slacker

Okay, this morning he had nothing scheduled, so he got up and took Maria to school.

Then he went on a three mile walk.

Then he went grocery shopping.

Then he made a vegetable pizza for the party tonight.

He did all this before I even got out of bed. (At 10:30. Heidi called and woke me up. I have nothing to say in my defense.)

I told Kirsten he makes me feel like a slacker.

Kirsten's nice. She said, "Well, you were probably up late last night working."

"Nope. I didn't work at all last night."

"Well. Then I think you probably are a slacker."

Oh, yeah.

Here's the recipe for Vegetable Pizza

2 cans of refrigerator crescent dough --roll out and press onto a big cooky sheet and bake.

In the mixer, blend 12 oz sour cream with chive and onion, and an 8 oz package of cream cheese.

When the crust is cool enough, spread it on.

Then top with chopped carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, sliced mushrooms, and green olives.

Pretty delicious, especially if it's made by someone else while you're asleep in the sun. love, Val

oh yeah, the cleaning of the room

Tonight we tackled that hell-hole.

Jay's been working on Tim's room, so he's been relocated to the guest room where Joe and Heidi lived this winter.

Wheee.

You can imagine.

There's a thing called The Gray Layer. It lives in nooks and crannies, under couch cushions. You know it when you see it. It's Barbie shoes and Starburst wrappers, popsicle sticks and legos, all bound together with a bit of dust and dog hair.

Sick.

It's all much better now, but as I kept chastising them, "Your hands are empty. You cannot pick up with empty hands," it was all just so darn familiar.

heidi and julia, definitely not today

Back in the day I'd tell the kids to clean their rooms. John and Dan would announce their room was done in like ten minutes.

Come on. It would take fifteen Merry Maids half a day to clean this room and you've done it in ten minutes?

Sure. Flush the toilet. Shove everything else under the bedskirt. Voila.

Gawd.
john and kirsten, 2006

But the girls were the opposite. Two hours later they'd still be dressing the Barbie dolls in matching outfits, complete with shoes and purses, sorting all their nail polish by color and height of the bottles, sitting on the top bunk cleaning out remote bins from the closet.

No, no, no, no. Do that on your own time.

But it's done now, and my car is entirely filled with what's going to the Goodwill. Tim was wiping tears at one point, freaked out about a monkey I'd thrown in a bag. He found it. This is good. Kirsten still brings up a bear I donated like fifteen years ago. "His name was Beau. He had a pink satin bow tie. I used him to hold my Easter basket."

Sigh. I really, truly am sorry. I had no idea. Obviously, if I had, he'd still be here. Apologies don't bring him back though either, and I am sorry about that also.

(Sometimes hoarders have help. But I do regret eliminating Beau.)

Anyway, you know what tomorrow is!

Friday!

Best day of the week.

Party at my parents tomorrow. My mama's turning a year older and my dad's grilling and she's already made banana bread and something else I can't remember.

that's her in the dark velvet shirt. she and me been buddies almost 50 years now. i'm keeping her.

On one of those funny surveys last winter it asked favorite place to eat. I'm sure they were referring to a restaurant, but instantly: MY MOTHER'S. That's my favorite place to eat.

Anyway, today was spent cuddling Heidi's baby, hanging out with her, and playing with b.g.

Tomorrow is Friday, spring is here, a kid has a very clean room,and someone we love is anticipating a good recovery, whew. It's all good. Better than good, it's great. love always, Val

an afternoon on the patio

a little sidewalk chalk art

For the first time since last fall, it was warm and beautiful out. Heidi was here with her little peanut and we spent the afternoon on the patio.


b.g. was here today too and he LOVED the patio. We went out there at noon and he never went back inside, even took a 90 minute nap on the patio swing.

last year he was a baby getting rocked on the patio. look at his long legs now. it was my personal sacrifice to rock grandbabies all day on my new swing.




This little old playhouse is a gift from my parents for Heidi and Kirsten. The door could use a coat of paint again, and Jay did have to replace one side of it a couple years ago, but it's held up amazingly well.


Okay it's going to get awfully crowded with her inside too.

Santa brought this little car in 1987. It refuses to die. Thankfully, the horn no longer works.




a tiny bit of cotton demonstrating her true nature.

Our little peanut in the sun.


Their auntie

This picture is Julia taking care of HER baby. She struggles in her role, and this spring has been intense, the weather, having Heidi move away again, the new baby, spring fever, having a mommy who is also some other people's grandma, darn them.

But she showed up with her little Madame Alexander baby doll to hug too--not some ordinary doll, but a special one from her special shelf, and joined Heidi and me on the patio.

Yeah, I know.

I hear she's annoying, but I absolutely adore her, not gonna lie. (pssst. shhhh...they were all annoying too.)

Okay, this is grub-burner b.g. sitting in a pile of dirt and happy to do so.

And here he is after his parents scrubbed him down.

Here's to perfect Tuesdays everywhere, and to spring, and squirrels, and the people who love them. love always, Val

a weekend long ago

Okay, for a long time we were a family of six.

John, Dan, Heidi, Kirsten, and us. That was all, and it was good.

I'm going through photo albums for a project involving my parents' 50th anniversary and came across these, which are of a weekend visiting Jay's grandparents John and Lydia.

That's Grandpa John and our John playing cards, Kirsten on Jay's lap.

Here's Heidi and Lydia. Oh, I can hear her laugh.


This is bedtime. Notice how tired out they are. Kirsten's bunny blanket dissolved into shreds a decade later. Blankys are like that.

Heidi, Kirsten, and Dan



Heat pushed up to 80.

Heidi and Grandpa
This is one of me back when I was cute and all with the fat legs and curls.

This is a picture I don't even remember taking, caught me by surprise tonight. I paused and whispered, "Whoa."

Julia said, "What are you looking at? I showed her. "Dad! It's a picture of your back."

He glanced over, busy watching TV. "Yep, that's a back."

Indeed.


Happy Saturday. The windows are open and there's thunder and the smell of rain. Sigh. Spring's getting here. love, Val

another birthday

Mine today. Kari and I share. It was great.

Jay made lasagna last night for the party tonight. This was Kari's request and an excellent choice. He did a great job.

I'd baked the cake earlier, and unfortunately the cake had issues. It tore when I frosted it and things were spiraling downhill, so we threw it in the freezer to halt the descent. Successful? Not sure. It tasted good, even if it looked weird.

But this morning Jay drove James to band so I could sleep. He whispered it in my ear. This was maybe the nicest gift ever. I was so tired by last night I could hardly stand it, and he did this without my even asking. Gawd, no wonder I love him.

Mid-morning, I woke up in a pile of pillows in the sun. We had a few errands to do, then back home for the party.

It was so sunny and warm today, Jay and the kids cleaned off the patio. James searched the garage for the umbrella for the picnic table, and Jay put together this swing--my birthday and mother's day gift. Our other one was shot, must be fifteen years old. This one is pretty delightful, soft cushions, big canopy.

The kids wanted to know what a canopy is? "A can of pee?" Noooo. Observe and learn.

Not a can of pee, thanks.


The usual characters were here, and it was was very loud, but also fun.









the look on my face is me considering how to keep this breakable lantern Kirsten gave me safe from the squirrels.





Kari's 11 in 2011, and this is my last year in my forties. I'm looking forward to seeing what the year brings. Thanks for being birthday buddies, Lydia. love you so, Mom

who's eleven?

It's Lydia's birthday.

She used to be about the nuttiest squirrel in the house.




Not anymore.

Since she turned ten last year she's become extremely civilized.

She never hypes out, smarts off, or causes trouble.

She's good-natured, responsible, and calm.

I mean, we knew this would happen eventually, but already???

When she was born, we named her Lydia Karina. We named her after Jay's grandma--my mother in law's mom.

And then we nicknamed her Kari because Lydia's an old name, and it seemed like it'd be useful to also have a kid name since she was a kid.


But Grandma names are in style now, though I didn't realize it at the time. So she goes by both, interchangeably. A friend's daughter who seldom sees us all together was confused. She thought Lydia and Kari were two different people.

Nope. Same. All at once it made sense.

Here's a picture of the grandparents, John and Lydia, with Dan tucked between them. I love these two so much--looking at the picture, I can almost reach out and touch them, including little Dan.

It's been over twenty-five years since this picture was taken, and gosh we still miss them.


But love doesn't ever end.


Here are some pictures for fun.



Lydia, darling, you are truly lovely. From the days when you were a small lump and spent your evenings crossly bleating in my ear, "baaa, baaa," to the funny, quirky kid you were, to the graceful girl you are now, we are nothing but lucky having you.



Obviously this whole family is way better because you're in it. Happy, happy birthday. love you always, Mom and Dad