I remembered something else...

I think the first time this happened I was 14 or so.

Scene: Grandma's kitchen table...eating her tasty spaghetti...

Me: "Grandma, you make the best spaghetti"!

Grandma: (smiling sweetly) "You're just sayin' that 'cause it's true".

Hmmm...I guess she's also directly responsible for my humble spirit...

Most of the time, when given a compliment she would simply say "thank you"...but every once in a while, she would throw out that phrase and it would just crack me up.

I really, really love my Grandma.

My Grandma...

Priscilla Rosalee Sinor

June 9, 1929 – November 14, 2008

May I tell you some things I know?

-she is the only person on the planet that has loved me completely and without conditions

-she is responsible for anything good within me

-she drank instant coffee, 3 cups every single day…with 2% milk and lots of sugar, she would pour some into her saucer to cool it off and then let me drink it…she is directly responsible for my Starbucks problem

-she was a bartender for over 20 years and she was the best (a fact that even though I don’t drink any more, I still think is cool)

-Grandma would buy my friend Carrie and I a whole watermelon, cut it in half and then let us eat the entire thing for breakfast…with a shaker of salt of course

-when she first came to Tennessee from Alaska at the age of 15 she had never seen a watermelon before, much less tasted one…upon her first introduction, she ate the entire slice…rind and all

-she was born in Valdez, Alaska…her mother was a full-blooded Aleutian Indian

-she taught me to use an eyebrow pencil to compensate for my lack of furrow

-rarely did she tell me “no” (I suppose she is directly responsible for spoiling me)

-however, she did slap me once, I was 7 and I took the Lord’s name in vain…I didn’t do it again

-she painted my room lavender when I was 6

-just about every single weekend from the time I was 2 until I was 14 was spent at my Grandma’s house (had I spent every weekend from 14 – 21 at her house, perhaps I would have avoided many a mistake)

-she wrote her grocery list on the back of junk mail envelopes…how I wish I had saved one of those lists…I can see her scrawled handwriting…milk, alka seltzer, hamburger...

-the first time she let me order a Big Mac instead of a happy meal (she always had an apple pie for herself)

-Faygo root beer in the fridge

-hours and hours at “rummage” sales and flea markets in search of long, dangly earrings for her to wear to work

-a pair of earrings that looked like a deck of cards and had individual cards hanging down

-the smell of Aqua-Net hairspray and White Diamonds perfume as she got ready for work

-Kmart…every Saturday…where I would get a coloring book, sketch pad, or book…but ALWAYS an Icee

-circus peanuts (that orange marshmallow-y candy)

-her spaghetti, stuffed bell peppers, banana pudding, toast and gravy, and of course apple cake

-shipments of fresh Halibut, smoked salmon and king crab that would follow her home from trips to Alaska…she let me have as much smoked salmon as I wanted…even though it was expensive

-the month that I spent with her, my papaw and my cousin Chad in Alaska…visiting family and seeing exactly where we come from

-our weekend routine: she would pick me up right after I got home from school, we would go to her house (I can still picture the route we took from one point to the next), she would cook dinner and I would help, she would watch the 5 o’clock news while resting on the couch, then she would take a bath (never a shower) and get ready for work, Papaw would come home, we would eat, she would go to work, Papaw would take me to rent a movie or to a a basketball game, we’d watch tv, around 3:30 am she would come home from work…sometimes with friend’s from work whose laughter would wake me up…and she would fix a big breakfast and let me stay up to eat too…then back to bed for both of us. on Saturday I would wake up and eat cereal…usually puffed oats or rice krispies…and watch cartoons (90 minutes of the smurfs, followed by Scooby doo) at 11 she would wake up, fix her coffee, read the paper…passing me the comics, we would then get dressed and head to kmart , flea markets and garage sales (my papaw would fill her tank up with gas before he left for work…she never learned how to pump gas)…after kmart the evening would go exactly like the evening before

-she always smiled

-my papaw would pat her rump and she would swat his hand away and say “Oh quit that”…but she would always grin... so I knew she liked the attention

-she told me that I was smart…and I believed her

-her kitchen was decorated with ducks for a very long time

-the duck phase gave way to the Campbell’s soup phase

-she would take me to Cedar Hill park (before it was a pervert magnet) and let me feed the ducks…if she didn’t have any stale bread she would take me to bi-rite and buy me a loaf to feed them

-she let me play in the creek behind her house for hours

-she smoked Winston cigarettes

-she would buy me candy cigarettes and “light” them for me with her lighter (this was before we knew how bad cigarettes were for your health…I think)

-due to said smoking she had a cough and when we would get separated in a store I would listen for her cough in order to find her again

-she really liked Lifetime movies on Sunday night

-she let my papaw name all of their male collies (and there were at least 4) Vandy…all female collies (and there were at least 2 of those) Lady

-Red Lobster was her favorite restaurant

-once when I was 10 she let me wash her car to earn spending money…I thought that it would be a good idea to squirt the hood with Windex and let it soak in…she didn’t yell at me when she realized that I had stripped the paint off of her car…she was nice like that

-she let me choose the radio station every single time we went out

-she let me use her good silverware and dishes to make countless mud pies…and then she would pretend to eat them

-she hosted family dinners every single month for everyone that had a birthday that month

-chocolate pie is definitely a dinner substitute

-she hugged me…a lot

-she teased me…a lot…(in that good way that let’s you know you’re loved)

-strays were always welcome (her affectionate term for anyone without family close by that spent the holidays with us)

-if it couldn’t be bought at bi-rite, we didn’t need to eat it

-I was her favorite…until I had Forrest and then he usurped me…I’ve never forgiven him for that
-every once in awhile she would take me to work with her…before we knew that bars were bad for children…and the band would let me request songs and she would let me dance on the dance floor and give me all of the Shirley Temples I could drink…then she would take a break and put me to bed in the linen room…she would tuck me with table cloths as my blankets and I knew that I was the luckiest little girl in the world

-she is and was my hero

-One thing I don’t know though…is how to live with out her.

Lest you doubt that I'm a natural blonde...

I present the following as further evidence...

Today, as I am hurrying around the house, trying to straighten up and start laundry and squeeze in a Publix run before picking up Forrest...Rachel called to go over important Brownie business...and to clarify carpool plans for the afternoon.

As we talk I corral the horses...er...I mean dogs, grab my purse and bottle of water (on the wagon for the 472nd time), I kicked the laundry room door shut and hopped in my truck. We are still chatting as I press the button to close the garage door, back out of the drive and head up the street.

I am a block away from my house when the line goes fuzzy. "Hmm...must have dropped the call" I think to myself. I look down to see what the screen on my cell phone says...and find that I am not on the cell phone, I am on the cordless phone.

Nice.

Whew...

Elections are over and what's done, is done. I'm just glad that other important things can occupy my thoughts (until the end of January at least). No more Obama-infomercials and I think it is safe to say that the word "maverick" will be out of circulation...those two things alone are cause for celebration.

Now I can think on things more pressing. Things like Christmas.

We have decided to scale gift giving way back this year. When I first started thinking about revising our 10-15 gifts per child tradition, I was in the midst of cleaning out the cubbies in the playroom. I had stumbled across two Christmas gifts still in their packaging. Two gifts that were stuffed into the darkest corner of the entertainment center and promptly forgotten. This was towards the end of March.

As I carried the toys to the laundry room and stacked them in with the other Goodwill donations, I had the fleeting thought "next Christmas will be different, obviously they don't need all of this stuff". I didn't think about it too long though, it was March after all.

Then came June. Cammie turned 5 in June. All that she could think of for her birthday present wish list was a new bike and Webkinz.

July followed with Sophie's 8th birthday. Again, a new bike and Webkinz were the only things on her list.

Hannah turned 11 in August. She hadn't outgrown her bike and so the only thing on her list were more Webkinz. After a few weeks of prodding, she said that "she guessed she could use a new purse".

In September, I began asking everyone what they wanted for Christmas. None of the girls could think of anything.

So, this year they will all be receiving 3 gifts each... two from Mark and I and one from Santa. I was expecting some protest from the kids just on principle. Instead they said "okay, we don't really need anything anyway". And, that seems to be holding true.

Forrest has two things on his list...a new skateboard deck and a PS3 game. Chloe and Sophie want an American Girl doll and Webkinz and Cammie would like a Gamboy and Webkinz. Hannah wants Webkinz and "maybe something else". They realize that they have enough and that amazes me.

Mark is still not convinced that I can hold to the 3 gift limit...but I just can't buy them toys just for the sake of spending money. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Election Day '08

Random thoughts...voted last week...people in line kept to themselves, no chatting with strangers like in elections past...sad that we are a country so DIVIDED...wondering what ever happened to ONE nation UNDER GOD...hoping that the speculations about riots are just hype...thinking that it's crazy that as Americans we are even considering the possibility of riots...hoping that our taxes don't shoot through the freakin' roof too terribly soon...feeling excited and anxious...wondering what the history books will say about this election in 20 years...glad that it will be OVER soon and what will be will be...fighting the urge to stock pile food and antibiotics...reminding myself that God already knows what tomorrow (and every day after that) will bring...wondering how long the accusations of voter fraud and recounting of votes will go on...wishing I knew how to explain things like abortion and taxes and religious freedoms to my 5 and 7 year old because they keep asking me why I am voting for the guy I am voting for...reminding myself that there will be another election in four years and that the damage done until then won't be past rectifying...hoping that we will remain America the FREE...wondering what HOPE and CHANGE really mean to those that will hold power over us all...