Bubby can read!

Bubby recently graduated from pre-school, with plans to move on to kindergarten this fall.

Having a mother who's a teacher means Bubby has the privilege of private tutoring sessions to prepare him for the new school year. Here is one of his first lessons with teacher Megan, er, Mommy:

My, how time flies. Seems it wasn't that long ago that I posted photos of my precious grandson playing with his poop. Now he reads — unquestionably, a more pleasant pursuit.

Today's question:

Who was instrumental in helping you learn to read?

What I learned this week: One big thing, one small thing, and one in-between

Big thing: I do daily injections to help manage my MS. It's an expensive medication, and I'm very fortunate to have insurance that covers the majority of it. Despite that good fortune, I regularly complain about having to pay my portion of the co-pay — even after co-pay assistance.

A few days ago, my prescription for the medication was called into Walgreens by my new neurologist (see below). For the past five years that I've been shooting up with the stuff, the prescription has been filled by a "specialty pharmacy," not the local Walgreens. The new nurse who called in the Rx didn't realize this, though, and erroneously sent it to Walgreens... who soon contacted me to let me know there will be a bit of a delay while they await delivery of the meds and that my cost for the 30-day supply of injections will be $6000.09.

Yes, you read that right: SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS and NINE CENTS!

I about died. Then I immediately thanked my lucky stars — and God, too — for my insurance. And for specialty pharmacies. Then I canceled the Walgreens order.

Lesson learned: In mere seconds, I realized the importance of shutting up about my measly $35 co-pay portion when I could be paying $6000.09 per month. Or going without. I guarantee I'd be going without, if not for the insurance. 

Small thing: Speaking of my MS — which I really hate to focus on but this is indeed what I learned this week — I met with a new neurologist the other day. I'd been seeing the same one since being diagnosed in 1992. He was (is) an old, old man who finally, after practicing longer than I've been alive, chose to retire a few months ago. We had our last annual appointment a year ago. He told me then (his exact words), "You are a miracle, Lisa. You are one of the few who have figured out the mind/body connection. You are truly a miracle." That was the last time I saw him. Considering his advanced age, I took his exclamations with a grain of salt.

Fast forward to my appointment this week with my new neurologist, a young gal from India (whom, maybe this is crazy to admit, I chose from the list of local board-certified neurologists mostly because she reminded me of my friend Vidya from India). After discussing this and that, my new neuro had me run through a few physical tests. Her response: "You are strong!" Then she had me walk across the room. Her eyes grew big, a smile crossed her face, and she exclaimed, "You are a miracle, girl!"

I couldn't believe it. Very same words from the young neuro as had been uttered by the old neuro.

Lesson learned: I'm a miracle... at least in the eyes of my neurologists.

The one in-between: Yesterday my grandsons and I read one of my recent picture book acquisitions while on Facetime. Well, I read it to Bubby. Mac preferred roaming the house and finding a bone for Roxy while I read. Meh... he's two.

Our Facetime session was short, but just the sort of thing I need now and then to carry me through til I hug Bubby and Mac again. I like to think it's the sort of thing they need, too — even if treating the dog to a bone takes priority.

Lesson learned: Though it usually feels akin to pulling teeth to get myself added to my grandsons' busy schedule while 800+ miles away, it's worth it. For all of us, I hope. So I'll keep pursuing Facetime opportunities. Perhaps some Skype or Google+ time will eventually follow.

That, folks, is what I learned this week — though I've not yet fully committed to the "big, small, in-between" designation I've assigned each. Depending on the hour and my mood, the order certainly could be flipped, flopped, turned inside out. Still, those are my lessons, and I'm sticking to it.

As I mentioned last week, I'll be offline Saturday and Sunday, for the most part. I hope to see you back here Monday!

Wishing you a most marvelous weekend! Cheers!

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?

What I learned this week: I must make time for life... offline

 

Summer is upon us and the outdoors beckons. Which is why, after much back and forth, debating and deliberating, I finally learned this week what I must do: I realized/learned/confirmed that I must allow time in my schedule for life... offline.

Making the time for life offline will require some online changes. Changes to my blogging schedule, to be exact. See, I have been publishing a post on Grandma's Briefs every single day since July 25, 2009. Many of you have been reading those daily posts that long, too. Which is so incredible and heartwarming and humbling.

But I think we're all sitting on our butts and staring at screens far too much. I know I am.

So I'm proposing that now that summer has arrived, we not focus on Grandma's Briefs — at least not on the weekends. I'm talking only weekend-long breaks, as I couldn't bear to take a full-fledged summer-long break from blogging; it's in my blood now, and I could not survive without it. I hope you, too, couldn't bear to live without my blogging. (Yes, I do like to flatter myself now and again.)

But weekends, especially in the summer, beckon all of us to get up and move, to do something, to live. So I'm going to do my part this summer and no longer post the scintillating — and, yes, sometimes silly — stuff you've grown to expect in this space on Saturdays and Sundays.

It's going to be hard. My four-year habit will surely be difficult to break. But a break is what we all need. A break that gets us offline. At least on the weekends. At least for the summer.

With that said, consider this post the official notice that you will not find new content on Grandma's Briefs come tomorrow morning. That doesn't mean, of course, that you can't visit here on the weekends, if you choose. Grandma's Briefs will always be open, always welcome one and all who want to visit any day, any time, any page throughout the site. So if you do drop by on a Saturday or Sunday, feel free to catch up on anything you may have missed during the week.

(Of course, you just might see me drop in on the Grandma's Briefs Facebook page on Saturdays and Sundays; just nothing regular or scheduled, for sure.)

Now, as I said, it's going to be be a challenge for me to not share with you over the weekend. Proof being that I already had a doozy of a video to post for my regular Saturday Post feature. So I'm going to share it here today; I simply couldn't wait until Monday for this one.

This video came to my attention courtesy the awesome women at Better After 50. I hope it makes you chuckle as much as it did me.

With that in mind, I hope you'll remember come tomorrow that there will be nothing new happening here on Grandma's Briefs until early Monday morning. I hope I will remember that, too.

I'm pretty sure I will remember, though — because it's what I need.

And that is what I learned this week.

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?

What I learned this week: Sometimes the hassle is worth it

I take my dogs on a walk nearly every weekday morning. We walk as fast as my legs will take me, and the round trip is about a mile and a half. It's pretty much our go-to exercise — for the dogs as much as for myself.

I used to take my point-and-shoot camera with me each time, but ever since getting my DSLR, I've avoided taking it. The camera is fairly large and bulky, and even though it takes awesome photos and I love, love, love the camera (a Canon EOS Rebel T3i), it just seemed a hassle to wear it on my morning walks. Especially because I try to race-walk the majority of the way, and the idea of a camera bopping along on my chest from beginning to end of the walk didn't appeal to me.

This past week, though, I decided to try bringing it anyway. I keep seeing cool things on my walks, and I kick myself every time for not having my camera on me. I do carry my iPhone, but it just wasn't doing the job the way I wanted when I'd photograph this or that along the route.

Turned out that managing to keep two dogs in line while juggling my phone, my pepper spray (to avoid this happening again) and now my bigger, better camera is, yes, a bit of a hassle. But once I figured out to situate my camera along my side rather than hanging in front (to avoid it bopping on my chest), it really wasn't that big of a deal.

What was a big deal? The photos I managed to get, photos such as these:

Sure can't get such things on my iPhone. The hassle was definitely worth it.

And that is what I learned this week.

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?

What I learned this week: Google+ hates me

The last couple of weeks, I've been spending much time and energy trying to better figure out Google+. Most specifically, I'm working on getting the hang of Google+ hangouts. Google+ hangouts are quite similar to Skyping, only it's super simple to have a large number of people join you. They're a fantastic way to participate in (or just watch) online interviews and information sessions on a variety of topics, as well as visit with friends and family.

Chloe from GenerationFabulous.com has been instrumental in encouraging all the Generation Fabulous members — of which I'm one — to hop aboard the Google+ train, and she led the first Google+ hangout I've joined. It was an opportunity for those of us who have never hanged out (or whatever the grammatically correct term might be) to try it in a low-stress atmosphere.

During that first hangout, Chloe taught me and some other newbies a thing or two, such as how to make our names show up during a hangout — especially handy for those of us who want to look professional when getting interviewed online. I've never been interviewed online (nor am I ready to be) but I followed her directions and now come across quite professional looking in a Google+ hangout. Well, at least the label does.

(The picture of Jim is there because I did this practice one with Jim to get shots for this post; hangouts require you to, well, hang out with someone. He didn't use video, so just his profile photo shows up.)

Chloe also showed us how to access nifty tools that make us look the opposite of professional. They're fun things that enhance the experience when participating in a hangout with grandkids, which is one of the more awesome reasons to figure out Google+ hangouts, if you ask me.

I'd also like to figure out the hangouts so I can hang out with friends who are scattered across the country. I'd be happy to wear a crown or smiley face then, too.

There also are some fun sounds to make grandkids (and big kids) chuckle while hanging out:

Also cool for hangouts with grandkids: The storytime feature in which you can choose a book from the bookshelf and read it aloud to kiddos watching and listening from their end.

That's just a small snippet of Google+ hangouts and why I think they're pretty darn cool.

So why do I say Google+ hates me?

Well, because with all the cool things I could do with Google+ hangouts, my microphone doesn't work most of the time. I can Skype just dandy in the morning, but when I attempt a hangout in the afternoon, I sound like I'm underwater. Or I can't be heard at all.

I first thought it was a problem with my computer and my microphone, but it's not. Like I said, my mic works fine for Skype. It does not work fine for Google+ hangouts. And yes, I do have all the settings set correctly (I've checked... about 316 times). I've also replaced the audio drivers on my computer just in case... and my mic still doesn't work for Google hangouts. At least not most of the time.

I've searched and searched and searched for an answer online. Only to find a large group of equally unhappy folks with equally distressing problems when it comes to Google+ hangouts. It's not us, it's them. Meaning it's Google+.

Google+ hates us. For some unknown reason.

And that just plain stinks because I want so badly to play in Google+ hangouts. I so want to wear a pirate hat and patch while reading a story to Bubby and Mac. Or while enjoying a drink and some girl talk with faraway friends.

But I can't. Because Google+ hates me.

And that, unfortunately, is what I learned this week.

(I'm hoping what I learn by this time next week, though, is how to make my mic always work in the hangouts. I'm not giving in to the Google+ hate that easily. Stay tuned.)

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?

What I learned this week: Phenomenal women rock my world

This week, courtesy of my ever-phenomenal friend Ruth from Cranium Crunches, I was introduced to another phenomenal Ruth — Ruthie Foster. Specifically, Ruth shared with me Ruthie's version of Maya Angelou's poem Phenomenal Woman. Ruthie Foster has the most, yes, phenomenal voice. Take a listen:

That rendition of Maya Angelou's poem — a musical arrangement by Amy Sky (surely another phenomenal woman) so powerfully and soulfully belted out by Ruthie Foster — piqued my curiosity about the original poem. I, surprisingly, had never read or heard it before. So I searched, found, and share it here, read by Ms. Angelou herself:

That is what I learned this week: A phenomenal poem and phenomenal song that I just had to share with the phenomenal mothers, grandmothers and others in my world.

Cheers to phenomenal women! And an extra special toast to Ruth for sharing this week's lesson that so touched my soul.

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?

What I learned this week: How to eat angry birds

One of my favorite lessons this past week was unwittingly provided by Mac, on how to eat angry birds... of the graham cracker variety (hold your cursor over each photo for instruction):

Not really a lesson I needed to learn, but a valuable one just the same.

Today's question:

What did you learn this week?