Friday, January 13, 2006

1/13 Friday the 13th...

and life couldn't be better. At least in the family department. I'm having a glorious time with my grandkids. Details follow.

1/12 (written on the plane) I was up at 5 after a restless night. Think I was afraid I'd oversleep and miss my flight. Many strange dreams too. Since it was early I got on the computer for a while.

Got to the airport plenty early. Had two huge hard-sided suitcases. Only a small amount of clothes for the quick trip--the rest of the space was taken up with presents, primarily for Kayla and Hunter. Can't wait to open presents. If I'm lucky, Jill and Todd will let us do it tonight. Then I'll be able to play with the new toys with the kids.

I went to Starbucks at the airport, got a cup of coffee, walked away, and immediately spilled a good portion of it on my shirt. So I spent the remaining time at the airport in the bathroom, washing and drying my shirt. Oh, yay!

Trip from Milwaukee to St. Louis was uneventful, I tried to edit some web pages but I didn't have enough information. Will have to wait until I get back to the office on Monday.

From St. Louis to LAX there were little kids puking behind me. The guy sitting next to me was watching Monty Python, so I watched too. Even without the sound, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is hilarious.

I'm a Gold level frequent flyer on American Airlines, so that's nice. But I used to be a super-dooper cutie-patootie high-falutin' 100,000 miles a year flyer. Then I would be bumped to first class. Where I belong.

1/13 Okay... back to writing from my head rather than the notes I took on the plane. It only took me 45 minutes to drive from LAX. The freeway gods were with me. While driving I listened to my Spanish tapes and that made the time go by quickly.

When I arrived the kids burst out of the door so quickly it surprised me. Shouldn't have but it did. Those first moments with the kids are always magical. And it's always such a treat to see my beautiful daughter Jill.

We went inside and caught up. We played new games the kids got for Christmas. And I read four books to them while Jill went to the store to get the makings for fajitas. Todd got home around 5:45, and we ate around 6:15 or so. The kids ate very well, because we said we were going to open presents as soon as dinner was done. Todd and I did the dishes quickly while Jill sat on a heating pad for a while. Her back is a lot better, but still hurts.

Then the mayhem began. Everyone loved all the presents I brought. I'm happy about that. And I got some great stuff. Kayla picked out this frog rattle (not really a rattle, but the wood clicks). I love it. Hunter gave me a new stuffed frog for my collection. Kids picked out those gifts themselves. From the whole family I got a pink Green Bay Packers ball cap. Limited edition, and some of the money goes to breast cancer research. I really wanted this cap. Finally I got a really nice (meaning big) gift card for Loews. (The last few years I got them for Home Depot, but I told Jill and Todd that a Loews is going up across the street from my office and also about a 1/2 block from my home.) I'm ecstatic about that gift.

The kids went to bed around 8:15 and I was up there by 9 (11 at home). Really tired. Too bad I didn't sleep well. Got up at 6 with the kids. Well, Hunter was up several times during the night with bad dreams. So that kept me up. And Kayla always sleeps with me. She moves around like she's doing gymnastics. But I wouldn't change a thing. It's such a treat to have that sweet child cuddle close to me.

Jill left for work a little before 6:30. I took the kids to Coco's for breakfast. Then we went to Walmart. I was looking for something for myself. Ended up buying Kayla a beautiful outfit, and Hunter some toys. He said, "I don't need clothes. I need toys."

We ran late, so I didn't have time to give them baths, we just had time to get home and have Kayla change into school clothes. Hunter and I dropped her off at school. (I think she's pretty popular. Other kids came running up to her as soon as they saw her.)

Hunter and I then went to Chuck E. Cheese for play and lunch. Yesterday when I arrived, he said, "I have an idea for our special day tomorrow....Chuck E. Cheese. (He said the name with eyes wide, big smile, huge dimples--like he was giving me a great gift. Truthfully, I'm a freak who loves Chuck E. Cheese.)

We ordered our pizza and began playing. Almost ordered an individual pan pizza, but thought I could bring the leftovers home for tonight. Jill and Todd are going out for dinner and the kids and I are having an "eat whatever you want" supper. Kayla is going to make a special English muffin pizza that she invented. Hunter wants to make mac and cheese, and I'm craving a salad.

Anyway, H and I ate the whole little pizza. We each had four pieces--although he took some of mine as well. He wanted a cheese pizza so I ordered 1/2 cheese, and 1/2 vegetarian. He ate lots of my veggies, so I warned him next time we're going to get all veggies.

We had a great time. He's napping right now. In 1/2 hour we have to leave to go pick up Kayla from kindergarten. She goes from 11-3. Then we'll pick up toys and get ready for Mom and Dad to come home. Later tonight we'll play more games.

I think I'll sleep well tonight.

1 comment:

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

So everything's been perfect. Except I put Hunter on the stair for hitting his sister and refusing to apologize. He screamed so loud and long you would have thought I beat him instead of sitting him on a step for three minutes. Screamed until he puked. When does my plane leave?

Since he's three...when he was done screaming I talked to him. He apologized to me and to his sister. So I called Guido and cancelled the hit.