FNLEY COMES HOME

I couldn't decide whether to title this blog "FINLEY COMES HOME" or "GRANDMA NEEDS A DRINK". I decided to go with Finley because I am sure you would rather hear about the dear sweet baby than the husband hating, sleep deprived, back aching totally and completely PISSED woman who writes this blog. Let me  just say that God is playing with me and I am getting really tired of it!

On a happy note, the littlest member of  the family came home from the hospital today and he is looking and doing fine. He is so tiny! Only 19 inches long and a tiny little body. As are all babies, he is precious and beautiful. He is sleeping soundly and Keri has a hard time waking him to get him to eat but when he does eat he does a great job nursing. Steve and Keri look like they just had a baby . . . tired !  Ker keeps saying how she feels so much better than she did after Kaelin's birth but tonight she pulled a muscle and is now really hurting. Hopefully sleeping in their own bed tonight will help them both.  Big sister Kaelin is doing great and she and I spent the morning decorating for Finley's arrival. We had to bake a birthday cake because Kaelin insisted it was Finley's birthday and when you think about it she is right.

FINLEY STEPHEN

My daughter went and did it! She has brought another MALE into this world and if he turns out to be anything like his grandfather we should trade him in NOW for a sack of  potatoes !
This latest trip to MD has been a test of nerves and stamina for Grandma. Forget patience, I lost that about 2 hours North of Palm Beach Gardens. I just keep shaking  my head and repeating the same thing over and over . . . "HOW CAN HE BE SO STUPID?" (You can substitute the words, "DUMB . . . CLUELESS . . . DENSE . . . for the word stupid because all of them have been used at some point over this past week. There have been MANY other words used but this is a family friendly blog.)
Husband has out done himself in stupidity on this trip.  I really do wonder if it is Alzheimer's or just being Male. I apologize to those 2 men out there somewhere in the world who are not idiots but lets face it guys, when it comes to common sense you aren't working with a full deck. Unfortunately the reason guys are so dumb is because we women have made them that way. We think we are doing a wonderful thing by "taking care" of our men when in reality we are creating dependent lumps. My daughter-in-law Bridget got it right by "training" my oldest son right from the start of their relationship. DIL Kristen has yet to learn how to do that but she is getting better. I, like all moms, created these 2 reproductions of my Husband and now these poor girls they married have to join the ranks of all us wives who married "lumps".
I am not saying these men are "bad". They are great guys but God help me, they just don't have a clue how to see what needs to be done and DO IT. To be totally fair I have to tell you that Kyle is amazing and he is totally unlike his father. He has had to step up and "be in charge" on several occasions and he has done a fine job of it! 
As I fought my way through the past few days I kept thinking how great this time would have been if I had been traveling and caring for Kaelin with my 2 good friends Sharon and Jeanne. They would have been on top of everything that needed to be done and there wouldn't have been a single upset. As it is I am working on my last nerve with Husband. He should be very glad that we are not on a train or a ship because he would surely "FALL" off by accident.
And so littlest grandson Finley, and your cousins Roman and Smith, love your moms and dads but PLEASE take your life lessons from your moms. Your dads are fantastic guys but like your grandpas they just "HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE!"

RITA WITH AND "R"

I am imagining the conversation between God and Adam and Eve . . .
God - "Cain? Abel?  What sort of names are those? You couldn't name your kids something nice like Joe or Mary? You have to come up with something crazy like Cain?"
That conversation was had by great grandma Rita (with an "R") every time a child was born into this family. Her family had George and Thomas and Mary and Ann and of course, Rita (with an "R").
When we named our first born Kyle we thought Rita (with and "R") would have a heart attack. "Kyle? What kind of a name is that? Where did you come up with that?
And so it went for each of our children. When Kerrin was born Rita really went into action lobbying for Rita with an "R". We never did understand how you could possibly spell "Rita" any other way but with an "R" but Grandma ALWAYS said her name as "RITA WITH AN "R"". When our youngest child was born and we named him Kent we really thought Grandma would have "THE BIG ONE" and keel over dead for sure. To the day she died I swear she picked on that poor child just because of his name.
And now the world has come full cycle and grandma Rita is laughing herself silly! My first grand child is Abigail Abby for short. It is a beautiful name and fits her well. It is an old fashioned name. One that we hadn't heard for years but has made a reappearance. That seems to be the fashion these days .. . returning to the classic names of Sara, Catherine, Michael and Finley. WHAT?    Finley . . . where did that come from?
Today our newest grandchild was born. A beautiful little baby boy named FINLEY STEVEN. Steven is his dad's name but I don't know where Finley came from. He will be called FINN, which I do happen to like a lot. But if Grandma Rita saw the names of her great grandchildren . . . Roman, Kaelin, Smith and Finley she would be dropping dead on the spot.
Good thing she died years ago. But I am thinking I finally understand .

BLOGS IN SPACE !

Last night I sat up and wrote a blog and just before I posted it it disappeared.  I was using Steve's computer, in Steve's office/guest room. Ger had gone to sleep on the sofa bed and was grunting and groaning to let me know I needed to finish up and turn off the light. Under the best of circumstances I can screw up a soup sandwich but the pressure got to me and I was rushing to finish up so when the entire screen went blank I freaked!
(It was also an,"Oh screw this!" moment so I just shut down the computer, shut off the light, wandered around in the dark trying to find the bed and in general, just gave up!)
Things are a bit more calm today, Ger is sleeping once again but this time we are in a motel and I am using my own little travel computer. I guess I better back up a bit and bring you up to date.
Thursday of last week we took Aunt AM to the airport and waved her a fond farewell after 2 fabulous weeks in Florida with us. We hope to see her again in September when we are planning to return to England for 4 weeks. If the world is still standing and we still have a few dollars in our bank account Aunt AM, her daughter JM, Ger and I will fly over to London and spend 2 weeks touring. JM will then have to return to the states because, poor girl, she has a job to return to. We will remain in England with AM and see what further mischief we can get into. But in the mean time there is plenty to keep us busy. After we dropped AM at the airport we packed up the car and headed off on a road trip to Maryland for the arrival of our newest grandchild. Baby Cavanaugh will arrive tomorrow and Ger and I will be in charge of Kaelin.  What could be better than that !?  G and I made the trip to MD in 15 hours with a stop overnight in GA. We arrived here around dinner time so we called Keri and Steve and asked them to meet us at a local pizza place without telling Kaelin we would be there. The look on Kaelin's face when she climbed out of their car and saw us was worth 15 hours of driving. She and I have been attached at the hip ever since. Yesterday we helped get the baby room all set and then stayed out of daddy and mommy's way while they put together the baby's crib. Kaelin is now in her "new" princess room. The curtains, art table, new dresser, bed and walls are covered in princesses. It is quite the room for a little girl.
This morning Ger and I left the Cavanaugh's to themselves for a quiet day before the arrival of  "THE BABY"! Everyone is excited and exhausted so a quiet day is just what we all need. Tomorrow night, Monday, Kaelin will stay here at the motel with Ger and I so we can take her back and forth to the hospital to see mom and dad and new baby.
I'll be keeping you posted.  Please keep Keri and the baby in your  prayers that all goes well with the "C" section. We are betting on a boy . . .

I'M GOING IN CIRCLES

The pool is finished and looking fine !  That is one thing I can cross off the list.  Our taxes have turned out to be a huge mess that H&R Block created but we have gotten it straightened out and may even get our money back from H&R plus money from the government ? ! !   Is that possible ?  Our 2 weeks with Aunt AM have been great fun and we are sorry to see her leave tomorrow but anxious to get on the road to MD to see Keri and help her out this weekend before our newest grandchild is born.
Ann Marie's visit was great but we dragged her around running errands the entire time.  I hope she enjoyed herself in spite of our busy schedule. She did get to spend A LOT of time at the community pool and she and I had a fantastic day at the beach yesterday.  Yesterday was the perfect beach day complete with gentle cooling breeze,  calm waters and lots of people to watch.  AHHHHHHHHHHHH !  Living in Paradise is so great !

I'll be in touch along the way to MD and to let you know when Keri has the baby.  Till then, stay healthy, happy and CALM ! (If you figure out how to do the "calm" thing be sure to let me know.)

I'M STILL HERE

As I was thinking about my blog tonight the title got me thinking about my mother. The quote,"I'm still here!"  originated with my mom. She was partial to blowing up things in the kitchen. LITERALLY!  And after the explosions my dad and I would come running to see what happened only to see my mom's head pop around the corner to tell us, "I'm still here!" On at least 2 occasions she thought she had lit the gas oven only to realize the gas was not lit. (Thinking back on it she probably had twelve thousand things on her mind, my father was NO help what so ever. Which explains why I married Husband. Don't they say a girl marries "her father"?) Anyway, the poor woman was so frazzled that she just lit another match and opened the oven door. After the shock wave subsided we were amazed to find my mom fine and dandy. HOW? I'll never know.  She must have had a very powerful Guardian Angel. Then there was the time that she blew up the pressure cooker. If you don't know what that is try Googling it. The top blew off that thing and went right up to the ceiling where it left a mark for years to come. Once again my mom escaped injury, Thank You God! And after all that, cancer killed her at 62.  That just plain sucks.
So anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my spleen has not ruptured and my kidneys are still functioning after my tumble in the stadium on Wednesday. I do have a small bruise, nothing like the one I had when I fell in England or fell over the dish washer, or in the street when I was walking the dog.
I guess I am seeing a pattern here . . .  like mother like daughter.  She blew things up and I fall over things.

DO YOU REALLY NEED YOUR SPLEEN ?

I may be able to answer that question sooner rather than later.
I did something stupid today and banged my lower back on the arm of a chair at the base ball stadium.  I'm not worried about my kidneys because I have 2 of them but I don't know if I need my spleen.
I have done a lot of stupid things in my life. There was the time when I was about 10 that I decided to "parachute"  off the stoop using an umbrella as my parachute. (For those of you who did not grow up in "The City, otherwise known as NY,  the stoop was the platform of brick or cement at the top of the stairs leading up to your front door.) Our stoop was about 40 feet high, (at least that was what it looked like to me as a kid. In actuality it was about 4 feet high.) I jumped off and twisted my ankle and couldn't walk for days.  As a teen in college there were many stupid things of which we shall not mention. As a new mother there was the first "STUPID" when I locked my 3 month old first born in the car in a parking lot with my keys in the car. It was pretty much down hill from there for the years of raising kids. Mostly because I was a zombie due to sleep deprivation partly I drank a lot. Stupid was a daily occurrence for about 20 years ending with me falling over the dish washer door and breaking my arm.
So I am not a stranger to STUPID but today was super stupid. Actually it was just a matter of forgetting that I am 65 years old and should NOT be climbing over stadium seats like a 20 year old. But when you want to get out of your row to go pee and the row is filled with people and you are in the middle of the row,  well, it just seems like a great idea to step on my seat and climb into the next row where there were only 2 people sitting. Good Plan . . .  too bad it didn't work as planned.  I lost my balance, fell backwards and hit my lower back on the arm of the seat. (And in answer to your question, NO ONE caught me! . . . I mean seriously, would you attempt to catch an out of control hippo? I thought not! And NO! I was NOT graceful!)
I naturally did the JUMP UP . . . TURN AROUND . . . SMILING . . . saying to all within "oooooooohing" distance, "I'M FINE!"  Yea, right, like I meant to do that!  It's part of the show!
By the end of the game my back had stiffened up. But it only hurts when I move, and I can't climb stairs, and by tomorrow it should be black and blue and purple and green.
That's if I wake up.