dandelions: February 2010

family pics

My dad and his two sisters:

My cousin and my dad:

the significance of donuts

Grandma's funeral was very nice. The two ministers did a good job even if they called her "Miss Annie" instead of "Annie C." It was very good considering they didn't really know her. I appreciated their research and their efforts. There was a man who sang, whom Grandma had requested to sing at her funeral. He rearranged his schedule when he found out his honor. That was very nice.

I have been slow to upload my photos and write about it all. This is just a short note for now. I cried a lot, hugged a lot. I enjoyed being around many of my family. Many could not make it but we still knew they were there. Grandma raised a family that dispersed far and wide across the US, but feel tightly knit.

The church people fed us so well after the funeral, and the local bakery lady had brought donuts from her shop. Grandma used to take us kids there to choose a treat, and always had bags full of day old donuts in the freezer. I have an image frozen in my mind of opening the freezer on the back porch and discovering what seemed to be a whole shelf of bags of donuts. The delight I felt must have made that memory stick while so many others have evaporated. So the bakery lady told me to take home the ones that were left over after the lunch, and I was again delighted, but I forgot the box when it came time to leave. My aunt & uncle drove me to the bakery to get some more. There's one jelly one left in my fridge now. I don't think it really makes a sensible memorial, but for some reason it's still there....

Alphabet of Mornings

Those of you on Facebook have already seen this. There was a little trend of people writing notes about themselves. I changed the one I saw into this.

Alarm!
Bladder won't let me sleep late anyway.
Cat has been knocking things off my nightstand for an hour.
Dark outside
Eagerly going to the computer
Facebook is almost like having someone to talk to.
Good morning, world.
Honey in my tea is a treat.
It's me time.
Just staring into space...
Kitchen is a wreck, maybe I'll wash a dish or two.
Late again? probably
Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!
No. And, Nothing to wear.
Oh boy, Oatmeal!
Pee. I know you don't have to. Just try.
Quick, brush your teeth. Quit making faces in the mirror.
Ruh-roh (Scooby Doo videos are part of the routine)
Stay at home days are more fun!
Tea, I could drink a gallon.
Understanding weather: No flip-flops in winter, no matter how pretty they are.
Variable moods and motivations on all sides
Whining, it's a way of life.
Xtreme Patience Required
Yelling sometimes helps.
Zero tolerance policy? Sounds like I'd have to be consistent.

sleeping

E has such a hard time breathing at night when she has a cold. She has sleep apnea at those times. She doesn't always have it. I've just been watching her struggle. I'm worried enough to finally take her to the doctor but it will have to be Friday as the doctor's office is closed Wednesdays and we have Grandma's funeral on Thursday. I bet we'll be in for a whole bunch of expensive tests or a sleep study or something. D*** high-deductible health plan!

boppy head

Taken Saturday, Feb. 13th, upon request.

my last living grandparent

I don't know what I want to write, exactly. I've just been reading posts from other blogs by family members, most of them about my Grandma who is clearly "slipping away". She turned 91 last month. When I saw her on Tuesday she smiled and recognized me, said, "Well, hey there!" I said she looked cosy, all curled up in bed with pillows and blankets. She agreed she was. A little bit later, Daddy commented, "Sarah said you look cosy," and she said, "I'm as snug as a bug in a rug!" She also agreed when I said she looked happy and comfortable. We just sat and visited around her as she dozed off and on, and once she spoke up and asked, "Sarah, where are you living now?" My parents looked at each other and said, "wow." Nobody expected her to remember where I live, it was just "wow" that she made the effort and had the clarity to ask a question and understand the answer, because she hadn't been very responsive recently. I gave too long of an answer about living in Greensboro, including the driving time to get there. After a few moments she reflected, "It's a long drive?" "Yes," I said. It felt especially long that day, driving in the ferocious cold rain.

After our visit I let my parents buy me dinner and I gorged myself on fried seafood in fine family tradition!

dance class

A few pictures from this past Saturday's dance class. E wanted to wear a bathing suit instead of a leotard and I couldn't see why not.

"Taking a love of my blanket"

holding pattern

Well, I'm sitting here wide awake when I could have gone back to sleep for an hour. We're having a weather of "wintry mix" and they can't really say what we're going to get but apparently once the sun comes up the temp will get above freezing and it will all turn to rain (on an already-saturated ground). So my office and the daycare are both opening late. I don't feel confident about driving on what I see out there right now (the roads are now white and gray), but I'm trying to be patient and go with the flow. It may start melting in an hour.

Today is the day all our agencies we work with have to turn in their grant applications, by noon. My boss apparently has 4 wheel drive and nerves of steel, doesn't see a reason to extend the deadline for them. Oh well, it's not my call.

I haven't been taking many pictures. E has still been saying cute and funny things, which I still have trouble remembering to post. I've talked to her teacher about the comments she makes occasionally about the children not liking her or she not liking them. The teacher has been observing and only sees one pattern that's different than the other kids. E takes a long time to recover from whatever offends her. No water off this duck's back! She must be a Scorpio. Supposedly we tend to hold grudges. I think Cancers do that too, by the way. Blame the stars for this family being a collection of deeply-feeling, deep-thinking, stubborn individuals!

singer songwriter

Song 1: Ode to Brownies

A yummy brownie in your starving tummy lunch...
You made brownies with brownie powder!
You love to eat all the brownies in the store...
Yum, Yum, Yum!

Song 2: George's Jewels

George of the Jungle Heart!
We love those shiny jewels and gold.
We love to have them to wear in a parade.
We wear them to the ball,
in the shiny sparkly heart...
The shiny sparkle heart friends...
Goodbye you all hearts,
We love you and miss you the next week.

(I'm pretty sure E made these up.)

where does she get this?

E: "I hate preschool!"
Me: "Why?"
E: "There's so many kids that I don't want to play with!"

evidence of play

We had about 7 inches of snow that started Friday night and eventually finished sometime Saturday with sleet continuing to glaze it. I didn't take any pictures of us playing in the snow! Here are pictures I took last night to show some of the things E and I did yesterday. We went out both Sat. and Sun., playing in the yard and walking down to the park. On Saturday the snow was super-fluffy and light sleet was still coming down. We bundled up successfully and I remembered to coat E's cheeks with Vaseline to prevent chapping. On Sunday it was much warmer (barely above freezing I think) and sunny, and the snow had a sparkly crust on it.

Went sledding on a "disc" with neighbors on this little hill. (The plastic barrel hadn't been there at the time.) I had to catch E at the bottom or she would have whizzed right over the creek!