A-Z Streamlined

Image from Bing Images

Some of my blog friends have been doing the A-Z Challenge, doing a post a day with a letter of the alphabet as a prompt. Since doing a post a day sounds sort of impossible to me, I am borrowing an idea from my friend Betty at A Glimpse Into Midlife, doing one streamlined A-Z post using the letters of the alphabet as a prompt for the first thing that comes to my mind. Thanks, Betty, for this and the other ideas you have been generous enought to let me "borrow" in the past.

A - Anna. Anna is my youngest granddaughter. She will be 4 in May and is looking forward to her first dance recital.

B - Beck. Beck is my youngest grandson. At 19 months he is a bundle of energy who loves balls and is learning to say new words and putting new words together every day.

(Wow, this isn't so hard. Too bad I don't have 26 grandkids)

C - Coffee. I didn't drink coffee until I was over 40, but now I am pretty much a coffee addict....everything from the morning brew Doc makes to my favorite Starbucks half-flavor skinny vanilla latte.

D - Dodger. Dodger is our dog, adopted from a shelter about 2 1/2 years ago. This scruffy little guy has become an incredibly important member of our family..

E - Ellis. Also know as EJ, is my four year old granddaughter. A girl who loves school and her family and is already trying to read books to me.

F - Family. Family is the reason I started a blog-to help me take notice of and record the family activities and events that make up so much of my life. To avoid getting all mushy I'll just say I am very grateful for my family, each and every one of them.

G - Grandkids. Grandkids are a great reward for getting older.

H - Hope. Hope is my oldest granddaughter, 9 yrs old, a cute, complex, talented, smart and volatile young lady who keeps us all on our toes.

I - Indian. My heritage on my mother's side is Cherokee Indian. Just how much Indian blood our family carries depends on what story my grandmother was telling on any given day.

J - Jared and Justin. These are my 2 oldest grandsons, brothers who are 11 and 8. They are both sports loving boys who keep their parents very busy with their soccer, basketball and baseball games. 

K - Kindle. I have had my Kindle since shortly after they came out. Though I still use the library a lot nothing beats the Kindle for portability and instant gratification.

L -Lilac. Our Lilac bush which hasn't bloomed for a couple of years is beautiful and full of blooms this year.

M - Mah Jong. I play way too much computer Mah Jong.

(Whew, who knew the alphabet was so long, but I started so I have to finish and I only have one grandkid left)

N - Nest. There is a bird's nest built in the retractable awning over part of our deck. This will make the 4th or 5th year that a nest has kept us from using the awning. 

O - Old. I think I am reaching an age at which I will be too old to die young.

P - Politics. I have a lot of interest in politics but I try to stay away from political issues in my blog.

Q - Qwerty. I felt a little silly recently when I suddenly realized how the Qwerty keyboard on my phone got it's name. 

R - Retirement. I don't particularly like the word retirement, but I am looking forward to being at least partially retired starting in July.

S - Sugar. Sugar is my dietary demon. I can resist lots of other kinds of food but I eat way too much sugar.

T - Tulsa. I was born and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

U - Useful. Since I will soon be working less, I find that I am wondering if I will find ways to use my time that will make me feel useful.

V - Vitality. A trait I hope I can maintain no matter how long I live.

W - Wil. Wil is my 6 year old grandson. If the world was made up of nothing but math and baseball Wil would be a happy boy.

X - X-change. The letter X has me stumped, so I am cheating a little and wishing I could x-change the letter X for a different letter.

Y - Yarn. I am hoping that one of these days I will pull out all the yarn I have and start knitting again.

Z - Zee. Z is the end of the alphabet  and I just want to say thank you to anyone who has stayed with me all the way through this to the letter Z. 

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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This sign showed up on a garage up the street from us this week.

I wonder if the boy was to shy to ask in person or just being creative.

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Doc had a meeting with a guy in Boulder last week. When their business was concluded the guy said "oh, let me give you my card."  This is  what he gave him.  It looks to me like he is a fun guy with a good sense of humor.

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My daughter, Jill, posted this on her Facebook page this week. I loved it because I think she unwittingly described herself perfectly. Jill is the most easy-going, unflappable, take-it-as-it-comes,  sensible person that I know. She always has a smile and a kind word. She is a true role model to me.

14 Aspens

When we bought our house a little over 10 years ago it came with a yard that was very nicely landscaped. We are not gardeners but, with a little (a lot)  help, we have managed to keep everything pretty well maintained. One of the areas I really liked was an area between our house and the house next door that was lined with Aspen trees. It was an attractive break between the two properties. Well, it turned out that those Aspen trees were not actually "between" the properties but fully on our neighbors property and last week they cut them down...all 14 of them.

When we first heard the chain saw roaring and looked out we thought maybe they were just trimming them or taking out a few that weren't healthy. We were wrong. By the end of the day they were gone.....all 14 of them. They  have since taken out every other bush and tree in their front yard. Their only explanation is that they want the yard to be easier to maintain since the husband travels a lot. I'm sure that when they complete their project everything will look very nice, but I sure do miss those Aspen trees.....all 14 of them.

The moral of my story: Don't get too attached to your neighbor's trees.

The Yada Yada Is Part Of What Makes It Special

I had decided not to do a post about our Easter day, thinking it would be just the same as last year's Easter post and the year before and the year before.....brunch, an egg hunt, confetti eggs, family pictures, yada, yada. I changed my mind. It occurred to me that the yada yada, that is, the family traditions, are a big part of what make a family get-together so special. As my grandkids get older the activities and traditions are bound to change, just as some are bound to stay the same and I want to remember each of them for the special occasions that they are.

So, here for another year is the yada yada.

A pre-brunch piano seranade from the little girls.

 A delicious brunch and lots of help with the cooking.

The kids table with everyone rushing through their meal so they can get to the fun stuff.

Hunting for Easter eggs.

Jared, who is 11, opted to help the little kids find eggs instead of hunting for eggs himself this year.

Beck was, at first, not quite sure what to think about the egg hunting activity.

It didn't take him long to decide to get in on the action.

Next came the kid's favorite, the confetti eggs. It seems to be great fun to get a chance to pummel your brother, sister, cousin, mom, dad, or even grandmom with a colored egg shell filled with confetti. 

I failed to get a picture but the kids did a great job, with rakes and bags, of cleaning up the remnants of six dozen confetti eggs.

Never perfect, but always fun....a picture of all my grandkids.

This year we even got a picture of all of my kids and their families together.

Yes, it is the same ol' yada yada, and I hope it stays that way for lots of years to come

Easter Then and Now

Easter then....one of the few real memories I have of Easter when I was growing up is of hunting Easter eggs. I had an aunt who would hide the eggs for me again and again. I loved hunting for them, even though I'm sure they were re-hidden in pretty much the same places over and over. I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and remember going to an Easter parade a few times when I was pretty young. I'm sure it was a downtown merchant's thing, but it was pretty exciting to me at the time.  

I do have some pictures from about 1950 that show me and my brother decked out in our Easter finery. I remember nothing about these being taken, but I'm glad I have them.

I'm pretty sure my brother was no where near as fond of me as he looks in this picture. He is 5 years older and I think I was pretty much the bane of his life when we were kids.

Easter now....They apparently had an Easter egg hunt when Dodger was at doggy day-care on Thursday. They said most all the dogs quickly figured out there were dog treats in the eggs and deftly popped them open to get to the treats. As usual, Dodger didn't have much to say about it, but it looks like he had fun.

More Easter now.....I got to dye Easter eggs with some of my grandkids earlier this week. The older kids had fun making their own colors my mixing the dyes and they made some special eggs for their two cousins that weren't there. (My daughter Jill may not love me for posting this picture)

My daughter Joanna can do almost anything while holding 18 month old Beck on one hip.

What are your memories from your childhood Easters?

Not Tonight Dear

Every time I think about writing a blog post lately that is what I tell myself......Not tonight, Dear. Okay, I don't actually call myself "dear", but I have told myself "not tonight" night after night. I just say "not tonight", read a few other wonderful blogs, play a little computer Mah Jong, read a book for a while and go to bed. I think I have a slight case of blog lazy-itis. I hope a will find a cure soon, because I do miss posting and hearing from other bloggers. Anyone know a cure?

Other than being a lazy blogger I have pretty much been doing the normal stuff that I usually turn into a blog post.

EJ had her first soccer game. She didn't like it very much while it was happening, but the story she told afterward is that she loved it and was one of the best players on her team. She has played a second game since and actually played the whole game with a smile on her face and scored two goals. 

I went to Wil's Odyessy of the Mind competition, but arrived just as it was ending due to a mix-up in the times.

Haircuts for EJ and Hope.....not all that exciting, but the kind of thing I feel lucky to get to do with them.

Lunch at the mall after the haircuts. Jared didn't seem near as thrilled to have EJ on his lap as she was to be there. She is a big fan of her older cousins and they  are (almost) always very good to her.

My daughter, Jill, posted this on her Facebook page after a week of Spring Break. It has been a long time since I have had kids home for Spring Break, but I can remember feeling the same. 

While I am working on the cure for my blog lazyitis I am in awe of the bloggers doing the A-Z challenge. A post a day seems overwhelming to me right now. Maybe I'll get cured and jump in somewhere between P and Q.