All quiet on the home front.
Nursey and her daughter ¾ Pint and Baby (remember, Baby is MY Baby, turning 19 next month), are safely ensconced in the new apt in Pittsburgh.
Funny, and I cannot remember if I mentioned this, WAY before, when Nursey was an 18 year old college student in Pittsburgh, her very first apartment out of the house and home...was....(drum roll).....The VERY SAME apartment she just rented. Now. 12 years later. The EXACT same apartment. How weird is that???
Another Snow Day. And a Blizzard approaching. We got 4-5 inches last night, on top of the three we already had, which sort of melted and then refroze into a layer of ice, then the new snow last night, making it C R U N C H Y snow, my personal favorite LOL.
Pint went out to play. Here is her pic. LOL.
" />
Monster had to go out with her, she thought she saw B E A R tracks in the snow. I tried to explain that there are no bears in these here parts, but no. She just knew that a bear was gonna come outta the little copse of trees in the back 40 which the kids call a 'forest' but which I know is simply a wind break......So it was either I had to go outside (so not happening..) or let the Monster out to protect her. He and she had loads of fun. She looks like Nanook of the North all bundled up. ½ Pint elected to sit inside and play on the computer. All that getting ready was just a bit much for her.
I made the mistake of hooking the Xbox up to the new Flat TV in the living room... MY theory was that I would finally be able to play MY game, which I have had for over four years...and never played.
Bad choice.
Now both kids are ruling the Xbox, and playing in my living room.
Still, it is MY tv, and I am thinking as soon as I get the nice pot of beef stew that I am jonesing for started, I am gonna pull rank and kick their little butts off the Xbox and I am gonna sit my self down and play Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.....
Nintendo Thumb, here I come!!
Snow and Moving day for Nursey
More Snow. I am so glad it doesn't bother me. I keep telling people that old man winter doesn't even GET here until February, and stays all through March and into April, but every year, people keep expecting spring to start arriving in late Feb. It really cracks me up. The kids will wear winter clothes until at least 3 weeks AFTER Easter.
It's really funny to me how the whole scheme doesn't change, even though the weather pattern did. Easter clothes continue to be sleeveless pretty dresses which are not warm.
And so, Easter dresses do NOT get seen, unless the church is way warmed up. Coats are worn and kept on during Mass. How funny is that?
Yet, when school starts in late August, school clothes are winter clothes, and kids wear shorts here in NE Ohio until well into October.
But, since the fashion mavins and the stores haven't caught on and haven't changed, I get to buy every season clothing on clearance, so, hey, works for me.
I expect snow to be on the ground now until the first week in April.
I am looking through Gurney's seed catalog now, shopping for the garden. I am too cheap to buy plants, so go with the seeds. You can do a whole HUGE garden for under $50 if you do seeds.
The seed people are a little bit more in tune with the actual weather. They don't give dates anymore, they say “plant WELL after last frost'. Well here, that means I will be planting my spring veggies in May.
I was supposed to be at a meeting this morning at 8:30. I did not make it. Another 3 inches fell overnight. The PT Cruiser “useless car” does NOT go in the snow. So, neither do I.
Pint is hard at work on a paper for school. Sigh. I will have to write the teacher a note.
The assignment is to write THREE PARAGRAPHS on a famous person you like.
She picked Sir Elton John. I know, I know, I have weird kids. Now remember, Pint is only 8 years old.
So far, the paper is three typed single spaced pages long, with an audiovisual presentation. She hasn't yet asked me to help her with a PowerPoint presentation, but I can see it coming.
The assignment isn't due till, well, we don't actually KNOW when it is due. The paper TELLING us about the assignment, and having a spot to put down WHOM you are going to write about was due yesterday.
Not my Pint. She pretty much has the thing done already. And no, she isn't that anal retentive.
I think she is just really excited at having to do something more than add numbers, and take spelling tests.
And, by the way, the only help I have given her was to actually type in elton john into google and look at the results BEFORE she did.
And the only reason I did that much, was because, Baby, when she was around 10 or so, had to do a paper on 'butterflies'. She used Hotbot then, google wasn't around yet.
And came and got me. The first 10 or so sites that came up were all pornographic lesbian sites. From the word Butterfly.
So, I thought, well, I'd best see what pops up when you google Elton John, LOL.
Turns out there is an EltonJohn(dot)com. Good on then. And,.......(drum roll) a bio page on the site.
Anyway, I will have to drop Teacher a note and explain that Pint is going a bit overboard on this one.
Maybe I can have her write TWO papers. One, three paragraphs long, and the other the way SHE feels the paper should be written, and turn them both in. Let the teacher decide which one.
Nursey finally got moved. Baby and boyfriend turned up at our house last night to sleep. They helped Nursey move, since Baby is moving with her.
There wasn't actually room on the uhaul for any of Baby's furniture or things. Sigh. This is going to be a big move for Baby.
Funny part is, when Nursey was an 18 year old college student, and first moved to Pittsburgh...she rented an apt with three roomates.
And, IT IS THE SAME EXACT APARTMENT that she rented now. Has had an 'extreme makover' done to it. But how funny is that. 11 years later, to the same apartment??
Anyway, Baby is going from an extremely small town of under 3000 people where she has lived her entire life, to a suburb of Pittsburgh. And, she doesn't even know how to get to the apartment.
Brave girl. She is growing up fast. She will be 19 next month. I am glad she is moving in with her older sister, who can herd her through the 'how to live in a big city' thingy. Makes me much less scared about Baby moving.
Snowy Glorious Day!!
Snowed in again. LOL. And no one is sick this time. ¾ Pint's mom is moving this weekend. Yep, its the big moving day for Nursey, and Baby, and ¾ Pint, and two of their three cats, and perhaps the chihuahua Peanut, although she may come to stay with MeeMaw and Pappy. We aren't sure just yet.
Nursey is going to pick up her moving crew, and then dropping ¾ Pint off here for the weekend. ¾ Pint is rather devastated, her going away party at her school was today, and it is not something that can be recreated as they will NOT be living in that town anymore after today. Since Nursey starts her new job on Monday next, she won't be able to bring ¾ Pint back to school for a rescheduled going away party.
Peanut loves coming to MeeMaw and Pappy's house. Peanut is one of the pups out of Spike's last litter. I know, how many weirdo's would have a female chihuahua named Spike? Just me. Sigh. Anyway, Peanut loves to come visit. She gets to go outside and act like a dog instead of being a cat like she is at home LOL.
Spike tolerates her daughter, only just. Spike is over 10 years old now. Monster, well, Monster doesn't quite know what to make of Peanut. Spike is obese, she never lost her pregnancy weight after the last litter 4 years ago. I keep her on a strict diet, and she doesn't have diabetes, but she is just fat. She probably goes a whopping 8 or 10 pounds, which for a chihuahua is FAT...
Peanut is the size chihuahua's are supposed to be. About, um...five pounds maybe. Monster is 190 pounds. But, they play together. Peanut tries to steal Monster's toys. Especially Squeak. Monster doesn't want to share Squeak. Peanut grabs and runs....under the bed, the ONE place in the house Monster absolutely, positively cannot go.
Pint's room is a disaster. And no, I have NOT had 'the talk' yet. I chickend out yesterday, just didn't feel up to it. So this weekend, in between playing in the snow, I have to clean the girls bedrooms. When I say disaster, I am talking TOTAL disaster. Only someone who has had small girls will understand.
I do keep up the rest of the house. If you came into my home, you would leave thinking, “well, she has a beautiful home, clean and well decorated.” That is, unless you went into the girl's half of the house.
My bathroom is a serene place, with lots of african art. Mostly giraffes and dark woods. I tend to send company to my bathroom. One, the toilet is always clean and flushed. Two, there aren't bits of toilet paper on the floor, or toothpaste stuck to the sink. The mirror doesn't have spit stains on it. The bathtub sits gleaming whitely, with deco towels artfully draped over the edge.
The girls bathroom on the other hand....doesn't have an outlet that works, because the outlet is behind the sink, and they had a spitting contest one day when they were brushing their teeth, and, you guessed it, spit water directly into the outlet. I'd fix it, but they are too young to worry about doing their hair yet, and I dont' have to worry about them electrocuting themselves as long as it stays broke!!
I finished reading my latest book, and won't start one till Monday. I can get lost in a book real easy and not get off my ass to do regular things like, well, anything at all. It is much too easy to curl up in the overstuffed chair of mine, light a candle, and kick back and read. I read way too much. As in constantly. I read when I cook. I read when I watch TV. I read when I go to the bathroom (I know, TMI). I read in bed. I read when I was in labor, I read when I was at lunch, I read when I walked the streets of Portland OR in between class when I was at law school. I couldn't afford to eat lunch, so I read and walked simultaneously. It's not that hard (smile).
No, I will forgo the reading this weekend and work on the girls rooms.
Also, when I can get the car out of the snow, I will drive into town and purchase a self cleaning litter box.
I have one of those hut boxes, with the three trays that you are supposed to be able to simply lift out the top tray and all the nasty bits stay in, and the sand sifts through to the second tray. Then, you put the sifter tray in the bottom tray, and pour the clean sand from tray two into what WAS tray three with sifter tray on top of it, then you take tray two and put it on bottom, which then becomes tray three.
Sounds complicated. Isn't really. It's just that with three cats, it must be done daily. And also, nasty little bits stick to the sifter tray and don't all come out cleanly. This means I must take the whole thing outside to lift out sifter tray, empty it into the garbage bag I am holding then walk over to the telephone pole about 25 feet away and bang it against the pole several times to knock the nasty bits out.
This has resulted in a pile of nasty bit sand clumps over by the telephone pole, which Monster believes is the snack table.
And, I don't like tromping out through the muck and wet and snow and whatever else is in my yard to get to the pole. I also don't like lifting a HEAVY litter box, even if it DOES have a handy handle.
Piss off to all that.
I'm gonna go for the $100 self cleaning one that deposits the doo doo in the little plastic box which you then lift and tip into the garbage. Since it is motion activated or something like that, the dogs shouldn't have anything to snack on. That is SO GROSS.
I do love my conveniences. Boy do I love my conveniences. I will go absolutely anywhere in the world as long as I have the following.
Internet. Phone service. Cell service. Electric can opener. Microwave. Coffee pot and grinder. Starbucks. Satellite tv. I will cook over a wood fire. Butcher my own meat. Grow my own veggies. Bake my own bread. Go outside to an outhouse. But do NOT take away my toys.
Happy snow day everyone !!
Laying a kid wide open
Shit.
You know how in life, there are things you are forced to do, but so do not want to do?
This, is one of those times.
Three weeks ago, counselor lady told Pint in a session, "you are never going back to live with your Mom. you need to realize that and move on."
Bring on the behavior issues. bring on the bad grades. bring on the total baby meltdowns.
Bring on one FUCKING hard week or two.
So yesterday, after having her pull another all nighter, and me being in a fairly exhaustive state, I call counselor lady. "What is going on", so, I tell her.
After we talk for about 1/2 hour, we come to the conclusion that we need to open pandora's box.
I have to sit her down (on our bed, with door closed, arms wrapped around my baby girl) that I am NOT the bad guy. That she is really angry at the situation, and at her Mom for not being what she should be. That we can deal with the anger she has, but that she needs to redirect it away from me, because I didn't cause this situation.
oh. yeah. right. i'll just whip freud outta my ass. gimme a second LOL.
then, Pint has a counseling appt on Friday. I do understand the counselor, as well as understand the necessity for the conversation.
Counselor lady says that on an intellectual level, Pint is about 17 years old. Physically, she is 8. Emotionally, she is about 3.
Put all that together, and you have a serious meltdown child. I am willing to do this, but not looking forward to it. Counselor lady says we have to start just stating the truth, in a non judgmental manner, to Pint. She is old enough to handle the truth, and it will take her out of limbo, which is where she is apparently stuck.
I can see alot of this. There has definitely been some issues since counselor lady told her 3 weeks ago. I can see that the reactions Pint is having is unresolved anger, and I can see that she is directing her anger toward me, because I am safe. I can see that we need to help her explore her feelings, and get ahold of her feelings. I can see that if she continues to direct her anger toward me, there will be MAJOR problems, and they won't be very far in the future.
But, telling her that it is not my fault, without BLAMING her mother, that part is gonna be really tricky!! I don't want to make her mother out to be the bad guy to Pint. Even if she is, that is not healthy. I have to explain to her that (okay, this is gonna be a s t r e t c h ) I love her mother very much, and wanted her to be something else too. I have to explain that sometimes, people we love ARE NOT what we wanted them to be, and that's okay. As long as they are healthy and happy and working towards goals, that we can accept the person they are with love. I have to do this because Pint needs reassurance that I will love her always. Which I will. But like counselor lady said...
If Pint knows you quit loving her mother, then she will expect you to quit loving HER if she screws up. So, you have to realize that you don't in fact, hate your daughter, you do however, hate what she became and what she did. Why do I have to fix ME to fix pint?? So be it. growth hurts.
Oh. yeah. Hit me where it freakin hurts why don't ya???
So, I went in the closet and dug out the box of cd's with all my music collection. sat in the overstuffed chair and listened to bob dylan, joni mitchell, joan baez....and I would've put janis ian on if i had any, which I don't. And, I cried for a bit.
Counselor wants to get her to the point where she can accept that her mother will never be the way mother's are supposed to be, and just love the person her mother has turned into. I think in the long run, that is healthy. While I may wish my daughter would get on a bus or run over by the bus, but that is MY problem, not Pint's. She loves her mother. But, she is also wanting something that is never gonna happen. Counselor said outright, that if the kids ever returned to their mother, she would call CPS immediately to have them removed. Not that I was gonna let them go back, but that is pretty clear. So we have to make Pint okay with the fact that she is going to be raised by her grandparents for the rest of her life.
Yucky day. I am not looking forward to this, but it must be done.
Click here to create your own painting.
I wish they had Brown as a color choice. I had to pick blue, which is only my SECOND favorite color. bummer.
tblog
I have been watching a lot of TV the past few days.
Being rather non domestically inclined, I find the shows about extremely large families absolutely fascinating.
Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Kate is a lot like I used to be, only with slightly more children, and my house wasn't as clean. She is a bit obsessive. I am not. Okay, I am, but in different ways. I like her sense of humor and I like the way she and Jon interact. I like the organization. I would like to see more of the children's personalities exposed. I appreciate the fact that unlike some of the 'mega' families, their children came in two's and then in sixes. The chaos is true, the reactions are valid. Unlike....
The Incredible Duggar family of Arkansas. - I THINK she is up to baby 18 or 19 now. She makes me nervous. I think it's wonderful that they can have and raise all those kids well, that they pay cash for everything, that they are successful. However, I totally do not understand enjoying being home with 18 children, and smiling so much. I RESPECT it, but do not understand it at all. There isn't much chaos shown in this family, but with that many older kids, she caught on soon that it would be virtually impossible to truly 'mother' that many children, and so the older children are each responsible for a younger child. I can see why with that many. The kids also have 'jurisdictions' which are basically area's of the house they are 'responsible' to take care of. The kids all look happy, well loved and well adjusted.
The Heath family, Kit and Siobhan. This is a blended family. The original six boys, or five boys and a girl, are from Siobhan's first marriage, which is not spoken of other than to say she was. The rest of the kids are her and Kit's. There is a bit more chaos in this house. Siobhan looks rather stressed at times, but the two of them are very much in love, and that shows. I rather like this family.
The Povey family of the U.K. - She makes me nervous. I think she has an overload of seratonin. She is so placid and accepting, and loves having children to take care of . With a broken dryer, she hangs everything out to dry and then irons it. Good GOD !! Her entire day is centered about taking care of the kids and the house and the laundry. At the filming of the show, they had 15 children with more intended. She quite clearly stated that she would keep going until nature shut her down. They are not on the 'dole' and pay their own way.
The Sentmans, at 16 kids. She is rather like a drill Sergeant. Her kids seem more real. You can see interaction and tension in that house between the kids, but you also see love and helping.
There are others, whom I cannot remember. While I do enjoy watching the shows, they all make me feel uniformly inadequate.
I go through life not liking many things I must do. I look forward to sending my kids off to school and having the break every day. I often have trouble figuring out what to make for dinner for four, much less 14 LOL.
I hate to clean. My house is not a pigsty by any stretch, but it could use a cleaning person. Wish I could afford one.
My children don't help out as much as the 'show children' do. Getting them to clean their rooms is a herculean task.
I also like Little People, Big World. They have obviously made money doing the show, but they were taking care of life and business in a world made for average sized people. I have enormous respect for Matt and Amy who have faced down incredible challenges to simply live a 'normal' life, and they have excelled at it.
When I feel down, I watch that one. It makes me realize that I can keep going. LOL.
I'm feeling better today. Not exactly 'chili dawg' but more human. The coughing has eased up, the Flonase and Zyrtec are doing a job on the snot factory inside my body. I have out of town company coming today, and so must get up and clean, at least run the sweeper.
It doesn't hurt as much to cough anymore, that is wonderful. I have, in the past, coughed hard enough to actually break a rib. That is a deep freakin cough!!
Good Sunday all.
Surreal Day
1:00 pm. Left house for Doctors office, ½ pint is sicky girl. DH in bed sick. Pint is getting over the viral thingy and seems fine. I am not fine but then, well, yah.
2:35 pm. Left Dr office for pharmacy. Arrive pharmacy.
3 pm. Leave pharmacy for counseling appt 20 minute drive away from pharmacy. Appt is for 3 pm.
3:21 Arrive counseling. Apologize to counselor. Catch her up quick with week's goings on and goings off so to speak.
3:30 ½ pint and I leave for McDonalds while Pint in with counselor lady
3:50 Arrive back at counseling, wait for Pint.
4:00 Arrive at karate.
4:37 text DH to see how he is doing in bed.
The bed collapsed under him. He is less than happy. Asks who put the bed up when we moved so he knows who to kill. I tell him it was Calamity and her boyfriend, because it was in fact, them. That explains much, but we couldn't have moved without them. We did however, pay them the going rate of $150 per day, so......
I tell him I am sorry about the bed...and where I THINK the can of odd screws can be located.
5-6:30 working. Baby shows up to pick up her flattening iron and says “Today is ......'s birthday, can I have some money?” I give her a twenty. Everyone laughs, she has done that twice in the same week, not someone's birthday, but showing up at karate and sticking hand out. She is the baby, and continuously gets away with it and will continue to do so. Karate people keep trying to get me to give them money as well, I tell them they are not nearly as cute as Baby, and I don't love them the way I love her. It is an ongoing joke.
6:30 Try on the flower girl dresses on ½ Pint. She is running around looking like a fairy princess. She is to be flower girl at Kung Fu and Mrs. Kung Fu's (karate studio owner and fiance) wedding in late March.
SIL Cop brings ¾ Pint to drop her off. Pint runs off practice floor and pukes her entire McDonalds double cheeseburger happy meal all over the area between the practice floor and the front counter. I am not in my element..and sort of stand there looking confused. LOL. Another parent grabs the garbage can. I thank her.
Take Pint back to the bathroom to finish puking. Grab multipurpose cleaner and some paper towels and a garbage bag to clean it up.
SIL Cop looks like he wants to talk. THAT isn't happening. Sorry. Get everything cleaned up, take care of Pint.
Nursey texts me. Can I talk??? I tell her what is going on. She wants to talk. I tell her I will call her from the car, I am leaving.
Get girls in coats. Grab gameboys, nintendo DS's...iPods, cell phones, purse, puked on clothing, everyone's drinks and make it out the door,c cautioning girls to not slip on the ice.
Sit in car waiting for all three girls to get hooked up.
Call DH to see how collapsed bed is coming.
Drive to BP, I am out of gas and need to get enough to get home.
Call Nursey. Talk on the way home.
Get home. Again caution girls not to slip on ice.
Get in house. Tell Pint to get in shower to wash puke out of her hair. Tell the other two to get in jammies and get in bed.
Say hello to DH who has just finished putting bed back together.
Pint pukes all over dining room.
Dogs start cleaning it up for me.
Get mess cleaned up, get Pint into shower, get other two into bed. Give Tylenol to everyone.
Start coughing, cough so hard I think I am going to die.
DH is hungry. I am walking around the house, coughing non stop, deep wracking coughs. Everyone is calling for me to come to them.
It is too surreal. I feel like I am the star in a Fellini film.
Get everyone in bed. Put frozen Pizza in oven for DH. Let dog out. My head is pounding. Give Pint a Walmart bag in case she pukes again.
She does. I give her another bag. ¾ Pint falls asleep. ½ Pint wants the bathroom light on. I turn it on.
Check Pizza. Not done yet.
Pint pukes again. I don't have any more walmart bags. Find a bucket.
My head hurts from coughing. Take Flonase and Zyrtec to stop the snot train.
Text Niece In Law and tell her she can still bring her out of town friend over on Sunday, but I would advise against it.....
9:36....Pint just puked again.
Good night all. I think I am tired.
Sick. And Tired.
Pint got sick. Took her to the Dr. Upper Respiratory Infection. Two days later, I got it. Called Dr, they called in an antibiotic which is 14 pill. Take one every day for 10 days. Good on then. Tried to stay in bed, which absolutely didn't work out the way I had hoped.
1/2 Pint is now sick. Called Dr last night, she has an appointment today. Pint has counseling appt. They both have Karate this afternoon. We will be getting 3/4 Pint for the weekend. I have to work Karate Desk this afternoon for four hours, which pays for their karate.
Both girls are supposed to test tomorrow, for advancement in karate.
DH is now sick.
And I am NOT feeling any better. Horrid racking cough, snot coming out through every orifice it can, no energy, no appetite.
Laundry needs doing. Sweeper needs run. Girls room's are horrendous.
Tired of being cold, then hot, then cold. Tired of blowing my nose, which seems to be an unending thing right now. I think the medicine is working, but right now doesn't feel like it very much.
Have to call Dr for DH so they can call in stuff for him to take to get rid of this. He will get to stay in bed to get better.
I really want to come back as a man in my next life.
I just want someone to be me for about 4 days so I can get better.
freakin weather
Sunday now RAWKS
Well. I can say I am sort of ambivalent about the 42" Plasma TV, but it does look nice on the wall over the fireplace. I was scared to death hanging that sucker.
however...
the surround sound system that dh talked me into and which i did not want.....
also plays cd's..........
and Paul sounds AWESOME...coming out of six speakers with 1000 watts behind him.
Life on a Sunday with paul in dolby digital surround sound by phillips.....cranked. and when i say cranked. i mean...
the candles fell out of the sconces.
--- large grin -----
i think the Who is next. followed by Pink Floyd and then some Queen...
Sunday now RAWKS
Well. I can say I am sort of ambivalent about the 42" Plasma TV, but it does look nice on the wall over the fireplace. I was scared to death hanging that sucker.
however...
the surround sound system that dh talked me into and which i did not want.....
also plays cd's..........
and Paul sounds AWESOME...coming out of six speakers with 1000 watts behind him.
Life on a Sunday with paul in dolby digital surround sound by phillips.....cranked. and when i say cranked. i mean...
the candles fell out of the sconces.
--- large grin -----
i think the Who is next. followed by Pink Floyd and then some Queen...
Zoloft
We had a good weekend. The girls had a friend over on Friday night, and had fun, played all day Saturday, then on Sunday, went to my best friend (for twenty years) and played all day.
We um...tried the Zoloft. I gave it to her Sunday at 4 pm, because the patient information thingy said it CAN cause restlessness and sleeplessness, and that is ONE thing we do not want in Pint. Trust me on this.
It took her until 11 pm to settle down. She was in bed slightly before 8. So the next day was Monday. I gave it to her first thing in the moring.
She had a HORRID day at school. The worst in years. She got an F on a math paper. (her usual grade on math papers is 108/100). It was concepts she is totally familiar with, and has done over and over again.
She told me she had trouble focusing, and staying out of trouble. She got her card turned to Blue. The school uses a behavior system which has four cards. The cards are always at 'green'. If there is a behavior issue, the card is turned to 'blue'. If the behavior persists, the card is turned to 'yellow' and the child has to go out in the hall and write a short essay on what happened and how they can change the behavior situation to a good resolution. If the behavior persists again, the card is turned to 'red', the child is sent to the principal's office and the adult in charge is called.
Skyler got her card turned to blue. She was VERY upset.
And, asked me this morning, Meemaw, please don't give me the green pill today, it made me really stupid and I didn't feel good all day.
No more Zoloft. Two days is enough for both her and I to decide on this one. We will simply work through the issues she is having with counseling and love. It has worked for us so far LOL. I guess it was good to try, but I don't think the medication is the right answer. Perhaps another medication, but then she is only 8 years old, and I really don't feel like putting her through the trial and error phase to find what may or may not work out.
For an adult, it wouldn't be a big thing probably, for a kid? I just don't think so.
My Gram
My grandmother was perfect. When I was five years old, she was about 100 years old. As I grew, she got somewhat younger.
She was comfortably fat. She wore what we would call 'shirtwaist' dresses. I never saw her in a pair of pants. EVER. EVER.
We bought them at a local store. She had broad shoulders, and a really comfortable belly. She wore a rolled up nylon stocking on each foot. Didn't trust pantyhose, they were too new. She wore a full girdle every single day of her life.
She wore housecoats (similar to a robe, only made of cotton and snapped up the front, flowery or paisley patterns) around the house. Never saw her 'nightclothes'. And, pink worn out chenille slip on fuzzy bedroom slippers.
Got dressed every single day of her life. Wore a hair net.
Taught me most of what I know. Except, I never could fry a potato to save my life. I learned every tidbit of cooking she taught me. Except for those damn potatoes.
Her house, smelled like heaven. They had a mail slot on the front porch, next to the door. We used to run up there and lift the mail slot to see what smelled, and guess what was cooking. There was ALWAYS something cooking. Always.
Gram never bought a loaf of store bought bread. She found that habit to be pretentious and totally unnecessary unless you were one of 'those' people who were too lazy to bake your own bread like you were supposed to.
She always, 100% of the time, unless the Bishop was over, wore an apron. I have her apron. I stole it right out of the house after her funeral. It was all I wanted. To me, that apron WAS my gram, and she is with me to this day when I wear her apron.
Gram didn't work outside of the home. She ran a small farm, smallish cause it was 'in town' as opposed to out of town.
I lived there for quite a few years. She pretty much raised me. My father was extremely abusive and my mother was not strong enough to stop him from beating the hell out of me regularly. Gram's house was where I had a permanent bedroom in the basement, where there was NO heat, and the bed had 1,000 pounds of quilts on it. To this day, to REALLY sleep, I MUST have at least three quilts on m bed. Weight. I need weight to sleep LOL. Now, I am 52. But when I lived there, it could have been the early 1900's. We lived without inside plumbing for quite awhile. Then, we finally build a bathroom off the kitchen. The year was 1961. And, we weren't in backwater Mississippi or Louisiana either. We were in Northern California, where the neighbors had telephones already LOL.
They had a Black and White TV. Early on, they came out with this filter thingy that you actually put over the screen of the TV, which was supposed to make the TV shows in color. Funnily enough, it actually worked LOL. She had a piano in the living room. Doilies on the arms of the 'chesterfield' (east coast name for a sofa', and all the chairs.
Her house was totally spotless. Every single thing was taken down off the walls WEEKLY and dusted. Beds were made to perfection each and every morning.
She used to take her stove apart monthly and clean it....with GASOLINE and a steel wool pad. Can you even imagine cleaning a GAS stove with GASOLINE>??? But, buddy boy, I was out in the yard with her doing it.
On the perfect Grandma porch, we had steel furniture, the old people kind of chairs that are bent sort of, and rusty, and rocked and usually had cushions on them. It was a huge brick porch with a half wall surrounding it, covered.
Gram taught me the secret to light and fluffy bread. It's in the kneading. She taught me the recipe, a BIG secret in our family, but not so hard. Bread back then was, as she used to say....to be eaten WITH eggs and milk, not to contain them. Pretty simple actually. Flour, yeast, salt, butter and water. Thats it. She taught me the secret to light and flaky pie dough. It's also easy as pie, pardon the pun. Here is the secret. DON'T TOUCH IT WITH YOUR HANDS. The heat of your hands melts the shortening. The secret to pie dough is that the shortening little tiny pieces have to stay solid until baked in the oven. You mix the shortening into the flour/salt mixture, add ICE WATER, and knead it quickly with cheap white cotton gloves on. That way your body heat doesn't melt the shortening.
I miss her a lot. She died when I was 22. There is a bit of a weird thing with that as well. We were quite close. She had a heart attack when I was 12. I was very worried about her. She told me..”Dawn, I will NOT die until I have held your firstborn in my arms.”
I went ahead and moved to Hawaii. Years later I came back. She was still hanging in there doing her Gram thing. Healthy as a horse.
I got pregnant when I was 21. Christmas came and went.....St Patty's day...(their wedding anniversary), then, shortly after, she had a stroke. She was in a coma. She went into hospital. I was blooming right along, due in June. They brought her home from hospital long about May. Gran Da wanted her home where he could look after her. I went over to visit and would sit by the bed, telling her about the pregnancy, how I felt about the baby etc.
She didn't come out of the coma at all. She never moved, just laid there with her eyes sometimes open, sometimes not. She had five children, they all stopped by. All of the grands came by. She had lots and lots of visitors. Never showed an expression, didn't move her eyes. We sat and held her hands. No responses.
I went into labor in the due course of time and had a wonderful 7# 10 ounce baby girl (who will turn 31 this year...YUCK!!)
When I got out of the hospital, I went home. The next day, I felt up to it, so I dressed the baby in a cute outfit and drove to Gram's. I went into the bedroom, sat in the tall backed wooden chair next to the bed.
There were various family members about, visiting. They made over the baby a good bit, then I leaned over the bed, and laid the baby on Gram's belly, put my mouth down to her ear, and said, “Gram...I had that baby. It's a girl, you should really see her, she looks so much like you.”
Her eye's Popped right open. People's mouths dropped. My aunt fainted. She whispered in a dry and crackly voice...
“help me sit up”. I leaned over and took one arm while holding the baby. Grand Da held the other, and we helped her to sit up. She said...”Give me that baby”. I handed her my two day old baby daughter. She held her four about 10 minutes, looking down at her and stroking her little head. She gave her back and gave me a kiss. She kissed her husband of 63 years...and said “I'm really tired, I think I'll take a nap now”.
She never woke up, and died later that day.
I miss her still. And it's been 30 years.
aaaaaaarrrrrhhhhhh
i just blogged about a page and it's gone. stupid satellite internet. there one minute, gone the next. and no, i didn't this time, write it in Word first and the cut and past. BAD me. i hate it when that happens. now i cannot remember what the hell i typed and the kids need me now and the stupid chihuahua has to go pottie.
shit.
