Thursday, January 25, 2007

Life IS good!!



Babysitting is fun and exhausting...lol Lil' granddaughter is ALL movement--crawling, walking, clapping, chasing a ball, putting it in the big toy, watching it come out the bottom and cheering...lol She loves follow-the-leader, but it's on hands and knees, and she actually giggles as she crawls along behind.
(It occurs to me that "crawl" implies "slow"....so it really doesn't work here. SCOOT might be more descriptive, or TEAR AROUND, or ZOOM...lol)



She's fairly confident about walking as long as she doesn't think about it. See? She's on her way to get that yellow ball, and she did it with little problem--well, except for the
pick-it-up-turn-around-and-come-back part. (She's too little to have large-motor skills yet, right? LOL...give her a week.)





TWO really amazing things happened last night:

1. We were at that part of the evening when she's suddenly EXHAUSTED and dissolves in tears...she wasn't happy being held, she wasn't happy being on the floor. Of course I held her, and tried boring her to sleep, but that skill went to another family member (snort!)

Pretty soon, she pointed with her whole arm and said, "baby". Ah! This must be part of a ritual--so we went to look at her baby pictures on the end table.

Nope. She only smiled through her tears...and pretty soon, I was standing there rocking her again.

"Baby!", with the arm pointing downstairs, to the family room. Ah! It's darker down there...probably more soothing, too...so we went there...lol

"BABY!", the arm, leaning toward the big chair...Duh, why hadn't I thought of that?!

So we're sitting down. The chair's leather and has that comforting creak as it rocks...this is nice. We're settled, right?

"Baby.....", said in the most long-suffering, "working-with-you-is-exhausting" tone...the arm points wearily at the fuzzy blanket on the couch....one more mission to get the blanket and wrap ourselves in it.....ahhhhhhh, so sweet. With a HUGE sigh, she snuggled in and (we) slept...lol

~*~*~*~*~

Oh, and #2 is even more delightful:

Becky asked me if I had plans for my birthday...

How many people know what they'll be doing six months from now? How many people get to plan spending their 58th birthday at the hospital while a grandson is being born, huh?

Birthday presents just don't get better than that.

Monday, January 22, 2007

The familys first vice president!


Wow....this little girl is now a vice president of her company in New York City. She's my niece, Laurel, and we're SO proud of her (but then, we were last month, too...lol)--Congrats, Bid!

Now, fill in the blank: When did I have __________?
xoxo
:^)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Worlds' cutest grandaughter!



The munchkin is almost 11 months old already! Her mom sent these today....see those four little teeth?



Beck called the pictures "Sunshine on a snowy day".....and she really is.

But wait, look at THIS one:





She'd be adorable even if she wasn't my granddaughter...lol Can't you just hear her great grandma say, "Those EYES!"
xoxo

Saturday, January 20, 2007

How 'bout another picture?



R&D at the FLORIDA AQUARIUM. Cool, huh?

"Rest assured"

Eww! I just heard someone use that phrase on MPR, talking about the water supply in Cottage Grove, Minnesota (if you're interested, read or listen to it HERE)

Literally, it means you can sleep confidently, without worrying. How odd.

And it ALWAYS make me doubt what's being assured. I suppose because it feels like a put-down: don't worry your pretty little head about that, darlin'...in a treacly, John Wayne voice...you're just too dopey to understand all the ramifications here.

For me, it's too Jesse Ventura. When he said we should rest assured, it sounded like he was selling snake oil. What a colossal embarassment he was for Minnesota. We honest-to-gawd elected a wrestler? Eww!

Epcot--it's all about us

IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth is the recipient of Amusement Today's 2006 Golden Ticket Award in recognition of being the top evening show in an American theme park

IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth
IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth Check Show Times
Ratings/Reviews
Photos

Opened Oct. 1, 1999 Show length: 12 minutes, 32 seconds
A nighttime spectacular where thunderous fireworks and lasers fill the skies above World Showcase Lagoon. Video images are displayed across a giant sphere in the middle of the lagoon that tell the Earth's incredible tale. The sphere then blossoms like a flower, exposing a ball of fire and leads to the shows finale.
Fun Facts - 1,105 firework shells are fired during each show.There are 19 torches located around the World Showcase Lagoon. The inferno barge weighs 150,000 pounds with 37 nozzles that shoot propane flames upward.

(From THIS website)

Wow, I can't believe it was only 12 minutes long. The show inspires awe, and a sense that so much of what we humans do is amazing and benevolent.

Why is it that we only hear about the horrible stuff, when the flip-side is so stunning?

Friday, January 19, 2007

Hooray!

Disney IS amazing.

Everyone told me I'd like it because it's so perfect, and I kept thinking that 'perfection' would turn me off. But it's really NOT "perfect"--it's just very well thought-out, and most guest needs are anticipated....which I appreciate.

OK, should we get the obligatory Wally World pic out of the way?





That's R&D--good friends and my excuse to be in Florida in the first place. They insisted I'd love Disney, and they were right (again...lol)

If you ever need "How to be a Wonderful Host" lessons, check with them.

Florida!



I can't believe I can load pictures here!! FINALLY, it's working, but I needed Firefox to do it...gah.

This jolly woman was our server at the Prime Time Restaurant at Disney World last Monday...what a sweetheart! I think she liked me best cuz we're both left-handed...lol The picture was taken after we talked about all the cel phones being used in the place--something to do with E.T. and phoning home. I was just doing as I was told...lol

(The Prime Time is billed as "your Mother's kitchen"--and the staff tries to provide some of the angst of going back there. Who else can make you get your elbows off the table or give you a job to do before dinner? We had to grab a crayon and write down the eight presidents whose last name is one syllable. I still say asking other tables wasn't cheating, really, I was just being resourceful...lol And I DID get a flashing ice cube to take home, now didn't I?)

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Answers:
1. Pierce
2. Hayes
3. Ford
4. Grant
5. Bush
6. Bush
7. Polk
8. Taft