14 Hours and a Story

So yesterday was a ROAD TRIP day! 7 hours of driving, then 7 hours of visiting..........and it was completely worth it.

Here's the story:

Lindy and I (along with baby Paxton) drove down to Anaheim for the day to visit our [maternal] Grandma. I've been thinking of her extra lately and really felt an urge for a visit. Left the kids at home with Tucker (thanks hun!) so as not to overwhelm Grandma.

Grandma was in good spirits and happy to see us.

I LOVE to go to her house. She's lived there for over 40 years, so her house is a huge part of my life.

Grandma is the queen of silly faces.

After we arrived, we chatted for a while. I showed her some pictures and blogs, which she loved.

Grandma could not believe how many pictures I was taking. She was trying to hide.

She's kept saying "are you taking MORE pictures?"

She finally said "fine. take all the pictures you want!" and started shaking her booty at me. I'm totally serious.

When I could tell Grandma's blood sugar was running low, we packed up and headed for Marie Callendar's. She had collected 6 pie tins from over the years, and we took them with us to get the $ .50 return credit per tin!

On the drive, I put in one of her CD's (which my mother gave her). It was Bette Midler singing Rosemary Clooney songs, which she LOVED. She got so into it, she was dancing and singing. One song in particular "This Ole House" she was tapping her hands to the beat and really getting into it.

Lunch was so yummy. Although I think we were all full after the just the yummy cornbread (especially Grandma's small stomach)!

"Hmmm, which pie do you want Grandma?". She finally decided on the Chocolate Silk.

We dug into the pie when we got back to her house. "Open wide!". This picture is fun and it was actually Grandma's idea. She loved the pie so much, and she actually sprayed even more whipped cream on top!

The funniest part. I walked over as she was cutting up the pie ad noticed lots of the chocolate crust all over the counter. She was picking it off the pie, so I said "Grandma, what are you doing?". She said "well, they gave me a pie with burnt crust! I don't want this burnt stuff!!". I started laughing so hard and explained to her it was OREO crust! Oh, she laughed about that the rest of the day.

Grandma and Lindy

Grandma couldn't get enough of BIG Paxton. She snuggled and kissed him.

See what I mean about silly faces! I can hardly get a serious pic of her!

I took a few pictures of things I love about and around Grandma's house. Things that have ALWAYS been there, but as I get older I realize they won't always BE there......................................................

Grandma has a green thumb. Every time I have visited in my life, she talks about her flowers, or her tomato plants or her trees. This is her little nursery out back. In fact, I have a little palm tree in a pot on my front porch, which she broke off one of her palms and gave me last year.

Grandma has ALWAYS had ice cream in her fridge. ALWAYS. Now she is really into Dibs and usually has three cartons at once. When I was little, there was usually Neopolitan. I never understood this because I thought "why would you pick strawberry or vanilla when you could have chocolate?"

These scissors have hung in this scissor-holder on the wall in the kitchen for as long as I can remember. I've never seen anything like this anywhere else, but it sure comes in handy!

This Dixiecup dispenser is at least 30 years old. I has ALWAYS had cups in it and when we were little, Grandma and Andy would constantly say "don't leave all your cups all over the place! try to only use one and put your name on it!". I'm sure, as kids, we'd go through 10 a day each! She'd always buy fun Disney ones for us. I love that she still has this.

This is her living room window, from the outside. What a unique window! Again, this has been there my whole life and it is such a signature part of Grandma's house. I wish I could take it with me when she's gone!

This bench has also been on her front porch for as long as I can rememeber. I can VAGUELY remember it not being there, so it's probably been over 20 years. Andy (my "step" grandpa...married to my Grandma since I was born....who passed away 5 years ago last month) brought it home from one of the schools he was a custodian at and he spent 70% of his life here! He'd sit there and smoke his cigarrettes, talk to all the neighbors and watch the grandkids go in and out. I still see him sitting here in my mind as clear as if it were real.

Oh my gosh. This curling iron. It belongs to my Aunt Kelly, who is 10 years older than me. I remember being little and seeing her curl her pretty long blonde hair with this CORDLESS curling iron. I though it was so cool! It has a outlet in back that she'd plug it in and warm it up, then she'd sit on her bed and curl her hair. It is at least 20 years old.

And her front door. Yet another thing that's been this way (even with the bells hanging) for "as long as I can remember!". I love the stained glass, it's so unique.

And finally, here's Becky. She's probably 7 years old. She is my Grandma's constant companion. I am so happy she has Becky. Andy adopted Becky not too long before he died, and thank goodness he did.



My grandma is a strong soul. She is a giving, loving, nurturing person. She has 6 children, she is the oldest of 11 children. She has taught me so much. It's hard to see her aging and changing. She will be 80 next year. I have so much love and respect for her. It was so great to spend a few fun and happy hours with her. It has become much too few and far between.

I LOVE YOU GRANDMA!