Weblog 274

May 15, 2011~ 12:15 am
It was a GLORIOUS week starting out! We had 3 consecutive days of sunshine, low humidity and a light breeze, and I finally got a hint of just what spring can be. It was fabulous. Then of course......



the inevitable clouds rolled in, the rains started again, and from Thursday on we've had thunder-boomers and occasional downpours. (At least my grasscutters got to complete the lawn on Thursday in the morning, before the dark clouds rolled in.) It's been a week... (two weeks really) of pain for my honey, Wayne. The poor guy ended up with shingles and feels like hot wires are shimmying and stabbing him underneath his skin. Pain is relentless. It makes us prisoners of its whims.



With something like shingles you can say 'Uncle' all you want... the pain doesn't care, it just keeps stabbing and chuckling, lighting the nerves up with constant fire. I sure hope he's one of the lucky ones, and it finishes up with him in a couple weeks. He's taking an anti-viral medication that's supposed to minimize the effects of the disease, and popping ibuprophen every 4 hours. He's soldiered on, making it into work on and off, leaving when the pain gets the best of him.

It's one thing to suffer yourself, but something else entirely when it's someone you love.... that's tough. You feel so helpless.

My daughter's father-in-law is still recuperating from heart surgery, so on Saturday evening I watched the grandkids for a few hours while Holly and Gary visited at the hospital. (Wayne, needless to say, didn't join us.) Bill has a new LOVE....and it's WRESTLING! LOL!! He borrowed his friend Lucas' Wii wrestling game, and danced around saying 'POW!' and 'WHAM!' all evening. I was amazed at the graphics. It's so REAL......just astonishing. Their big flat screen TV in the living room was filled with images like this



and this



so lifelike! That 3D stuff is something to behold. Kay felt a bit left out, so we did 'girl stuff' while Bill bounced off walls and manipulated that little control box with the speed of a Gatling gun. (We DID see some GIRL wrestlers that would periodically pop up on the screen before the bouts-- when you choose the wrestlers you want to square off against eachother.) "Bill!" I said. "Let's see some GIRL WRESTLERS." "Noooooooooo!!" he said. "Never. Lucas NEVER picks the girls."

But we kept at him till he finally chose a tag team foursome, glittery and Amazon-like. Kay and I chose. "Oh NOOOOOOOOO!" he said--"not the Bella Sisters!" (Twins. Very hot stuff, and to Bill's mind, just the worst thing to have to watch.) That match went on and on.... and Bill complained the whole time. LOL!!!

So after that, I introduced 5 year old Kay to paper dolls.



She'd never heard of such a thing, and was fascinated. I drew a figure on cardboard, cut it out and filled in features and details on a separate piece of thinner paper-- colored it in, gave her blue underwear and pasted the fleshed-out figure on top. Then I scribbled a couple of outfits, choosing bright reds and oranges, greens and blue, and showed Kay how the little paper tabs are bent down to keep the clothes on the standing dolly cut-out. "You're FUN, grandma," she said, her eyes dancing. I told her if the doll didn't get lost or damaged, that I'd draw another dress or two for her the next time I visited-- and her mommy is a good designer and would doubtless add a few spiffy ensembles to the collection. Kay called the paperdoll..... (what else?).....'Kay'.... and tucked her into a red folder: the doll in one pocket, her clothes in the other. "See?" I said. "That's her bed, and THIS SIDE is her closet." Kay seemed to like that idea.

It was a VERY humid evening with yes, eventual storms, so we made paper fans. Kay became quite an expert at folding them in nice, crisp creases and we fanned ourselves and eachother, and Kay said she had a notion to sell them. "People would really LIKE THEM, gram. Don't you think? When it's all hot out and everything?"

I told her that was a splendid idea. Maybe set up a lemonade stand in the summer and offer a small lemonade for a nickel, and a paper fan for another nickel. "People could feel nice and comfortable for only a DIME, Kay!" I told her. Her eyes danced again. It was... (other than feeling bad for Wayne while he's going through his miseries).. a very lovely evening. I sure hope the week measures up to it.




May 16, 2011~ 7:15 pm
Guess what I did yesterday? I went to a LUAU!!



It was a regular Sunday- (meaning, visit and dinner with Mum) -but there was something else on the agenda. Mom had a colorful flyer on her stand jampacked with flowers and the word, "LUAU!" in the middle. "Are you going to this?" I asked her. (It was for 6:30 till 7:45pm yesterday evening, right after dinner.) "Are YOU going?" she said. "No, it's for YOU, mum," I told her. "Well if YOU'RE not going, then I'M not going," she announced. LOL!!!

Then I remembered that the same group of high school kids from the neighboring parish had put on 'Oscar Night' last year. In fact EVERY year they have a spring theme with a disc jockey and dancing for the old folks, and I did indeed attend last year (invited or not, it was fun.) I looked down at my shirt and realized......it was pre-ordained. I had on my Tony Soprano, bright blue and white floral Hawaiian shirt. "We're GOING!" I said.

Oh Lord, I danced..... in spite of myself, I did the Macarena and jumped right into a CONGA LINE! lol!!! I swiveled my hips and shimmied and made a COMPLETE ASS OUT OF MYSELF, but OH MY! what a blast. (When they played "Shout!"...I had no control whatsoever. I go into some sort of St. Vitus dance. Always have. Can't help it.)

(How I'll ever hold my head up when I go to visit, I don't know) but truly, "a good time was had by all" and MUM WENT. Yes she did!

Another thing I wanted to share is a few snapshots of my charming Mother's Day gift from Holly. (I had to bop some of the pictures off my memory card in order to get these, and boy, are they cute!)

GNOMES!

They're small, painted darlings that come with dotted mushrooms and can be placed in potted plants, or some special spot in the dirt outside. They're about 4" tall......(just like real gnomes I'll bet.)



Here's my favorite, holding a bird and grinning. Here's his helper-gnome, standing next to him, ready with the sprinkling can....



I don't have a single potted plant in my house (because I KILL everything) but I stuck the whole array in an upended straw basket, their spikes sticking through the spaces in the weave.



So brightly colored and whimsical! (When you're grown up and still love 'toys', such gifts are true delights)- thanks, Holl!

(Now I think I'll make my way up to bed with a book. These HIPS are sore. LOL!!!) Too much SHAKIN' was goin' on yesterday, and I feel every minute of my nearly 60 years..... but it was worth it.





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