grandson's graduation

Mike and I had a great trip to see Tim n Tara and family for Russell's graduation. (How did he grow up so fast??) Tara's folks were able to be there as well. It was a big event held in the Idaho Center arena. Russell turned 18 the same week, and I turned 18times3plus a few more. So we had a week of celebrations. We got to see Autumn perform in a band concert at the high school she will attend, and we went with Tara and Will to one of Will's OT sessions.
Here's the 3 siblings on grad day:


We are so proud of those kids, and of the way TnT are raising them to be good people. The Graduate chose to go back to California to look for a job and attend our local JC; he lives with his other grandparents for now.

It is always educational being around grandchildren. One said to me, "Gramma, can I see your phone?" "Sure" I sez. So she took my picture then says to me, "Did you know you have the 'funny face' feature on your phone's camera?" I told her I didn't know what that was. So she showed me....



Tis a feature that distorts the photo you take and makes someone look lovely. Thank you, Girlie! I shall show you no more mercy when we play canasta again. LOL.


William likes to wear a ballcap, so we brought him an "Air Force One" cap from the Ronald Reagan library. He wore it to school that week, and we're so proud of our Little Conservative (well, I can only dream).

All in all, it was a blessed visit and we are grateful that we could make the trip. It gets more and more tough for me to travel it seems as the months go on... so I owe TnT a big thanks for making us so comfortable in their home.
THANKS, KIDS!! Love you!!

It was sweet to get a few days' stay at a place on Pacific Beach, with a balcony with a great view of the ocean and a boardwalk with very entertaining folks strolling by.


It was sweet to be with my nutty-ass sister who makes me laugh all the time (probably because lookin at her is like lookin in the mirror).


It was sweet to have our good friend Michelene with us. She's a nurse who cannot hang up her cap in retirement because she will think like a nurse till the final minute, and compel compliance with all manner of things good-health-habit-wise, otherwise your sorry butt is out the door!!

And it was SO SWEEEEET to have them two clowns with me the morning we were to leave for home and I accidently flooded the bathroom with an overflowing toilet, then stood in the room screaming, "THE TOILET IS RUNNING OVER, THE TOILET IS RUNNING OVER!" instead of shutting off the water pipe. Hell... I never was any good in an emergency! That's why I travel with a nurse and a teacher!!!

Thanks, Gram!

So, awhile back my left middle finger swells up and will not bend and the knuckles are red and darn sore. So I make an appointment with my Dr. The doctor says as he is holding my left middle finger at a right angle to open the joint while the sports medicine doctor injects cortisone, "The surgeons do great work now replacing finger joints! You should get these fingers done. They are all crooked and I can see in these X-rays your knuckles are full of arthritis. That's why you have so much pain!"
The sports medicine doctor says, "Yah, you can be the bionic woman!"
I say, "wow. How can I ever thank my grandmother for this blessing of inherited worn- out- huge red knuckles?"
The doctors finish the injection then look at each other and say in unison, "Doctor! Doctor! Thank you, Doctor!"
They look at me and one ses, "You remember that ol' routine in that Mel Brooks movie?"
I sigh and say, "it would be a blast to work with you two clowns, but my fingers are killing me!"
The sports Dr takes a powder, my doctor says to come back in 2 weeks if the pain is still there.
I thank God that visit only cost me five bucks; have to laugh at the medical humor in spite of meself; in a few days I can again bend my left middle finger and can stop flipping everyone off (unintentionally).
But now the pain is back in several more knuckles, the middle finger wants to start flipping off again, and I am in a pickle. I'll force myself to keep working as long as possible, but if I promised to make you a crochet afghan I may have to just send you the balls of yarn and the crochet hook with directions so you can make it yerself. sorry.

OK, Joan. I will change the photo that you see when you go to my blog. This one's for you and by you... and because of YOU!! A photo taken yesterday by you... of me... on a beautiful clear but breezy day up at the Reagan Library. How come you waited till the wind blew my wig over to one side before you took the photo? I look like a dork. And Kristy will see it and think i don't care about my haircut. Oh dear. another fine mess you've gotten me in to now. But the coffee was good and the piece of pie for the pie hole was delicious. Thanks! let's go another day when it is clear but not breezy, and we can play canasta on the patio while trying to guess what language the visitors all around us are speaking. Deal?? Deal!

goin up to the spirit in the sky

Time to wrap up the saga of little brother. A sad, self-inflicted ending to a sad life, wasted in foggy self-administered (natural and man-made) drug coma, allowed because of denial of spiritual being, inability to seek other paths that may have brought self-esteem and perseverance, and a brilliant ability to attribute blame for one's situation onto anyone other than self. He'd cry out to God "if you're there" in his writings but never could get God to do the magic things immediately that were sought, thus cementing unbelief... like a child who doesn't get what he wants right away... throw a tantrum and walk away saying the hell with you.
He apparently thought he had at different times, two common-law wives, both of whom apparently OD'd and died leaving him in grief to muddle about and never relate substance abuse to possible death in others... but often hoping his own intake would result in the same outcome for him... which it never did... thus the chosen ending using a weapon of brain destruction that couldn't be remedied.
The hobby seemed to be to crap on "the man" whenever one could get away with it; beg, borrow (never paying back), or steal. No big deal if you had more that he had at the time because why would you miss what he needed when you seemed to have so much?
Classic portrayal of outward/inner man not matching; what you saw was not what you got if you wanted to get close to him. For no one could get close even a mother who thought he took such good care of her.
One man's reality, another man's fantasy.
Some day I may know how it truly finished as he went to meet the Spirit in the sky, however there will be no sorrow or grief for me because it is finished and I believe.
Don't waste your sorrows on him, me or anyone else but yourself until you can be certain of the One Who offers you salvation through The Cross: Jesus Christ Himself. A shroud has no pockets. At the final millisecond of your life here upon the earth, what else will TRULY matter?

Grand Daughters

Had a fun day with my granddaughters, who are becoming ladies far too quickly. I am so proud to be their grandma and I give them many reasons to make fun of old people. And they do a good job of that. Keeps us laughing a lot. But they ain't seen nuttin yet. I am quite sure there will be many more times and events for them crack up over as they spend time with "the old folks". The generation gaps are hysterical really... might as well laugh because you can't change things much.
The girlies are getting so old so fast that I've decided to keep my hair grey... just so no one thinks I am their mother. It's nice to not be the mother who has to discipline. With a grandmother you can do almost anything...(ALMOST anything) and not have to have a butt-kicking contest. But I hope to always have energy for canasta! I can kick butt at canasta!!
Hoping for several more fun times with the 2 of them before Ms Autumn has to go home to ID.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my beautiful twin sister Joan. She's been my best friend forever. (We need to get more look-alike clothes!)