Mysterious ways

I think God is trying to help me quit smoking. I have a sinus infection and a sore throat. I don't even want to smoke.

Through the Looking Glass

I got the call a couple hours ago that my grandma Alice died. I took for granted that she would always be around, as I did with all my grandparents (and my only grandma left, Pat). I am so sorry to say that for the last month I thought of her every day and didn't call her for one (silly) reason or another. She was such a good grandma. She was imaginative and creative. I hope I will always have these memories related to her:

*calling me "Mikatchie," my way of repeating when she called me "My Katie" (she called me that when I saw her about a month ago)
*eating yoplait yogurt and bananas at her house
*starting my sleepovers in the guest room, but crawling in bed with her to sleep
*riding in her red VW beetle
*the smell of her lotion (Vasaline brand) and her use of Vasaline as lip moisturizer
*watching her file her nails and paint them with clear polish
*going grocery shopping with her, riding in the bottom of the cart munching on triscuits while she shopped
*hunting for easter eggs in her backyard
*picking raspberries in her backyard
*stepping on a rusty nail on her deck and having to get a tetanus shot
*taking me to the dentist to get a tooth pulled and rewarding me for being good by buying me a nail polish
*rocking me on the chair in her dining room
*choking on a butterscotch candy in her kitchen
*the violins and starfish hanging on the wall above her couch
*watching Purple Rain late at night in her living room when I knew I shouldn't (I was like 8)
*taking a bath at her house with empty food containers as toys
*her buying me a Cabbage Patch doll (the only thing I wanted for christmas) when they were sold out, telling me her boyfriend worked at a CP factory, and that's how she got it
*she bought me rice cereal to feed my CP doll (it was the kind with a pacifier, so it had a hole for a mouth), and let me cram the cereal in the hole, dig it out with a toothpick, and repeat the process for what seemed like an hour
*the Pound Puppies she got me "from behind the door in a little shop where I heard these whiney little puppies that nobody wanted"
*Christmas at her house with the whole family when they lived in MN
*being locked out of her house (to give her and my mom a break) with my cousin. We decided to run away because we were mad, but only went around the block because we didn't know where to go.
*riding on my "big blue tennis shoe" - a plastic shoe on wheels - in her driveway, and running it into the garage door
*her beige floor pillows that seemed so huge to me when I laid on them
*having a tooth pulled on her deck, and it fell through a crack to the ground beneath
*the neighbors behind her house had an above-ground pool that we swam in
*going to the Mankato library with her

I feel like I remember so much more about her, but I can't think of them now.

I really liked how she would make up fun stories about the gifts she gave me, just to make them a little more special (it worked!). I also liked hearing her tell the same stories to me over and over, as if I had never heard them before. Sometimes I think some of my memories of her aren't really memories, but the stories that she told so often that they became real to me. She was always so kind to me, no matter what rediculous stage I was in in my life. She loved me no matter what. She supported my marriage to Chris when most people didn't, even going as far as giving me her wedding rings. I am so sad we spent the last few years living so far apart, but I am glad for her that she did all the adventurous things she wanted to do: sailing between California and Hawaii, learning to ski (I think when she was over 50), and travelling all over the US whenever she wanted. She was also a great artist, regularly winning awards with her paintings. There are things about her I will never know, and wish I could. What I do know about her, I love.

I am honored to have been named after her.

at the moment...

Amelie is watching TV for the first time without interference from us. The show? One of the Austin Powers movies. I am failing as a parent today. TV is the only thing that stops her squealing right now. BAD, BAD, BAD. Did I say it STOPS her squealing? No, she just pauses once in awhile. And Chris was just a good daddy and put a big cardboard box between her and the TV. Good daddy, bad mommy. I wish she would just take a nap already. She is so-o-o tired, but won't nurse or fall asleep. Thanks for listening to my venting. I needed to do it.

The UGLY

And this is just the downstairs. You can't see it in the pictures, but we discovered that while we were gone last night, one of the cats decided to use Amelie's toy basket as a litter box. I am assuming it was several times, because the pee soaked through the basket liner and 3 blankets (2 of which are quilts) to the rug. I hate our cats now.

Chris stayed home from work tonight to take care of me and clean the house. He insisted I relax and do whatever I want. Thank you, Chris. You are too good to me.

The BAD

When we got home today, we were greeted by several phone messages from my family telling me that my grandma Alice is dying. Today. It's happening so fast that there is no time to see her (she's in MT). I did call her and talk to her briefly today. I will miss her so much...

There is no good time to hear news like this. But when I am trying to quit smoking? Come ON!

The GOOD

Yesterday we celebrated our 4th anniversary. We got married on April 20th, 2002, and it was the best day (weekend, actually) of our lives, until Amelie was born.





God spoils us. We don't know why... Our first three anniversary dinners were free for one reason or another. This year tops them all:

We started the day at OCB for lunch (the only thing we paid for) with Chris' dad and step-mom. It was a good filling lunch. After that, we came back to Burnsville for our chiropractor appointment and to pack our bags for the rest of the night. During the last year, Chris won/earned some gift certificates that shaped our plans for our entire celebration. The first was a free night's stay at the St Paul Hotel. When we got there, they overheard that it was our anniversary, so they upgraded us to a better room - the Ambassador Suite. It was a double room, with a full living room (perfect for Amelie to nap in one room while we hang out in the other). Here are some pics of it (they don't do it justice):






It was Amelie's first time in a hotel. We set the bar high for her... if we ever take her to a Motel 6, she'll think we hate her.



Chris' mom came to the hotel to hold Amelie and walk her around the hotel while we ate dinner in our room (we decided against going to the restaurant and getting a sitter). Our dinner was from Kincaid's, complements of another gift certificate. Long story short: our dinners weren't right, so we called Kincaid's and told them. They delivered the replacement food to our room, and even threw in a bottle of champagne to make up for messing up the order. For dessert we had a super-duper German chocolate cake that we got from Cafe Latte (covered by a gift certificate). Ooo, did Amelie want some of that!


Later, our friend Cerah came over to hold Amelie some more while we hung out alone for a bit. Amelie gave us the wonderful gift of 6 hours in a row of sleep. Thank you, baby.

In the morning, we ordered room service breakfast (thanks to yet another gift certificate). It was great, I won't bore you with the details. Upon checkout, we were expecting to pay $1 for our phonecall, but they took care of it for us. How nice.

So God really hooked us up this year, and we just can't figure out why He's so good to us.

Once again, it has been too many days since my last post. There isn't much to say about the babe, except that she has learned to shake her head "no" at me. So far, she isn't sassy about it, but uses it to tell me she is done eating "solid" food or done nursing. I like the new communication. It makes me feel like we are really talking. :) Oh, and I think she is starting to wave "hi" and "bye" too. I don't know for sure if it's waving or just excited flapping.

I think Amelie is starting to get real "stranger danger." She seems OK with people until they get in her personal space, then she gets sketchy. If they hold her, she starts to really scream in her "dentist drill" fashion. I hate to admit it, but I think that cry is really cute. So cute, that I hesitate to rescue her right away because it's the only time I like the sound of a dentist drill (it really sounds just like one!).

Today I talked to some old friends (Christie L and Melissa M.) for the first time in a long time. That was really nice. It's always good to know that they don't hate me for dropping off the earth for awhile.

Quitting smoking has been really not going well this time. We did OK for the first few days, and then Chris bought a pack of smokes for each of us so he didn't have to hear me complain anymore. Nice of him to want to fix things, but it was bad for us. We have since resumed smoking at least as much as before the dedication. After telling my friend Cerah (read: Sarah) about this, she took it upon herself to hold me accountable (thank you). The plan is to wean myself by Sunday, and Saturday will be the last day I smoke. I don't know what Chris' plan is. But I have to quit anyways.

My back hurts. A lot. (People tell me to put the baby down sometimes... what do they know?) :)

Now that the weather is nicer, I have started to use cloth diapers again, except at night (too much leakage after a 10 hour stretch in 1 dipe). What does the weather have to do with it? Well, the dipes with the wool covers are really bulky, so it's hard to find clothes that fit over them (forget onesies altogether). Now that it's warm out, I just put a shirt on her with the diaper, and it's a cute outfit.

She's waking up... later.

Number two

I felt Amelie's second tooth today!

Elton John's baby picture

(stolen from Jenie's blog)

misc

I accidentally broke our digital camera the other day. Chris was SO mad at me (it was a gift for his 30th birthday), but the upside is that it cost us a little more to buy a better new camera than it would have to have the old one fixed. So today we went to Nat'l Camera Exchange and bought a new one. It'll take a little while to figure it out, so for now I'll have to steal pics from Jenie's blog to post here. :)

I started a new blog to sell the random stuff I want to get rid of. It's called "Stuff You Want." I'm going for the subtle approach. Anyways, check it out at www.stuff-you-want.blogspot.com