Hope is a good influence

Our three grand daughters from Wyoming stayed with us during their Spring break.  It was the first time they had stayed in Oklahoma without their parents and it was a very big deal.  The Oklahoma grand children were out-of-control excited to have their cousins available every day for one week.  We decided to go to the zoo on one of the days of their visit and naturally made arrangements to pick up the Oklahoma 7-year-old grand daughter, Hope, to ride with us.  When we got to her house I ask the Anna to run into the house and get Hope so we could hurry off.  Well, 5-year-old, Katie, was heart broken.  She wanted to go into Hope's house too.  But, this car seat for every person under 50 pounds is a huge challenge for grandma.  It takes what seems like FOREVER for me to get every one locked securely in their spot,  So I told Katie to stay in her seat and wait.   I tried to assure her that it would only take a  minute and that her older sister could get in and out of her booster by herself and it was just so much easier for yaya.  But my plea for understanding did nothing to quell her tears.  Soon the car was filled with waves of sobbing disappointment. After the two seven year-olds got in the car and I had began driving to our destination, the crying transitioned into short gasps of reflex breathing.  I used this quiet moment to talk about the disappointing event.  I asked my car load of youngsters what they do when they don't get what they want?  There was no response from the seats behind me.  I gave them some time and then I asked more directly.  "Hope," I said.  "What do you do when you don't get what you want?"  She took surprisingly little time to respond and said, "Be grateful.  I be grateful for what I have."  This time the silence was mine.  How could such a young soul know an age-old truth?  So since that car ride I have tried to implement this question and response into my days.

Today, I worked on the nursery again and the plan I had for the wall above each crib wasn't working.  I was getting terribly frustrated. I later realized that I had left my SD card in my lap top and not in the camera I had brought to snap some shots.  "Oh I really wanted to take pictures."  I was REALLY disappointed.  Then the question sounded in my head.  "What do you do when you don't get what you want?"  I looked around the small room and realized that I had been blessed to spend two days with my adorable grand son and his loving mother.  I been covered in his infectious laughter and complimented at every turn by my daughter-in-law.  I drew in a new breath and a new idea came into my brain.  I will use it on the wall tomorrow and take some pictures of the finished product for you all to view.

I'm still trying

Now for all of you who know how to set up a blog and participate in the internet community, I say, "Hat's off to you!"  I am definitely a novice and sometimes feel like giving up on the whole thing.  But my daughter-in-law, who suggested I do this in the first place, keeps encouraging me. So for now I limp along and ask for your mercy as I air all my ignorance before you.

And unfortunately, this is all the time I can give to this post today, as I am off to finish decorating our next grand child's nursery.  My son and his wife are expecting their second child.  Their first is nine months old and the next is making her entry on June 16th.  The nursery is to hold both precious babies, one boy and one girl.  So the challenge of this design is to make it gender friendly for both as well as creating a space that will last a bit longer than toddler years, as my daughter-in-law and son will have little time to give to decorating anything after the baby arrives and their house is filled with even more sleepless nights.

A glimpse at my messy parts

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I'm so new to this game and don't really know where to start.  So here is a small piece of me today.  What I look like (or at least part of me looks like) after working in the front garden.  It is March 26 and most of the neighborhood has their yards ready for the flow of Spring and the blast of Summer.  But as usual, I am a bit behind the rest.  Just too many good things to do and so none of them get done on time.  Which makes me think.  Whose time is it anyway?  Oh yea, it's mine.  I have followed the crowd for so long now that I keep forgetting I can follow my heart instead.  It's hard to not fall back into old patterns --- been practicing them for fifty some years now.  But the kids are grown, college is paid for, no bills, retired husband and loads of time to do what I want.  My problem is I want to do EVERYTHING  --- love to sew, garden, redo furniture, decorate, clean house, read, write, sing, plan parties, decorate, play with children, surf the net, scrapbook, paint walls, recover furniture, cook when I have the time, decorate, take pictures and turn them into art or wrapping paper or whatever else my crazy brain dictates.  Oh well... I guess I've rambled enough.  I've got a nursery to design for grand child number ten.  Better get at it.  Hopefully I will figure this blog thing out and be able to add pictures and make it a much more pleasing place to visit.