Every Little Thing

Pardon me while I just fade off into blogland and disappear for a couple weeks. This is what happens when you become 'of a certain age' and a 7 and 3 year old come to visit. EXHAUSTION SETS IN.

Allow me to take a moment and bow down to parents everywhere.

Particularly those who are plugged into the lives of their children. You know: taking them to dance classes, gymnastics, skating lessons, karate, singing lessons and all the other essons that kids partake in.  Because you know what happens before and after those things take place? THOSE KIDS STILL HAVE ENERGY. They still want to interact with you.  And you better be ready to color in coloring books (or they'll just color on your computer screen if you turn your back for a second...true story), make a game out of emptying the dishwasher, feed the cat 17x to make sure each kid gets a turn, use your listening ears so each kid gets heard, go to the beach and run in the birds, tiptoe into the water and 'accidentally' fall in, watch a movie, watch Phineas and Ferb, plant some plants, wash the cat bed, dry the cat bed, dry the cat bed again because one corner feels damp even though it's drier than a popcorn fart...I mean they mean business.

That being said, I AM SO GRATEFUL my niece and nephew came to visit. They made my failed summer come to life! We went to LegoLand and Disneyland and the beach and some pirate dinner theatre thing. We walked and walked and talked and talked and barely got any rest. It was awesome.  

I learned that I can survive on 5 hours of sleep and have 28 winds a day. I also learned that I shower way too much, a couple times a week really does suffice, and I won't get struck by lightning if I wear the same clothes 3 days in a row. Hair combing doesn't really make a difference either. A quick rake of the fingers through slept on wet hair actually produces nice waves.  Food? You don't need that much when you're trying to make sure they're eating more than 5lbs of the sour gummy candy you got puppy-dog eye'd into getting because you only see them a couple times a year (and truth be told ate 3/4's of the bag yourself anyway). I love my family. Even though I've never seen myself as a parent, they help me understand why people do become parents. Love Love Love.

Making friends with my neighbor turned new family member...more on that later.

Don't mess with pirate making. This is serious business.

Beach hopscotch, anyone?

5 second nap...no one even noticed.

A Page From The Past

~My Grandma, Grandpa and Mom on the day of her wedding to my Dad~

I guess it's nostalgia week here at the bird. I can't tell you how long it's going to last so it might end up being nostalgia month before we know it.  Change does that to me.  My mom called tonight to let me know my uncle's daughter ripped down my grandmother's house to build a new one in its place.  In an instant I was overcome with sadness - dare I say grief -  and immediately transported back through time, standing in her kitchen by the old coal stove while she lifted the burners to stoke the fire.  My mom and her 8 brothers and sisters grew up in a one bedroom tiny house on the prairies in Canada.  They came from humble beginnings, but their house and family was always overflowing with love, laughter and acceptance.  My grandma was the kindest most generous person I've ever known and it pains me greatly to think I'll never step foot in her tiny home again.  For some reason I can't stop thinking about the wonderful, cold glasses of water she used to give me in the bubbled drinking glasses she pulled out from behind the dark yellow stained-glass cupboard doors.  It hit me tonight - I can never go back in time to that time again - as much as I know it and live it daily, it just really sunk in.  Those days are over - a thing of the past.  This aging thing is really getting to me...I'm thinking about mortality - mine and everyone else in my family - and time seems to have sped up exponentially.  Is this a mid-life crisis?  Is this where men duck and run to go buy a sports car in order to feel young again?  Whatever the case may be - I just love this picture of my gram (and mom and grandpa) - she was chic to the fullest in her lace dress and hat.  I have a feeling those really were the days -- I know they were.