Home Again, Home Again!

Home from another vacation, this one to Dahlonega, Georgia with my hubby.  We had a cute little cabin overlooking the Chestatee River.  Really nice.  The folks who owned the place were terrific.  We had dinner with them at a little place called the Crimson Moon where we listened to the live music of Tom and Juli.  They did perfect songs for us old fogies.  It was great fun.  Phil and I also went tubing on the river.  I can honestly say that I floated by Zac Brown's mountain cabin and they waved at me.  Of course I would have to confess that "they" were some folks who appeared to be working on the house and not actually Zac or any band members.  Such is life!  We ended our vacation in Atlanta where we actually got to babysit the world's most beautiful, gifted and talented, perfect baby.  Yes, that would be my Hannah.  The kids took us out to dinner, played some games and watched tv with us and in general let us disrupt their weekend.  Hannah has gained some more weight and has dimples in her knees and on her elbows, too cute for words.  She is also beginning to really smile at people.  You can see the smile in her eyes as well as mouth and it is fascinating to watch her personality developing.  Grumps and I sang "In the Paw Paw Patch" to her and the serious expression on her face was hilarious.  She was studying us like she was trying to unravel one of the world's great mysteries.  Probably just wondering what a paw paw was and who in the world told her nonny that she could sing.  Hannah is a lucky little girl.  She has the best mommy and daddy.  I am so touched by how wonderful Matt and Katherine are as parents.  Life is good.  I am missing baby girl but it is lovely to be home.

Grumps playing with Hannah

Little Miss Wonderful

Songs with "Friends" in the Lyrics

I just got back from a long weekend in the NC mountains with some very special women friends.  One of the games we played during the course of the weekend was trying to think of songs with different words in the lyrics like "wine" or "sunshine".  It was fun but I confess that I was terrible at it.  We should have tried to see how many songs we might have found with the word "friends".  The three gals who went with me have known each other for a long time and I consider myself very fortunate to be included in their circle.  Three of us teach.  Two are Methodist, two are Lutheran.  All of us love to eat and enjoy an good beverage.  We laughed so much this weekend.  It was just marvelous.

I found myself on Saturday afternoon laying in the hammock,  feeling a cool breeze, hearing thunder in the distance, watching the leaves in the trees blow and counting my blessings.  I have so many: family, friends, health, home, job.  The list goes on.  I am thankful for them all.  I am so truly blessed.  It was just the best feeling, swinging in that hammock.  I wish I had the writing skills to really let you experience it as I did.  

So here's to good friends, good wine, good food and GREAT times!

Hats and Hannah

Hannah came to meet her great-grandparents this past weekend and of course, I managed to be there, too.  Had a lovely time with my favorite granddaughter.   She is growing and can make the most interesting faces.  At least they are interesting to me! 

All the family was there and managed to make fun of my most recent crochet projects.  I have been making hats and none seem to turn out quite the right size.  I intended to make a winter hat for Hannah so I made the pattern for 6 to 12 months.  It was very attractive on my son.  Granted, he had to stretch it a bit to get it on but not that much!  Then there was the supposedly toddler size sunhat.  If you know anyone with a toddler with a giant size head, I have just the hat for them. Regardless, they were all cute hats and surely they will fit someone out there. And another reason to retire - I need more time to practice my crocheting!  Pictures on Ravelry soon.

Night sweet Hannah!  Nonny loves you!

Hello New Blog

I thought it would be nice to start a blog when I retired from teaching.  I know.........I have one more year before I actually retire.  So I guess this is going to be  a countdown until retirement blog!

I also thought it would be good to start a blog when I had my first grandchild.  The two events didn't coincide, thankfully.  I would have hated waiting any longer on my sweet grand-baby.  Hannah is a miracle.  I could hold her and simply watch her sleep forever.  My friend, Bettie, said she held her newborn grandson and he simply melted into her heart.  I think that is just about the best way to say it.  It's the truth.  You look at how perfect they are made - tiny nose, rosebud mouth, beautiful hands with such little fingers, and baby feet, well, we won't even go there.  Nothing is sweeter than baby feet!  A baby will just melt right into your heart!

So I guess this blog is going to be about the countdown to retirement, all the bittersweet doing things for the last time with my last Kindergarten class and all about the wonderful first year of being Hannah's Nonny.

Yes, I said Nonny.  Grandma was already taken so I had to come up with something different.  I took suggestions from my kinders.  Grandmas are called by some pretty strange names!  I like Nonny.  I just wonder if Hannah will be able to say it when she finally begins to talk.  Whatever she says, I am sure that will be what sticks.  My children, and consequently Hannah, don't live in the same town with me.  So I wonder how often I will get to see Hannah.  If I could, I would whisper my name in her ear every night and sing her to sleep and tell her stories until I was sure she knew who I was.  

Now I am going to work on my crocheting.  I am making hats right now, trying to find what  I think might be the right size for Hannah to wear when winter comes.  The nice thing about hats, besides being fast to make, is that no matter what size, it will fit someone!  And this brings up another reason why I really need to retire.  So many patterns and so little time to make them all.  

Hannah, Nonny loves you.  How about I sing Mockingbird or would you rather have a little Miranda Lambert?