The saddest day of the year

You may be wondering why I'm so sad with this beautiful trio to delight and amaze me on a regular basis.  Today is Wednesday, and 3 days ago these sweet angels left with their parents for the annual 3-month stint at Kanakuk Kamps near Branson, Missouri. It's a wonderful experience for the kids, and Jenni and Dave absolutely love working there.  Kanakuk summers are the reason Dave gave up a career in aerospace engineering to become an AP physics teacher.  That move was engineering's loss and education's gain.  He's a wonderful teacher.  There is a multitude of good reasons for their commitment to Kanakuk, and they look so forward to their time there every year.  But with every passing summer and each new addition to their family, it gets harder and harder for those of us they leave behind.

I know, I sound like a whiney puss.  So many of my friends' kids live across the country from them, and I am so blessed to have mine close by.  Still, it's a jolt to suddenly go from easy access to the kids whenever I want, to Skyping with them once a week.  I always pray they'll remember us when they come back at the end of summer.  Zoey will, and maybe Ruby.  We'll have to get reacquainted with little Maggie, though.  A lot of changes take place when one is growing from 4 months to 7 months of age.

An unexpected turn of events caused the family's normal 7-hour trip to turn into a 27-hour nightmare.  As they approached the last leg of their drive, the giant storm that caused all the destruction and death in Joplin, MO engulfed them in northwest Arkansas.  It was so bad they eventually had to find a hotel for the night because it was getting dark and the weather was making driving hazardous.  It's a good thing they took shelter, because there were tornado warnings for the entire area.  The next morning, after a relatively good night's sleep, they were able to continue on to Kanakuk, and while the weather was still pretty bad, driving in daylight wasn't quite so treacherous.  Needless to say, I was more than relieved to hear they had made it to their destination.

The following are some recent memory-making photos and videos of the girls to help Grammy get through the summer.  Enjoy!!

                                           Zoey

Ruby

 

                                                  Maggie

                                   Decorating cookies with Grammy

                                          Chatterbox Maggie                            

                                      A tender moment between sisters

The Leo Curse

Many of you know I retired in November after more than 20 years as a medical transcriptionist. I wasn't really ready to retire; my major account was outsourced to the Philippines and none of my transcription buddies had any extra work to share. Tony was very supportive and encouraged me to embrace retirement, and I'm very glad he did. I love being retired with him!!

Over the past few months I've dispersed all the accoutrements of my profession: books, headphones, foot pedal, software, and the enormous desk that took up half my home office. This left me with nowhere to stash my laptop and stuff, so we went in search of a smaller, more appropriate desk. None of the furniture stores we visited had anything that clicked, so phase II was initiated: Craigslist. I finally decided on a rolltop desk, since the desk would be one of the first things people would see when they entered our house, and the rolltop would hide my--ahem--untidiness. The space I wanted to use for the desk was limited and rolltops, I've come to discover, come in a multitude of sizes, shapes, and dimensions. I finally found one I liked that would fit--in Caddo Mills, TX. Caddo Mills is a tiny hamlet of just over 1,100 people about a 2-hour drive northeast of us. (Incidental info--it boasts 3 fine dining establishments: Bucky's Cafe, Subway, and the infamous Mona Lisa Pizza) The owner of the desk was a precious, 71-year-old grandmother who no longer had need of the desk and was selling it for $100. That alone made it worth the 5 or so hours we spent Sunday afternoon driving to and from Caddo Mills to pick it up, and the tankful of gas for son-in-law Dave's Suburban. It was a very pleasant drive, even listening to engineer Dave and Tony discuss solar panels and other technical matters that normally hurt my head.

The desk was in immaculate condition and it fit perfectly into its designated spot. I fell in love with it immediately, and I couldn't wait to start filling its drawers, nooks, and crannies. First things first, though--to see how the laptop would fit on the desktop.

Ever since Tony and I joined forces in 1974, we've had a running joke about the "Leo Curse". It's similar to Murphy's Law. That, combined with my innate clumsiness and absence of visionary attributes, is an almost certain recipe for disaster. Sure enough, the curse struck with a vengeance Sunday. I pushed up the rolltop, set my laptop on the desk, and opened 'er up.

I could only open the laptop about halfway before the bottom edge of the rolltop stopped me in my tracks. Of course I had never even considered such a potential problem. After all, Tony has a rolltop desk in our master bedroom, albeit a little larger than mine, and his laptop fits with room to spare. But my new/old desk is designed a little differently, and it's not only shallower from front to back than Tony's, but it is also arranged differently on the inside. There is no way the laptop will fit in its open position. We are currently trying to find a solution to this obstacle.

That's as far as the laptop will open. Sigh.

Of course, I could type with a third of it hanging off the edge of the desk, but that's not an optimum solution.

We're open to any and all suggestions. Anyone who comes up with a workable arrangement will be awarded a yummy treat from Mo's kitchen. Seriously!!

Happy Grammy with all her angels

April 18, 2011.  Clockwise from top left: Maggie Cribbs ( 3 months), Grammy (61), Etta Wiese (3 1/2 months), Zoey Cribbs (4), Leo Wiese ( 2 1/2), Ruby Cribbs (2).

Excitement in the 'hood

We had a bit of excitement/fear/uneasiness on our street this morning.  Tony and I had been out and were on our way home when we heard sirens.  Not unusual, right?  Imagine our surprise when we got home and found that the sirens were headed our way.  A house just up the street was on fire!  Fortunately, Lewisville's finest were here within moments, ready to get things under control.  In fact, a total of 12 fire trucks, EMT vehicles, and other support vehicles showed up, discharging personnel like clowns from a VW.  The reason for all the trucks and firemen was the wind.  It's been extremely windy and dry here for the past few days, and fire personnel had to act quickly so the fire didn't spread to neighboring homes.

They did a magnificent job, controlling the situation and preventing further destruction.  The resident of the home, an elderly lady, was evacuated quickly with no injuries.  At this point we're not sure where the fire started, but there was a lot of water-soaked debris piled up on the driveway in back, and the firemen cut a 6' x 6' hole in the roof with a chainsaw.  And a truck from the electric utility company showed up a short time later, so the source of the fire may have been a wiring problem. 

We haven't had this much action on our street since our very first Thanksgiving in Texas.  Tony, the girls, and I had been here about 4 months.  We were enjoying Thanksgiving dinner in our new dining room when we saw something that assured us that we were, indeed, living in Texas--a man on horseback was chasing a cow up the street, lasso in hand!  You just don't see such things in Boca Raton, where we had previously lived. 

I guess now we can go another 27 years before the next big event on our quiet little street.

The story of the gold coins (UPDATED 2/27/11)

One day when Zoey was very little, probably younger than 2, Tony and I were watching her at our house.  She had on tiny jeans with lots of pockets, and Tony was entertaining her by placing little bits of crumpled paper into her pockets.  Zoey was delighted to have something in each pocket.  Later on, this evolved into small rocks when we were outside playing.  Jenni was not amused at finding stones in her child's clothing!  So Tony decided to start a tradition with our grandchildren.  He went to the bank and purchased a roll of shiny "gold" dollar coins.  Every time a grandchild would visit Grammy and Papa, he/she would receive a gold coin to take home.  This worked out pretty well when we had only one grandchild, and even once Leo was born.  It started getting a little more painful (!!) when Ruby came along, and now that we have 2 new granddaughters, Tony laments that he should have started with shiny new pennies instead of dollars.  But the kids love the tradition, and they all have special banks at home exclusively for their gold coins.  Not only are we making memories with the coins, but we also hope to be helping with future college expenses.  It's a win-win for all!!

This is the container of gold dollar coins we keep on our fireplace mantle.  The kids zero in on it as soon as they come over!

A sample gold dollar coin        

Leo selecting a gold coin for himself and his sister.       

                            
     This is Etta's special piggy bank for her gold coins--sparkly gold, of course!!

       And Leo's is clear glass so he can see his pile of coins grow.

                     Proud Leo holding his pig full of coins

 Etta came over Super Bowl Sunday and received her first gold coin.  Here she is eyeing the shiny coin.

"Don't you even think about taking this coin away from me!!"

Maggie hasn't been to our house for a visit yet, so next time the girls come over I'll post pictures of them with their coins, too.

UPDATE:  As promised, here are pictures of the Cribblets and their coins from 2-23-11.

      Zoey is quite the experienced coin selector.

               And Ruby's pretty good, too, for a little lady not yet two.

Maggie definitely shows promise, although it looks as though she's thinking, "Now what am I supposed to do with this hard round thing?"

Having a blast!! (arctic, that is)

Last week we had winter here in North Texas!!  For the first time anyone can remember, everything completely shut down--schools, businesses, city governments, Mama's Daughters' Diner(!!) for 4 consecutive days.  Driving and walking were treacherous.  Parking lots were like skating rinks.  Our entire region was glazed with slick ice until Saturday, when temps finally climbed above freezing and the thaw began.  Right now we're in good shape, but there are predictions of more "wintry mix" Tuesday night into Wednesday.  I feel like I need to wake up and realize moving to Texas was all a dream a la Bobby Ewing--we still live in New York State, right?

                                        Skating, anyone?

                             Millie LOVES the cold and snow!

                        Nanook of the North with her sled dog

                      Who needs blush when it's 18 degrees?

                          Of course a cold, icy day requires Starbucks.

But driving can be hazardous.  We have front-wheel drive and were okay, but there were lots of cars and trucks spinning and fishtailing.

                                                 WHITEOUT!!!

              Staying cozy and warm inside, looking out back.

             View of our neighbor across the street through the snowstorm.

So beautiful.  So cold.

THINK PINK!!!

Following just 10 days behind her cousin Etta, Maggie Faye Cribbs burst upon the scene early Monday morning, January 17, 2011!!  Instead of my attempting to tell little Maggie's story, let me direct you to Jenni's blog posting which explains things much better than I ever could and includes some great photos.  ttp://thecribbies.blogspot.com/2011/01/story-of-miss-maggie-faye.html .

Dave and Jenni brought little Maggie home from the hospital on Wednesday, Jan. 19.  The next day she had her first visit to the pediatrician, who discovered her bilirubin levels to be very high.  Later that day Maggie and Jenni were readmitted to the hospital so Maggie could receive intensive treatment to get her jaundice under control.  Fortunately, they were only in the hospital 24 hours before Maggie's bilirubin was within normal limits.  Here's a picture of 4-day-old Maggie in the incubator under the "bili lights". 

Tomorrow little Maggie will be a week old.  She's already had quite a history for her short little life, but God is gracious.  This has just been a minor blip in an otherwise perfect new life, and we are so grateful.  Welcome to the family, precious Maggie.  We're so glad you're here!