The Grandmas

I woke up this morning very early after a very interesting dream. I dreamed that my husband's grandmother, Grandmomma (Violet), was in Hammond, Indiana on Alice Avenue. This is where my Grandma (Sara) lived. Violet went to Sara's house and brought back a newspaper that was tied up with string or twine. She brought it to me. One of the headlines said something about Calumet City, but I didn't open it. In the dream I could see Grandmomma turning the corner and walking all the way back down the street. I didn't open the newspaper, but woke up after that.

I stayed in bed a little while longer, thinking about my Grandma for a few minutes. Thinking about her last days and weeks, and things that happened. I thought about my Grandpa, too. I stopped to think about that particular semester in college. It seems that after we got back to Kentucky, it was very hard to concentrate and go to school that fall. Learning to live without my Grandma was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. It changed my whole life.

My Dancer Girl is very very softhearted. She cried when her favorite cat died. She cries every time she thinks of a friend of my husband's mom who died of cancer pretty suddenly (we were going back to visit one more time, but were too late). She had only met this lady a few times, but she thinks about her and remembers her. When we found out she was sick, Dancer Girl prayed every day for her. She cried hard the first time she saw Pollyanna (you remember the sad ending, not knowing whether she would be able to walk again). She howls and cries and becomes pretty inconsolable. I know in the big perspective of life, there are some members of my husband's family, his great grandmothers, especially, who might be almost done with their journeys here on earth. I try to imagine how I will console her, and help her remember loved ones.

We try to make the most of our time and stay close and connected to all these grandmothers. I am very thankful they are close and my children know them. Now I pray they will live long enough not only to meet new baby, but for my children to really remember them and make some really great memories.

IQ Test

Here's a one-question IQ Test to help you decide how you should spend the
rest of your day:

There is a mute who wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of
brushing one's teeth, he successfully expresses
himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.
Now, if there is a blind man who wishes to buy a pair of sunglasses, how
should he express himself?


Think about it first before scrolling down for the answer.














He opens his mouth and says. "I would like to buy a pair of sunglasses."
If you got this wrong - please turn off your computer and call it a day.
(I've got mine shutting down right now.) just kidding, I actually figured it out.

Newton's Laws and Pregnancy

"Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it."

Well, now, that is just funny. I was thinking about Newton's Laws as I was finally loading the dishwasher today. And as I was finally loading the washer with dirty clothes.

"Every body continues in its state of rest." Well, that describes me lately. I have been soooo tired. I feel as if I am going in sloooooow mmmoooooooooo------tttiiioooonnnn. This seems to be what pregnancy does to me in the first trimester. I feel like laying down to take a nap all the time. Going to bed early.

"....compelled to change....by forces impressed upon it." Ha. Well, mostly those forces are Dancer Girl and Little One. Today, finally the forces turned out to be..... no more clean bowls or spoons.

Well, I know that is not a point that most of you get to. I hope to God you will never know the feeling of digging around to find one more clean bowl. Whatever.

So, now you know. And now I feel better. Tomorrow I will have clean spoons and bowls. I feel that now that I have started, tomorrow will go more smoothly. More dishes will get washed and more clothes will get clean. I am feeling pretty optimistic. And pretty sleepy, too, now that I think about it. And, I do know that there is probably at least one sentence in every paragraph that begins with "and." And that's really annoying, isn't it?

Sherlock Holmes Stories

Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine they laid down for the night, and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend."Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars.""What does that tell you?"Watson pondered for a minute."

Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?"Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke. "It tells me that someone has stolen our tent."

got that from here, though I am pretty sure it was forwarded to me in my email box some years ago...

That said, I really like to read Sherlock Holmes stories.....
used to watch the series on Sunday mornings as a kid with Basil Rathbone. Man, I really liked that guy's name. Silly, huh?

Thank You

I just wanted to say thank you to my mom and dad for all they did for me yesterday. Mom cleaned and scrubbed my kitchen, including dishes, while Dad and I loaded up his truck with our old carpet from the living room and an old cabinet with rusty nails.

A couple of weekends ago I came home from my Aunt's birthday celebration (Abandoned in Pasadena), my husband had surprised me by ripping up the old carpet in my living room to reveal beautiful hardwood floors. The cabinet was on the back patio and was leftover from when our A/C had to be replaced due to lightning strike and therefore we had to replace our old fuse box and the electrician said the cabinet over the fuse box had to go.

Anyway, Dad and I took all this stuff to the local dump/transfer station while my mom loaded my dishwasher and worked on my kitchen. When we got back, we all went to a local pizza place that has a huge kids playroom with balls and a slide, etc. After we got back to my house, my mom cleaned and scrubbed my laundry room, which is where the kittens and the really gross cat litter was.

I woke up this morning, started some laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and started to put away all the clean dishes all over my counter and in my dishwasher. I know I may have seemed stressed and ungrateful yesterday, but I wanted to let you know that everything you did is greatly appreciated.

I found out last night that the girls and I are going to get to go see my husband's grandmothers on Friday and Saturday. One of his grandmothers has early Alzheimer's and her health has fluctuated a lot recently. She was in a nursing home for a while but now is living near my husband's uncle. His other grandmother is in really good health most of the time, even though she is 90. We don't get to see either one very much, so these will be really good visits.

The point is that it will be good to be able to leave for a couple of days and know that because of my parents' help I won't be coming back home to such a huge mess. I always tease and scold my mom because if she starts cleaning she just takes over and won't stop and talk and visit or anything. I keep telling her, Don't wear yourself out. Please stop so we can visit. This is why most of the time I don't let mom clean when she visits. We kind of have a truce. When I let her clean, she cleans and cleans and cleans and won't stop. And then there are visits when I say, Mom, you can't touch anything. ha ha . I know that is very hard for her.

Mom and Dad, I love you very much and know you would do anything for me. I really appreciate that and am glad that God chose you guys as my parents.

Go here to see a couple of pics of our family from the 70's. For whatever reason, good ol' Blogger won't let me upload them, but my dad has them here....

The first one is me when I was about Dancer Girl's age, standing at the door waiting for my dad to get home from work

The second one is my mom and my brother when he was about 11 mos old. Since my brother and I are only 18 mos apart, technically I am in that picture too, in Motherkitty's belly.

Check out my dad's sideburns and my mom's cool square glasses.

love you, mom and dad

Beware the Quik Pirate

So,what happens when you spend the afternoon cleaning your room and reorganizing your bedroom closet? Apparently, this.....

The girls are in the bathroom right now washing themselves off. I came into the living room and Dancer Girl was holding an open container of Quik, the powdered variety, and Little One was standing in front of her literally caught brown-handed. Dancer Girl claims it was all Little One's idea. Maybe the fresh blueberries all over my kitchen floor earlier and the experiments with the leftover sugar cookie dough in the fridge (how did they even find that? I thought no one but me knew it was in there.) should have warned me of bigger things to come. But I was distracted. A girl with a mission.

For any of you who know me and have been to my house, my bedroom is the room you would not dare enter. After my closet was emptied after last year's tornado drill (another story) and becoming a refuge for my husband's poor old falling apart favorite old gold $15 yard sale recliner, well, my room, was pretty much un-navigatable. Well I am not sure that was spelled right, but anyway, you could barely get in the door, and there was a path to the bed, and that was it. No kidding.

So today was the day. The girls are on Fall Break, and the urge hit me. Here are pictures of my closet and my dresser (both after pictures of course). There are no final big pictures yet, because, though I am almost done, I had to stop to deal with the chocolate pirates.




Seeing them obviously in the middle of their chocolate endeavor would usually make me mad and time-outs would be doled out to everyone. But today, I grabbed the camera and decided to blog about it. After all, it is always a good day when I clean my room.

Duchess' Date with Destiny

Well, today is the day I have been waiting for a long time. Duchess' trip to the vet to be spayed. The first time I wasn't fast enough = 3 tabby kittens + 1 white one. The second time she escaped when I answered the front door. My friend delivering girl scout cookies felt bad too. I never told her she got my order wrong, Tagalongs are just not the same as Thin Mints. So she was outside a measly 24 hrs., and her babies were just 8 wks old at the time, barely weaned. So I kept her in another 3 wks and lo and behold she was pregnant again. How embarassing.

So this time, after a litter of 6 kittens, she is tired and I am tired. I have kept them locked down in the laundry room. Unfortunately, she doesn't like being cooped up, and hasn't been taking care of her kittens this time. Well, my mom and dad came to the rescue and took 2 pretty little white ones when they were only 5 weeks old, that's Dolly and Loretta, see Motherkitty and Tomas (scroll down to oct 4, i think). Their other kitty Tiger Lily is Duchess' sister.

So 2 days ago, I go in the laundry room, and I see the huge cat litter container pushed away from the cat door and it takes me only 2 seconds to realize that Duchess has escaped. Only then do I think back and realize how quiet she had been lately. Insert Scream here. Noooooooooo! Luckily, I go to the front door, open it and there she was. But, I swear, she looked pregnant already. Not really possible unless she escaped another time that I don't remember before she weaned her babies.

Mom and Dad borrowed my cat carrier so it will be an interesting trip down the road with the kitty. I do have a cat harness and leash that will work on her (and yes, when we were first married, our first kitty Leah, BigFat Kitty, was an inside cat, and we took her outside on a leash).

Anyway, I think we will all be relieved when it is over. Duchess will be able to go outside again, and I can have my laundry room back. Husband will be glad not to have to scoop cat litter (since I am pregnant, can't do it anymore). Now I will just have to finish giving away all her kittens...I have 2 male 5month old tabbies, and 4 6week old kittens (2 white males, and 2 tabbies-1male and 1 female). After we give away those 6, we will only have Leah, Duchess, and Duchess girl tabby, Tiger Girl (who will be due to be spayed next month) God help me.

I Think Someone is Drinking my Tea

I just sat down for a minute to check my email. I could hear the girls in the other room, doing those things that sisters do-- sing, dance, play, fight over books. I briefly saw them for a few minutes because they both decided they had to go potty at the same time (my bathroom is straight across from the room where the computer is).

So when I heard the clinking of the spoon, that is when it dawned on me....oh,yeah, my cup of tea. Well, by the time I get back in there, I am more than sure that there will not be much tea left in the cup. Well, at least they are quiet. They are watching one of Dancer Girl's favorites, The Parent Trap (she likes both, but her current favorite is the new version). She is always holding up a DVD, say something like My Big Fat Greek Wedding(another one of her favorites), and I hear her saying, "Sister, don't you want to watch this? You do? ok, I'll put it in." The whole time we all know the Little Sister really wants to watch the Wiggles. Little Sister is 2.5 and can be encouraged to say anything. I am trying to teach Dancer Girl about leading questions, and encouraging her not to take advantage of her sister.

So anyway, I am sure my tea is gone. Clink, clink, clink, slurp, slurp, slurp, I hear.

As Motherkitty always says, "Mom's tea is the best."

Mom and Daughter Night

Last night turned out to be a nice quiet night around here. After a busy day of running around-- to story hour, trip to doctor's offices to get prenatal care started, lunch, out to a music rehearsal, then back home. Little One hasn't napped in the afternoon in a long time (I gave up trying long ago), and on some nights she goes to sleep as early as 7 pm. Well, today she must have been really tired because she has been asleep since 6pm, and only woke up briefly before going back to sleep.

So Dancer Girl and I had a snuggly evening watching a movie, eating ice cream, playing Go Fish, painting our fingernails and toenails. It seemed to go by very quickly, but it was very nice just having time with my oldest daughter. She is 5 now and is very busy and growing so fast.

I think back to when she was an infant and how attached to me she was. She was an avid nurser and her favorite way to get to sleep, apart from nursing, was to be danced to sleep. No rocking or sitting still for her. Not much singing either. She just wanted to move, move, move. I have to add that she was very particular. It had to be human hands. The very lovely swing that was a gift for her was barely used. You would think she would have loved it, but no.

So it wasn't very long before I learned to use the sling someone had given me. Little Dancer Girl was so happy snuggled up to me. And there she stayed until Little One was born. Dancer Girl was so happy to share mommy and her milkies. I tried really hard to keep up snuggle time with her, but you know how that goes. Besides, she was too busy running, spinning, & dancing....

So tonite was nice. It was sweet to have my big girl snuggle with me on my lap, having big girl conversations.

Anyway, I suppose I must go back to bed, though I am not sure there will be any room. As usual, both girls ended up in my bed, and if I looked right now, at least one will be sprawled perpendicularly. At this point, sweet husband and I don't worry about it too much, though I am sure there is some clucking, finger wagging, and head shaking going on out there. Those babies are only little for so long, and they grow up so fast. I am going to let mine snuggle as much as they want, for the time being.

Well, every time I go outside I see spiders, spiders, spiders. My husband has been finding brown recluse spiders at his office for at least a month now. In my yard I have seen at least 5 of those yellow and black garden spiders (agriope, i think), almost as many of those spooky looking cross or orb spiders, some wolf spiders. Yesterday I found a black widow spider on the children's little red wagon. That is the second one I found in my yard this season. What is up with all the spiders? I am getting really good at getting spiders off the swingset, big ones, little ones, pretend ones. Well, I am not sure what I have done, but my yard seems perfectly suited for gobs and gobs of spiders this year. I have found out it is not a good idea to google pictures of spiders right before bed. Mostly, as long as they leave me alone, I leave them alone. It is the dangerous ones I don't like, and the jumping ones, and the ones with big staring eyes....

anyway, just venting what is on my mind....maybe all the yucky spiders are at my house and will stay out of yours.