Things I Want To Share Before I Forget

Austin starts his new job tomorrow. I'm still afraid to jinx it but if you're local, you'll probably see him. Today we're getting his hair cut so he's not shaggy. Austin has really thick hair and if it grows out it doesn't get long, it gets tall like a white-boy afro. Really, really hoping this works out for him and that he realizes how working can change your life. Also don't want him to waste any more of his prime earning years. You never know when that time will end.

Sneaky Kitty,  new diaper bag and Andy Hardy Marathon on TCM

Tasha is miserable and ready for Cosette to get here. They brought me a diaper bag yesterday so that I have supplies for when Cosette is here. They're (Austin and Tasha) having a hard time convincing her mom that they don't want anyone in the delivery room but them and medical people. I've said all along that wherever they want me to be, that's where I'll be. I never had anyone else in the room for delivery but I liked knowing people were close by.

I started working on the Grandma memory book for Oliver that Cody and Marquee gave me when they announced their pregnancy. Apparently I'm terrible at following directions because I messed up an entire page by using the wrong perspective. I thought it was asking about the baby's parents but it was asking about grandma's parents. Got to pick up some white out. Austin said, "you did it in ink?". Yeah. It's for posterity.

Austin has really bad handwriting so he's aware of these things. I've been nagging them about some thank you notes and Austin says he can't because of his handwriting. From my perspective it's about handwritten something that says thank you. If it's neat that's fine but nobody is judging what it looks like, just that it is done.

boxes and landscaping to divert water from the basement

We had a rainy spell and once again we had water in the basement. I can't even tell you all the things we have done to prevent rain from getting in the basement... it's working to some degree because the water didn't come in the back wall behind my nest, it came in the far edge of the house. We can tell we're on the right track but still had a few days of things being moved out of place and wet towels being carried upstairs (not by me, I learned my lesson two years and about five floods ago).

Apart from rain, we've had some really lovely Spring days. It's still getting a tad cool at night but we've been leaving the windows open. Last night felt super chilly and I checked the temp - it was 42 degrees. I'm sleeping in a sweatshirt tonight. I do love to breathe cool air and would always rather be cold than even the slightest bit warm.

(this part is written later in the day)

I took Austin for a haircut and while I was there I got my brows waxed. I was really embarrassed to admit that it has been three years since I last had them shaped up. It was time to give up the Muppet brows! Plus, we don't want my future sister-in-law's friends and family to think we're complete Neanderthals down here. What was that line in Steel Magnolia...? Something about taking the dishes out of the sink before we pee in it? At any rate... I forget how much better it looks and how bad it stinkin' hurts! Well worth $7 plus tip.

One of the unexpected by-products of having two grandbabies and a wedding within the space of three months is all the boxes we have been accumulating! We've gotten baby gifts and wedding clothes and of course, all the plants my parents have shipped here for planting. The cats think they've died and gone to cardboard heaven! I might have enough to build me another Cardboard Castle - which, for those of you who haven't been around as long, was what I used to call the double wide trailer we used to live in.

One annoying thing that has happened this week is our cellphone reception is pitiful when we're home. I can't send or receive calls or texts except randomly if I'm standing facing the West with the phone over my head whilst standing on one foot. Approximately. Two grandbabies cooking and a wedding and baby shower happening AND my birthday happening and I can't get calls or texts? Epic #fail for A T & T. It's not just our phones/service, Tasha couldn't get hers to work when she was here yesterday either.

By the way, finding a way to use the word "whilst" in a sentence made me geek out a little.

Too also plus, I might have slipped in the whole "birthday" thing in there as well. I always geek out on birthdays! Oddly, the first birthday card I received this year was from my first mother-in-law. She has recently been put in a home and her brother contacted me to get updated information on the kids, which I happily shared. She's sent cards and letters to all of them and to me. For a split second it makes me feel bad that thirty-something me didn't do more to foster and encourage the relationship between my kids and their "other" grandma, especially with me becoming the "other" grandma myself here shortly. Then I give myself a break and remember that I was far too busy raising three kids and working more than one job and trying to keep all my plates spinning to nurse and nurture a relationship that was never that secure in the first place. Also, I kind of see it as the responsibility of the parent to make sure their kid has a relationship with THEIR parent(s). I did my job. My kids go to Mawmaw and Pop before they go to me with a problem.

Austin and I are very close and we have a lot of deep talks (much more here lately... I could do a whole blog series on young parents with Asperger's.... men with Aspergers supporting their pregnant partners.... etc) we're close but they definitely see Mawmaw and Pop as people who love them unconditionally. Probably, most likely, my kids' "other grandma" does love my kids, at least the idea of my kids, very deeply. I wish she could know them because I think they're all pretty neat human beings. Not perfect... but complex, interesting, intelligent, sensitive, creative, ambitious, diverse, kind, lovely human beings. I wish she knew that.

Her brother helped her print out photos of the boys from my Facebook account (which I'm perfectly fine with) and she has them on her wall there in the nursing home. She's had a hard life. Her first husband died in Vietnam when she had a three month old baby. She's had health problems and problems with depression. Her second husband ended up being about the biggest loser you could ever imagine. I mean, yes, Darby did a real mind f&*% on me but her second husband KIDNAPPED, BEAT and ROBBED her step-mother and is now in jail for it. I don't feel connected to her other than the fact that she's my kids' other grandma and now she will be Cosette and Oliver's great-grandmother. She lives walking distance from Cody and Marquee (not that you would walk in that part of town because it is not safe) and there is the possibility for them to be involved in her life but that's for them to decide. Austin wants to take Cosette to meet her. Austin is insulated in some ways because he has no memories of the other grandma - good or bad. He also subscribes deeply to my theory that the more folks that love your kid, the better off they are. But we're a hundred miles from her. The kids don't drive and I don't travel well.

So anyways... those were some things I wanted to blog before I forgot. I've also been working harder on my genealogy stuff over the past few days because I've got a book idea and I'm trying to wrap up some of the loose ends - look at additional information and more carefully review geographical locations along with the time periods where my family lived in certain places. For instance, there's a branch of my family tree that was in Essex County, Massachusetts at the time of the Salem Witch Trials. Was there an accused witch in my family tree? A witch accuser? It would be interesting to know. I have a branch of the family that lived in New Rochelle, NY, which is very close to where we'll be for Helen's bridal shower in May. We have basically 36 hours there so we won't be doing any sightseeing but I wanted to just have the background.

Tomorrow I see the dr in the morning about the crazy gut pain. Tasha sees the dr in the afternoon about a little gut thing she's got going on (like... you know... a human living there). And that's about it for now, I guess. Hope you're all well and happy and if you need birthday present ideas... I really want Dana Perino's new book.

Love and hugs, y'all!

Eddie playing with toy mouse

Eddie loving toy mouse.

Eddie says, "Hey Trouble, check out my cool pet mouse!"

Trouble puts a smackdown on Eddie.

Trouble plays with toy mouse.