The Best Day

Today I am grateful for God's blessings.

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I just had the best day I have had all year!!!

Yesterday was my youngest grand daughter Elise's 11th birthday.  

Pam and I talked over the weekend and Pam said she would get with Elise's parents and set up the time and day I could take her out for her birthday supper.

Today was the day.

I drove over and parked at the end of the street so I could pick-up her and her little brother Alex when they got off the bus--and drive the few hundred yards up to their house.

Then I got to go in and see Pammie AND Andrew and Baby Evan--who came right to me for a hug, as did Andrew the oldest.

The lovely girl has long, skinny legs

like her Gramma, other than that, 
blond hair and blue eyes, we

do not look anything alike.

She's a homely girl, but then again, I was too at that age.

She is going to become a beautiful, blond, tall young adult.

Then, Elise and I were off, but...I had no intention of going to Red Robin for an hour of talking and supper, Oh No, not devious old gramma.

I asked Elise if she liked Pizza and then I asked her if it would be all right if, instead of eating out, we went back to my place so she could help me with a project.

"Oh yes!"  she said.

<score!>

I am getting my doll house, that our Mother made, ready to give to Susan for her birthday this Saturday. My mother made it for me when I was 4, but Susan played with it too and I figure, now it's her turn to have it in her house.  Besides, I could use the space that it takes up in my bedroom AND most importantly, I want her to have it when I die and this way, there will be no question of "who it should go to."  As each of my daughter's played with it too.

Our mother made it, it should go to my sister and then, she can pass it down to whomever she thinks should get it.  Perhaps my first great grand daughter, who knows and I will be dead, so I won't care.

Elise sat in front of the doll house and took out the furniture from each room, dusted it, handed it to me and I wrapped it in tissue paper and placed it in a box.  The small, miniature items, for each room, I put in small, brown paper envelopes.

Elise had a ball looking at each tiny little thing.  Her mother made her a doll house also when she was 6, but of course, her brothers trashed it, which I knew would happen and is one reason I DID NOT give Jen (although she hinted) this doll house years ago.

This doll house is now 71 years old.  There is a brass plaque on the end that states it was made for me by my mother for Christmas 1943.  

I ordered pizza at 5:30 and Elise and I sat in here and I showed her all the pictures I have of her since the day she was born--things of us doing stuff together, on and on.  She remembered a few of those times.

Then she told me she had ordered a Japanese puzzle box and how she like things like that.  "I love things like that.  I wanted to buy a set of those Matres--Matros--Russian Nesting dolls, but they were too expensive."

So we came in here and Googled the correct name:Matryoshka, pronounced, matreshka.  I walked out into the kitchen, picked up a small box and lifted the lid.  Inside are a pair of miniature Russian nesting dolls that my great uncle sent me while he was stationed in Russia after WWII.  I handed the box to her.

"I want you to have these."

"Oh, Gramma, you don't have to do that."

"I know I don't, but I want too.  I want you to have them.  They are very old and I want you to protect them.  Keep them away from your brother's and you might be able to keep them until you are my age."

<I already know what I am getting her for Christmas. :-)>

Then we sat in the living room and all of a sudden, my cuckoo clock went off, Elise looked up and said, "I remember Grandpa Fred used to pick me up and run with me over to the clock so I could see the cuckoo!"

Oh. 
My. 
Gosh!  

She was 2 and 3 years old!  Fred did that with all those kids when they were little.  It brought tears to my eyes that she still remembered.  That she even remembered Fred, he died when she was only 7.

Then she talked and reminisced about Fred's dog, Tootz.  She looked around this room at all the pictures.  Pictures of her Mom when she was a little girl.  She had never seen most of the pictures.  She hasn't been in my house for 3 years.

Elise played with the cats and the pizza arrived and we ate and talked some more about Downton Abbey and school and church and her friends, and her older brother who is not nice to her at all, and....just all of it.

I got her back home at 7:15 and Pammie said, "I thought maybe you had kidnapped her."

I looked at Elise and said, "Well we were thinking about getting in the car and driving to the ocean, weren't we, Elise."

"Yeah Aunt Pam.  Gramma and I talked about it and we wanted to...but I have Volleyball practice tomorrow night."

Then she gave me a tight hug and I said, "I love you, Sweetheart" and got back in my car and cried all the way home and just kept saying, "Thank you, God.  Thank you for this time."

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I worry so that the kids will forget because I only get to see them a few times a year, but...I have a feeling that they will never forget their Gramma...no matter how far away they move or if I never see them again.

Building memories.

Best Day Ever!!!

Well?

Today, I am grateful for Part D, prescription drug plan.

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33 degrees today

I've got nothing, kids.

I got up late--did laundry--watched my Soap--went to Wal-Mart to get my prescriptions--I only pay $2.65 for each one.

I got 3 phone calls from an 800 service number that I ignored and 1 phone call from Dar that only lasted 2 minutes.

Worked on my How To book.

Read and commented on your blogs.

Life is good!

My Dear Friend, has started a blog, maybe you'd like to read and see and comment?
http://maybenotdone.blogspot.com/

...And The Beat Goes On....

and I wish I had a very large stick to beat my neighbor!

Dar came over, rattling my locked front door.

I opened it---

"Why do you have your door locked?"

"Because it's after 8:00 and it's night time!"

"Well, I'll only stay a minute, I just wanted to dump something on you."
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Sally--I am nearly six feet tall so I don't need to stand on a kitchen chair, or anything for that matter, to put together my hanging lamp.  Thanks for worrying though.  Love you---

Catch-Up

Today, I am grateful that I am an Easter person.  

I live on the other side of Easter.

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I am sure to offend someone.  I don't wish too.  I do not wear a crucifix around my neck.  Karen and I were discussing this the other day.  Karen, a strong Methodist who converted to Catholicism and is a strong Catholic.  She sometimes wears a crucifix and sometimes just a plain cross around her neck.

She said, "It is to remind us of what torture Jesus went through to save us."

"Okay...but why concentrate on that?  Jesus isn't still hanging dead on that cross.  He is risen and alive.  The cross is empty.  The grave and death couldn't hold him and it can't hold us."

That is the reason Protestant churches have "empty" crosses.  That is why I wear an "empty" cross--well, mine does have a dove on it--representing the Holy Spirit---I suppose.  

So I told Karen, "I am an Easter person.  I concentrate on Easter and what happened that day and after.  I don't concentrate on what happened for a few hours on that terrible day."

"Well, Mom...I do too."

A difference of opinion?  A difference in denominational beliefs?  No big deal.

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I have been busy!!  Thursday I went to hometown Byron to have lunch with the Old School Gal Pals--we tried the new deli.  Small, but they do have a couple of long tables.  I had the Italian Wrap and it was better than the Italian Sub-Way that I like.  We laughed and giggled and it was very fun.

Then out to the cemetery to visit Fred and my ancestor's, then to The Farm to visit Lil' Sis.  We played a game of UpWords and our Mother's favorite ForeSite.  Both word games.  We usually are pretty close in scores, and I always win, but this time she beat me and you could see the "AHA" niggle of a smile on her face.

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Friday, I started the work on my dingy, old lampshade for the hanging light in my kitchen--which I never turn on, but...the shade was driving me nutz!

As you can see, it has a special hanging thingie on the top.  I have not been able to find a replacement shade, so I decided to paint it with latex paint.  Yes, I said, paint it.

No, the paint did not make the fabric stiff.

(Note: slippers and sox on kitchen table.  I am such a slob.)

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I was so excited on Friday because Michigan State was playing in the NCAA basketball tournament and I was already.  I had my snack's on my plate for lunch and settled in.

I checked my "bracket" to see what channel the game was going to be televised on.

WHAT THE WHAT?

I have four hundred and fifty million channels on my cable package, however I do not have TRUtv, which is the channel the game was going to be on. 

Why would they not show it on a local channel in this area?  Considering MSU is in this area?

Not to be undaunted, I just turned on the local CBS channel and watched the Indiana game so that I could watch the "ticker" at the top of the screen that was keeping track of MSU v Georgia score.  HAH!  We won and I will be able to watch tomorrow when it is on TBS..or is it TNT?  No matter, I get both of those channels.

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Then Dar came over!!!  Her first day back at work since her 3-day diarrhea incident.

She was all charged up and flying high.  She is soooo tiring!!  She wears me out just listening to her because she talks fast, jumps from topic to topic and throws in people's names that I do not know.  I guess she assumes I know who Greg is?

"Wait--who's Greg?

"My nephew.  You know that."

<ah, no I don't.  Never heard of him>

Apparently her estranged daughter is coming for a visit next Saturday and bringing two of the grandchildren with her.

"Where are they staying?"

"Not at my house!" Dar exclaims.

"Where are you going to see them?"

"At the restaurant up the road."

"But...that's only a half mile away.  Won't they want to stop in and see your house...especially the grand kids?"

"I don't care.  They are not getting in.  Connie might get in and then declare residency and kick me out!"

"How in this world are you going to consider a reconciliation if you start out with this defeatist attitude?"

"It's up to her to apologize!"

"Well, it's going to be difficult to get into any meaningful conversation in a restaurant."

"Well, that's the way it's going to be."

<sigh>

"Have you heard anything from Jeff?  Did he go back to rehab?"

"I don't know and do not care.  He isn't bothering me anymore..that's all I know."

=======================

GEEZ LOUISE!!

Heavenly Sunshine, Heavenly Sunshine, filling my soul with Glory divine.....................

Today, I am grateful for Minions

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I woke up at 7:45!!  Felt great--although my joints were a bit stiff, but that is normal.

At 9:30, Pammie called me to tell me she was "taking Consumers Energy for a ride!"  She signed up with their service plan on her furnace and water heater in December.  She had them come out to fix her furnace in January--it needed a new circuit board= $400.00.  Today, they came out to fix the inductor/capacitor = $350.00.  The service plan costs about $140.00 for a year, so it has already paid for itself 5 times over.  She and I just chuckled about it.  

"Thanks for telling me about the plan, Momma."

"Your welcome Sweetie.  As long as you don't get a hole in the fire box, you can get new parts on that thing and it will last forever!"

We yukked it up and laughed a lot.  I love that girl!!
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Then I jumped into my clothes and trotted up to Pearl's.  Thirty degrees this morning--it was a bit breezy and cold with only my sweatshirt on.

I handed Pearl her "script" for when she calls Comcast.  I have to write out a script for her to know what to say when she calls them or the computer repair place or she gets confused and just hangs up mid-way through the conversation.  Of course, it doesn't help that the Comcast people all speak with an East Indian dialect.  

Then, I asked her if she'd would come into the kitchen and I started off with:

"I got to thinking about your Crock-Pot last night after I got home.  I think I know the problem."

"What!  Tell me."

"This dang thing is so fancy--it's another fancy-schmancy electronic device that drives us crazy.  See here?  It has two, four and six hour times on it.  See?"

"Yes.  I put it on high for six hours, but it didn't really start cooking until three hours.  You know--cooking when you can here the top dancing?"

"I think those timed settings mean that it is how long it will cook before it is ready to eat.  You put the corned beef in at two and hit the six hour button--which means it wouldn't be done for six hours or at eight o'clock.  It cooks real slow for a couple of hours and then kicks in and cooks hotter and faster."

"Oh...you're saying if I wanted to eat at six, I'd put the stuff in at two and hit the four hour button?"

"Yeah.  I'm pretty sure."

"No wonder the corned beef was tough and raw!  This damn thing is just like my computer!  It's more than my brain can handle.  I just don't get how these electronic devices work!"

"I know.  Everything today just seems so complicated...not easy like the things we used to use.  My Crock-Pot has low and high--that's it.  Pretty simple."

"Well, my daughter thinks I need all this new fancy stuff--like that lap-top and smart phone she got me.  I never could figure out how to work them and she just got mad at me when I gave them back.  She got me this Crock-Pot.  I should have just cooked it all in the oven--I know how that works!"

...and we both chuckled.

At least she wasn't mad or upset with me showing her--I wondered if I should say anything at all about it, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but on the other hand, I didn't want to be invited up for roast beef dinner and have to eat raw and tough meat again!!  HAH!!
=====================

The last week or so, I have been working on the completion and editing of my How To book.  It's pretty good actually--helpful and humorous.  I don't have any idea if there is a market for it, but I can always give a copy to my girls and friends and the like.
================

I did manage to get up to Wal-Mart this afternoon and got some hamburger and cabbage to make Crock-Pot cabbage rolls.  I also got a nice supply of Diet Pepsi at $1.00 a jug AND I got a small can of white latex paint.

Did you know you can paint fabric and upholstery with latex paint?  Me neither!  They have You-Tube videos on how to do it and blogs of different people who have changed out an old, stained covered chair with latex paint.

I have a hanging lamp over my kitchen table.  It has a shade purposefully made for that lamp and I cannot find a replacement anywhere, including on-line.  The white shade is of course, after 17 years, rather golden from the smoke and cooking.  I have been hitting it with 409 and washing it down in the shower for years, but............so..............this latex paint says, "for any surface" and I am going to paint that puppy and see what happens.  Got nothing to lose, right?

I almost succumbed to purchasing a pretty bookay of spring flowers--Lilies and roses and a few of those "painted" flowers, but at $15.00, I figured--no way!  I miss getting bouquets like I did when Freddie was here.  He'd bring back a bunch every month for me.
==================

I got home and unloaded and noticed that Dar's car was parked and hadn't moved in two days and I knew, she was supposed to be working.  I sat down to rest up from the unloading groceries and called her.

"Hello?"

"You sound weak, are you okay?"

"I've got some sort of stomach bug.  I've had diarrhea for over twenty-four hours!"

"Well, I noticed that you hadn't been out since early yesterday morning, so I thought I'd better call to see if you were dead."

"Not yet, but it might be soon.  I think I might have to go to the ER if it doesn't stop."

"What are you taking for it?"

"I had Shelia get me some water and Ammodium on her way home.  She got the liquid Ammodium--God it tastes terrible!"

"Is it helping?"

"No.  I've taken the maximum amount and nothing.  Too bad this didn't wait until the twenty-ninth when I have to prep for my colonoscopy."

"Are you dehydrated?"

"No--I'm drinking tea and water."

"You might need some Gatorade to replace your potassium--your electrolytes."

"I never thought of that.  I'll call Judy L. and have her stop and bring some home for me."

"Okay--let me know if you need anything."
<me who had just been to Wal-Mart and could have picked up some for her there.  I should have called before I left>

On the one hand, I should have gotten back in my car and ran up to the store to get her some Gatorade.  On the other hand, I'm so grateful she has other minions to help so I don't get near her germy self.

I truly am not a very nice person!

  

Mid-Month

Today, I am grateful that March is half over.

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Sunday--March 15th--Beware the Ides of March.  The 45th anniversary of my Mother's death, at age 53.

Monday--March 16th--the 77th anniversary of my parents wedding day.

Today--March 17th, and all I can say is:

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A mid-afternoon snack.  Delicious!!

At 4:00, Pearl called me and wanted to know if I wanted to come up for supper with them at 5:30.  "SURE!" and up I walked.

She had put the corned beef into the Crock-Pot at 2:00 and set the timer to cook 6 hours.  She wondered why 3 1/2 hours later, it was still tough and raw.  I didn't want to tell her that she didn't understand her Crock-Pot, so we had delicious cooked cabbage, potatoes, carrots and Italian bread sticks with garlic butter.  Corned Beef perhaps tomorrow?

I love her!

Mundane Monday

Today, I am so grateful for mostly sunny and 68 degrees.

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Sally, yes I watched the game between Michigan STATE and Maryland--exciting.  As was the title game on Sunday,, but we lost to Wisconsin in Over Time, which is okay because I also like Wisconsin and we weren't even supposed to come close to beating them..

Now--I have to give you a gentle lesson--when speaking of Michigan State you do not call them just "Michigan".  Michigan is that other university south-east of here that we Michigan State fans hate. :-)  Kind of like the difference between Florida State and Florida.  Got it?
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Marla & Judi--Wish I had purchased a few shares of Amazon stock  when it first went public.  By the amount of things I purchase from them, and the huge stock increase, we'd both be rich!!!!!
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Jean & J.B.--I thought of using a screwdriver, but the letter opener was nearby--and yes, one of the clips flew off and just missed my forehead--I had my glasses on.  J.B.--it is part of the beach cottage thing I have tried to incorporate in this Michigan wee home.  I have quite a bit of bead board also, and painted furniture and a couple of oil paintings from the Outer Banks of NC.
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Jan--thanks.  I wish now it was twice the size. :-)
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Laundry today and a bit of clean up.  It is not advisable to walk out on the lawn and back to look in the shed in only your slip-on low moccasins.  The ground may be free of snow, but very, very soggy.

Dar came over for a half-hour at 4:00--she left at 6:00.  As usual, it was all about her.  I asked her to look at my new picture, she glanced that way, but did not comment.  She keeps telling me how alike we are.  Lordy--Lordy, I sure hope not!!!

And the highlight of my day:

Skippy Chippy came out of hibernation to start the clean-up under the bird feeders.

Isn't he precious?