Alma Mater: My Great Adventure (Grandma)

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

My Great Adventure (Grandma)

~Grandma's Alabama Adventures~

Dear Sibs & Kids & Mom,

Just got home from NC and AL. I flew to Gin’s, then drove to AL with her to drop off a car at Meg’s, visited for 3 days, and flew home (7 days in all). Each part of the trip was such a blessing in very differing ways. Loved my walks and quiet days with Gin and loved my walks and crazy days at Meg’s

I’ll focus on the latter for now because most of you are more in touch with Gin's family than Meg's.

The most treasured moment was Owen’s baptism. Megan surprised me by scheduling it on the Sunday that I was there. He was so sweet and slept through it except for a little startle when Pastor Thole touched his head with the cold water. I was so thankful to have a second visit with Owen while he is still a floppy, little newborn. The only real difference since his birth is that he has lots of smiles and a very round belly. Thankfully, he has survived all the love and attention he gets.

When at Meg’s house, I am in greatest demand by the twins. There is no shyness, just an ever-ready invitation to join in their play which is still primarily centered around cars and trucks. However, they have added a bit of sophistication since I last visited. The play still begins with incredible crashes and pile ups of vehicles, but then the job of repairing them begins. For those of you who would benefit from a little car repair instruction, I will share what I learned. You need only a plastic screw driver and wrench and (most importantly) a hammer. After “removing” the wheels you torque with the wrench anything that protrudes from the vehicle, and finish the repair by giving the entire vehicle a good hammering. You are then “good to go” and ready for the next crash.

(Additional tip: If your tools are in the basement where Grandma is pretending to be asleep for just a few more minutes, you can find about 75 safety pins in your junk drawer. They fill the bill as car tools until Grandma gets up.)

Playing games with the older kids revealed that my “Golden Days” of winning every game are long gone. Shaila, Brandan and I played Zingo and a Frozen version of Candy Land. Shaila won every game, Brandan came in a close second, and I lost. I also came in dead last at Monopoly when we added Aidan and Connor. My older grandchildren who were sorely beaten at Spit for YEARS can glean satisfaction in that

I also had walks with Megan and Connor, a fun ride in Ethan’s new little sportscar (can’t remember what kind it is – no surprise), 2 phenomenal Christmas light shows with the whole family, a fun TV night watching the morbidly humorous “Series of Unfortunate Events”, the most incredible meals by Megan and Siobhan (also no surprise), and one horrible half hour with 10 of us shut into the basement closet with the hot water heater. Well, it wasn’t really so horrible. We were avoiding a tornado that touched down in the neighboring town and resulted in sirens blowing, lightening, rain, hail, wind, and general mayhem (except for those of us who were safely sitting around the hot water tank laughing and taking pictures of ourselves “enjoying” the absurdity of it all).