Easter and Lennon

We had a wonderful weekend! There was a family Easter dinner at Debbie and Rob’s house. We were the first to arrive. We got to see Lindsay and Kelsey open their Easter Baskets. It was too funny, them being 25 and 23 respectively. They just wanted the candy.


Dad and Dorthy arrived next; with three pies! Dorthy made two lemon meringue and one cherry. She has the lightest hand with a pie crust and her lemon meringue is totally homemade and delish!

We were all having a good visit, the guys in the living room with the game and the gals in the kitchen with the food.

When Selene and Nate arrived with Lennon, the entire party rushed to the front door to greet them. It’s been five months and they are sorely missed.

When I got there, Lennon was at Debbie’s hutch talking to the rabbits on display. I said, “Hi.”

He turned, held his arms out, and I picked him up. I got the best hugs and kisses from him. I honestly started to cry.

Oh, how I have missed his sweet smell and soft skin. I was surprised that he remembered me. He hasn’t seen me since just after his first birthday. We have talked on the phone at least once a week. Anyway, it was like we had never been parted. After our greeting, I stayed back to allow his great-grandparents and great-aunt and uncle to fuss over him.

Back home there was a real problem. Jip took offense to Lennon’s new puppy, Kukka. He kept barking ferociously at her; we had to keep him leashed. It was not a pleasant evening. Poor Kukka had to be either in her crate or outside; or Jip had to be in the bedroom barking and pawing at the door. It’s my fault, due to the depression and agoraphobia I haven’t socialized Jip enough. Rocky and Kukka made fast friends right away.

Monday, I watched Lennon while Selene, Nate, and Kukka went to the coast. We had so much fun laughing, talking, and snuggling. I thought I had baby-proofed the house, but of course Lennon found everything I forgot about. Like the pot made of Buena Vista clay, family heirloom don’t you know.

They stayed at a friend’s house last night and came by to say goodbye this morning. I can’t wait until next Sunday. We will have Lennon Sunday and Monday while Selene and Nate spend the night at the coast. Oh, happy day! Then there will be Selene’s b-day party Monday night. I will be in Lennon heaven!

Petting a happy Max - the only picture I got this weekend. 

A Saturday's Review on Monday

The Hand of Fate by Lis Wiehl with April Henry is a mystery set in Portland OR. Jim Fate, radio talk show host, is killed by an apparent sarin gas attack. What follows is an investigation by three friends: Nicole Hodges, FBI special agent; Allison Pierce, federal prosecutor; and TV crime reporter, Cassidy Shaw. They call themselves the Triple Threat Club.


The three women interview friends, co-workers, and fans of Fate, a controversial host who has made a great many enemies in his line of work. There is not a lot of action, mostly the story is told through conversation.

I found the book to be a little pedantic. Just a walkthrough of the story. The only part of the book that grabbed me was the panic in the streets of downtown Portland during the apparent sarin gas attack.

The side material on domestic violence, illegal aliens, prescription drug abuse, etc. was so dry I needed a large glass of water to get through it.

I was also dismayed by the lack of local color. As a life-long Oregonian, I was hoping to see some of what makes Portland unique: Saturday Market, the Park Blocks, Pioneer Courthouse Square, MAXX transit. Instead, I felt the location could have been set in Atlanta or Des Moines with just a change of street and place names.

All in all, it was a nice read. I didn’t have to use my brain a lot to figure out the ending.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

Easter, Now and Then

It is raining to beat the band. Grandma Cora used that phrase, ‘to beat the band,’ all the time. I missed not getting to know her better. I know she was smart, thrifty, and had a wicked sense of humor. But we only saw her and Grandpa Jake four or five times a year. I was 18 when she died.

 

I went to the new doctor today. I am but a cog in the HMO machine. Everything is computerized there. She ordered my prescriptions, blood work, and a referral to a psychiatrist, enrolled me in a class for fibromyalgia, and set up an appointment for a mammogram; all from a terminal in the exam room. I felt a bit rushed through. I really needed to talk to someone about my mental state and she just said I could do that with the psychiatrist. Best part, no big deal when I asked for an injection of Novocain in my hip for bursitis. She just stuck me like a pig! There is still some residual burning on the edges of the bursa; but nowhere near the pain I had been having for the past week.

 

I did some shopping afterwards. I went to the Rainbow Market (Grocery Outlet) and found a few bargains. Like a planter in the shape of a coffee cup and saucer. I bought one that reminded me of Mexico complete with yellow flowers and a hummingbird. Then I found an Echeveria Metallica, getting ready to bloom, to put into the pot. It will grace the dining room table.

 

I found some bronze fennel, an Easter lily, some adorable sedums for the strawberry jar. I planted it 12 years ago and it needs some freshening. I’ll just knock out the old potting mix, add new, and replant what’s left and the new plants. I’ll pot up any leftovers for Nate. Some of his hops are growing! For that micro-brewer that is one great happiness!

 

Selene’s b-day present is now bought and hidden. I found Lennon a card and a goofy ball for Easter. I want to find him a hat to hold his Easter gift from us. (We always tried to give Selene her Easter basket as a hat filled with some goodies.) No going overboard. He will get gifts from a myriad of family and friends. So will be keeping it simple.

 

We are having an Easter picnic at Debbie’s and Rob’s. We were hoping for nice weather. Not to be found this year. Reminds me of the year we went to Weippe, ID, my dad’s home town, for Spring Break. We stayed with Uncle Harold and Aunt Georgia, before they got indoor plumbing. It was the same house that Great Grandpa David and Great Grandma Mary built when they moved to Idaho around the turn of the century. (The ranch is still in family hands.)

 

Uncle Harold took us on a drive up the Snake River. There was about five feet of snow on the ground. Best part of the day was having a picnic in the snow and seeing Big Horn Sheep across the river. Dad’s cousin Keith’s wife showed us the little park where her family always had their Easter picnic; she wrote us later that they held the picnic in the park that year; they just shoveled snow out of the way!

 

I found the missing mop. It had fallen behind the freezer. So, tomorrow my goals will be:

• Mop the floors
• Make a pot of baked beans
• Make a marinated bean salad
• Make an applesauce cake
• Baby-proof the house!

Best April Fool's Joke Ever!

April 1, 1955, 7:30 am


I get up, put on my robe, and go to the kitchen where good smells are congregating. I stop; Grandma Vesta is cooking bacon and eggs. “Where’s Mom?”

“Better go ask your Dad.”

“Where’s Mom?” I demand as I enter the dining room.

Dad puts down the paper and pulls me up onto his lap. “You have a new baby sister.”

“Yeah, April Fools. Where is Mom?”

Dad laughs, frustrating me more. “Honey, you have a new baby sister. Mom is at the hospital.”

Mom wasn’t supposed to have the new baby until after the third, her birthday. She and I had planned an April Fool’s joke for Dad that morning. Dad and I were in cahoots for her joke that evening. And I was working with Grandma for Mom’s Birthday Party on the third.

I was 16 days short of my fifth birthday and I was one angry older sister. Dad reminded me to be quiet until Peggy, age 31 ½ months, and Shelley, age 16 months were awake. “Be a good girl and help Grandma out with the other girls; see you at lunch.”

Of course, back in the day, siblings were not allowed to see Mom and new babies at the hospital. We got to talk with Mom on the phone a couple of times. Dad drove us down to the hospital and Mom showed us the new baby from the third floor window. That was disappointing, why couldn’t she bring the baby down to the front door and let us look through the glass? Hospital rules were very strict.

The day Mom and Dad brought Deborah Jo home from the hospital; I would not budge from our Chesterfield chair. When they brought home Shelley, Mom laid her in the chair so she could change clothes. I watched Shelley to make sure she didn’t roll off the chair. (Yeah, I knew she couldn’t roll, it was a big sister thing.) I was going to do the same thing with Debbie. Only Debbie had other plans. She was hungry and Mom had to nurse her.

I was super furious! I had saved that chair all day and now that little baby wanted to nurse! I was the oldest sister and what I said was law!

From that day forward, Debbie threw a clog into my life. She was stubborn, wanted her own way, and not a push-over for anybody. Still is today.

Stand us next to one another and the resemblance is clear; both physical features and personalities.

Happy Birthday Baby Sister! You are the best April Fool’s joke ever!