Quite the Week

There is impending grandmother hood, a wedding to plan in a month.  Both items are welcome news and will add the beginning of a new chapter to our collective family's story. That was Monday.
On Tuesday, my 93 year old father was asmitted to the hospital which I did not discover until Wednesday. Dad is over 1000 miles away and I just came back from a visit last Sunday. I knew he had an appoint with his PCP on Tuesday, but never expected him to be admitted to the hospital via the ER that very same day. There are inherent problems with being in your 90s, but I have been truly blessed with a parent who maintains his sense of humor through all of his recent trials. A sense of humor, in my opinion, is one of the most important skills to acquire. It keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously, tends to make us appreciate the important things and can definitely level us when times are tough.
So back to the task at hand-back to the hairdresser today to correct what must have been a slightly out of character mid-life hair crisis yesterday. Did I really think that burgundy highlights would be a good look for me?  Look carefully- they are pretty bright.  I hope they can minimally be toned down a bit today.

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great news!,

Couldn't be more excited!  Sam and Mike are pregnant!  I thought there might be some kind of announce,met tonight, but asn't sure it would be this!
End of April is the due date. I think the 30th.  Lots of planning, knitting and perhaps a wedding thrown in there.
Wow- I truly have something to blog about...

I have noticed, in this advanced age of ours, that GH (Great Husband) has become increasingly obsessed about some possessions. Most recently it has become bed linens; 800 thread-count, 1200 thread-count, 1500 thread-count......single-ply, double-ply......total weight.  Who knew there were so many options. And, it continues- we now do not launder the top sheet.  That gets sent out so that our dry cleaner will press it. He admits to being full of sheet.
I will admit that I do love climbing into our bed.  (It is tall, so "climb" is the right word.). We have the mattress topper, multiple coverlets, and in this frigid northeast winter, it beckons to us pretty early in the evening.
Today there is more snow in the forecast. Still multiple feet on the ground-there has been so much cold weather that none has melted. When I looked outside this morning, a saying that my mother would always repeat when this particular condition presented itself came immediately to mind. "Red sky in morning; sailors take warning..."

32 days to go

It's almost here. My 60th birthday. Happy to report I do not face it with the dread that preceded my 50th. I am hoping to spend the next five years being gainfully employed with my current company. There have been changes there recently which should be good for the company and allow growth for me.
However, I know that I do not want to be defined my my work, so have to make plans to do things that are personally more meaningful. The 70 mile commute takes up a great deal of time and I must manage that better. I will try to get myself into the habit of listening to audiobooks for educational purposes as well as pleasure.
On a lighter note, I cut my hair shorter yesterday.  The back is better than the front. I will have to play with that to see what I can do. Why did I choose to do this now with the November temperatures below normal??  It did give me an excuse to buy more fun earrings, have to elongate my round face somehow!
                                 

Spring...Finally

I love the colors of spring. New leaves offer up such clean, green, fresh hues The wormlike seeds falling from the trees are, individually amazing. Yellow and fuchsia I saw yesterday morning.  Even the lichen brings a different color to the garden.
The vegetable garden got a late start due to the uncooperative weather and isn't tilled as it has been in the past. This year it was all about spot tilling.  My Martha-inspired trellises are sturdier than they look. Stay tuned for garden updates.

Good decision

You know that feeling you get - things happen that you did not plan and you just know it's not going to turn out well?  Yesterday's scheduled flight to visit dad was a prime example. My flight the day before had already been cancelled and rescheduled to yesterday morning.

My first clue came early that second morning when I checked online to see if my flight was delayed- my preferred airport is easily fogged in.  Good thing I checked because the flight was actually changed to a different airport. That was just not going to work for me.

I rescheduled for the last flight of the day. A few hours later I was notified about another airport change- this to an even less desirable airport.  I was willing, however, to make that change to visit dad. The rain continued to fall.  The wind continued to blow. I was hearing there were major flight delays...but my flight was only showing an hour delay.

I knew better - how could my flight that was not usually flying out of that major airport possibly be  delayed only an hour?  I cancelled.

Today I couldn't wait to check on the actual departure time. It was more than 3 hours delayed and I would have landed after 3:00 AM. Considering I had gotten up at 4:00 yesterday for that original flight, 3:00 AM today would not have been pretty. The agent at the car rental desk probably would not have let me even have a car.

My kind employer will  allow me to work remotely to go visit Dad. I trust it will be an easier morning of travel then.

Spur of the Momemt

It was one of those last minute arrangements:  Friday morning after a long laborious week and I get the text- the kids and grand kids are coming tomorrow afternoon and spending the night. (Menu planning, child proofing, etc.) Well, what the hell, we may as well invite some overdue friends for dinner Friday night as well.
It is truly best to connect whenever possible. Friday night turned out to be great. Only half of the couple invited was able to make it, but one of their sons was also able to join us.  What a great night. What positive attitudes were on exhibit last night. No complaints about anything - just great conversation and catching up. A sliced finger and a broken dessert dish didn't mar the evening for very long.
I haven't seen the grand kids in about a month. I am really looking forward to it and even though I'm just the "step" grandparent, they don't really understand the difference yet.  I'm just another person who loves to play with them...
I have invited my 2 grown children as well. Hopefully they can make an appearance before the overnight guests leave tomorrow AM.
Wanting to be the stylish Grandma, I'll choose something funky. I've got some great separates from Zara and if the temperature rises as much as it's supposed to, I might just throw together a new outfit. I've rediscovered the garner Fructis Style Surf Hair paste. I had a couple in my cabinet (one stays in my suitcase now).  This stuff is amazing. You can do anything with it and it really controls my marginally straight, slightly bendy hair all day.
Happy Mother's Day weekend to all who have had or are a mother!