Mother Daughter Weekend

My past two post have been a bit emotional, so I leave you tonight with something fun!

This past weekend marked the 2nd Annual mother-daughter beach weekend with Amy, Jane, Lydia, mom, and myself. I have been counting down for it since before Christmas! Last year, over the three day weekend in January, we took off to the beach. Jane's mom owns a cottage at Emerald Isle with more than enough room for four women and a little one. We had the best time catching up, crafting, sleeping, shopping, and of course farkling!

We started off our weekend with dinner at Rucker John's - my favorite! When we arrived at the cottage the temperature was a warm and toasty 50 degrees...BRRRRR...Much to our dismay - the heat was broken! We layered on the blankets and toughed it out. It was like camping...but with indoor plumbing. Thankfully the guy was able to come after lunch on Saturday and fix the heat...but apparently it's not so hard to stop a train after all. :)

Saturday afternoon was spent shopping and dinner was seafood...Well...seafood for everyone but Allison. I think we all know if chicken is an option that's what I'm eating! Once we returned to the warm cottage it was time to FARKLE! Readers - if you have never farkled before you don't know what you are missing!

I don't have much else to say about the weekend - it was fantastic. I love getting away from reality and I love spending time with these women. My mom is my dearest friend. Amy is the type of friend I can talk to anything about, she doesn't judge me or make me feel like my issues are irrelevant. Lydia - is adorable - and growing like a weed! Jane is always ready to teach me a new craft. I am BLESSED! I look forward to continuing this tradition for years to come!

Grandma Rose

Some of you will remember that I wrote about Grandma Rose back in March. I wanted to take a moment and update you on her. During the chaos of Grandma Batten's health struggles, a room became available at a wonderful nursing home that specializes in Dementia and Alzheimer care. Grandma Rose has adjusted wonderfully to the change. She still has days when she asks to go home, but for the most part, she seems content.

I find it hard to visit her. It's not like going to see Grandma Batten when I can just pop right in, carry on a completely normal conversation, get a hug and head out the door. It's different with Grandma Rose, sometimes she can talk to you, and sometimes she just sits quietly. It is also a challenge to get used to the other busy women who live in her unit. They are always up to something, walking, moving furniture, talking, dancing, etc.

Christmas was a hard day. It was the first time in 54 years that dad didn't spend Christmas morning in his mom's house eating her traditional Christmas breakfast. It was my first Christmas in 28 that I didn't. We did go visit Grandma after church that day and she was not having a good day. It's almost like she knew that day was an 'out of the ordinary' day and she wasn't where she needed to be. It was hard to see her hurting and not being able to help her. I did take some pictures, to capture another Christmas with her, but I'm keeping them for myself and my family...not for the world wide web.

I am so thankful for the memories I have with this sweet woman when she was her 'old self'. I'm also thankful for the chance to still visit her. There is no doubt in my mind that she doesn't know me more days than she does, but I know her. I love her. She's still my sweet grandma.

The year of 2012 holds a lot of promise and hope for our family. It also holds the possibility of the inevitable - change. Change can be a good thing, change can be a bad thing. Change can hurt, it can bring joy. It can cause road blocks, it can create a new normal. No matter what - I have promised myself - to spend more time with the people I love, and less time stressing over the things that don't matter.