Not Spring Yet

We've had some very warm days lately-even up into the 80's, but it seems that's over for a while. Today, I had my yearly mammo plus a bone density scan. It was 61 degrees when I left the imaging center and 40 minutes later it was 38! It has rained all day today and some yesterday. We're really glad to get the rain, but hoping it won't be icy tomorrow-the high is supposed to stay in the 30's.

We enjoyed our week with our youngest grands. They are very good boys and we have so much fun with them. The 3 year old had his tonsils and adenoids removed in January, and he is a new kid! He has had sleep apnea since he was tiny and was never able to breathe through his nose. He had dark circles under his eyes and had a lot of strep tonsillitis. Now he is eating well and putting on some weight, sleeping soundly all night and has lost the dark circles. We were so happy to see how well he's doing. (We can even understand what he says now!)

We went to a dear friend's 70th birthday surprise party Saturday-she and her husband were our very best friends and had so many wonderful times together. He passed away in October from Alzheimer's at only 69 years of age. His mother had it and so did her sister and her son now has it too. It still seem's unreal that he is gone, but we had a great time of celebration and reminiscing.

We have a few more Dr.'s appointments this week-as Mary Martin said, "After 60, it's patch, patch, patch!"  Have a great rest of the week!

Valentines!

We have our two littlest Valentines with us this week! Lots of fun and going to play with cousins today. Mimi and Pop are having a good time, but they will be ready for a "long winter's nap" after this week. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

February!

Looks like this year will go speeding by as they all seem to these days. We spent last week keeping our three oldest grands while their parents were out of town. They were so good and helpful and I couldn't be prouder of them! (No prejudice, of course!) We are sore and tired-it's not as easy as it was when our kids were young and so were we!

The wind has blown hard for the last several days and we've had little to no moisture this winter. There have been wildfires everyday as all the fields and pastures are dead and dry. Hopefully this will change before too long. As spring takes hold, we usually have more thunderstorms. I don't like the storm part, but we really need the rain!

Guess I'd better get out of my chair and get something accomplished today. My kitchen and dirty dishes are calling!

Feeling a little melancholy this morning-probably just the January slump. My son's mom-in-law shared this poem this morning and even though it made me cry, I loved it! We're keeping our local grands-11 yrs, 9 yrs and 5 yrs. Our daughter and son-in-law are in Italy for business and a vacation this week so we have moved into their house to "babysit". It's been a great week and we're also getting a lot done working around the house. But anyway...it has brought home just how fast the grands are growing up and how much I see of their parents in them.

The Nights Are Long

When you’re finally home, hospital bracelet still on your wrist, and your sweet infant girl cries all night. When you try everything you know to soothe her and nothing seems to work, and eventually the tears of joy you expected become tears of exhaustion and frustration.

The nights are long.

When you rock, soothe, and sing lullabies all to no avail, and that bassinet you chose with such care sits empty, while you walk the length of your home, shushing, and swaying, and praying sleep will come.

The nights are long.

When the fever is high, his eyes usually dancing with delight, are dull and weary. When his little body is wracked with sickness, and you don’t know what’s wrong. When you call the 24-hour nurse line, or research symptoms online, only to end up terrified.

The nights are long.

When we lie awake at night wondering if our babies, now children, are making friends at school. Our bodies are exhausted from the day, yet our minds still churn with questions: are they adjusting, are they happy, have we taught them enough to navigate these new experiences?

The nights are long.

When the ones who once filled our backseat with more questions and songs than our ears could digest, now, a few years later, scroll their phones quietly instead. When the eyes once filled with amusement and laughter are now rolled skyward more often than we’d like, and we sit there wondering if all is well in their world. We try, but at times feel unable to find our way into the heart of things.

The nights are long.

When she’s out on a date, and you wonder if all the things you’ve taught her, and all the conversations you’ve had with her, will be enough. When he’s out with his friends, and you hope he'll be a leader rather than a follower, and that the heart to hearts will be lived out now that the decisions are his to make. When the car is packed, and your eyes hold hers through that window one last time as she pulls away.

Yes. The nights are long.

But the years?

Oh, the years are short.

When the little bundle that once wouldn’t sleep in the bassinet is now too long to fit, and you lay her gently in the crib instead.

The years are short.

When the tiniest hand that once clutched your finger so tightly, releases your hand readily and walks towards the first day of Kindergarten.

The years are short.

When our babies, who were just cooing, snuggling, and filling their fists with our hair are now curling, straightening, and styling their own.

The years are short.

When the one you thought would never sleep, would now sleep until noon if you let him.

The years are short.

When you see the hand, that just yesterday learned to wave while you encouragingly said, “Say bye-bye,” waving goodbye as she drives away.

The years are short.

When our littles become our bigs; When our way becomes their way; When our love is stretched to the point of aching…

We will remember…

That the nights were so very long. But the years are so very short.

Sigh...

...yep.

Political rant for the day. 😉

January

Boy, is it January! Last week was icy and grey, today it has been warmer, windy, rainy and grey.

We had a good weekend, though. Our son, daughter in law and their boys came down for her great-grandmother's funeral and we got to keep the grandboys. It was Mr. C's 5th birthday, so we drove into Dallas and met Son and DIL at the Dallas World Aquarium as a birthday treat. We went out for dinner and then came back for cake and presents. They went home today.

 We will see them again Friday when her family gets together for their "Christmas".The boys call their other grandparents Lollie and Pappy, and this celebration is called "Lollie Claus". It's always over the MLK Jr. weekend. We eat, play games, have a gift exchange and a lot of fun!

The weekend after that, we will move into our daughter and son in law's house for 9 days to keep the other 3 grands. Our SIL works for an Italian based company and goes to Italy several times a year. Our daughter is going with him this trip and they are going to go sightseeing.

Tomorrow, I "get" to go the dentist to start the process of getting one of my upper front teeth crowned. I have visions of ending up looking like Mr. Wilson in the old Dennis the Menace movie!

(Not really, our dentist is wonderful. Still, I'm not looking forward to it.)

I think we'll be ready to slow down when February gets here!

Happy New Year!