Remembrances

Just a few things that make me think of Granddaddy:
Gin Rummy in particular, but cards in general.
Shrimp - as bait, or eaten boiled or fried.
Dominoes
Fishing
Driving a Golf Cart
My Dad's laughter
Chess
The Stock Market
the smell of WD-40

I'm sure there is more... but I wanted to list a few.

What are yours?

Greg

A new chapter

My grandfather passed away yesterday.  I suppose this event has been anticipated for some time, but "expected" just doesn't seem to cut it.  You never really "expect" to lose someone you care about.

I got a text from my dad that read "Call me when you can."  I knew what his text meant even though I didn't know for certain... or maybe I didn't want to realize it for certain.  Denial?  Sure.  So, when I called him, and he bore the news to me the weeping was instantaneous.  I spent a good while crying, and asking questions of "... is Grandmother okay? Are you there now?  Were you with him when he passed?"  Yes to all three.

I'm glad my dad and my uncle were there with him in his final moments with us.  I glad they were there to comfort my Grandmother too.  My dad said his passing was "peaceful" and I'm thankful for that also.

After I got off the phone with my father... I cried some more.  Deep sobbing that brought me to my knees.

The most recent memory I have of my Grandfather was at our extended family "Christmas" gathering after New Year's.  He got to see Liam and all of his amiable personality.  It made Granddaddy laugh a few big chuckles.  I hadn't heard him laugh like that in a very long time due to his health complications.

He lived a full life.  He cared immensely about his family.  I think we all have something to be thankful for in how he impacted each of our lives.

Grieving will take time... I'm not sure it has all sunk in yet.  I will see my Grandmother Thursday at his memorial service and I will wrap my arms around her and kiss her on the cheek.  I'm not exactly sure what this new chapter holds for all of us, but I'm glad that Granddaddy can finally rest.  He hasn't been well for a long while.

Rest in peace.  I will miss you.

Greg

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

"Venez m'aider" which means "come help me" is the original french phrase from which the distress signal "MAYDAY!" is derived, according to Wikipedia. I feel like we might as well be saying that right now.

Melissa and I are both working our tails off lately. We're doing our best just to keep up with life, but it feels like life is winning and we are sitting under it's motionless masses. I know that God is in the midst, I know that he hears us, I know that in general... we are okay. There's no need to panic. We have so much to be thankful for and this too shall pass... I just feel like she and I both have to be "on" constantly. There's no room for pause - as individuals or together.

Tonight we had our friend, Kim, over for dinner and to watch a show together. It was a nice reprieve. I only wish that everything else was in order so that after that time passed it still felt truly restful.

We have a partially completely paint job in the kitchen. Dishes are everywhere. Laundry needs to be done. I've got 113 boxes coming in this week at work (33 of which are could be pants and each pant box hold roughly 25-30 pants... I'll let you do the math. No matter how you slice it it's exhausting labor). I'm also not holding my breath about attaining bonus this month either and it honestly hurts - it's hard to describe the feelings that arise from working SO hard towards something only to not achieve it. All I can say is it hurts.

In the meantime...

Our water softener broke (ever since then we've been having MUCH drier, irritated skin).
Our garage door broke.
The hot water heater is acting up....
The last time I mowed the yard (hopefully DONE for the season) the mower started sounding funny
The Christmas tree is only partially decorated which leaves a lot of clutter scattered about in the music room
A Grocery trip still needs to be made this week in addition to a long commute to in search of a Craigslist deal for Liam's Christmas present

Melissa and I need a date... desperately. A vacation would be even better...

The constant mess around here is a constant stress. How do other people do it all? Or is everyone else kind of faking their way through it as well. You know, "Fake it till you make it!"

What's on your plate? Feel free to vent a bit... it'd help us not feel so alone, and it might help you unload in the process.

So... "Venez m'aider!" Which may help you too.

God is near.

~G

YUM!

So, upon my recent late night grocery shopping excursion (it is after all the easiest time given our crazy schedules, having a little one, and an HEB that isn't close at all!) I decided I would surprise my beautiful bride with one of her favorite things... Cinnamon Rolls! This was part of today's Sunday Breakfast fare. Usually, if we do buy cinnamon rolls (which is rare) we get the mondo size ones that have an extra amount of icing and only 5 to a pack.

This time I was smart about it though. You see... just like my family growing up, Melissa and I like to divide and conquer. Which led me to purchase the (albeit smaller variety) package of 8 cinnamon rolls. Easier division and more specificity! So after this morning's breakfast I decided to stake my claim:

I call "Mine!"

Melissa - Devouring her portion :-)

Needless to say... we like our cinnamon rolls!!!

Four years today...

Melissa and I get the honor of celebrating four years of marriage today. Well... I say today, but in actuality our "celebrating" will be coming monetarily and momentarily later. We have a getaway planned in August as a summer vacation/anniversary celebration and we have tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil this October. So for today we will be celebrating simply :-).

Mel and I are really good at that too - working as a team that is (although we are good at living simply as well!) I'm proud of the dynamic team that we are. Sometimes we even see eye-to-eye before we talk about it. God has made us unique individuals. We each have our strengths and weaknesses. For the most part our individual strengths complement our individual weaknesses and when we are both lacking, then we do our best to encourage one another.

Our running comes to mind. Mel and I have each had the opportunity to cheer each other on. Literally. Cheering for her in San Francisco, and she gave me hope when I ran Houston.

So what does simply look like today? (Sorry dear reader for digressing a bit!) Well, this blog for one - and I know that my sweet bride has written one as well; however, we haven't read each other's blog's yet because we are utilizing future posting by blogger. (you see I'm actually writing this on the 27th... not the 28th. Cool, huh?) We're planning on letting someone else do the cooking tonight. Maybe it'll be mexican takeout, or pizza, or we may even just stop into a local deli for a family date with our little one. We'll see. No matter what I can't wait! We're also going to relax and watch a movie as well. This harkens back to our dating days... In my old apartment we'd always eat while sitting on the floor gathered around the coffee table. We still do that sometimes and it makes it special :-)

One of the things I have ALWAYS loved about Melissa is the way that she is creative, spontaneous, and fun. She has this unique way of naming things that just makes me laugh. When we were dating she named the basil plant I was growing "Billy." Billy the Basil. And now there's Gail the Garmin. From my single days apartment - my neighbor upstairs was G.U.S. (Guy UpStairs) and his pet D.U.S (Yep, Dog UpStairs).

So the other day, after buying a toothbrush holder for our new house I found this note:

On the back this was written:

She makes me SO happy! I smile every time I see this note. My jaw still drops whenever I see her. The love of my life, my beautiful Melissa...

At the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco

Aquarium!

Yesterday Melissa and I decided to take Liam to the Downtown Aquarium. It was SO much fun! Liam was smiling a lot and was constantly wanting to touch what was behind the glass. The only downside was having to wait in line to get tickets. (There were a TON of daycare or summer programs for kids there. So, in turn there were many groups to contend with). Below are some pictures of our outing:

Waiting to get inside. It's HOT!

Liam meets an Eel :-)

Child-like Wonder

Liam couldn't take his eyes off this catfish...

... Because it was HUGE!!!!

"Reach for the sky, fishies!"

"Hmmmm... what does a lion fish feel like?"

There weren't just aquatic creatures at the aquarium either. This snake weighed over 300 lbs!

No, No Liam... Stingrays don't need a Paci :-)

The finale of the aquarium was a white tiger exhibit.

Face-to-face with the beast! ROAR!

The official "tourist" shot.

Okay. So the funniest thing about Melissa wearing a white tiger mask? That she still smiled for the camera underneath it! =)

All in all we had a wonderful time. I can't wait to do more things with Liam... he is learning SO much right now. I love getting to share life with my little boy! And, on an aside Mel and I are definitely going to have to go back to visit the aquarium's restaurant some evening. The atmosphere was lovely and the food smelled great!

Goin' Stainless!

You can view Melissa's blog here for some pics of the old ones, but the long and the short of it is that we got some new appliances! I cannot begin to say how excited I am to be cooking on a gas range. Not only is it a gas range but the burner grates are cast iron too! I LOVE cast iron. I actually have a large reversible cast iron griddle that fits perfectally over the middle burner. (It's an oblong burner that is designed for such cookware:-)

Besides the cool new oven, we got a nice over-the-range microwave to match. What do I love best about this microwave? The fact that it's musical. Really. It is. Promise. The beeps and chimes on it are very pleasant to listen too. Don't believe me? Come on over and I'll use it to time how long it actually takes me to cook dinner. After that I'll use it to keep your said dinner warm for up to 99:99 while you're lifting your jaw off the ground from dropping due to all the sheer awesomeness.

The new appliances didn't look right against the previous owners cabinet hardware. I mean... I love Texas. I do. I'm a die-hard born 'n' bred native, but this hardware would be better served for our second house in the country. Maybe at our retirement B & B that we'll run someday. But right... we're certainly not retired and yep, last time I checked no country getaway house either. Darn. Guess the cabinet hardware did have to change. Below is its mugshot:

And here's the new look!

What do ya think???