Special Delivery

Did you know that UPS delivers babies now? Fancy that!  But really, I am back (although not quite organized yet – the email I have to sort through is unreal) and missing the family greatly.  Especially this sweet little four month old nugget who I could not put down the entire visit – except for a couple of diaper changes when I happily handed him back.  It was a wonderful visit filled with love and joy….and some of our usual family crazy 🙂

Happy and Melancholy

This weekend has been very busy around Casa de Dashfield.  DH celebrated another trip around the sun which we celebrated by taking him out to dinner at his favorite restaurant and surprising him with a birthday cake – and no fire trucks had to be summoned to extinguish the flames from the candles 🙂  I think I had more of a headache from eating too much sweets (which I normally don’t do) than from the martini when celebrating with DH.Then there was his mom’s birthday and daylight savings times has everyone looking at their clocks and watches wondering if they reset themselves or what.

Those moments and the fact that next week I will be back home visiting the now almost four month old were the happy times.  While I thought I had gotten used to it, today started off with some melancholy as it is my mother’s birthday.  She has been gone now for six years but every once in awhile I feel the loss.  Circle of life and all that stuff… sigh.   I will be back tomorrow with a return to our trip last September that took us to Maine.

Cya tomorrow 🙂

Babysitting

You may have noticed that I haven’t been around much.  That’s because I’m busy being a very happy Nana helping take care of the little 3 week old sweetie that’s in my lap here.  I may pop in occasionally but mostly I will be just like this with him for awhile.

Preparations

The house is just about complete with holiday decorations on the inside and our wreath that is battery operated with a timer just arrived today so I need to find the right size batteries for it.  But more than that, I am busy either ordering presents to be shipped back home or getting gift cards which will be placed in cards and taken with me on my upcoming trip.  Every other day I get the grandbaby of the day photo from my son and daughter in law and it just fills my heart with so much joy.  I’m also surprised at how his big brother and sister have grown; need to put some heavy weights on their heads.

DH has to stay home because of work scheduling… I hope the house will be as I left it when I return 😉

(This decorated sled isn’t mine but I do have one like it; maybe I should try a bit of DIY on it.  This was on display outside of a local antique shop.)

Memorial Day

(This post first appeared for Memorial Day 2015.  I think it is worth a repeat)

Today for Memorial Day we honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.  As with many other holidays, the original/true meaning of the day has been overcome by the allure of sales, outdoor grilling, having a three day weekend off from work and celebrating the end of school.  While I am there with you on the grilling and sometimes even the sales, the real meaning of the day is not lost on me one bit!

They did not die while serving our country but I have a grandfather, father, brother and nephew who are all buried in military cemeteries; my brother at Arlington National near a beautiful cherry tree.  As I write this post I can see my father’s burial flag in it’s protective box as folded by those who were there to honor him at his burial.  I was good until they played taps and then I lost it.  I cried my heart out for my dad, brother and nephew (I was a baby when grandpa died) as we said goodbye to them but I cannot even begin to imagine the pain felt by those whose loved ones are M.I.A or were killed in action where they had to receive that knock on their door or that heart wrenching telegram.

Remember and honor those who gave their all and please do not forgot our veterans and those who are currently serving.  Without them all…well you know.

(Here is a popular past post about Memorial Day.  The blank headstone belongs to my parents; I didn’t want to share their names etc.)

Christmas Night

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  We had a great time scampering down the stairs in our flannel jammies to see what was  underneath the tree.  OK maybe not quite scamper but we did eventually get up and go downstairs.  DH made the nerdy girl in me very happy with some Doctor Who items and a cute little sunflower toy that sings the theme to Plant vs Zombies.  I got him a bookshelf for his new home office and a funny t-shirt.  The best part of Christmas morning though was Skype time with my son and his family; happiness is watching the grand kids open their presents and squeal with delight!

And then we took each other to a late night movie – late as in we didn’t get home until it was Boxing Day, the 26th.  We finally got in to see the new Star Wars movie.  It was pretty good!  I wore my Darth Vader sweater and DH wore his light saber shirt 🙂  But I couldn’t resist taking a photo with this guy in the red suit sitting in the lobby.

Happy Thanksgiving

I remember being a little girl and watching my mom go nuts in the kitchen with the turkey, stuffing and sides.  She would shoo me from the kitchen because my only job was to open the can of jellied cranberry sauce (yes! the kind in the can that has the rib marks from the can on it) because I thought that was the funniest food in the world…and I still love it to this day.

We would wait for my sisters and their families to come over to eat (or as I thought as a child, devour like a plague of locusts) and then leave without helping clean up.  Guess who was considered big enough for that chore!  I would always watch the Macy’s parade on television waiting for Santa to appear at the end because then and only then did I know that Christmas was on its way!

Thanksgivings have always been family centered.  Meals have been at home with mom and dad, at my sisters with nephews and nieces, at my own home with grandchildren, later at nursing and veterans homes with my parents and one year with my English in-laws which was an interesting combo of English and American traditions.  They knew I had a “thing” for the wibbly wobbly cranberry sauce so they had one can there just for me! Of course I was the only one to eat it but hey! More for me 🙂

Since we moved away from my family in Missouri to Ohio we have done turkey day at a restaurant once but the rest of the years have been mini versions of the traditional meal since it’s just the two of us.  We both miss being around family for this day but it is what it is.  Instead we will watch the parade on TV, eat whatever we like (this year it’s going to be a mish mash of this that and the other) speak to relatives either on the phone or via Skype and pack to move into our new home.  I am thankful for many things today including all of you wonderful people that read and interact here.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

(gif from http://www.netanimations.net)