Friday, July 28, 2006

7/28 Waking up with Kayla and Hunter

What a joy it was to see my beautiful family when I returned from Madison last night. Little Kayla was in my bed, opened her eyes, and said, "Grandma, I missed you." Omigod, those words were enough to bring tears. It was 11 PM, so everyone was tired. Jill was brushing her teeth, Todd was making up the sofa bed (mattress on the floor, it's more comfortable that way), and Hunter was sleeping on the love seat. Out like a light.

But it felt so good to have part of my family there.

During the night I felt little tiny arms go around me. Kayla was giving me a hug. What a sweetie.

This morning, she got up bright and early and came to my office with me. Hunter was still tired and didn't want to get up. So Kayla and I stopped at Starbucks, where she picked out hot chocolate and a huge M&M cookie for her breakfast. I got a bagel and decaf Americano. Sharon, one of the workers there asked, "What do you call Jeri?" Kayla answered, "Grandma or Grandma Jer." Sharon said, "We call her Americano Jeri." Made me laugh. Jovita and Rhonda both told K how beautiful she was, and she said, "Thank you," very sweetly.

At work we enjoyed our breakfasts and she drew while I worked. This is an unfortunate time to have visitors because conference is keeping us so busy, but Kayla behaved perfectly and I got to show her off a bit.

Then Jill, Todd, and Hunter arrived around 10:30 AM, and Hunter was acting too shy to talk to anyone, but he did manage to flash those dimples. They went off for a day of sightseeing, and trying to keep cool. We'll meet for dinner later.

I'm avoiding talking about last night. I got lots of laughs, but for some reason I didn't feel good about the experience. Probably because I went over. I was told to do four minutes, then they had to change it for all of us to do three minutes, and I ended up doing six. I don't know how it happened! They're supposed to flash a penlight at us when it's time to stop, but I didn't see it. Saw a flicker, but when I looked at it, it appeared to be one of the candles on a table, so I didn't know it was time. What a dork!

Eric, the guy who went with me, did really well and stayed on time too. :) There was a really nice-sized crowd there.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just like you Jer to hog the penlight!!! Glad to hear Jill and the kids are there to spend a little time with you...what a treat to be able to take Kayla to work with you...not many jobs would allow that. With all the new HIPAA laws, I wouldnt' be able to.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a wonderful problem to have...going overtime because you're getting laughs, which means you're obviously feeling confident about the material! Hope you continue to kick butt onstage and off. -- Gretchen

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Cindy, they just left here at 6:45 AM. So of course I'm a bit sad.

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Thanks, Gretch. However, if you go over too much they don't ask you back. The manager said they'd give me "one time to mess up." Didn't realize comedy was so strict, but I'm learning.

Jeff said...

I'm glad you had a nice time with your grandchildren. They obviously love you as much as you love them. :)

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Yes, Jeff, they do. Jill said that she and Todd love that I'm a "hands on" Grandma. And the kids seem to love it too. I'm so grateful to have good health and a modicum of energy so I can get in there with the kids and play rough with them.