Confessions of a Grandma

Susan Adcox who writes about grandparents  at About.com had the love/luck of chocolate going for her name in my hat.    So, Susan, e-mail me an address and I will send you Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life as part of the Pass-the-Book.  And check out Sian's blog-- High in the Sky --to get the full rundown on how it all works.  The author is way too young to be a grandparent, but she has an interesting blog and some good recipes. *********** Mike has surprised me big time!  He has cut way, way back on salt.  I never thought he would even try.  Here is a man who put liberal shakes of salt on pepperoni pizza, sausage, Chinese food and tacos.  I guess a night in the hospital made a believer out of him.  And, he is even talking about getting himself a pair of pajamas! *********** Can you tell how swollen my left big toe is from my graceful tumble down the stairs several weeks ago? I have not been able to wear sandals with a ...

I missed the meteor shower the other night, but I did get to see the full moon rising last night as I put the grand kids to bed.  That was good for "one more" hop out of bed to see. My daughter and her husband were planning to drop the kids off at noon and go to the Stowe car show.  Her car broke down (timing belt problem) on the way and they had to get it towed, then get home to take his car, the Mister Cruiser, a honking big 60's Mercury.  The kids arrived here around 3 p.m. and then daughter and son-in-law went on to Stowe, where his car broke down.  Not a good day for them. I drove to Stowe today to get them and take them to Burlington where they could get a car rental for the trip home.  I do wish life was a bit easier for my children, but I seem to have misplaced my magic wand. Pass-the-book is coming soon.  Let me know if you want your name in the hat for A Homemade Life .

Related to my last post...the feeling that summer is ending is much less of a moodiness trigger now that I have been retired for several years.  I always had trouble readjusting my routines both at the beginning of the school year and then again at the end of the school year.  Now the changing of the seasons just reminds me that time marches on and I am getting older and then I am over it.  I appreciate that my time is pretty much my own at this phase of my life.  I am aware of the passing of seasons, years, and yet can feel like I am much more in the moment.  It was the right thing for me. I have just finished reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese.  I found it to be a very satisfying book--much like a well-prepared meal paired with the appropriate wine.  It's a long book, over 650 pages.  The fact that the story did not tax my attention span speaks volumes. Lately, my list of books to read has grown quite lengthy.  That's anothe...