June Gloom Is Back

It's cloudy and overcast this morning which means it will probably be around 85 again today.  I feel a sense of relief when I look outside and see gray skies because I know it's not going to be super hot.  The summers here are hard on me.  I do not like day after day of 95 - 105 degrees.  It wears me down and makes me want to stay home and do nothing.  At least it's cool inside the house so I can get busy with a quilting project or something fun during the hot months.

Father's Day was great fun.  My son and his family arrived around 2:00.  My DIL's dad is visiting from Arizona.  We hadn't seen him in a few years so it was nice to have him here, too.  Cari's fiance, Sam was able to join us for dinner.  His family celebrated Father's Day at a nice brunch after church.  His Dad had to get up for work at 3:00 this morning so he went to bed early and Sam could get away.

We had a nice dinner but the best part was being together and enjoying the kids.  I helped Megan and Nathan make Father's Day cards for their daddy on the computer.  I have a Create-a-Card program and almost every time they come over they want to make a card for someone.  It's a fun time for us to do something together.  I spent time with Nathan listening to everything he has done since the last time I saw him.  He loves to talk!!!  He was wearing a new shirt that has a glow-in-the-dark picture on the front so we had to go into the bathroom, close the door, turn off the light so I could see it glow.  LOL  Wow!  It is really COOL... Megan is my Super Helper.  This little girl loves to help out.  She finished setting the table and after dinner, she was right there helping to rinse and dry dishes.  She has a heart for helping and serving others.  She and I planned her Birthday Shopping Trip.  I take her shopping for one outfit and a toy then I buy her a surprise outfit and something else that she gets when we all celebrate her birthday.  I do the same with Nathan and will with Andrew when he gets a little older.  It gives me time with them and they love the individual attention and choosing their own gifts. 

Well, then there is Andrew.  This 19 month old little boy never, and I do mean never stops moving.  He is always on the go and yet does not get into anything.  He knows where his toys are and he goes into the cupboard and drags them all out but he doesn't go places he shouldn't go.  He is so cute, I could just hug and kiss him all day but he won't stand for it.  I get a quick hug and kiss when he first comes in and when they leave he will come and give me a kiss and hug good bye but 'stand back, gramma, don't mess with me  because I've got things to do' is his motto.  LOL  He brings me a toy so I can talk to him about it and then he takes it back and off he goes.  I have to get my time with him when he comes to me.  I look forward to the time he will bring me a book and want me to read to him.

My daughter-in-law has gone back to college part time.  I have to give her credit.  She is the hardest worker I know.  Her home is spotless, her kids are always well groomed and well taken care of, she helps her friends and family when they need her and now she's going back to school, too.  I told her that I will go down a morning or two a week and get the kids out of the house for a few hours so she can study if she needs me to.  Bryan is working his schedule so he gets home earlier because her classes are at night.  He's there to eat an early dinner, clean up the kitchen and take care of the kids while she's at school.  I give him a lot of credit, too.  He works so hard and then comes home to take over the house duties and the kids.  They have made this commitment together to get Shannon through school so when Andrew is about 6, Shannon can go back to work the hours the kids are in school.  I'm proud of both of them.

I hope Shannon will take me up on my offer.  I love having time with the kids and I don't mind driving down there to take care of them.  Really, the most important thing to me is supporting her going back to school.  She's never had much support from her Mom about anything.  Her Dad left when she was 10 and just came back into her life since she married Bryan 9 years ago.  I know I'm not her Mom but I always try to be a positive, supportive person in her life.  I encourage her and stand up for her like a Mom would.  The other thing is,  I personally never got any support from my parents about going to college when I was getting out of high school.  I wanted to study English with an emphasis on writing.  I always dreamed about being a writer in some capacity and then later I wanted to study psychology.  I will never forget telling my dad I wanted to go to college and him saying, "Well, I don't know how you're going to get there."   That was the end of that discussion.  I went to work making a huge sum of $327 a MONTH and that lead to another low paying job that lead to another, and so on and so on.  I did end up in a great job later where I had a lot of responsibility and where I made a good salary.  I left that job after Dennis established his business and was headed back to college when BINGO I got pregnant with Cari.  Would I change anything today?  NO!  But if I can help Shannon shape her future, will I?  YES!!!

One of the funniest things we did yesterday was Sam went online on his Laptop to choose some ring tones for his new cell phone.  He has Nextel and they must have 1,000,000 different ring tones.  I am such a dummy about these things, I didn't know you could assign a ring tone to an incoming phone number.  When Cari's friend, Stephanie, calls her the phone plays the theme from The Little Mermaid because that was Stephanie's favorite when she was a kid. We heard 1 tone that sounds like a donkey so we told Shannon to assign that one to her phone for when Bryan calls her.  I found one of an Irish man saying, "Aw, quit yer whinnin' and pick up yer phone."  I want that to ring with Dennis calls me.  LOL  There was one of a woman screaming like someone was coming after her with a knife.  We thought that might cause a problem if it went off in a darkened movie theater.  LOL  We all had a good laugh.  When he found tones that played music, Andrew would get his groove going and dance.   It was so much fun...

I could journal all day but this isn't getting the laundry done or the errands run.  I better close out for now.

Until later.........  Here's looking at you:   ô..ô