Hello! I was gong to apologize for not being around but I changed my mind. I wouldn't have anything to blog about if I didn't step away from the screen every once in awhile, right?

My Gramma was here visiting. She's set to head back to the midwest soon and wanted to spend a little more time with Tyler. Gramma spends the winter at my mom's, arriving in early November and leaving in February. This year's trip has been a rough one for her. Two friends and her brother died while she was here. My mom said after she got back from the east coast for her brother's funeral, she seemed to have lost a lot of her usual energy and vitality. I think it was good for her to be with her Sweetie Pie (me) and Grandbaby.

Gramma and Tyler are totally in love with each other. They have such a great relationship. That they've been able to spend so much time together over the years is something I'm happy to be able to have done for him. Some of my happiest childhood memories are of time spent with my grandparents. 

We didn't do a whole lot while she was here, but that's the cool thing about Gramma. We don't have to. We shopped, she showed me how to make chicken and dumplings and we all played Wii. My Gramma is a lot more competitive than I remember and a pretty good bowler too. We took her Tyler's hockey practice and she said 'woops!' every time one of the kids fell, which was often. And we laughed. A lot.

We've been teasing Gramma about her selective hearing. We say one thing, but she hears something totally different. The resulting conversations have often been hilarious. Example:

Me: Gramma, do you want an Oreo?

Gramma: Sure, thank you. (as she takes the whole sleeve) Where did you get these Oreos in a sleeve? Don't they usually come in a package?

Me: I got the Family Size box at Target.

G: You don't want to tell me? Why not?

Me: What?!

Gramma: Why don't you want to tell me where you got the Oreos?

Me: I said I got them at Target.

Gramma: Oh. I thought you said you didn't want to tell me.

Me: Those two sound nothing alike!

Gramma: You're right, I guess they don't. Want an Oreo? 

Oh my gosh, we were hysterical. Reading it, it doesn't seem very funny. I guess it was one of those, 'you had to be there' moments. 

Anyhoo, that's where I've been. I'm staring down a whole week's worth of To Do's but it was totally worth it. My Gramma makes me happy. Hopefully I'll be back to regular (maybe semi regular) posting next week. Happy Friday!

What I'm Thankful for This Holiday

At Thanksgiving dinner, someone asked my Gramma why her finger was splinted. She told the story of how she got the injury and all I could feel was gratitude.

photo © 2009 Kate | more info (via: Wylio)
My Gramma lives in the midwest. She's been taking the bus for years even though she has a license. Last month when she was coming home from the market she got off before her usual stop to get in a little exercise. She tripped, fell and landed on her right side. Her hand and arm broke some of her fall but not enough to protect her face. She was wearing sunglasses and they broke when her face hit the sidewalk, tearing the skin in the corner of her eye.

After the fall, she wasn't aware enough to dig her cell out of her purse. Fortunately, someone drove by and saw her lying there. The woman drove Gramma home, helped her inside and stayed until Gramma cleaned some of the blood off her face. Gramma is not sure how long she was on the ground. She doesn't remember the car ride to her house. She doesn't remember the woman's name. We're sure she must have blacked out.

The doctor visit afterward showed she had fractured the bones around her eye socket. Luckily there was no glass in her eye from her sunglasses and no bone fragments to worry about. She landed on the opposite side of her torn rotator cuff that she had surgery on last year, which is also lucky because that shoulder still gives her trouble. Her eye doctor says she won't need plastic surgery, she's healing well on her own. Her finger probably broke and didn't heal properly which is why she keeps it in a splint. But if that's the extent of her lasting injuries, we'll take it.

What happened to Gramma could have been so much worse. She doesn't live in the best neighborhood. An elderly woman; alone, injured and possibly unconscious is the perfect storm for something really, really bad. This holiday season, I am most grateful for the kindness of strangers.

Happy Birthday Gramma!

The word grandmother often makes people think of home cooking and fresh baked pie. For me, when I think of my Gramma (or Nanna to Drama Kid) I think not of pie, but of pie dough.

When I was young, we could take the train from Chicago to St. Louis and we visited our family often. There weren't too many little kids in her neighborhood so Gramma came up with a way to keep me occupied. She would have a ball of pie dough wrapped in plastic waiting for me in the fridge. I'd play with that dough for hours then put it back in the fridge until later.

By the time our visit was over, that dough would be gray-black with dirt, specks and carpet fiber and I'm sure it looked horrible in her fridge next to the leftovers. But it made me happy. Which is all my Gramma has ever wanted to do.

Thanks, Gramma for the pie dough and putting up with my whining over the Hydrox versus Oreos and Vienna Beef over Ball Park Franks. Thanks for making all my friends jealous with my birthday/back to school wardrobe. Thank you for making my favorite breakfast every time I ask. Thank you for doing all the laundry when you visit and letting Drama Kid walk on your back.

Thanks for all the belly laughs we've had over the years and for being such a great Nanna. I love you Gram. Happy Birthday!
(dough photo from here)