Definitely a SEPTEMBER gbaby!

Our family has 4 August birthdays - Thomas, Tommy, mine and Ben's. We also have 2 wedding anniversaries - mine and Tommy's as well as Thomas and Cate's.  Then my neice Lakey also has an August birthday as well as my sister in law Barbara, two brother in laws - Greg and Dewey -  and our 2nd grandma, on the Tuck side, Millie Leisey -- who just turned 100 this week!! That is a lot of celebrating in one month.

In 2012, we had a birthday celebration/staycation at our home in Hillsborough. We went fishing, grilled and just enjoyed each other's company in early August.

This year we celebrated at our home again - all of us. We had a baby shower and a great evening of family  time.

Needless to say Meredith and Ben want a SEPTEMBER birthday for their baby. We are about 6 hours away from September 1. Will we or won't we? That is the question. In 6 hours we will all know.

 

But I am going on record, out on a limb, making a bet -- definitely a SEPTEMBER gbaby!

If I am wrong we now only have 1 hour 45 minutes. But this has been posted and I will eat those words!!

Routine Saturdays

Every Saturday Tommy cleans out all the trash cans and we head to the dump.

Very mundane and predictable. So predictable that Chico, our granddog, starts whining.
 I know it sounds weird that a dog knows when its Saturday. But surely he did.

The whining started early this morning, before Tommy even started to collect the household trash.
He was whining while we had our morning coffee on the back deck and then he rushed into the house when I opened the door. Chico headed straight to the trash can to get some tissue. Don't ask me why he likes to eat dirty Kleenex but he does. GROSS!

And he continued whining until Tommy started collecting trash. The truck door opened, Sam and Chico jumped in the back of the truck to wait contentedly - no more whining.

All the trash was collected, both dogs were in the back seat and we were on our way to the Orange county landfill - Chico's tail wagging the entire way. Sam does not seem to be as excited as Chico is with this weekly adventure.

There does not seem to be anything really special happening at the dump. Sam seems bored and Chico, well he must be loving those smells because his tail does not stop wagging. As Tommy would say, he is a happy camper.

You gotta love those routine Saturdays.

Days away ...

We are just days away. I say we for a reason.

We are family and there will be a new addition.
That is incredibly exciting. Not only is there a new addition - which is different than a new addition because of marriage - the new addition is a miracle of God.

God has chosen that our family experience the miracle of a baby. The miracle that Meredith and Ben are pregnant and the miracle that he/she will be here soon.

The miracle that this tiny infant will belong to all of us. Although Meredith and Ben assume the primary responsibility of raising the baby ... we are all responsible for this little one.

God has bestowed upon us this blessed miracle and now we all must be extremely responsible to do our part in helping Mere and Ben -- in whatever capacity they need us.

So we must pray for a safe delivery of this precious baby and safety for Meredith during this process. Guidance for Ben to assist Meredith as they begin their family in which we are also responsible.

We are family and we are blessed.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Honey!! 34 years today -- so hard to believe that in 1979 we knew each other only a few months and married.

We met in January of 1979 when Tommy came  to A. L. Stanback Middle School in Hillsborough as a 7th grade social studies teacher. At first glance, during a teacher's meeting, I knew I was in trouble and had met Mr. Right.

He literally courted me. Flowers and special notes were sent to me via his students. I was not ready to meet him and really didn't take him too seriously. Even when he asked me to a dinner at his apt. I didn't show up.

One day he ignored me -- then I became interested. And the rest is history.
Three months later we were married.

Thirty four years and three children later -- we love our lives. We are so proud of what we have made in our marriage as well as who we have become individually. We could not be more blessed.

 

 

Our family at Thomas' wedding 2009.

 

 

So today we celebrated our anniversary with brunch at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill. They have such a unique menu but are well known for their shrimp n grits - my fav. Amazing.

 

 

The bathrooms are limited - a one holer - the restaurant was a former gas station. So there was a line. A lady exited the bathroom and said that she was not done yet because she needed to hand off her baby to the daddy.  I volunteered to hold the baby and she said "This is Chapel Hill so it is ok to let strangers hold your baby." and she did. I held Ariel while the mom finished. What a joy!!! She was so precious. I still can't believe that she trusted me.

 

That's Chapel Hill -- where Tommy and I met and strangers can hold someone's baby.

 



 

 









Two Weeks and Three Days

August 16, 2013

Within two weeks I will be a happy Grammy – well really 2 weeks and 3 days.

Yes, the day every potential Grammy can’t wait for … a little bundle of joy that you can spoil and hand back to the parents. In this case – Meredith and Ben – my oldest and her husband.

 

The arrival is in my thoughts, every day and night – is that overdoing it? I don’t think so. Am I being selfish? I don’t think so. Am I excited? DEFINITELY.

Friends keep asking – boy or girl? It might be clichéd but I really don’t care as long as he/she is healthy. I will be a Grammy no matter what the sex, what the name or who gets to hold it. The baby is my grandchild. My first grandbaby that will always hold a special place in my heart.

We will laugh, giggle, read; garden and cook then laugh and giggle more. Then they will spend the night or weekend while mom and dad have an evening off. In the summers, we will camp, catch fireflies, and jump waves.

Ok – stop. Let’s get that bundle of joy safely into the world first, name the baby, and start enjoying his/her new family -- Mom, Dad, Shelby, Sherlock and Peanut.

Then true joy will abound for The Happy Grammy.