Wherein I ramble on...

Brianna is starting to show. And that's pretty darn awesome. She and Patrick find out next week if their first baby is a boy or a girl. I'm hoping for a girl... yet wonder if it's wrong to even consider hoping for one gender over another considering what they've gone through to get this far. Of course I'll be thrilled with another grandson but as this is likely my final grandchild, adding a girl to the grand group seems fitting. (Don't tell anyone, but I do think it's a girl.)

The life God intended. Conversations and situations of late left me wondering if when we get to heaven, God shows us a highlight reel of the fabulous, fulfilling life we would have lived if only we had gone where he led, paid better attention to his promptings. Such punishment, though, seems more befitting of hell. Glad I'm not going there.

Movies I didn't love. Jim and I watched a couple crappy DVDs recently. THE COMMUTER stunk. As did WINCHESTER. Unexpectedly bad films considering Liam Neeson starred in the former, Helen Mirren the latter.

Marriage matters. My husband and I came within centimeters of separating in 2016. This past weekend was yet another average, uneventful, comfortable collection of days that make me grateful to the core our marriage survived that heartbreaking, heart-shaking, shit-show of a year. Thanks fully and completely to God and His three-cord strategy.

HQ Trivia! Do you play? I'm not typically one to jump on bandwagons, but Jim and I are pretty committed to mastering the live online trivia game. I try each weekday afternoon, together we play each evening. We will win one day! We may garner mere pennies, but bragging rights to a win will be plenty.

Cracked pots. Sunday's sermon resonated greatly. Thank you, Pastor Jeffrey, for illuminating the importance of shining our lights despite our cracks and brokenness. (Interested? Video of the sermon is on Facebook.)

I went through two bottles of vodka over the weekend. Admittedly, each was only half full to begin with. And, more importantly, I didn't drink them, I used them on spots where my cat Isabel peed because Tabby Abby bullied her away from the (two) litter boxes. That horrendous, ineradicable odor of cat pee? Who knew vodka would do the trick? Better than any of the numerous enzymatic cleaners I tried. Thanks, Google!

I love my four sisters. Even though we aren't very close. Yet one recently decided I'm not worth being any degree of close to, regards me more lowly than virtual acquaintances. For unknown—unspoken—reasons. I pray my daughters never do such things to their sisters.

Lo Mein. I love it! It's what I order every time I eat Chinese. I made a fabulous homemade Chicken Lo Mein for dinner Sunday night and am now kicking myself for not writing down what I added as I made it. Not only so I could make it exactly the same again, but so I could share the recipe here. (I do love that I have leftovers for lunch today, though.)

Speaking of kicking myself... Brayden, Declan, and Camden plus Megan and Preston will be here next week. For a very brief visit, on their way home from a wedding in Aspen. I'm truly thrilled they'll be here, and we all—with Andrea, Brianna, and James, too—are going to the North Pole to celebrate the three boys' June birthdays. That will be my one full day with them. I keep kicking myself for wanting more time with my favorite desert-dwelling family than that. I'm diligently working my way to sincere contentment and gratitude for the time I do get. It's a bit of an internal struggle, though. I think other grandmas might understand. Maybe?

There! Consider this cracked-pot of a grandma's brain drained. For now.