Sugar and Spice

My friends tried to tell me.  I listened and I thought I understood, but there is no possible way to comprehend how quickly you can fall in love with your own grandbaby.  It’s a little like the love I felt each time one of my own children were born, but different because someone I love so much just gave birth to another person for us to love.  It is like the love is magnified. There really is no way to explain.

This sweet baby girl has stolen our hearts.

We think she is darling and perfect in every way. She has the cutest little “kissy lips”, squishy little cheeks, and bright eyes. She has the sweetest face we’ve ever seen. We spent hours last week just staring at her and asking ourselves how a newborn could be so stinkin’ cute. 

 

I have no doubt that every grandparent feels this way.  Life just doesn’t get better than this.

Then and Now

Last week I got to spend a few days with my daughter, who is ready to deliver our first grand baby ANY DAY NOW!  It was so much fun to see her and try to figure out ways to spoil her.  While I was with her, I got to thinking about when I was pregnant and how different things are today. 

It wasn't really THAT long ago.  Okay, maybe it was...the 80's were kind of a long time ago.

First, maternity clothes are so much cuter now.  I seriously wore what looked like a tent.  I remember trying to hide that pregnancy as long as I could, so the bigger the clothes the better.  I actually wore some of Ray's clothes when I wasn't going out in public.  Not cute!

Me, back in the day, wearing Ray's clothes

 

Cute Heather a few weeks ago

Heather has a wardrobe of DARLING clothes and not one of them looks like a tent.  It seems the more form fitting the better.  She has the cutest beach ball belly to show off through her shirt right now.

Back then we didn't have ultrasounds unless something was suspected to be wrong.  Not the case today.  Pretty much everyone uses one now to find out the gender of their baby long before the birth.  The first thing people ask when they find out a couple is expecting is if they are having a boy or a girl (although I did hear a girl recently say that they decided to be "old fashioned" and chose not to know).  With two of my three kids we did not know, and I kind of liked the surprise.  On the one we knew, personally I felt it took a wee bit of the excitement out of it.  Although as a grandma it's been pretty exciting to know.

Until recently I'd never heard the words "birth plan".  When it was time to give birth it just happened.  Everyone seemed to do it the same-you started having contractions, you went to the hospital,  you had an epidural, and the baby was born.  There wasn't really a "plan".  No one ever discussed being induced.  And back then hardly anyone I knew chose to do it "natural".  At one of Heather's recent appointments they said it was time to discuss her "birth plan".  I don't even know what that means!  I guess she has multiple decisions to make.

And all these people in the delivery room today???  When I had my babies, my doctor advised only those who were there when the baby was conceived should be in the delivery room.  Today there don't seem to be any limits.  Sometimes the entire family (and a photographer) are there to witness firsthand the miracle of birth.  I don't know...

I could go on, but it's wearing me out just thinking about it, and makes me glad I did it my way.  One thing that hasn't changed though is the excitement we all feel.  I was excited back then and today we all can hardly wait.  Just like then, these last days seem to be dragging by.

It is kind of surreal to think about my baby girl having a baby girl.  I really can hardly contain myself.

Unwelcome Guest

Last Monday morning I was outside doing some yard work.  I worked my way around the front yard and went through the gate into the back when I came face to face with a very large bird.  I immediately turned around and went back out the gate.  I then walked all the way around the house where the fence is shorter and has slats so I could get a better look at what I had seen.  I couldn't see it from there and so began to question if I had really seen what I thought I had.  So I rushed into the house, grabbed my camera (so that I would have proof of what I saw), and quietly went out on the deck.  Sure enough down below me was a rather large peacock.  Upon further investigation I could see that it had left evidence that it had been there, if you know what I mean.  I immediately texted Ray a picture asking him what I should do.  He replied that I should open the gate and just scare it off.  I was a little afraid of what the peacock might try to do if I got too close, so I armed myself with a broom just in case I had to defend myself.    Of course I wanted to get a better picture, so with a broom in one hand and the camera ready I moved in.  This caused the bird to freak out and it ran back and forth along the edge of our fence and eventually jumped up onto the fence and over to the other side. 

At that point I thought my peacock encounter was kind of cool, because you just don't see big beautiful majestic birds in Roosevelt.  The coolness wore off quickly when the bird returned letting us know it hadn't given up on making our backyard its new home.  Each time we would go out back it would leave, but it was only a matter of hours and it would return.  And unless you saw it, you can't possibly imagine how much a peacock can poop!  There were droppings everywhere-on our deck, our fence, and piles covering the cement!  Just when I would get it cleaned up, it would come back and leave more.  Totally disgusting!

After about three days of this, I knew we were not going to be able to get it to leave, so decided to call animal control to see if they could trap it...or something.  An officer came, and of course the bird wasn't here when he showed up, but when the officer returned a few hours later the bird was  here and he told us it had been tormenting several nearby neighborhoods for some time and had been scratching up cars, digging up yards, squawking at night, etc.  He said something needed to be done and unfortunately it may need to be "put down".  That is not what I wanted to hear.  Can't you just catch a peacock with a net or something??? 

Well, apparently peacocks are hard to catch and hard to take down.  Somehow the peacock dodged what they were trying to do and hopefully it headed home.  We haven't seen it for a few days, but aren't totally convinced this is over.  One of the neighbors that it tormented before is out of town, and there is a good chance it moved back into their yard...

Making our own Fun

Living in a small rural community you learn to make your own fun.  Ray was out of town this week at a golf tournament with some guys and I figured I should be having some girl fun.  So I started  the following message to a few friends:

Me: Anyone up for lunch this week?

That led to this:

S:  Yes

C:  Anytime Thursday would be great for me.

Me:  Thursday doesn't work for me.  How about Friday or today?  I could whip up something and we could all come to my house.

R:  I am on a 500 calorie a day diet.  No day is good for me unless I bring my own lunch and that wouldn't be fun.  Go ahead without me.  xo

S:  Why are you on a 500 calorie a day diet?  That doesn't seem good for you.  We don't have to do lunch.  We could get together and talk for a couple of hours.  We could have carrot sticks and celery to munch on.  Or not.  We can just sip lemon water.  The point is to get together.  Not eat.

Me:  I say we do something Friday.  Maybe if the weather warms up we could go for a stroll and visit.

R:  Friday is fine for me, just tell me when.  Maybe we could play Bridge, Cribbage, or Pinochle.  Does anyone know how?

Me:  Actually I know how to play all three. 

S:  Oh my gosh!  This would take us into our old age perfectly!  I played Pinochle once and it was really fun.  But I don't remember how...and we can sip herb tea in china cups and saucers.

C:  Plan it and I will come if I can.

Me:  Done.  Come to my house Friday at 1:00.  We can play cards, visit, eat celery, and drink water from goblets or china cups.

R:  I will bring my spice cinnamon herbal tea.

S:  And I will bring my lemon, grapefruit, and lime essential oils.  Can we maybe learn to play Pinochle?  That would be fun!  Should we wear hats and gloves?

Me:  Hats and gloves are optional, just wear your "Roosevelt best" and don't be late!

So I spent this afternoon not having lunch, but playing Pinochle and laughing with my friends.  I am betting we had every bit as much fun as Ray and the guys did playing golf. 

Spring has Sprung

It has been spring break here.  Seems like it's been spring break for a month or more, depending on the school you are thinking about.  When I was in school, and especially teaching school, I loved spring break.  Even though spring break, for us, doesn't have anything to do with school any more, I love it for other reasons.  After all who doesn't like spring and who doesn't like a break?  It just sounds so nice.

I was thinking the other day how happy I was that  the sun was shining and that the wind wasn't blowing.  It made me smile to wake up and hear birds, and I have enjoyed seeing the neighbor kids out playing in their yard.

As much as I enjoy spring, it also sets me into a bit of a panic.  Springtime means projects.  House cleaning, window washing, fertilizing, pruning, trying to decide if we are going to plant a garden this year, etc.  And it seems before we can even settle into spring our summer is booked!  How does that happen?

I've had a lot of time to think about my love hate relationship with spring while I have been out pruning the never ending bushes and trees in our yard.   Funny thing, what started off as a job I was dreading turned out to be somewhat satisfying.  So I got to thinking, I must figure out a way to enjoy this journey through springtime a little more.  At that moment I decided rather than focusing on how much there is to do, I should take inventory on how much I've done.  This little adjustment in my mind has done wonders for me and I has made it so I can hardly wait to get another project checked off my list and be a step closer to being able to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

I hope I don't drive Ray crazy when he gets home and I drag him to see each cupboard, closet, and shelf  that I've uncluttered, cleaned, and organized.   

Now I just need to get the basin weather to cooperate.

Overlooked Blessings

I met an artist last week who gave me her business card and on it was written the following quote:

 

I love this. 

I believe this is true.  

I know this is true.

It reminds me of the words spoken by Thomas S. Monson, "...if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness".

We just had a weekend overflowing with happiness.  Some of our children came for a visit and we cherished every minute.  We really didn't do anything special, just hung out together, helped each other with some projects, cooked some good food, talked, played games, and watched a movie.  It really couldn't have been much better. 

The Things I do for Love

While I was in high school I didn't get voted for anything, but the one thing I am pretty sure my classmates could have voted me for (if it had only been on a ballot) is, "The most likely to never go to a NASCAR race. 

Well, never say never...

Because of who I married, I have done numerous things I never thought I would, and attending a NASCAR race is one of them.  When Ray was invited to go to a race a year or so ago I suggested he take a friend, or a client, or a coworker, or a brother, or anyone other than me.  I had zero interest in watching cars go round and round a track for hours.  But after a little sweet talking, he convinced me to go.  At the time I knew nothing about the sport and had someone asked me to name a NASCAR driver, I couldn't.  Not that I know much after attending a race, but what I can tell you is that not only was it loud and crazy, it was exciting and very fun.

 

I found myself watching the race from Carl Edwards sponsor's suite.  Before the race he came to the suite and did a little question answer session.  It was easy to become an instant fan of such a nice guy.   Apparantly when he wins he does a back flip off the door of  his car.  Since a backflip would have been really awesome to see, I cheered my little heart out for him.  Unfortunately, he came it second place that day.  

It was amazing to see how the pit crew could change all four tires in a matter of seconds.

 

 

We chuckled at ourselves a few times since then when we've been traveling in our car and found ourselves tuning into a satellite radio station covering NASCAR so we could hear how Carl Edwards is doing!  I'm not kidding, people really listen to NASCAR on the radio!!!

I was reminicing about my NASCAR experience this weekend and was excited when I finally got to see Carl Edwards do that backflip (on tv). 

Now if Ray thinks he is going to get me to an Ultimate Fighting event someday, he's wrong.  That is where I really draw the line.