Tag Archives: family

Family

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BellydancingToday is the 25th birthday of my older daughter, Lizzy Jane. Brushing teethShe had the bad luck to be born first, so I got to practice all my non-maternal skills on her. Luckily, she proved to be resilient, smart and independent and thrived no matter how many stupid mistakes I made. (Who knew rocking babies to sleep every night — three Playgroundsor four times every night — and letting them drink apple juice all day was bad for them???) Today, she is such a loving mom to my 13-month-old grandson, Capt. Adorable, that I constantly am in awe of her parenting skills. No protracted, drawn-out, miserable bedtimes for her! She also is a talented dancer and performer, as well as a teacher and budding choreographer. Plus, she’s the best money-manager I know — she can come out of a grocery store with a week’s worth of tasty and nutritious meals on less money than most people spend on a pair of new shoes. (Not that I myself have any personal knowledge of blowing the budget on gotta-have shoes, you understand. Because that would be wrong.)  I have no idea where she learned all this — books? magazines? Dave Ramsey? — but I do know that I am incredibly proud to be her mom. Happy 25th birthday, Lizzy Jane!

Blogging and Computers

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Arrrggghhhh! I am still stuck in Wonky Computerland and am having to struggle with our antiquated and dusty desktop while Internet access sort of comes and goes. All my favorite blogs are marked for immediate reading on my laptop, which is still in intensive care at the computer hospital. Without those daily readings, I realized how much I missed seeing Lecia’s photos on A Day That Is Dessert and reading Becky’s adventures at Suburban Matron. And countless others. Being out of the blogging loop makes me understand how much I enjoy checking in with the blogging community and being a part of such a smart, creative, funny and thoughtful group of (mostly) women. You all rock and I can’t wait to get back home. It’s rough out here without you.

Since I”m stuck today without my photos and lists of brilliant-ideas-to-turn-into-blog-posts (which are all on the laptop — well, the photos anyway), all I can offer is my newspaper column from this past week. But I do poke fun at my husband in it, so that’s always entertaining. http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090424/ARTICLES/904245005

Kids

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Little GymSince I’m hanging out here on my daughter’s desktop while my beloved laptop is in Computer Hospital (but we’re expecting a full and quick recovery), I started thinking about all the things young families such as my daughter and son-in-law — parents to grandson Capt. Adorable — have that we didn’t have 25 years or so ago. Like Little Gym. Does everybody else know about this place? It’s my new favorite spot. Little Gym is a franchised gym for all ages children. Capt. Adorable (above on the left) goes to the Birds class for 10 to 19 month-olds. He loves it! The children run around exploring and also do “group” activities as well as a bunch of around 1-year-olds can. It’s also great for my daughter to meet other young moms, and the instructors are so fun and enthusiastic. Even 51-year-old grandmas are welcome, although when our instructor was explaining how to do a backwards whoop-dee-doop with our little Birds, I’m pretty sure she looked at me when she said, “And if for some reason your back won’t take this, don’t worry about trying it.” I think she envisioned having a medical emergency right there on the red mat, but I can whoop-dee-doop with folks half my age. So there. Check out Little Gym at http://thelittlegym.com

 

Snack TrapI’m also loving these Snack Traps that keep No-spill sippy cupssnacks in securely and lets babies reach in and get what they want without muss or fuss. Capt. Adorable carries one everywhere — so much better than the sandwich bags and empty margarine tubs I used for his mommy. And then there are these incredibly no-spill cups by Gerber. I’ve seen these thrown, dropped, tilted, turned upside down and rolled around in purses and diaper bags without a single drop. Amazing! When I think of all the spillage and dribbles and puddles my two left behind, this advancement seems nothing short of miraculous. I never tire of pointing out to my daughter how good she has it now. “Back when you were a baby, I had to …” I’m sure she appreciates me sharing.

Computer Bugs

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Virtual bugThis is exactly how I feel today, after I spent all morning trying to fumigate my computer and then sadly gave it up and turned to a professional. The thing is, I’m the sort of person who never gets bitten by bugs. I can stay outside from 6 to 11 on a summer night drinking beer and talking about the new Alabama quarterback and everybody else is scratching and miserable as they try to swat away mosquitoes and I’m thoroughly enjoying the wonderful evening. But somehow that anti-bug protection does not translate to my laptop. This morning I was attacked by one of those “You’ve got a virus so click here to get rid of it” scams and the more I tried to combat it on my own the worse it got. And what’s so aggravating is that I keep my online security systems current and practice safe surfing — but this one got me. So please beware! I took my laptop to the local computer person who promised quick relief. In the meantime I’m using my daughter’s desktop, which doesn’t like me very much in the first place and is, I can tell, right now very suspicious that I’m a carrier of Bad Things and must be Dealt With Cautiously. Wish me luck.

Gall Bladders

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Bowl of get-well goodiesMy son-in-law, Jason, had his gall bladder out this past weekend and so for the past several days I’ve been helping my daughter take care of her two helpless men: the patient and my almost-13-months grandson, Capt. Adorable. Well, actually my “helping” consists of playing with and going to the playground with and having fun with Capt. Adorable, while my daughter whips up smoothies for the patient and tries to encourage him that he’ll feel better soon and it will all be worth it. I was amazed that major organ removal could be done in a couple hours as outpatient surgery, but Jason did have a bit of a problem at the hospital and had to have a catheter, which has caused him worse pain and discomfort than the actual surgery. Today the catheter comes out, though, and hopefully the healing process can continue. One of my other jobs as helper was to answer the phone and the doorbell as concerned friends and family checked in. And I hit the jackpot one afternoon when a friend of theirs brought over a combination belated Easter basket and bowl of get-well-after-gall-bladder-surgery goodies. The gift-giver had had gall-bladder surgery a couple years ago and also knew that my daughter and son-in-law try to eat healthy and organic, so the goodie bowl was full of good-for-you treats and easy-on-the-tummy mixes, although hidden in the bottom were a few almond and dark-chocolate Snickers — my daughter’s favorite guilty junk-food pleasure. Because if you can’t indulge a bit when your husband has a catheter in and four incisions on his abdomen, when can you???

Photography and Writing

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Photo by Mark Wood, Chattanooga, TennesseeMy four-years-younger brother, Mark Wood, of Chattanooga, Photo by Mark Wood, Chattanooga, TennesseeTennessee, is an awesome photographer. He teaches photography and art at Chattanooga (Tennessee) State College and recently was invited to exhibit with the Appalachian Photographers Project, http://appalachianphoto.org. I love that his photos reflect exactly the sort of person he is: A lover of nature and all things outdoors coupled with a belief that people basically are good — sort of. He also has a wry sense of humor and a wonderful eye for detail and line. I wish I could say I taught him everything he knows, but actually the opposite is true — although he probably would not want me to credit him for my photography (non)skills.

Since photography isn’t my forte, it’s a good thing I can at least string a few words together to make at least some sense. Here’s my weekly newspaper column from this past week on how my 1-year-old grandson is all boy, despite my attempts to encourage his inner girly side: http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090410/ARTICLES/904105006. Friends who had both girls and boys say there’s an inherent difference and I’m seeing that in Capt. Adorable. However, there’s a great discussion on this topic at blogher — http://www.blogher.com/your-son-acting-boy-your-daughter-acting-girl — about what “acting like a boy” and “acting like a girl” really means and how this gender stereotyping may be harmful. Check it out and see what you think.

Easter Leftovers

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Easter decorPost-Easter Monday always is filled with getting rid of Easter dinner decorleftovers: Eggs, eggshells, assorted mangled chocolate bunnies and those little foil-wrapped solid chocolate eggs that nobody eats. But I hope this spectacular egg centerpiece carved from a watermelon gets to hang around at least another day or so. It was featured at the Easter Sunday buffet at the Coffee and chocolateManchester-Coffee County (Tennessee) Conference Center, where we gratefully enjoyed ham, prime rib, lamb and all the trimmings after a morning full of rich and inspiring church services. And presents! My brother and sister-in-law, who live on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, are some of the best present-givers I know. They gave my mom an Easter basket full of beautiful ready-to-be-transplanted greenery, and I got  Blue Smoke coffee beans (http://bluesmokecoffee.com/) and some of the best toffee ever — less like peanut brittle but still fresh and crunchalicious — from local candymakers Scenic City Toffee (http://www.sceniccitytoffee.com/). And the travel French press coffee mugs from Starbucks? An Easter present from me to … me. I’d been eyeing them for days and finally gave in. I always do French press on lazy mornings when all I have to do is sit and sip — which means I do French-press coffee perhaps about twice a month. Maybe being able to indulge on the run will transfer some of that rare peaceful relaxation to my normal daily routine. All I know is that it’ll take lots of experimentation to find out — the things I do for scientific exploration!

Facebook Game

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Am I the last person to do ABC’s of Me from Facebook? I loved it — quick and easy and very Twitter-like. I you haven’t done this yourself, give it a try.

A – Age: 51

B – Bed size: Queen

C – Chore(s) you hate: Every single damn one of them

D – Dog’s name: Abby the Lately Beloved

E – Essential start-your-day item: Cappuccino. Espresso. Coffee. Rinse and repeat.

F – Favorite color: Green. No, yellow. No, blue.

G – Gold or Silver: Platinum

H – Height: One inch higher than whatever my husband claims.

I – Instruments you play: Cellphones

J – Job title: I used to have one of those …

K – Kid(s): Older Daughter (mother of grandson Capt. Adorable), Younger Daughter (college student contemplating fulfilling her mother’s dream of master’s/doctorate in English) plus Son-in-Law (Most Talented Artist Ever) and four cats.

L – Living arrangements: Married. With benefits.

M- Mom’s name: Susan Jeanette

N – Nicknames: ????

O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Too fuzzy to remember

P – Pet Peeve: People who cannot drive. And people who yell at people who cannot drive.

Q – Quote from a movie: From “Time Bandits” — Kevin: Yes, why does there have to be evil?
Supreme Being: I think it has something to do with free will.

R- Right- or left-handed: Right

S – Siblings: Two younger brothers, who of course were spoiled rotten and were raised by different parents than those who raised me and they got everything they ever wanted. But as all my friends and other family members know, I’ve come to grips with this and have moved on and don’t ever hardly think about it one little bit anymore at all.

T – Time you wake up: Anywhere from 4:30 to 5:30 a.m. — I know, I know. I can’t help it. It’s a curse.

U- Underwear: Yes.

V – Vegetable you dislike: One word — limayuckybeans

W – Ways you run late: Standing in my closet frantically throwing clothes on the floor and moaning, “I don’t have anything to wear. Why are all my clothes so awful? Why doesn’t anything fit? Why do I look so horrible?” In other words, typical morning routine.

X – X-rays you’ve had: Too fuzzy to remember.

Y – Yummy food you make: I am well known for my peanut-butter cookies, sandwich rollups, Chex Mix, spiced-tea mix and fresh salads. Hey, I’m thinking restaurant menu …

Z – Zoo favorite: Being on the outside looking in.

Note:  I said “Married with benefits” because my husband and I have a commuter marriage that straddles two states, which means I get to live in Alabama and Mississippi sort of both at the same time, with our home state of Tennessee thrown in, too. So get your mind out of the gutter.

Spring Cleaning

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Spring cleaningHome-organization experts say you can tell a lot about Spring cleaningpeople by the state of their refrigerators. I hope you can tell from ours that I did a massive cleaning shortly after Christmas’s food extravaganza and have kept it in top shape ever since. I mean, this was a six-hour job — taking out and scrubbing each shelf, throwing away a whole garbage bag of expired/old/what-in-the-world-is-this food and getting into every little corner and those Spring cleaningannoying ridges in the vegetable bins. And maintaining it means constant vigilance for crumbs and that Unidentified Sticky Stuff that mysteriously shows up. I can pretty much guarantee that everything in this fridge is now fresh and edible. Before this cleaning marathon, I would have to sprint to the fridge to throw myself in front of it when folks headed in that direction — I was that embarrassed to let anybody see the disgusting chaos inside. Luckily, in my cleaning frenzy I even felt moved to attack the outside, excavating years of Post-Its and lists that dated, I’m ashamed to admit, to the previous century. I kept all the artwork and notes and doodling that had decorated the door for so long — our refrigerator had long served as a sort of guestbook for my now 20-something-daughters’ friends as they traipsed in and out of the house during the Teenage Years. But with 1-year-old grandson Capt. Adorable discovering crayons, it’s time to make room for new artwork. And food that isn’t growing food of its own. My daughters’ reactions to the clean fridge were telling: Older daughter (Capt. Adorable’s mom) said, “Mom, the refrigerator looks wonderful! Great job!” Younger daughter said, “Why did you take down all the pictures? They’d been there forever!” But I’ve already started a Refrigerator-Door Scrapbook — and I guess in another 10 years I’ll have another Fridge Spring-Cleaning.

Grandparenting

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You know how people say, “Oh, you’ll love (fill in the blank)” and you just nod and smile and agree politely because how do you know you’ll love (fill in the blank) until you actually do/are/try (fill in the blank)? That’s how I was when people told me, “Oh, you’ll love being a grandma” — but after 53 weeks and some days of being one now, I can tell you: Those people were right! Read more at my weekly newspaper column, http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20090403/ARTICLES/904035000