A Christian Woman Thinks (And It's Dangerous)

Musings

My baby is 8 years old today!

I can't believe almost two weeks have gone by without a post. I've had a lot of thoughts, but not the time and/or desire to sit and type them out. I know, you don't want excuses, so I won't go on with them. But as I was saying, my baby, Natalie, is 8 years old today! That's hard to believe, isn't it? Seems like yesterday she joined us. We got up today and made frosting for some cupcakes for her to bring into school (yes, her school still allows you to celebrate things, unlike the middle school, which doesn't). I wore a lot of the confectioner's sugar. I battled an old hand mixer to get the job done, and afterwards Natalie and I each licked a beater. Nothing like frosting on a beater, is there?

I want to thank you all for your comments about our neighbor. We attended a memorial mass for him that Saturday, and being in a Catholic church again brought back a flood of memories. Most folks find the smell of the incense stinky - but I find it comforting, and they had incense going! Also my kids, who have never been inside a Catholic church, found the church building amazing. Catholic churches are beautiful, aren't they? Majestic, and you just have to be respectful once inside. There's something to be said for this approach to worship. At any rate, we were able to see our neighbor's wife and my hubby gave her a hug. Please continue to pray for her and their family if you get a chance, I don't believe there's anything she can salvage from their home. It will be a long process of cleanihg up and I'm still not sure if she will rebuild/live there. Thanks.

Housewise, a lot of the "undergarments" have gone in: you know, the stuff that has to be arranged below to make things work above. Maybe I'll take a quick photo, but unless you enjoy looking at pipes and water heaters, you won't be waiting for this photo, heh heh. We have a new, bigger pump downstairs, a new and very big water heater that's separate from the furnace, and lots of new pipes connecting it all together. We're ready for the second zone upstairs. AND, I really do need to give my brother access to the girls' room so he can get pipes running upstairs. This means I'll have to move them out, into our bedroom, and I have been dreading this. I'm out of places to stash stuff, and there's much to be stashed in order to move them into our room. Hmmm.....

What else have we been up to? I learned to string and knot pearls onto silk, that was fun - hope to make some necklaces. We (my friend Deb & I) made more soap recently, with a new recipe, and we can't wait to try it out. This one has shea butter and should be nice and moisturizing. It's still hardening, we're about 1 1/2 weeks out from making it.

Last week I had a nostalgic moment while shopping in a little grocery store on my way home from work. I realized it was the same grocery store my gramma shopped in, just a little one in a little town, used to be the only one for miles when I was a kid and lived at my gramma's house (our family lived with my grandparents for a while). Back then it was known as Michael's, because Michael owned it. You could find Michael at the store and talk to him... today it's called Better Value, it's still small and when I go there I'm probably walking on the same flooring my gramma walked on, LOL! My gramma never drove, so my grandpa would take her to get what she needed. She always wore a homemade dress, ones that zipped up the front for easy on/off, made from whatever fabric she had on hand.  She always wore a bun, so you didn't realize how long her all-grey hair really was unless you caught her putting it up (this was rare). She had those 50s cat's eye glasses, in silver, and she was always cooking. When we'd get home from school she would sometimes have bisquick pizza for us, topped with whatever was on hand: the leftover keilbasa from supper the night before, hamburg, whatever was in the fridge. My grandmother has been gone for a little over 20 years, but just stepping into Better Value made me think of her.

Well, thanks for listening to my ramblings today - until we meet again, friends!

Untitled Comment

{ 12:42, Tuesday, February 13, 2007 } { Posted by HeMarriedMedusa }

Dear Chris,
Happy 8th Birthday Natalie!! Hope your neighbor friend has a lot of friends to help get her through these next difficult adjustments. Crowding into one room and finding places to put stuff while remodeling this scene sounds so familiar (hey I think either of us would feel right at 'home' coming to each other's house). And you also brought back a lot of childhood memories for me. Little stores where the owner is behind the counter and grandmothers with long hair but pulled up in buns or braids on top of their head and housedresses that zip in the front and worn in public (not too many of us would wear that type of thing out without a lot of stares, but their generations no one even thinks twice). Thanks for the memories and the post. Take care. Sincerely, Brenda

Hey!

{ 09:03, Tuesday, February 13, 2007 } { Posted by Darcy }

So good to see you! Happy Birthday to Natalie (although by the time I'm writing this she may already have headed off to sleep for the night).
I also find that more time goes by between my posts than it use to. I'm still on here reading, sometimes commenting and sometimes quiet. I really enjoyed hearing about your grandma. Mine passed away about 18 months ago and sometimes I still forget that she is gone. Can't wait to see her again one day. I've got to go get our dinner on the table but just wanted to make sure you knew I was still alive!
Darcy

Eight Years Old

{ 11:51, Tuesday, February 13, 2007 } { Posted by Musketman }

Eight is such a wonderful age to be, I was eight once, I remember it like it was just 41 years ago.
Happy birthday Natalie.