Today's the day.  I leave for Jinja, Uganda.  My travel there will take 22 hours +.  Twenty hours of that 22 hours is spent on an airplane.  Here's hoping I don't have a snoring person next to me the first half.  The second half I have my sister sitting next to me (or that's the plan) and I can elbow her in the ribs if I have to.

I'm up early to finish the last minute details before leaving.  My husband promised he'd be home from work by noon to take me to the airport and I *think* I'm mostly packed so all that's left is the little things that I need to do that won't get done while I'm gone.  Like

• pick up the shirts at the laundry
• get the flea stuff for the cats and put it on them
• vacuum
• clean the entire house...

Oh yes, clean the entire house.  See I fly out of the country at 4 this afternoon and at 2:30 my daughter's in-laws arrive in this country.  They are staying in my house.  I am going to be an absent hostess.  It's probably the worst part about going to Uganda right now.  I REALLY wanted to be here during their visit.  They are great people and I really would love to have more time to get to know them.  That's difficult enough with their not speaking any English (and who can talk freely about their children when the children are doing the translating? lol) but my being gone will make getting to know them even more difficult.  lol  I will be here for about four days at the end of their visit.  I'll make the best of that time, jet lagged or not!

I will be writing on the A View from Here blog (see link in previous post) but don't know if I'll be adding anything to Xanga.  It all depends upon internet availability, time, and how much it costs. 

Some of the grandkids came by to say goodbye yesterday.  They make my life so bright.

Wren with her hair "flatted".  Despite a flat iron her curls stubbornly work their way out.

Wren and Daria in those dresses that have become a huge hit for the girls.  So glad they appreciate them because I think they are just hideous.  lol

Otto forever has the faces.  Is it just a 5 yr. old stage?  I've forgotten but getting him to look  nice for a photo is impossible!  lol 

You have to have the obligatory baby in shades picture at least once.

Savva loves to laugh and is super ticklish, making the laugh easy to obtain.  No, we don't torture him....... too often.

I've been writing over on my mission site this week.  Since I committed to writing that blog I figured I'd better follow through with it.  Go figure.  lol  This site will definitely be silent for a while since I'm moving it to strictly family type stuff.  Oh and probably political.... you know an election is coming up....

The View From Here

See you over there!

P.S. - I leave for Uganda tomorrow and will be gone until November 13th.  Sure to be a time of adventure!

I've started a new blog, not to really take the place of this one, but a blog with a different emphasis.  I went with WordPress and already like it so much better than Xanga... but that's a whole different story.  My Pottermom Xanga blog will remain for my family stuff for now.  I've toyed with moving it all to a different site/server but haven't had the time or energy to accomplish that so it's still here for now.  I just don't want to lose everything that I have here.  There's one or two good posts in this pile of words.  lol

Anyway, I started this new blog to chronicle my upcoming trip to Uganda.  I'll be leaving Oct. 27th and be there for about three weeks.  I will likely be updating it while I am in Africa as that is kind of a condition of my going in the first place....

You can find it at:  The View From Here. 

Our life here has been in turmoil.  For me it's mostly been emotional.  Not as emotional as it has been for others in our family.  A couple of weeks ago my husband and I went on vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  We had a lovely time and spent time biking and hiking in the mountains.  One day as we were hiking along the Continental Divide we received a text message from our son that our daughter-in-law had gone to the doctor for an ultrasound to help determine how far along her pregnancy was.  The ultrasound showed there were problems, in fact the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat although they could see the baby.  She was sent for a second ultrasound and it was confirmed there was no heartbeat.  We received a text message while on the mountain that our grandchild had died in utero.  I broke down and cried.  Cried for the child I would never hold and cried mostly for my son and my daughter-in-law as I knew my grief was only a smidgen of what theirs was.

Since the news life has continued but gone up and down.  Arguments with insurance, struggles with the whole physical process, a visit to the emergency room, emotions of everyone being good, then bad, then raging, then sad.  Just a whole slew of ups and downs in every way.

Aaron and Jill continue on with life.  They named the baby Page.  A sweet name meaning "personal assistant".  I know some people will think it's strange that they named a baby who would never be born but to them, and to the rest of our family this baby is real, was 100% from day one part of our family and having a name is just quite fitting.

Jill has been quite open about her feelings and has been excellent in putting down her feelings in words.  I read once that almost 27% of women suffer at least one miscarriage and yet it isn't talked about.  Women often feel like they are going through this alone, that they are the only ones who have experienced this.  Maybe it needs to be talked about, maybe women need to know they aren't alone and that it isn't anything that is wrong with them, it's sometimes just something that happens.  Why they may never know.  But they can know they aren't alone.

I'm sharing Jill's latest blog post.  Maybe reading it will help you some day understand what some other woman may be experiencing and help her through it.

Mommy Ventures

This time it was my birthday. 

Had a lovely day with the entire family.  TWO cakes, a chocolate and a carrot cake (both were super yummy thanks to my daughter Emily), lunch at Santa Fe Flats (a New Mexican Restaurant, big difference between New Mexican food and Mexican or Tex-Mex stuff.... Hatch Green Chilis!  whoo hoo!), swimming with the family and presents.

Hannah and Chris bought me a new tea cup which sparked a whole present buying spree for by my husband.  I have not displayed my tea cup collection since we moved into this house for lack of a display area/case/shelf.  So he took me to an antique store and we bought a curio cabinet.  It was so fun unpacking my tea cups last night and putting them in the cabinet.  It was like seeing old friends.  About half to 2/3 of my collection are cups that I received from my mother or my grandmother so there's a touch of sentimentality to the collection.

After getting the curio cabinet, which is an antique piece now residing in my very modern contemporary livingroom (I'm going for the eclectic look), my husband took me to Lowes and bought me ..... a bench grinder!  Yes!  And before you wonder if my new hobby is sharpening knives.... I will be using it in my ceramic studio.  When glaze runs (as two of the pieces I just fired did... grrrr) you have to grind it off.  Glaze basically becomes glass firmly attached to the stoneware so the only way to get it off is to chip it off (which makes holes and breaks the pottery) or to grind it down.  It will be so nice to not have to use a hand grinder (which is heavy and hard to hold).  Hopefully though grinding glaze is a rare event and I will be using it to sharpen knives or tools, and possibly that adze we have laying around to help me in my mole hunting quest.... (it's a gross thought, don't go there)

Tonight I audition for a choir.  I am trembling at the thought of singing solo.  Group singing is good.  Solo singing is terrifying.  Emily says I will survive.  I am just hopeful that nobody will be there to hear me.  I'm thinking that won't be the case.

In our family we have a tradition.  We have a "Cane of Maturity".  The "Cane of Maturity" is passed between family members on birthdays that are a multiple of 5 beginning at the age of 30.   This cane is kept by the family member who has had the most recent "5" birthday and then when another family member has a birthday that is a multiple of 5 they pass it on in a ceremony befitting the occasion. 

Today was a major birthday.  The first ceremony of maturity for Emily.  She was 30 years old yesterday so today at the family celebration the current holder of the "Cane of Maturity", Chris (who received it in January) held a special ceremony for Emily welcoming her to her maturity.  Chris, as the man of maturity spoke at the solemn occasion, the candles were lit, the proper words (the ones the "old man" remembered) were spoken and Emily was inducted into the special society.

  

Emily was most anxious to be inducted into this special society and tried her best to not show her excitement.

Everyone was most solemn and the words of wisdom spoken were most serious.

And the passing of the cane took place.

Emily took to her new position quite well.

  

And the celebration ended with cake and fruit pizza.  And a LOT of laughter.  I really wish I had a copy of what Chris said, it was hilarious and so much fun.  The look on Emily's face when she walked into the room where we were all waiting for her was priceless.

Emily will be holding on to the cane until August of 2012 when her father turns 55.  He in turn will only have it for about five months before passing it on to Art.  It becomes quite the challenge to keep track of who gets the cane when but it will be interesting to see if it is around in 20 years.

Due to the family in March/April.

Grandkids galore!

Happy birthday Summer!

I hope your birthday is full of joy and the next year a year of vision, passion for life, adventure and great love.

Our 8th annual girls weekend is officially over.  *whew*

Highlights of the year.....

•  Curtains that didn't fit the windows.... you had to see these things, frightening.
•  Hannah got the "sex" bed... every time she moved it started squeaking suggestively.
•  Emily demonstrating the ab-roller in the exercise room.  Hilarious.
•  "I'm sorry ma'am, you can't take pictures in the store."
•  Inside out diapers.
•  Exploding diaper.
•  The paddlewheel boat captain.
•  Junk food that only mom ate!  augh!!!!!!!
•  Catch phrase....

I would tell some of the comments the girls made but that would bring up my bucket list (which THEY made for me, I didn't make myself) and that would be embarrassing.... so we will just wait until next year when I put them all on the t-shirt!  mwahahahahaha

Pictures.  My internet is super slow these days (they are working on our lines and it is messing things up terribly) so uploading them takes too much effort.  I did get them uploaded to my Facebook page (where the family hangs out) so you can check them out there.

Facebook Album

Here's the group shot though, taken on the Paddleboat cruise we did on Sunday.

It was busy, it was fun, it was tiring.  Everyone came home tired this year.  So next year will be a bit less hectic.  Even though we had so few activities this year we are going to do the relaxing thing next year.  It is looking like a spa in Galveston and the beach will be the goal.... now to set the date.... looking at late August, early September....