Well, I hadn't figured out how I was going to post my announcement before another post-worthy announcement came along. As often happens in our family, we have to start our story with "see, what had happened was..."
When Moose and I were in Pisa last month, I saw a cute toddler-sized t-shirt at one of the souvenir stands. The thought occurred to me that someday we'll have grandchildren and it'd be really cool if we bought things for them while we're in Europe...starting with a red t-shirt (suitable for a boy or girl) with a picture of Snoopy and Woodstock trying to straighten the leaning tower with Italian and American writing on it. After debating it the first two days I was there, I could not shake the feeling that I needed to get a t-shirt. I knew I'd regret it if I didn't. My thought was that the first grandchild could wear it and pass it along to the others. I planned to post a picture of the shirt on here but accidentally included it in the package I sent to the boys. I've been waiting for Drew to take a pic of the shirt and email it to me so I could include it in my Pisa post and photos.
But apparently I had my ESPN turned on because Drew's girlfriend Ciera is pregnant. She's due late February/early March, so I decided to call the baby Love Bug until/if we find out which variety of grandbaby we're getting. They tried to say I jinxed them by buying that t-shirt, but after doing the math, they were already pregnant when I bought the shirt. Ha! Finally something that can't be blamed on me! LOL
And tonight I got a text from Ryan. Here's how the convo went down:
Ryan: mom
me: Yes?
Ryan: wanna hear something funny?
me: Yep
Ryan: drew's gonna be an uncle
Yes, we are expecting TWO grandbabies in the spring.
My boys have always referred to themselves as 'the first two punks'; after seeing all the adorable girl clothing and shoes (and accessories) in the stores, here's hoping one of those mini-punks is a punkette.
I had formulated a blog post in my head that consisted of writing to Love Bug to proclaim my love and excitement over his/her existence. But now I have another love bug to write to/about but I don't have an appropriate nickname for him/her. We used to call the boys Thing 1 and Thing 2 (from the Dr. Seuss books), and Moose suggested calling the babies Thing 1 and 2 after their dads, but since Thing 2 is having Grand Thing 1, and Thing 1 is having Grand Thing 2, I think that'd be too confusing.
But what has been decided are our grandparent names. He's Papa Moose and I'm GeeGee. Or should I spell it GG? Or GiGi? Anyway, there you have it. Our babies are having babies. And although their circumstances aren't ideal, we are very excited about these precious gifts.
Things I Support
2. Dogs. They're awesome.
3. Babies. They're even more awesome than dogs. I like to snuggle them, hear them laugh, and I think baby feet and hands are freakin' adorable.
4. Red candy. It's hard to mess up candy that's flavored after something red, whether it's cherry, strawberry, watermelon, or whatever.
6. Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Especially the New York Super Fudge Chunk flavor.
7. Kids. Their curious and simplistic view of the world can stop you dead in your tracks when they make a matter-of-fact announcement about something they've observed that you never even thought they noticed, much less processed and figured out.
8. Sitting outside by a fire on a really cold night with friends.
In other news, not to sound like a weatherperson or anything, but, man, I am loving this fall weather we're finally getting! We've had the a/c off for 2 days now. Yay for lower electric bills!
Later. :D
So I was cutting up an avocado for my sandwich a while ago and noticed the sticker on it read "green acorn". After briefly wondering why an A.C.O.R.N. sticker was on my avocado, I realized what it was really from: the green acorn squash I bought at the store yesterday. Upon closer examination, I discovered the following:
My spaghetti squash had an avocado sticker on it
my green acorn had a "lite slimcado" sticker on it
my butternut squash had a spaghetti squash sticker on it
and my 'lite' avocado had a butternut squash sticker on it.
Based on my past experience with things like Aqua Reefer, Epileptic Testicles and Wordless Wednesday, I suspect this is the work of the inked and mischievous Drewby. If you see him, beware. He'll mess with your food & food lists. Don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, for those who don't know, here's what he looks like.
Several years ago when I worked day shift and Brian worked nights, we started going on a date every Saturday morning. Back then we'd drive to Starbucks in Macon (at 30 minutes away, it was the closest one) to enjoy some coffee and conversation before going to lunch. Since we were little more than passing ships during the week, this was a great chance for us to reconnect, refocus and re-energize our relationship. We'd tell each other the details of the week that got pushed by the wayside and talk about the things coming up on the horizon of life. Our boys were old enough that they didn't call us on the cell phone every 20 minutes (probably because they didn't care where we were or what we were doing) and the uninterrupted time together was heavenly.
Brian was eventually moved back to day shift but our Saturday dates had proven to be too valuable to give up. A couple years ago, my happy place opened a store in Warner Robins (I'm pretty sure my purchases pay Starbucks' electric bill.) and we changed our game plan a little: we started going to Hardees for breakfast and then to Starbucks.
We've invited Ryan and his girlfriend Sam to join us a few times and now it has turned into a regular thing. And Drew's scheduled has changed, so he's been hooking up with us too. And even though our Saturday date is bigger, louder, and more lively than when it began five years ago, it definitely still qualifies as heavenly.
About a week or so ago, I came home one night to hear what sounded like rocks spinning around in the dryer. When I checked, I discovered Drew had washed and dried his barely 2-month-old iPod. When we first checked it, it played music but the video didn't work. Now it won't work at all.
Last night I took some laundry out of the dryer and saw something that didn't belong...the plastic cover to my thumb drive. Uh-oh. I don't remember putting the thumb drive in my pants pocket but apparently I did. And this thumb drive has the master spreadsheet on it that contains every password to every account I have, our budget, and all of my writing. I usually put it in the fireproof safe at night, but when I came home from writing at Starbucks yesterday, it didn't get put back where it belongs. *big sigh*
So, what have you washed? Anything interesting?
Last night I got home from TN to find an updated list for my trip to the store this week.
The first item on the list was written before I left. Moose wasn't sure how to spell bouillon (he was close) but Drew changed the spelling to what you see above. And then he added his own items to the list.
The Aqua Reefer is actually Old Spice's Red Zone deodorant. The "flavor" is called Aqua Reef, but as Drewby does, he put his own spin on it. He also informed me he's all caught up on the House episodes for the season, which explains tuberculosis and the sarcoidosis since it's never lupus. But between Aqua Reefer and the item he wrote on the list a while back, I'm starting to wonder if I should be a little concerned about him. Can you recommend the name of the good counselor? :)
Easter at Stone Mountain
What an incredible day! Good coffee, great weather, and lots of fun!
Beautiful, isn't it? :-)
Brian: "Oh, good Kodak moment."
Drew: "There are no bears here, Dad."
A little while later we reached another nice viewing area and Drew hollered "Kojak moment!" How does he even know who Kojak is?
Tasha (3/4 of the way up the mountain & breathing heavily): "Gosh, this is kind of taxing on my respiratory system."
Drew: "Yeah, it's hard on my reservoir system, too."
Tasha (to Brian regarding his hiking boots): "Are those steel-toed boots?"
Drew: "No, his toes move sometimes."
Drew (dodging a very large mosquito): "Holy crap! That wasn't a mosquito; it was an Apache helicopter!"
Hope you had a good Easter, too!
Peace.
Life with Drewby...wouldn't trade it for anything. :)
The love I have for my kids is practically indescribable. It can’t be summed up in a paragraph, no matter how many flowery adjectives and cool metaphors are used. And while my kids are the same gender, they are totally different from one another. I love one for his sense of order; the other for his ‘live and let live’ attitude while always being true to himself. I love one’s level of self-discipline; the other’s ability to go with the flow and not get bent out of shape when things start getting chaotic (he didn't get that from me).
They each hold philosophies and exhibit behavior that I both agree and disagree with, but it never affects my love for them. I love them simply because I took part in their creation. They could never do anything to make me not love them; yet if they only did things I approve of wouldn’t make me love them more. I love them because they are mine. And it’s a love unlike any other.
Father's Day Attack at the Moose Lodge
The attack began around 12:45 pm; that's when Moose walked through the kitchen door from the garage. As he put the bags of groceries on the counter, he noticed something was out of place. The sight of a single can of shaving cream on a piece of paper in the living room doorway floor caught his eye. He leaned slightly forward to read the sign. There were 3 lines.
"Pappy, Happy Father's Day. I'm apologizing in advance."
Then without any warning, the boys launched their vicious attack (OK, well it wasn't really vicious, but I'm going for effect here). The two young padawons pounced on him at almost the same time. Warrior cries could be heard throughout the house as they descended into the kitchen, gel shaving cream was flying toward its intended target faster than a speeding bullet. There was yelling (of the girly sounding variety) as their startled father realized he was being ambushed. Shrieks of laughter and excitement could be heard from the living room as Tasha watched from a safe distance. The chocolate lab grabbed her favorite tennis ball and stood nearby in case one of the humans wanted to play with her when the war was over.
The stunned Moose just stood there in disbelief. He'd just been creamed--menthol style. His favorite orange Tennessee Volunteers shirt was now covered in white shaving cream. So were his glasses. And his arms...and head. Suddenly the noise became muffled. Shaving cream was in his ears and it was impairing his hearing. The boys continued to "honor" and celebrate their father as they dressed him in a new mummy-like wrap.
The kitchen floor was squeaky clean under the fallen shaving cream areas. The men each retreated to a bathroom to shower. All of them still had shaving cream in their ears after the shower & had to go back to get the rest out. It was a father's day to be remembered.
*My sources tell me retaliation will be swift and unexpected. Check back for updates.
my never-ending battle
My 411
- Eva M.
- After struggling to fit into the proverbial round hole, I figured it was more honest to embrace the natural facets of my personality: passion for God and people, off-the-wall logic and a twisted sense of humor.
I'm an Air Force wife and former homeschool mom who writes about people and relationships, my faith, and my family. I love my crazy, beautiful, mosaic life...and coffee.