A Series of Events - Tale #4: My Birthday

Once upon a time, on May 28, I had a birthday. I turned 26.

And before I go any further, let's get these pictures out of the way. Because these are the only two pictures I took. How seriously lame is that? We had this whole weekend thing with our friends at Art's parents' place in Oak Harbor, and the only time I pulled out my camera is when she was sleeping face down on a giant pillow in a sleeper bag thing.




(Btw, we never put her to sleep on her tummy. This was Art's mom's doing, and it was perfectly safe, because the pillow was too stiff for her to suffocate. Plus she knows how to lift her head. Plus we kept checking on her. Plus she didn't stay asleep like this for very long.)

So. Wayne and Sozan, and Art and Sophia and I all went down to Oak Harbor, to Art's parents' place on Friday, May 27. We all stayed the night, and hung out there for most of Saturday.

Art's mom already had a ton of food cooked, and she cooked even more the next day. We watched a movie or two, and a lot of TV (especially Mythbusters). The weather was beautiful, so we spent some time just sitting out in their yard, enjoying the sun.

I didn't sleep well, so the next day, while everyone went shopping, I napped with Sophia. I think I was a bit of a party pooper. However, it gave Art's mom and Sozan an opportunity to buy my birthday gifts. I got clothes, which I was thrilled about. Especially because they fit! I wasn't there to try them on, so they guessed, and got it right! So now I have a pair of capris, a tank top with a knit vest, and a matching purse!

It was pretty low key, which was just fine. Going out to Oak Harbor was as much going out as I wanted to do.

After dinner was over, and after one more episode of Mythbusters, we left Art's parents' house, and went to see Wayne and Sozan's uncle, who lived in the next town just north of Oak Harbor. We weren't there for very long, but the little time we did spend there was a lot of fun. He's already super cool, and bonus: he loves babies! You just don't expect a 50-something year old guy with three grown kids to be a baby person. I'm not even a baby person!

Anyway, he lent us the first six DVDs of the Harry Potter series. I hadn't seen any of them before. Not because I'm opposed to them. I just never got into them. But the last Harry Potter movie is coming out in July, and Wayne's uncle wants us all to go see it together. Which means I would have to watch all the other ones first. So we took the DVDs, chatted for a couple of hours, said our good-byes, and promised to return soon.

And that was my fairly uneventful, photo-less birthday! I have to say, it didn't really feel like my birthday. It didn't even feel like May! The weather has been less summery than we would like, so it just seemed weird that I was having my birthday! Hopefully the weather smartens up and we can experience a true summer.

My Grandmother

I was going to do Sophia's Three Month post, but that will have to wait. Today I need to talk about my Grandma.

In March, just before I had Sophia, my grandma was admitted to the hospital. I don't remember why. I think her stay there was three weeks? Or maybe a month. Anyway, she did get to go back home, but she never really got better.

My family thought that she maybe caught some sort of infection from her hospital stay, and in May, just before my mom came to visit me, my grandma went back to the hospital. The doctors had a few different ideas as to what might be wrong, and very recently, a nurse told my mom that they thought my grandma was experiencing heart failure. They figured it wouldn't be long before she died. I asked my mom how long "not long" was, but nobody knew.

"Not long" turned out to be two days. This morning, my 91 year old grandmother died. My family has lost a great prayer warrior.

It's a funny thing about grief. My grandma wanted to go to heaven, and we didn't want to see her suffer. So I'm not exactly sad that she's in heaven. I don't grieve for her. I grieve for me, because I won't get to be at her funeral. I grieve for Sophia, because she never got to meet her great-grandmother. I grieve for my sister's unborn baby, who also never got to meet his or her great-grandmother.

I grieve for my cousin, who will be getting married in August, that grandma won't be at that wedding. I grieve for all the future spouses and babies that have yet to join our family, that they didn't get to know this tiny, wonderful woman.

At the same time, it feels almost selfish to think that way. My grandma isn't dead, she's just not alive here on earth anymore. But she is very much alive in heaven. She is with her husband now (my grandpa died in 1986). She is with most of her brothers and sisters (I think my mom has one aunt who is still alive). And most importantly, she is with Jesus.

I don't have a recent picture of her, but I do have a happy one. (I stole this from my sister.)



I love you, Grandma. I'll miss you. I am so very blessed to have had a grandma like you. I pray that I will also be blessed with many years on this earth, but more importantly, that I will become a prayer warrior like you were. (And as my sister said), I pray that I will raise up prayer warriors.

Her race is finished. Now we pick up where she left off. She may have been a tiny woman, but she leaves some big shoes to fill. And that's a good thing. That's the way it should be.

So I will be sad for what we all have lost. But I will be happy for what heaven has gained. My grandma was a good and faithful servant, and has received her reward: Paradise.

A Series of Events - Tale #3: Family and Friends

Once upon a time, one week before my birthday, my mother had a surprise for me: she came to visit! It was a last-minute decision made by my dad.

You see, he's been very very busy for about a year now, and he promised that by May of this year things would finally slow down. So my mom has really been looking forward to having her husband back. But when the Canadian May long weekend rolled around, he decided to go fishing!

He must have felt guilty about it because he asked my mom, "How about I buy you a plane ticket to go see Art and Jenene and Sophia?" Well, my mom didn't have to think twice about that one!



It wasn't a complete surprise. As in, she didn't just show up at my door. That was actually her original plan, but she ended up telling me, because she found out that her visit was going to overlap with another event: my friend Kat came to visit me too!





Kat is one of my best friends. We met at Bible college, and though we don't speak or see each other that often, we have one of those friendships where we can pick up where we left off, no matter how long it's been.

Also, look at how happy she is, holding Sophia. Would you believe that a year ago, she was terrified of holding babies? She's had a bit of practice, and now she's a natural!

We took her and my mom out for dinner a couple of times, once to Art's favorite brewery, seen here:





Okay, so you can't actually see the restaurant at all.There was someone playing a lively piano song in the bar part of the restaurant, and Art was making Sophia dance. Don't you love her little sheep feet?

We also took Kat to our favorite Cajun restaurant. She was game enough to try the frog legs and alligator dip, and she actually liked them!

We also took her and my mom out for breakfast at that creperie I mentioned in the last post. We kind of love that place. (Fine, we love a lot of places. There are just so many great, unique restaurants around here!)

Art and I had a proper breakfast this time (not dessert), and Kat had a fruit and chocolate waffle that would make my sister jealous (my sister LOOOOOOOOOOVES waffles). I don't remember what my mom had, but I don't think anyone actually got crepes! And their crepes are excellent.

We also did some shopping. Kat bought Sophia a cute little Fourth of July dress [I'm so glad she supports our patriotism ;)], and she bought me two pairs of jeans as an early birthday gift! (Not that she needed to. Her coming to visit me was a great birthday gift in and of itself.)

And remember how I mentioned Sophia's early birthday gift to me? Well, Kat's first night here, Sophia slept through the night! Like a typical new mother, I did NOT sleep through night. I think I checked on her four or five times. How lame am I?

I'm sure there is more to tell of this tale, but seeing as how I failed to take more than five pictures, I can't really remember what else we did. If you click here, you can read all about it from Kat's point of view.

The End!