Mia, my darling Grand Daughter

I wrote this blog almost a month ago, and stupid blogger saved it as a draft and would not let me publish it,

Words can not describe how much I love my Mia. She is a shining light that makes my heart sing with such joy and happiness. I had the blessed time with her this weekend. Especially today, she and I, at my house, for several uninterrupted hours. I bought her a little tea set, and today, we had our first tea party (sorry, no pictures, I was just staying in the moment). She practiced pouring (I had to change the "table cloth" three times), and I did not mind cleaning up as we went along. I tried to show her how to hold her pinky out when drinking a cup of tea, but, well, we seemed to be more interested in "slurping" the overflowing cups! She does want Memaw and Granddad to come to a tea party, so I told her the next time she was here, we would take the tea party to their house.


Jennifer calls these "Miaisms" I think.

This weekend I was giving her a hard time about her pronunciation of words with the letter "L" in them. Cinderella sounds like "Cindawehwa"....and when I said it like she does, she said, "No, it not Cindawehwa, it Cindawehwa".......she did not find the whole thing as amusing as I did. Anyway, today, we were having a similar conversation, and she did manage one "look" and not "wook", but after a few minutes of "GG's Speech Class", Mia just turned to me and said "you say your words different than me". Pretty much put an end to my speech class. She, so young and so wise, just put the kibosh on me. And so, I said "I love you Mia", and she said, "I wove you too GG".

Coming home in the car, she informed me that she can speak Spanish. I was, needless to say, shocked. I said, "oh, you can?", "what words do you know?", and she said..."mmm, I know....mmm", and then promptly changed the subject.

There is a DVD that we have, put out by Pixar, that is all Pixar short films. There is one short called "Birds", and all of these little birds sit on a telephone wire, and then a big one come along and sits beside them. Anyway, any time she sees a bunch of birds sitting on a telephone line, she says "I see Pixar birds"......cracks me up every time!

She sat on Memaw and Granddad's coffee table and then proceeded to tell me "Moma and Rex tell me not to sit on the table." so, I said, "well, you should follow their rules, even if they are not here, shouldn't you?", and she said, "moma won't be coming here.". What insight, to know that she already knows what rules are here, or there ( I do try and enforce her Mom's rules, and she did get off the table), but her innocence at this point prevents her from not knowing to tell on herself.

A few weeks ago, she told my mom "I can talk" and mom said, "yes, you can" and Mia said "I talk a wot".........Yes, she does!

I don't know if I mentioned the name of the new baby coming. At this point, I believe it will be Eleanor Grace........but, before a name was mentioned, I asked Mia what she was going to name her new baby sister. At the time, Mia's video of preference was Bambi, so I suggested Falene(spelling here, but it's the little girl doe in the movie.) Now, this was just a joke on my part, but in Mia's little mind, it has stuck, so if you ask her, what her baby sister's name is she says, "baby Elanore Faweene" or some mixture of those three words.

Mia seems to pick her nose a little more often that I would like, and her mom has the habit of accepting the found "treasure" and wiping it on herself somewhere. I love Mia, so much, but I am not so fond of her "boogies" and she and her mom call them. So, Mia was sitting her the back seat of the car, and she said to me, while picking her nose, "I getting something that you don't want GG", and she did, and I was given the "gift"!

Oh, I had such a wonderful time with her today. My joy, my love, my Mia.

Beating a Dead Horse.............Sonic

So my latest issue with Sonic. It has been established that nothing beats Sonic ice, and I have admitted to leaving a huge carbon foot print with the number of Styrofoam cups I use (average of one per day, which means 365 cups per year)...........what my new habit is, I go to Sonic here in Waller and get 4 Rt.44 cups of ice, in a drink holder, because I can not carry those without them. I come home and put the cups and ice in my freezer, then I use them up, and anywhere from 3 to 4 days later, I replenish my supply. Today, I was in Tomball ( a little town 17 miles up the road), and I went into that Sonic and got my ice. I paid $1.04 there, and here in Waller, the same things costs me $1.74 !! Now I ask.........WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!

Frequent Flyer

I am not..........a frequent flyer that is. I have flown a few times,(I think I can count on one hand how many) but I still get excited thinking about flying. Not nervous, but excited. I wish I had frequent flyer miles stored up somewhere, mostly so I could see Catherine more, or be able to have her come home more. She is not coming home this Thanksgiving. It is very expensive to fly when you are on a limited budget. Maybe I should try and get a job with an airline, at least then I could fly on standby and not have to take out a loan from the bank! I am going up there in a week, and will see her for a day, but, with Catherine, it takes more than a day. Conversations with her are, well, there are not any, which is fine, since it is who she is, but, I still miss them, and yes, I miss her. I think I might worry about her more than I acknowledge, even to myself. I think I worry because it is impossible to talk to her, because of her schedule, and because of who and how she is. So, I say, Jami, don't worry, it does no good. And I say, Jami, what are you worrying about? and I have no answer.

But, a year has passed, and another one is well into itself, so, I will be at peace with what is, and make an effort to not worry about things that I can not answer.

Money, Money, Money ( a little and a WHOLE BUNCH)

Pre-warning..........for those who are expecting anything of substance (not that I ever have much), this is just an entry of random thoughts about money.

With all of the "economic crisis" in the news, and a few other things in my life, I have been thinking about money lately.

First, once again, I feel blessed that I am "borderline poor". Barely middle class, according to my income. But, if I had an IRA, or lots of money in stocks, or living on my interest in investments, or having any thing of value anywhere, I might be a little more concerned. As it is............I am doing with this "crisis" as I do much in my life, wearing my rose colored glasses and telling myself "this too shall pass". (besides, I hate to admit this, but, those folks who are loosing their house to foreclosures need a place to live, I rent places to live to people who need a place to live)

Second, having more to do with the "other things in my life" part.........it came up again, in my business dealings that what a "whole bunch" of money is to one person, it just a drop in the bucket to another. I made a business deal on behalf of someone I work for, made him $3000.00, and me $300.00, without having to do anything but say "ok". I am totally happy. $300.00 bucks to me is a WHOLE lot of money, to the other person, their $3000.00, is not considered a good deal............that person is not mad at me, and it will stay a "deal", but, it just put once again, into perspective for me, that, different amounts of money, can be and are, perceived as a "WHOLE BUNCH" to different people.

Fast Food Rant

I blogged once, (I think) about how much I agree with another blogger about Sonic ice, and how wonderful it is. Combine Sonic ice with Tazo Black Ice Tea, and you have a wonderful refreshing drink!

When Catherine was home, we did a Sonic drive-by and she got a small hot fudge sundae. We got home and the fudge tasted "burned". I called Sonic, and they said, next time you come by, get a free sundae. Blah blah blah.....a few weeks ago, I remembered about the sundae, and decided, a caramel sundae might be nice. I got my free sundae, got home, and it really did not hit the spot, so I left it alone.

Here is the point of my story. It sat out all night, and when I went into the kitchen the next day...........IT LOOKED THE EXACT SAME !......so, now, what is that they use for ice cream????.......I still love the ice, but never again on the fake ice cream!



and now, for Jack-in-the-Box

I am boycotting that chain until they stop running the commercial that has the grown men riding in a stroller, crying like babies..............I HATE that commercial. I know hate is a very strong word, but I feel very strongly about that commercial

Never too old? Part Two

I have photos to go along with Part One now....in addition, I did not yet mention the paddling test we had to do..........which consisted of.....tandem, paddle in a straight line....turn the boat, and then weave through a series of 4 buoys....switch paddling hands, and do it again, then "dock" which is to pull up sideways to the bank, and then do the course, again, but BACKWARDS!

But, wait, you are not done yet...........now you have to switch positions, which means, the person at the back of the canoe gets in front and vice versa....and now, you get to do it ALL again!

But, wait, you are not done yet..........now you get to do the course yet one more time, in a solo canoe.........

But the fact of the matter is...............I did it. I had a blast, and I would do it all again ( just not too soon, I am still mending!)The EGGS motivate me!

Entering and re-exiting the canoe!





Swamped Canoe race

Everybody Poops

I am a regular reader of a blog posted by a friend of mines daughter in law. She writes with great humor about her two little darling boys. On one of her posts, she has a video of an uncle reading a book to several youngsters called "Everybody Poops"...its quite funny, the reading and the reaction of the kidos. The title of that book is the motivation for this particular blog.

I have a little green frog who lives on my back porch, and each night, he sits on the little window and eats the bugs that are enticed by the light that shines through my utility room. I very rarely turn that light out, so, I think he is a smart little frog who has found a great place for a guaranteed nightly dinner.

As with all animals, this little frog poops. He poops where he eats, and leaves his little gifts on my back porch.

Lots of big poop for one little frog!

Never too old? Part One

I have blogged in the past about going canoeing/kayaking with friends. I have had a great time, every time.

I had the opportunity this weekend, this ENTIRE weekend to take a flat water training course. So, I did.

First day, get up at 6:30 AM, leave the house at 7:15 AM and drive around lost for 45 minutes. I did get there at 8:03AM, and we were suppose to be there a little before 8, so, yes I was late......but, I tried.

We watched some video's on basic water safety, etc, then we had to haul 4 canoes off the trailer and "portage" them to a swimming pool, which is a fancy word for CARRY ! I will tell you, I think they are heavy, even if others don't.

We then left the canoes beside the pool and had to take a swim test, which consisted of swimming 4 laps (I can not remember the last time I swam ONE lap, not less FOUR !), and then we had to tread water while an instructor wanted to "chat" a few seconds (seemed like hours to me!), and then we had to float for one minute (this was the easy part, I float well!), and then they threw our life jacket to us, and we had to put it on while treading water. There is some sort of fancy way to flip over it, and go underwater and come out in it, but, I just tread water until I got it on...

Now, being that I am SO out of shape, I am now exhausted, but it is only 10AM....we now have to put the canoes in the pool and do the following:

1. Learn out to get in a tandem (another fancy name for two people canoe) canoe without out tipping over.

2. Learn how to jump out of the canoe without making it tip over, and come crashing on your head. (I was not looking forward to intentionally getting wet this way)

3. Learn how to get back into a canoe while treading water.
(I should add here, that the idea of having to do this, of having to haul my overweight, out of shape, body, that has absolutely NO upper body strength into anything, not less a canoe on the water, almost made to chicken out!

4. Learn how to fall out of the canoe when your partner attempts to get into the canoe. (This was actually not a required skill, but, the lesson was learned)

5. Re-learn how to enter a canoe while treading water.

6. Learn how to get into your canoe when it is full of water. ****note***canoes will not completely submerge (fancy way of saying sink)....they have some flotation stuff built in the walls, but it does fill up all the way!******

7. Learn how to holler out "hey, do you need help, it looks like your canoe is full of water?" This made me laugh and want to say"duh, you made me fill it with water", but, I refrained! Then you have to, while sitting in your canoe, and not falling out, flip the other canoe over, to get the water out, drag it across your canoe, to make sure every drop is out, and then flip it back over, and put it back in the water....did I say you have to do this and not fall out of your own canoe.....hmmm. well, yes, you do, and my partner and I actually did!

The above actions took until noon.......no one drown, but here is a photo of just one of my bruises..........



This is just one.............I have several matching pairs..........canoes are made of really hard material! I will write more about this later, right now, I need some more aspirin, and ice packs!

Salt, you Wonderful Silent Killer

So, I started blogging about something different, and I realize the whole blog was probably going to be my opinion about salt and how much I love it and how hard it is to do without it.

Dad is suppose to be on a low salt diet. Me and my "I know everything attitude" I figured we just spice up his food with jalepenos and onions and such, and heck, he would not even miss the salt. That like many of my other "oh I know so much", is a big fat lie! I cooked and I spiced and I ate what I fixed for him, and like Catherine said "it would be good if it had a little salt". So, what I want to know is, how come years ago, in "days of Yore" did they trade salt and how come it has such historical value, when, it is SOO bad for you? I suppose it all has to do with "limits", which is a whole nother topic to blog about when I get on my soap box again.

Anyway, I have ordered several low salt, no salt cook books and we will see if that is better, but for now.........I really feel bad for Dad that salt is no longer one of the food groups!

Excitement Abounds!

Tonight I booked my trip to the East Coast. I am going on a trip out East with Becky. We are wanting to see New England in the fall. We will see Catherine and her school in Rhode Island. We will have a ball! I am ready to go now! Like a kid at Christmas. This is something I have always wanted to do. I have been saving my money, putting aside 30 bucks here and 30 bucks there, and I am ready to complete another item on my "bucket list" !

Flip Flops

Over three years ago, I traded flip flops with Jennifer. We both bought a pair in Wimberly, but I liked hers better, and she graciously traded. I loved those flip flops. They were made by "Reef".........my dear flip flops, I decided they were worn over 1200 days. Rain or shine, cold or hot, I wear my flip flops. My wonderful flip flops scummed to the brutal wear and tear that I imposed upon them and they broke.

I went to see my friend Cindy in San Marcus several months ago. We went for a pedicure and believe it or not, the people spoke English! I mentioned needing a new pair of flip flops and there is a store in San Marcos called the "flip flop shop"! How wonderful is that! So, after our pedis, Cindy and I took off to find the shop. I bought two pair of Reef brand flip flops.

One pair has this little metal thing on the sole. I noticed this after we got back to Cindy's house. I first thought I stepped on something, but then lo and behold, it was on both shoes. Then I thought maybe they were "ice grippers", something to help not make them quite so slippery on the ice, you know, during cold weather. Then, well, I realized that most sane people don't wear flip flops during icy weather, and I doubted a company would make that just for me! Anyway, after I got back to Waller, Catherine in her infinite wisdom, informed me that I got the Reef's with the "bottle opener" built on them! Like, all you need at the beach is your shoes and a beer! Who would have known! I don't drink beer, but today, I spend $1.50 on a soft drink in a bottle with a pop top so I could try out my shoes!


Dirty Flip Flop



Built in Bottle Opener
Party on a Shoe

IBC Cream Soda



I am thinking of renaming my blog "MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING"..........

More Ramblings

So, Catherine went back to school yesterday. We left at 6:30am, and did not get to the airport until 8:15am. Her flight was suppose to leave at 8:55am. Yes, we cut it a little close. I thought Catherine might learn from that experience that we did need to leave earlier, but, from her comments "Next time I will make my flight leave later", means the lesson I learned was different than the one she did.

Last night, we sent a few text messages back and forth, her from Providence and me from my bed, and she stated that I wasn't sad when she left. Of course there is some sadness. I will and do miss her. I miss all of my girls, even the ones who have been "gone from home" for years now.

I am happiest when they are here.

But, as far as sadness with Catherine leaving, I told her, that to me, for me to be sad, seems selfish. What kind of mom would I be if I wanted her (or any of my girls) to stay here, to keep me company or entertained? Not so good I think. I must be happy that they are capable of being independent, and grown and happy in their own lives. Like the "new" moms, whos blogs I read, I cherished every moment of when they were young and children..........but I also do love knowing that somewhere, they learned to be happy adults. I cherish that as well.

New topic

The Olympics. For those of you who know me, you know I am not a great sports enthusiast. My parents watch the Rockets, Astros, Texans, Cowboys, and golf....lots and lots of golf. When I go down to visit, sometimes they try and talk to me about those sports. I don't know names and who does what. I just don't watch sports. I don't HATE them, I just don't watch them.............so.........why is it I am glued to the Olympics, all day, every day, all night, every night. I watch fencing, trampoline, volleyball, track, gymnastics, diving, even "Basketball"! Why is that?

And Another Topic

Jessica is taking the GRE test in September. It is the test to get into Grad school. I wish that Jessica knew what I know. She is really really smart. She takes after her dad in that respect. Well, all the girls do really. I may have issues with my Ex, but, he did give them his smart genes.

Jennifer called tonight and said when she was tucking Mia into bed, Mia wanted to know if they were going to GG's tomorrow (GG, that is me), and Jennifer said, "No" not tomorrow, and Mia said " I love her so much".....well, I teared up when Jennifer told me that. I love Mia so much too!

And now you know what happens when:

You don't blog as often as you should

and

you have no one to "think out loud to".

you get an incredibly long and dull blog!

My Parents

I know I have not done my parents justice on this here blog..........I mean, I did start off thinking it would be about Mia, and then, well, she up and got moved away! So, I don't have "daily" tidbits to share about her, thus, I have wondered off the original course. I have written about friends, and adventures, and old movies, and bugs and stuff, but not too much about my parents. I would like to make it clear, I ADORE my parents. I think I must be the luckiest person in the world to have the parents I have, and I must be the luckiest person in the world to get to the age that I know I am the luckiest person in the world!

This past week has been pretty hard on my parents. My dad lost his eye sight in his left eye, pretty much over night. The optometrist said it was Macular Degeneration, but then ophthalmologist said it was AION: Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy. He explained that is like having a stroke in the eye. So, now we are after the information on what caused the stoke and make sure it doesn't happen again!

One of my daddy's sayings when I was growing up was "that's the way the cow eats the cabbage", which pretty much means, it just is what is...........and he takes his own philosophy as much as he dished it out, so, he has pretty much accepted the loss of sight in his left eye, but he sure is worried about that right one! Can I add here, ME TOO ! and my Mom and my brother, and my kids...........so, I ask that if you read this, and you are the prayer kinda saying person, (I know some of you are and some of you are not), please send up some extras for my parents. They are wonderful parents, and, well, I love them so very much.

New look?

Hi. This is Catherine. I tried to help my mom make a custom background, and I felt like I gave good instructions, but in all fairness, when I signed in to see what was up, her blog was different than mine.
Regardless, this is what I've come up with, and hopefully she will like it when she wakes up in the morning.

It's the middle of the night, and honestly, I went to bed several hours ago and then got caught up in this project.
I tried to make it to where she can change the picture in the upper left as she pleases and easily access it to change it.

Also, my mom didn't blog about my birthday. It was yesterday/two days ago, depending on what day you want to call it... it was the 26th. She blogged about a bug, but not me, but I'm not offended, ... I did laugh though.

So, hey. I'm 19. It's not an age that let's you do anything extra special, but it's technically older.



Also, I have a really great mom that I love a ton and doesn't get enough credit for how wonderful she is and instead apologizes or feels guilty for being over the top and just being true to herself. I definitely think I'd be very lucky if I turned out anything remotely like her... I think she taught me everything she should have and continues to teach me things and be there for me always.
Now that I'm around more people and hear about their parents, I realize though I might call mom crazy, she isn't really. I might say she isn't funny, but she can make me laugh. I may not like her black and white movies, but I knew who Katharine Hepburn was today when no one else did and answered a trivia question correctly.

Long story short, I love my mom because she is an amazing person that I look up to and respect and enjoy spending my time with and it's hard to be away from Mia for a whole semester (after all, that's who the blog is about), but being away from my mom is just as hard.

I love you, mom. You're a wonderful person and the best mom I could imagine. I'm lucky I'm your kid and not someone else's.

Some Sort of Walking Stick

Now this will give you nightmares!



I asked my friend Rob, who LOVES biology (well, at least fish biology) about my bug, and he sent me looking. This picture totally gives me the willies. The oddest thing I learned is that there are people who not only HOLD bugs, but, buy, sell, trade and raise the little creepy things.( Oh, and let's not forget the most nightmarish of things........some people EAT them !)

I am going to confess, the ONLY reason I didn't smush the ones I had, was guilt. I have friends who actually pick up wayward bugs (or have someone else pick them up) and move them to the outside or where ever they belong. I even have a friend who once shared with me that she removed HUGE tomato worms off of her tomatoes, but just could not kill them! I think she put them in a bucket and took them elsewhere..........(you know who you are, hint, some of your grandbabies are twins)

What is this Bug?

This bug totally gives me the creeps! I should say "these" bugs, because apparently I interrupted the procreation of the species.......the big one is 3 to 4 inches long.

Gummie Bears

So, what do you do with the Gummies that you don't like? I don't like orange, green , yellow, and those little odd ones that are not orange or yellow. Which I suppose means, I like the red and the white ones. Now I have a little "army" of bears watching me work..........
I feel like every once in a while, one should take a plunge off the computer and fall prey to my dog.

Keys

I started managing rental property around 1998. John Kiltz had 14 little houses in Waller and 3 in Tomball. He got me started (thanks John?). Anyway, as with most things in life, including jobs, you sort of learn as you go. I now have 101 units that I manage for 7 different people. Needless to say, it went from a part time job, to a full time job. One of the many lessons I have learned include two very important words, "MASTER KEY". Again, as with many lessons in life, you don't necessarily learn it early enough, thus, my key nightmare begins!

I have spent MANY nightly hours lately, "sorting" my keys. Each key has a number, according to the "cut" in the key. So, I take each key, hold it up to this "gizzmo" that measures each cut. Then I have been writing down that keys ID, tagging it, and trying to find it's soul mate! You would think I might throw them away, but, if you spend enough time, you can find the matches, re-key a lock, and recycle them.


I don't know how many keys I have. But, if you roughly figure, each lock set comes with 4 keys, everytime someone moves out of a house or apartment you need to change the locks, over a 10 year period, well, let's just say I have well over 300 keys.


I am just great-full that I have a job, that I am still learning, and that I have the quiet time to sit and sort my keys. Last night, while sorting, I watched "Woman of the Year" with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. Another great old movie!

PS. I should add that now MOST of my property now is Master Keyed, and thus I only carry around the Master Keys (of course, 4 of the people have their own Master Key's, but 4 is much easier to have on hand than 300 !)

It's a Girl !

Jennifer went to the Dr. today and got a 90% sure its a girl opinion. (click on her name to see the photos she put on her blog) For those of you who know me, you must know that I am thrilled! I mean, I bought the cutest little onesie when the baby was as Rex put it "only about 30 cells big". I would have had (and would still have) been pleased if it was a boy, mostly because my dad said "I hope this one is a boy". which kind of shocked me that he had a preference, but Catherine (wise old soul that she is) pointed out that it has been over 50 years since my parents have had a little boy to play with. ( my brother is over 50, and never had kids, and I produced all girls)...........so, for his sake, a boy would have been a nice addition. If I understand correctly, Jennifer and Rex want several kids, so, my dad will have other opportunities!

Tonight, this is one happy GG !

Random Stuff

Catherine is off on her road trip with Rebecca Hart. They left from Austin on July 10th. I know they went through Texarkana, Nashville, Cleveland, Buffalo, and into Canada to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, and then on to Providence. They are/were/are having a great time it seems............until last night. They hit a deer. There were 4 of them in the car. No one was hurt but the deer and the car. So, now they are in Providence without a vehicle. The parts for the car are suppose to be in Monday the 21st. Since Catherine does not want to be one the road on her birthday, which is the 26th, I know they won't be leaving until at least the 27th....so, who knows when they will actually make it back.

I did not get to go on my road trip with Becky. Her brother Mike had to have unexpected surgery. So, I told her we must plan a trip this fall to see New England in the fall..........that will be our road trip.......so, I can wait.

I am however going with two friends to San Antonio this Saturday, leaving at 7AM. It is the DCI Southwestern finals. Two young men that Catherine was in band with at high school preform with the Cavaliers. One of if not the best DCI corps there is. The past few years, the Cavaliers have preformed here in Houston at the Sounds of Excitement show, but for what ever reason, they did not participate this year. I am excited about this trip....although I looked at the times, and the Cavaliers don't preform until 10PM.....and then we have to come home! Long day...........

Mia has spent the day with me today. She was a little draggy (not sure that is a real word)........so she was just wanting to watch "toons" and hang out inside. She is a funny little girl that makes my heart sing with love and joy, and makes me laugh with her talking and stubbornness. She ate Cheetos all day (shame on GG), but I tried to offer other things, and she was having none of it. Good news is she finished off the bag, so tomorrow will be better in the nutrition department.

I still love my answering service, and I am still trying to figure out how to get more organized. I am hoping things slow down once all of the property I manage is full, and that should be SOON. Just not soon enough!

Here is wishing everyone a great night, day, week, month, year and life!