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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Rockin' PawDad's party

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Rockin' PawDad's party

The recent weekend in which my family was all together—a relatively uncommon occurrence even in the best of times—featured not only Robert’s baptism, as I previously shared, but a milestone birthday celebration, too. That milestone being Jim’s sixtieth birthday.

The birthday festivities, organized primarily by Megan, revolved around a rockin’ theme as …

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Summer 2020: What I didn't tell you

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Summer 2020: What I didn't tell you

July 25, 2020, marked the eleven year anniversary of Grandma’s Briefs. During many summers, I’ve taken a break from blogging from Memorial Day through Labor Day, to allow me time to enjoy summer fun without being obligated to publish anything.

This past summer, I chose not to take a break. I figured that with Covid restrictions and all, I’d have little to do and lots of time to write about the little I might do and see and ponder.

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Some grand news amidst all the bad news

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Some grand news amidst all the bad news

So much bad news surrounds us lately. Most of it beyond bad, in fact. Bad news about the pandemic, about politics, about inexplicable injustices and more batters our brains and hurts our hearts pretty much every single day beyond anything we might have imagined mere months ago.

Yet amidst all that bad news, I have some good news.

Some grand news.

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Firsts for Benjamin: A haircut and a happy birthday

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Firsts for Benjamin: A haircut and a happy birthday

My youngest grandson, Benjamin, is bound and determined to mature and move on at lightning speed, seemingly so much sooner than the grandsons that came before him.

To wit: The kid marked two major milestones in the past week or so. Those being his first haircut and his first birthday. How can that be? Seems he was just born.

Alas, as I’m in no position to press pause on the growing boy’s progress, I merrily go along with his maturing. And take photos, of course. Lots of photos.

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How to be a Dad!

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How to be a Dad!

How to be a Dad!

I just love this quote from Ryan Reynolds. Especially as it so perfectly fits the scary, stressful hours and days after Benjamin’s birth.

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Welcome, Benjamin!

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Welcome, Benjamin!

Welcome, Benjamin!

My long-awaited (local) grandson has arrived! Last Wednesday, in fact. As his entry into the world—and Mama Brianna’s arms—didn’t go quite as planned, I’ve followed Brianna’s and Patrick’s lead in delaying celebratory announcements online and otherwise.

Jim and I did get to meet the amazing bundle of joy while word was still under wraps, though. (A true perk of being local grandparents for the first time!)

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Gramma goes tubing

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Gramma goes tubing

Despite having been born in Minnesota and living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes the first decade of my life, I'm not big on water sports. To any degree. I still don't know how to swim... even after having swim lessons as a child and again at 40 years old.

I'm not deathly afraid of water, but I certainly don't seek out splishy-splashy fun in water over my head. Not even water up to my chest, to be honest.

So it should come as no surprise that I've never whiled away hours in an inner tube on a lake. Nor have I engaged in tubing…

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