Random things

Well, I guess I've finally decided that my posts don't have to necessarily be soul-searching, deep-thinking, heart-wrenching posts. So this will be just a collection of random things.

Jessica is sick again. Last month it was strep throat. This month it's mono! When I was a kid nobody got mono unless they were one of those known "loose" girls. It's not called the "kissing disease" for nothing, you know! But my daughter assured the doctor that she has not been kissing anyone, and I believe her. She's only 13 and not into all that yet. So since mono is a virus, there's nothing we can do to treat it but wait it out and try to get her to go to bed earlier at night. Poor Jessica.

And what happened to my Tigers this year? Last Spring everyone was predicting that they would have the best team to play the game in many a year. They had all their big hitters back from last year, including the American League's Batting Champ, Magglio Ordonez, and the new guy they fought hard to get and promised the BIG bucks to, Miguel Cabrera. All the makings of a World Series championship team. And now here it is with only 2 or 3 games left in the season and they're what? How many games below .500??

A disappointing season for sure, but after all that--they're still all "my" Tigers!

Grandma Blain

Today marks the exact middle of September--the 15th. It's been dark, cool, and rainy now for 4 or 5 days. Shouldn't we still be having some nice sunny days? Technically, it's still summer! I'm getting tired of the gloom, though. It makes me feel down and lazy.

I was thinking about my Grandma Blain the other day. She used to keep 5-year diaries. You know, 5-year diaries only leave you maybe 5 lines to write on per day. I think maybe I could handle that. A couple years after she passed away, I borrowed her diaries from my Mom and read them. Oh, was she ever faithful when it came to writing in those diaries. Every evening she would sit in her chair and take up her diary and watch the 6:00 news. It wasn't because she wanted to record the "headline news" for that day. No, she needed to record the weather. The high and low temperatures for the day, to be exact, along with other pertinent information such as if it rained or the snowfall amount for the day. If she happened to be away from home, she would always fuss, "Oh, I hope Daddy remembered to check the weather for me." It's kind of funny when you think about it.

But there were always a few more lines to fill in after the high and low were recorded for the day, and in those lines I found wonderful things. Things that I didn't know about my Grandma and some things that I now treasure. I didn't know how much my grandma suffered. She had rheumatoid arthritis. She had major blood circulation problems and migraine headaches. And she was lonely.

She recorded when my Grandpa started planting peas and how high the corn was getting and when the tomatoes were starting to ripen. About cutting hay in a rush to get it in before it rained and which cow had a new calf. She had them all named.

And then there were also the entries like "Margie and Sherwin and the girls came for a visit today." "McBrides came for the day and got snowed in tonight." And then later on, "Nancy and John came for a visit." "We got a Valentine's Day card today from Nancy and John and the boys." "Nancy called today, and Jake sang a song over the phone." And many more.

She noted the birth of each of my children she was alive to see and once wrote "Margie called today. Jake is a genius." Referring to his IQ test scores when he started school.

I didn't realize at the time how lonely and isolated my Grandma felt living out on the farm, just her and Grandpa. And I didn't realize until reading those diaries how much those little visits, cards, and phone calls meant to her. And I'm so grateful for that. I don't remember much about those short visits or those calls made when I was a busy young mother. But it makes me happy to know that they meant so much to her and hopefully eased her loneliness a bit. I miss my Grandma and wonder sometimes what she would think or say about life in these times. I like to think about her looking down at all of us, watching over her family.

The Blain Reunion

It wasn't really advertised as a reunion. My cousins threw a 50th wedding anniversary open house for their parents on Saturday. Lyle Earl Blain II married Lois Palmbos on September 5, 1958. Uncle Lyle is my mother's younger brother. My older sister Kathy was their flower girl at the tender age of (almost) three.

Lyle and Lois have been blessed in this life with seven children, and their family story is a different one, indeed. Terri and Merri, twins, were the firstborns, followed by Lyle Earl Blain III. Then along came Renee and then Pam. Bringing up the tail were twins again, Debbie and Cindy. The unusual story behind it all is that here we are with six girls and only one boy, and ALL of the girls were born in June and the boy in October. The REALLY unusual part of the story is that the second set of twins, Debbie and Cindy, were born on the 10th birthday of the first set of twins, Terri and Merri. Now, what are the odds of that happening?

All seven of the kids were at the open house, and it was great to see them. A couple of them I hadn't seen in probably 25 years. The girls all live in Michigan, so there's really no excuse for that, and Lyle lives in Florida. As we were readying to leave the party on Saturday, there was talk of getting together again next summer, those of us who are able. I hope we do. It was a nice day.

Oh, and the answer to the big question is yes--cousin Lyle III does have a son whom he named Lyle Earl Blain IV, and I just found out on Saturday that he has also had a son, whom he named Lyle Earl Blain V. Unfortunately, the parents never married and don't see each other anymore, but apparently Lyle V does spend a good amount of time with his father.

Top picture, back row left to right--Terri, Lyle III, Merri, Lois and Lyle II, Pam
Front row left to right--Debbie, Renee, Cindy

Second picture (the cousins) back left to right--Terri, Pam, Merri, Lyle III, Me, Kathy, Lorie Front row left to right--Debbie, Renee, Cindy, and Margie

Third picture--Lyle Blain II, Marjorie Blain McBride, Lois Palmbos Blain

Fourth picture (the McBride Blains)--Lorie, Me, Mom and Grandy, Kathy, and Margie

Back to School!

Wow, here it is September already. The kids went back to school yesterday. Jessica was excited. Jordan was depressed. I can remember being so excited about the first day of school that I could barely sleep the night before. It never lasted much past the first couple days, but it was fun. Jordan is a junior this year, and Jessica is in 8th grade already!