A Typical Day?

Typical. It's an interesting word, isn't it? What is typical for one person may or may not be typical for another. A typical day for some people might include having breakfast with the family, getting kids out the door to school, going to work, and then coming home to have dinner, take care of "stuff", going to bed, and then starting the same over the next day. A typical day for others might be...chaos as usual. I know of several families that fall into the first category, but my family definitely falls into the latter. Of course, my extended family is huge, so there are bound to be things happening on a semi-regular basis.

Today, my dad had surgery to remove a growth. The surgery was supposed to last up to 6 hours, which is a very long time to begin with. However, the surgery ended up taking 7 hours. The surgeon was able to remove the entire growth, or so he thinks, but in the process, he ended up also removing part of my dad's stomach, part of his pancreas, his gall bladder and bile duct. The growth was cancerous, or at least the core of it was, so it's good that the surgeon thinks he got it all. We'll have to wait and see. The good thing is that dad's seizures are under control.

Something really good did happen today...Kirstin passed her driver's test! YAY Kirstin!!! So...we now have 3 licensed drivers in the house. As soon as she left to take the car by herself for the first time, I actually felt some new gray hairs growing in. And then I blocked everything out of my mind. I went to my little happy place where nothing bad happens because I simply choose to pretend that the bad things don't exist.

So...for anyone who happens to read this and falls into the second category of "typical"...would you care to join me in my happy place? There's always room for more.

The Perfect Day

http://www.superiortrails.com/duluth-engerpark.html
I'm starting this post with a link to some images of Enger Park in Duluth because that is where we ended up spending our 4th of July. The original plan had been to drop Kirstin and A.J. off at his house, go meet up with David's parents, and then go back and pick up Kirstin so that all of us could go to Canal Park (or by the DECC) for the Larson Family Fun Day. But as the old saying goes, "The best laid plans..." and all that. In this instance, I was absolutely delighted that the original plan did not work out.
By the time we arrived at my in-law's summer residence, my father-in-law decided that it was too late to try to find parking down by the DECC. So, at my mother-in-law's suggestion, we decided we'd drive up to Enger Tower and check it out. All of us were quite certain that we would not find parking, and that the park would be crowded etc. Enger Tower has, after all, probably the finest view of the Twin Ports area. And for watching fire works...it couldn't be better.
As it turned out, we got lucky! Not only did we find parking easily, but we were lucky enough to find a picnic site right next to where we parked. Beyond that, this picnic table was set away from all the others, so we had a nice and private spot. And, we were just down the hill from the best view of the Twin Ports area.
Partly because we found such fine parking spaces, and because of the amount of traffic coming in and out of the park, I decided to call A.J.'s mom to ask if Kirstin could just stay with them for the fireworks, and if we could pick her up afterwards. Kristi said that was fine, and that she didn't think the kids (Kirstin and A.J.) would be too upset about it. (They weren't.)
The weather was perfect; virtually cloudless, not too warm, and with just enough of a breeze to keep most of the bugs away. The little girls found friends to play and hang around with, David and his dad had plenty of time to visit, and I had a great conversation with my mother-in-law. Ben...he kind of did what he wanted to; mainly spent his time with his dad and grandpa.
There must have been 700 people in the park, but it was mostly families and couples...a few singles, but those that I noticed came with cameras or their dogs. And while the bluff overlooking the Twin Ports doesn't appear very large, and also appears to have a sheer and sudden drop-off, there was more than enough room for everyone to comfortably, and not be crowded, watch the fireworks displays. I say "displays" because from where we were, we were able to watch the fireworks in Duluth, in Superior, and even Spooner, WI which is quite a ways away.
After the fireworks (which were truly amazing), my in-laws led us over to West Duluth were we picked up Kirstin. We had to take Skyline Parkway, which is 25 miles long, very scenic, and all...but there's just one problem with that (at least for David, there's a problem). And that is, Skyline Parkway follows the highest bluffs of Duluth, hugging the cliffs on one side, dropping off into virtual nothingness on the other side. And, the "guardrails" are really just large pieces of rock; mainly granite, I think, but I'm not sure. The problem is that David is terrified of heights. He did not have an easy time of it, even though we only had to drive 4 or 5 miles along the Parkway.
We picked up Kirstin and headed home. The kids were all very tired, but not overly stimulated as they would have been had we been down by the DECC. Well, Becca had a bit of a tummy ache, but she was fine. We arrived home at nearly 1:00 a.m., and for days afterward, continued to talk about our remarkable and memorable 4th of July. It really was a perfect day.

Grandma's Hug

My Grandma Woelfel passed away almost two years ago leaving over 200 direct descendents. Grandma and Grandpa had eight daughters (no sons, mind you), 39 grandchildren (I am #18), and I don't know how many great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Christmases at Grandma and Grandpa's little house when I was small, were loud, fun, and filled with love. Aunties were just as likely as moms to get after their nieces and nephews to play or for discipline. We were the stereotypical "one big happy family." All of us knew we could count on having Grandma's special home made chocolate cake, and getting Grandma's hugs.

Grandma was very German and she was as wide as she was tall. She was "skooshy." When you hugged Grandma, it was like hugging a great big feather pillow. There was nothing else like it in the world. Grandma's hugs were hands-down the best.

After Grandma passed away, my mom and her sisters did what needed doing...going through Grandma's things, keeping some and giving others away. My mom, among other things, ended up with some of Grandma's clothes. Because I am a plus-sized woman, mom has several times, over the past two years, asked if I would like to have some of them. Every time she asked, I politely declined. That is, until this morning. I decided that I would finally have a look at Grandma's clothes and then nicely tell my mom that I didn't want them. "Granny clothes," you know? And yes, they were "granny clothes" except I realized there was something special there that was not based on style or color. (Not that I am by any means a "fashionista," far from it in fact.)

Included in the selection was a khaki colored knit cardigan. It is nice and heavy, and I told my mom she should keep it; that she could wear it, think of Grandma, and know that she was getting a hug from her. Mom said that she had enough things of Grandma's and that I should take it if I wanted it. I gratefully accepted and draped the sweater over my arm. I could almost feel Grandma's skooshy hug as I ran my hand over the soft knitted fabric. I know that every time I wear it, I will be getting a hug from my Grandma. And that is something that I never thought I would feel again...Grandma's Hug.