Speaking of Charlie...

...he has started a blog. You can catch his ruminations in my blog list at The Life of Oz.

Warning: I cannot vouch for content on his blog. He is 19 and a Marine. His idea of language and idioms that are acceptable for polite society do not always coincide with his mother's. So read at your own risk.

However, I am sure that he will narrate some interesting adventures, so the risk may be warranted.

Funny, I used to call Jeff "Oz". I can't even remember when I quit doing it. His Uncle Al has always been Oz as well. It seems like one male in each generation ends up with the moniker. I am often asked by people if we are related to Ozzie Osborne. Isn't that name a redundancy? I am ever so happy and relieved to tell them "No." Although his daughter spent some time at the addiction rehab facility just down the road from us. So I reluctantly admit to a slight connection to the family.

I'm working on something for Valentines Day. I hope to get it posted soon enough that you can utilize it for your own needs, if you so choose.
Keep an eye out.
Right here.

Now, I must be off to Freddies.
Jon called to tell me that their Rugers are on sale.
Woohoo!
Armament serendipity.

Charlie update, updated

Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable. Plato.

When Charlie was a child, he had beautiful hair. I remember the first few times I cut it, before he was maybe two, I would have to chase him around the garden with the scissors. He had lovely white-blond hair with little curls. As he got older his hair darkened up, as did the hair of all of our kids. For a long time I gave him bowl cuts. They were kind of awful, but I think he looked cute. And don't you see how silky his hair was? Ah, but I wax sentimental.
Now, my Marine wears his hair in a buzz-cut. Strictly military. It's so short that you can see all of the scars that he accumulated on his head in his childhood. Not attractive at all.

I thought you might be interested in an update on Charlie's life. As it turns out, to my relief and his dismay, he will not be seeing any combat this deployment. It being the Marines, we're not supposed to say too much, but they have mostly been on board a Navy ship doing training and security work in several different countries. He spent Christmas day snowboarding in Dubai. Nice life if you can get it!
Someone posted this photo on Facebook so I stole it. It's the only photo we have of him since he left.

We expect him home in April, all things being equal.
However, this is the Marines, so we remain flexible above all else.

P.S. I found this photo on Charlie's facebook album. I'm not sure if it's from his days at Camp Pendleton or his deployment, but it depicts the new Charlie a little better than the small photo.

Home Improvement in Spring Lake

While I was fairly idle at Annie's house, I did manage to get a few things done. And if you know me at all, you know I count my worth in the number of things I get done in a day.
So here is the photographic record of "Stuff that Nana did at Annie's house."

Bought a new curtain rod so that the living room curtains will look elegant.
And coerced Edwin into putting up the rod.

Cooked up a bunch of ground beef into spaghetti sauce and shepherd's pie meat.

Bought a new 400 thread count sheet set, including four pillow cases, for their bed. I love good sheets and figured it's where Annie spends most of her time lately. Also bought two co-ordinating cushions for the bed. What would we do without Ross and Marshalls and their ilk? Then HAND-SEWED a duvet cover for the feather comforter out of two sheets. Yes, my friends, hand sewed. It took me about four hours of fairly small back-stitch. No sewing machine, don't you know? Annie loves it. The lump in the bed is she. She had a migraine the day I left so I told her just to hunker down while I took the photo.

Talked Annie into buying these pretty sheers at TJMaxx to replace Edwin's ugly old faded blue curtains. Sorry Edwin, it had to be done!

Finally, some pictures of the happy couple.
And Roxy.

Lists

Things That Make Annie Throw Up:
Dog smell
Lumps of meat
Chocolate chip cookies
Citrus
Talking on the phone
Sitting at the computer
Dairy products
Water
Mystery smells in the carpet
Ice cream
Car travel
Moving around
Smoothies (sometimes)

Things That Don't Make Annie Throw Up:
Fish
Smoothies (usually)
Sleeping
Bagels
Air freshener smell
Cheesecake Factory's Godiva chocolate cheesecake
Mashed potatoes
Lemon juice in water
Watching TV
Bananas
Sierra Mist soda
Shopping
Edwin

Do you see my dilemma?

Edwin's last line of defense.
A carton of Breyers Triple chocolate icecream.
To which he has, fortuitously, sole proprietorship.
(See above lists.)

Nana's new pal

I'm in North Carolina.
Which I probably couldn't find on a map.
But here I am.
Annie and Edwin live outside of Spring Lake, a few miles from Fort Bragg, which is where Edwin works every day. Lately, he has been working excruciatingly long hours, rigging and packing supplies for Haiti. We're proud of our boy.
Annie is about ten weeks pregnant and doing the family thing, throwing up all the time. I managed to coax her out for some shopping on Thursday. I had to, you see, because I threw out their non-stick pots. They were in sad condition and probably very unhealthy. We hit Ross and TJMaxx in Fayetteville and found some nice stainless steel pots with thick layered bottoms. I love a good pot.
Earlier that day I took Roxy for a walk. It was a balmy day, almost like summer. Roxy is a Labrador/German Shepherd mix and is a sweetie, but she is not leash trained. Me, I have never owned a dog. Needless to say, our first walk was interesting. I spent most of the time spinning in circles, trying to untangle myself from the leash as she wrapped it around me. Then, as soon as we headed for home, I could hardly keep up with her.

Ellen gave me some tips, so I tried again on Friday. Every time Roxy pulled on the leash, I either turned around and walked in the other direction, or stopped and pulled up on the leash. We made slow, slow progress. Even Roxy was starting to look up at me like I was crazy, so who knows what the neighbourhood thought.

I think that by the time we got home, she was starting to get the idea.
Today, my shoulder feels wrenched.
Thanks Roxy.

For some reason, now she loves me best of all. Last night, Annie called her to go back to the bedroom when she went to bed and Roxy wanted to stay with me.
Ha!
Smart dog.
She knows what all my grandkids have learned.
Nana loves her best!

I was hoping to get out and continue our walks today, but we woke up to snow covered with ice. A strangely inconsiderate turn of the weather, especially since the warmest thing I brought with me was my raincoat.
I sometimes think that I would like to have a dog.
But then I remember three things.
Dog smell.
Dog poop.
Dog hair.
And I think maybe I'll just be Nana and come visit.

Anniversary presents

Today when I got home from work there were heart balloons in the driveway, a nicely decorated table, and lasagna smells emanating from the kitchen.
Bethany and Jenny were making dinner for us, while Jon watched all the kids in his apartment.

I should have taken photos before we ate, but I forgot.

Instead, here is the kaleidoscope we bought from the Freed Gallery in Lincoln City. I can hardly put it down, the images are so spectacular.

And this original drawing by Ken Dust.

And finally, a collage of some of the images from the kaleidoscope.

Blue skies and wet feet

On Saturday, we took a long walk. It was a rare day at the coast, sunny with almost no wind. Here are some random photos from our walk.

We decided to brave the tide pools. It's always a bit dodgy, Jeff with his bum knee and me with no balance. The rocks were slick with seaweed, but we were doing okay until a sneaker wave caught us out pretty far and drenched our lower legs. I thought Jeff might get washed off his rock, but he kept his footing. Too bad I missed the moment, it would have been a good photo.

People still collect agates, although they are few and far between these days. Agates, not people.

These boys were having a grand time, building moats and throwing sand all over each other.

If you want to see a collage of all the photos I took on our walk, go here.