What Fun!

I’m quoting one of our favorite cousins after a weekend visit with her grandkids. She reminds me to stay more positive and joyful about time spent with my grandsons rather than mentioning how totally destroyed my home is and how worn out I am after their visits. We just finished watching Brett’s two boys open gifts and we’re waiting to board a plane to catch Cyd’s family for part of Christmas day also. Really I can’t help thinking how quickly they’re growing and how I get to spend less and less time with them so I do mean it when I say they are fun.

My fresh, green tree is dropping needles like raindrops when it gets touched. Besides it was much work to decorate. Surfing online I found a nice aluminum tree that I’ve ordered for next year and that will solve the environmental problem of destroying green trees while at the same time making decorating the tree less labor intensive on my part. And get this, it just happens to come from Chiasso, N2112 Clybourn Avenue in your Lincoln Park neighborhood. I know I’ll like having a tree from Chicago or most probably Made In China.

Hanna elected to go to Puerto Vallarta so she cannot meet us for our BH excursion. I just wanted to reminisce about the future she predicted for us in high school. Maybe this is as rich and famous as we’re ever going to be now. And Nancy and I think Ron should join us in CA also. We’ll see what develops there as he let a bad cold almost get the best of him.

Please post a long note about your Galapagos experience. We are dying to know. Oh, yes, Merry Christmas! Thanks for skipping the card with nothing on it but Love, Judy.

Almost Christmas

I can’t help thinking of how much you’re enjoying the animals and their unique behaviors today. You will be sorry to leave and you should be if only because of your weather at home. We had a big enough snow fall yesterday but it is melting today. Freshly fallen snow is very nice.

My mom is looking good and she is very pleasant. She always tells me she’s Alberta Johanson but sometimes when I mention her sister Betty she seems to recognize what I’m saying. This makes me think of the poor man who could understand everything he heard for the past 23 years and yet he was unable to respond. Perhaps my mom understands everything somehow too? Her living group has a new male resident who likes to entertain the group with stories. This offers the ladies an ideal new activity as each story is new to them no matter how many times he repeats it.

Lucas and Miles are busy with gymnastics these days. Here is Miles showing how oblivious he is to danger as he crosses the uneven parallel bars with assistance of course. He’ll try anything and so will Lucas. It is a great way to make them tired.

Last week I left Lucas at school with no one to pick him up. How could I forgot my Lucas?. His mom and I mentioned this task as I was serving dinner Sunday and I neglected to make a note of it and never once thought of it again. Another mom rescued him and actually I was a few feet away in the school library doing some volunteer reading with first graders. What else am I forgetting? Plenty, I’m sure but nothing more important than a grandson. I need more sticky notes.

It is too bad they are canceling Bonnie Hunt but I guess you are happy to see her for this first and last season. I’ll be waiting for your trip highlights.

Galloping to the Galapagos

You might have to read this entry in your hotel in Quito. Or you can just skip this mundane rhetoric altogether. There’s too much for you to take in where you are to even look at a computer until you get home.

Things are very quiet around here. I’m spending much time in my house alone these days and to prove how dull my life is, I even watched Bonnie Hunt. I also read her biography to get some details about her life. Apparently my humorous, exaggerated statements complaining about the mess the little boys leave in my house is leading the parents to keep the boys away from here. It’s either that or my loss of recall and frequent repetition.

I am loafing as I have accomplished so much lately. My windows are cleaned, the closets have all been reorganized and piles of items sent to the homeless, my mom’s belongings are entirely contained in three bankers boxes, and the basement is very clean and organized. I have new Christmas lights put around the eaves and a live tree in the stand. All the gifts are purchased and all but 3 are wrapped.

The last week we had 5 people in our walking group. For 19 years three of us have walked together every morning. One friend who lives 8 blocks away asked to join us one day and I said no as we just wanted to keep our group small. I mean when we have something to complain about we just get it off our chest and then we give suggestions to one another about how to solve problems and we agree that what we talk about stays in the lock box. This summer a new neighbor moved in and suddenly we were picking her up as we walked by her house.

Last week an acquaintance asked if she could please walk with us for two weeks so I suggested she meet us at 6:30 a.m. and she actually showed up so we now have 5 walkers in our group. This number will never work because we can’t unload our daily dilemmas and confidences to so many. I hope we don’t have to break off half the group and start walking at 5:30 a.m. I did propose that we add everyone who might be interested and just go for a large group but Janet voted me down on that one and she’s our leader. Carol and I don’t know which way to walk without her direction.

It is great that you have the visit to Bonnie Hunt all arranged. Nancy and I aren’t exactly eager to see Bonnie but we do like to visit with you so we’ll go along and give the entire excursion our best enthusiastic effort. It is also nice that Jane can join us. Now we still need Hanna and we’ll have our old high school group. I’ve been wanting to get us all together for a long time just so we can see what we remember from the past and fill in what others remember.

Here are the grandsons with Santa and his reindeer. The reindeer handler is prominent in the photo only because she is handling her own reindeer. Santa is in there somewhere. We had breakfast with Santa the other day also so I think we have the Santa connection covered.


Hope the animals are all that you expect and more.

Happy December

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving. Here are some of us at Anna Marie and Brett’s house. They volunteered to host the event if I cooked. I was all over that since we left her house destroyed and we came home to a relatively orderly residence. Actually before the weekend was over my basement was pretty trashed also so you know the boys had a good time. We watched Up, played Hiss, walked to the school playground, visited with Santa and his reindeer, and attended a Children’s Theater performance. Walker charged the stage when they asked for volunteer trees. He's the little one.

Peyton had the idea that we should go check on my carrots in the garden so the four of us went digging. We found a few straggly baby carrots and they were all so pleased. Good thing I didn't clear out the garden this fall. All four of them were also intrigued by the fact that Grandma could stir up pancake batter and make pancakes in a frying pan. They thought pancakes were only available in a freezer carton or at McDonald's. Cyd even watched and now maybe she'll attempt this difficult cooking task.

Miles stayed busy trying to protect his territory while attempting to determine which cousin was Peyton and which was Walker. Today Miles is 4 and I’m sure the day in the limelight will make him very happy. While I was in Target getting his gift yesterday I ran into Katie, McKenna and Jake. They were there to get an advent calendar and to wander the toy aisles. Good thing the mother is young and energetic. Her kids are very cute.

I am almost ready for a Chicago visit one of these days. I want to see Mimi Smartypants first and then visit with you. You have to read her hilarious paragraph about the woman who had her face destroyed by the chimp. I got a glimpse of that on Oprah one day and I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Good thing you got out of the zoo volunteering with your vision and face intact. And luckily the animals in the Galapagos are all tame. Are you ready?

I hope you’ll put your Joy on the wall before you leave.