My year in pictures … briefly

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My year in pictures … briefly

The end of 2023 has arrived, so time for an abundance of year in review pieces and posts all around the blogosphere and beyond.

Naturally, I have mine to add.

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March gladness

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March gladness

Ordinary moments — dare I say, mundane moments — marked March 2023 for me. Ordinary moments for which I’m all the more grateful and glad to have had in light of this month’s heartbreak and loss for so many in the west, in the south, and, especially, in Nashville.

Moments like these:

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The good, the bad, and the fun of 2021

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The good, the bad, and the fun of 2021

It’s New Year’s Eve as I write this final post of 2021. With mere hours left before we collectively not only flip the calendar page to a new month but begin an entirely brand new calendar, I want to reflect on the good, bad, and fun of this past year.

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Like mother, like grandmother: On Benjamin turning three

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Like mother, like grandmother: On Benjamin turning three

When my eldest daughter was born in 1982, I committed myself to diligently filling out her baby book regularly so as to not miss recording a single milestone or moment.

When my second daughter arrived in 1983, I continued to be fairly consistent in keeping track in her baby book, too.

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On my big sister

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On my big sister

My big sister Becky (Rebecca to many) and her husband, Rick, visited me on May 28 ... despite minimal Covid restrictions in place at the time. We all felt safe about it; they’re pretty much part of our “pod.”

Becky brought me some homemade cookies that had relatively recently become a favorite of her kids and grandkids. She also brought me a jar of yeast. I’ve been baking bread nearly every single week for years, and the Covid craziness made it impossible to find yeast. But Becky found …

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Winner Wonderland!

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Winner Wonderland!

Winner Wonderland

Long, long ago — back in 1992, to be precise — Jim and I and our three daughters recorded on a behomoth camcorder a Christmas program for Jim’s dad and stepmom, the girls’ long-distance grandparents. The special show recorded in our living room featured several songs, most of them lip-synced, by Brianna, Megan, and Andrea individually as well as as a group, plus a finale in which Jim and I appeared.

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Message from Mom

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Message from Mom

Message from Mom

Despite my penchant for getting rid of things when Jim and I moved to a smaller home last summer, I must admit to a semi-hoarder habit of holding on to things when it comes to my iPhone. Though I delete email from my phone regularly since it all comes through on my computer too, I do have on my phone old text messages and voicemails. Many from a year ago and more.

Today I’m especially appreciative of my semi-hoarder status when it comes to such things.

Today marks one year since my …

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Oh, yes we did: Bracelets with boys

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Oh, yes we did: Bracelets with boys

This past weekend, Jim and I kicked off fall with a quick visit to see our grandsons in the desert, as I’d mentioned here was on the calendar. During the visit, I did indeed make bracelets with the boys, just as Declan had requested.

Thing is, despite his enthusiasm upon seeing the paracord bracelet kit I’d brought in my Grandma Bag, Declan bowed out of the bracelet making in mere minutes. Which worked out for the best as bracelet-making was quite a feat for a five-year-old. Well, a feat for this grandma — who’s 10 times that and more — as well.

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School papers and similarly sentimental stuff

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School papers and similarly sentimental stuff

During my daughters’ school years, I kept all the papers and projects they brought home from school. Everything. Spelling tests, stories, handwriting practice (they did that back then), certificates earned for field day and perfect attendance, report cards for each quarter of each year.

I kept it all. Times three. All in cardboard boxes in a storage space beneath the house we lived in for the duration of the girls’ school years. Lots of …

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Flashback: Sink, swim, or hold on!

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Flashback: Sink, swim, or hold on!

Dear readers: This flashback feature originally appeared on Grandma’s Briefs March 4, 2010. Update: I’m still holding on “with a steel-plated grip because I have no other option.” How about you? Thank you for reading my rerun.

Back in the '80s, before the real estate market crash that marked the end of that decade, I worked for a mortgage company. Business was good, and we were rewarded well by the company's owner.

One of the bigger rewards we once received was a day offwork ... and on the owner's boat. On a day we should be processing loans, the entire office (it was a small office) would get to don bathing suits and hang out at the reservoir, on a boat, sipping beer in the sunshine.

I didn't want to go. I really did not want to go.

I didn't want to go because despite having been born in Minnesota…

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