It's odd to me how something simple can evoke memories and emotions so quickly. This afternoon when Princess Pigtails woke from her nap, she asked if she could have a Push-Up for her snack. After I retrieved a ice cream treat for her, she snatched it away, pulled the paper off the top and then brought it to me to "get it started".
As I took the Push-Up in my hand to "start" it, I began to tell her how much I liked Push-Ups when I was little. And then the tears began to well up in my eyes and even now as I type, they are streaming down my face. The first time I remember having a Push-Up was at my Auntie Anita's house.
My dad is the youngest of eight and Auntie Anita was the closest to him in age. My dad is also one of the few on his side of the family that actually "got out" or moved outside of an hour radius of where they grew up. When I was elementary age, we lived nearly five hours away and really didn't see my dad's family much. I remember on a couple of occasions going to visit during the winter, but primarily when we went to visit, it was in the summer.
Aunt Anita and Uncle Dwight lived out in the country at the base of some pretty beautiful hills in western Iowa. Now, looking back and even returning to visit as a high school aged kid, I realize that they didn't have much, but as a child I was oblivious to that. Auntie was one of the most kind and generous people I have ever known and despite her economic situation, she was extremely wealthy. She had a family that loved her dearly and many, many friends.
Things were very different at Aunt Anita's than they were at home. They lived in the country and she would hang her wash on the line out behind their house. And although, my grandparents on my mom's side had a line when they lived in the country, I really don't remember hanging as much wash with my grandma as I did with Auntie. Maybe it was the fact that she had two teenage boys and there was just that much more laundry. They had dairy cows when I was really little. She eventually started buying a small jug of "store" milk for me when we would visit, because I just couldn't stomach the fresh milk.
Her birthday was in July. She loved to cook and take care of her family. She loved to talk on the phone. She was ambidextrous and loved to have her hair brushed. As an adoring niece, I was always happy to oblige. It meant some fun one-on-one times for the two of us. She cared so deeply about people and she had an incredible knack for making you feel as though you were the most important to her.
I remember once, sitting with her and two of my dad's other sisters in my Aunt Gardena's kitchen. They were telling me about my grandmother and most likely telling me stories of the many ways they tortured my dad as a child. I clearly remember them launching into a story about Grandma and pausing to instruct me that I must always wear a good bra--because by the end of my grandma's life "they were down to her waist". I was probably 11 or 12 at the time and was absolutely horrified and fifteen shades of beet red! Now as an adult, I'm thinking, no kidding-- EIGHT kids.
As a pre-teen, I used to get frustrated with her for sending me these little girly type birthday cards with cats or some cartoon character on them. I was way too "grown up" for such childish cards. Now, I only wish I had hung on to a few of those. Always a short little note--usually something like "Love You Lots" or "Hugs and Kisses", but always a little note. And I always knew that she loved me.
I don't remember now when she was initially diagnosed with cancer. I just remember that it really didn't seem like a big deal. She underwent surgery and treatment and she was fine. And then it came back. And when it returned, it was not fine. I don't know as much about it and the struggles she went through during treatment because I was busy. Busy finishing school and starting my working career. And meeting my future husband and getting married. And I moved to the Cities. And kept living life. She had always been there and I had no reason to think she wouldn't be. She was young and she had beaten it before--she would come back around. But she didn't.
In the spring of 2002, I made a trek out there with my mom. My dad was at a continuing education event and my parents were concerned that Aunt Anita might not hang on much longer. I hadn't seen her since my wedding two years prior. She was tired and worn. I'm sure that she knew why I was there and yet it was as if I was just stopping in to say hi. She was at my Aunt Gardena's and they were laughing and giving each other a hard time as always. She made me promise that I would call her when I got home. And I did.
She passed away later that summer. I still miss her.
I have a million sweet memories like those that I've already shared and many more like that she always had treats from Schwan's in her freezer. She was the one that taught me how to start a Push-Up by holding it in my hand for just a minute to soften the ice cream a bit and then push the stick.
8.05.2008
8.04.2008
Just Another Manic Monday
Here we are at Monday again, already. I'm still trying to get my brain shifted out of VBS mode and back into regular life--you know where I have to plan meals, do laundry and generally not rely on my volunteer responsibilities taking over my life as an excuse. So, back to life as normal--and there is a lot of life to get back to judging from the laundry spilling out of the hampers! I've got a couple of thing rattling around in my brain that I want to sort out and then perhaps I will mentally be ready for the week! So, here you have it. My thoughts of the morning:
Last night, we were able to finally attend the marriage-care ministry that our Lead Pastor and his wife have started. How fun. We potlucked and there was child care provided (free babysitting, anyone? Sign me up!), a short video and then some "couple"' time to go off and discuss. The video series that we are using is absolutely awesome! Based on what we saw last night, I would highly recommend it! Hilarious. Looking forward to our next session.
Tomorrow night is National Night Out. Does your block or community have festivities? Our little town has a beach party each year. We will probably head up there for a while--and besides if I play my cards right, I might just get out of cooking yet another night!
Princess Pigtails will be three in mid-September. The cut off for school here is September 1. She technically will not be eligible to go to kindergarten for three more years. But there are some openings in the preschool at our church and we are back to considering enrolling her. That would mean she would have three years of preschool--which I don't necessarily think she is going to need. I've considered exploring some other pre-k programs, but in our area there really are very few options without having to drive a considerable distance. As much as I am not ready for this all to begin, I know she would benefit greatly from it and many of her little friends from church (with earlier birthdays) are enrolled for the fall as well. So, what to do, what to do. I have decided to enroll her in dance classes for the fall. Maybe that is enough. Need to pray about it some more.
Big week of birthdays in our family: Erin, my sister-in-law, Kylie, my cousin-in-law (is that a term?), Michael, another CIL and my grandmother are all celebrating this week. Also, our friend K's is coming up soon! Happy Birthday to all of you!! I need to get some shopping done! Arg. Perhaps I can get by without another trip to Wal-Mart.
Alright, deep cleansing breath. And I'm off to do laundry and get Princess Pigtails started on her breakfast. How about you? What on your list for the week?
Last night, we were able to finally attend the marriage-care ministry that our Lead Pastor and his wife have started. How fun. We potlucked and there was child care provided (free babysitting, anyone? Sign me up!), a short video and then some "couple"' time to go off and discuss. The video series that we are using is absolutely awesome! Based on what we saw last night, I would highly recommend it! Hilarious. Looking forward to our next session.
Tomorrow night is National Night Out. Does your block or community have festivities? Our little town has a beach party each year. We will probably head up there for a while--and besides if I play my cards right, I might just get out of cooking yet another night!
Princess Pigtails will be three in mid-September. The cut off for school here is September 1. She technically will not be eligible to go to kindergarten for three more years. But there are some openings in the preschool at our church and we are back to considering enrolling her. That would mean she would have three years of preschool--which I don't necessarily think she is going to need. I've considered exploring some other pre-k programs, but in our area there really are very few options without having to drive a considerable distance. As much as I am not ready for this all to begin, I know she would benefit greatly from it and many of her little friends from church (with earlier birthdays) are enrolled for the fall as well. So, what to do, what to do. I have decided to enroll her in dance classes for the fall. Maybe that is enough. Need to pray about it some more.
Big week of birthdays in our family: Erin, my sister-in-law, Kylie, my cousin-in-law (is that a term?), Michael, another CIL and my grandmother are all celebrating this week. Also, our friend K's is coming up soon! Happy Birthday to all of you!! I need to get some shopping done! Arg. Perhaps I can get by without another trip to Wal-Mart.
Alright, deep cleansing breath. And I'm off to do laundry and get Princess Pigtails started on her breakfast. How about you? What on your list for the week?
8.01.2008
Do I Get a Medal?
Is there a record for how many times you can go through the check out in a single trip to Wal-Mart? It's possible that I may be the record holder.
Yesterday morning, I ran over there because there were a few last minute things that I needed to grab for our last night of VBS and ink for our printer. I was so proud of myself that I stuck to my list and only my list. I was checking out and a friend called asking if I was still in said retailer. After I confirmed that I indeed was, she asked if I could pick up some strawberries for her. So, I finished paying, and went back through to pick up the berries. Princess Pigtails convinced me that we also needed to take some strawberries home with us as well. Into the cart went five boxes of strawberries. Back to the check out.
Apparently, I'm not entirely with it this week. Because I paid for four boxes. Turned around to put them in the cart and there was the other box. So, for the third time in less than ten minutes, I paid at Wal-Mart.
Gracious. So, glad that the week is coming to a close. VBS is done and we will be returning to our regularly scheduled life. Hopefully your week has gone well and involved less time spent in the check out lane at Wal-mart than mine!
Yesterday morning, I ran over there because there were a few last minute things that I needed to grab for our last night of VBS and ink for our printer. I was so proud of myself that I stuck to my list and only my list. I was checking out and a friend called asking if I was still in said retailer. After I confirmed that I indeed was, she asked if I could pick up some strawberries for her. So, I finished paying, and went back through to pick up the berries. Princess Pigtails convinced me that we also needed to take some strawberries home with us as well. Into the cart went five boxes of strawberries. Back to the check out.
Apparently, I'm not entirely with it this week. Because I paid for four boxes. Turned around to put them in the cart and there was the other box. So, for the third time in less than ten minutes, I paid at Wal-Mart.
Gracious. So, glad that the week is coming to a close. VBS is done and we will be returning to our regularly scheduled life. Hopefully your week has gone well and involved less time spent in the check out lane at Wal-mart than mine!
7.30.2008
And I'm back...
Good grief. Here's the run down since I checked in with you last.
So, last Friday, my laptop decided that it had served it's useful life and passed onto the peaceful gigabyte resting place, the docking station in the sky. I actually think that the spirit was willing but the screen was weak, as it appeared to be running, but the screen was done. Which, turns out is a key component to do most anything with a laptop other than using it for a paper weight.
Needless to say, I had to take a break from the good ol' blog because let me tell you--I love you all, but it is entirely too inconvenient to have to go, gasp, upstairs to the office to check in.
I had been saving my pennies and so yesterday afternoon, my new and shiny laptop came. It is red and sleek and very, very fast--the old one, bless it's heart was 6-7 years old and like a lot of us, just wasn't as quick as it used to be. Blogging on my new one is going to be a much more efficient and fun experience for sure. And besides, it's red so really I could just sit and look it all day, but apparently the kids need to be fed at some point. I tell you, some people's children.
Friday afternoon, the installer from the satellite company came. According to DH's conversation with the company, the installer was to come primarily to replace our current dish--as DH's suspected that it too had served it's useful life because of some miscellaneous issues we'd had with it over the last couple of months. Oh, and while the installer was here, two of our receivers would be switched out as well, because you know, why not? So, the installer gets here on Friday afternoon solely on a mission to swap out the receivers. Umm, hello? Dish not working. More pressing issue to me, because now the TV and the laptop are not working. I was fearing that we sadly might have to read a book or actually fold the laundry. The installer claimed he knew nothing about the request for the new dish and just when I was fearing the worst, he "fixed" the cables to the old one and we were back in business. Crises averted.
Sunday night Vacation Bible School started. It is my third year of directing it at our church and as usual, by the time VBS starts, I'm excited to see all of our planning come together and for the kids to experience the Jesus' love for them in a new way--but also, so ready for the week to be done. I am blessed to report that the week is going well (we have an awsome team of volunteers) the kids are having fun and the adults are tired--all true signs of a great kids' ministry!!
Monday morning we discovered that the AC was out, AGAIN. I made my weekly call to the contractor only to find out that he was going to have to order the parts which was totally fine. I can totally handle 90 degrees and 70% humidity, a toddler and an infant and no AC. RIGHT, because I'm a well adjusted pioneer woman. Oh, how I kid. While I was waiting for the contractor to call me back as to when the precious parts would be in to repair our AC--which by the way is only two years old--DH suggested that I grab the other fan from the attic and get it started upstairs. In theory, great plan. In reality, the kathunk, kathunk, kathunk noise the fan made when plugged in-not so great. Fortunately, there was just a hint of breeze Monday morning and with these big farmhouse windows flung wide open we were able to capitalize on it.
Lest you be concerned that my children and I melted in the sweltering heat and humidity, the HVAC contractor called back with the news! the good news! that the parts were in stock and that his son would be out to repair the fan in the afternoon. And he was. And the AC has been running since. Another crises averted.
That concludes my whining and sarcastic ramblings for today. Thank you for allowing me to vent. I feel better now. Really. Thank you.
So, last Friday, my laptop decided that it had served it's useful life and passed onto the peaceful gigabyte resting place, the docking station in the sky. I actually think that the spirit was willing but the screen was weak, as it appeared to be running, but the screen was done. Which, turns out is a key component to do most anything with a laptop other than using it for a paper weight.
Needless to say, I had to take a break from the good ol' blog because let me tell you--I love you all, but it is entirely too inconvenient to have to go, gasp, upstairs to the office to check in.
I had been saving my pennies and so yesterday afternoon, my new and shiny laptop came. It is red and sleek and very, very fast--the old one, bless it's heart was 6-7 years old and like a lot of us, just wasn't as quick as it used to be. Blogging on my new one is going to be a much more efficient and fun experience for sure. And besides, it's red so really I could just sit and look it all day, but apparently the kids need to be fed at some point. I tell you, some people's children.
Friday afternoon, the installer from the satellite company came. According to DH's conversation with the company, the installer was to come primarily to replace our current dish--as DH's suspected that it too had served it's useful life because of some miscellaneous issues we'd had with it over the last couple of months. Oh, and while the installer was here, two of our receivers would be switched out as well, because you know, why not? So, the installer gets here on Friday afternoon solely on a mission to swap out the receivers. Umm, hello? Dish not working. More pressing issue to me, because now the TV and the laptop are not working. I was fearing that we sadly might have to read a book or actually fold the laundry. The installer claimed he knew nothing about the request for the new dish and just when I was fearing the worst, he "fixed" the cables to the old one and we were back in business. Crises averted.
Sunday night Vacation Bible School started. It is my third year of directing it at our church and as usual, by the time VBS starts, I'm excited to see all of our planning come together and for the kids to experience the Jesus' love for them in a new way--but also, so ready for the week to be done. I am blessed to report that the week is going well (we have an awsome team of volunteers) the kids are having fun and the adults are tired--all true signs of a great kids' ministry!!
Monday morning we discovered that the AC was out, AGAIN. I made my weekly call to the contractor only to find out that he was going to have to order the parts which was totally fine. I can totally handle 90 degrees and 70% humidity, a toddler and an infant and no AC. RIGHT, because I'm a well adjusted pioneer woman. Oh, how I kid. While I was waiting for the contractor to call me back as to when the precious parts would be in to repair our AC--which by the way is only two years old--DH suggested that I grab the other fan from the attic and get it started upstairs. In theory, great plan. In reality, the kathunk, kathunk, kathunk noise the fan made when plugged in-not so great. Fortunately, there was just a hint of breeze Monday morning and with these big farmhouse windows flung wide open we were able to capitalize on it.
Lest you be concerned that my children and I melted in the sweltering heat and humidity, the HVAC contractor called back with the news! the good news! that the parts were in stock and that his son would be out to repair the fan in the afternoon. And he was. And the AC has been running since. Another crises averted.
That concludes my whining and sarcastic ramblings for today. Thank you for allowing me to vent. I feel better now. Really. Thank you.
7.24.2008
Growing Like a Weed!
I just got back from taking The Little Man for his four month well child check. He now weighs 15 pounds 11 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches long! It is so remarkable how much he has grown and changed in the last two months! He is rolling both ways--quickly rolls off a blanket and half way into the next room if you give him just a minute! He has begun working on the coordination and process of crawling--something I am definitely not ready for! And is drooling like no body's business which I'm assuming can only means that the first tooth is right around the corner. Princess Pigtails had her first tooth through at four months, so it would not surprise me.
I can not believe how quickly the time is slipping away. Truly so much more quickly the second time around!
I can not believe how quickly the time is slipping away. Truly so much more quickly the second time around!
Things I Love Thursday--Freeware
Okay, so I have to say that I struggled this week coming up with something that I truly love to share...but in the interest of getting back to regular blogging--here it is. Probably a touch weak and really isn't necessarily a LOVE, but more something that I have found to be handy.
I do quite a bit of volunteering--primarily at our church and have found from time to time that it would be handy to create a PDF from a document that I've worked on or created. I discovered some freeware that makes this super easy--Cute PDF. You can check them out here.
So, this concludes the sad and pitiful TILT post. That's all I've got. Head over to Diaper Diaries for more items that are truly more exciting! I promise!
7.23.2008
Preventing Post Vacation Laundry Pile Up
It's another Works for me Wednesday and I'm having a little trouble switching from post vacation/laundry mode to real life mode. Which brings me to my tip--that I should've followed while on this last trip! I once read that while on vacation, you should take time to do a load or two of laundry (if possible). I know, I know. It's the last thing I want to do while on vacation as well! But I can tell you from experience, coming home from a trip with suitcases mostly full of clean clothes, ready to put away is such a refreshing change! To make this easier, there are now two load laundry soap containers in the travel/sample size baskets at Target. And if you use dryer sheets, just pull a couple out and put in your suitcase when packing for your trip. Your clothes will smell fresh during your vacation despite any funky smells they might be exposed to and the dryer sheets will be available when you are ready to do your load of laundry. So, that's my tip. Find a washer and dryer while you are gone, do a load or two of laundry and ease the return from vacation! For more great ideas that work head over to Rocks In My Dryer!
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