Confessions of a Grandma

I consider myself fortunate to have the support of friends and family through a difficult time.  My lawn has been mowed by neighbors.   Flowers from talented gardeners were brought to cheer me at home and to decorate the community center for the celebration of life and memorial service.  Cards arrived everyday for three weeks.  I have been fed.  My friend Ginnie has done way more than her share by feeding out of town family, including two teenage boys and a 21 year old.  That's a lot of lasagna and macaroni and cheese!  (I kept her zucchini casserole for myself though.)  She helped me put together the photo display and picked up the cake and delivered it, too.  Maggie brought quiche and wine. My friend Donna sent a gift card for pizza while Mike was still in the hospital and made a pasta salad for Saturday.  Carl and Ellie supplied chicken and biscuits and homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Mary Jane introduced me to Ben and Jerry...

We had lunch with friends at our favorite lunch place where we can sit outdoors on the intracoastal waterway, feeling a cooling sea breeze and watching the boats cruise by while sipping ice tea or a refreshing gin and tonic. For a couple of hours there, it was not at all hard to imagine that we really had ended up in paradise. We are in the process of saying good-bye to friends we've made here.  We'll see many of them again next year, and we'll meet new friends and neighbors as well.  Still, we are at that time in our lives when we realize that there are some we are just not going to see again.  That holds sadly true for the home front as well.  There will be too many get togethers and events where one or more of the friends and family members we looked forward to seeing will no longer be attending. It is easy, sitting next to gem-colored waters and listening to the shore birds calling, to be grateful.  And then there is the nudge -- don't take it for gran...

Yesterday there was a picture of toddler gratitude  posted on Grandma's Briefs.  It is adorable. Although I do have to say it is a perfect example of why I could never, ever be a pre-school teacher  Just the image of a group of three-year-olds stepping in paint (chocolate pudding?) to make footprints for this craft--shudder. But the post did make me think about how I had spent Thanksgiving being grateful for family and friends, both near and far.  Not that that is a bad thing to do, but I didn't really give much thought to the little things.  If you are feeling safe and loved, fed and secure, little things can bring a bundle of child-like joy into life. I think the world could use a bundle of child-like joy this holiday season. Here is a little thing that I am grateful for: self-adhesive stamps.  Mike bought Holiday Bauble forever stamps and we put them on the cards to send out today.  Revealing that I am old, I do remember 3 cen...

"Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted--a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul."  Rabbi Harold Kushner The year of 2010 is the year I became a convert to a belief in New Year's Resolutions.  I resolved to make one simple change toward a healthier diet--eating more fruits and vegetables.  Specifically, I resolved to eat at least one fruit or vegetable at every meal.  By April or May, I found that I had been actually sticking to that plan more often than not and I resolved to work a vegetarian day into every week.  As a result, I lost over ten pounds and lowered my cholesterol by my physical in late October.  The best part was, I never said to myself I was on a diet, and I didn't tell myself I was suffering and so "deserved" an entire bag of chips as a rew...

I had my mammogram this week and got the all-clear report.  Mike went to the dermatologist and will have to return to have some squamous cells removed.  He likes to tell me these are not the concerning kind.  I like to tell him to wear sun screen.  He also went to have some blood work down in preparation for his physical.  I hope fervently to avoid having blood work at my upcoming physical.  I had some drawn last year.  The phlebotomist (?) made vampire jokes, which I did not find at all funny.  I have zero sense of humor about needles being poked into my body. He has his eye exam out of the way and I have mine coming up in November.  We both have dentist appointments.  When my parents were my age they had false teeth.  I'm hoping to avoid that until I no longer know or care if all my meals are whirled up in a blender.  Electric toothbrush, rubber gum stimulator, floss and fluoride rinse--every day. Keeping up with these ch...