Big things with little people.

These last few days have been some of “those” days.  The best days.  Unexpected, celebratory, family centered days.  Thanksgiving week treated us well.  It also was the week of a grandson’s 6^th birthday.  Six is a big deal to a child.  Turning six is important.

  

As we did last year, we spent the day following Thanksgiving in downtown Indianapolis in a hotel with our grandchildren, leaving only the 19 month-old at home with his parents this year. While we had a great time last year, and got a better hotel deal, we needed a bit more space this time and chose Homewood Suites.  Our soon-to-be three-year-old granddaughter was experiencing this treat for the first time and did really well, being the last to fall asleep and only nearly drowning Papa once during our swim time.  We only had one major spill at breakfast, which is a win in anyone’s book.

 

We started the stay with pizza in the hotel suite with everyone before we muscled our way through the crowd to Monument Circle on Friday evening, just as the lights were going to be turned on.  Our daughter and son-in-law both work downtown and their buildings had been opened to families for viewing the festivities.  We sat in the warm offices of our son-in-law’s employer and looked out over the crowded street to the circle while he made hot chocolate for the kids.  People looked up and saw our little group, they waved, we waved.  I only felt a little like I was in one of those big battle scenes in an arena before the lion comes out.  It was a little surreal.  

I didn’t fight the lines at stores for Black Friday deals, or even turn my phone on for the alerts from retailers throughout the day as to their deals ending soon.  I enjoyed my family time, loved on my grandbabies, reveled in their conversation with each other as they fought sleep and whisper talked into the late night, while I eavesdropped.  Those little, bright boys, so much like their daddies…I thought my heart might explode.  My almost nine-year-old ballerina granddaughter with a rare, free weekend before the Nutcracker performances, allowed her to be with us.  Awake an hour before the littlest grandgirl, she waited patiently for her to wake up, circling her bed and just barely touching her hair, willing her to open her eyes so they could have “hotel breakfast” which was declared as a favorite, delighted to go in her pajamas. 

   

Husband and I returned home on Saturday afternoon, leaving shortly after the kids were picked up from the hotel, and I won’t deny sleeping almost the entire 2 ½ hour drive back. I came home to the computer and a chance to do some online shopping and get some great bargains, some “just right” gifts.  I have revisited our Thanksgiving weekend a hundred times, at least, thought deeply about family and how grateful I am for mine.  I am blessed beyond measure, for sure.  

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We've remodeled. Now what?

Halloween decorations are down, and no offense to those who feel otherwise, it’s too early for Christmas to come out, but, oh I am excited to bust out the Christmas soon.  Besides, I am concentrating on getting some storage solutions around here before I get more out, so quell my excitement I must.

    

The remodeling brought more room, yes, for people, but not necessarily things.  I cleared out an antique china cabinet, for example, and those items are boxed up and in the guest bedroom.  For the last year and a half the things I have boxed up, or just needed to find a new place for, have ended up in the guest bedroom.  I’ve watched a lot of HGTV over the years and I know a guest bedroom, if you are lucky enough to have one, can turn in to a storage unit. Last week, I set my site on the guest bedroom, developing a vision of how I’d like it to be, making a list and tackling a little each day.

I don’t mind the big – okay, too big – black dresser but I do need to organize it.  The closet is a mess; my prom dress actually hangs in there.  My.Prom.Dress. Also, my son’s size 6 Levi jean jacket.  He’s 37.  I think I can move on from that, too.

I decorated this room a few years ago for my more mature and grown-up role as a woman with an empty nest, and it coexists as an office.  It is nice, it is utilitarian, and it remained so until the remodeling, sort of.   My 18-month old grandson slept in his portable crib in the guest room last weekend, pushed up against my desk and with full access to everything on the surface, which ended up on the floor or in his crib.  Nothing really of value, but nothing he needed either. That’s probably my impetus for getting this under control.  He didn’t really need my tweezers in bed with him. Yes, I do pluck my eyebrows at my desk, thank you.  The light is really good here by the window.

So, the guest bedroom is a fall/winter project.  Before moving the bed 180 degrees, I placed leg extensions on the bed frame, moved a storage box or two underneath the bed, including one filled with Halloween decorations, and replaced the bedskirt to accommodate the new height.  I’ve made headway on moving out some of the overflow to the attic, recycled catalogs and product pages, filed away manuals and warranty info for new appliances and tried to make some sense of the many receipts and invoices from the construction.  Do I need to keep all this paper? I try to do just as they advise in all those articles on organization and sort by keep, donate, toss. 

Tossing is not my nature, folks.  The struggle is real. 

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It's getting "chili" in here!

This has been a fantastic couple of weeks for us.  We celebrated our 40^th anniversary, with a wonderful, short-stay-long-weekend trip to Seattle, to visit our son and daughter-in-law, did a few things there we have never done before and had a great time. The Pacific Northwest is certainly beautiful and so very different than Indiana!

A favorite was the ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island where we spent much longer than we dreamed we would, tasting wine and eating cheese.  Of course, Pike Place Market is a “must-see”.  We hiked down Post Alley on our last morning, stood in line for 20 minutes for some unbelievably good crab and lobster chowder.  We also split a lobster roll that tasted incredibly fresh.  It was a great trip indeed.

 

Our son works at the Museum of Pop Culture, otherwise known as MoPop, which is super fun.  We took in the Space Needle, of course, and visited the Dale Chihuly museum.  I thank my days at a local art/education museum for providing me with a pretty good base to appreciate studio glass. Chihuly’s work is mind blowing.

Home only a few days we hosted our annual chili party this past weekend.  Both daughters were here early to help me get ready, and I could not have done it without them. Delayed by rehearsals for the Nutcracker in Indianapolis, one granddaughter arrived just in time with her dad and brother.  The holidays are fast approaching, and the Nutcracker will soon be put to bed.  Of course, not until the performances are complete! Our granddaughter’s first year in the production brings a new appreciation for this timeless ballet, and the anticipation of her “debut” as a wooden soldier ripples through her, to her mom, to me.

   

The Annual Chili Party was a success…rain kept us inside this year but we have plenty of room since the remodeling.  We laughed, we spilled, we ate way too much, we admonished kids, we let them be.  I love seeing the family together. It is a chance for the first cousins, and now their babies, to catch up, without the "extra" of a holiday and all that it brings.  

These past few weeks also brought sadness as I lost my older brother to ALS.  He was dear to me, and a sweet guy.

 

I recently committed to posting a “days of love” photo or video or happy-stance on my Facebook timeline.  I have heard from several of you that you enjoy this happy post habit so I look forward to giving you more!

Squeeze the ones you love. 

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