Finally Friday

I'm home alone tonight and enjoying the quiet.  Dennis took his step-mom to the baseball game.  She's 86 years old and has never been to a professional baseball game before.  She's as excited as a little kid!  She was ready to go at 3:00 this afternoon.  I got such a kick out of her!  I'm sure they will have a great time.

Marj arrived on Thursday.  We were right there to greet her but surprised when she came down the elevator in a wheelchair instead of down the escalator.  She had to walk quite a distance when she changed planes in Los Angeles and so she didn't have anything left by the time she got to Ontario.  She was able to walk out to the car because we were lucky to find a spot very close to Baggage Claim. 

I hadn't see her in 6 years.  Dennis made a trip to Idaho 2 years ago to see her and an uncle that lives near her.  She has slowed down some but I think she does remarkably well for her age.  She doesn't have a very good short term memory and will ask me about something and then an hour or so later will ask about it again.  Her sense of humor and positive attitude is as wonderful as ever.  She has had us laughing more than a few times with her quick witted remarks.

Tomorrow we are having Family Day which will be a lot of fun.  Bryan, Shannon and the kids will be here and so will Sam and Cari.  Marj hasn't seen Bryan since he was about 15 years old so they have a lot to catch up on.  She is looking forward to meeting Shannon and the children.  Last night, it was so nice outside that Cari, Sam, Marj and I sat out on the patio talking until nearly 9:00.  It was nice that she got to have time with Cari and Sam so tomorrow she can focus on Bryan's family a little more. 

I'll post pictures of the event soon.

How Much Is Your Life Worth?

http://www.blogthings.com/howmuchisyourlifeworthquiz/

Go to this site and find out how much your life is worth.  Mine is worth $538,500.  I'm kind of sad about that.  I was sure I was worth at least $1,000,000.  LOL 

Banned Book Week

 

http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.htm

The American Library Association site topic is Banned Books.  I spent time going over the list of the top 100 most banned books and was amazed that some of the classics I have read are on the list.  It's hard for me to understand why anyone would want to ban To Kill A Mockingbird  or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer just to name 3 of the 100. 

If anyone else wants to check this out and tell me what you think about some of the choices, I'm interested to hear what you have to say.  I have my theory about the 3 books listed above.  I think it is because they contain the "N" word which is unspeakable in our culture today (as it should be).  When I read those books I knew it was wrong to say that word or to call someone that name.  Reading it in the context of those books didn't change my attitude about it at all.  I could see that in the time and setting of these three books, that word was used in those cultures, as wrong as it was, and it illustrated the mentality of those saying it.  What do you think?  Should these books be banned?

Planning for Company

                       

Fall is in the air even though it's very warm here.  Nights are cooling down and some of the leaves are starting to turn.  I can't wait for full time Fall when sweaters can be worn all the time and there is that little bite of cold in the air in the morning.  It's so nice after the long hot summer.

My husband's step-mom will be arriving Thursday.  I talked to her this morning with a weather update so she will know what to pack.  She's so excited about her visit.  At 86, she is in remarkably good health.  She has some knee problems so she can't walk for long periods of time.  Dennis is taking her to 2 baseball games.  She is so excited about that!  I'm taking her to lunch at the beach and I have a few other things that she might like to do but I will let her choose.  The thing she wants most to do is spend time with us and our kids and to get to meet our grandchildren.  We've promised family time with a lot of visiting and that's made her the happiest.  Her time with us will be fun but it will go by too fast!

Shannon's doctor called her yesterday afternoon.  He doesn't want her to do any lifting or pushing (vacuuming, pushing the stroller or a grocery cart) for the next 4 weeks.  He does not want to take a chance on having the baby's placenta moving lower and causing the same problem as last time.  Bryan is helping out until next Wednesday which is when I can get back down there to help out.  Den's step-mom, Marj, is leaving Tuesday so I can go down again after then to help with Andrew, vacuuming, grocery shopping and packing up the house for their move.  I told them that I have nothing on my calendar in October and I can be there whenever they need me.  Having a healthy mom and baby is our priority and whatever we can do to make sure that happens is what I want to do.  After the 4 weeks, she will have another ultrasound and if things look good, he will lift the restrictions.  If not, then we will go from there.  We are praying that this preventative measure will work.

That's about it for now.  More soon.

ô..ô

 

Oh, What A Weekend!

 

My weekend started off joyfully.  I got to go to my daughter-in-law's ultrasound appointment with her.  After the tech took some initial pictures, I was able to go in, (carrying Andrew) and see my new grandchild on the ultrasound screen.  I saw a perfect little head, eye sockets, a spinal column, ribs, two arms, two active - kicking legs, and best of all, a little beating heart chugging along at 168 beats per minute.  Wow!  It is so amazing how clear the images are these days.  Back when I was pregnant with Cari she looked like a vibrating kidney bean on a black screen when I was 11 weeks along.  Shannon was 12 weeks - 5 days according to the ultrasound measurements.  That's amazing, too, that they can figure out down to THE day!  Andrew couldn't quite figure out where the 'baby' was.  He pointed at the screen and asked, "Baby?" and I would say, "Yes."  He would shake his head 'no' and then point and ask again.  I know he was looking for something more like a photograph.  It's hard to explain to a 20 month old. 

Bryan and Shannon got on their way around 12:30.  They had to stop and see a house they were interested in renting before leaving town.  Rentals are hard to come by and if this was a good one, they wanted to secure it before the weekend.  Lucky thing they did stop, it's a good fit for them and their family.  It's got just about everything they could want including a pool and spa much like the one at the house they are leaving.  The kids school is 2 minutes away which will be wonderful for Shannon.  Her commute right now is a nightmare - 40 minutes in the morning and almost an hour in the afternoon due to heavy traffic.  One of Shannon's friends from church lives on the same street and her daughter and Megan are good friends which will be nice for the girls.  They will be moving around October 15.  Between now and then, I'll be going down a few days a week to help manage Andrew while the other two are in school so Shannon can get things done.  Then when Andrew goes for his nap, I will help pack for a few hours. 

I had a great weekend with the kids.  On Saturday morning, we went to Target so Megan and Nathan could spend some money they got for their birthdays.  Megan chose a new Cabbage Patch baby doll.  It's adorable.  Nathan chose a red Power Ranger outfit so he can dress up like one of the action heros.  Oh, gosh, did he have fun with that.  I have posted some pictures so you can see how delighted they were with their purchases.  I picked up a new motorcycle toy for Andrew so he would have something new to play with.  He is really into anything with wheels and an engine.  I think that's hard wired into the male brain.  One of the first sounds both of the boys made was that 'vrooooommmm' sound of an engine.  Just cracks me up!

We did have one glitch - ok, minor disaster.  It was my fault.  I wasn't thinking and left a ball point pen out where Andrew could get it and while I was out of the family room he decided to write on the couch and one of the couch pillows.  The couch is a solid sage green so there is no pattern to hide his 'art work'.  I just about had a heart attack.  I tried scrubbing it off but it didn't budge.  I called a professional cleaning company and asked them if they could clean it and they said, "No, ink is permanent."  Well, after I calmed down and assessed the situation, I figured at the worst they would fire me and never let me babysit again.  I could hope for supervised visitation with any luck at all. 

When they got home yesterday, after their initial greeting and letting them spend some time with the kids, I took them in the family room and set them down.  I confessed what happened and they both looked at me and then at Andrew who was sitting in his highchair having dinner.  Bryan laughed and shook his head and Shannon said, "Don't worry about it.  I have some stuff that'll get that out."

"But the professionals said it was permanent."  I had to be honest.

"You called a professional!?!"  Bryan was amazed.

"Well, I had to try to do something!" 

Shannon got up and looked it over.  It was bad, especially the pillow.  "Don't worry about it.  It's microfiber.  I've got stuff to take it out."

"Well, if it doesn't............."  I started to make an offer that I'm sure my husband would want to kill me for (LOL)...

"I'm sure."  She smiled that sweet, reassuring smile of her's.

We moved on to other things, I got my stuff and went home.  Around 8:30 last night Bryan called to tell me that Shannon had been able to get all the ink off the couch and pillow using the special cleaner that came with the couch.  I was SO relieved!  He thanked me again for taking care of the kids and making it possible for them to get away and have such an incredible weekend together.  He then mentioned that they wanted to go again next year.  I sighed with relief for a second and then realized, next year there will be FOUR of them.  I'll need reinforcements to help me next time.  I wonder if there are a few marines from Camp Pendleton available for missions like this.....

 

Thursday Afternoon Update

My daughter-in-law called me after her OB appointment today.  She's 12 weeks pregnant and because she will have a C-Section her Dr. thinks the baby will be here the end of March.  I'm getting so excited!  Still praying for another granddaughter - thinking P I N K!!!  She is having an ultrasound exam in the morning so I will be leaving earlier in the day than I planned.  Her last pregnacy was extremely high risk because the placentia was over the cervix.  She was in bed from the 17th week until Andrew was delivered in the 36th week.  There is only a very small possibility of that happening again but Dr. wants to rule it out or confirm it NOW so they will know what to expect.  No surprises this time.

I got a kick out of some of the comments I got over my entry about Suzie the Oven Cleaner.  If anyone suggests that I prepare Prime Rib Roast or something else that splatters, FORGET IT!  I've opened the oven door a few times today just to admire her work.

I managed to get a few things done that have been on my TO DO list for some time.  I took 5 bags of clothing to Goodwill this afternoon.  Most of it was my old larger size clothing but some was out of Dennis's side of the closet, too.  I'm only keeping one pair of pants and one t-shirt in the largest size that I ever wore as a reminder of where I was.  I'm tossing or giving away the larger sizes as I go down.  I got more laundry done - bedding, rugs, towels, and kitchen towels.  Gosh, that takes up a lot of time! 

Since I'm going to be gone until Sunday night, I'm going to spend time reading journals and finding out what's going on with my J-Land buddies.

ô..ô

 

A Day with A Spanish Speaking Housekeeper

My friend, Felicia just had elbow surgery so she has her friend's live-in housekeeper, Suzie, living with her for a week helping out around her house.  She can't afford to pay her everyday, so she asked me if I could use some help for a day.  Of course, I could!  My husband's step-mom is coming to visit from Idaho next week and there are a lot of things that I would love to have done before she comes that I just do not have time to get to, so I quickly and happily accepted her offer.  I picked Suzie up at her house at 9:30 in the morning, brought her here and she went right to work cleaning my oven (which I had sprayed with cleaner earlier so it would be ready to go when she got here).  She scrubbed and scrubbed and polished and scrubbed some more.  At 11:30, I checked on her and she was still hard at work on that oven.  It looked like she had finished the top and one side.  Jeez, how dirty could it have been?  I came back at 12:30 and told her we would have lunch at 1:00 thinking for sure by then she would be done with that task and we could move on to something else. 

At 12:50, I went into the kitchen and got the stuff out to make sandwiches.  I took out ham and turkey and showed her so she could choose, she started saying, "No food, no food!".  Then she went on trying to tell me something in
Spanish about the food situation.  I cocked my head to the left, then to the right, strained real hard and listened as good as I could but I could only pick up the word 'no'.  I called Felicia who has a pretty good Spanish vocabulary and asked her to translate for me because I didn't want to starve the poor lady.  After Suzie and Felicia spoke, I got back on the phone with Felicia, "She said that she already ate."

"She did?"  I hadn't seen her eat and I knew she didn't bring a lunch.

"She said you told her to eat lunch.  She ate an apple and something out of the refrigerator."  Felicia was laughing at this point.

I had to laugh too.  "Oh, okay.  I just didn't want her to go hungry.  She's been working so hard on that oven........"

"Oh!  She's cleaning the oven!"  Felicia started laughing harder.

"Yes?????"  I replied.

"I had her clean mine and it took hours.  I kept saying she didn't have to clean it THAT good but she told me she had to do a very good job." 

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,"  I laughed and sighed at the same time.  "Now I understand why she is taking so long.  She wants my oven to look like it came from the show room."

"Exactly."  Felicia explained.  "She is a perfectionist!"

"Why didn't you tell me?  I would have had her clean the house first!"  I teased.  "Now, I'm going to have to clean the house but I'll have the cleanest oven in Riverside!"

Well, the fact is, I do have the cleanest oven and stove I have ever seen outside of a brand new one.  I need to wear my sunglasses when I go in the kitchen if there is any sunlight filtering thru the windows.  It darn near glows.  She finished up right around 2:45. 

She did have time to clean the blinds in the living room and dining room and do most of the blinds in the kitchen before I had to take her back to Felicia's. 

Today, I'm finishiing the blinds in the kitchen, taking a huge load of old clothes to Good Will, and washing sheets and towels.  I will clean the house on Tuesday and Wednesday next week and do a very good job so when Marj gets here things look like they would have IF Suzie hadn't been side tracked by the oven job. 

This weekend, I'll be gone again.  I'm going to spend tomorrow (Friday) afternoon thru Sunday afternoon with my three grandchildren while their Dad and Mom go to a Marriage Retreat thru their church.  We are going to have so much fun.  I hope it's warm enough that we can enjoy the pool.  We love swimming together.  I'll take pictures to share when I get back.

Until next time..............              ô..ô