E E G

That's the most recognizable part of Caitlyn's singing her ABCs. She also does a recognizable 1 2 3. Its hard to believe that this child is not yet 11 mos. old.

Great Dinner

What a nice dinner we had yesterday. Everything went so well its hard to believe the kind of chaos that was going on the day before.

The ham was "monica-worthy" it was so good. The table setting and food presentation was "martha stewart-worthy" it all looked so beautiful. I was so proud of my daughters, my grandchildred and oh yeah, that little girl that kept us all entertained even at the dinner table as she slept in her chair at the table. Grandpa Taj took charge of keeping her face off the table and trying to keep her comfortable

The day before, Kathy was coming down with a cold and felt miserable. Adrienne worked as a volunteer at the consession stand for the PTA at the high school football game and came staggering in at about midnight shivering from cold and fatigue. Baby had a snuffely condition - cold? alergies? but enough to make her two favorite calming influences (bottle and binky) almost useless because she needed her mouth to breath.

Everyone rallied on Sunday and we had a marvelous dinner. John and Nancy were there and they haven't changed a bit. Nancy is just like Pat. Both of them still look like they are in their 50s. Not fair.

Call Me Ishmael

People say Mom and they are not talking to or about me. They say Grandma and they are not talking to or about me. I'm waiting for my new identity to emerge.

In the Caitlyn hierarchy I have moved up a couple of notches. That feels good. It's always nice to light up someone's face.

Caitlyn had a short and restless night, which means Ris and Adrienne had a short and restless night. Adrienne is taking time out from her cooking preparations to let Cait nap on her shoulder.

Being Here

Well I got here. Getting a wheelchair at the LA end turned out to be a pain. I think this is the first time I have de-planed into a gate that was crowded to the gills with people waiting to take off. There was no empty seat to sit down and wait for the wheelchair. I appealed to an attendant and he said the first row was for handicapped. I pointed out to him that the first row was full so he went to a lady who looked able bodied at the far end of the second row and asked her go give up her seat while I waited for a wheelchair. He came back and asked me if I could walk as far as that seat. I said yes, but not fast enough to beat the man who had just sat in it. He had to go ask the man to get up and I got the seat.

The first wheelchair that got there he comandeered for me when she was going to pick up someone else. So she came over and got me and tried to put me back on the plane. When she tried to enter the jetway, I said this cannot be the way to baggage.

As soon as we got close to baggage there was my Adrienne. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Now I felt at home.

Melody was at the house to greet me when we got here. The Adam got home shortly after that. Adrienne fixed a dinner for us and Kathy got home while we were eating. Melody's baby-daddy was late for dinner and he was unceremoniously given cold food and warm soda (pop) (or as they say in the south - ko-kola).

My first impression of Jon, what with his gracious acceptance of the fare offered and willingness to eat it, is that he may be a keeper.

Now for the hierarchy of Caitlyn. She prefers the dog to me. Although she did warm up to me enough at one point to be fascinated by a pattern on the sole of my shoe and come over and shake my foot for a while. Every once in a while she will toddle over to the dog and hug her and lay her cheek on the dog's back.

She prefers Melody to the dog. She prefers Adam to Melody. She prefers Adrienne to Adam and she prefers Marisa to Adrienne. But when Kathy is in the house everybody else turns to chopped liver. Who would choose chopped liver when there is ice cream on the menu. Certainly not a Van Houten.

I figured out that the legend of Adam and his devoted Aunt Kathy is what God reads to all the little baby souls as their bedtime story. Those babies are just lining up in heaven waiting to be sent into this family.

Kathy's not too shabby as a daughter either. She presented me with a gift when she got home last night. First of all it was in a cheese-it box and I thought they were cheese-its and put it aside. When she asked wasn't I going to open it I said not while I was eating dinner. She said it wasn't cheese-its for krise sake. It is soooo cute. It looked like one of those kleenex covers for a really wiered shaped box of kleenex. It wasn't. What it is is a cover for my brick (of the stubbed toe)

I can't wait to get home and put it on my brick. I will have to move the brick to the living-room side of the door so I will be able to look at it. It is decorated with the same little houses as the coasters she made me.

I have gotten shorter since the last time I was here. When I stand in front of Adam I am looking directly at whatever is printed on his tee shirt. He has to sit down if I want to make eye contact. I know y'all think its Adam that's getting taller but my shrinkage was also demonstrated when trying to achieve Adrienne's bed. She's sharing it with me as she has in the past and it seems like last time I was here I could just crawl in. This time I am looking around for something I can use as a stool.

When I shared a bedroom with Monica the background TV of choice was Fox News, here the background TV of choice is ESPN.

Adrienne is fixing us a ham dinner at Mary's house on Sunday and John and Nancy have agreed to join us. I'm really lookin forward to that and the rest of my stay here.

How Ready am I

My boarding pass is in my purse, my suitcase is in Rita's trunk and I am, in fact, typing this post from the front seat of Rita's car. She will come out about 7:00 AM to drive to the airport.

One of the statements in the above paragraph is a lie. Let's call it poetic license to demonstrate how ready I am.

Faith restored

I am in danger of having my faith is mankind restored. Well maybe not all of mankind but parts of commerce.

A few weeks ago my airline reservations for this trip to California got all messed up when Spirit airlines cancelled their flights on which I was scheduled to fly. The alternatives they gave me (overnight flights) were completely unacceptable and when I called them they were less than cooperative. As the clerk was enumerating my options I heard somewhere sort of behind a caugh the word refund. "That's what I want", I said "I want my money back". She agreed and less than a week later the refund appeared on my credit card. I was sooo impressed.

Now I get this message from aol about reduced fees and I can sign up for service that I understand to be comparable to what I have now (for which I have been paying about $240.00 annually since I first got it) for $9.95 per month. New rate to start at the end of the current billing period. I clicked the requisit square. My annual billing would have been beginning in February. Today I got a credit from aol which I assume covers the time from now until February. I am soo impressed.