I Haven't Been A Very Good Stage Grandmom Lately

I confessed about a year ago to being a stage grandmom. My oldest granddaughter, Hope, who is 9, has been participating in a theater group since she was 6 or so and as a frustrated performer myself I love seeing her perform. Since she played Annie in the musical Annie in February and March last year I haven't done a very good job of reporting about her performances here as any good stage grandmom should.

At Christmas she played an elf  and The Queen of Hearts in Babes in Toyland. 

Her cousin Averi was also in the play and their 

great-grandmother Molly got to come from Omaha to see them both perform.

Last summer she played a Sea Witch in Hans Christian Anderson.

Photos from Peanutbutterplayers.com 

She also played a maid in Hans Christian Anderson.

She is currently in rehearsal for Once Upon A Rainbow. 

She will be playing "the obnoxious sister."

Her director promised her that it wasn't type casting. 

I don't know how long Hope will want to keep doing this but for now she loves it. It is a great outlet for her exuberant personality and I am having lots of fun playing the part of the stage grandmom.

Before and After

My youngest daughter, Joanna,  and her mother-in-law, Terry, ran a half-marathon in Phoenix on Sunday. I wasn't at all surprised that they did great, both finishing in under 2 1/2 hours. I was surprised at the before and after pictures. After the race they looked like they had just finished a walk in the park instead of a 13.1 mile run.

Before

After

They had planned to run a race in Denver in October but Joanna ended up with a fracture in her foot a few weeks before the race. She was very disappointed and not too happy to be wearing an orthopedic boot instead of her running shoes.  Her husband Brandon's dad came to the rescue and for Christmas gave them the trip to Phoenix for the race on Sunday, so they got to have a short, well-deserved girl's get-away and got to run their race.

I think I looked more worn out after tracking them online than they did after finishing the race.

Way to go Joanna and Terry.

Luckily No One Was Hurt

Early this morning a predicted 1-3 inches of snow was falling lightly as I was on my way to work...a little slick but no real problem. An hour or so after I got to work the light snow turned into a heavy snow. We heard a loud  bang outside and looked out to see a very big Coca Cola delivery truck jack-knifed across the median, and another car up on the sidewalk, apparently in a successful attempt to avoid being hit by the truck.

This isn't the truck, but it looked about like this, leaning slightly and spanning all four lanes of the road.

Several amazing things happened. The first is that no one was hurt. The second is that before we could grab our coats and run out the door to help so many people had stopped and jumped out of their cars to offer aid that there was nothing more we could have done. The third is that as we watched out the window we saw the truck driver and the women who had been driving the car that went off the road walking around holding hands.

A couple of hours and a big traffic jam later the truck and the car had both been towed away and I was still thinking about all the people who had stopped to offer help and about the two people who had joined hands in relief instead of screaming at each other in anger.

It's A Good Thing

It's a good thing I didn't make a new year's resolution to blog more often. If I had I would have already failed at keeping that resolution. Between going back to work after the holidays and family activities the first week of the new year has sort of flown by.

Most of the family activity involved celebrating the birthday of one of my granddaughters. EJ turned 4 on Wednesday but we started the festivities on Sunday with a family get-together which included cake and ice cream for EJ's birthday.

On the day of her birthday it was out to dinner at her favorite Mexican restaurant. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the giant balloon cupcake hat the balloon guy made for her.

On Friday she had a birthday party with her friends.

Her sister Hope and her cousin Anna were glad to help her celebrate again.

Her mom Joanna made a very cute pony cake.

Even with a little help with the gift opening it was all a little overwhelming.

For a girl with a birthday just a few days after Christmas I'd say she got well celebrated.

The other resolution it is good that I didn't make is to not do too many posts about family activities. That is another one that would have been broken quickly. The reality is that when I started a blog I started it as a way to help myself record and remember the events and activities in my life and a great deal of what I do and what is important to me involves family. It has become much more than that due to the wonderful and interesting people I have gotten to know through blogging and the friends I have made, but chances are that the family focus here won't change much.

On The Road

There is a lot to look forward to in 2012. At the top of the list for me is that this year will have me on the road to retirement. As of July I will quit working full time. I have a hard time thinking of myself as "retired" but the idea of no longer working full time has a lot of appeal for me. I will have the opportunity to work, doing the same job,  on a part time basis, when and where I choose, so I will probably do that at least for a while. 

As with most any big change in our lives, I have some mixed feelings about this change. I know that I can fill my time but I feel a little challenged about how I will fill it in a productive way. I'm not an artist or a gardener and any attempt I have made at doing crafts has been mostly a disaster. I do have 7 grandchildren and spending more time with them and being able to share more in their lives is one of the things I am really looking forward to. 

I guess I'll just try to look toward it in the best way I know how....with a little humor.

Retirement is wonderful. It's doing nothing without worrying about getting caught at it.

The money's no better in retirement but the hours are.

I enjoy waking up and not having to go to work. So I do it three or four times a day.

The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off.


Now I need to go start looking for some hobbies.

Friday Fragments/Freewheeling Friday

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It was back to work for me after the Christmas weekend and I am very much looking forward to another three day weekend. I have managed to get all of my Christmas decorations put away except for the few stragglers that always seem to show up. It is always fun to decorate the house for Christmas, but there is also a good feeling when I get it put away for another year.

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My 15 month old grandson, Beck, who was so smiley on Christmas was not so happy a couple of days later. He was with his family visiting Brandon's mom in Austin and ended up in the emergency room on Wednesday night with breathing problems. He got very good treatment and is feeling much better now. He did well with the breathing treatments they gave him but he really didn't like the hospital bracelet on his arm.....he kept pulling on it, saying "off." I am so thankful that he is better and they will be coming home from Texas today.

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The foot of snow we got a few days before Christmas is melting pretty fast now, but it was pretty treacherous to take Dodger out walking for a few days. Sidewalks were mostly shoveled, but there were some here and there that weren't.

The streets were plowed but still very icy in places. 

Here is what saved me-Yaktrax. The are traction cleats that fit over the bottom of your shows or boots. I had gotten them last year for Christmas and used them a few times, but we didn't have much snow last year. They have been a life saver this year. I would highly recommend Yaktrax if you live somewhere that gets a lot of snow and ice. 

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Now it is on to the new year with a family get-together for football and black-eyed peas on Sunday. 

Go Broncos

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, good, rewarding, prosperous and adventurous New Year.

New-Fangled Gadgets and Old-Fashioned Fun

My three oldest grandkids each got an iPod Touch and one of my daughters got an iPad for Christmas, so we had sort of a techie Christmas.

Along with all the techie stuff we had lots of old-fashioned Christmas fun, including new pajamas for all the kids on Christmas Eve, Christmas brunch and presents for everyone.

Through it all Beck kept flashing his new "smile for the camera" smile every time he saw me with my camera.

I have been absolutely lazy today and I have loved every minute of it. I hope everyone is getting rested after enjoying a very Merry Christmas.