The Lucy Show

I escorted Laura and Jason and Lucy home from the hospital two days after she was born. For someone so small, she managed to take over the entire house and the complete focus of all three of us. We found her to be distractingly cute and all we could do was gaze at her. She reminds me of Mary Poppins as she is practically perfect in every way. I can tell already that she is highly intelligent and she has almost mastered saying Gigi, just a little more practice and she'll have it.

I was along as the Love slave to do whatever Laura and Jason needed me to do. The problem was, I couldn't tear myself away from Lucy to get anything useful done. I didn't serve dinner the first night until 9:00 P.M. which was bad enough. But even more embarrassing, I forgot about the chicken and almost burned it! Clearly I would have to focus if I had any hope of proving myself worthy and being invited back.

The next day, my mission was to get Laura and Lucy safely to  her first doctor's appt. Laura was suddenly aware of every bump in the road and I was implored to drive slowly so as not to disturb Lucy.  Lucy had lost some weight after birth and the doctor wanted to see if she had put any of it back on.  That's a switch! I hope she is enjoying this period of her life when gaining weight is a good thing. She did successfully put on 2.5 oz. so she is on her way! Her mommy impressed the pediatrician as she whipped out Lucy's feeding/diaper chart that she had been keeping since her birth. I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the documentation of Lucy.

On day four of Lucy's life I transported her and her mommy to Target to get some supplies. She didn't find Target terribly exciting but did her mommy the favor of sleeping contentedly in her stroller the entire time. She's thoughtful like that. The trip was well worth it though to find some cute bows to coordinate with her hip wardrobe. Look out Princess Kate, Lucy's in town!

Even though Lucy's arrival was one week earlier than her due date, she knew exactly what she was doing all along. She knew that her daddy needed a few days to get used to her so he could focus and study on his very important board exam on Monday. She is also very considerate and is keeping her night time feedings to a minimum and goes right back to sleep. See what I mean, practically perfect in every way.

Head over Heels

Babies have a way of arriving when they want to arrive and Lucy's arrival was no different. On Sunday afternoon, Laura and I had planned that she would be induced on Tuesday after Jason's board exam.  Any other day of that week would have been perfectly fine also with regards to my work schedule, child care, the 4th of July holiday etc. Laura had requested that I be in the delivery room with her which would make things even trickier as far as timing. I was so excited and honored to be invited to this special occasion of Lucy's birth.

I was awakened at 5:00 A.M. with a phone call from Laura the very next morning, which was fully one week and one day earlier than what we had discussed. Lucy was ready to make her arrival, plan or no plan. The sound of my sweet girl's voice sounding a little scared propelled me into major planning, packing mode. I was still a little dubious about how long her labor would actually take, but was not taking any chances. After returning library books, notifying work that I would be taking the week off, dropping the kids off at VBS, Pat Conroy and I were on our way to Augusta to usher my granddaughter into the world. I was happily listening to The Prince of Tides when Jason called and told me that Laura's labor was progressing faster than expected. Unfortunately I still had miles to go, I was running out of gas and the speed limit was only 70 which was not fast enough to get me there. I have to admit that I did indeed exceed the speed limit by quite a bit to make it in time.  I arrived in time to fervently pray and to strongly encourage my child, Laura, that she could indeed do this.

Only thirty minutes later, Lucy came into the world perfect and pink to parents who had prayed for her from the moment she was conceived. How precious to witness not only the birth of my beautiful granddaughter, but the birth of a family. Laura and Jason were in complete awe that their little daughter had actually come. I watched them fall head over heels in love with Lucy with every minute they spent with her.  They could not take their eyes off her, even to watch their favorite Design Star TV show on a real TV ( a real treat because they don't have cable) or to eat! I couldn't help but see that this is just a picture of how much our Father in heaven loves us. He can't take His eyes off us. He delights in us.

He will take great delight in you. he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

It is humbling to receive the gift of God bringing Lucy safely into Laura and Jason's heart and home.  What incomprehensible goodness from God for me to see my child become a parent of her own baby daughter. There is nothing I can say but thank you.

The Very Long Drive

The forms were filled out. The money was paid. The bags were packed, or so I thought. It was time to load up my two youngest and drive them to their first overnight camp. My good best friend, Jan happened to be in town and decided to come along for the ride.  I armed her with the camp directions and off we went. The route would be taking us right by the outlet mall, what good fortune! With any luck, we could drop them off and have time to do some shopping before heading for home. Alas, this was not to be.

My son was uncharacteristically quiet and not hungry which told me that he was nervous about going to camp. My daughter who only gets nervous when faced with the prospect of getting a shot, was her usual chatty self. The first sign that the directions weren't the best was when we finally came to the road we  were looking for to turn on was not at the 3rd light as the directions stated, but the 9th or 10th. We were just glad to be on the right road. Next we were to drive into the town square and take a right on Church St. between the First Baptist Church and the Mountain View Community Bank. We found not one but two First Baptist Churches not on Church St. and we found a plethora of banks, none of which was the aforementioned, much less the right combination of the First Baptist Church on Church St. across the street from Mountain View Community Bank. I  approached the square from every direction, sent my gbf inside a sketchy convenience store to ask for directions and still no luck. My son stated, " I'm starting to get a feeling of worry." which is better than I'm starting to get a feeling of throwing up. Worry I can handle. No luck at the convenience store or even the school bus driver I pulled beside to ask directions. My gbf decided to send me this time into the larger of the two First Baptist Churches we had found. I asked the nice pastor if he could give me directions to the camp that was somewhere near the town square. He asked me for the address and proceeded to tell me the devastating news that I would never be able to find the camp because I was in the wrong town! He then started talking very slowly and he actually walked me out to my car to make sure he could physically point to the road which would lead me to the right town. Really, the wrong town! Who goes to the wrong town??

The end of check in time was fast approaching and the feeling of worry was increasing all around as was the need for food, water and a potty all of which we did not have time to stop for.  It was time for prayer and God did not let us down. Cheers all around and a big "Thank you Jesus!"when we finally spotted the sign for the camp. We were met with a camp counselor, clip board in hand as they were closing the check-in stations. To my horror I spotted a pile of color coordinated daily care packages lovingly prepared by other campers moms. Not good as I had forgotten to write letters. Since we were the very last campers to arrive, we got last choice in beds so I had to climb in my flip flops to the 3rd tier bunk bed to make up my daughters bed. Looking around at the other already made beds that I realized I also had not brought a blanket/sleeping bag as only sheets were listed. I rationalized that their exuberant twenty something counselors would think of something and quickly left as they were already behind schedule. We were on our way home and realized that I would not be able to rest thinking my children were freezing with no mail. My gbf Jan and I turned the car around to look for a store that sold blankets and stationary. The Family Dollar came through for me! I found two blankets, one Happy Birthday card and one Congratulations card to leave for them with money for the store. Not my finest Mommy moment!  Next, I would sneak the blankets and into their cabins and locate the office to leave the letters.  I almost made it, but my son spotted me and waved. He was walking very close to his counselor, but didn't run for the car, a good sign.

My gbf and I were now back on the road and hopeful that we could find our way home. We were also starving as it had been 5 hours since we left for the 1 1/2 hour trip to camp. We stopped to eat and I treated my gbf to dinner for her patience, sense of humor and company on our adventure. We felt much better after we ate, despite having to drive right past the outlet mall without stopping, something we have never ever done.

I'm not sure my gbf will every get into the car with me or my children for that matter. I learned many things that day: One needs to pay for the GPS voice activated app in order for it to work, always pack a sleeping bag for camp no matter what is stated on the packing list and above all else, take a gbf with you!

Carpe Diem

On Friday, my son-in-law Jason received his doctorate in Physical Therapy. He did so  along with 750 other students who graduated from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta with various medical degrees. The stadium was filled with proud families, many white haired and walking slowly on the steep stadium steps of the arena. As I was seated in my frigid not very comfortable stadium seat, I found myself planning how I could rescue one particular sweet lady with a shirt that had appliqued daises on it if she started to fall as she was making her way up the steps. I never did actually come up with a plan in which both of us wouldn't fall to our deaths so it's a good thing she made it. What made them risk life and limb to come watch their grandson or granddaughter receive their degree? It was written all over their faces that a dream had come true for them, for one of their own to become a doctor or a nurse or a physical therapist. The whoops and cheers and even blow horns, could not be contained even though we were admonished to please refrain until the end. Who could blame them? Behind every graduate's name that was called was sacrifice both from the graduates who had grown tired long ago of studying and also from their families who had worked hard every day to fund them.

This day is so joyful, so hopeful for these young people who can finally begin their jobs doing what they have trained to do. These young people are the future of medicine and I have a feeling I will be calling on them one day in the not too distant future. I don't think there was a happier place on the planet than in that arena that day.

Thank you graduates for sticking with your education when you didn't feel like it. That lesson alone will take you far. After too many ridiculous images of Occupy Wall Street, these are the images I will think about. Society thanks you. I thank you. Lucy thanks you!

Busbee Cabin

Sometimes you need to get away and that's just what we did last weekend. We traveled to Asheville to see a very talented friend perform in an Opera production of "The Sound of Music". I knew it would be stretching my children to take them to a performance which began at 8 PM, their normal bedtime, but was willing to give it a shot.

We reserved a cabin a little outside of town  since there was a flower festival going on at the Biltmore Estate and all the hotels were booked. We were actually met in the road as we approached Busbee Cabin by Liz the owner who apparently wanted to give us the once over before we stayed there. She and her husband walked us inside and showed the remote controlled fireplace which the kids loved, who wouldn't! It also had a hot tub which is now a requirement when we travel. The next morning, we decided a hike up Chimney Rock would be more appropriate for our clan than touring the Biltmore. As we were leaving the cabin the next morning, who should we meet but Liz and Bill! They wanted to give us hiking suggestions, see if everything was ok. This is starting to get a little creepy at this point. How did they know we were leaving? My daughter suggested that we invite them to come in the hot tub with us to thank them for letting us stay at their cabin! She was completely serious and more hospitable than me. I later realized that I had yet to make the final payment on the cabin. Maybe that's why she and Bill kept showing up.

As we were driving the winding roads in the Blue Ridge Mountains, I was wishing that I had passed out the Dramamine before hand as one or two of us is prone to car sickness. We arrived without incident and most of us were enthusiastic about the hike, everyone that is except our middle school aged child. She chose to fill our time expressing most everything she disliked about hiking, her fear of heights, allergies to grass, sleep deprived because of sleeping in a strange bed. Hiking on the other hand was the most awesome activity invented to my son. There were 500 steps going up to Chimney Rock and he ran every one of them, some of them twice! I'm definitely adding Sherpa to his list of job possibilities in the future. It was exhilarating for sure, but I spotted a pregnant woman and a senior citizen smoking a cigarette who were able to do it! We would climb up Chimney Rock  complainers and all! We made it to the top and were all rewarded with some hot tub time.

The time finally arrived for the play. The usher actually told us that the performance would be longer than the movie! We would never make it! Since this was an Opera production, we had the youngest attendees in the crowd. My 8 yr daughter with her souvenir owl stuffed animal, Seymour was seated next to an octogenarian. It was reported to us that our son farted during the performance and we had to confiscate his souvenir handcuffs, but otherwise a successful outing! They loved the production slept in a little the next day, a winning combination! Yodel- ay-hee-hoo!

Cupcake Blues

My children, sad to say, are going through what I hope is just a season of lying, sneaking, and stealing. No parent wants to discover this, yet somehow I must find a way to consider all joy!It is difficult to not feel like a complete failure as a parent when I have been charged by God with their moral and spiritual training.

Sadly this time it took the form of sneaking Easter candy and even frozen Gigi's cupcakes from the garage freezer before dinner. For those unfamiliar with Gigi's cupcakes, they are not ordinary cupcakes, not in any way. They are cupcakes on steroids, huge in size with equally huge mounds of super sweet butter cream frosting piled on top. I myself can only eat approximately 1/4 in one sitting and I love cupcakes! They were left over from Kristen's wedding which makes it doubly sad since they had to be trashed to make a point.

By God's providence, the culprits were discovered by their older sister who happened to to be looking out the window as they were hastily trying to consume them outside in the culdesac. Fortunately, they are still not great at hiding the evidence. I see this as precious time to pray for the conviction of the Holy Spirit to kick in as I will not always be around. I began with the spiritual implications of sneaking, etc. which brought no contriteness whatsoever. It wasn't until the brand new box of ice cream sandwiches along with any other sweet treat I could find went into the garbage that produced weeping and gnashing of teeth from one and a very long sad face from the other. This escalated into a full blown fit which brought Daddy onto the scene which is never good, So much angst was displayed that it honestly reminded me of when Esau traded his blessing for a bowl of soup in Genesis.  I'm starting to see the signs of a serious sugar addiction that must be addressed. This of course is just an aside to the more serious sneaking issue.

The discovery again of the sinfulness of my children while disappointing and discouraging, should not be surprising. God's word speaks of our sinfulness a lot. Sin is not pretty and it looks different for everyone of us. Yet, God still hates it and we should hate it too. Our only hope is to pray for God's grace every single day. I pray that my children would hate sin and love God and his word, that they would desire to do what is right in His eyes. In the meantime, it's fruit for dessert.

Finger Lickin Good

With Kristen's wedding came out of town guests of various eating/drinking/living persuasions who would all be at my house at the same time. There was my diabetic extremely healthy eating/never tasted a drop of liquor Dad and his wife with my Bud light drinking/carnivore brother and his wife. Throw in my niece who as an aside was packing challenged, bless her heart, and the usual suspects which are literally growing (can't wait for Lucy!) by the day, all hungry. I packed my refrigerator as much as I could, made everything I could think of ahead of time and hoped for the best. As far as I know everyone got fed even though I wasn't present for every meal since I was also busy with hair appointments and various other Mother of the Bride duties. 

A brightly colored bridal luncheon

On a sugar high!

We are family, Can you tell!

 I love my family with my whole entire heart. Since I am the child who moved away, I usually do the visiting. It's a penance of some sort that must be paid and paid. This was a rare time when my family came to my house for a change. And I do mean change. Many things were different around my house with my visiting family, God love them. My sweet sister-in-law is fond of indulging my children with candy, and anything else that comes to mind, like how about dying their hair hot pink and neon green and piling it on top of their heads wrapped around a standing coke bottle. Why didn't I ever think of that? The kids loved it with a capital L! She also succeeded in helping them catch a fish. It could have been the sugar emanating from their pores or the can of dog food that they punctured and floated in the water, who knows. She absolutely wins the gold medal for indulging! Everyone should have an aunt like her.

Trying to be accommodating to my brother, I also found my person physically inside a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant since I don't know, the year 1978. I can trace this directly back to when I would pick him up from working at Church's Fried Chicken reeking of grease and poultry. Apparently, it did not have the same effect on him.  I decided to go with the flow and act like KFC was a perfectly fine place to eat lunch. They do now serve grilled chicken which I did eat, but it has to be the only restaurant on the planet without any kind of salad! I was trying desperately to blend in, but this proved difficult when my son kept exclaiming,"We have never been here before!" and "Wow,this chicken is greasy!" The things we do for love...

I  did get my brother out on the kayak! He's more accustomed to larger, motor powered water craft out on the gulf, but he was a good sport.  A good time was had by all and Eric now has one less child to assemble things for.