Back to It

All right. Now I’m back. Guess that means that I should write a few words. Maybe more.

What’s been  happening?

Since I last wrote here over a year ago, we have added a new granddaughter to the family. She will be 2 in September. Even though she lives just an hour from us, we don’t see her very often. She and her parents are some of the busiest people I know, and the schedules just don’t mesh easily. But this weekend, we will be babysitting on Saturday morning. I am so looking forward to that. She has been sick a lot since she was born, but just recently had ear tubes put in both ears. From what I can tell, her development has now fast-tracked, and she is talking, happy and healthy. Finally.

One of the reasons our schedules are so crazy is that our youngest son and his wife, three daughters, dog, cat (and three hamsters) have been living here since last June. They have lived here in the past when times were tough. But this time, it is for a great reason. They are teaching in a local school, and are waiting to buy a home. The housing market here is tough, but they want to buy in the school district where they are working, so they are here until a house they can afford comes on the market. So far, nothing.

Our home is full, to say the least. It is crazy, for sure. The three girls are 6, 8 and 10. They have piano lessons, after school care, friends’ birthday party sleepovers, neighbor kids to play with, and just the normal hustle and bustle of three very active, intelligent, and happy girls. I feel so lucky to be able to watch this time of their lives. It is an age that I think is by far the best for kids. They are soaking up everything around them. They love to have real conversations. They are becoming aware of the world. And I am a witness to all of it.

Our oldest granddaughter has become especially close to Merle. She has started to help him with the cows and calves. We now have a herd of 13, and a few of them will be of an age that she might be able to show them at a county fair. She is waiting desperately to start the process of teaching them to be on a halter, and to learn how to groom them for a show. She loves to do anything possible with Grandpa (Bop) in order to spend time with him.

This past spring, my sister, niece, and my daughter-in-law (the one now living here, although she wasn’t at that time) took a trip together to France. Oh, we had a grand time! My daughter-in-law had never traveled abroad. We spent time in Paris, then took the bullet train to Provence, stayed in Avignon, St.-Remy, and then went to Nice. We had spectacular weather. We all got along fairly well, and saw some gorgeous sites. Four ladies in France. We never felt unsafe or bored. I will write more about it later, with some of the amazing photos. As this is a journal for me, I want to have those here, even if they might be boring to anyone else.

During the past summer, my sister (I guess I spent a lot of time with her this past year!), her husband, another couple who are their friends, and Merle and I rented travel trailers and went to Montana to “camp”. We were at Glacier National Park when the fires started. We smelled smoke and could see the light from the flames across the mountain range. There were record numbers of visitors to the Park, so it was also very crowded in the most popular areas. Our trailer was out of commission for most of the time, but overall, the trailer was a nice option vs. a tent for camping. I would have preferred a hotel or cabin, but reservations were impossible. We drove home, and within a few weeks the truck that pulled the trailer broke down. The engine was totally gone. The trailer must have been pretty tough on it.

I am still working, still not enjoying it. I got a pretty decent raise, so now I feel as though I have to stick it out for a bit longer. But the retirement talk is getting more serious. I expect that I will last until next year right around this time. Next decision is the house, but with it so full right now, it isn’t likely that we will need to do anything soon.

That’s it for now. I will have to fill in and catch up a bit more at a later time.

It’s amazing that what fills life on a day-to-day basis often seems so routine and boring. But looking back at the last year or so that I was not blogging, it seems that we were doing some fun things.

Maybe that’s why time seems to have gone by so fast.

 

 

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