Visit With Family

We had a wonderful Saturday afternoon when Keith's daughter Corey and her two children, Claudia and Eric, came to visit. I had a dose of playing grandma and I realized how much I look forward to having my kids bring their kids home for me to spoil.

I have been cooking with my kids since they were old enough to stand in a chair next to me. But, my kids are pretty well grown, and now cooking with me means "you do your task and I do my task." The cooking goes faster and the kitchen stays cleaner. It hasn't always been that way. There was a time when letting them help meant slowing me down and cleaning up food off the floor...and the counter....and the wall....and the child.... I remember telling myself that I was teaching them and I'd count backwards and really try to keep it together. Yesterday, it just came naturally. It didn't matter to me that there was flour and cocoa powder on the floor. I wasn't the least bit concerned that the eggs never really got beaten. It was perfectly fine that the measurements weren't just so. I loved watching their faces and proud expressions as they accomplished egg cracking (or egg smashing in Eric's case).

I really enjoyed letting them dig into the bowl when the brownies were finally in the oven. You can learn a lot about someone by the way they attack a batter bowl. Claudia delicately put her finger in. Eric grabbed the bowl and tried to stick his head in it to lick it. I only stopped him because I knew Claudia wouldn't want to eat after that. If it had been only Eric, I would have let him go for it and gotten the video camera (the regular camera wouldn't have done it justice).

Then we went outside and Claudia was overjoyed to see that we had rakes. She wanted to rake leaves. Remember the days when a leaf pile was something to smile over? For me, now, leaves just mean things I have to get out of my yard. It is work. Pretty work, but work. Claudia raked with vigor. Eric did for a moment, but then the hammock and wagon beckoned him. Once the pile was big enough, it was time to jump. And swoosh. And play. And roll. And then it was time to pile them all up again. I had forgotten how fun leaves could be.

The rest of the day was the same. Putting pepperonis on the pizza. Playing the piano, especially pretending to play when one of the prerecorded songs came on. Trying to win the game of Sorry. Hide and seek when you are small enough to fit under the TV cabinet. Reading books.

Yes. I am definitely moving into that period of my life where my kids are growing and moving on. My youngest still needs me, but mostly as a chauffeur. In just over 4 years, she will head off to college. And I'll be home, waiting for the grandkids to come by so I can spill some flour on the floor.

You've Got to Be Kidding Me

I think this a lot. What? Really? Are you kidding? No!

I'm not sure if those around me are truly crazy or if I am just seeing things incorrectly. However, with so many people making me say "really???", perhaps it is me.

I had a friend blog this week about an arts and craft that I simply will not get into. Suffice it to say that I said, "REALLY????" Whatever you are thinking, multiply it by 10. It was that bad. (You've got to know, don't you? Check it out: www.wandaargersinger.com/blog )

So, I'm thinking that I've had my "really" experience for the week, but not so. I just saw an advertisement for an Obama Chia Pet. Really? That is just so wrong on so many levels. Whether you admire him or wish he were out of office, do you think it is respectful to grow grass on his head? It just seems so....wrong! On a rock, yes. On a cat or a dog, ok. On the President of the United States? Come on, folks, what were you thinking? I just can't see anyone growing grass on Queen Elizabeth's head or Nicolas Sarkozy (French President) or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (though I might get one of these since growing grass on a dictator's head might be humorous).

It all just makes me realize that I don't want to be famous enough to have a Chia Pet named after me!

In other news:

Kimberly is giving blood for the first time today. I love how dedicated she is to helping others.

Rebekah has started rehearsals for A Christmas Carol at Temple Theatre in Sanford. I can't wait to see the show.

I am slowly but surely learning Oh Come All Ye Faithful. For those of you that are piano players, I am at the end of Level 1. This song is definitely towards the end of Level 2. I can only practice it for about 10 minutes before my brain scrambles. I know, not so hard to do. You all are so funny and clever!

Turn That Frown Upside Down

I've been working at getting more photos of me doing stuff with the family. I tend to hide behind the camera. We all know that I am there, but the only proof is that someone obviously was taking photos. I did this because a friend of mine, (you know who you are), made a comment on her blog about it. She said it very eloquently, but I'll paraphrase and say "We all know you are turning gray and that your hind end is big." As I said, she was much more eloquent.

Back to the photos. I've had a lot taken in the since August. And I keep noticing something. Wrinkles. I have hundreds of them. I smile and my face crinkles up into hundreds of little wrinkles. Every time I see those crevices, I cringe.

So, today, as I was getting ready for church, I got to looking at myself in the mirror. Yes, I definitely had wrinkles. I smiled. They popped up - bigger than life. Then I tried something - I frowned. No wrinkles. It hit me. I had smiling wrinkles. That means I've smiled so many times that my skin has learned to crinkle in all the right places. Best of all, I obviously don't frown enough for the same thing to happen when I frown!

I am overjoyed that I have smiling wrinkles - well, if I have to have wrinkles, and it appears that I do.

As someone that struggles with depression, I often wonder how I portray myself to others. How my kids see me. Whether I will be remembered as happy or sad or angry or any of those other hundreds of negative emotions that I can feel. Yet, the wrinkles seem to tell it all.

So, on this November 6th, I am thankful for wrinkles in all the right places.

I'm smiling here because my daughter got accepted into Phi Theta Kappa. Proud moment!

Cars and Senior Citizen Dating

Car Clutch Magazine and Faithful Women Wanted (Seniors, mind you.) Now what would I have on my Facebook that would cause them to believe either one of those would be interesting to me? A. I know nothing about cars except to take them to a good mechanic. B. I'm NOT a senior citizen, despite what my children have to say. C. I am not looking for a partner. I have one of those. One is enough.

Low fat cooking? That I would understand. Authorship of some sort? Ok. Small business stuff. Sure. Homeschooling. Of course. Car clutches? Really?

Now, I do have a friend that races cars, but I don't think I've chatted about it on Facebook. And my husband is sometimes a senior depending on the store. But note the word husband - that kind of takes out the whole dating thing. Personally, if I were paying for Facebook advertising, I'd be ticked off that my ads were going to me.

This got me thinking about the ads I get in the mail. I do often get a farm supply flyer. I live in the city limits. I do not own a garden. I am unlikely to buy horse feed.

I also get the Oriental Traders catalog. I bought from them once. I think they've lost all the profit from that one tiny little sale by putting me on their mailing list. I love looking at all the do-dads, but my kids are older and we have no need for Christmas craft projects or a 6-pack of Halloween fake teeth.

I still get mail for the ex occupant of this house. It has been 2 years. You can learn a lot about a person by looking at junk mail sent to them. For instance, she is a Democrat. She is a patron to the arts. She is an educator or in the education field. According to the mail, she has a great credit rating and needs to get a  lot of credit cards.

I wonder what those living in my old house think of me? Probably that I am a grease monkey chick in my 60's!

On the newsy front:

Keith had a birthday yesterday. He turned 62 (remember my comment about HIM being the senior). Katherine made him a cake and he got presents. We also went out to eat.

Almost a smile! Even without peering into my mail, you can now see that I am Republican...or at least married to one!

He had to share his day with Kimberly who was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa (Community College Honor Society). We are very proud of her.

The truly funny thing about this picture is that there is nothing (not a thing) on this certificate. It is just a blank piece of paper. She got her real one in the mail a couple of weeks ago! lol

Keith was able to save my Quicken files. Now I don't have to recreate my whole year from bits of receipts stuffed into a file folder. Yea, Keith!

Think of me, with my hair more on end than usual.