Grandma J

My grandmother passed away on Friday, April 13. She would have been 87 next Thursday.

She was strikingly beautiful when she was younger. As she aged, she was very concerned about her appearance. She had a brain tumor, and that made one side of her face droop. She never could smile like she wanted, and she didn't like how she looked in pictures. I'll post ones of her when she was 19, since that's how she would have wanted to be remembered.

Thankfully, the end came fast. Less than 24 hours after we got the call that she was taken to the ER, she was gone. That's what she would have wanted. She never wanted to go into a nursing home, rely on anyone for help, or be any bit of trouble. She lived in an apartment by herself. She was independent until the very end.

We have a very small family. Grandma J had two daughters. She had three grandkids, and two great-grandbabies, one of which she never got to meet. My daughter was the light of her life. We were coming for a visit this weekend, and she had been talking non-stop about how excited she was to see her. We made it to the hospital Thursday night, but Grandma J didn't even know we were there.

We are planning the arrangements now. My aunt flew in from Chicago, and my sister will be in from New York around midnight tonight. Grandma J wanted something very simple for a service. She wants to be cremated, and she has a plot and tombstone next to my grandfather in Illinois.

Everyone who ever met her loved her. My mom's friends would stop by and visit her, not because they felt any obligation to, but because she was genuinely a nice person to talk to and visit. My friends and my sister's friends loved to stop by and see her when they were in town. She never had a cross word to say about anyone, and she never complained about a thing. She never wanted to take up our time, but it was our pleasure to get to spend time with her.

We will all miss her.

Tiptoeing Through the Bluebonnets

We did the traditional park-the-kid-in-the-bluebonnets-and-tell-'em-to-look-cute thing last week. Here's the best and the worst. We only got about 4 good ones, and the rest all look like the second one.

What a day!

Our washing machine has been doing strange things lately. It won't complete its spin cycle, so I have sopping wet clothes to attempt to put in the dryer. If I can even lift them out of the washer, they take hours to dry. I hung towels and jeans on the clothesline in 40 degree weather, just so they would dry before Memorial Day. I hate crunchy jeans and towels, but I guess I can live with it.

I called a repair guy, and he said he would be here yesterday afternoon, so my husband volunteered to come home early to meet him. I am so glad he got home first! When he had left for work, he evidently didn't latch the laundry room door all the way, and the two dogs (80-pound Labs) had free run of the house. Ordinarily that's not a bad thing, but one of them, I'm not sure who, has had some gastrointestinal distress lately. DH said there was sh!t from one end of the house to the other.

Needless to say, I dawdled on my way home. I was not in a hurry to be greeted by that mess. By the time I got home, DH had actually done a good job cleaning it up. Every door in the house was wide open to let the house air out. After K went to bed, we did a massive vacuum and steam-cleaning job. I think it will be OK, but that is never a fun thing to come home to.

Oh! And the repair guy came. He said in his 30 years of repairing washers, he's never seen one spin and agitate at the same time, which is what mine was doing. Yay, I'm original. He said the transmission is out. I had no idea washers had transmissions! He can put a new one in today... for $250. That's right on the cusp of Do I Fix It, or Just Buy a New One. I would love a front-loading high efficiency washer, but those are around $1200, which we are definitely not ready for. Even a new cheapo Sears one like ours is around $500. I think we'll make this repair, but the next time something breaks, we get a new one.

Ugh! Please let nothing break or crap today.

I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore.

A tornado hit our street last night at 9:15. We never heard sirens go off. We heard a loud wind, but didn't think anything about it. I saw emergency vehicles a few houses down, and thought a house had been hit by lightning, but I didn't smell any smoke. About 10 minutes later, a firefighter knocked on our door and asked it everyone was OK. I said we were fine, and asked what had happened. He said, "A tornado touched down about 100 yards from your house."

Kate was asleep, so we walked down the street to see what had happened. It was pretty bad. A car was flipped on its roof in the middle of the street. Our babysitter's house was at Ground Zero. They lost their chimney, and pickets from their fence came shooting through their windows. Glass was everywhere. All the upstairs bedroom ceilings were leaking from the holes in the roof. Their patio roof collapsed. Their trampoline and patio furniture were gone. The house was not safe and the kids were scared, so the kids spent the night with us.

As far as our house, it seems to be OK. I think we lost some shingles, but we gained a trampoline! It is bent, but it landed right-side-up in our backyard, perfectly placed between our trees! An inspector will come out later and check our roof, but we're way down the priority list. I walked around today, and everyone is pitching in to help each other. It's a gorgeous day, so it's a good day to take care of everything that needs to be done. The Red Cross is here, and some people have been driving around handing out water and Rice Krispy treats.

No one was injured, although 5 homes are currently uninhabitable. We were all very lucky. My side of the street sustained the least damage, while the other side of the street and down the block had quite a bit.

This link shows the scene from last night: http://wyliephotos.com/fire/2007/070330/index.htm and I have also attached some pictures I took this morning. The trampoline is our yard, and the other houses are down the block.

Surfer Girl

I thought for kicks I'd list a few websites that occupy my time when I'm not reading other blogs.

http://www.wylieview.com -- A community message board with way too much drama
http://www.gofugyourself.com -- An incredibly snarky fashion site
http://www.stuffonmycat.com -- Stuff + Cats = Awesome
http://www.perezhilton.com -- Not safe around kids/at work, but always the most up-to-date celebrity news
http://www.ebay.com -- I hope you know what this is!

That about rounds out my recent internet usage history. Sad, isn't it...

Black and Blue

I am a battered woman. Now, before you direct me to the nearest shelter, it's not from my husband. It's from my 21-month-old.

On Saturday, she was sitting on the floor in front of me, and reared back with such force, I felt her skull hit my kneecap. We were both practically in tears, but we both recovered our composure quickly. I just have a nice bruise to show for it. Her head seems to have no lasting effects.

Yesterday, she was sitting on my lap on the couch, and she brought her head back directly into my lip. I had two very fat lips for the remainder of the evening. The seem to have disappeared by this morning, but I am now very gun-shy around that noggin of hers.

My daughter, the battering ram:

Giddy for Jackopierce!

I am so excited... my favorite college band is reuniting and putting on a show in Dallas on July 28th! They will be playing at the brand new House of Blues. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Jack O'Neill and Cary Pierce are an acoustic folk/rock duo that met, I believe, at SMU. They toured the college circuit, and were regulars at A&M. They put out an album with a full band, but they are at their best when it's just the two of them. There's nothing sexier than a guy (or two) and a guitar!

"Vineyard"

It's six o'clock now in the morning
As I wait for my train to come
To take me somewhere just outside of Boston
As I run to find the other sun

Now I'm leaving more behind than I care to talk about
Just more pain than this heart of mine can use
As this big world's always spinning
All that I thought I was winningI never thought, I never thought I'd lose

And this great force it takes me to the ferry
To cross wind and water so untamed
And while on that ship my life just seems so very
Small in comparison to everything around

There's a girl over there she's got mahogany hair
And eyes of sweet amethyst
I bow as she curtseys
She doesn't look like she's gonna hurt me
So I decide to add her to my listAnd she says
She says

Won't you stay on the vineyard for the summer
Won't you stay on the vineyard for the year
We'll find a little house down there in Oak Bluffs
And our children is all that we hear

I'm not very savvy with the audio HTML links, but you can scroll down to "Vineyard" and listen here:

http://www.amazon.com/Woman-As-Salvation-Jackopierce/dp/B00000187E/ref=pd_sim_m_3/104-0823522-2980724?%5Fencoding=UTF8&qid=1174358701&sr=8-1

Where to Begin?


What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been! It has been a perpetual state of crazy. Everyone in my family has Spring Break at different times, so they all want to come visit, even when we're working. My in-laws came last weekend, and were here Friday - Sunday. My mother was here last Tuesday until today, and she babysat K while I was at school. My dad and stepmom came literally 20 minutes after my mom left town, and they have taken K to visit them for 3 days. I've had non-stop company, and suddenly, I have the house to myself. Gary is out of town until late tonight.

I said I was going to clean the house while I have no one, toddler or husband, to mess it up. I've had about 5 hours to myself so far, and what have I done? Swept the porch, knocked down two wasps nests, scooped dog poop, and done three loads of laundry. I still hope to dust, vacuum, fold and put away laundry, read a magazine from the stack of 20 that is always piling up, and maybe start on a few birthday thank-yous. We'll see how far I get.... this d*mn computer's control over me may be too strong to resist!

Body Worlds

On Monday, I went with a friend to the Body Worlds exhibit. If you have not heard of this, it is actual bodies that have been injected with this plasticine stuff, and it preserves them. The bodies are displayed in ways that showcase different organs and systems. You can really see the muscles and the blood vessels. It is absolutely fascinating. It was not gross or sensationalistic or exploitive. It is strictly an anatomy lesson. I loved it!

I had K with me. I thought she would sit contentedly in her stroller. Ha! She is at the age (she'll be 2 in June) when she just wants to GO! She wanted out of her stroller, and then she wanted to push the stroller! I couldn't let her do that, because it was crowded and I knew she would bash into people. I tried to hold her, but she just screamed. I was getting dirty looks from other people that had paid $23 to get in, and they didn't want to listen to a screaming toddler. I can't blame them. If I had been by myself, I probably would have just left. My friend wanted to read every sign. She really got her money's worth. I can't blame her, either. K and I ended up playing in a stairwell for awhile, letting my friend catch up to us, whisking around the next room quickly to see the next exhibits, going back to the stairwell, etc.

That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement, but it truly is. It is awesome, and you really should go if you get the chance. http://www.bodyworlds.com Just leave the young 'uns at home.

Restaurant Woes

We were eating at Olive Garden tonight. We had given our server our debit card, and it was taking him awhile to get back to us. We were getting impatient, and had a cranky toddler on our hands.

Finally, he came back and said he had lost our debit card! He said he had searched our pockets and looked everywhere, but couldn't find it. He asked us to look around the table, but it wasn't there. He went back and forth to the kitchen about three times, but never turned up with it.
My husband talked to a manager, and he took our phone number, in case it turned up. My husband told the guy he didn't know if our dinner had been rung up yet or not, and the manager actually paused several seconds and finally said, "It's OK, it's on us." I would have thought that would be a given!

We were getting our things together and the server came out at apologized again. We said it's OK (what else can you say), and the guy kind of stood staring at the table, like he expected a tip! Ummm... we were going to pay for it using the debit card THAT YOU LOST! We had no cash on us, and probably wouldn't have left it anyway. The service had been very slow all night.
I called the restaurant once we got home and talked to the manager again. He said the card had not turned up. I immediately called my bank and cancelled it. No other charges had been made on it, so I don't think anyone took it. I'm sure it's in the server's notepad somewhere, and he just overlooked it. He wasn't malicious... just a bit clueless. I hope he has better luck with his other tables!