pass them on to my friends and family for them to enjoy or toss. My job is done, the children are grown and my kids are making their own memories that they will sort through some where down their road of life.
And now that the memories are all filed away and the albums are gone I have lots of room and hopefully time to start making new memories which I continue to record on camera but at least now the memories are stored in THE CLOUD which doesn't take up any space at all.
With that said let me tell you about one of the BIG things that is taking my attention these days.Ever since I sold my wonderful home that Ger and I shared here in Florida I have had to rent a storage unit for all the "things" that I just couldn't part with but didn't have the space for in my tiny tiny cave of a condo. The majority of those things being photo albums. LOT AND LOTS of photo albums. My close friends and family can tell you that I always have a camera in hand and love to capture every moment when I'm with those friends and family. Over 45 years that adds up to A LOT of pictures. And being the compulsive person that I can be I always was right up to date in putting the photos into albums so that the memories would be saved forever or until I croak and my kids toss EVERY THING into a dumpster. Because you know that is exactly what is going to happen. And so to spare my children the burden of tossing all these albums I decided to go through them and take out all the photos that my kids and friends might like and toss the rest. Who knew what a Herculean task this would be when I finally emptied the storage unit and brought all the "stuff" here to the new condo.
The photo albums are now in a plastic bin in the shed that is attached to my new condo. Most people keep garden tools in their shed. I have photo albums!
The trip down Memory Lane starts in 1973 when Kyle was born. Good God were my children EVER that small and adorable? It's funny how I can look at some of the photos and remember the EXACT moment when that picture was taken and others are just a blur of a memory from Oh so long ago. I feel like I am a traveler in time, visiting places and people that I haven't thought of in years. The vividness of the memories amazes me and has brought about a ton of tears and just as much laughter. I just keep saying over and over, "Where have those years gone?" How is it possible that I have traveled through this life so quickly and reached this point where my brain is filled with so many memories? How blessed I am to have these memories and how blessed I have been to have had all these amazing experiences over the years.
I have albums and albums recording our 10 years of family camping trips all over the United States. These make up the bulk of the collection and are wonderful to go through but who needs 10 albums of pictures of rocks, mountains, rivers and lakes? As much as I enjoy looking at them and remembering the places I just have to toss them. Pictures of people are being put into LARGE manila envelopes so I can pass them on to my friends and family for them to enjoy or toss. My job is done, the children are grown and my kids are making their own memories that they will sort through some where down their road of life.
And now that the memories are all filed away and the albums are gone I have lots of room and hopefully time to start making new memories which I continue to record on camera but at least now the memories are stored in THE CLOUD which doesn't take up any space at all.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
BELLY LAUGH BLESSINGS
I recently read some where that for every really good belly laugh you can add a year to your life.
After spending these last 4 days with my very best friend Sharon I figure I will live to be 356 years old.
When Sharon and I get together we just can't help ourselves and will find the most ridiculous things to be terribly funny. Anyone who happens to be with us at the time is often left shaking their head wondering what is wrong with the two of us. Some totally mundane thing will occur and reduce Sharon and I to tear drenched, belly aching masses. It usually takes us a good 5 minutes to regain our composure and settle down only to look at each other and burst into another round of hysterical giggling that can be most annoying to husbands and friends.
Poor dearly departed Husband used to get almost angry when Sharon and I were together and got into one of our "Crack Ups". I think he felt left out because he never could see the humor in what ever it was that we were laughing at. Which was reasonable since we always get laughing at something so dumb that it makes it just that much funnier. Sharon's husband is more tolerant of us, as is the third BFF Jeanne who also can never quite understand what Sharon and I have found so amusing. These two wonderful people are left out of the "Silly Circle" and are left to shake their heads and mutter to them selves at what fools Sharon and I are.
But even with all this pressure to "behave" Sharon and I will always be on the same wave length when it comes to laughter.
From the first time I met Sharon she and I have been kindred spirits in setting each other off in gales of laughter. We are total opposites in personality but some how or other have been the very best of friends for well over 40 years. Friendships like this are such treasures and I am so blessed to have this woman as my friend.
My belly hurts from all the laughs we have shared these past couple of days and I will remember this visit for the rest of my life as I do all the times that I am lucky enough to spend with my friend. I always know that I can count on Sharon to lift my spirits when I am down and to share my laughter when I am happy.
And knowing that we will both live to be 356 years old together is something that makes me smile.
After spending these last 4 days with my very best friend Sharon I figure I will live to be 356 years old.
When Sharon and I get together we just can't help ourselves and will find the most ridiculous things to be terribly funny. Anyone who happens to be with us at the time is often left shaking their head wondering what is wrong with the two of us. Some totally mundane thing will occur and reduce Sharon and I to tear drenched, belly aching masses. It usually takes us a good 5 minutes to regain our composure and settle down only to look at each other and burst into another round of hysterical giggling that can be most annoying to husbands and friends.
Poor dearly departed Husband used to get almost angry when Sharon and I were together and got into one of our "Crack Ups". I think he felt left out because he never could see the humor in what ever it was that we were laughing at. Which was reasonable since we always get laughing at something so dumb that it makes it just that much funnier. Sharon's husband is more tolerant of us, as is the third BFF Jeanne who also can never quite understand what Sharon and I have found so amusing. These two wonderful people are left out of the "Silly Circle" and are left to shake their heads and mutter to them selves at what fools Sharon and I are.
But even with all this pressure to "behave" Sharon and I will always be on the same wave length when it comes to laughter.
From the first time I met Sharon she and I have been kindred spirits in setting each other off in gales of laughter. We are total opposites in personality but some how or other have been the very best of friends for well over 40 years. Friendships like this are such treasures and I am so blessed to have this woman as my friend.
My belly hurts from all the laughs we have shared these past couple of days and I will remember this visit for the rest of my life as I do all the times that I am lucky enough to spend with my friend. I always know that I can count on Sharon to lift my spirits when I am down and to share my laughter when I am happy.
And knowing that we will both live to be 356 years old together is something that makes me smile.
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
AN UBERLY DELUGHTFUL. EXPERIENCE
I'm on the road again, this time in NY for my god daughter Cate's wedding on Friday night. Cate and Kevin are getting married at a country club somewhere in the wilds of "up state" New York. I haven't been in this area since my college years back before the glaciers covered all of NY during the ice age.. (At least it feels that long ago.)
Since the wedding is UP here I figured I'd take this opportunity to visit with my Cousin Ann who I only get to see about once a year. I would fly into Westchester airport where Ann would pick me up and drive me to her house where I would spend the night. On Thursday Ann would then drive me to the hotel in Middletown NY where all the wedding guests are staying. It was a great plan until Ann's husband Kurt had to go into the hospital for open heart surgery to replace 2 valves. The last thing they needed was a house guest so I had to find another way to travel the sixty odd miles from the airport to the hotel. My first thought was to rent a car but when I realized that Enterprise was going to charge me $220 for a compact car for 24 hours I decided there had to be a better way.
And there was ! UBER. I knew about it, my kids use it, but this was an hours drive. Does Uber do long distance? I figured it would probably cost a fortune but at Dwayne's urging I down loaded their app and was on my way to a most delightful adventure !
When I got to the airport I got out my phone, put in my location and my destination and within 4 minutes Jose was putting my suitcase in his Honda CRV and we were on our way. Let me tell you how much I enjoyed that ride ! This young man of 30 something, married with 3 beautiful children, (yes, I saw pictures), was just fantastic. Naturally I got his entire life story along with a nostalgic tour of the Bear Mountain area. We passed the cemetery where my parents are buried, drove through winding country parkways that I haven't been on in years. The ride took us up along the Hudson River where we stopped at a scenic overlook so I could take a picture. The leaves are changing color so it was most beautiful and a real trip down memory lane Along with our constant conversation I got to listen to beautiful Christian music that Jose composes and plays with his band at his church. This guy is a talented musician who realizes how blessed he is and appreciates all the gifts God has given him.
It sounds crazy as I'm writing this for you but that hour ride today was such an uplifting experience and I really felt as though my meeting this young man was a gift in itself. GO FIGURE !
And the best part of all this is that it only cost me a third of what the stupid Enterprise rental would have cost !
Since the wedding is UP here I figured I'd take this opportunity to visit with my Cousin Ann who I only get to see about once a year. I would fly into Westchester airport where Ann would pick me up and drive me to her house where I would spend the night. On Thursday Ann would then drive me to the hotel in Middletown NY where all the wedding guests are staying. It was a great plan until Ann's husband Kurt had to go into the hospital for open heart surgery to replace 2 valves. The last thing they needed was a house guest so I had to find another way to travel the sixty odd miles from the airport to the hotel. My first thought was to rent a car but when I realized that Enterprise was going to charge me $220 for a compact car for 24 hours I decided there had to be a better way.
And there was ! UBER. I knew about it, my kids use it, but this was an hours drive. Does Uber do long distance? I figured it would probably cost a fortune but at Dwayne's urging I down loaded their app and was on my way to a most delightful adventure !
When I got to the airport I got out my phone, put in my location and my destination and within 4 minutes Jose was putting my suitcase in his Honda CRV and we were on our way. Let me tell you how much I enjoyed that ride ! This young man of 30 something, married with 3 beautiful children, (yes, I saw pictures), was just fantastic. Naturally I got his entire life story along with a nostalgic tour of the Bear Mountain area. We passed the cemetery where my parents are buried, drove through winding country parkways that I haven't been on in years. The ride took us up along the Hudson River where we stopped at a scenic overlook so I could take a picture. The leaves are changing color so it was most beautiful and a real trip down memory lane Along with our constant conversation I got to listen to beautiful Christian music that Jose composes and plays with his band at his church. This guy is a talented musician who realizes how blessed he is and appreciates all the gifts God has given him.
It sounds crazy as I'm writing this for you but that hour ride today was such an uplifting experience and I really felt as though my meeting this young man was a gift in itself. GO FIGURE !
And the best part of all this is that it only cost me a third of what the stupid Enterprise rental would have cost !
Thursday, October 5, 2017
SLIMEY GRAND DAUGHTER
Grand daughters are the best ! They are silly and sweet and giggly and I love spending time with all of them. I haven't seen Grey in a while between my busy moving and her parents busy lives but the last photo I saw of her she was covered in her mom's makeup. It seems the little miss decided to put on makeup just like mommy and boy did she do it up big.
I"m blessed with seeing Kaelin almost every day now that she and her family have moved so close to me. We get to be silly just as often as we can, much to her mom's dismay because getting silly with grand ma always gets us into some sort of trouble. But isn't that what grand ma's are for !?
Abby is the one I get to see the least. Living in Georgia we only get to spend time together about 3 times a year so when we do get together we have to make the most of it. The last time I saw Abby was right after my trip to Alaska and it wasn't the best visit ever. I was still exhausted from all my traveling and it was the end of summer vacation for Abby. She was getting ready for a new year in school so we didn't get to "play" too much.
WE are making up for that this week ! Abby arrived by plane, flying alone and no longer an "un-accompanied child" now that she is 12. Mom got her to the gate in Atlanta and I met her in West Palm. She was the only passenger on her flight to come RUNNING up the exit corridor from the gates. I think the girl was just a little excited to be here.
We will be filling every second of her four and a half days here with as much fun as possible. Fun with Abby is ALWAYS unique. Yesterday after her arrival we went to lunch, bought the ingredients for a strawberry pie, came home to make the pie and then headed over to the cousins house to see KK and Finn. We ate dinner with them and then came home exhausted only to fall asleep by 9:00. (Abby never likes to stay in the guest room by herself so we shared my big bed only to have her wake me at 2AM by smacking me in the head with her arm.) I had to go into the guest bedroom for a couple of hours in the middle of the night to get some sleep.
Today we had planned on going to Hutchinson Island to feed the sting rays but because it was pouring rain we thought it a good idea to call ahead. Unfortunately the Sting Rays were experiencing floods and so the center was closed. How you can flood a fish tank is beyond me but it put a damper on our plans. This being the case we had to resort to "Plan B". There really wasn't a plan B but we got creative and came up with a fun filled day any way. WE started out by finishing yesterday's burritos from Moe's as a breakfast meal. Why not? They warm up to a very tasty breakfast treat. After this we overdosed on watching about 6 episodes of a show we had started watching when I was in Atlanta. Much to our dismay the second season ended and we now have to wait for Amazon Prime to release season 3. With that done it was off to Publix and Michaels craft store to get the makings of SLIME! Abby LOVES to mix concoctions together to create the largest mess possible. Whether it is cake mix or shaving cream and Borax she is at her happiest when she is in the kitchen mixing and stirring a bowl of anything gooey. Today's LARGE vat of blue slime is now residing in 2 bowls and 3 zip loc bags on the kitchen counter. The girl stood for about 2 hours just mixing and stirring and kneading this vast mound of goo. I don't know what the fascination is with slime these days but it seems to be the rage among kids. At 9:15 tonight I finally had to say. "Enough!". time for bed. But it will not end there. While Abby was mixing I was pealing the wrappers off some 80 pieces of Starburst candies. Apparently there is a recipe for EDIBLE SLIME which we shall attempt to make some time tomorrow. The thought of eating that gooey mess is no more appealing that eating monkey brains. But since Abby HAS eaten monkey brains on her trip to Morocco several years ago I guess eating slime will be quite tame.
I"m blessed with seeing Kaelin almost every day now that she and her family have moved so close to me. We get to be silly just as often as we can, much to her mom's dismay because getting silly with grand ma always gets us into some sort of trouble. But isn't that what grand ma's are for !?
Abby is the one I get to see the least. Living in Georgia we only get to spend time together about 3 times a year so when we do get together we have to make the most of it. The last time I saw Abby was right after my trip to Alaska and it wasn't the best visit ever. I was still exhausted from all my traveling and it was the end of summer vacation for Abby. She was getting ready for a new year in school so we didn't get to "play" too much.
WE are making up for that this week ! Abby arrived by plane, flying alone and no longer an "un-accompanied child" now that she is 12. Mom got her to the gate in Atlanta and I met her in West Palm. She was the only passenger on her flight to come RUNNING up the exit corridor from the gates. I think the girl was just a little excited to be here.
We will be filling every second of her four and a half days here with as much fun as possible. Fun with Abby is ALWAYS unique. Yesterday after her arrival we went to lunch, bought the ingredients for a strawberry pie, came home to make the pie and then headed over to the cousins house to see KK and Finn. We ate dinner with them and then came home exhausted only to fall asleep by 9:00. (Abby never likes to stay in the guest room by herself so we shared my big bed only to have her wake me at 2AM by smacking me in the head with her arm.) I had to go into the guest bedroom for a couple of hours in the middle of the night to get some sleep.
Today we had planned on going to Hutchinson Island to feed the sting rays but because it was pouring rain we thought it a good idea to call ahead. Unfortunately the Sting Rays were experiencing floods and so the center was closed. How you can flood a fish tank is beyond me but it put a damper on our plans. This being the case we had to resort to "Plan B". There really wasn't a plan B but we got creative and came up with a fun filled day any way. WE started out by finishing yesterday's burritos from Moe's as a breakfast meal. Why not? They warm up to a very tasty breakfast treat. After this we overdosed on watching about 6 episodes of a show we had started watching when I was in Atlanta. Much to our dismay the second season ended and we now have to wait for Amazon Prime to release season 3. With that done it was off to Publix and Michaels craft store to get the makings of SLIME! Abby LOVES to mix concoctions together to create the largest mess possible. Whether it is cake mix or shaving cream and Borax she is at her happiest when she is in the kitchen mixing and stirring a bowl of anything gooey. Today's LARGE vat of blue slime is now residing in 2 bowls and 3 zip loc bags on the kitchen counter. The girl stood for about 2 hours just mixing and stirring and kneading this vast mound of goo. I don't know what the fascination is with slime these days but it seems to be the rage among kids. At 9:15 tonight I finally had to say. "Enough!". time for bed. But it will not end there. While Abby was mixing I was pealing the wrappers off some 80 pieces of Starburst candies. Apparently there is a recipe for EDIBLE SLIME which we shall attempt to make some time tomorrow. The thought of eating that gooey mess is no more appealing that eating monkey brains. But since Abby HAS eaten monkey brains on her trip to Morocco several years ago I guess eating slime will be quite tame.
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