March winds

                                                " March winds and April showers
                                                     Bring forth May flowers"

So, if this fable holds true, and based on the wind blowing today, we should have bushels of flowers in May!

This week began with the quick trip by Nancy, coming to stay with Gabi during her Spring break. I think she enjoyed time with the kids with no schedules and spoiled them like crazy while she was here.  And that's the beauty of being a grandparent! One can.  She returned to California Thursday evening, getting back just in time for the worst earthquake (Friday evening) she's experienced.  Thankfully, she is ok.

Friday morning, Brad and I drove to my 3rd eye exam (why does anyone really need three?) in Ft. Collins since my new insurance has no providers in Greeley.  Our plan was to leave there and drive to Manitou to continue my birthday celebration, with time spent with Pam.  Luckily, Brad was able to drive as my eyes were dilated and my vision impaired. We had a great time with a hike to the old quarry, followed by a drive into Colorado Springs to have wine at an old schoolhouse converted to a brew pub.

 We had another one of those quirky conversations with Brad, ending in a bet with Pam and I, followed by a phone call to Mom to check the information. His malfunctioning brain sure makes for some good laughs at times!  Saturday morning we drove to Florence (about 30 miles south of Manitou) and checked out a few of the blocks of antique stores, including one whose specialty was antique hats and clothing.

 Too bad I didn't have these pictures for "Wear a hat day for Cancer awareness".
We toured an old movie theatre that the town is trying to restore to become a performing arts location. The inside still held many of the original paintings and murals but with limited funds, the restoration may be a long way off.

 

 Our next stop wan Canyon City, where we went to a wine tasting at the Abbey.  Such a beautiful property, and wonderful wine.  (Pam treated me to a bottle of my favorite!)

 

 

 Nice to get away for a little bit.
Sunday was back to the old grindstone....laundry, errands, cleaning, cooking and getting the Easter decor done.  We had an abbreviated  Sunday dinner with just the Frosts as Curt and Amie were in Denver celebrating Heather's birthday.  We made some "copy cat" Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana for dinner , a sausage, potato, kale soup. Afterwards we played our favorite card game, "Shark Boots".  Interesting how we play every weekend and Gramma still can't follow the concept of a game

that 5 years excel at!

Flash back to 1967

"When I'm Sixty Four"

When I get older losing my hair
Many years from now
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings, bottle of wine?
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door?
Will you still need me, will you still feed me
When I'm sixty-four?


Wow! I clearly remember singing along with the Beatles to that song when I was 17.  Sixty four seemed impossibly old! Now that I'm there,  I don't really feel THAT old....
What an awesome birthday I had!  Truly one of the best, if not THE best.  Loved having my Ogallala (not for long!) girls, Meredith and Emma come to stay for the weekend.  The Taylor's were in Greeley to find a house and "mission accomplished".  After looking at a variety of homes in a 30 mile radius, they signed a contract on one in Eaton and will be moving in as soon as school is out in Ogallala.  Meredith will stay with us beginning April 21 to start her new position as senior manager of the Emergency Dept. at NCMC.  

We had one of those typical Colorado Spring weekends, with temperatures fluctuating between 20 and 60.  We awoke Saturday morning to a dreary day and by 10:00 it was snowing fairly hard- enough to have Sophie's soccer game cancelled.  We did get in on some of Gabi's  volleyball game in Platteville, taking the kids home with us to meet up at Carrie and Spencer's house for dinner.  We ate Spencer's tacos (with pickles, of course) and Brad's guacamole and Amie's dessert, tiramasu, my favorite!  We had lots of laughs, especially at Brad trying to explain a random breakfast item, describing it as brown and round.  Donut? Bagel? Burrito?   After many guesses, Curt says, "I know what it is.  It's green chili sausage". And Brad agrees. We were still laughing about that one the next day!
Gabi took my camera to capture "funny face" pictures of everyone.  My favorites are:

 

Yesterday, we started the day with making breakfast before the Taylor's departure, then we were off to Denver to see Mom, who had baked me a birthday cake!

Brad and I had a nice visit with her and then we met up with the rest of the family at Maggianos for dinner.  Amie and Curt had come to Denver to see baby Keva be baptized, Carrie and Spencer were in Denver to pick Nancy up at the airport, coming to stay with Gabi while she in on Spring Break, so we chose the restaurant accordingly.  I got a beautiful necklace from Nancy and Sarah, a gift certificate to get some new boots (the Stampede is just around the corner!) from Curt and Carrie's families, a couple of cute tops from my Mom, a darling jacket/top from Meredith's family, a package of frozen salmon from Great Gramma (she knows I love salmon!), flowers and spending the day together from Brad and many, many birthday texts, calls, emails etc. from friends and family!

Did I say how great it is to be 64?

Thank you everyone!

Gramma's 94th

Amazing how far behind you can get in just a week of neglecting blogging. Had big plans to catch up Sunday night, but my computer was down.  After trying as many "fixes" as I could, I finally had to call in the professionals and pay to have it done, which began at 7:30 last night and ended after I had gone to bed at 10:30.  Not sure how long it took, but when I awoke this morning, Wah Lah!, I was back in business.
Just to highlight the first week of March: (had a couple of days off work)
1. Brad and I went to a brain tumor support group in Denver. Spent 1/2 day preparing supplies for retreat (scrap booking)
2. Carrie and I attended a scrap booking weekend at a KOA campground in North Ft. Collins.  Tried sleeping in a teeny cabin with Carrie (and 3 others)...sleepless and freezing...raining and snowing while we were there, but got a lot of scrapping done and had lots of laughs!

gathering a few supplies

Yes, it sleeps 6

deluxe accommodations

Patio area 

 3. Played in our first bridge game since before Christmas....a bit rusty, but got in some practice before

 4.  Playing in a Denver tournament on Sunday.  Brad did well!  Tiring day concentrating so hard but
5. Rallied when Carrie offered me a ticket to see Darius Rucker at the Budweiser Center following bridge.  Great concert, but didn't get home til midnight.  Wishing I were 30 years younger the next morning when I got up at 5:30 Monday morning AND it was daylight savings time!
So, that highlights the previous week and weekend. Onward.
Crazy day on Friday....wished later I'd read my horoscope...had coffee as usual with my support group girls, then off to see the new neurologist.  One word...quirky.  Anyway, it was a pretty  lame appointment and we both wondered what the point was.  After lunch, Ramona stopped  by for a visit.  We haven't talked for over 6 months (I think because she lives 2 miles away!) and it was great catching up with her. I've missed that. Then it was off to daycare to pick Corbin up and meet Carrie in Eaton where Gabi's school was having a Literacy Carnival.  Thinking that it was like the "Book Fairs" that our kids have had at their schools, we scoped it out.  HUGE amount of people there- amazing community support!  And who did I run (almost literally) into?  My old BFF of many years ago, Marjean, who was in Eaton from Texas for one of her grandkid's birthday.  We haven't seen one another for about 15 years.  THAT was strange....
Saturday morning I went with Carrie, Spencer and the kids to Platteville for Gabi's volleyball game and was there to see her return a served ball over the net and make the majority of her serves.  Sadly, I missed Sophie's soccer game that afternoon where she scored her first goal!

 

 Saturday afternoon we went to Ft. Collins to play bridge.  Afterwards, our friends Bill and Marilynn treated us to dinner and drinks.  Nice evening!
Sunday began as a day to catch up on laundry and cleaning, but once again, I ignored those tasks to visit when Amie, Heather and baby Keva (now one month old) appeared.

 

 

 

 What fun to be around a new baby again!  That can turn any day into a special day!  It was a beautiful Spring day, anyway, and the girls asked if they could take Keva outside to play on the Little Tykes slide.  When that didn't work, they wanted to know if we could set up the water slide!
We settled for making a leprechaun trap (their own design) and some shamrock pretzel/candy treats.

 Gramma enjoyed her birthday, getting some new outfits and jammies. Brad made a wonderful dinner with our favorite brisket, twice baked potatoes, green beans, spicy cole slaw and topped off by dessert by Amie who made a delicious ice cream bar cake.  The kids wanted to play "Shark Boots" (a card game) afterwards, so we ended the day with Gramma winning the game!  Happy birthday!

Forward March

Not a lot going on this week, although, like always it has seemed to fly by.  Mid week, we were disappointed to hear that Meredith didn't get the job she was here to apply for last Friday, but was contacted by another interested party, with a potential position. We are keeping our fingers crossed!
Carrie was promoted to a regional manager/director for Greeley, Loveland and Ft. Collins and will begin those new responsibilities by the end of the month.  I'm so proud of both of them!  And, speaking of proud...Curt turned 37 yesterday and has certainly shown a lot of maturity in dealing with his Dad and his family.  We celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant, BoneFish, for brunch.  What a great time and meal!

 

 Later on Sunday, Brad and I watched the kids (wild!) while Curt and Amie and Carrie and Spencer went to a movie.  Afterwards, we got together for a light Sunday dinner of nachos/tacos and a birthday cake that Sophie and Gabi made (with only a little assistance from me).
Saturday, we watched Gabi play in her first volleyball game. Cute!  The girls had had 2 practices prior to the game, so undoubtedly they will improve a lot by the end of the season.

 

 That afternoon Brad and I went to visit one of his childhood friend/neighbor who had suffered a stroke last summer and was just getting home.  Brad said afterwards that it made him feel really lucky to have only had a brain tumor!  And speaking of deficits, at dinner tonight, Brad says "When we go to the store, we need to get some more of this corn". Corn? I ask. "Yeah, you know this pink stuff" (points to a carrot on his plate). So what is that called then, I ask.  Several minutes go by before he says, "It starts with an "r"....no, no maybe a "c".  A few moments later....c.a.r.....r.ot.  Yeah, carrot!  Yup, it's the little things that keep us going!