My Day-Monday, Nov 8, 2010

12:01 am: I can be found asleep on the air mattress in the nursery. Zoe (Baby B) is asleep in her crib. Beth is on the couch with Nila (Baby A) either nursing or asleep.
2:26 am: Zoe starts to fuss. Prepare bottle and feed, burp and change Zoe. She spits up and goes back to sleep. I do not spit up or go back to sleep. Thinking. Turn heat off in bedroom.
5:54 am: Squirming baby. Prepare bottle, feed, TRY unsuccessfully to burp. Can't keep her awake to finish bottle. She sleeps lightly and grunts and it is now 6:27 AM. Going to sleep.
7:10 am: Brandon is up and fixing a snack to take to work. I waken and shut the nursery door.
7:24 am: Zoe cries. Change diaper, heat bottle, start feeding. Dogs want to go out. Brandon already left for work, Beth and Nila asleep on couch. Zoe smiles at me. Zoe smiles at the air conditioner. Zoe frowns, grunts and begins her diaper soiling. Doesn't take bottle so it goes back in fridge. Zoe awake in crib, Grandma back on air mattress. It is now 7:57 am.
8:21 am: Wash pan to make oatmeal. I'm dressed and ready to pack for a trip to Warwick to get my winter clothes out of storage and run other errands. Beth and babies will go along so we must do some packing! The car is parked 6 blocks away and must be moved for street sweepers by 9:30 am, so we have a deadline. See you later!

Viva Espana

Tomorrow Spain will win the World Cup.

-Paul el Pulpo

One of My Grand Daughters

Tapando en Philadelphia

Yum! Spanish tapas today! We had tortilla, jamon, Manchego, olives, gazpacho amarillo, patatas bravas and sangria. Que rico! The rest of the day we visited the Independence Hall area. Really nice but we are so tired!

Yes, I Went to Princeton

We had a wonderful day in Princeton exploring the town and the campus. I was thrilled with the cool weather and mild rain; Susan, who is from Seattle, was hoping for a little sunshine. Maybe tomorrow. We had a pleasant lunch at Panera, listened to an organist practicing in the university chapel, and perused the books at the seminary bookstore. Tomorrow we go to Philadelphia!

One Week In

I've been in Manhattan for one week, today. I've been staying at Brandon and Beth's and they have been so patient with Ivy, who is having post-surgical trouble with her bladder. She is getting better every day, though, and I hope will soon be able to let us know when she needs to go outside.

The day was made more fun due to the hour I got to spend with Zeke and Jason. We ran some errands and Zeke kept me entertained while Jason drove. Zeke is a sweetheart! Starting today I have an exciting few days planned with Susan Mochizuki, who is coming to visit from Washington state. Well, the fact that her son is going to Princeton and is here for the summer helped convince her to fly out here. We are going to visit the Princeton campus and on Thursday do some sightseeing in Philadelphia with her old college roommate. On Friday, I will return to NYC to do some housesitting until the end of June, but she will join me on Sunday and we'll take in some of the many sights here in New York City. I'm really looking forward to seeing her as it has been almost three years.

Finishing laundry before I leave for the Newark airport to pick up Susan! B & B got cable today, just in time for the World Cup! So fun! In other news, Levi turns 6 on Saturday and we are planning a family party at the house where I will be staying. (The owner made the suggestion) It just so happens a swimming pool is in their backyard, so I'm sure we will have lots of fun!

Manhattan, Here I Am!

June 1, 2010 was the day that marked the beginning of my life as a true urbanite. I even rode in a taxi TWICE in one evening. ($25) I said goodbye to Nancy, my best friend in Warwick (also my neighbor and landlady), closed the barn doors and drove to NYC with a car packed almost to the roof and two Shelties on top of all the stuff. Poor Mia even ended up sitting on the dishpan filled with a carton of milk and a bag of ice. Ivy was her usual sedate self and just stayed where I put her, even though she looked to be in a pretty uncomfortable position. That ended up being the first sign that she was in trouble. Next paragraph.

A couple of hours after we arrived in the City, Ivy was unable to pass urine and was in obvious distress. She had been diagnosed and was undergoing treatment for bladder stones so I immediately knew that she had a stone blocking her urethra. We went went straight to the neighborhood vet but since it was 8:30 at night, they sent us to an emergency hospital. (Hence the first taxi ride.) To make a long story short, she had surgery to remove the stone and is currently in ICU. She will be moved to recovery tomorrow and will probably be able to come home on Friday or Saturday. You're probably wondering how much this all costs. I won't say, but think 'trip to Europe' including hotels. I took the second taxi ride home from the hospital and was in bed by 2 am. I still haven't finished unloading the car. Maybe someone will steal it!

Today I am napping, thinking about Ivy, the coming grand babies, the past few months in Warwick and the next few years to come. I have even been reliving those two years in Spain. That's a lot to do in one day, so maybe I'll take another nap!

P.S. The picture is an artist's rendition of the view from the roof of my future building. Hopefully, near future!

P.P.S. Ivy is totally worth it!

Pic of some things I'll miss in Warwick

Four Days Left

I am sitting in my barn kitchen watching various birds feeding at the hanging suet I have placed outside the window. I am on the second story, among the tree tops, so I watch as they line up on branches, waiting for their turn at the feeder. They include red-winged blackbirds, downey woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, tufted titmice (is the plural of titmouse, titmice?), cardinals, and red-bellied woodpeckers. An occasional starling will come and boss everyone else around, but not too often. While here in the country I have observed wild turkeys, deer, muskrats, groundhogs, a family of geese raising young, ducks and a lone, abandoned egg by the pond (next year I'll call CPS on them), a heron fishing at the pond, and all from my breakfast table! I've even seen a bat ON my breakfast table. Today I saw my first snake, but it was outside. There have been sightings of bear and red fox but I have not been lucky enough to see either animal here at home. I did see a fox at the stables. One of the most fun observations has been watching the pond. I walk around the pond several times a day and have seen a HUGE turtle, fish, a salamander, damselflies, dragonflies, and lots of bullfrogs. I listen to them all evening, too! In fact, when I first started walking around the pond, they jumped off the bank and into the water before I could ever see them. Now, they just sit there and a few will let me get a couple of feet away. Who would have thought my gift was making friends with frogs? Hmmm, maybe one is my prince waiting to be kissed. Well, forget that! Anyway, I have been watching a couple of patches of eggs hatch into tadpoles. So interesting! Oh yes, and I didn't mention the chipmunk that runs under my car when I step out the door in the morning. I have always loved chipmunks, ever since church camp in Ohio when I was a kid. They were fun to watch during Bible class. Ha!

Well, this is a very idyllic and lovely, lovely place to live. One would dread leaving if it were not for the great leveling factor that, as I write this I am also checking for ticks and applying calamine lotion to my poison ivy spots...that's my face, arms, tummy, legs and chest. Thankfully it isn't bad, but it is certainly annoying! I guess I have found almost 10 ticks this spring and my landlord finds at least one a day on his dogs. Beth says it is like the horror movie where a seemingly beautiful house is doing awful things so the family living there will move out. The country is certainly trying to convince me that it won't be all negative to be in New York City!

I am moving things into storage tomorrow, and living at Beth and Brandon's for a week. I then will be house sitting for a friend for almost the entire month of June. There is no word on when I can move into my apartment, so at the end of June I may be on a Grand Tour, visiting friends and relatives. I may even make it to California or Washington or both! That's a warning! It should be an interesting summer, for sure!

I'm Sure Nobody Reads This and I Don't Blame Them

Here I am in New York (the state) and about to embark on a big and most surprising adventure. Due to circumstances beyond my imagination to conceive (no pun intended) I am going to be the proud grandmother of THREE new babies-all at once! I already adore the two I have and am sure the next three will also be superkids, but jumping from two to five is a little overwhelming!

As you have probably heard, Jason and Allison are expecting their third son around September 7th. Brandon and Beth are expecting twins about the same time. Therefore, I have decided to delay my little "farm" purchase and become a city girl instead. Yes, I am moving to a small apartment in Manhattan, not far from the kids. I will be a grandma/nanny! I'll grow grandchildren instead of chickens and ponies. It means that most of the furniture I have paid to have stored will have to be sold. Oh well, best laid plans...

As soon as I settle on an apartment I'll post pictures and start blogging about this new experience. It should prove to be quite exciting!