happy for snow

It wasn't a lot, but it was a pretty night and the kids were happy in the morning, but especially Sam was.

And I can see we have a playhouse window to fix and a back steps to paint, but those are future Val's problems. 

Today?  No problems at all.  love, Val

blah, blah, blah

Okay, today we had errands to do: drop off the saxophone at the repair shop, mail packages, have a form notarized, drop off  b.g.'s mittens. 

All these are quick stop errands where I can run in and leave Lydia in the car to supervise.  She's going to be twelve in a couple months. She can handle it.

I promised the kids McDonald's for lunch as compensation for this boring morning.   

But getting out the door is so annoying.  (We even forgot the packages and had to go back again.) 

But as I attempted to put p.j. in the carseat--big baby, awkward angle, I realized SOME PERSON had buckled the straps, so now I had to lift her up with my left hand and unbuckle them with my right, and get them against something just so to create the leverage, and I started to sweat and then I started to YELL.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHO DID THIS AND HEAR AN APOLOGY!"   Their eyes were big, Nobody said anything.

I kept yelling, "Well, SOMEBODY did this, and they know who they are and all I want to hear is SORRY!"

More silence.  "Okay then, FINE.  No video games for anyone until tomorrow.  If you can't even say you're sorry, fine then."

Julia bravely mumbled, "Sorry." 

AAAGHHH.  Even at the time, I knew I was being asinine.

Then turning the car around, I saw that window. "What the hell happened to that shade?  Look at it!  It's completely mutilated."

Silence.

"Somebody knows what happened to that shade and they'd better explain.  I don't care about the shade. It cost $2.99.  We'll throw it away, but you can't wreck things and leave the pieces.  Tell me right now!"

Tim:  "t.c. wanted to make the room darker, so I pulled it down and it wouldn't go back up, so then I stuffed it under the curtain."

Okay, that's believable, and shades are for using, and it's sure nobody's fault the shade wouldn't go back up.   GAWD.  Get me in a mood and everyone run for cover.  Ridiculous.

But the errands were accomplished without further incident, except when they asked how many boy and girl toys in the Happy Meals.  I said, "Two boys and two girls." 

Kari stared at me and whispered, "Two boys??"

Pbbblt.  I'm, ugh--need to be apologizing, plus who cares?  Boys or girls can enjoy any type of toys.

(Except the ones we got one time that were heavy, plastic shapes you threw into the air and got points for how they landed.  The instructions stated not to toss them above your own head.  Okay, good thinking. Thanks for mentioning that.)   

But lunch was delicious and fine.  And we're going to make it through Wednesday.

I will try not to rant anymore about things that don't matter.   They nodded, "Well, we get in a crabby mood too sometimes."   Sigh.

Onward.   love forever, MOM

making the most of the snow

Last night it snowed, which is rare this winter.  I drove home late at night, creeping along over the ice and unplowed streets, taking the side roads home.   It was as bright as day, big pink sky. 

When I pulled up to the house it looked like a postcard, pines hanging with snow,  marshmallow caps on all the cars.

Okay, that was lovely.

Glad it's over. 

Today it melted quite a bit.   When I picked Tim up from basketball, it felt like a damp March wind, and that didn't bother me in the least. 

Alicia texted this morning would the kids be willing to play with b.g. in the snow?

Yes.

She took some pictures of them in the snow, but I didn't.   We ate lunch and way too many cookies and took turns holding the babies.

Here he's found an enormous hair brush and hid under the table brushing his hair.

This was a couple weeks ago, Alicia took this.  I love the look on her face.  Today she climbed up next to me to rub his head, looked at me, and then at him, and back again.  (The rubbing is probably safer than the patting.)



Later on, when Kirsten was back from the airport, Julia was being annoying. She was interrupting and a bit on the giddy side, driving us nuts.   We told her to quiet down, calm down, or get out of our bubble.

She giggled away, asking more annoying foolish questions.

I told her again--cut it out or leave.

Jay said, "Are you listening to what people are saying?"

She continued on with some foolish answer.

Jay did a little frisky move then, like a fake move, like he was coming after her.

She looked at him over her shoulder and made a fake-scared face and ran out to the family room.



I couldn't quit laughing.  As if. 

He said, "Whaaat?"

"As if you'd ever leap up and do what to her?"



He said, "Well."

This is a picture of Kirsten and her crazy nephews, taken by Alicia.   Kirsten came home from Florida today.

We asked her how it was?

"Four days, just me and Grandma and Grandpa?  How do you think it was?  AWESOME!"

It did sound pretty perfect.  Plus on the way home, she was phoned and offered a promotion at work.

That was pretty good too.   And this lovely little canine was waiting for her--she was an agreeable dog to babysit.  They were awful happy to see each other.

And that is the end of Tuesday, and a very fine Tuesday it was.    love you all so,  Val, aka Grandma, aka Mom

he's an observant child all right

Tim's learning to read.

He's getting better all the time. But his level of comprehension is waaaay ahead of the very early books he's able to get through.

Yesterday he read me a story called, "It's Not Easy Being a Bunny."

It's a little cartoon rabbit, sick of his own home, who goes to live with other animals.   Of course, inevitably he realizes his own family is the place for him.

But along the way he tries living with bears, and birds, and when he moves in with the possums, Tim paused to sound out the word:  "Pahh--sssssss--im?  Possum?  Possum!  Okay who, seriously, in their right mind, would EVER consider living with possums?"

I had to put my head down on the bed to laugh, oh gosh.  So true, Buddy. 

Then when he was done reading, he ran back to what he'd been doing, yelling, "See Ya!"

But then he came back and hollered, "HUG TIME!" and put a bear hug around my head from behind.

This is a true Tim story:

When he was a baby, he was huge and demanding, and as he approached a year old: CRANKY.     Oooh, he was cross and difficult a lot.     Well, about that age we were with friends, and their baby was crying, and he stood there peering at the child with a worried frown on his face.

And then he handed the baby his own blanky.

That's when I knew for a fact he was going to overcome being an annoying moody mess and be okay.

And he did, and he is.

The end.   

 Tim, I love you so much,  MOM

pictures from a friday

love, Grandma

sudden death overtime

 

Okay, Kirsten works for a huge corporation with many divisions.

This is good.

They have broomball tournaments, also good.


She signed up. Good, good. She loves broomball.

This is a funny broomball story:   The team called "Supply Chain" played the team called, "Lawyers."  A guy got his face smashed and cut open across the cheek.

Next time around there were waivers to sign and helmets to wear.

That cracks me up.

The boss above her arranged for rented broom ball shoes at $6/day.

But anyway, today Kirsten was playing and the game was neck and neck, and then it went in to overtime.


She was the only girl on the ice during overtime and scored the winning goal.    She says it went into slow motion then, crossing the goal, the fumbled reaction, the score.

Her teammates rushed with high fives and screaming.

The boss above her boss told her to take the day off.

Later she ran into him at the office and he said, "I told you to take the day off!"

She said, "I thought you were kidding!  I can't take the day off. I have work to do!"

Tomorrow she leaves on a plane to go visit my parents who are in Florida at the moment, my dad enjoying the company of his brother.   They were close growing up, are both tool and die makers owning similar machine shops.  (Out of that sleepy farm-town Wisconsin school, yes.  Somebody there was good at math and adventures.)

Anyway, I talked to my mother today, and she and Kirsten are two peas in a pod. They'll have a good time.

Plus a girl barely 5'2", and the only girl person on the ice, scored the winning goal in sudden death overtime.

She didn't phone me.

She called the DAD.

I don't even care. She gets it from him.  I have no aggression in me, flooded in estrogen and cooperative spirit and all that.


Wheeeee.   High fives everywhere.   

Suck-ahs!     love, etc. Val

p.s.  kirsten.  thanks for being my girl.

my little rat mind

 Okay, I have a special electronic key for opening electronic lock boxes when I show houses.  It's not that I have any appointments to show houses at the moment--it'd be fun to help a buyer, but never mind. That's not the point.

I put my supra key somewhere for safekeeping.

Yah.

Smart, I know.

So for a couple hours, I searched all around wondering what my little rat mind would consider a safe place???

Finally I found it in the drawer where I keep nylon stockings and slips.  Oh, so that's the safe place, eh?  Not my briefcase, evidently.  For some reason, that day, a random drawer seemed safer than the BRIEFCASE?

I don't get it.

And slips!  Good LOR-ed, what am I doing with ELEVEN slips?  I haven't worn even a single one in many, many years, and I don't want to.

Trash can for those.   I saved a white one and a black one, just in case.   In case of what, I don't know.

But while I went through drawers and cubby holes, I also found $400 in green cash.

Holy cow!   When did I stash that?  And why?   I dunno!

I found some cute pictures tucked in here and there, a few plush pony tails wrapped in tissue paper saved from my daughters, my childhood dog's baby tooth saved in a medicine bottle, and dental narcotics dated 1998.  Wow.

Yeah.   I also found the package of AAA batteries and the extra night light bulbs, the case for my glasses, and a new package of hooks for Christmas ornaments.   Nice.

And the key too, by golly.    Onward.   love, Val