Great-Grandma

We said goodbye to Great Grandma (Mabel) this weekend. She was a neat lady in many ways. She was a Norskie down to her toes, and always spoke with a thick accent. She used to swear in Norwegian when she was upset, and always referred to my mom as "Dee-bbie" instead of "Debbie". Cute!!


I know she's with Great Grandpa now, where she has wanted to be since he passed in 1997. I have been so lucky in my life to have grandparents and great-grandparents; what a wonderful bunch of memories I can carry with me.


My favorite memories of her will always include:


- getting sugar cubes from her "special dish" in the kitchen
- watching 4th of July fireworks from her front porch
- the dirty jokes she & Great Grandpa used to tell (even in their 80's!)
- her chewing tobacco habit
- her love of mums
- the Cracker Jacks & Hershey Bar she always gave us for Halloween
- how she said "uff dah" - with that thick accent of hers

Look Who's....70! 60!

February brings with it a bevy of birthdays - too many to list, really! But there were two in particular that I celebrated this year - Joan, who turned 70, and Charlie, who turned 60!

Joan Paulson, Charlie Chalberg

These dear friends of mine are wonderful human beings, and I miss them every day now that I don't live in Forest Lake. Charlie, of course, is my "sweetheart" and once-upon-a-time landlord. Joan is my all-time favorite substitute teacher. Both are drinking buddies, mentors, and above all, friends.

Heather & I threw a birthday bash for the two of them in mid-February. In conjunction with the teacher's regular pay day celebration, we acknowledged these landmark birthdays.

Beverages consumed, wishes extended, we had a wonderful time, and made sure Charlie & Joan did, too! (Heather did the honors of cutting into the birthday cake!)

Valentine's Continues

So for once in my life, I actually had someone special to spend Valentine's Day with - someone other than my cat. Jarad & I had dinner at my place on Saturday - I made steak stroganoff - then watched Charlie Brown's Valentine's Day Special, exchanged funny cards and candy, and went ice skating at the Depot in downtown Minneapolis.

It was a great evening, made even more special by the beautiful roses Jarad gave me. I've never gotten flowers from a romantic interest before - and four days later, I woke up to the sun shining through the bedroom window, and the roses looking like this:


And I thought, what a beautiful reminder of a wonderful day. And suddenly I get it - why my friends like getting flowers from their sweeties. It isn't about the flowers - it's about the way the flowers remind you of someone special, and what that person means to you.

In my case, I smiled immediately after opening my eyes and seeing this gorgeous sight. It made me think of my sweetie.

Warm fuzzies?

Darn right.

Old Me, Woe Is Me

Yes, I have now completely gone over the edge from just feeling old into official old-person-dom. I received this:

Apparently I now qualify for AARP membership - aren't I lucky? Jesus H.

The Card Lady

I had the great fortune to be welcomed to a stranger's home for SuperBowl Sunday last weekend, and after having a wonderful time, wrote them a thank-you card. It has prompted some discussion & thought...

So I was explaining to my new squeeze that I'm the Card Lady. It's a weird moniker, I know, but I do like to randomly send cards out to people for no real reason. It's just a thing I do. But it got me to thinking about thank-you cards, and birthday cards, and anniversary cards...you know, cards for specific occasions or reasons. Old-fashioned fun, or waste of money in this digital age?

Personally, I am completely tickled to get "fun" mail in my mailbox - as in, "What is this? Something other than a bill!?" It can totally brighten my day! It doesn't have to be anything fancy, but just to know someone took the time to send me something - it's awesome!! So I try to make others feel that way by sending random things in the mail...I send comic strips to my brothers, stickers to my niece, thinking-of-you cards to friends, etc.

And I grew up in a household where thank-you cards were required; they were not optional. I remember my mom laying out cards, envelopes, & stamps for all of us after a birthday or holiday. They were part and parcel of what we did - no question. Where did this go astray? So many people are surprised when I send a thank-you card that I wonder, am I the only one left who sends them?

Anyway, it's a quirky thing about me, for sure, but one I'm not going to get rid of anytime soon. In fact, my "secret Santa" gift from a coworker at TCF was a box of blank, embossed, all-occasion cards and a pack of glitter gel pens - how perfect for me!!

So, coming to mailboxes near you soon...just maybe, a little somethin' from Di!!

Irony

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28730370

I find it ironic that this schmuck decides to throw a shoe at the "oppressor", the US (or our leader, anyway), and now is seeking asylum because his actions aren't okay with his own government. Not that Iraq is oppressive or anything. Right?

That First-Date Rush

Remember that first-date rush? That whole, who-is-this-person and how-will-we-hit-it-off feeling? Kind of scary, kind of exciting, all rolled into one?

Well, yours truly had a most excellent coffee date on Sunday. With a guy. A cute one. And I'm pumped.

So this is someone I met on e-harmony. He's a 32-year-old MN guy, lives in the southern suburbs, works in sales for a siding company. We have a lot of interests in common, but he also does some things that are very different from me. We both enjoy traveling, photography, and exploring the Twin Cities. He has a Brady-bunch type family like mine, so he "gets" that whole cluster of stuff. His mom is a teacher, so he really understands all my drama with that profession.

On the flip side, he has musical talent (I got nothin'). He plays in a band - guitar - for fun, in his spare time. He digs non-fiction, which is cool since I seldom venture far from bodice-ripping/vampire/sci-fi/spy novels.

We extended our coffee date into breakfast, and then made plans to get together again this weekend. Yay! My optimism renewed, I find myself riding the first-date rush even today. It's good being single sometimes - I forget that a lot!