Tight Schedule

Back in the early 80's, I worked as a waitress at a local truckstop. There was one particular trucker who came in at least twice a week on his runs from his home in Indiana to New York and every time he came in our place, when you took his order, he would always tell us to tell the cook to hurry it up cause he was on a "tight schedule." However, once he got his food and ate, he would inevitably sit for several hours, drinking coffee, talking and visiting with other drivers as well as some locals he'd come to know. Thus, one of the other waitresses and I gave him the nickname of "Tight schedule."

However, this morning - actually all day today - I really am on a somewhat tight schedule.

I've got to get myself ready to drive to Indiana, PA this morning for a smallish family get-together at the home of one of my Mom's cousins. This lady hit the big 80 back in May and trust me when I tell you this, the things she does, the way she operates, you'd sure as heck never know she has that many years under her belt. Three of her brothers will also be there, as well as her four children and their families and another cousin of ours from up in Jamestown, NY is coming down for the occasion too. So it should be a very nice mini-family reunion for all of us. I made a traditional Swedish dish - well it is for our extended family that type of food anyway -to take down there with me. Had me up till 2:30 this morning till it finished baking. It's just a form of a baked custard called "Panakaka" and usually is served with Swedish lingonberries. However, I don't have any of them but I do have some blackberries in the freezer my son-in-law picked this summer that I can take with me to serve with this dish. Just a little reminder of the type of food we all grew up on ya see!

Then, this afternoon - while I am away - Mandy, Bill and the two little ones have to venture over to State College to the airport there and pick up Mandy's dad who is flying in today from Las Vegas for a five day visit. He's really excited about his visit this year as the last time he was here, Kurtis was only about 6 weeks old and he's not very good with tiny babies. At that time too, Maya's vocabulary only consisted of about 30 words and now she often forms sentences, questions, responds to our questions now with full sentences from time to time as well. So he's really going to be seeing a whole lot of changes in both those kids, for sure. Tomorrow, we're supposed to be going to the older daughter's place so we can all attend the older grandson's pee-wee league football game too. All in all, should be a very interesting time for everyone concerned. Yes, this is my ex-husband and believe it or not, there are no ill-feelings between us now. We can actually sit and converse for maybe 10 to 15 minutes at a clip now without wanting to rip the other a new one, if ya know what I mean there.

So, since I'm really pressed for time this morning in visiting blogs and commenting, I do want to pass something on to all of you - my news and recommendations too for the day.

First off, my blogger buddy, Maddie -out in sunny California -has given me another award. She says she thinks I deserve to receive the Schmoozer Award and I really do appreciate her vote of confidence in my abilities with respect to that particular talent. I don't have time this morning to add it to my sidebar and to pass this on to other well-deserving bloggers but when I get home this evening, I should put that up on my priority "to do" list. Be sure to stop by Maddie's blog and read her most recent post on events in her household with her two very challenging and entertaining young sons and life in the fast lane of autism.

And, the other thing I saw first off this morning as I tried to make some rounds to visit favorite blogs is a post - first one in a long, long time - from Mike Cook, a blogger from up in northeastern Canada way. If you've never read any of his previous posts on his sight -"A Twist of Humor" that's a good thing to put on your to do list sometime in the near future. But today, make sure to stop by and read his writing for today - an excellent article about how quickly children grow up. It's a really sweet, very sentimental tribute to his son with now and again, just a twist of humor to the piece too. Try it, you'll like it. Trust me on that one!

And now, if I'm going to get myself showered, dressed, the van fueled up, etc., and down to my cousin's place in time for our get-together, I'd best kick things into high gear here.

Ya'll be good to each other; enjoy the beautiful day that's coming our way.

Don't forget to root, root, root for the home team today too all you Nittany Lions out there! Go Penn State! WE ARE! Beat Iowa! YAY, YAY. (Yes, I'm hoping to do lots and lots of the "do yays" today (as Miss Maya would call them.

Catch you all later this evening, I hope!