This Is The Stuff Lyric Video

I LOVE Maps

OK, I did prior to tonight when I was helping Ryan with his homework. We worked on the map of Ancient Rome for 2-1/2 hours. It had a lot of detail and Ryan is quite sloppy, so we had to work very slowly on the project. We had to Google each of the items to put on the map because despite the map having a page number in the book, it was not a complete map. I felt very good working on this with him because neither of us got overly frustrated or upset--and it was a long time to work on one project. I see how my being calm and staying patient helped him remain calm.

During the work, he said to me, "Thanks Mom for helping me with this, I am so glad you are here to take care of me and I don't have to be in foster care." It was one of those moments that made me feel really glad to be a mom.

blogging from my phone

I am in bed and decided I should say something. We made our last trip to the apartment today. We had to get the transformer off the Dish and sent it back. We moved the TV stand over to Patricia's apartment. She was so excited and grateful.
Then, we got to the car and got a call from our neighbor who was out on a mission to find us a refrigerator. He is an appliance repair man and was giving us advice. So, we decided to go look at one. We ended up making the purchase. I am excited to finally get my freezer in the bottom type.
I haven't gotten my iPod changed over to not playing Christmas music, so I am listening to that and remembering that one month ago on this date, Mom's faith became sight. Each few days I get a better understanding of how real it is that I know where my mom is. I do hope I am pleasing to her, I know there were many times I was not, but I want to honor the many special years we had together.

But one thing I know she would say, "You're not losing weight because you have an overactive fork!" She had such a way with words.

See you later, Mom, I love you!!

Funny Things I Don't Want to Forget

My mom was not a funny person, one rarely saw her really laugh or be goofy like the rest of us did. She did have some funny one-liners though, and I don't want to forget them.

One day we were out driving around Janesville, Joe was driving. I don't know what we were looking for or at, but as we approached an intersection that was a T with a light, Joe said, "What do I do at the corner?" (meaning which way to turn) and Mom replied, "Stop if the light is red."

This past Thanksgiving she was going to Michele and Tim's. I asked her what she was taking. She said, "I am taking a green bean casserole, but I'm not making the one that everyone likes."

When Kathy was here for spring break last year, Kathy was eating a Twinkie...Mom said, "Well, no wonder you're so fat." Kathy has since lost over 40 pounds. Mom was a great motivational speaker.

...and then, there is always that one about the ice cream!!!

She never knew what Brett Favre's name was, she always called him Bart Favre.

Christmas......finally

I am thankful that the celebration of Christmas is not really about the gifts or the glitz. We didn't have a tree this year, I didn't want to decorate for an empty house. We had planned of celebrating with just the four of us when we got home from Texas and before we had to head back to work and the daily grind. Well, work and grind was delayed and so was our gift giving celebration. Tonight, we finally got to it. Funny thing is, we shopped this afternoon. Talk about procrastinating, we are the King, Queen and two princes of it. We laughed about our gifts and our boys were really happy to get what they got. Dan was a bit surprised that we actually got him the iPod Touch that he wanted. I didn't want to spend that much money on him, but we did it anyway. He has a birthday soon, he won't be as lucky then ;) Ryan loved his Snuggie. I cannot believe how badly he wanted one of those, but never really asked for one. We kind of knew he wanted one since he loved using Kathy's when we were in Texas and Leila's when we were in Michigan.

Jim got cheese from Dan. Yes, that is correct, cheese. Why? Because we were out of cheese and this way, Dan had something to give Jim and something he will eat himself. Ryan got Jim a pair of gloves for moving the firewood, that is what Jim asked for. I got Jim a DVD of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" because I love that movie and wanted it. (an old trick of Dan's--buying for others what you want for yourself)

Ryan wanted me to have a new robe. The robe I have is fine, but he wanted me to have a new one. Dan bought me a metal water bottle and some Milwaukee Brewer's ornaments. I hate baseball. Not really sure what the purpose of those were other than to lessen the inventory on the shelves of JC Penney and to get them at a really good price. Jim didn't buy me a movie or anything....I made it very clear that my gift was a trip to Texas. (I think I should ask for another one since the one I got was shortened)

So, enjoy the pictures of the January 9th Christmas with Knulls!!

The boys before we opened gifts!

Cheese

Has anyone seen Ryan?

My new robe.

Oh, I almost forgot. Dan bought Jim this sweater because he didn't think Jim looked very well dressed at the memorial service and he wants Jim to look good for any future funeral.

What My Sister Said

It is too funny not to share this story. Mom's death was a total shock to us, although we all knew her health was failing. She was prepared to go and did prepare her financial affairs to cause the least amount of work for us when she went. However, there was one tiny detail that she never really addressed.

When we arrived home on Tuesday, Leila was at Rock Haven visiting with Dad. We called her and said we would come up there to see him too. So, we drove over there, Leila was using Mom's car as Mike had gone home. As we were leaving the home, I told Jim I was going to ride with Leila. We got into Mom's car and I realized that we didn't really know the details of all her possessions. I asked, "Hey, what are we going to do with the car?" Leila quickly stated that she was going to take it home with her. I thought a few seconds and tactfully as I could asked if there had been arrangements made ahead of time for that. Leila, who was with Mom in her last moments of life, said, "Oh yeah, didn't I tell you? Mom's last words were, 'I want you to have my car.'" To which I replied......"YOU BIG FAT LIAR" We laughed and laughed. It became one of my favorite stories of the days following my mom passing into her eternal rest. Even though Mom didn't laugh a lot out loud, I know she enjoyed our craziness.

Here is Ryan helping Grandma clean her car. I wonder how much chocolate he got that day.

On My Father's Side by The Barn Again Gang