HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

MOM DOING WHAT SHE LOVED BEST....WORKING IN THE GARDEN

THIS WAS AT LARA'S IN JUNE OF 2006






RIB DINNER AT UP NORTH LODGE 2006

















BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH NELL MCDONALD(HER 100TH/JUNE 2007)



















MOM AT MY COUSIN BETH'S HOUSE DURING BARBARA'S VISIT 7/2007










Well, today is Mom's birthday. She would have been 93 today. Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of her death. I thought about her a lot today. Took time to journal this morning, I somehow wanted my thoughts recorded, to be tangible, not just fleeting. It is so hard to believe that it has already been a year. The months have flown by.

These crazy times right now...all this economic upheaval, boy have I thought about my Mom through these days. I can hear her so clearly..."I told you this would happen. There is no way people could keep living the way they have. You thought I didn't know anything. Now you see. And believe me things are going to get worse! You young people have no idea how hard things can be, no idea. Buying on credit and not having a pot to p... in. This was bound to happen." Boy was she right.

I haven't taken to washing out my Ziploc bags yet, but I did do an inventory of my pantry. You betcha! I took everything out, cleaned the shelves, made a list of everything I had and how many. I don't have to buy pickle relish for at least 2 years. Does anyone need yellow mustard?
Anyway, I took stock of what I have and then made menus to fit the ingredients available. I am no longer going shopping and buying lots of meat to re wrap and put in the freezer only to discard it 9 months later because I forgot it was in there. I am planning my shopping trips and errands so I do as much as I can in one day and not waste gas. I am walking to the bank, the library the drugstore the mailbox. Believe it or not there is a little more of EVA in me! She would be proud, she always thought I was so wasteful and such a spendthrift. And we are actually eating leftovers. I am no longer using the old method of packing them up and then waiting until they are spoiled/moldy and tossing therefore "alleviating" guilt. Last week it was split pea soup, this week there is chicken soup in the makings. Is this really me?

Tonight I would just like to thank my Mother for all of her sacrifices, all of her hard work, all those times she stuck to her punishments. I appreciate everything she did and the spirit with which she did it. I would not be who I am today. Each of you who knew her, loved her, depended on her would not be who you are either. She touched many of us if only for a moment.

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same." Flavia

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you and miss you. (Remember though....now we have baby Eva!)

Until next time....always, Kathleen

What's Not to Love?

Mom(Lara), Dad(Brian) and Evelyn on her Christening Day. Dress made by Grandma Rice.












Bath time is a happy time!










Watching CNN(can you tell?)


















Out for a stroll with Grandma "P"












Here are some recent shots of "Miss Evelyn". Tom and I were able to spend a week in her company. It was wonderful. She is a happy and very content baby. Seldom cries, often smiles and laughs. I know she is my Grandchild and you may think I am a bit partial, but seriously, what's not to love? Isn't she beautiful?

Lara has been back to work for almost 3 weeks now. She and Brian hate leaving Evelyn, but she is in the very loving and capable care of Grandma and Grandpa Rice. How lucky could she and them be? No worries about whether or not her needs are being meant. Shirley(Grandma Rice) has been sending me photos of Evelyn a couple of times this week...just to help me with the pain of withdrawal.

I feel bad that we live so far apart. It will be a challenge to develop and maintain a relationship with Evelyn from so far away. There is nothing like frequent and close contact to have that specialness develop. But, I am here, and she is there and that is the reality. Just tonight Tom and I were out to dinner and I watched a toddler interacting with her Grandma. It made me sad to know that those times ,though possible for us, will be infrequent. I will probably only get to see her two or three times during that period of her life.
I only hope that as she gets older we really will have scheduled times with our web cams. Lara and I have done web cam calls about three times. Evelyn is still too little to understand, that the person on that screen(who looks a little blurry) singing that "zoo" song, is none other than her Grandma "P".

So for now I have to settle for the visits I can manage and hope they will be enough to form a connection that will last over the many years to come.

Until next time....always, Kathleen

Our Upper Penisula Visit

FIRST VIEW OF THE UPPER PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN FROM THE PLANE!
















IN FRONT OF OUR CABIN ON JOHNSON LAKE. EARLY MORNING WITH A FOG COMING OFF OF THE LAKE. QUIET AND BEAUTIFUL











VIEW ACROSS JOHNSON LAKE FROM OUR DOCK. SPECTACULAR!!!

Can't believe this is my first October post! Well, then again I can. We had a busy week in Gwinn. I didn't have access to my photos so I put off blogging.

I know you are surprised that my first blog is not filled with Evelyn's pictures. Well, I'm making you wait. Besides, I wanted you to see some of the beauty in Lara, Brian and Evelyn's home town. It was all the more appreciated by me when I had another "eye" episode. I have been having a problem called "Post Vitreous Detachment" since May. Another one of those "aging" things. The condition makes me at higher risk for a retinal detachment. My vision is effected for several days after an occurrence. Anyway, I saw my retinal specialist on Monday and things are resolving. I admit it is a very scary thing, the threat of loss of vision or impairment. I look at these photos and realize how blessed we all are to have the senses God has blessed us with. Beauty surrounds us every minute of every day and look how often we look past it. There we are ,"caught" up in where we are going or what we will be doing next. I am so guilty of forgetting to be PRESENT, forgetting to live in the now.

Anyway, these pictures where taken at Johnson Lake, a quick 5 minute ride from Lara and Brian's house. There were too many of us in town for Evelyn's baptism to stay at their house, so they found this lovely cabin for us. It was a great place to hang out. Sunday night Lara, Brian and Evelyn came over for the evening. Several of us got a Cribbage lesson from Brian. Evelyn entertained us with her cooing and laughing. Lara spread out Evelyn's photo shoots from WalMart and gave them out. We had dinner out and celebrated all of our birthdays since we were all together for a change. It was too short a visit as a family but it was a great reminder of how lucky we are to have one another. Next blog will center on you know who....

Until next time....always, Kathleen