And he's from Big D....

"Grandma?"

"Yes, Dallas?"

"Can you come to Texas and get me and take me to California when school's out?"

"Dallas, you're coming to California at the end of the month with your other Grandma. Can you wait a little longer?"

"I guess so but I want you to come and get me so I can get there sooner."

"Should I talk to your mother about that?"

"No. I guess I have to wait 'cause she already has the tickets."

"Then I think it's probably best if you wait too."

So our 10-year old Texas grandson will be here fairly soon but not soon enough. Last year his mother said she would let him live in California with his dad (our son) if he worked hard in school and got good grades. He did and now time will tell if he moves out here.

He lives with his mother, step-dad, half-sister and a veritable zoo assortment of animals (lemurs, geese, pigs, chickens, horses, dogs, cats, and goats to name a few) but misses his dad. His other grandma is retiring this year and may move to Texas so he will have her nearby. It sounds like a pretty good life for a kid but he misses his dad. But if he lived here, wouldn't he miss his mother and Texas lifestyle? No easy decisions here.

Last year when family friends drove him to California he brought me a kitten for my birthday. This was not a wanted present - in fact when he told me about the kitten before he left Texas, I reminded him we couldn't have one because of our dog. He held the kitten all the way and when DH saw it, he let Dallas know he didn't want a kitten. Dallas told him it wasn't for him, it was for his grandma. So........I kept the kitten he'd named SnowBelle, renamed her Samantha and she's been the best birthday present ever. Having a cat is new to me and she's been a constant source of delight, entertainment, exasperation and love. I learned I'd always wanted a cat.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

One of my goals is to get my pictures organized but I spend as much time with my memories as I do sorting. These pictures were taken when both boys wanted to stay up New Year's Eve for the first time. Here they are, starting out strong - there is four years between their ages. Same mom, same dad, different coloring. With DGS's#2 coloring, he attracted lots of attention. Still does.

Going strong - at this point they both think they'll make it to midnight.

Oops, one down. Actually as I remember, he lasted longer than DH did.

Okay, laying down on the floor for a bit - but not sleeping!

Whoo-hoo! Made it. He was sound asleep within 5 minutes.

I remember the first time my parents let me stay up until midnight. I expected something magical, mystical to happen when the next year rolled around and was surprised to see we really just moved from one minute to the next. But I still stay up every year to see the new one in. One year I ate a whole bag of Doritos to stay awake - haven't been able to eat them since. Any special memories of the first time you stayed up on New Year's Eve?

Fast Times

Remember Fast Times at Ridgemont High where Brad (Judge Reinhold’s character) rehearses breaking up with his girlfriend only she surprises him by breaking up with him first? And then he starts trying to talk her out of it and thinks of all the reasons why they shouldn’t break up?

Life follows art. DGS decided he and his current girlfriend weren’t exactly a match and their relationship (such as it was) had run its course. For several days he planned what he would say and how he would say it. The moment arrived and surprise, she did it first. DGS was caught off guard but told her he agreed it would be best and to his credit didn’t try to talk her out of it or let her know he had been thinking of it first. They started out as friends and ended as friends.

Incidentally, he hasn’t seen Fast Times and I’m thinking of renting it for him.

Big D little a, double l,a,s!

When our 3rd grandson was born, his parents were already having marital problems - I'm too old to say they had "issues." They had problems. DS's wife had a child from a previous relationship and perhaps she wanted a dad for her daughter.

Along came our son, her rescuer and Knight in Shining Armor. They met while she was pregnant and he stood by her through the pregnancy and birth. They married when her little girl wasn't quite a year old. Ten months later our son's son was born. I can still remember how excited he was to learn he was going to be a father. He told his dad, "Hey, I finally got one past the goalie." Okay, it wasn't poetry but it was him.

He became a dad to his wife's little girl as the birthdad wasn't in the picture at all. He expected to adopt her. Shortly after the birth of this precious boy, DIL announced she wanted out of the marriage - she had fallen in love with a man she worked with. About two months later she filed for divorce.

Our son moved in with us temporily and we hurriedly bought baby furniture. While purchasing a crib, DH turned to me and said, "This isn't exactly how I planned to spend my golden years." Good thing we don't always know what the future brings, right? Little did we know then how even more complicated our "golden years" would get! The little girl continued to call our son dad and us grandma and grandpa for the longest time. And DIL corrected her every time she did. It was very painful.

Ex-DIL married her co-worker and now lives in Texas with our grandson who spends every summer here with his dad. Last Christmas it looked like he was going to be here permanently but it didn't happen. Perhaps this year it will. DS has a new wife and we love her like a daughter. They would like to have chidren but it hasn't happened yet. She is an excellent mother to DGS.

Ex-DIL never wanted sons. When she was pregnant with DGS and they learned it was a boy, she pouted and sulked for weeks. She and her husband have no children together but he has four boys from a prior marriage. The birthdad of her daughter is now in the picture, lives in California and sees his daughter every summer. He has never married and has no other children.

His Ride

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.

Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

DGS's car - he has sold (is selling) his orange bug to his mother and bought a Mercedes! Okay, it is about his age (18) and he's having some "issues" getting it to pass smog but this is now his car and he is beyond jazzed. He puts on his fancy-schmancy sport coat over a rock T and struts out the door. Looking and feeling mighty fine. No such thing as spare change anymore - it all goes for insurance and gas.

Discoveries

My SamAtlas Shrugged. I read that so many years ago and last week DGS bought a copy. I asked him how he had come to buy that book and what he knew about Ayn Rand. Turns out he became interested in the book because a computer game referenced it - no great philosophical intent at all. But as we talked about the book and I mentioned how many people it had influenced, we then turned naturally to philosophy and philosophers. Hmmm - so now I'm refreshing my memory of all I've learned about Plato, Socrates, etc. However, at this point in my life I only have so many brain cells functioning and I can feel each and every one of them constricting as I try to ponder stuff I left years ago. What is real? What is truth? Knowledge? Philosophy promotes endless discussions and I can see where we're headed. I gave up navel gazing eons ago but DGS is just discovering life. Ah, the young.