Let's go to Europe!!

Day One~
We left OKC very early, and then sat in Chicago with plenty of time to have a bite to eat, and try to internalize the idea that we were about to fly to France!!  We had an overnight flight, and so, were able to sleep a little before our arrival. That was good, as we had to find Passport services, and customs before we could attempt to locate the Airport Shuttle to our hotel. That precious shuttle, once we found it, ( we were given directions that were incorrect!) took 2 and a half hours to get to our hotel. It was a 30 - 45 minutes trip. Arriving somewhat carsick, we left our bags at the Hotel Beaugency and walked to the Rue Cler, just a couple of blocks, and had lunch. We returned to check in and then set off to find the Eiffel Tower. It became our landmark throughout the city. "Oh look! There's the tower!"

                                             Here we are in front of  the Eiffel Tower!
                                                     Yep. We were really there.

A shot from the Seine. This began the, " Oh look! There's the tower" phrase that followed us everywhere.

From the Eiffel Tower, we walked along the Seine. Even as I am typing this, I still can't really grasp that I did that. Okay- so, there are bridges every block and they are amazing. In fact, everything in that area was so amazingly ornate. I tried really hard not to walk along with my mouth hanging open, but believe me, it was tough some times.

                                             The Seine with one of many tour boats loading.

 Our first day, we really just tried to get our bearings, and decide what to do when. The plan was to stay in two locations, The Marais area, where we started, and then move to Montmartre later in the week. Rue Cler is a street with a few blocks closed to traffic, though we discovered, not always closed to all traffic!!

                    Here is Keith walking rue Cler beside the cafe where we ate our first meal in Paris.
 Notice the chairs all face the street- it was that way at all the outdoor cafes. The thing to do, evidently, is people watch while you eat. There are plenty of subjects! Every day we stayed in this area, we walked this stretch of the street. There are merchants all along selling anything from flowers to quiche. And, of course, we visited a chocolate shop also. Oh my. I could have just stood and inhaled all day!! They also hold a flea market on weekends, but I'll get to that later.
Our hotel was very nice, clean, and fairly quiet.The room was small, but we expected that. It was a great place for us to start our journey, as almost everyone spoke some English. This was good, as our French turned out to be lacking. We could greet anyone with bon jour, but after that, it was pretty dismal. We ended our first day exhausted, and of course, I was too wound up to sleep, even though we had been up for about 24 hours straight. Day Two was slated for Museum day, and that is my next blog. I hope you enjoy your tour of Europe with us!!

Time to blog!

I have written many posts in my head since the last one I actually WROTE, but I think it's time to put in some time with my blog.
An awful lot has happened since my last entry. I'm not even sure where to begin! Patrick is engaged. They are going to hold off on the wedding until he gets this degree, at least that's the current plan!  :)

Kahlan's first experience with corn on the cob

Kathy and Scott have moved back to Wichita, where Scott got a job within about 6 weeks of graduating! They bought a very nice home on the West side- of course. ;)   You never get over that West vs. East thing, I guess. Kahlan is doing really well, and kind of transformed from a baby into a little girl overnight. It seems that way to Grandma anyway. Se's running and jumping and climbing and talking and feeding herself all kinds of grownup kiddo food! She's amazing. On our last visit, which was this past week, she actually said Grandma and Grandpa and knew exactly who she was talking about! I asked her if she wanted to give something to Grandpa and the next thing we knew, a game called 'Bury the Grandpa under all my toys' had begun! He even ended up with a set of bunny ears on his head. Yes, on his head. What a Grandpa won't do for his Granddaughter. It reminded me of my Dad and Kathy. In fact, Kathy thought the same thing. More than precious to see them interacting.
This weekend also marked a milestone for the family. We had the auction for all Mom's stuff from her house. Wow. Lots of stuff! My heart was warmed and my spirit lifted by family coming to the auction. It wasn't as hard to see the things go to new homes as it was sorting them out of the house into boxes to be sold. That was tough, and at times more than I could handle. I had been working on the house for about 6 weeks to get through everything, and I am sure some things slipped by me that I didn't intend to go and I likely kept things that later on, will be questioned! The next step is to put the house on the market and hope to sell soon. I have hired someone to come in and do some repairs before we list it, and then--it's up to the real estate agent!
Life just keeps on rolling- sometimes it seems like it's a bit out of control, but I'm sure it's just following the proper track and schedule.

Mom, Kathy, Kahlan and Melly visiting

Keith is going back to China again this Spring, and added a trip into Taiwan as well, so the trip is longer this year. They hope to finalize some partnerships with Universities there, and that seems to be going pretty well.
Kahlan will be two soon and I will be....50 something.  ;) We won't get to celebrate together this year, because they will be at a family reunion on her Daddy's side of the family in Missouri. I'm sure we'll find some time this summer to celebrate though- after all, we have 3 birthdays in July! How can we not party?! I am looking forward to summer, and expecting to spend quite a bit of it in Kansas. There are many boxes and tubs to sort through that came from Pratt. The big news for upcoming travel is that we are taking a trip to Paris in May for our anniversary! We have both been slogging through French Rosetta Stone, hoping to get at least a bit of it in our brains before we arrive. I'm not sure I have a very good grasp thus far, but while Keith is in China, I plan to hit it hard!! There will definitely be a followup blog about that trip!

Kahlan and Cinderella at Sierra's party

I think that puts me up to date, though I have skipped an awful lot of happenings. I am in full forward motion, these days, so reaching back isn't what I'm interested in at the moment! There are just too many good things to look forward to!

Another Transition~

Hubby and I are moving my Mom into a long term care facility in 2 days. I've been on the phone with people and services cancelling or moving them! There is so much more involved than one might think. So, I am taking a break from labeling clothing, and making calls to newspapers, etc. to put some of these things down in writing.
I realized after the decision had been made last week following a Dr. appointment, that one of the real reasons I had been hesitating to move her, was that I felt selfish doing it. How silly is that?! I also feel as if I failed her somehow, but the real culprit is her mind. She can't remember. Short term, she has no recollection at all. We've put things in place that have been working and helping, but we've hit the end of it. She can't stay home alone as she is. She's going to hate it at first, but last winter when she was placed following a hospital stay, she did fine. She did keep trying to pack to go home, but that seems to be fairly typical.
Some professionals I have been talking to for the last month or so have started asking me how I feel about all this. Well, I hadn't thought about that much. She's going into the same facility my Dad was in. I now have to go there to visit her, just as I did my Dad. Hmm. That may be harder than I originally thought. They are working with that though, and are placing her in a totally different wing than Dad was in. The hope is that she won't get confused and think he's there and she's come to visit. We'll see. Maybe having no memory is not such a bad thing after all!
After this difficult weekend, I am going to visit 'the kids' as they have become- my daughter, SIL and granddaughter. THAT will help. It always does.

Mom's new haircut- last week.

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Last week my granddaughter became a big one year old. Overnight. She has teeth- this child is serious about cutting teeth. She has 3 coming in at once. This does not make for a jolly birthday girl. Well, that's not exactly true, as she was pretty grinny and excited most of the day. She did a lovely job of destroying her cake, and spent a good amount of time playing with her new toys. The day after her birthday was MY birthday! We had booked a photographer, and went to an outdoor location for her pictures that evening, hoping to beat the Kansas heat. We tried. We failed, but she did a great job anyway! We are anxiously awaiting proofs of the almost 2 hour shoot. I documented the moment- her very first professional photographer experience- with my camera also!
There were many times that someone said something along the lines of, " a year ago we..." When she arrived, finally after Mom laboring for nearly 24 hours (!), we all fell in love immediately. I thought I'd never feel a stronger bond than I did at that moment, but I was wrong. Every time I am lucky enough to spend time with her, I fall a little deeper. She is the most perfect blend of her Mommy and Daddy. It's difficult to explain, but it's hard to be unhappy with such a little spark plug of joy in my life. We are all very lucky that she is doing so well. We know it.

Stages of King Cake

The dough phase-

After making the dough and letting it rest a bit, it is rolled out and THEN-

you put a filling inside and roll it up.

The I hope it rises phase

The dough is turned into an oval, or a circle if you have a wide enough cookie sheet. Again, it is allowed to rest and hopefully rise before it is baked.

The finished product

The King Cake is completed only when it is basically buried under frosting and colored sprinkles.

These are the colors of Mardi Gras.

This is my first ever attempt at a King Cake, and it's actually going to a crawfish boil tomorrow, so I hope it's good. It smells pretty fantastic. The part you can't see, is a little tiny plastic baby hidden in the cake. Tradition as I am told, is that the one who finds the baby provides the cake the following year. I found the baby last year, and vowed that I would make a cake this year for the party. So, there it is- ready to go. All I need now, are my beads, and I am set for Crawfish Boil 2011. 

It Takes a Special man to be called, "Daddy".

My father passed away very quietly a year ago today. My mother, cousin, son, and I were all there. It's taken the better part of a year for me to internalize that he is gone. His physical decent was so slow, that at times it was hard to realize all that he had lost. First a cane, then a walker, then a wheelchair, and finally, requiring another person to put him in and take him out of the wheelchair. I saw him Tuesday of the week he died, sitting  in the cafeteria. He offered my dog, Melly, a bite of his lunch. Forever ornery. He had been moved to the assisted side of the cafeteria a few months earlier. That was hard to grasp. Looking back on everything now, it seems so obvious that he was fading away before my eyes, but that Tuesday to me, was just like any other visit I had made over the last year. I had a care plan meeting, and brought Melly to visit with Dad, and all the other residents. She had become quite a favorite for a lot of them. I wonder now, if they miss seeing her. I suspect they do. Dad was in a care facility, with his 2 older brothers, one next door to him, and one across the hall. They are all gone now, actually within about 6 weeks of each other. At first, they got together and played dominoes. But Dad became less able to do even that as time went on, and eventually, they gave up. One visit earlier, on a Sunday, people were having a service down the hall, and were playing a song that was one of my Dad's favorites. I sang along, and Dad grinned his normal grin. It was one of the songs my cousin sang at his funeral. It seemed obvious to choose it.
I believe I will miss him every day of my life from now on. Some days are really difficult, but others, I am glad for him that he is not suffering, and feeling frustrated and useless. Most of the time though, I am sad that he isn't part of everything that has happened since Feb. 11, 2010. I can imagine him watching his Granddaughter caring for her own baby. He would be so proud of her and her little girl, and his eyes would sparkle at her middle name.
I've heard other people talk about how hard it is to "get over" the loss of a parent. I for one, will not. I don't intend to get over it. Get through it, I did already. Move on from it, I'm still doing all the time. I don't expect to get over it. I expect to miss him, just as I have been, forever.
It takes a special man to be called Daddy, and I was fortunate to have a Daddy in my life.

Our front door--enter at your own risk!

Winter is here....again!