A Visit With My Grandson

Spent a perfect afternoon with my grandson yesterday. I headed off kind of dreading it because the last few times have been dicey, with him being a moody 13-year old, sullen then sunny, you never know what you're in for from one time to the next. He was waiting for me on the front porch, raced over to the car to give me a big hug, and help me carry in things I had brought -- gifts for his mom and the new baby, one of my old, cleaned up aquariums for him. I was delighted that he was eager for my visit. Later, his mom told me he had been counting down the days.

He was hungry for Chinese, he told me right off. So we went to lunch. I gave him a time limit of 10 minutes to rattle on and on about his video games. I don't think he even took the whole ten. So I eased up and let him refer to his games throughout the day, but he really didn't much. I think having the new baby in the house has made him happy, or maybe it's the general atmosphere of happiness that pervades their home that's rubbed off on him. But it was good to see him so cheerful. We talked about his braces, his football, the upcoming Christmas party, his cats, my cat, the new house in New Mexico, he definitely wants to come to stay there this next summer for part of the time.

We put flowers on Mother's and Grandmother's graves. We went to the pet store to outfit the aquarium. I got ideas for Christmas gifts for him. We rode around town and I showed him some of my old stomping grounds. The neighborhood I grew up in has really gone down. He kept calling the people he saw standing around "gang-bangers." Maybe he's right. I know I was in a hurry to drive on through the area. People around there looked pretty rough.

We got back to his house and the new baby was awake. I got to hold her and feed her a bottle. She's cute cute the way all babies are at 6 weeks old. His parents seem delighted. I didn't get home until nearly 6 o'clock. Just wish it wasn't so far and I could go more often. Most of the time I feel like a lousy grandmother. But he seems to love me anyway. He told me so just before I got in the car to make the 2-hour drive back home.

Onward ....

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN

I'm not complaining. We need the rain, but we're sitting here watching old westerns on TV, just waiting for a break in the rain to go to the Coast. We've spent every July 4th since we've been together down there but it's looking less and less likely that they'll have the fireworks display, or the art festival this weekend at all. Both will more than likely get rained out, thanks to Alex, who is gone but has left behind his legacy. Dark dark clouds moved in before noon and the bottom fell out for a while. At the end of about 25 minutes, we had 2 inches in the gauge -- the hardest rain we've had yet, and for the longest duration. Otherwise, it's just "pissing" as my dad would say. We had an inch and three-quarters this morning, accumulated from the two previous days, so that brings our total to 4 inches so far. The animals are getting restless to go outside. Me, too.

Made some more jelly. My SO keeps bringing home grapes. He boils them down to juice and I've been straining them for jelly. This morning, we got four pint jars and two half pints, this time, with a smidge left for the fridge again. I want enough so we feel no pain if we give a jar or two away to friends. My SO is loathe to part with any of it at present. It is a lot of work, so I don't blame him. And it makes a huge mess in the kitchen.

Decided to buy a new aquarium yesterday. Set it up last night, and will transfer all the fish into it when we return from the Coast. I've found these little tanks to be high maintenance, and I'm not happy to have to work so hard. This new tank is twice the size. Maybe I won't have to clean it so often. I'm looking for ways to ease my workload. I seem to be brimming over with article ideas, and need to make time. With me, it's always a question of prioritizing.

Onward ....