Talk About Family Tuesday-More Gram

I know I've talked about my spunky grandmother-my mom's mom-before. She has been on my mind and heart a lot lately, still, so I will again today. We went to visit with her when we were there for Thanksgiving. She called me "Sweetie" like she didn't remember my name. She recognized me, and looked at my husband like she thought she should know him but didn't. It was sad to see her memory continuing to fail. I asked if she had had any visitors and she told me that her deceased sister came to see her. My mom said that they visited her last week. She seemed less lethargic, as if she were not in so much of a daze, but still so confused. The dementia continues to creep in and steal little nuggets of her memory. I know it is even harder for my mom to watch. Gram hugged me goodbye when we visited. I told her I'd come by again and she she took my hand and wouldn't let it go. It's hard to see her like that-in a nursing home, where people are on their way to the end of their lives. It's heartbreaking, especially knowing her earlier in her life, how much she loved coming to our house to visit, content just to spend time with us. That's how I choose to see her in my mind...

Talk About Family Tuesday

My oldest daughter sent me a card this week from college. It was sweet and kind. It made my day. It was cute, too, because I had purchased the exact card to send her too. :) It has a bear hugging itself on the front and "Just sending you a little hug..." inside it says: "Did you feel it?" :) So thankful for my girls. :)

Talk About Family Tuesday

My parents came to visit this past weekend and we truly had a very nice time. It went too fast, though, with my mother receiving a phone call that her mother had been taken to the hospital. They left early, of course. Her mom, my Gram has been on my mind since. She's a great lady. She is small, only 4'10" with very white hair. In my youth, she was my spunky caregiver during the days while my parents were at work, in the summer. When Mom would take me to Gram's house, her house smelled like coffee, and the radio was on-talk radio. {It's funny, as I typed that I realized that is how I start my day thirty years later...} She was either making oatmeal or toast with peanut butter or powdered sugar on it. She had two spare bedrooms. One had a bed and it was where we spent "afternoon rest time", read and played sometimes. The other spare room was a corner room with windows that let in wonderful light. She had a plant stand in front of one where she kept all her houseplants. She even had cactus that she trimmed. She had an old typewriter in there and a place to sit and type whatever you wanted. I loved that thing. LOVED it. I felt so grown up using it. :) Many days she made us fish sticks and macaroni and cheese for lunch. Gram and Gramp, Mom's dad, were always busy. They took us to garage sales, or the grocery or to visit family. They were retired, even though my Gramp did odd jobs at a local lawyer's office. They took good care of us. Once my grandfather grew purple grapes in their backyard. They turned them into a delicious grape juice and jam.
More recently, in the last ten years, we would have Gram, who never learned to drive, come stay with us for a week at a time, a few different times per year. We would always take a day trip to the local metro gardens and take lots of pictures. It was nice having her at my house, spending time with my children. She didn't mind our dogs, either, and enjoyed walking the girls to school, too. As she got older it seemed to tire her out, but she enjoyed it and had a good afternoon nap. :) Then she had a stroke a few years back and couldn't come visit. Now she gets so confused when we visit her. She can't remember family member's names. She still seems happy to see my family and I when we visit, but, boy is it hard. She was living at a home that had been made into a care facility, but this week they found that she may have been over medicated and my family decided to move her somewhere with more, round the clock care. It is sad and difficult to see our dearest family get older. Even harder still for those who live close and take part in caring for and making decisions for those loved ones. I'm a few hours away, which has its drawbacks, too. My grandfather passed away about 15 years ago, and I know she misses him.

Talk About Family Tuesday

We had a very nice visit from my husband's recently-widowed grandmother. It was so good to see her. She seemed content to be with family, after I'm sure missing Grandpa. It was good to see her getting around and enjoying the great grandchildren. My youngest daughter loves to play cards and games like I do. My mother in law had learned a new card game and taught Grandma. She played and played it with our daughter. They each had such a nice time playing together!! I love those memories she will have of growing up. Then she came home and taught me! :) Grandma and Grandpa were known as a tough team to beat when playing euchre-their favorite card game. Grandma tried to play at their retirement/assisted living community, but it wasn't the same without Grandpa. So this game is two handed euchre so she can play with one other friend at a time. Different, but similar. Here is the link to the rules we learned to this two-handed euchre.

Social Media Monday on Tuesday

We had a very busy weekend! So, today I will catch up from our busy weekend, to talking about family and Social Media. :) Our oldest daughter wasn't going to come home this past weekend. It was her fall break (no classes Fri.-Sun.) However, all her activities and observations for Friday were canceled. She had plans with another girl who was staying on campus, but our girl was homesick because her younger sister's family birthday get together was Sunday morning. We've always all been together for birthday celebrations, so this was a bummer of a milestone-I do understand that will soon be the norm, not the exception. However, my in-laws said they'd drive 2.5 hours to get her and surprise our younger daughter. They didn't get back until 11pm and our oldest couldn't wait so she went in and woke our youngest. Our youngest has no recollection of this and slept-talked through it. In the morning, as our youngest was getting ready for her cross country meet, I told her to be careful not to be too loud. She asked why and I said because Sis was still sleeping. She ran in and crawled into bed with older sis, not knowing she had come in the night. :) It was a sweet sight to see. It will be nice to see our oldest again so soon when she comes back this weekend for the half-marathon the three of us are running in.
On Sunday we made a breakfast/brunch with some new recipes (which I will share on Friday!) And spent time celebrating our youngest, being together and then we all four headed to take our oldest back to school. We stopped at a local on-campus favorite restaurant for lunch and enjoyed just a little more time together.
Our oldest has started to think about transferring colleges for next year. Her roommate now, whom she adores, will be rooming in another dorm so she will have to find another or "wing it". Plus, she is a family girl, a homebody and I think she would like to transfer closer. However, she likes it where she is... So, another adventure. We told her she at least has a one year commitment, but she does need to be looking ahead to find the transfer information in advance.

I went back through my Twitter and Facebook posts for my Social Media Monday post and found that I tweeted/re-tweeted several quotes (see below), a link to Runner's World where they discuss running the muscle issue I have (piriformis), and this: 10 Apps to Relax Your Body and Mind from PBS. I haven't gotten any but some sounded interesting. (Some sounded silly, but who am I to judge. ;))

I hope you are feeling relaxed and healthy today, Reader!

• RT"@DrHenryCloud: Remember....when we open our mouths, something happens. Words are difficult to take back. Use them wisely.”

  • RT "@LiveInspired: Every smile makes you a day younger.
    -Chinese Proverb”

    • RT "@RealSimple: Today's thought: "It is never too late to do right." —Ralph Waldo Emerson #quotes”

Talk About Family Tuesday

Today I am extra thankful for my husband. I should say I am thankful for him everyday, but sometimes I take him for granted. I often forget the many things I appreciate about him. In my prayers this morning I wrote down some of the things I was grateful for and I thought of so many reasons I was grateful for him. I met him when we were so young-I have now known him half of my life. So grateful that he came into my life-God provided me with a great blessing. We have both changed so much since then. And, yet, in so many ways we have not. He has always been funny, silly, and makes me laugh-a giggle here and there or a belly laugh that I have trouble stopping. Every day he makes me laugh, and smile and smirk. :)
Yes, he has odd quirks, and we squabble, heck, we get into big arguments over silly things, but I can't imagine ever wanting to go through this crazy life with anyone else. I can't imagine ever being in love with someone as deeply as I am with my husband. Or having a better friend. He is such a good man, wanting to be such a great father to his daughters. He is so important to them-our youngest asked if could go with us when we went homecoming dress shopping! They appreciate his taste in clothes, his taste in movies, his interest in them and their lives. He values family; I remember the first time I met him and he told me his family was camping nearby so he would be going to visit them and spend the next day with them. I was impressed. People say to know how a man will treat his wife, watch how he treats his mother... he treats his mother well. :)
I mentioned we have arguments. Usually they are over little issues, things that could easily be resolved if we just quit being so stubborn, but the "big things" have been where we always meet in the middle or have the same ideas about-we've been lucky that way so far. Granted we don't agree on everything, nor do we even like all the same things. I love nature, especially the birds and animals that visit our yard... he doesn't. :) He doesn't mind traffic or driving the packed highways-I do, very much so! He is not a fan of dogs, but we have them because I am. :)
My husband has many skills, and one is that he is a great cook-heads and shoulders above the kind of cook I hope to aspire to be. It comes naturally to him. He doesn't see it as a chore and is helpful to cook our family meals sometimes. He works to use his skills at his job to provide for his family, which I am thankful for, as well. Especially when I don't work outside the home.
Lately he has been encouraging me to cast my net wider, that teaching may not be my only gift or working with the children in Sunday School may not be my only gift-to open my eyes and heart and look around. He encouraged me to seek information on becoming a chaplain or even a pastor because he felt like it might be a place I would fit, my gifts could help me to serve in those capacities. I have taken the steps to do so... I will discuss that in another post, but I asked if he really thought that-I considered it a great compliment-and he got misty-eyed, saying he thought it would be good for so many... From a man I respect so much, that was quite a compliment.

Who are you truly grateful for, Reader? Who would make your eyes misty with their compliments?

Talk About Family Tuesday

            Today I get to talk about my youngest daughter. She turns 15 in the next few days. She is tall-6 inches taller than me. She is beautiful, with long blond hair-every time I take her to get it cut, people tell her that her hair color is what most women wish for. She has big, dark blue eyes. I don't think she knows how truly beautiful she is.

           What is even better, and more important, is how beautiful she is on the inside. She is polite, kind-hearted and faithful. She is very smart and works hard to show it. She is very diligent-homework, running, any task she sets before herself. She has a dry, witty sense of humor like her dad and springs it on you when you least expect it. :)

            She is currently re-reading the Harry Potter books... again! She said to me the other day, "I just can't find any good fantasy books like Harry Potter. The other books that are out are just too dark." She is also re-watching the movies. 

             She gets her artistic bent from her father-very skilled. Very little art instruction in her life, but has taught herself to use charcoals and chalk, as well as pastels. She is very good. For her birthday my parents gave her their gift early and it is an art easel. She has loved it! She likes to use a variety of things for inspiration. 

             She doesn't like to take her dirty clothes down to the laundry room or make her bed, but if asked she does so. She lets me know when she is upset with me, in a respectful way normally, but then goes to her room, thinks things over and comes back to discuss. She is quite mature for her age!

             She is not a concert lover, due to the noise and amount of people. She had her first pep rally of high school a few weeks ago and she came home frustrated. She said it was NOISY and there were TOO MANY people! I told her that was the idea of a pep rally and she informed me that she was going to hide in the bathroom with a book when the next one rolled around. ;) She didn't, she went and said she sat along an aisle so it was tolerable. :) She wasn't a fan of the big football game, either. However, she is still trying to get herself going; she went to the homecoming dance, even though she knew there would be a lot of people and lots of noise. She doesn't hide from a challenge. 

              She tries to do the right things, like when other girls on her basketball team were mean, I was going to talk with the coach, etc. She said she would just keep being nice to them, avoid them when necessary and things would work out because that is what she was supposed to do. :) I was proud of her (feeling the "mother bear" inside me wanting to come out ;) but letting her try to work things out herself) and it worked out fine. 

                She is a sweetheart who is still adjusting to her sister not being here all the time. They are best friends, even with the age difference and it has been difficult for them, missing each other. She tries hard though. 

                 She loves spicy foods-ate all the "hot" salsa my parents canned and brought for us-ALL of it! :) She loves salsa and "Mexican" food. 

                 I'm really lucky to have her in my life! I am very blessed and thankful for her. Who are you thankful for, Reader? 

Talk About Family Tuesday

My parents got to come down this past weekend for a visit. It was so nice to see them! We went out to dinner and dessert, we went to the zoo and we sat around the fire pit on the chilly evenings, as well. We just had a great time being together. They got to be here longer than normal, this time, because they had taken Monday and Tuesday off for their anniversary. So, they were here Saturday and Sunday and didn't have to leave until Monday. They got to spend a little time with just our younger daughter, as well, while my husband and I ran in a 5K race near our home. I love it when they visit, but I stay up way too late catching up! :)

Talk about Family Tuesday

This week is very fitting to be talking about family, so recently after my husband's grandfather's death. He was 90 years old, just turned in July, and for his birthday he wanted to see his three children and their spouses, his eight grandchildren and their spouses and his twenty-two great-grandchildren at some point near his birthday. Or course, we all made a trip in July to see him, on separate occasions, of course, since his health had begun to fail. He knew he had congestive heart failure and was getting weaker, requiring an oxygen machine and breathing treatments. We spent time with he and Grandma, and he told stories I hadn't ever heard before, and I've been in the family for almost 20 years! Grandpa had to work hard to stay awake when we visited, but he did. By this time about two weeks ago he was worn out. His body was tired and he was working hard. He stayed awake and alert until the very end, making sure he waited until all three of his kids were there at his side and he told them how great their mom was, and how proud he was. He and Grandma had been married for 66 years! She seemed so fragile at the service. After he'd been gone just a few hours, she already was saying that she missed talking to him. They were the type of couple who finished each other's sentences. And they loved to play euchre-but it was not fun to be against them! They'd been playing together so long that they knew each other's thoughts, actions, suggestions. ;) Oh, my husband and I could win a game or two, but never enough to end the evening in the winner's spots. :) Grandpa was a good man, and it is sad/hard to believe that he's gone. It's also said to know that my mom's mom is weakening, is unaware of her surroundings-time and space-sometimes. She fell in the shower last week and was so confused, my mom said... Times like these make it hard to live in another area from your family, for sure. This funeral for my husband's grandpa got me to thinking about my three grandparents who are still alive and my memories of them. Made me worry about their health and minds. I hope they know how loved they are, always...