Moving on

 No more early morning hugs, no more, "hello Nona!" The girls have moved out with their parents to an apartment in the neighboring town. Which is good......because our children thrive in their own space. But still I miss the little ones total acceptance of me as a person. It probably would be completely different if they were teenagers, but little kids can love with all their hearts and minds.

So I am going to miss them. I also love having my house back. It must be a win-win because they can come back anytime to visit. But it has been many years since this house felt so big.

Choices for a Baby

 

It's jump and run watching Amber

A mobile baby makes for an interesting day. I sat Amber down amongst her toys, sat at the table with a computer, and noted that she was coming towards me by the table. Her perspective down below is different than mine and she pulled out a cord I had no idea existed.

Her toys have an appeal though it is limited. Cords, mom and dad's shoes, the folded stroller, and the low shelves have much more appeal. Especially appealing is any electrical cord, plug, or outlet.  My day consists of moving her from all the appealing choices and bringing her back to her own toys.

Happy Birthday Jeffrey

 March is the month for Jeffrey's family to have birthdays. His brother Michael, his sister Becky, his mother and he all have birthdays in March. Grandma Nausin gathered us into her circle and makes a German Chocolate Cake for him - when we are in the country. I can't even remember when she started doing this for him. She has a circle of friends that she makes desserts for on their birthday. 

Grandma Nausin's famous German Chocolate Cake

What you do on your birthday

Jeffrey served up the cake for the grands after they ate their dinner

Pi Day!

 Do you enjoy a pie on pi day? I meant to make a razzle dazzle pie on that day but got involved in other fun things.

Pretty amazing all the fun choices!

Kelsi and her family had a great time. When they ate the pies the next day, I heard that Nate made a Shepherd's pie for dinner. I love the fact that they can teach and do something fun!

Mondays are sometimes that way

 Julia called me mid-morning and told me that she had locked her keys in the car. She asked me to bring the spare key to her. No problem, I said. Well.....I couldn't find it...so.....I went to the store to pick her up and bring her home to find it. She happened to be two cities over in Martinez, but that was ok because we have the interstate running over to make the trip just a little shorter. 

Julia successfully found the key immediately (prayers being answered) and jumped back into my car to go back to her car. Just as we were headed down Concord Blvd to get to the freeway, a noise emitted.  Luckily for us, Julia had set an alarm to go pick up Makynlee, which was serendipitous Both of us looked again at my car clock and realized we were an hour later than we had assumed. So.....back home to get a booster seat for Makynlee.

After picking her up from the pre-school, we all drove back over to the Walmart in Martinez. I told Julia I would stay and pick up paper towels. She said she was going to Costco if I wanted to go with her. Yup, we ended up at Costco in two different cars. I had fun running around the store with them.

This moment was not very long. Makynlee and Isla like to walk around instead of riding.

Lost - Not Lost

 Jeffrey told me about an embarrassing moment he had but at least it was private. Yesterday I went to lunch 300 ft away from the courthouse at a Taco cafe. I ran into another potential juror and we talked about families and loyalty. After getting back to the second floor of the courthouse, I realized my glasses were missing. I couldn't find them in my backpack or pockets. I remember back and could see them on the counter in my minds eye at the cafe.

After looking at the time, I quickly walked back to the Taco cafe to find my glasses. I couldn't find them anywhere on or near the bar by the windows I had sat at. Going up to the staff, I asked if they had blue glasses turned in or had seen them. They looked under the counter and said no. One of the ladies in line asked, "like the ones on your head?" Laughing I thanked her for helping me find my glasses, and hurried back in the rain to the courthouse.

In and Out Love

 

I have a friend who loves to go to In and Out. I like their hamburgers and go with her when she goes - especially when we go shopping together. She loves salt on her fries and usually will salt them the minute they come through the window. I had to laugh when I realized she saves all the extra salt - just in case there wasn't a salt given when she needs it! One more laugh about our "issues". She is OCD in some instances and I have found I have my 'issues' too. But it is fun to laugh at hers.

Summons

I got a summons in the mail a few weeks ago

 I saw that little blue postcard in the mail that makes my gut clench. Yup, a summons to do jury duty about a month ago. On Wednesday the automated call told me to report at 1 pm. It took us two hours to be greeted, watch a clip about how important jury duty is and be lead up to the judge's court. He talked to us for a bit and then they started assigning chairs to sit in. The first 18 were slated for the jury box. My number was 15 - I got into the comfortable chairs instead of the benches - I wasn't exactly pleased with my luck. 

The judge talked a little bit more about what would be happening and how we were not to talk about the case at all with anyone and not to look up anyone in the case or the restaurant etc. Then the defense attorney started asking questions. On my turn, I had a few issues and said I would try to be fair, and also quoted my husband about a defendant not testifying, and was told not to go home and discuss anything with him or ask his opinion. 😆 I told the judge my husband would not ask. When we took a 10 minute break, we came back to find some of the potential jurors had a blue slip.  That is your get out of jury duty pass.  But despite my answers I came again today. I wasn't asked any questions today but quite a few new people got to answer the same question from yesterday. It's a long process, over and over.  Law and Order leaves a ton of stuff out. I was moved up to chair number 6. Now my heart started to pound a little more. More people left with blue slips.

After the first break a few more left with their blue slips. Then we had a long lunch break and a few more people got blue slips. One man had an issue with his daughter going to the hospital. We had another hour and a half of the same questions to other potential jurors and I got my blue slip!  No questions for me today but I feel lucky I did not have to decide in someone's life. 

Early Morning Temple Trip

 

We met at 6:15 in the morning to get to the temple on time to do proxy baptisms in the Oakland Temple. There was a bitter wind, but beautiful setting and a peace and joy inside the temple.

The Power of Compassion

 In the Gambian branch, the ladies are planning to help out in the hospital in Banjul.  When I told my young women about the need and asked if they wanted to be part of this effort, two of them said yes. They are twins and are usually quiet. The set up a lemonade stand and gave the proceeds so go to the hospital in The Gambia. 

With Dad

 

There is really something awesome about watching my son being a dad. He is very competent in knowing exactly what his little girl needs and told me today she wants extra cuddles and that they have decided to lengthen her awake cycles. He told me she pulled herself up today to a standing position but can't maintain it long. Something else to watch out for as she goes down. Still the fact that he is very aware of what she is doing and what her accomplishments are warms my heart. My children's style of parenting is different from how my friends and I parented.

The Difference Between Two Mornings.

 

One morning is bitter cold with swirly frost all over and the next it is warm and balmy. Just goes to show nothing ever stays the same. Every situation will change with time. Hang on.....

On the Road Again

 The roads at 2 am are very easy to travel! I noticed four cars on the road between our house and the freeway, which is amazing in 19.2 miles. Four hours later the same roads would be gridlock. No rain to obscure the lines. There was a tiny bit more traffic on the freeway and Jeffrey had to frequently check his speed as it would be easy to go 90 mph (like I did notice one driver doing).  On the trip back I went through the Caldecott tunnel BY MYSELF! But I could only take pictures going to San Francisco as I was the driver on the way back.

Jeffrey is on his way to Atlanta to mingle with judges and lawyers. He expects to see the Supreme Court Judge from the Gambia there and another one of the judges he flew out with a few weeks ago. It will be a very quick trip as he will get home on Saturday night. I am hoping he is having lots of fun. His serious style of fun. Me, I'm playing with a granddaughter.