Me too

My co-workers are cool

. . . or at least one of them is.

Remember when I brought Audrey to work for "Take Your Kid To Work Day" and she set up her own office?

A week or so ago someone dropped a piece of paper in her "notes" folder. The paper illustrated how to make an origami bear. How cute! Audrey loved it.

On a whim, I took a piece of pink (of course!) paper and simply wrote "Thanks!" and put it in the same folder.

To my surprise and delight, there was another note this morning that read, "You're Welcome! Here's Another." Audrey can make a penguin now when I bring this home.

I would love to know who's doing this . . . or maybe not. It's so sweet.

All that glitters is good

The fairies are still very active in our house (although not nearly as active as Audrey would like).

They recently popped by with these cute little glittery books. Too bad mommies don't ever get fairy gifts (hint hint you guys! Mommies love glittery things!)

If you look closely, you'll see a poof of pink glittery stuff on top of the note they left . . . pixie dust. She had an ear infection requiring antibiotics last week. The fairies wanted to make sure she didn't miss another day of school. She was instructed to sprinkle the pixie dust on top of her ear.

Worked like a charm!!

Happy birthday, Dad!

Today is May 11th. Today would have been my Dad's 80th birthday. Today, I would have called him and sung Happy Birthday over the phone or something silly. But I couldn't. Well, I could have, but then someone might have threatened to have me join Mom in the assisted living facility.

It's a good thing I was busy/distracted at work today so I didn't have to think about it too much. Although, every time I wrote (yes, I still write with a pen occasionally) or typed the date, it was a stark reminder.

In typical Dad fashion, he had been planning his own 80th birthday party for many months -- at least six or eight months ago. And it was supposed to be a surprise party. That was always very confusing for us since he was telling everyone about his "party on May 8th at Meyer's Tavern". "How is this a surprise party?" we would ask. "Don't worry. I'll act surprised," he would reply.

We always knew we would have this party. What we didn't know was that he wasn't going to actually BE there to enjoy it. I guess the surprise was on us.

So, after his accident and spending several days watching vigil over Dad in the ICU, I remember saying, "Don't worry, Dad. We'll still have your party." Heather and Linda quickly joined in and agreed and we all laughed. It was the kind of laughter that was way out of proportion for the situation. You know, when you just need something to smile about because nothing seems all that great in your life at the time. . . . and you're just sick of crying. Less than an hour later, my Dad's very strong heart beat for the last time.

We later joked that Dad must have been waiting around to make sure that we were still going to have his party . . . he was free to go after he was assured that his plans would not be altered.

We had that party on Saturday, May 8th. It was not earth shattering. It was simple gathering and just what he would have wanted. I sang more karaoke that night than I have in the past 5 years -- because that's what Dad would have wanted.

And thanks to Heather, I only cried once during the party. She wrote a beautiful poem about her Grandpa. (oh yeah, need to get a copy of that!)

The evening was a celebration of a wonderful man's life. A man who lived every moment to the fullest . . . even when we all thought he should settle down a bit. I guess he knew better. I need to embrace that attidue a bit more in my life.

Love you Dad!!! Thanks for watching out for Mom. She's enjoying her visits with you.

Adorable Mother's Day Card

My favorite line?

" . . . she's so close to the star of the show" followed very closely by the the very last line.

Mom

On this Mother's Day Eve, I thought I'd share a few thoughts about my mom.

She's currently suffering from at least Stage 3 Alzheimer's (not exactly sure which stage she's in but it's up there.) Her condition seems to have worsened since Dad's passing. I'm not sure if that's a coincidence or if we're just all noticing it more now. Or could it be because everything that was once normal in her life has been taken away from her? Dad was definitely making things seem much more "normal" than we realized.

I continue to thank God and our lucky stars that Mom remains a very happy, sunny person. She was always a kind-hearted and loving soul and thankfully her sweet nature continues to manifest itself even through this horrible disease.

She's been regressing a bit lately. She's "having babies" and "getting married" but since those were all happy times in her life, why wouldn't she want to relive them?

On my last visit with her, I tried to take a few photos. It's extremely difficult to get her to focus and look into the camera lens.

Here's my first attempt.



She likes to hold onto a "hanky" most of the time so I dug one out for her. To my surprise instead of blowing her nose, she put it on her head!! Well . . . okay! We'll just go with it.

One more try at a picture. We're getting closer . . .

And here she is, all smiles, holding her "baby." I guess that's what she needed.

And to be honest, she talked more to the baby than she did to me while I visited. I think she finds comfort there. It's challenging for her to carry on a conversation . . . her thoughts just drift away from her. I imagine talking to a baby is much more relaxing.

I wish I could get inside her head for a day to see what it is like for her. I can't even imagine.

I sent her boxes of treats for Mother's Day in the mail. I'm sure she has no idea what they are or who gave them to her. She's likely to make up a good story about the pretty boxes, though.

She's happy. And she sees Dad all of the time. And that makes me happy.

I love you Mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Audrey's Exercise plan

Teacher Audrey

Audrey has been very busy lately.

She has also decided that her sister isn't all that awful anymore. I'm not exactly sure what what prompted her change in attitude, but I like it. This morning when I went to wake the girls up for school, I found BOTH of them sleeping in Vivian's bed! Audrey snuggled in beside Vivian.

Upon further investigation, I learned that Audrey had a bad dream about Vivian (something about Audrey going crazy and trying to hurt her) and she woke up so upset that she wanted to be close to her. Awww. Just recalling the story brought Audrey to tears.

Two days ago, Audrey decided that she needed to teach Vivian how to read. That, combined with the fact that apparently they're learning all about Microsoft Word in school, prompted her to type up several worksheets for Vivian to work on. They are provided below.

I think Vivian lasted about 10 minutes.

And never made it past the first worksheet.

Audrey's 1st Communion!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate Audrey's First Communion on Saturday, May 1st.

It was so special that even the President came to town! We could hear Marine One flying overhead at one point during the ceremony.

Audrey was over-the-top excited about getting her First Communion. She looked stunningly gorgeous on her special day.

Fr. Jim gave an lovely homily while he quizzed all of the communicants on their knowledge of the Mass parts. Audrey correctly answered one of the questions! Whew.

And we all settled in for some heaping piles of Chinese Food at Asia City down the street. We were given a place of honor on the stage. How did they know?

The parties continued in Ohio later on Saturday and then on Sunday when my nephew Paul also celebrated HIS first communion. A combined party was held for both kiddos. It was a windy day but we managed to have fun in spite of the threatening rain. Curt was the grill master for the event. I failed to get a picture of that. I guess I was too busy cutting vegetables and blowing up balloons. Good times.