A Follow-Up

Following up the last post about the 2nd granddaughter:  She still is being a Drama Queen.  She walks around the house, clutching her lower belly and whimpering/groaning quietly whenever someone notices her.  Her oldest sister--15 years old--just rolls her eyes.  What a kid.  ;)

This whole thing brings to mind another story.  My oldest sister-in-law went into labor with her oldest.  Because it wasn't time to go to the hospital, she went and sat at my in-law's house, to spend time with her mother--hopefully, to get a little sympathy.  In typical fashion, my mother-in-law was very laid back about the entire thing and continued with what was on her agenda, which included setting her hair.  My s-i-l sat at the kitchen table, groaning and moaning whenever she had a contraction, and said, "But you don't KNOW how much this hurts!!!!" My m-i-l just continued setting her hair and said nothing:  SHE had given birth to five kids--the last of which were twins.  :D

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Fantasyland

Our 2nd oldest granddaughter is quite a hoot.  Her goal in life has always been to be a princess--and she still wants that at the age of 12.  She has told her parents that she will never leave home--and after they are 'gone,' her older sister will take care of her.  She is the Drama Queen of all times--EVERYTHING that happens to her is worse than anything that has ever happened to anyone else.  She is a bit of a 'space cadet.'  Her mother will send her to do a chore and five hours later, when The Oldest asks her if she's done, she answers, "With what?"  She is the family 'Informer'--she knows everything that is going on and lets her mom know, too.  Also, she is the 'Recorder.'  I try to give gifts of equal value to each of the grandchildren and this grandchild makes sure of that--she remembers what everyone has received and lets it be known if the next gift to come into the house is of lesser OR greater value.  I can count on her to remember things I have forgotten.

Today, The Oldest called to tell me that The 2nd got her period for the first time.  In fine, Drama Queen fashion, she told her mother:  "THIS is GROSS!!!  NO ONE has EVER had ANYTHING so gross happen to them EVER!!!!"

The Oldest only has six girls to raise--she is going to have so much fun for the next 18 or so years.  :D

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Surreal

I am the one who played MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" on the school PA system.  As soon as we got FM stations, I left AM top-40 far behind.  I just saw Alice Cooper in concert.  Eric Clapton is my rock god.  I have music by Cream, Iron Butterfly, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin.  So, could someone please explain to me why, on 22 July, I will be sitting in row 8, center section, at an Air Supply concert?

A couple of weeks ago it came to my attention that Air Supply will be doing two concerts close by here.  The Oldest was THE biggest fan when she was quite young.  I KNEW I had to offer to take her to the concert and she gladly accepted.  So, we will be seeing Air Supply the end of July.  I still can't believe I'm saying that.  ;)  While I'm not a huge fan, I can handle their music in small doses.  I mean, it's not like it's country and western, right?  I will know most, if not all, of the songs, as we owned all of their albums at one time.  And even if I were to absolutely LOATHE the concert, seeing The Oldest's face will be worth whatever I have to go through for two hours.  I think this will be my happiest concert because a person I love will be ecstatic.  I can't wait.

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The Slobby McSlobbersons Have Left The Building

*I write this post with a great deal of amusement and amazement--and NO amount of meanness is intended.  I have a lot of affection for the persons named.*

I have never raised boys, but I think I can say this without much worry:  While boys are messy--and dirty, at times--girls are the biggest slobs on the face of this earth.  I am totally amazed at how slobby girls are.

In the past, we have opened our home to young men to stay with us while they attended our local university.  The first time, G was trying to stay in school for one more semester.  He was having a great deal of financial difficulties, so we offered up our basement family room for him to stay in.  He was with us for only one semester and then he took a break from school, finally completing his education a year later.  A couple of years ago we had one of K's nephew's sons here for a semester.  Both guys were absolute sweethearts and didn't really make much more work for me than I normally had--extremely low maintenance.  And then, we had a couple of young women stay with us the last two weeks...

Another nephew of K's has a daughter who just completed her 3rd year of nursing school.  She was required to come to our town for six shifts at the local hospital.  Because she was only going to need a place to sleep for six days/nights, she asked if we would let her and a friend stay in our spare room.  This was a no-brainer for me and I said 'yes' immediately.  (I figure this is the generation that will be taking care of me when I'm in my dotage, so I better be nice to them.  :D)  Two weeks ago this coming Wednesday, the girls arrived.

Let me say this, whenever someone is a guest in my home--whether it is short- or long-termed--I try my hardest to not invade their privacy.  However, there are times when I have to go into their space, and it isn't always convenient for me to let them know ahead of time.  When the guys lived here, I had to go into their rooms a couple of times, and it usually was to get towels on laundry day.  Of course, the beds were never made and the guys had some personal items spread out, but for the most part, I 'spread out' much more whenever we stay in a hotel.  Not horrifying, in the least.  The girls?  A much different story.

On Thursday, less than 24 hours after the girls descended on our house, I had to go upstairs to close the windows.  They had left the windows open and the rain had started, so I needed to go up there.  O. M. F. G!!!!!  First, there BARELY was a path for me to walk from the stairs to the window.  They had, literally, dumped everything they brought with them onto the floor and spread it out from one end to the other.  Every flat surface, every inch of floor space, was covered with their stuff.  And I'm not sure WHAT they did to the bed.  I didn't even SEE the quilt or blanket that had been on it and the top sheet was in one ball in the middle of the bed.  I didn't know anyone could cause that much destruction in that short of an amount of time.  It just blew me away--but it was fine.  If they wanted to live like that, more power to them.  ;)  (At one point, the blanket found its way onto the curtain rod--I believe they were trying to shut out the sunlight so they could sleep during the day.)

The other thing that amazed me was the condition of the bathroom after it was used.  Now, the guys weren't great about cleaning up the little hair bits after shaving, but very rarely did they make the mirror unusable--at least, not like the girls.  After the girls were done in the bathroom, there was water and face-cleaner residue from one end of the vanity top to the other.  There were spatter marks on the mirror and other things I couldn't identify.  The room was just a mess.  And this wasn't just them being inconsiderate, because there always was an attempt to clean up after themselves--they just didn't succeed very well.  On first glance, things didn't look TOO bad--they took all of their possessions with them, as well as their wet towels--but things were FAR from well.  ;)  I still have a hard time believing what they did in that bathroom.

Part of me wonders if my OCD tendencies make me see some things as horrible, but are only 'normal' in other households.  When I was a teen, my room wasn't always neat as a pin, but I NEVER came close to these two girls.  And both of my girls were slobs, but not to this extent.  So, I don't know if these two are 'normal,' or not.  However, from talking to others, I think I can say with a great bit of confidence that girls ARE the Slobby McSlobbersons of the human race.



*And, to give these wonderful, adorable, sweet, and friendly girls their due, they wrote a marvelous thank you note to K and me and gave us a gift card to a local restaurant for us allowing them to stay here.  NOT something that we expected or needed, but a wonderful gesture on their part.  Still, I can't help but wish we had a guest bathroom that they could have used instead of us all sharing the same one.  :D

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Vengeance Is Mine

"Vengeance is mine...saith the Lord."  Romans 12:19

I don't get all religious and stuff here, and I'm not about to with this post.  However, the quote brings me right to the the heart of what I want to say.

One of The Mother's aunts was possibly my favorite aunt of all time.  The woman was the oldest of all of her siblings and her daughter was older than The Mother by 10 years or more.  The Aunt was quite a rebel in her day:  She was a flapper in the 20s and was the first (?) in the family to ever be divorced.  She married a second time and outlived him by so many years, that I don't ever remember meeting the man.  She lived most of her life in Detroit and 'came home' after she retired.  She lived with her bachelor brother in the family home and stayed there after he died.  With failing health, she wound up back in Detroit with her daughter for her last days.  I loved the woman like a grandmother.

The biggest thing I remember about my aunt was her coming to The Family home on Social Security payday.  She would stay the night and go and do all of her banking business the following day.  She always stayed with me in my bedroom, which had a small bed/cot for her to sleep in.  School days were very hard for me when she spent the night, as the woman snored like a truck driver.  I don't know if I ever got more than a couple of hours of sleep whenever she stayed the night.  I'm not sure I ever had been as angry in my young life as I would be whenever she came down to the kitchen in the morning and complained about 'not sleeping a wink all night.'  Whenever she said that, I was as close to decking her--or any of my aunts/uncles--as ever.  I'm sure I slept through most of the school day in these situations.  Fun memories.  ;)

My aunt had one big 'flaw'--she was an alcoholic.  While living with her daughter in Detroit--both before and after her retirement--I believe she was dry, or mostly, anyway.  Her being drunk would NOT have gone well with her daughter and her husband--they were EXTREMELY religious and wouldn't have stood for it.  However, when she moved in with her brother--who also was an alcoholic--the booze was back in her life big time.  She drank a lot before her health turned and she moved back downstate.  It was a big disappointment to me and it saddened me to no end--but you can't stop drinking FOR someone else, they have to do it on their own.  She just wanted to live her life in an alcoholic fog as her days came to their close.  Very sad.

Visiting with my aunt was a great deal of fun.  (NOT counting the times she was drunk, of course.)  She had led a fascinating life which was awesome AND funny.  We always had a good time talking about the things that happened in the family over the years--and we usually wound up laughing until we cried.  She had done some unbelievably ridiculous things in her day and they always brought us to our knees, clutching our stomachs while laughing, whenever she regaled us with her stories.  I still miss her today--some 30 years after she died.

Okay, I didn't mean for this post to be so rambling or so serious.  My entire point was to show how I am an example of our Lord's 'vengeance.'  One thing that my aunt did was complain about her knees--ALL. OF. THE. TIME.  They ALWAYS hurt her and she groaned and moaned about them constantly.  She NEVER went to see a doctor about them, of course, so we (read that as The Mother and me), never QUITE believed her.  We would talk about how she couldn't possibly be as bad off as she 'pretended' and we would scoff at her, a lot.  We ALWAYS would say that we'd probably pay for our laughing at her some day, but then we would laugh THAT off, too.  Boy, have I learned my lesson.  I find myself having bad knees that get worse every year.  Of course, I try to ignore the problem and say it all is age or weight related--and I, too, have not said a word to any of my doctors.  I know it won't make much of a difference, as I am just getting pay-back for the way I used to view my aunt.  :D


***I know I will have to address my knees one of these days--and I very much may need replacement surgery sometime down the road.  Right now, I'm determined to 'help' myself by losing weight first and seeing how I do.  Also, I'm not too sure that part of my problem isn't arthritis--having psoriasis, I am at risk for having psoriatic arthritis and THAT I will discuss with my dermatologist when I see her next week.  But, I'm pretty much sure it is my destiny to have 'bad knees.'  :)

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This Would Make ANYONE Go Postal!

Jen left a comment on yesterday's post and it reminded me of my favorite chipmunk story--and when I searched this blog, I didn't find it.  I'm amazed that I never wrote this down, so here goes:

I have talked a lot about the critters we have in our yard--AND house--and what has caused some of the most frustration for me is the chipmunks.  When we first moved to this house, we thought it was cute to feed the buggers.  And they became so tame that they would climb into your lap to be hand fed.  The Oldest was just a toddler at the time, so I figured THAT wasn't a good thing and we stopped the feedings.  Of course--as I said in the last post--they just helped themselves from the bird feeders, so they reproduced like crazy.  You know those nature shows that have prairie dogs in them? Where you see their little heads popping out of the holes? That's pretty much what our backyard is like, only with chipmunks.  And, of course, they get in the house and eat our gardens.  They drive us crazy and have done so for far too many years.


One day when The Youngest was still at home, she had had enough of the chipmunks.  All summer long the feeders had to be filled daily, the birds weren't coming to the feeders hardly at all, and the chipmunks were LAUGHING at us whenever we 'shooed' them.  After a day of yelling, banging on the window, and doing whatever else she could think of to scare the critters, The Youngest decided to start throwing things at the little rodent.  The chipmunk DUCKED when she threw things at it and went right back to filling its pouches with sunflower seed.  The more the chipmunk defied her, the more incensed The Youngest became.  Finally, with her face as red as Santa's suit, she screamed, "I AM going to get that thing!" and went running out the door with the spray bottle full of water.  She got within two feet of the chipmunk and, like a gunslinger from the Old West, pulled out the bottle, aimed, and fired directly in the chipmunk's face/body.  (They are small, so the spray went everywhere.)  I watched from the breakfast nook window, so I can swear this is the truth:  Instead of running away from the water, the chipmunk sat up and raised it's arm and started cleaning its pits.  Yes, she gave him a much-needed shower instead of scaring him off.  To say The Youngest was thisclose to going postal, is putting it mildly.  I thought the poor thing was going to have a stroke, she was so mad.  And I laughed until I peed myself.  :D


That would be my favorite chipmunk story.

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Updating My Life

I know I haven't quite gotten back into the swing of posting regularly, but I realized it's been quite a while since I actually have done an update post.  So, here goes:

Our holidays were good.  I found as it got closer and closer to Christmas, I was over-extending myself.  So, I decided to back off.  And what a relief it was to do so!  I learned a great and valuable lesson:  Just because I WANT to do it all, I don't HAVE to do it all.  And the best part was, NO ONE knew that I didn't get everything done for Christmas that I had planned.  Wow--all of those years I ran myself into the ground and practically had a nervous breakdown every December and for what?

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January and February this year means that I am getting a whole lot of yearly medical stuff out of the way.  I have already had my appointment with my internist--which turned out fine, I guess*--and last week I saw the ophthalmologist.  It has been almost three years since I had my LASIK and he has declared me a complete success.  Everything is pretty stable and he is happy with the results.  That being said, I DO have some residual astigmatism--which I guess isn't surprising, considering how bad it WAS--and he found evidence that cataracts are beginning to form.  Great.  And the worst part is that I can't do anything to stop this and I won't be able to tell how bad things are getting because the sight deteriorates so gradually.  What I have to do is see him every two years and keep track of the progress.  Another joyful part of getting older.

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I got my report from the ultrasound of my carotid arteries and THAT was good news.  There is no evidence that anything is getting worse in my neck, which is a relief.  Now, I don't know if there is anything I can do to make things better--unless they go in and do surgery--the sludge that is there is staying.  And there is no way they would do surgery on me because the problem is so very slight.  It has been two years since the last ultrasound and I haven't exactly done much to keep things from getting any worse, so this was very welcome news.

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I won't get my mammograms done until the end of February.  This is because of when I had them done last year.  Insurance companies will only allow these once a year--unless there is a problem, of course--so I have to wait the 'one year plus one day' and have them done later than I wanted.  Sometimes things are just too complicated.  I'm just happy that the hospital caught this in time--I don't want to have to pay for something that we have covered by insurance.

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This week I get to go and have my teeth scraped--and hope that no other work needs to be done.  Just thinking about it causes a panic attack!  But, with the amount of time I spend daily with cleaning my teeth, things should be okay for a while yet.  I hope.

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A week from now I will be getting things ready for our road trip to see 'Wicked.'  We decided to spend two nights away--we will leave here on Monday afternoon, see the play on Tuesday, and come home on Wednesday.  Of course, the rest of the time will be spent in the stores--this will give me plenty of time to go to places I don't normally get to visit.  I've got my lists going already, so I am hoping the shopping will go in my favor.

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As I said, there were a few things that I didn't get done in time for Christmas.  But that just means I have to do them now.  The sewing/crafts room is filling up with projects that I need to get started on or complete.  Right now I have a scarf that I started, two hats that I'm making, a bunch of fleece blankets, and fleece polar socks.  I have no problem making the stuff--and I actually enjoy the work--but I find that I HATE the preparation and the finishing work.  I have to get going, because most of the stuff isn't for me and it has been promised to others--and I believe the patience is wearing a bit thin when it comes to people not getting what they are expecting. 

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We took a ride up north last week to deliver some stuff to The Oldest and her family.  This was the first time I've been up there in quite a few months.  So many times when K goes up there, I stay at home--I enjoy the time alone to get things done without him being here. I need to go more often, however, because I do miss the grandkids.  Anyway, the roads were normal for here in the winter:  snow-covered and a bit slippery.  As for the weather around here, we have snow almost every day--but that is normal, too.  :)  Haven't had too many bad storms this winter--but at least one will be coming yet this year.

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So far it seems as if we have been waiting for three months for the damned Super Bowl to finally be played.  Of course, with living here, the hype is on about the Packers, so I have it worse than people in other parts of the country.  I'll just be happy when the entire thing is done.

With hockey, the All-Star weekend just finished up and the regular schedule will be back on Tuesday.  I haven't seen a Wings game since Wednesday and won't get to see the next one until Wednesday.  I AM suffering from withdrawal symptoms.  ;)  Oh well, the race to the playoffs is about to begin.  Fun times.

*I still am not sure how I feel about the new doctor.  Some people think I should go out and look for someone who I may feel more comfortable with, while others tell me to give it some time.  I have a lot of thinking to do about this.

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This Sounds Terrible, But...

I could never be a nurse because I hate sick people.  I know that sounds awful, but bear with me.  I can empathize and sympathize with the sick, I just find it very difficult to take care of someone who is sick.  And I've come to the realization that I can't deal with sickness because I feel so powerless against it.  I always can bring the sick their juice and soup and aspirin, but there really isn't a damn thing I can do to help them get better--and I hate that.  I also have a big, big problem cleaning up after a sickie--vomit and other bodily fluids have never been my favorite things to look at or smell.  I do have the tendency to get sick myself whenever I have to clean this stuff up, so I wouldn't do well in a hospital setting.

Feeling like this just didn't happen--I didn't feel any differently when my kids were young.  I never was the nurturing mother that I probably should have been when the girls were sick--I didn't rock them and pet them and sing to them like I should have.  But, once again, I just felt so damn terrible that I couldn't DO anything for them.  And I always have felt better--for the most part--if I was just left alone while sick, so I pretty much leave others alone whenever they are bedridden.  Of course, I DO make sure the sick one is doing as well as can be expected--I DON'T just leave him/her to fend for his/herself.

So, where is this post coming from?  K is sick today.  It seems as if he has some sort of stomach bug with fever.  No other symptoms, just running to the bathroom very often--even though he hasn't eaten hardly anything since yesterday.  I hope he's better soon.  Poor baby.  :(

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What Did We Do Without Computers/The Interweb?

Growing up, I was always told that the only people in the US with our last name were the ones in The Father's immediate family:  Him, his brothers, and their sons.  About 30 years ago, I accidentally found one more person with the same name.  He was adopted from Scandinavia, his parent were deceased, and he had one much older sister.  As of today, I can't find anyone other than him and his children--and my uncles, cousins, etc--with my maiden name here in the States.  That is freaking awesome!

Now, in Europe/Scandinavia, the story is much different--the last name seems to be more prevalent.  On Facebook, there are a number of people with the name--and there is a 'page' dedicated to everyone with the name.  When I search on FB, I'm able to find well over 100 people who have the name, whether they were born to it or married into it.  Still, it doesn't seem as if it is one of the most common names ANYWHERE in the world.  This is much, much different than having 'Johnson' or Smith' as a last name.  ;)

One thing that I have learned in my interweb travels is that there are several well-known and beloved people who have had the name through the years.  During the Finnish Revolution, there was a man who became famous because of certain battles and one city has a swimming pool and statue dedicated to a man who did much charity work.  Right now, there is a photographer who travels the world taking world-class pictures (actually, there might be two photogs) and there is a Grand Prix race car driver with the name.  Both Sweden and Finland have an abundance--relatively speaking--of people with the name.

Another very awesome thing that I found out is that there is a lake, river, mountain pass, river valley, and some mountains in the Russian Kona  peninsula with the same name.  Who would have thought?  Unfortunately, there is little to no info on WHY this area is named what it is--and I don't know how I could possibly find out.  Russia STILL isn't a fountain of info and I don't speak/read the language, so I am pretty much out of luck.

I know there are a lot of people who don't understand the fascination that genealogy holds on me.  They feel as if you should concentrate more on the here and now.  But, it gives me a connection that I never felt while growing up.  When my family came here to the States, there was a sense of putting away the past and the 'old country' wasn't talked about.  I was too young to ask questions of my great-grandparents and I never 'had' grandparents, so any sources of information were missing in my life.  (I only had one grandparent while growing up and we were never close.)  And even though I had three great-grandparents during my early years, they only spoke Finn, so I couldn't have communicated with them even if I would have thought of it.  So, with the help of the interweb, I am able to add a few more pieces to the puzzle that is my family.  And that gives me a happy.  ;) 

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Just Catching Up

I put out all of my bird feeders the other day and have gotten so many more birds showing up since then.  I still have the chickadees and finches, but the juncos have now moved into the yard and the starlings are making their presence known.  The blue jays continue to strip the corn cobs in record time.  I don't know what I will feed them later in the year when the corn is finished--I guess I will have to buy cracked corn to keep them happy.  (I LOVE seeing the blue of the jays in the middle of the winter--the color stands out so beautifully on a sunny winter day.)  And today I had a cardinal at one of the feeders!  I haven't seen any of them for quite a few years--at least, not up close.  We have had a family of cardinals living in the area for years, but this is the first time in a long time since one has come in our yard.  I am really looking forward to seeing what birds we get throughout the winter.

(NOT the one that was at my feeder.  ;))

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And speaking of winter:  We had our first snow the other day.   I don't know if it was MEASURABLE, but it certainly was snow.  A couple of times during the day, I saw snow in the air.  I was beginning to wonder what was going on, as we hardly ever have our first snow AFTER Halloween--so, I was worried it wasn't going to happen on time this year.

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Our Youngest and her husband are in the beginning stages of house shopping.  She is a bit stressed and worried--thoughts I remember so well when we decided to buy this place.  I tried my hardest to reassure her that all will be well. And I truly believe it, as they are going into this with such a realistic perspective.  They have decided just how much they can afford, where they want to live (with regards to taxes, etc), and just about every other aspect that needs to be looked at.  I guess they have impressed the realtor and financial person they are talking to--not everyone goes into house buying with so much thought and preparation.  I certainly hope all goes well for them.

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The youngest granddaughter was weighed last week--or was it the week before?  Anyway, she has already gained over two pounds since being born--she is now 6lbs 6oz.  Things are going quite well, thank goodness.

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 I really am re-discovering some old music these days.  I guess it started with my getting the Robert Palmer anthology and the re-issue of John Lennon's Power to the People.  I find myself listening to music much more than watching TV--which is a bit of a change from the past few years.  I just get so tired of watching the same old tired re-runs that are on during the day or late at night.  I think I will be happy when Conan comes back on the air--at least it will be something different to watch at 11:00.

Anyway, while I was listening to the Lennon CD, it occurred to me that I think he did his best work after The Beatles broke up.  The CD is just full of great songs:  Woman, Power to the People, Instant Karma, Imagine, Mind Games--as I said, some of his best work.  And personally, I think McCartney did lousy work after the break up.  I mean really, Silly Love Songs and Ebony and Ivory!?!?  The only reason Wings was a success was because he rode his Beatles fame.  (Okay, just my own opinion--but it's my blog, so I can have that.  ;))

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While I try very hard not to think about it, we do have only about two months before Christmas.  So, I guess I need to get started on some gifts that I plan to make.  Last night I went into the sewing room to straighten up--a task made a lot easier to do now that I have a TV in there to watch games, I might add.  Anyway, while I was looking through the absolute mess that I had going in there, I found some material that I had bought for the purpose of making gifts.  One thing that I'm planning on making are bowl and cake pan covers--you know, like the thin plastic ones you can buy, only reusable.  I made the patterns tonight, but will have to buy more material, as some of the pieces I bought already aren't nearly big enough for what I'm doing.  I guess this gives me a reason to go to Jo-Ann's the next time we do a road trip.  :)

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Not much planned for this coming week.  K is working night shift for the beginning of the week and might do a few overtime shifts later.  We don't have any appointments coming up--unlike the last two weeks--so all I have to look forward to are the games on Thursday and Saturday.  And that I can handle--a fairly lazy week.

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Oh, Happy Day!

Today, after two and a half weeks in the NICU, baby Faith is going home!  The Oldest and her husband just got into town and will turn right around and go back to settle her in at home.  Thank goodness they finally released her--it was much too hard on The Oldest to have the baby 100 miles away.  But now all is good.  :)

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Will Post ASAP

I don't have the excuse of 'nothing to write about,' so I'll go with 'no time to write.'  ;)  Actually, this last week+ has been a bit overwhelming:  we went to the Twin Cities for the Labor Day weekend, we had a new granddaughter be born, we had to run to the hospital to SEE said g-daughter, we did a day-run shopping trip, etc, etc, etc.  So, when I FINALLY sit down and spend the time, I will have several posts to write.  And I'm hoping to get to the first one tonight.  Check back soon.

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And She Has Arrived (With UPDATE)

This morning at 4:00, our sixth granddaughter came into the world--4+ weeks early.  She is four pounds and there was some concern over her breathing, so she is being transported to our NICU.  I will go to the hospital tonight and get more info and pictures!  Of course, if any of the pics turn out, I will post them later.  I talked to The Oldest and she is tired, but happy to be done with this pregnancy--it was a bit of a tough go.  All in all, Mom and Babe are doing fine.  More news will be posted as I get it.


UPDATE:

I went to see the baby-her name is Faith--and she is doing well.  I also got quite a few pictures of her, so here goes.

Here is her area in the NICU--and the best picture I took.  Of course, you can't actually SEE her...

 The lighting is subdued in the NICU, and every bit of light is reflected in the plastic of the isolette, so that is why the pics are the way they are.

And she finally opened her eyes for me.

The nurse said she probably would be here for two weeks or more--but that is subject to change every day.

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A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

Cool dryer weather today--HOORAY!!!!  We should have nice, summer weather for a few days--and then it will warm up.  And by warm up, I mean temps at and over the 80* mark.  Blah.  Thank goodness for air conditioners.

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While watching the Tigers game last night, we saw one of the pitchers break his elbow when he threw a pitch.  I have never seen anything like that before and never want to see it again.  He was in so much pain, I thought I could feel it!  I STILL shudder to think about what I saw.  He is done for the season, but did no damage to any tendons, ligaments, or muscles.  He actually was lucky that it only was a broken elbow.  It still is unbelievable that ANYONE could break an elbow just by throwing a baseball.

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The Red Wings signed my Baby Boy's older brother to a one year contract.  For the most part, he will be playing in Grand Rapids, but will be called up to Detroit during the season.  It would be nice to see the two of them play together--I'm sure there is a great deal of chemistry there, as they grew up playing together.  It will be interesting to see if he can make it in the NHL.

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The Youngest's neurotic cat--the one on anti-anxiety drugs--has been doing quite well lately.  And then they went and bought a new couch this past weekend.  He is NOT amused, but getting better every day.  It's not a wonder he isn't happy about the couch--cats HATE change in a big way.  Our cat gets very upset for a few days whenever I move the furniture around in the living room.  The joys of pet ownership.

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We're still battling the yellow jackets in the soffit.  While K was able to close up most of the entry holes, they still are finding their way in.  So, K did a little bit of spraying, which killed MOST of the buggers--but not all.  There are two or three that continue to find ways to get into the soffit, so there will need to be more spraying done.  This HAS to be taken care of quickly.  From everything I've read, they get more and more aggressive as the month of August approaches--something about new queens, I believe--and they don't want anything around the nest.  Like I need to worry about THAT!

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I don't know if the weather has had anything to do with it or not, but the police logs just haven't been too interesting lately.  There have been quite a few alcohol-related calls, but with this weather, ANYONE would want to drink the depression away!  Hot weather seems to bring out the wackos and this weekend is supposed to be hot.  High temps and a holiday weekend just might give some interesting police calls.  Stay tuned.

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Our oldest has always had some strange reactions to certain medications.  If something is supposed to cause drowsiness, she would get hyper.  We found this out when she was given Tylenol with codeine for an ear infection.  She stayed up all night talking to herself after getting a dose, so we stayed away from that afterwards.  She also couldn't handle Dimetapp or several other meds because of the same result.  Last night, she found out her boy takes after her.  She gave him some Benadryl for his newly diagnosed allergies and he stayed up till at least 3:00 AM, bouncing off the walls.  But, when he fell asleep, he slept very well and woke up extremely refreshed.  At least something good came out of it.  ;)

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Despite the fact that nothing came of K's visit to the sleep center, I STILL think his sleep isn't right.  (He went to be tested for sleep apnea and was told he doesn't have it.  I disagree.  I also think he has a bit of 'sleep eating,' too.  But I digress...)  Many times this next scenario has been played out in our house.

I went into the bedroom last night to put away the last of the laundry that I had just folded.  K had already been sleeping for an hour or two.  A lot of the time, he isn't disturbed when I go into the bedroom, but sometimes he is.  As I was putting my night gowns away, he got up out of bed, looked at me and began saying "I heard on the news..." and he proceeded to talk as if we had been conversing for an hour or so.  And he does this quite often--he just starts as if he never was sleeping.  It is the strangest, eeriest thing.  Maybe he DREAMS we are talking and he just continues what he was dreaming about.  I don't know. 

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My favorite day of the year came and went over the weekend.  That day would be the first day of summer.  It is my favorite day because every day from now on gets shorter and shorter--and we are one day closer to winter with each day.  ;)  And the hockey season will be starting on 7 October--just 99 days away!  Time is moving way too slowly...

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Time Moves On

Can you miss someone who you haven't had contact with in over 25 years?  I guess it's possible, because I am missing my cousin Ben.  Ben died this past weekend and I have been a bit down ever since I heard the news.

Ben was The Mother's first cousin and he was only eight years older than me.  He always was kind to me, but really didn't have all that much to do with me--after all, I was just a kid who was in awe of him.  He was the first teenager that I spent any time around.  I thought he was very, very cool and looked a bit like Elvis.  (He DID have the dark hair and slightly curled lip when he smiled.  And he was very good looking.) 

I always thought Ben was quite smart--probably because he spent a year at the local university back home.  I'm not sure why, but after a year he joined the Marines.  He found himself in Vietnam for 13 months.  I remember writing to him and have often wondered how much, if any, enjoyment he got from the ramblings of a pre-teen.  I was tremendously proud to think I had a relative defending our country.

One thing that I always will remember about Ben was his rock collecting.  He spent an enormous amount of time looking for agates on the shores of Lake Superior.  He would polish the stones and then sell them to local tourist shops or jewelry makers.  I have never been able to tell an agate from any other rock, so this was one talent that impressed me immensely--and I was very jealous.

When Ben got home from Vietnam, he, like so many, was 'not himself.'  For quite a while he didn't seem able to get his life together and he foundered.  There were several 'dark' years for him and we worried that he may not recover.

Finally, Ben got his life back on track.  He married and he and his wife had two children.  At one point, Ben went to the police academy and worked as a deputy sheriff for several years.  Time went on, he moved on to other jobs, divorced, remarried, divorced again and got back together with his first wife.  The two of them had a good life for many years, welcomed several grandchildren into their lives, and she was with him when he had the massive heart attack that killed him.  I hope he finally was at peace in his later years.  I wish I would have been in touch so that I could have known for sure.  I miss you, Ben.  RIP.

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Like Mother, Like Daughter

I believe--and I MAY be wrong--that The Oldest doesn't especially care to take after me.  I tease her often that she's 'more like me than she thinks' and she doesn't say too much.  It isn't a wonder that she WOULD be like me in many ways--after all, I DID raise her.

The other night, we were talking, and the new movie (remake) 'Karate Kid' came up in the conversation.  She very adamantly said how she was boycotting the movie--"it is an abomination to the memory of the original."  I really had to laugh because I boycotted 'Titanic' when it came out.  (I'm not sure why, but I think it had to do with my dislike of the director--and probably had a lot to do with the hype surrounding it.)  As if TWO people in this world boycotting anything makes a bit of difference.  But, we both have done this over and over again, for different reasons.  We did have to laugh--we ARE more alike than either one of us wants to admit.

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Yes, Sir, That's My Baby

We love our kids--we wouldn't have had them otherwise.  Thing is, kids are work and they DO have the tendency to wreck things.  It is unavoidable, I guess.  And we all have stories about things our kids have ruined.  My youngest, for example, was a chewer.  She chewed EVERYTHING.  It didn't matter if it was metal (the legs on her playpen) or wood (my open, kitchen shelves) or cloth (terry towels--don't ask.)  To this day, I STILL have edges of my shelves that look as if a beaver chewed on them.  And that brings me to the reason for this post, the newest website I have found.  It is called Shit My Kids Ruined and just going through it makes me GRATEFUL that my kids are grown.  I also am grateful for how few stories I actually have, compared to some on this site.  The best part?  Most of the stories have pictures.  Go to the site NOW.  You will be amazed, amused, and everything in between.  And you just might have stories of your own to contribute.

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Baby Watch--Newest Edition

The Oldest went to see the specialist today and was told she is having another girl.  So, that will be SIX girls and one boy in the house.  Good grief.

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This Weekend and My OCD

The Youngest is coming home for the weekend.  I'm so excited I can't even think clearly.  Her best friend from high school is graduating from college, so she HAS to be here.  Her husband couldn't get the time off to come with her and K will be working night shift, so it's just us two 'girls' together.  It has been so long since we have had one-on-one time--it should be a lot of fun.  And I know the time will go way too quickly.

When we bought our new computers, I sent the old laptop to The Youngest to replace her dying one.  It seems to be doing what she needs it to, so she is happy.  K wanted me to set up the old computer in our upstairs room for him to use.  I never did so, as there just isn't anyplace for me to put it up there, so we offered it to The Youngest and her husband.  Again, it will replace a dying computer for them.  It is, definitely, NOT a new computer, but it is serviceable--and if anything needs to be upgraded or replaced, it will cost much less than a new computer for them.  I'm happy the machine will be out of my way after this weekend.

Last night I reformatted the hard drive on the old computer.  I will let the son-in-law do the rest of the work on it.  After I was done, I went searching for a box/boxes in which to put the computer and all of the parts--anything to make it easier for it to be transported back to Minnesota.  It was then that I remembered that I probably had, at least, some of the original boxes it came in.  As it turned out, I had every original carton AND most of the protective coverings that came with the computer.  It is really great to be borderline obsessive/compulsive sometimes.  :D

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Memories

When my girls were young, we were constantly hauling them to birthday parties. At a minimum, they were invited to two per month--and most times there were more. I don't know how kids' parties are done today, but back then no one had parties at home. My girls were invited to pool parties--a room was rented at a local hotel and the kids used the pool--or to McDonald's or to the roller rink. I even believe one of them went to the local university's phys ed complex for a day of 'fun.' But one thing is sure, none of the parents wanted to put on a party in the home. Except for me.

I got very depressed when I realized that parents didn't want to be bothered to put on parties for their kids. They much rather paid someone else to plan, cook, and organize parties than to put in the time and effort needed to do something their kids would remember. And I vowed to never pay someone else to put on a party for my girls--and I didn't.

My girls didn't get 'full-blown' parties every year. Some years they just had a couple of friends over for a sleepover or we brought them to see a movie. Part of the reason was because for each birthday, I had to put on two or three celebrations. First, we had a party for friends, next we had one for the neighborhood kids, and then we had a family party--which usually was the biggest of the three. By the end of 'birthday weekend,' I was a wreck--and it took me many, many days to recover.

Instead of buying a cake from a bakery, I taught myself to do cake decorating. For many years, I made decorated cakes every month or so--sometimes for practice, sometimes for an occasion. Along with the cake, I made all of the food served, did all of the decorating, and planned the activities. And even though it was an exhausting endeavor, I'm glad I did it all. I believe I made memories that will last for a lifetime.

One party we had for my youngest was an old-fashioned birthday party. The kids played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and drop-the-clothespin-in-the-bottle. We played musical chairs and hot potato. Everyone got goodie bags and there were prizes for all of the games. Hot dogs and potato chips were served, the gifts were opened, cake and ice cream was eaten, and the kids went home--tired and happy. If I remember correctly, there were almost 20 girls at that party.

The party that stands out for the oldest was the one I put on when she was in fourth grade. That year I bought the gaudiest, boldest, and most obnoxious make-up I could find. I gathered hair accessories and clothing and let the girls have a dress-up party. To this day, girls that were at that party still mention it to the oldest. They had a great time and it was one of the most successful parties I ever put together. Now, I'm not too sure the other parents thought that the entire episode was so great: The girls looked like cheap street walkers when they left my house. I let them leave without washing their faces and there were some frightened and upset looks on some of the parent's faces when they saw their little girls--and I loved every minute of it. :D

I certainly hope that I just had to deal with some lousy parents in my day--and believe me, there WERE some pretty awful ones. Maybe parents are learning how much their kids welcome the time and effort they put into something, rather than how much money is spent. At least, I hope this is the case. Besides, I think I had just as much fun as the kids did whenever I 'threw' a party.

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