October Visit

My grandparents came to visit last week. My Uncle Rick (who lives in Tucson, AZ) had been traveling on the East Coast doing a college visit with his youngest daughter, and was good enough to fly to Minnesota after he sent his daughter home so that he could do the driving for his parents. Grandpa doesn't drive anymore, and Grandma could drive, but it's just nice to have another driver along, especially one that's younger. 

When my sister Chandra found out that the folks were coming for a visit, she asked my mom if she and her baby could come stay at the house for a few days. We both love having Chandra around, so we were both delighted. Chan packed up her stuff and all of her baby's gear and came over. Grandma, Grandpa and Rick were all happy to see her, and were especially thrilled to meet Christian. He's pretty cute, so I can see why. :) (Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Rick with Chandra or her baby. I just noticed that.)

Our visit was short, but fun. My mom and Grandma did the crossword puzzle in the newspaper every day, of course, since they been doing that as long as I can remember. I think my mom, uncle and grandparents are all extremely smart, so I was amazed at what they know. I sat in my room working on my computer and listened to all of them working on the puzzle. I piped up with a few answers. The three questions I knew were Amy Winehouse's 2008 song ("Rehab"), singer of the 90's hits "I Do" and "Stay" (Lisa Loeb) and something about the makeup brand Sephora. I told them to leave the superficial and trivial knowledge to me! ;)

We also went out to lunch to Ruby Tuesday. I decided to just get the cheese fries appetizer. It was a plate of fries with spicy queso cheese sauce on top, topped with shredded cheese and bacon on top of that. It was good, but I probably wouldn't order it again. Or if I did, I would want my fries on a separate plate, because they got too soggy under all that queso cheese sauce. It was still good, though, and fun to try. I only ate half (or less), so everyone got to try them.

After lunch we went to the cemetery where my dad is buried. Rick had never been there, so we stopped by on the way home since it's only five minutes from my house. I love the cemetery where my dad is buried because it is so beautiful and peaceful. The weather was gorgeous that day, so we took some pictures. We tried to find some shade since it was so sunny and we didn't want to be all squinty-eyed.

Here are some other pics from the visit from my grandma:

Grandpa and his newest great grandson

We also watched the Democratic debate on CNN together, as well as a couple of the Cardinals' playoff games. Unfortunately, we lost to the Cubs, but I suppose I'll still cheer for the Cubs, should they make it to the World Series. It's been since 1908 since they won a World Series championship, after all, so I think they're due for a win! I'm not as much of a Cubs hater as most people in St. Louis are, even though there is a big rivalry between the Cardinals and the Cubs.

I'm grateful for another fun visit with family. I think it's important to take advantage of opportunities like this, since none of us will be around forever...especially my grandparents, who are in the "sunset" of their lives. With any luck there will be more fun times in the spring; hopefully with my other uncle, Steve, and his wife, Jackie.

Christian: One Month Old

I wanted to make a quick post about sweet Christian. He is now one month old, as of yesterday. The time has gone quickly! He is adorable and doesn't cry much, except when he's hungry, needs a diaper change or when he has gas. Other than that, he is very happy and mellow. He's started smiling in the past few days, which is a very sweet site to behold. It's SO nice to have a nephew living close by that I'm able to see so often and watch grow up. I love him!

*Chan crocheted the beautiful baby afghan that Christian is lying on in these pictures. She did a great job!

Mom's birthday

My mom's birthday was last Friday. We didn't do anything super exciting to celebrate, but it was just great to spend another day with my BFF. We ran a lot of errands…I got a flu shot, I went to the dollar store to pick out the Halloween cards to send to my nieces and nephews, I had an appointment at the eye doctor and then afterwards my mom and I went out for an early dinner at Popeyes. For years I've seen their commercials on TV, and I've always wanted to eat there because their food always looks so good on TV! There has never been a Popeyes restaurant close to my house, but one recently opened up about 15 minutes away, so we decided to go.

Chandra was able to meet us there, and she brought Christian with her. The first picture below is what my mom got (chicken, red beans and rice and a biscuit) and below that is what I got (three chicken tenders, Cajun fries and a biscuit). We also tried a variety of the sauces that Popeyes offers. We thought the food was pretty good. I liked the chicken, but next time I would probably just get the mild chicken instead of the spicy, since most of the sauces were spicey enough.

This sweet little guy was so good and just slept the entire time we were there.

I'm so grateful that I have such a great mom. She takes excellent care of me—something I'm extremely grateful for, especially since SO many people in my same situation can't say the same. Our life probably doesn't seem very exciting to most people, but not only do we make the best of it, we actually have a lot of fun together, even while doing the monotonous daily caregiving/care receiving, and not-so-fun things like going to doctor's appointments. We have a great life, mostly because we get to spend our lives with each other. Happy birthday, Mom!