Fave photo of the week

Aunts galore!

Bubby and Megan with the great-aunts, aunts and Nonny-Grandma.

Today's question:

How many siblings do you have?

My answer: Above on the couch with Megan and Bubby are three of my four sisters. I also have two brothers. All seven of us are immediate siblings -- no step. (Although there are a couple step on both sides but they don't really count because we were all adults by that time and we never have contact with one another.)

Gimme an "M"

During my visit with Bubby, he made it quite clear that he'd aced the child development stage related to object permanance: He knows an object exists even though he can't see it.

And when it comes to some of his favorite objects, Bubby dramatically expresses his sadness that his beloved this or that is existing somewhere other than right there by his side. Be it a toy, animal or loved one, Bubby lowers his head, scrunches his eyes ever so slightly and in the saddest of voices says "buh-bye."

For example, when he misses his best buddy, it's "Ro Ro buh-bye."

When the bunny outside his window decides to hippity hop behind the bush, it's "Bunny buh-bye."

After the garbage truck empties the curbside cans and heads on its way, it's "Truck buh-bye."

And when Megan and Preston left for their trip and Bubby was left with Grandma, it was "Mommy buh-bye. Daddy buh-bye."

All said in a sad tone, all sounding like the poor kid has had his heart broken.

Bubby was sleeping when I kissed him goodbye at the airport, so there wasn't true closure at our departure. One minute I was there, then I was gone. Megan told me that once home, Bubby clearly felt my absence and let everyone know, using his typical, sad "buh-bye." Even his daycare provider told Megan that the next day, Bubby moped around and when asked what was bothering him, he let her know in no uncertain terms that he missed his grandma.

So what did Bubby say to Mommy and his babysitter as he lamented my absence? He told them again and again, "Graya buh-bye."

Uh, what?

"Looks like your name is Graya," Megan told me, with what I thought was a more enthusiastic laugh than was called for. She knows I've been waiting to find out what special name Bubby has for me, the grandma moniker that belongs to only me, separating me from all the other women in his life that have the grandma label attached.

Now that he's talking more and more, it looks like Bubby's come up with that name.

And what do I get?

"Graya."

Yes, I hadn't colored my hair before visiting Bubby and my gray roots were pretty evident, but I didn't think a 19-month-old would notice.

Okay, yeah, I know it has nothing to do with my hair and everything to do with Bubby's inability to fully enunciate yet. But I really don't want to be called "Graya." It doesn't have the warm and cozy ring of something like Nonny or G-ma or Grammy. I want something sweet and loving and special.

If nothing else, I want at least an M in his version of the word "Grandma." I'll settle for being called just plain ol' "Grandma" or "Gramma" over "Graya" any day. Either would be sweet and loving and special coming from my Bubby.

Bubby's vocabulary skills still have much room for improvement, so I'm pretty sure he'll get down the "M" in "Grandma." And if that's who I'll be to him for ever and ever going forward, that's okay with me. Because more important than what he calls me, Bubby makes it clear already, at this young age, that he loves me. And when I'm not there, he misses me.

At least as much as he misses the garbage truck after it empties the neighborhood trash cans and toodles on down the road.

What more could a grandma ask for?

Today's question from the "Would You Rather..." board game:

Would you rather age only from the neck up -- OR -- age only from the neck down?

Assuming that "from the neck up" doesn't involve the actual brain and mental functions, I'll say I'd rather age only from the neck up. I'm starting to get a tad arthritic in my knees and am finding I'd much rather have my body work correctly than have a wrinkle-free face and neck.

Five ways the Internet made me a happier grandma in 2009

I recently was invited to participate in a group writing project, coordinated by Daily Blog Tips. The idea is for bloggers across the globe to get together and write on a specific topic, with the posts being angled to fit the focus of each individual's blog.

The topic upon which we are to write: 2009 in Review.

As Grandma's Briefs is all about being a grandma -- with a few totally unrelated posts diversions along the way -- my year in review post should, I figured, be about being a grandma. And being an online writing event, it seemed appropriate to incorporate the Internet into my angle.

Which led me, genius that I am, to the topic for my 2009 in Review post: Five ways the Internet made me a happier grandma in 2009.

So here goes ...

1. As a long-distance grandma with 819 miles between me and my grandson, I miss out on lots and lots of stuff going on with Bubby. But thanks to Picasa Web Albums, Megan regularly shares with me photos of some of that stuff Bubby's doing. It's free, it's easy and it's my lifeline to my grandbaby. She can take some pictures, easily upload to Picasa, and I can download the entire batch -- or just those I like, but I love them all! -- and have each and every one on my own computer, for printing or daily gazing on the screen. Picasa makes me happier than any other app on the Internet.

2. Although Picasa allows reams of photos to be shared for free, sometimes it's awfully nice to see Bubby in action ... and the only way to share videos of my baby through Picasa is to pay for a larger account. And I don't want to pay, I like free apps. Sure, Megan could upload videos of Bubby to YouTube, but we don't want to broadcast Bubby, we just want a way for Megan to send me videos I can download to my computer. For free. So we turn to SendSpace. The SendSpace tagline is "Send big files the easy way." And it is indeed easy. Because of SendSpace I've been able to see videos of Bubby sliding at the park, taking a bath, wandering around in his crib while singing to himself and trying to avoid going to sleep. SendSpace makes me very happy.

3. Even better than pictures and videos is seeing Bubby face to face. The 819 miles between us prevent that from happening as often as I'd like, but because of Skype, I can see his face live as often as Megan and I fit it into the schedule -- and Bubby's attention span extends beyond 45 seconds. It's a fantastic tool for seeing new haircuts, new outfits, new words/sounds in the vocabulary. I wrote a post about Skyping with Bubby a few months ago. I envision Skype making me even more happy in 2010, as Bubby will soon be willing to sit down and read a book with me over Skype, versus having to taste and test every office supply on the computer desk or pull the webcam down to get a closer look.

4. I'm a reader. I survived parenting only because I read and read and read. I devoured any and every book and magazine related to parenting. Some were disasters ("Toilet Training in a Day" anyone?) but most were helpful and comforting. As a grandparent, I want to do the same. I can find lots of books but it's nearly impossible to find magazines specifically about grandparenting. While the AARP magazine is interesting and all, I want something that gives me the scoop and such only on grandparenting. And I found that in an online magazine called GRAND, "The online magazine for grandparents & the grandkids who love them." Go ahead and click on it. I'll wait here while you peruse the pages to see why this magazine has made me a happier grandma in 2009. (Just be sure to come back to read No. 5 on my list.)

5. Welcome back. Last on my list but closest to my heart is this blog. I was reluctant to get into the blogging thing (as you may remember reading about here). But Grandma's Briefs quickly become an integral part of my day. It has made me a happier grandma because of all the wonderful people I've met, people with whom I've maintained relationships, people who seem to truly care about Bubby and my grandparenting experience. YOU people, those of you reading this post. It makes my day to share this and that with you and to have you comment and care about whatever it is that I'm putting into pixels. I appreciate you. You've made me a much happier -- and better -- grandma in 2009.

That, my friends, is my 2009 in Review.

Now, as I promised I'd do throughout the holiday season, here is ...

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

If you could create a new holiday by blending Christmas traditions with those of another established holiday, which two special days would you combine?

My answer: I would combine the fireworks of Fourth of July with the gift exchanges of Christmas. Once the gifts were opened, there'd be spectacular fireworks displays to express the sheer happiness and joy of having given -- and received -- the perfect gift.

It's a girl!

Congratulations to my friend Diana, who became a first-time grandma in August! She's the first of my friends to become a grandma after I did -- which I suppose makes me the experienced one in our relationship (ha!).

And what a gorgeous -- and happy! -- little gal her granddaughter is:

K. smiling for Grandma (Don't tell me it's gas; it's pure joy at being in Grandma's arms!)A big girl already!"I love the invention....grandchildren!" Diana wrote in a recent e-mail -- a fitting statement coming from a former IT tech.

I couldn't agree with her more!

Bizarre home story

As many of you know, Brianna's been househunting. She had a relatively small amount of money awarded to her (finally) after having been rear-ended by a landscaping truck several years ago and needed to invest it wisely so she'd have funds available in the event she needed another back surgery any time in the future.

The depressed housing market and the $8,000 tax credit incentive were working in her favor. But, like I said, her budget was pretty small, so very few homes were available in her price range, in a decent part of town and in fairly good shape.

After several months of researching homes online, Brianna narrowed it down to a few to look at. Together, with her realtor, she and I headed out one day last week to visit the top four choices on her list.

Three were absolutely horrid. Of those three, two were unbelievably structurally unsound -- one had a crack so large in the bedroom wall that you could see into the bathroom and the other provided a crazy funhouse effect, thanks to the sloping floors. The third horrid home was so filthy it made us want to gag but the unusable floor plan was the main reason for deletion from her list to consider further.

The fourth home we saw that day was the one. It was in a great location near her church, not far from work, in the same neighborhood as a friend. It was a HUD home and needed some work, but she and her realtor put in a bid. And she found out in less than 24 hours that her bid was accepted! She was getting a home for $30,000 less than its appraised value (an August 2009 appraisal). The inspection proved there were no major problems. Brianna will be a homeowner ... after all the HUD hoops are jumped through, of course. But being a cash deal with a completed inspection and appraisal, it's basically a done deal.

So why the "Bizarre" in the title of this post? Well, it will be a wonderful home for Brianna and Hunter, and I know that for a fact because ... and here's the "bizarre" part ... IT'S THE TOWNHOME JIM AND I BOUGHT FOR OUR LITTLE FAMILY IN 1984! Not just a townhome in the same neighborhood or the same complex where we bought our first home, but the exact same home with the exact same address!

This wouldn't be incredibly surprising if we lived in a small town where homes are recycled with families all the time, but the population of our city is creeping up on the half-million mark. So for Brianna to have this exact home basically fall in her lap, with nothing else even remotely close to being what she wants, in her budget range and the location she wants to live, is bizarre. To say the least. I think you'll agree.

It's the house where our two little girls ...

... became three.

Where stockings were hung ...

... and pumpkins were carved.

Where happy, vibrant Granny came to visit.

And Grandma, too. (When her grandchildren numbered five; it's now closer to 25!)

It was the first stop for Grandma and Grandpa Jerry just after their wedding ceremony.

And a great place for hanging out at the pool.

The fireplace was a prime spot for posing ...

... and roasting marshmallows, too.

It's where our little family was made complete. It was our home, in every sense of the word, for three happy -- yet humble -- years.

Now it's Brianna's. And there's something weirdly satisfying in that.

Brianna will make it uniquely her own, the memories of three goofy little girls getting their bearings there will fade. It's where she will get her bearings as an adult ... on her own ... with an empty canvas awaiting all her HGTV-gleaned ideas ... and no mortgage -- hallelujah!!

So she's got her car ... she's got her home.

Brianna's ready to roll!