Bedroom lockdown with Boo-Boo

In order to write in my blog I've closed the doors to my bedroom and the attached bathroom, plunked Boo-Boo in the middle of the floor with a box of toys and barricaded my side of the bed so she can't get into the dressers.
She wasn't about to take a nap this afternoon, and I just need some quiet.
She is happily rolling one of her balls along, talking to it.
She now says BALL very clearly, as well as DOG and DUCK, and BYBYE.

We went to the Library this morning for toddler story time. I hadn't been for a while, and it was neat to see all her little friends again. They've all made amazing splurges in growth and abilities. Most of them walk now, and the room looked like a circus for little people, they were all over each other, so much fun to watch.

I'm sorry for not writing for a few days, but frankly, my head was empty. And to tell the truth, I am trying to wrap my head around all the new stuff my daughter is going through.
She hasn't talked about it much, it seems like she doesn't want to, so we just let her be.

Yesterday afternoon, however, she called in hysterics. Wanted to quit her job, sell her house. It sounded like she was having a very bad day. Her boss (the male part of the equation) was yelling at her, she was tired, overwhelmed...
I managed to calm her down and asked her to take a break and come home for some lunch. She said she would, but she never showed.
Instead she decided to talk to both her bosses, and get things off her chest.

In the best of circumstances, being a single parent is a tough job. Being 25, having just kicked out the boyfriend, looking at paying a huge mortgage, working 12 hours a day, not being able to 'raise' her child, and getting yelled at by her boss, well, it's a no brainer, she's getting a bit burnt out.

Of course my worry-head started spinning overtime, which doesn't do much for my disposition or my head, my back, my other aches and pains.
I am dead tired, would love to just be able to play possum on my nice cozy bed and sleep for 24 hours straight. But...there's a little munchkin pulling my TV cable off the wall...ARGHhhh...thought she was 'safe'

It has been rather cold here in Georgia. We even had some flurries yesterday. And this morning it was only 19°
Some of the plum trees are flowering, and there are plenty of wild daffodils popping up everywhere. So spring can't be far behind.
My best time of the year is always the time the Dogwoods bloom. There is nothing more beautiful that a row of old blooming Dogwoods. Plenty of those around here all over town, especially in the older parts of the town.

I can't wait to clean up the winter crud from my little garden strip and start planting a few annuals again.

But I'm going to have to have patience...

In the meantime, Boo-boo is saying ola and adios behind me, she's got one of those toy phones that we haven't programmed in English yet *S*

Bugs just called. Is having a wonderful day. Good lord, what a yo yo!!

I've got to stop worrying...maybe a nice glass of Chardonnay will do the trick...hmmm....

SGMKJ!

My Chatfriends

For the past 12 years or so, or ever since I figured out how to use a computer, I have been chatting with a lot of people.

To say this changed my life has to be a serious understatement.
Over the years I've met many for these folks real time, most of them have dropped from the face of the earth, some of them still pop up now and then.

There is a small core of us though, that has managed to stick together.
A small group of women, who have become my virtual family.
There are also a few guys in this group, but for now I wanted to touch on the gals.

For those of you out there who just don't understand all this internet relationship stuff (well, you're reading my blog, so you must understand it a little) these relationships are very real.
Some of the ladies I have met, some of them I only know through the chat room and email.

In the early days everyone was into cyber-relationships. The newness of it, the seemingly easy way of connecting with someone, sometimes getting into deep deep doo-doo with members of the opposite sex. It was all so exciting.
There were many cyber affairs, some of them turning into real time affairs.
At the moment, we really did not realize how destructive these could be.

But we all learned valuable lessons. Some of my chat friends actually found their life partners online. Most of us though had to suffer through some serious and destructive situations.
I like to blame it all on menopause, and the newness of the internet *S* (Speak for yourself, Calypso!)

We organized Chat meets. I only attended one of them. In Nashville. It was a great weekend, met many people I only knew by nick name. Pictures were made and shared on personal websites. I still have one of them bookmarked and look at the pictures now and then.

There are faces I forgot, some of them I'd rather forget, faces of people who have since died.
And the ones that stuck around.

The leftover group I am now talking about consists of 5 women (6 if you include me). We live all over the USA, and one lives in Finland.
Over the past 6-7 years we've shared deaths in the family, serious surgeries, cancer, depression, divorces, but also delightful travel stories, births of grand children.

Since none of us have the time or the energy to chat much anymore, we now have our own little private room where we leave posts in the morning, just to keep in touch. When something is going on we leave longer posts, when someone is absent for a while, we get worried and we try to find out what is going on.

We all have faced many problems, some still do, and it's always wonderful to be able to depend on these women to get encouragement, a cyber hug, an uplifting email.

These gals have become my sisters. Everyone is a grandma, one of us a great-grandma. The last lady to become a grandma is our friend from Finland. It is so exciting to share our baby's pictures, and everyone is always to happy to ohh and ahh over the new arrivals.

The most important thing though, is that this unit of women has sustained us through life.
We have things in common, we understand each other, we love each other. Even though we never meet in real time. It amazes me that such a bond can exist.

I am very grateful to these girls, and I hope to have their support in many years to come.

*BIG GROUP HUG*

SGMKJ!

Rhodesia?

Ahhhh...a day without baby!!!!!
A well deserved Sunday, spent reading the paper front to back, drink too much coffee, just veg out. Love it!

I remembered something that happened when I was in Holland last week.
Somewhere in the conversation my sister mentioned something I never knew.
She told me that somewhere, sometime in the past my parents were contemplating immigrating!
She wasn't sure where, so we asked our parents.

My father worked for the PTT (Telephone company) all his life. Back in the late 50s the company offered to send people overseas as support employees for that particular country's own telephone companies.

Come to find out they had a choice between Rhodesia, South Africa, or Brazil.

WOW!

Can you imagine how different all our lives would have been???

Rhodesia was the country they ultimately looked into.

This whole concept was just too weird for me. My father, who always swore he would cry and die if he couldn't see the Haagse Toren anymore, and my mom so attached to the family.

No way!!! Obviously they decided to stay put. Whew!

Rhodesia???

It's intriguing to think about how our lives would have turned out. We would have been smack in the middle of the apartheid problems? Would my youngest brother have moved to New Zealand? Would I have moved to the USA?

Frankly, I cannot see my parents living anywhere but in their little cold country. But it was a shock to find out they once considered it.

Isn't it amazing how there are still things you never knew about, even after 61 years.

I wonder what other little nuggets they hid from us.

Rhodesia??

Saturday already?......

My sense of time is completely off here. Woke up this morning thinking it was Friday. Oh well...
I am hoping Bugs's schedule is "late" today (meaning she works from 1 until closing) so I can work on my blog a little.

So...lets go back to last week....

My sister's birthday was on Friday. She turned 52. AHhh... too be that young again! *lol*
We had a small party at her house in the evening. Our mom and dad came, by 'free' taxi. My sister's two best friends with their husbands, Her son, his wife and their two children.
It was a good old fashioned birthday celebration. Like old times. Singing happy birthday to my sister standing on a chair. Lots of presents, cake, and just the great feeling of being surrounded by your friends and loved ones.

My mom had bought both of us new shower curtains as presents. Really, REALLY ugly ones!!! We just looked at each other and rolled our eyes, it was rather funny, trying to keep a straight face. But we knew she meant well, and accepted the gifts with grace.

Last week today I went and visited my aunt and uncle. My father's youngest sister. She was my most favorite auntie when I was 'young'
She is very talented, musical, artsy, and most of all very modern in her way of thinking. She was always there for me when I had problems. With my mom, with boy friends, with life in general.
I used to stay with her for weeks sometimes. She and my uncle always lived in a free standing house, as opposed to us who lived in apartments. My uncle worked at a bank, and thus was a step above us in/class rank. Made more money, better educated, a bit more worldly.
Oh yes, the 'class' issues were real in those days. Perhaps they still are, I don't really know, or care.

My aunt and uncle live in Velp, which is pretty much smack in the middle of the country. To me, one of the prettiest areas in Holland. Woods and a few gentle sloping hills, and heidevelden. Heather fields on sandy grounds and beautiful delicate birch trees.
They have been living in a high rise senior flat for the past 15 years or so, on the tenth floor. From their windows you can see Germany on a clear day.

Only recently my aunt and I started corresponding again. I needed some stories and pictures about my grand parents, as I am making a half-arsed attempt to write my memoirs.

It was too bad I could only visit them for a few hours. Would have loved to stay for a few days and really get down and "talk" But as it was, the visit was wonderful. I even met my cousin Wilma again who I had not seen since she was a child.
It was just comforting to realize that we still had those ties, that we were able to pick up where we left off.

On Sunday I spent a few more hours with my parents. My sister went for a long walk, she could not handle another visit with them. It gave me the opportunity for some quality time with them.
I noticed how frail they are becoming. How they have moments of forgetfulness, frustration of not being able to express themselves well, and all that while bravely trying to maintain their sense of humor, and a certain rhythm in their routine, shuffling along in their little apartment.

It was comforting to sit there with them for a while, just talking nonsense, looking at picture books, talking about "vroeger" (the past)
I am very painfully aware that every time I visit, it could be the last time I see them. It's kind of weird though to make a big fuss about saying goodbye every time. I am sure we are all aware of the fact that THIS may be the last hug or kiss.
We managed to keep it 'cool' though, as if we'd be back tomorrow/next week/next year...

Not until I get home again do I allow myself to feel the finality, and the sadness.

Sunday afternoon we had my 'other' aunt come and visit. My mother's youngest sister. We made arrangements with her two daughters and son. They did not tell their mom where they were going. As a matter of fact, my aunt didn't know who we were at first when she stepped through the door. She didn't know my sisters house, as she had never visited her there. I had not seen my cousins for at least 30 years. The look on her face was priceless when the penny dropped.

It was a great visit. Everyone grown up, families of their own, my aunt looked good, was very surprised. When they left I realized that we really didn't talk much, we just visited, bullshitted about stuff, just enjoyed being there and seeing each other again. My oldest cousin gave me a big hug when they left and looked me in the eye, and somehow reflected what we both were feeling and thinking. "We HAVE to keep in touch, we missed ya!"
Those tiny moments always stick with me for a long time, true moments of shared understanding and love. No amount of time and talking and reminiscing can compare to just one of those moments.

On Monday we visited the mother of my very first boyfriend. Yeah, the one that broke my 17 year old heart!! I just recently 'found' her again when my mom sent me the obituary of her partner/companion. I sent her a card and she sent one back, inviting me to come and visit if I was in the neighborhood.
Another blast from the past. Wow! 45 years. And another lifetime to talk about, catch up with.

My sister and I took a walk on the beach after that, sat in the sun on a terrace for a while, looked out on a very calm North sea. I think we were both pooped from all the hubbub of the last days.

I am very grateful that she was so gracious to be my chauffeur, even though she was/is going through a breakup with her man friend and I'm sure is feeling pretty down about it, along with her menopause. She is a trouper though, she made my visit a pleasure, made my stay worth while.

I'm sure she blew a sigh of relieve when she dropped me off at the airport, heck... I did the same.
No matter what, these visits are exhausting, mentally as well as physically.
But the love we have for each other has sustained us through some wild times, and hopefully will through the rest of our lives.

Thanks kiddo! I love you!

SGMKJ!

Home again, Home again, jiggelong jay.......

Wow, Thursday already.
Came home from my trip on Tuesday.
Long airplane ride (9 hours +) but not uncomfortable. With those little individual screens, you can pretty much watch movies, TV sitcoms, the news, or play games for the entire time you're in the air.
The food, however, is horrendous! No matter which airline, economy class, first or business class, the food always stinks!

Pasta or chicken??? Anyone out there ever come up with something different???
I mean, they claim to try these "new" menus. They try different stuff like Chinese, Indian, Spanish food. But to me it all tastes the same.
I had a particular problem opening those sealed cellophane packages. Just could NOT open them. Would need a sharp utensil for that, like a pair of scissors. So since the food that was so safely sealed didn't look very appetizing anyway, I didn't mind just not eating it.

Getting off the plane in Atlanta is always an interesting experience. Especially when you come from abroad. First you need to go through customs, show your passport, hand off the forms you filled out on the plane. Of course there are separate windows for US citizens, and on the other side, windows for aliens, and other forms of life.

Either no one can read, or the signs are too high, but everyone trouped over to the US citizen side. Which bogged things down considerably.
Of course the airport personnel, at least the little group of 6 I saw, were too busy enlightening each other about their personal lives. No one noticed the hubbub going on, and no one was directed to the correct windows.
SO...it was slow going. But hey, I had time.

Then you go and pick up your suitcases. Which you than drag through the other custom part where they either let you just walk through, or they take everything apart with a fine hair brush, or tooth brush (tooth pick? *L*). I just played dumb and walked with confident determination to the place where we had to throw our suitcases on yet another thing to watch them go on another trip through the bowels of the airport. To be picked up once again at the baggage carousels downstairs.
Took me about 60 minutes to go through all of that.

Then the confusing walk to the new (and certainly NOT improved) parking spot for my "free" transportation shuttle to the off-site parking lot.
Thanks God my car was where I parked it, but I could not find my ticket. No problem. I guess I have an honest face and they took my word for it that I came and parked when I did.
Finally I got on the freeway, now smack right in the middle of rush hour. Took me a good hour and a half to get home.

At this point my jet lag is starting to sink in. But I drove on auto pilot, and things went smoothly, albeit slowly.
While on the road I checked in with Wheelie. He was happy to hear my voice. Then a quick call to Bugs...and got an immediate UH OH message.

It never fails. I go to Holland, I come back, and something significant happens with my daughter.
Last time it was the fact that she bought a house. WHATDIDYOUDO??????

This time she informed me she kicked out Daddy. We could not really get into "it" right there and then, but I understand that this has been in the works for quite sometime now. She finally got tired of finding him drunk as a skunk on the couch, barf bucket next to him on the ground.
She also lost her patience with the fact that after 4 years he is still dragging his ass to getting back his drivers license.
Don't get me wrong, this boy is sweet, but as dumb as a rock, and does not have an ambitious bone in his body.
Good riddance on one side, aw shit on the other. Boo-Boo won't have a full time daddy.
I don't know how Bugs is going to handle everything from now on, like paying her mortgage, her bills, etc. But I'm butting out this time. We'll sit and watch it (for now) and see what happens.
I asked Bugs how she felt this morning. She said she is tired, a little sad, but also hugely relieved.
Atta Girl!

So bottom line. She changed all the locks on the house, will try and get his phone back (they were on one of those share plans) and will start getting on his ass about child support.
In this state fathers of children out of wedlock do not have any rights, but they ARE responsible for paying the mother child support.
We'll see.

So here we are, home again, home again, never a dull moment.

I took Boo-boo to the library this morning for Story time. The regular lady was out sick, so they had this super hyper active gramma type do the program. I swear this woman must have consumed 5 double espressos this morning. She was loud and shrill, and moved around like a jumping bean. But the kids loved it.
Boo-boo sat on my lap and intently listened to the stories, went ape shit when the songs were sung and rocked herself silly. Clapped her little hands, yelled out loud.
That went well :>)

Then we went to the local hobby shop to find a few nice frames, but I could tell she had HAD it. SO off we went. Back home I scooped her out of the car seat and dumped her into the crib, she never moved. So there she is, still in her jacket, sprawled out.
God to be that little again, and able to just take a good nap!

It started raining today. We need it.

And now my head is empty. I will try and recoup (and recap) more of my travel stories later, when I remember them, HA.

SGMKJ!

Old friends...new stories........

So today we visited a few folks I hadn't seen for a while.

My "old" French/Algebra teacher from high school, who I had not seen in ohhh....45 years.
I only recently "found" her again when I hooked up with some old school friends through a Dutch website for schoolfriends.
Four years ago we had a reunion. This particular teacher wasn't able to come, and I didn't get the chance to meet her, but we started a sparse email correspondence.

So this time I made a point of connecting with her. My sister and I drove to her apartment and had a lovely two hour visit. Teacher did most of the talking. I found out many interesting things about her life.
People tend to be completely different from how you remember them, especially when so many years have passed.
But she was one of the teachers that managed to inspire me, even though at the time I wasn't impressed. I hated school, and my parents took me out of school when after 4 years it didn't look like I was ever going to finish.

But now I understand more of the dynamics of this teacher, and what impressed me about her.
She was/is a very independent lady. Was never married, had a 20 year relationship, but they did not share a house/life in the conventional way.
During my school years, she and the German teacher "went together" something that at the time was only rumored, but today was confirmed (FINALLY! Ha)
She did not marry this teacher because she had a dream, a goal for herself. She wanted to be a teacher, make a difference in young peoples' lives.

40 Some years ago, her attitude was pretty much unheard of. But she managed to live her dream. She still wishes she could teach, but her age is catching up with her.
She does have an interesting hobby, she now paints (modern acrylic stuff) and studies ancient and old hand writings, studies old hand written legal documents.
She is also very much interested in astronomy, and I marveled at her book collection.
She has a wicked sense of humor, something she claimed she always had, but as a young teenager I never noticed.
But somehwhere along the line she made an impression on me. Something pretty insignificant, but important to me nevertheless.

We had to write an essay, I'm not sure if there was a particular subject, but I wrote a story about my "date" with a boy to go skating in the Park.
Mind you, I was attentding a strict catholic girls school. Looking at boys would earn you a reputation of being a slut.
But my teacher read my story out loud in front of the class and when she got to the part about the boy friend, she stopped, raised on eyebrow, as if to say: hmmmmm... with a twinkle in her eye.
I have never forgotten that tiny gesture, it made me see her in a different way. She made an impression on me. She was human.
Little did I realize then how progressive she was for her time.

I have recently written her long letters about these little prescious nuggets in my life. I think she enjoyed reading my emails.
Meeting her today was like meeting an old friend. No longer teacher/student, but now friends/women, equals.
She was as interested in my life as I was of hers. I would have loved to have stayed all day. Could have listened to her for hours.
It amazes me how people come into your life, dissapear for ages, and then pop up again.

So to say today was a stellar day would be an understatement.

In the evening two of my old neighborhood friends came by. Only two years ago I met up with them again as well after a long long time.
One of these friends' mom died not too long ago. While cleaning out her Mom's house she found a box with letters. Aparently my friend and I did quite a bit of corresponding when we were little girls. The letters were hilareous. We read them out loud and laughed until we almost peed out pants.
Wow, what a trip!

It's probably my age, but at this stage in my life I am very interested in my past, and the people I've known. I want to see them again, find out what happened to them.
Sofar I have found a few, and the experience has been one of wonder, and delight.

Tomorrow, we will go and visit one of my favorite aunts and uncle. So, I'll leave y'all tonight by saying: goodnight, sleeptight, and think of an old friend today.

SGMKJ!

A foggy day............

Good morning people!

Nothings as frustrating as a slow dailup-type internet connection to start your day.

It's February 14, Valentine's Day. My sister's 52th birthday.

It's a bit dreary outside, typical for this time of year here in the old country.
I've been watching the construction going on outside my window here. My sister lives in a cement box of an apartment building, she is 5 floors up, and has a corner unit, so you can pretty much have a 380 degree view of the neighborhood, and on a clear day, much much further...

Two years ago her building was the only one in this area, now they are building many many new buildings all around her, including a huge shopping mall, a soccer stadium, and many new homes and apartments. The train to downtown The Hague stops 100 yards from her doorstep, as do the local transportation of tram and bus. Extremely convenient.
But then public transportation in Holland has always been geared to foot traffic, even though in the past 20 years everyone pretty much drives a car now.
Still, very handy to just hop on the train. Especially for those of us who are not used to driving in this insane traffic.

It's truly fascinating to watch the huge cranes haul up entire pieces of wall and put the buildings together like a huge jig saw puzzle.

They don't build stuff like we do in the States. Everything is prefab or cement/concrete.
Most buildings have deep pilings jammed a few hundred yards into the ground, because everything is built here on sand and wet earth.

Our plans for today are shopping, eating, talking,laughing, oh...wait! We did that yesterday! Well, we're gonna just do it again! Haha!!
She is going to drive me through town and show me all the new sites. Tonight we'll celebrate her birthday, with friends coming over, as well as our parents, her son and his family.

Can't wait!

Well, I hear the car keys jiggle, guess it's time to vamoose.

Have a super day y'all!

SGMKJ!

Chicken or Pasta?

Obviously, I made it!
The trip was uncomplicated, quick, painless.
Arrived when it was still dark (7am) and very foggy. If we had been an hour later we would have been circling, waiting for the fog to clear.

It's almost 3:30 now.
My sister and I went to visit our parents, and got a few things for dinner.
I am very tired and sleepy, but I want to stay up until it's evening.

I will have more energy to write tomorrow, but I just wanted to let y'all know that I made it in one piece.

Rah Rah Obama!

SGMKJ!

Mem'ries..............

Well, it's Tuesday.
My travel day.

It used to be such a big deal to go overseas. But now it's pretty much like taking the bus downtown.
My bags are packed, I'm ready to go.......(did you know that song was written by John Denver, btw?)
Anyway, I am still in my jammies here, getting ready to do my last load of ironing, running the dishwasher one more time (Wheelie is using paper plates this week)

In case you're wondering...I will not be using people's real names on this blog (to protect the innocent :>) So, my hubby will be Wheelie, my daughter will be Bugs, and my grand baby will be Boo-Boo. Boo-boo's Daddy we'll just call Daddy. I'll make up other names as they encounter my blog sphere.

Bugs and Boo-Boo came by yesterday to wish me a good trip and all that. We made some more pictures, did some serious kissy-kissy-kissies, and off they went to go shopping.

Wheelie and I went to Publix for some last minute groceries, which came to $95!!! At least he'll have enough food to last him if I decide to stay away for a month. (not really)

It has been two years since I've been 'home' and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again.
My parents are now 85 and 87 years old. Both in reasonable good health. Considering. My Dad has had a lot of problems with his heart and his prostate. My mom has all sorts of ailments, most of which we chalk up to attention-getting-itis. But I am sure some of her complaints are for real. It's just that she is a pisser and a moaner, and we've all come to take her complaints with a large grain of salt.
Their longevity (and their solid marriage of 62 years) is due to good old fashioned common sense, and plenty of good humor.

As I am reaching the twilight (Oh Lordy) of my life I am starting to understand just how well they did, and still do. You've got to be amazed by these two, raising four brats into pretty well adjusted individuals. Mom never worked outside the home, but always worked her behind off.
My Dad was employed by the same boss for all of his adult life. They saved their money, they were extremely frugal, but as children we never went without anything.

Mom was recently bemoaning the fact that nobody "does" birthdays anymore, or just celebrating the holidays. Times have changed.
I pointed out to her that we will always have our memories of the good times. And we talked about those for quite a while.
I hope it made her feel better to know that we appreciate those times.
Traditions were very strong in the old days.

Birthdays went something like this:
One would not be able to get out of bed until you heard everyone sing: Lang Zal Ze Leven! (Happy Birthday) Only then could you get up and enter the living room, where the family would stand with presents hidden behind their backs, singing. After opening the presents, you knew there was still the BIG present somewhere in the house, or the basement, and we would go on the hunt for that. Usually the BIG one was something like a bike (made from scratch, but looked brand new) or something else my Dad made, like a doll house, a garage for the boys...

On schooldays you would go to class in your Sunday best, and a box of candies to dole out to the classmates. You would also have special candies for the teacher, and the principal, and other teachers. You were allowed to go from class to class to hand over the goods to the teachers, and they in turn would give you a little holy print for your church book.
This whole thing made you feel very special and important. The visit to the principal (a very stern nun named Alphonsine) was scary, but she was always very nice.

Back home there would be a party. We were allowed to invite our friends, we had many. There would be limonade (in those days before Coke and bubbly stuff we had syrup that was diluted with water.) The house would be decorated with garlands, and there would be cake (home made on a special stove top pan, we did not have an oven) decorated and with candles.
Dinner would be YOUR choice, and we always picked something we loved. In my case that would be either beets with hachee, or mac and cheese, or Dutch pancakes.
I remember my tenth birthday. I invited my entire class, we must have had 20 kids, and I wanted Dutch pancakes. My Mom and my aunt were in the kitchen all afternoon making those blasted things, while me and my friends were practicing ballet in the hallway and knocking each other's teeth out.
In later years my Dad would be sent out for French Fries and croquettes.
In the evening the adult relatives would stop by.
First there would be coffee with gebak (pastries), then snacks and drinks. Cigarettes were presented in small glasses on the coffee table, these only came out of the closet for special occasions.

If there is one word in Dutch that doesn't exist in the English language it is: gezelligheid.
Losely translated: cozyness.

Mom and I decided and agreed that those days were fabulously gezellig.
Warm fuzzies still surround me just thinking about those birthdays.

I tried to make this tradition my own for years with Bugs and Rancid, in the beginning it was doable, but when they got older, they thought it was weird to be woken up by us singing "Happy Birthday"

Bugs was particularly pissed if we played the Beatles Birthday Song LOUD at 6 in the morning.
*lol*

SO...Mom and I decided that having our wonderful memories would just have to do.
I hope she realizes that I for one appreciate their efforts, and their unshakable love for their family.

Perhaps we'll have a few hours to sit and reminisce.

It's time to get my arse in gear here.
Thanks to those of you who figured out how to leave replies to this blog, and email.

Love you all!

See you on the other side of the pond.


SGMKJ!

And so it begins............

Welcome to my newly created blog.

The inspiration to start a blog came from someone I "met" on my Caregiver's group online.
This lady just went through a double mastectomy, pictures and all. Her blog gave everyone who read it a very intimate view of someone battling cancer.

So, as egocentric as these blogs can be, I thought it would be an interesting project for me.
Those of you who know me will understand.

My life at this point is straddling between the abundant joy of Oma-hood, and the pain and sorrow of living with my husband's illness, and the grown children's absence and lack of interest.

I will try and tell more about my life before this when I have more time and inspiration.

Right now I am scrambling to get ready for my trip to Holland tomorrow.
It takes a bit of juggling and organizing to be able to leave for a few days. But as always, it's do-able. Things are coming together.

My sister is already tired from my ever changing itinerary. Every day I think of someone else I want to visit, somewhere else I want to go.

Most of all, I want to visit my two aunties. My father's and mother's younger aunts, both named Ans. I have not seen them in at least 15 years, shame on me! There are a few cousins we'll get together with as well, ones I haven't seen even longer! Now grandmothers themselves.

I will also catch up with one of my teachers from high school. A bachelorette, who in small ways inspired me. Of course I only recently discovered this, as when I was in school I was a nasty little student, could not wait to get OUT. But lately, thinking back, discovering many small nuggets of wisdom from folks, tiny snippets of the important and good things that happened way back then and at the time completely ignored.

One of my old neighborhood friends (yes, we're going to visit THEM as well!) told me about part of my old neighborhood being raised, to make room for new houses. Another part of the past ready for the scrap heap.

So this afternoon I will try and stuff my suitcases. My clothes, some books, many many gifts (argh), requested stuff (like 8 tubes of some special hair treatment my sister can't get "overthere" and is so very expensive) Some clothes for the little ones (again, not available there OR too expensive, darn that Euro!)
Etc etc. etc.
Got my gallon plastic Ziploc bag with my 3 oz bottles ready. Picked out the clothes to wear on the plane (cozy warm sweats!)
Then one more round through the house, put out the garbage, get gas, get a few more groceries, and hopefully I'll be able to get out of here on time tomorrow.

I'll try and write about my trip, and if I can figure this out, perhaps even put some pictures up.

Again, welcome to my murmurings...

Have a wonderful day!

SGMKJ!