White Trash Mama

Everyone in the house is asleep but me. We came home at 7 p.m. and were all so tired, that we collapsed in bed as soon as our Advent reading was over. But I tossed and turned and tossed and turned and decided to come blog what my head was spinning rather than continue the pointless spin. Since I misspelled 5 words in that first paragraph, this might be a bad idea.

My granny passed away Thursday night. She had been battling cancer, but recently opted to stop radiation. She was ready to go home.

So tonight, I'm missing a woman with the most amazing laugh. You could hear her laugh from across the street. And you didn't need to know what she was laughing at to smile yourself. She was a very happy woman, so we got to hear her laugh a lot. Just hearing her talk made me smile. She spoke so loudly, you'd swear she was hard of hearing. But no, she was just loud. Her voice carried a twang that added all kinds of extra syllables. I loved it. She was the best cook in the world. Her coconut cream pie could bring tears to your eyes. She had a generous heart. She gave Chris and I the piano I learned to play chords with; the piano my boys practice their lessons on. She was so tickled to hear that I was playing in church and that Joel had had a recital. We couldn't have done so without her.

Yesterday was Joel's birthday and I waited as long as possible to tell him. We had already planned a party with friends and I decided to keep the plans as scheduled for his sake. So yesterday had us babysitting one extra, roller skating with the homeschool group, listening to Ethan perform in a band concert (he was chosen for an ensemble!) and bringing four extra boys home to spend the night.

Yesterday was a hard day. It hit me more and more as the day progressed. But God is gracious and something so silly picked me up, I wanted to share it. I had to take a laptop to Chris' shop and I was crying as I drove. When I got there, he was busy with a customer and I just sent Ethan in with the laptop. I pulled myself together and decided to go in to give him a quick kiss before running to the skating rink. I waited beside his customer, but he kept talking. Finally he asked if I needed something else and I said "I thought I'd grab a kiss." He was in the middle of writing out an order and the little old lady he was checking out leaned over and said "Okay, sweetie!" and acted as if she was going to smooch me! I about died laughing. That lady has no idea how much she brightened my day.

Later, entertaining kids and stepping over messes, I was sliding back down and just longing for a hot bath. But Lily begged me to watch what she had learned....."Look, Miss Jenn! I can jungle!" Jungle?

The sweetheart couldn't throw it from one hand to the other without dropping it, but was so proud of her mad juggling skills. She made my day, too.

The funeral was today and it went well. It was so good to get to see family. There were so many I didn't recognize since they'd all grown up! The girls walked away with roses from the graveside. Is that a regional tradition or does everyone do that? Honor is very excited to have a blue rose. I'd never seen a blue rose before today. I wonder what Honor's reaction will be tomorrow when she wakes up to a completely different looking rose. Sarah broke her carnation by using it as a magic wand to turn everyone into princesses and kings.

Poor Pop is taking it hard and I'm worrying about him. I'm missing the two grandmas I've lost this year and worrying about two more grandmas that are both suffering from Alzheimers. I need to get to sleep. We have family coming over after church to celebrate Joel's birthday and then a Christmas play tomorrow afternoon. Poor Joel. The only thing he asked for was a Batman cake. But I've misplaced the form pan somewhere and all he got were cupcakes with his friends. Tomorrow, he gets cookies and if it weren't for his wonderful Grandma Muzzy, all he'd have was soup. He doesn't seem to mind, but I feel bad. Cakes have always been a big deal for some reason. It's just a tradition. How did I lose a 2 x 3' pan???

Hey, look, it's after midnight. It's my birthday!

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