Party Like It's 1947

I left Jaysa and Mike's on Feb 28th. The next day, March 1, was Raymond and Jessie's 63rd wedding anniversary. While waiting between flights at Chicago and Dallas airports, I made many back and forth calls to their next door neighbors and special friends -- Pete and Peggy -- and conspired with them to surprise Raymond and Jessie with a dinner at the lake. I know The Dead Fish Grille probably doesn't sound appetizing, but it has good food, is really fun, and has a beautiful view of Lake Belton.

In order to pull off the surprise, Bill had to lie to his mother and hurt her feelings by telling her he had to work late on their anniversary and wouldn't be able to take them to dinner until 2 or 3 days later. Her eyelashes started batting real fast (a dead give away that she's upset) but she said she understood.

Bill and I went out to The Dead Fish Grille early and set up the table. Raymond and Jessie's other next door neighbor and good friend, Donna, arrived next. Soon Raymond and Jessie arrived with Pete and Peggy, who had lured them out to the lake by telling them they were taking them to dinner.

It took Jessie a while to recognize her son and I and Donna. In fact, when she saw Bill she thought he must be having a "work meeting" dinner with co-workers since he had lied about having to work late. Once Raymond and Jessie caught on that we were all there to celebrate their anniversary with them, we all had a good laugh about how many lies their son had to tell before we could pull off this surprise for them.

When I picked out the balloons at the Party Store, the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" balloon wouldn't leave me alone. It seemed to have a mind of it's own, determined to be "picked" as I was trying to find anniversary-themed balloons. When I looked up at it, I realized their adopted brother Michael (who had died about 6 years before) was sending me a message. See, "Be Happy!" was Michael's favorite saying and there was nothing Michael liked better than surprising people. And right there in the store, while I was on my knees getting anniversary balloons, the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" balloon started playing the music and singing the reggae song without anyone touching the balloon.

So, you know I had to buy that balloon even though it wasn't really in line with the anniversary theme. We gave it the center of attention between the balloons and in the middle of the table. Donna got a kick out of me complaining about how I had to listen to that song over and over on the drive home from the Party Store and then out to the Lake. Every time the car would turn, sway or hit a pothole, the balloon music would go off. Then she made the mistake of offering to drive the balloons home for Jessie and guess what she had to listen to ALL THE WAY home?

Little did we realize that day that we had so much turmoil ahead of us. I planned to post about the party that night, but life happened. So, altho I'm so late, I did want to share with you how much fun it can be to surprise people when they least expect it.

If you're wondering "why the Hawaiian leis?" Let me tell you it's one of the few things I could find in the bride and groom theme. Jessie's said "Bride" and Raymond's said "Groom". I think they were meant for bachelor parties, but oh well, they worked!

May we all have many more opportunities to party like it's 1947 ...and may these two newlyweds stay young together forever.

Sweet Dee Gets A Bay-Bay

After a few days in the hospital, Jaysa and Mike got the baby ready to go home. You've never seen so much bundling and paraphernalia involved in "baby movement" these days. When I took Jaysa home, I picked her up and held her in my lap while we drove home. Today's babies will never know how simple a ride in a car can be!

So Mike brought one car up and I brought the other, and the nurse who was certified in "car seats" came out to the front of the hospital and checked out the installations of our car seats. She gave us a passing grade...phew! Then I high-tailed it home with part of the loot the kids received while in the hospital, and Mike collected Jaysa and Ben and the rest of the goods.

I brought in my car load and got out some blankets and pillows and made Jaysa a bed on one of the couches so she wouldn't have to go upstairs to lie down. Dee was right on my heels every step of the way. She apparently sensed my excitement and kept checking the window for her parents to come home. Whenever Jaysa and Mike leave or return home, Dee is ALWAYS looking out the window for them.

When Dee finally spotted their car turning in the drive, she ran to the door to the garage and waited patiently. Mike was the first to receive her happy welcome home. Dee was beside herself when she saw that Mike had a baby. You see, Dee often spends time at her doggy-friend Olive's house. Olive has a baby at her house that was born a month before. Whenever Dee is around Olive's baby, Dee will not leave the baby's side. So seeing that Mike had a baby in his hands when he came home thrilled Dee to no end. She forgot that Mom and Dad had been missing for days and spent every effort she could to get next to that "Bay-Bay", which is how Dee pronounces the word baby.

Once everyone was in the door, Mike had a hard time getting his hands into the car seat to remove the baby as Dee's long snout was in the way.

When Jaysa tried to change the baby, guess who had to have a ring side seat? Yep, it was like an inspection of the goods around the house for the first few days until Dee finally realize this bay-bay wasn't going to escape.

I'd like to say Dee missed her mom so much she wouldn't let her out of her sight, but I'd be lying.

Whoever had Dee's Bay-Bay in the next few weeks, had Dee, either under their feet, or nuzzled up as close to the Bay-Bay as Dee could get.

To Hell And Back

So much happened when I got back from being with Jaysa and Mike for Ben's birth that I never really got to post about the time period from Ben's birth to well after Raymond and Jessie moved to the retirement community in Sherman. So I'm going to go back and catching up on the posts I would've made if I had not had so much going on.

The day Jaysa went into labor, she and I were at lunch and she was having "cramps" which I started timing at 22 minutes apart. I said I thought she might be in labor, but she said she thought she was cramping due to having just had a vaginal exam at the doctor's office.

Well...the cramps kept coming and got about 10 mins apart before we got smart and realized "yes...she's in LABOR!" So I drove us home, which was 20 mins heading in the wrong direction. We got her stuff rounded up, called Mike, and then waited for the contractions to get closer together.

When we all got settled in at the hospital, we were in high spirits thinking this was going to go quick and smooth. Mike got his doctor-garb on and prepared to deliver the baby. He even gave us a little jig to show his happiness.

I decided to get some exercise myself, and proceeded to show Jaysa and Mike my rendition of Snoopy Sale's "Flee Hop" dance. We were almost innocent in our belief this was going to be a breeze...

Then we waited...and waited...and waited. About 8 pm we started to realize this was going to take more effort than we thought.

Jaysa was tired of having contractions since about 11 o'clock that morning and she got a little sleep before the real business got at hand. Mike watched her adoringly, appearing as if he could take away some of the burden of the contractions just through breathing with her.

The night was drawing to a close and the doctor expressed his concern that Ben was caught with his head sideways, and that no matter how much longer Jaysa and Mike tried, Ben would not be born without a Cesarean section. This was disappointing news, but after pushing for so long with no results, Jaysa and Mike were ready to put their trust in the doctor.

We had arrived on Feb 16th, fresh and ready for this adventure. It was almost the next day when the nurse and doctor took Jaysa down the hall and into the delivery room.

Mike followed Jaysa's bed down the long hall and into the delivery room. I got this last shot of Mike from the window in the door. I was not allowed to go with them past the door to the last hall.

I do not have the words to convey how lonely I was at my post in that hallway. No one was there, just me and the door. I stood guard and prayed. It had only been less than a year since Lily's birth and that birth taught me the power of prayer. So there I was left, and there I stood, leaning against that door all by myself and praying. I didn't stop until the doctor came out and told me all was well at about 2 a.m.

The doctor said Mike and the baby had gone further down that hallway and into the nursery, and that I could see the baby if I went down to the window outside the nursery and knocked. I did as directed and the curtains opened, and there was the most glorious sight. Ben was worn out from all the commotion and Mike looked like he was ready for another delivery if needed!

I walked back to the room we started out in, sat myself down, and cried and cried for about 45 minutes. I couldn't stop. I never told anyone until this moment. I guess it was just all the emotion of the day and night that just were all balled up inside. I'm sure it was an "ugly cry" as Oprah describes the red-eyed, red-faced, swollen lid look she so often has. I think it had something to do with Ben not having to have tubes and machines attached to him as Lily did those first 7 days of her life. Whatever it was, here I was a grandma with a perfectly healthy little grandchild and I couldn't stop bawling my eyes out!

I made sure no one got a picture of me with Ben until I could get cleaned up and calmed down later that morning. I look so calm, it's hard for even me to believe I was so helplessly emotional just a short while before.

What Comes Around Goes Around

Raymond and Jessie are living it up in their new retirement community. One of the things that spurred their decision to move was that Pop had to give up driving. The roads were getting too crowded for him so he decided to give it up.

When I was out in California in April, Betty told me she shipped her pickup truck from Houston to Sonoma for only $500. This turned out to be such good information when Jessie and Raymond generously gifted Jenn and Richard with their 99 Olds Alero. Considering how much gas, time, food and lodging would be involved in driving the little Go-Mobile out to San Diego, $500 in shipping turned out to be the cheapest way to get it to them.

So, after a lot of coordination between Jenn, Carmen the account at the company, Robert the driver of the truck transporting the car to San Diego, and me, I drove the little Go-Mobile to I-35 in Temple yesterday and met Robert for pickup. The Go-Mobile was quickly loaded up and Robert was on his way to pick up other autos.

As you can see Pop took great care of the little car, and with only 43,927 actual miles, Jenn and the kids should get many years of cruising comfort. I'm a sap for a heartwarming story, so I have to admit I shed a few tears thinking of how this truly is a gift that will keep on giving. You see, Jessie and Raymond had a best friend Michael who was more or less their brother in everything but blood. Michael bought the Go-Mobile in 99 brand new. He had it less than a year when he decided the car would be perfect for Jessie and Raymond. So Michael bought a 2000 Alero and gifted the Go-Mobile to Jessie and Raymond. What came around to them now is going 'round to Jenn and the kids.

I think Michael is smiling down from Heaven and would approve of the Go-Mobile's new adventure.

Creepy Crawlers In The Southern Grocery Store

I went to the HEB the other day and walked by a mess-o-crawlers...crawdads that is. I couldn't believe they were selling them right in the meat department! Yuck. I've never eaten these things, but have heard Gampy tell his tale of sucking the meat out of them at a crawdad feed in New Orleans years ago.

I realize this post would've been a lot more entertaining if I had taken a picture of my face as I stared at this mess in the store that day. I think they look a lot like the Palmetto bugs (really just great big roaches) that ran around outside at night in the summertime when I lived in Mississippi in the 60's.

Spin, Spin, Spin...Slots And Other Tales Of Woe

Excuse us if we seem a little tired and worn out these days. We've been making trips up to Sherman (4-hour drives each way) every other weekend or so for some time now. Last weekend Bill took Thursday and Friday off and we drove up Thursday then drove back Saturday afternoon so we could get some work done around the house on Sunday.

While in Sherman, Friday night we took an opportunity to drive 20 minutes just over the state border into Oklahoma and gambled at the new Choctaw casino. We first rounded up a cast of characters and headed out , Pop being the first in line. I don't think he even knew where we were headed, just going somewhere makes him happy. Darla and Harold, Bill and I were the rest of the pack.
Jessie chose to stay home, but before we left she handed me a $20 bill and said to play for her. She admitted later that she truly thought she'd kissed that $20 goodbye! When we got to the casino, Darla and I tried to determine when to bet Jessie's money...but we got distracted by the lights and machines and wandered off from each other. I put Jessie's money in a different pocket, determined to deal with it later.

Well, after 2 hours and quite a few $20's later, Darla and I met up with the guys and discussed supper. It was 11 pm, but we'd all skipped food in anticipation of our dreams of big winnings, now our stomachs were starting to grumble. "Wait" I said, "I have Jessie's $20 still...how do we bet it?" Well, Darla had a $10 new member's voucher she put in, and I had about $8 in "cash out" coupons I got when I cashed out of some machines. So we put it all together and sat down at a Wheel-Of-Fortune slot machine and vowed to win big or go broke trying.

Even though it was only a 5-cent machine, there were so many lines that the maximum bet came out to $1.50 for each spin of the lever. As we spun, we got more and more into it. I remember at some point Darla kissing the machine before we could spin, and both of us yelling "Spin...Spin...Spin" as the spin buttons popped up on the machine. If you got 3 spins in a row, you got to go to the "Wheel...Of...Fortune"...YAY! We made it there about 5 times, trying to get the big 1000x the payout. It was VERY exciting times. We only made it to 50x, then 125x, then 50x again...well, you get the picture. We developed a big crowd around us, including Pop, Harold, and Bill. We all 5 took turns hitting the spin button, the MAX bet button, and we all yelled at the same time "Spin...Spin...Spin" to get the gods to let us go on to the Wheel. It seemed like a lot of money was coming our way, but then Harold pointed out that even 125x on a 5-cent machine wasn't really big money! Betting 3 nichols per line made it 15 cents times 50x...well, you do the math.

The guys wanted to eat and were rapidly losing interest. We had about $135 in the balance sheet, so Harold suggested we quit while we were ahead. "Just let us hit the big one" we whined. Hmmm, like that's going to happen...so we agreed to stop when we got down to $100. At $102, we kept our word (well, maybe it was more like we were forced to) and cashed out. Darla and I split $51 and when we got home, Jessie could hardly believe it when I handed over $51 to her.

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby!

Can it possibly be a year today since Lily was born? Wow, time flies. To this day, I can't look at pictures from the first few days after her birth without crying. It was a rough start, but Jaimee will tell you it's hard to tell that she suffered such a traumatic birth.

Lily is getting to be a big girl, losing her baby-ness. Her jeans still need one little roll-up on the hem, but otherwise, she's a big girl now.

She can walk if she wants to, but still clings to furniture and such, just for that little bit of assurance. Any day now I'll bet she forgets to grab something and, just like that, she'll be a full-blown toddler.

She's happy go lucky and loves her family and dogs. Mama better watch out, or real soon just like me, she'll be wondering where her baby went.

It looks like basketball will be Lily's favorite sport. If we're lucky she'll take after her mother and hit 6 feet at age 13. With Jaimee's support, she may become famous for her moves with the ball...for now, they're just too cute for anything but smiles! Here's Lily's mother around 13. I wonder if she will look like Jaimee when she reaches that age?

For now, everyone says she looks the most like her Gampy Bill. Do you see the similarities? Jaimee says it cracks her up when strangers go on and on about how much Lily looks like Gampy. Yeah, she should...except, Gampy is her step-grandfather. But, Gampy was there through all the labor and fuss and muss. He was there day and night, and day again -- in the room until he got thrown out by the midwife -- and then, right outside the door all night, pacing back and forth and emailing updates to the family members who weren't able to be there. How in the world did it happen that Lily looks so much like her Gampy? The only possible answer is love makes all things possible.

We love you Lily! Happy Birthday Baby.

The Softer Side Of Tuck

Tucker is getting to that stage where he's not a baby any more, but hasn't quite lost the wonder of the baby stage. I will miss the softer side when it's gone, so thought I'd put a few pictures up here in order to remember this stage.

As you can see, playing soldier or warrior with his brother is an exciting game. But there are still times when his fellow soldiers come with a softer exterior.

I'm betting 3 years from now, Tucker won't be caught dead with this mask on his head. But, it will be a great picture to show his teenage crush...

As you can see, he's still at the stage where he's not too cool to fail and get up and try again. May he never lose the spirit he shows in this picture.

And, thank God the Easter Bunny still holds his interest. Losing Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are still in his future, but for now, may they stay at the top of his list of people to see.

You Gotta Wanta..Real Bad

The sun is shining now and the temperature will be in the high 70's today. It's hard to remember those cold chilly mornings back in early February when Jaysa, Mike, Dee and I were spending a lot of time at home waiting for little Ben to arrive. One morning Jay, Dee and I were hungry, but the weather outside was 'frightful' as the song Baby, It's Cold Outside goes.


Still, you have to eat...and when we talked about food, Dee really perked up! Well, as usual, no one wanted to cook at that time of the day. So after much looking outside and dreading getting into snow gear, we bit the bullet and decided to go make our usual run.

Jay might not look it, but she was actually happy to be getting out since she is the least likely to want to be the cook. I was really impressed with her gear. Actually, I was glad to see she didn't hold fashion over comfort when she got dolled up for our trip! Need a closer look at those boots? Here you go...

If you're wondering how cold it was that day, here's a shot of the street outside. Yes, it's a winter wonderland, but when you're over 9 months pregnant, the ice can be treacherous. Luckily, Mike is a wonderful hubby and had shoveled all the snow before he left for work. You can see by the sidewalk that we had about 4 inches of snow after he left for work.

Well, off we went with Dee gleefully observing the cold snow without having to put a paw down in it. She is usually happy for the first 2 blocks. Then, when we got into other traffic on the main road, she would get less secure.

Our first stop, at Mickey D's, was for 2 diet cokes and 2 bacon, egg and cheese biscuits. Dee perked up while we were at the speaker in the drive-thru. She knew she would be getting a good part of both biscuits!

While we were safe and warm in Jaysa's go-mobile, I got a shot of the poor geese huffing and puffing their way thru the sky.

After leaving McDonalds, Dee got scared again and hit the floorboards...literally! She hates trucks for some unknown reason, especially garbage trucks.

So, we continued our journey with one passenger cowering on the floor...

You would think a pile of junk food from Mickey D's would be enough for us, but you would be wrong. We made one other stop before we made it home, some place really nutritious and good for you.

Not everybody knows how to party like a 9 and a half month pregnant person, but her mother does... Here's our take for the morning. Wow, who knew you could get Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin Doughnut treats in one building???