We Got Some!

 We got snow!  I love snow!

First Andy and Ashley came over to use my front yard...

And then decided to be more adventurous and headed for the state park...

First Mr. K thought he'd shovel out the drive...

But he quickly realized he'd have to get out the snow blower...

Yes, he's wearing shorts and tennis shoes without socks...

Henry loved it...

In fact, last night Mindy sent me a video of Tony,

wearing pajamas and a winter coat, pulling Henry up and down the sidewalk

on his sled...

Catherine sent me this picture of Michael...

I kept looking out at it...

All I could say is it's about time!

I love snow!

Today we're heading to Tony and Mindy's for brunch.  It's 22° out there.

Compared to what we've been having, it's a heat wave!

Stay warm.

Not Sure What to Call This...

As usual, Christmas at Redsock Mama's house was unpredictable to say the least.

Michael and Catherine came first, bearing gifts.

Henry got a drum!

That wasn't bad, it had a pleasant sound but since my tree was on the clapper...

Yes, it was off and on all evening!

Teagan and Henry, who are best friends, shared!

It was a musical evening...

The little kids got slide whistles...

Locklan got a harmonica...

He loved it!

Then he became a one man band!

He also got a watch and announced the time every two minutes!

I got Teagan a 'dancing dress' and ballet shoes...

Every time someone asked her to twirl she did...

complete with a 2.5 year old's version of an arabesque.

But the best part was Grandma Jan's special gift...

I decorated 5 gallon buckets...

I made one for Henry and one for Locklan and Teagan...

And put 50 indoor snowballs in each...

How long do you think those snowballs stayed in the bucket?

It wasn't the kids, it was the adults!

I didn't get many pictures because once those snowballs started flying,

I was laughing too hard!

Seriously, I was not looking forward to Christmas for the first time in my life...

But I prayed that I would be okay,

and I was...

Everyone was out of here by 8, they predicted freezing rain and snow,

and we got it.

On Friday, Ashley sent this text:

In case anyone is wondering, we still have ballet shoes on

and we are still using the harmonica and 

announcing the time every minute!

Mr. K and I planned to sleep in and stay home on Christmas...

I didn't sleep in but we did stay home.

But it's all good.  Back to reality soon.

 

Don't Drink This!

 My printer got stuck.  Really stuck.

I rarely print things, the last time I used my printer was June 2020.

I needed it again last week.  It did not work.  There was a job stuck in the que.

It had been there since June and would not delete.

I tried everything!  Finally, I decided to replace it.

Did the new printer work?  No, and the instructions made me thing I  might not 

be the sharpest pencil in the box...

One of the first instructions I read:

CAUTION:  Ink contains nitrates.  Do not drink or place in the mouth.

Now, I got to thinking...

Aren't there nitrates in hot dogs?

Forget the printer, I'll just write with a hot dog.

On the other hand, it snowed!

It's still snowing and I'm loving it!

Mr.K, maybe not so much...

Yes, he's wearing shorts...

I'm Really Trying

 I've been trying to get back to blogging, I really have.

The hard part is that I like to talk about my day, what I have been doing...

These days are filled with my mom.

Her estate, bills, insurance, condolences and questions...

Last week I spent three hours with our attorney, who also was a high school classmate.

I spent one whole day tracking down papers and records.

I spent one whole day with my brother, packing up the kitchen.

I used to call my mother every evening, chatting for an hour...

It was easy, this is not.

Moving on...if you have been here for any length of time, you know...

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year!

I love Christmas so much that I offered to send my kids to their respective in-laws

for all other holidays just so I could have my entire family together for Christmas eve.

It's been a tradition in my mom's family as long as I can remember.

We cleaned and mom and my aunts baked.  We decorated and planned...

We sang, oh did we ever sing!  We waited for the nightly news and 

the announcement that Santa was in the area!

This year, this might be the first time we won't be doing this...

So many things standing in the way...

Hit me like a ton of bricks...

I can't wrap my head around adapting...

My gifts are bought, not wrapped.

My decorations are finally down from the attic but not unpacked...

Teagan and Locklan came yesterday and decorated the tree,

Oh my, what a mess that is!

It's in the middle of the living room floor.

Only one tree...

Only ONE tree!

One tree must mean it's almost Christmas...

If you have read this far, here's a reminder that even though we're all nuts, Jesus is the reason for the season!

Back soon.

Read Me a Story

Last week Mr. K and I were invited to have dinner with Tony and Mindy

and of course, Henry!

After a delicious dinner, Henry got out the books...

First I had to read a book about hockey...

Then Pappy had to read The Hungry Caterpillar which I think Henry had memorized.

He is so smart and so funny...

Grandma Life, I love it!

I did find out how to keep Teagan and Locklan busy...

I gave them each little lighted magnifying glasses.

Locklan dragged a stool into the middle of the living room

and kept finding things to 'investigate' 

It kept them busy for at least 20 minutes.

Considering they are 2 and 5, that's amazing!

And of course, there is always Teagan's hair...

~sigh~

Did I mention that I love being a grandma?

 

Nothing...

Yes, I've been gone a long time. Getting sick in October really knocked the shit out of me.

Long after I was no longer sick, I had no energy.

At the beginning of November, I realized my dogs can't tell time.

They did not understand that what they THOUGHT was 5:AM, which was pretty okay by me,

was now 4:AM which was why I was sitting on the love seat drinking coffee at 4:30 when my phone rang.

It was the emergency room doctor telling me that my mother had been brought in via ambulance with severe stomach pain (remember she had three emergency surgeries in four years for twisted intestines) and that they did a CT scan and found blockage. They felt that it was more that they could handle on a local level and wanted permission to transfer her to an acute care hospital.

Within two hours, I had spoken to two surgeons and the anestheologist. All three told me that without surgery, she would die. I gave permission.

Two hours after that, I got a call from a third surgeon who told me that her entire small intestine was dead and that her blood pressure bottomed out and her heart stopped. They did get her heart beating and told us they would TRY to keep it going until we got there to say good bye.

I called my kids, my brother and her pastor. There were nine of us in all.

About 3, they took her off the ventilator and we stood around her bed, telling "Toots" stories until she took her final breath.

Funny thing, my mom was 89, had multiple health issues, each more serious that the last. Every day for the past three years, I wondered if this would be the last day for her, yet it was such a shock when it finally happened. She was raking leaves the day before!

I'm still in shock.

On the other hand, Locklan and I had a conversation about death. He was impressed that Grandma Toots now lived in heaven and was all better but he wished he could see her just one more time.

I thought that was sweet until he explained that he just wanted to see her with all the strings on her.

Strings?

Yes. He figured that God had to tie people down so they didn't float away.

Out of the mouth of babes.

So that's where I've been. It's been a tough year but there were certainly good things happening.

I'll come back and share them. Soon.