Out of the Mouths of Babes

I love quoting kids.
Kids have a way of telling it like it is without coloring the story or embellishing the moment. They can say it all with a minimum of words.....and you usually know exactly what they wanted you to know. No more....no less.

We spend alot of time with our nearly-three-year-old granddaughter Kayla. She has really learned our personalities, our idiosyncracies and so much more. Nothing much slips by her. She knows that Poppi means business and there is very little grey with him; really just black and white. I tend to be the one who is a little more lenient with the lighter approach.

The other day we were working a puzzle of shapes with her. I had no idea she had a clue about octagons, pentagons and trapezoids but she worked her way through the puzzle with flying colors. (No doubt she has done it at nursery school, but we can pretend it was just a genius moment!! :) )
Well, Poppi wanted to see if she really knew them as I described. He quickly picked up each piece..."What's this Kayla? Correct, a pentagon. And what's this? Yes, its an octagon. And this? Kayla, what's this? Kayla? Kaaayla? What's this? " I must interject here that most nearly-3-year-olds can have the attention span of a gnat, so I always allow for that, but not Poppi. After a bit of a pause.....Kayla took his face in her hands and said "Poppi, relax!!!!"

There is just no response to that.

My Nanny

It's ages since I have blogged. It's not for the lack of thoughts, reflections, ideas and opinions. I have alot of those; perhaps too many.

Its Thanksgiving. I always find this a reflective time of year...particularly this day. I have many things in my life to be grateful for. A loving husband, children and grandchildren, a big extended family that stays in touch, a warm and welcoming home, good and loyal friends and so much more.
On this day, I always have special memories of my Nanny. Its probably all the cooking, the delicious smells of roasting turkey, fresh baked pies, the kitchen hopping (well not hopping but moving at a faster pace than usual) with activity. I remember the excitement of the day in years past and the buildup of our family walking on the path through the woods to our grandparents house where all the aunts, uncles, cousins would meet for a feast to beat all feasts. Our Nanny was the grandest of cooks I have ever known. She could run circles around most of the Food Network shows. I think I learned alot from her....or at least I hope I did. She had alot to teach all of us kids.

Once I start thinking of her and Thanksgiving cooking each year I naturally progress to thinking what an impact she had on my life and most of my childhood memories revolve around her. Its not that we didnt have a loving mother....but our mother was caught up in the raising and caring of 5 children whereas my Nanny could make each of us feel very important, very special. I loved her for that.

Time spent with Nanny was special time. She taught me to darn socks. Who actually does that anymore? No one. But the weekly sewing classes with Nanny were an important part of my life and an opportunity to have the undivided attention of a caring adult. Bi-weekly manicures with Nanny were special moments too. I would sit on a small stool in front of her bedroom easy chair while she pushed cuticles, trimmed nails and buffed a shine on my nails that sparkled!

Nanny was an avid reader and set the standard by which I read today. She always made time for reading, as busy a life as she had. She read to us when we were little and as we grew up we could discuss various books with her. She was always a listener.

I could not let another Thanksgiving go by without making a special remembrance about my Nanny. She made me so much of what I am today. The fact that I can open my home and share a meal with family, can pick up a piece of needlework at any time and read with such joy almost any kind of book. I hope I can make my grandkids feel as special as she made me feel.

There is something very special about the relationship between a grandmother and granddaughter. If you have had that relationship, or are building on one now.....you are a lucky person indeed!!

Language Skills

As you may or may not know….I have our granddaughter Kayla here several days a week. She is a live wire…keeps us busy….keeps us in a near state of exhaustion and gives new meaning to the words grand parenting skills . There are moments of downright hilarity and others of sheer frustration. Kayla is very lucky that I have a fairly good memory of doing this all before with her Mother!

Kayla’s favorite expressions of late have been the emotionally charged words:

“OH NOooooooooo!!!!”

And the even more alarming words….

“Uh OHhhhhhh!!!”

It occurred to me that with this sort of vocabulary she should not be considering any of the following professions at this time.

Brain Surgeon

Fine China shop owner

Explosives Detonator

Gynecologist

Nuclear Waste Management

Sword Swallower

Painter of Highway Median lines

Sculptor of fine marble

Lion tamer

Just thinking out loud here……..

Now is the winter of .......

.....our discontent. Made glorious summer by this son of York;

OK…so I am waiting for the glorious summer, even a passable spring would be nice.
This has been the germiest (I know its not a word, but it fits!!) winter on record for this household. I have never seen or heard so much coughing and wheezing, nose-blowing and aspirin-taking, shawl-wrapping and Vicks-rubbing and then some! We have broken records around here for days/weeks of non-stop illness. We have also broken records on Kleenex use and antibiotic taking. Its ridiculous.
This is Germ Warfare at almost its worst!!

There has been a bit of fortunate distraction.

We have 7 gorgeous little puppies from Olivia and Brodie. They are precious and full of beans and give so much joy to some rather bleak days.

We also have Kayla-Days! These provide a terrific distraction. Looking at books, playing with blocks, watching Noggin, riding the car, playing with the dogs and learning to walk and run. WOW….it makes for full days! But….ya gotta love nap time!! I call it my refueling time. (Of course she refuels at the same time)

And knitting…..one of my most favorite hobbies of the moment. So much gorgeous yarn….so little time. But its fun learning a new craft and having something wonderful to show for the quiet hours of focus on the knitting needles. You can cough and knit at the same time, thank goodness. I love it!!

Best of all….there is retiree-Chuck!! Who knew it would work out so well to have him around all the time. Its been amazing so far. To take on the puppy care as a team has been terrific. Its so much easier when you handle it together and having two sets of eyes observing their antics, doubles the fun!! Chuck has always been a hands on man….so the pitching in on house chores has been even more appreciated during this Germy Winter.

So….I am hopeful spring will arrive a bit early around here. It will be nice to get out and about with Kayla and the puppies….breathe some fresh air, feel some warm sunshine and feel healthy again.

It really has been the “winter of our discontent” where germs are concerned.

Saying it without pictures...........

I had a wonderful experience today. I would really like to be able to express the importance and heartwarming meaningfulness of the moment….but I doubt I will do it justice.

My sister came to visit from up north. She arranged a get together with another sister over lunch. A sister I had not talked to for a very long time for many reasons; many of which are not worth even thinking about any more. I was able to re-unite with my local sister after far too much time had gone by. It was one of those memorable moments in time that will probably remain with me for a very long time….perhaps for the rest of my life. That would be a very good thing. For the first time in our lives we engaged in wonderful conversation and laughs that were able to wipe away meaningless words, gestures and thoughtlessness on my part. For the first time I felt like we were truly engaged in each others conversation and it gave me that warm feeling I was missing.
I hope it’s the rebirth of more wonderful and heartfelt conversations and the beginning of a time in our lives that will rise above everything that may have come before.

Life is short. Life is what we make of it. Life can be very good
My life feels more complete than it has in a very long time. The missing piece is back where it belongs and I know I am better for that. Welcome back into my heart Anne. You have been missed.

I'm Done.....!!

Yup....I'm done!
Me. Queen of the Unfinished Project!
Myself. Who probably actually has enough projects, kits and patterns to keep myself and a small village busy into the next century.
I. Who has absolutely no reason WHATSOEVER to set so much as a foot inside a craft shop or yarn store for the rest of my life.

I bought the yarn.

I knitted and cabled until my fingers were numb, chapped and twisted.










I plugged along. Moaning and groaning to anyone who would stand still long enough to listen to me....whether they wanted to or not. "See those cables? See how small they are? Do you know how long its taking to knit this?" Lots of kind people listened, nodded their heads and humored me. They really were very, very kind.













Well....here it is! Done!!!

And you know what? I loved every minute of it!!!
I think she likes it.

Big Man....little man

Sometimes we see something,…..a picture, a captured moment, a tender touch and it brings back a lost moment to us. Or at least a moment we thought was lost. And then there it is. I had such a moment the other day.

Time goes by so fast that we are afraid we will forget special moments, special relationships. But I am reminded of one special one recently. We can get so caught up in what we did and do for our children that we forget what they did for us…and how they helped us through difficult times.

A move to England when I was such a young mother was life altering. Yes there was excitement, but it was so tinged with fear and anxiety it’s hard to remember how I physically got myself on the plane and left this country. I carried with me, a 7 month old baby. They may speak the same language over there, but the way of life, the customs, the expectations …they were so different. I did not have the sort of personality that stepped into a new and totally unknown community and grasped it. I was terribly afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing. Would I stand out? Would my harsh American accent draw attention to myself? How to take a shy and retiring personality full of fear and self-doubt and work its way into the community? It would be so easy to find every excuse to say goodbye to my husband in the morning….and just mark time until he returned from London in the evening. But it would make for some long and lonely days.

Enter…the best little excuse in the world for integrating yourself into a new community, a new country and a totally new way of life!! This little man here was responsible for totally immersing me into the English way of life. He was my companion. He made me get up each morning and throw myself into the day where the British world of nappies, teatime, Dr. Who, well-baby clinics, church crèche, neighborhood parks with prams all formed the mainstay of the English way of life. He made me fill my days.

I look back and think with fond memories of just how much this little man did for me. My world revolved around his daily needs. His endearing personality and charm opened the world to me and introduced me to so many wonderful people. He was without question a conversation starter. I have never told him what an important part he played in my life and my adjustment to living in a new country away from family and friends. How he filled my long days with joy and helped me cross that barrier of feeling alone.
I am so fortunate that he made that journey with us when we moved away to the UK. I am not sure the entire experience would have ever worked out as well as it did if I hadn’t had him to share it with at the beginning. He made that initial immersion a most wonderful experience.

I see him now with his little man and I think to myself....I hope he can someday look back and realize the joy that he shared with new adventures and new experiences with his little boy and be as thankful as I am.
I will forever be grateful to have had that experience outside the United States and am even more grateful that we took those steps onto foreign soil with this little fellow….he made the experience richer for us all.