Heading Forward

Wednesday -yesterday that is -was indeed a very nice, very pleasant day for me and yes, thanks to greetings from fellow bloggers, an e-mail from my very special cousin who is three days younger than me, cards from others -and a special card from a very special other cousin down in Alabama -along with phone calls from my older daughter as well as from my son, a dinner and cake all fixed by the loving hands of my younger daughter, Mandy, calls from two very good friends here in town and a visit from my "oldest" friend too - my neighbor two doors down the street from me who has been my neighbor and friend for as long as I can remember, it was very much a really nice day!

My older daughter started things off with a phone call this morning in which, when I picked up the phone, I was greeted by her singing Happy Birthday to me. A tad off key here and there, but that all works just fine with me. I did however warn her not to give up her current employment and think she has a future within the music industry though. And we both had a good chuckle then over that. "Sonny Boy" called last night to wish me an early Happy Birthday and then, called again today. He's a real sentimental slob -does things like that for me, for his sisters too -along with also providing the girls and I a lot of great entertainment whenever he's around us too! And, for Mandy to break down and venture into the kitchen to not just cook a very good supper, bake a cake and then, wash the dishes as well -all the while, working at whittling down the laundry piles in the bathroom -well the girl really does deserve a medal for going way beyond the call of duty there! (Mandy, if you recall, I have mentioned does not favor the kitchen and cooking AT ALL!

A few things to report on too tonight. One is we have decided that Kurtis has indeed now added another word to his vocabulary. "Nee-Nee!" He started saying that Monday morning when I woke up hearing him repeat this over and over. Initially, I couldn't figure out if he was just outside my room and talking or wandering around the close, cramped quarters of my bedroom and saying this again and again. When I finally did wake up fully and sat up in bed, there he was, sitting on the floor in front of my chest of drawers at the foot of my bed and when he saw me sit up, he looked directly at me and repeated this new word or phrase again -"Nee-Nee!" Based solely on the look he gave me -so direct -as well as the intonation in his voice, I thought maybe that was his interpretation of saying "Grammie." Told Mandy about this then too so we have been watching, waiting to see if he said it again and how he seemed to use this phrase.

Well today, when the speech therapist was here, she was going over the photos that are "his pictures" -his "story book" -which means these are all photos of favorite things of his, some pics of his surroundings and then too, photos of various people who are part of his life. As they went through these various photos, when she turned up the picture of me, he took one look at it, looked up at me and said it again -"Nee-Nee!" So with that, it is now official that Kurtis has a word/name for Grammy -"Nee-Nee!" At your service my little sweet pea!

Although bedtime -and a few episodes in between too -haven't been the most pleasant here with Maya -all do to the continuing saga of her refusal to use the potty for doing #2 -last night's fight (and most times, it does boil down to a bit of a fight between Maya and Mandy as Mandy tries her level best to convince Maya that using the potty for EVERYTHING is the best way to go and Maya continues to find one excuse after another why she shouldn't do that too!

Last night was no different except for some of the excuses Maya ran past her mother. One was that "The potty is scared." (I think that's her way of saying that Maya is scared, being the brilliant grandma interpretor that I am, ya know, I figured that out all by myself.) But at one point last night, Maya turned to Mandy and asked her "Where does poop come from?" Mandy's response -"Comes from your belly, baby." And to that, Maya told her, in no uncertain terms, "No, no! It comes from your butt!" Well, ya know, you can't argue with her on that count now, can you? But when she said that, seeing the look on Mandy's face -for openers -and knowing Mandy had nothing to toss back at Maya, plus because I was doing no good at all by standing there and cracking up laughing then, I figured it was best for me to take leave of the room and let Mandy continue to try convincing this little girl that there is nothing to fear in going to the bathroom!

Remember the tv set deal we were trying to purchase last week and encountered possibly the nicest store manager and clerk -ever -in the process? Well, we found out today that both tv sets we requested are now in that store and waiting -hopefully patiently -for either Mandy or me to venture over to State College and pick them up! One will go in my room to replace the 13-inch tv I bought 14 years ago when I went to work in Baltimore for a year and the other will go up in Maya's room so she will have no excuse then NOT to go to bed in her room after we get it and get it hooked up for her. That, plus the fact both these sets also have a built-in DVD player feature means it will free up things for the rest of the family when watching tv as we won't have to listen, over and over, to those confounded Bratz videos Maya dearly loves! Yay, Yay! Hip hip hooray!

I've been kind of laying low on the computer and blogging lately as I've been really engrossed since mid-August with the current embroidery kick I am involved with. So far, I have completed two 35x35 table topper tablecloths and five table runners. Four of the runners are Christmas themed and the fifth one is a general purpose type runner. I'm working now on trying to finish Runner #6 -also a Christmas one -and then I think I'd best start on another table cloth that has a pattern identical to one I finished except the first one is done with white floss (Snowflakes and Christmas trees designs) on dark green fabric whereas the other one will be done on bright red fabric! I love that particular tablecloth as it is so cheerful, wintry yes, but also Christmasy too!

Maya's class has been busy lately too -learning patriotic things. Last week, she came home with a little American flag on a small holder and has been demonstrating, frequently, for us that she has almost got the Pledge of Allegiance down pat now! However, if we ask her to say the Pledge for us, she insists that someone MUST, absolutely MUST, hold the flag for her to address it! Makes me feel very good to see her learning things like that, really it does!

Tonight, when my friend -Kate -stopped by to drop off a card for me and a little gift, when she first walked into the dining room, Kurtis threw a bit of a fit -crying and doing his shrieking routine which she thought meant he was afraid of her. That is until I explained that he was being in a very contrary mood this evening and was acting that way towards me then too. However, when he spied what she had brought me -a cute little basket in which she had stuffed several candy bar miniatures along with a Pennsylvania lottery scratch-off ticket, his eyes immediately went to the candy and before Kate knew what was happening, really, he was her best friend! Yep! The boy does love him some chocolate and knows it when he sees it too! At one point, he even crawled up and plunked his butt down on the dining room table -all the better to get that much closer to Gram's candy bars you know! From then on he was quite busy, running around and basically being a real ham and show-off then for Kate!

I mentioned above too that I had some phone calls with birthday greetings as well. One of them came from Kate's older sister, Shirley, who lives about six houses up the street from me. Shirley had an accident back in late August the Saturday night of the town's community yard sale. As she was leaving Kate's house to go home, she missed a step on the sidewalk, fell and broke her hip! So she was in the hospital for about 3 weeks after that mishap, having had to have surgery and three pins (I think it was three) inserted in her hip. She's been back home now, recuperating, for about 2-3 weeks but not allowed to put any weight at all on her leg so her mobility was relegated to using a walker to get around her house. Well, tonight when she phoned with her birthday wishes for me she also told me she had some very good news to share with me too! Seems she saw the doctor today and the report on her hip and healing were excellent! Not only that, she graduated from the walker to being allowed to begin putting weight on the leg and can now get around with the help of a cane! Yep! Now that's my idea of a great message to come my way!

All in all, today was such a calm, very relaxing day! Even Miss Maya was extremely cooperative -no meltdowns, no arguements at all over the food at supper as she sat up and ate very well -even the slice of ham her Mother cut up and placed on her plate! And periodically throughout the day, Maya also came up to me to offer me a hug and kiss and telling me over and over again, "Happy Birthday, Gram!"

Next Saturday will be her day to shine as she will be five then! It will be quite the occasion for us to celebrate with her, for sure! So many things she's learned over the past three plus years, so much love and also, entertainment, she's provided to all of us over those short five years since she arrived in our lives here too! I can't imagine what my life would be like today if Maya and her baby brother, Kurtis, had never come along! These two, along with my older grandson, Alex, are truly the lights of my life. Just such a joy to have them!

And finally, (yes, all good things must come to an end and so will this post now) I have to say this about so many of the posts I read today -some really, really great pieces put up by many of those on my blogroll list here! Too many good ones really for me to go into major detail and call your attention to one over another. My recommendation here - just pick a blogger name and click in and odds are, you'll find some good stuff to read there. Just do it and sit back and enjoy!

Later, my family and friends and thanks again so much for the great messages to me for my birthday! To say say you're all the best is truly just putting it mildly!

Peace!