Weekend Words

Had a nice time visiting Uncle Friday night. Annie and Bobbie and Larry were there. Henna is in Denver with her grand kids. We took Italian Sausages and brats for the grill, cole slaw and chips. We take enough for leftovers since he does not cook. He so looks forward to us coming over. Fridays have to be difficult for him. He told Ken that twice this week he 'forgot' that Aunt was gone. One was he came home from working in the park, walked in the house and said, 'I'm home'.....the second one was he was sitting outside and saw a quail family, the first of the season---dad, mom and 8 little babies looking like ping pong balls....he got up, ran in to the house to tell Aunt......and then he realized.
Bella took her gecko 'Leo' to Uncle's.

After we got home, Bella and Justen took a walk with flashlights; then time for bubble bath, reading and bed. Bella had to leave early (9am) on Saturday morning so she had a quick breakfast of hash browns, bacon, OJ and strawberries with whipped cream. Hopefully we will get to see her once more this week...she wants to go to 'Sauce' before she heads to Las Vegas.

Now the weekend is almost over...I have that feeling that I hate....like I have to hurry to do a few more things that I wanted to do...not wanting the weekend to end. Still have time for grilled chicken and a nice glass of wine outside.

Bello Boo

Bella is coming over tonight because it's Friday night and we love our routine of her spending Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon with us. But as life is...this is about to change :( :(
School gets out next Thursday and she will be moving to Las Vegas to join her mom, Jason and Lola. I'm sure they are very excited about this........but me, Ken and Justen will miss her tremendously. Justen and her have bonded and it is great to see. Pops (Ken) picking her up from school, hikes at Catalina State Park to look for creatures, Bella's zoo (bugs, frogs and her gecko) in our garage/backyard, Cheese Puffs, watering my flowers, feeding the birds at Uncle Don's, Justen and her exploring the hill behind Uncle's,  painting and crafts with GeeGee (me), bubble baths, hot chocolate with whipped cream - please, old fashioned oatmeal with sugar, real cream and milk, not too hot - please,,,,,,,,,,,,,I could go on and on. She is a special girl and we will miss our routine...a lot. But, we hope to get up to Vegas to visit and also see her when she comes to visit her Dad here in Tucson.
Life always changes folks.....enjoy each moment like it is your last.....

I loved yesterday

I have to be honest....I don't always love Mother's Day. Oh, I loved it when the boys were little and they would make the wonderful homemade cards. Kenny would 'help them' make breakfast for me. We would usually spend the day with Ken's mom, MaMoo( as the boys called her).
As I have gotten older the day has always seemed to build up too much emotion for me. I seem to dwell on how things used to be when my sons were younger and we were all together. Oh, I know, life goes on but that's my point...this day brings all the memories back and the way it used to be.
I recently heard a story about someone's grandma who in her last years could not listen to "White Christmas". It brought back too many memories; her husband was gone, her sisters and brothers were gone. It just became too sad. I understand that.
Anyway, I did have a great day. Bella had spent the night so waking up with a young child is always so fun. She wakes up a bit slowly...only a bit...after about 2 minutes she is wide awake and ready to go; cheerful, happy, full of excitement.
We 'skyped' Josh in Prague and we had a great time together. He looks great. It was so fun to see him. Bella called her mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. Jason called to wish me a Happy Mother's day. And about 3 PM, Justen, Ken and I had a wonderful lunch/dinner at Wildflower 
I started with a Blooming Daisy: Belvedere Vodka, Grand Marnier, lemon juice, raspberries....so fresh! Our appetizer: Grilled artichoke with sea salt and Paris mustard aioli. I had Grilled Alaskan Halibut with polenta and artichokes, Ken had Scallops and Justen had fish too...but can't remember what kind. Everything was so delicious and we shared so we could taste everything. For dessert we had apple tarts with vanilla gelato and a brownie with caramel custard and vanilla gelato. :)
I called my mom in Ohio to wish her a happy Mother's Day. Dad has Alzheimer's and it is getting pretty rough for her to take care of him.
It was definitely a good day.....not too emotional. Just a lesson for anyone who needs to hear it....mom's just want to know you love them on Mother's Day; don't need presents, just need to know we matter to our children.

Kind of speechless

Uncle Don is doing great. He is choosing to live life and not let Aunt Loraine's death stop this. We called him to ask him to join us for an early dinner at 'Chuy's'. He enthusiastically said 'Yes". He had a great time, very talkative, telling me everything he has accomplished: legal issues, around the house, etc. He even got his passport renewed! Ken and he are going to plan a trip to Roswell, New Mexico. The whole ‘alien’ thing fascinates him. :)


Anyway, while we were at 'Chuy's', I saw a man.........an incredible man........he had two prosthetic legs, one prosthetic arm, and the other arm stopped at the elbow. He was with a pretty girl and he was moving around the restaurant faster (no limp) than I move. It kind of took my breath away. I would say he was in his late 30's. Certainly, I do not know how he became this way, but one would think perhaps he was in the war. If he was, what a huge reminder of what our military does for us........if he was not, he still is an amazing inspiration to the human spirit. My gosh, can you imagine just for one minute............


After we got home, Justen and Ken wanted to watch episode 8 of the HBO series 'Pacific'. It is incredible but I almost have to prepare my emotions (if it can even be done) to watch it. It is so sobering, so..........see I am at a loss for words. How many alive today have ANY idea what these boys went through. When I think of WWII vets, I see my Uncle Don, who is 83, I see the vets on TV narrating some of the story, and I see the vets in a parade or memorial service, all old men. It is natural and simple to forget that they were younger than my youngest son, babies really. I always end up crying and feeling so grateful for what they sacrificed, yet it seems so, so tiny. How do you express it.............
Kind of speechless