2019 Joy Journal

March 27, 2019 I have delivered our Wyatt personal tax paperwork to Taylor's office.  Walked with Bertice.  Did a little writing that I found fulfilling. Got a text from Kennedy --- she said she has some good news. Heard from Morgan. She is going to be off on Fridays from now on and is going to come volunteer with me on Friday.  Noah's team won yesterday.  Evan and Chelsea and Jaden and James came over last night. James gave big smiles and is holding his head up strongly. Jaden just enjoyed running around in the back yard, throwing the ball. He loves jumping down from the fireplace and looking at each one of us to make sure that we are each clapping. At one point, he came and got each one of us by the hand and took us back to the family room so that we could play the game again.  Evan starts as Assistant Manager next week. 

April 17, 2019 Had a really nice chat yesterday with a lady that works for Amazon. I was appreciative and it made her happy.  Went and had my hair done. Stopped in at the Flour Girl bakery and thanked them for the cupcakes they donated to the tennis tournament.  Had a nice email visit with Adele Brown. Brittany started her first day at HDR today! When they were here for Second Sunday Supper I said, and "Jon Marc's going to take a picture of you." When she sent me the picture, she siad, "Jon Marc said, 'My job is done. I did the one thing Grannie told me to do."  Beverly and JA made it safely to San Diego and have their new address. She's not sure they'll stay in that RV park, but it is less than ten miles from the jobs that most excite her, so they're going to give it a try.  Got to hug Kennedy. She's getting ready for her pop up show tomorrow night.  Little text visit with Tori. She's still fighting her cough, so we laugh...

July 30, 2019 Annette posted some pictures of the Spartan race she and Brittany participated in the past weekend. She said it was an amazing race. Got to have a nice long phone visit with Beverly yesterday. The work three shifts at her clinic, and her shift ended early enough yesterday for us to have that visit. The girls have chosen dates for their trip to California, and she is pretty excited about that. JA is happy about his new job. They created the position for him, he will be going to Minnesota for some training, and shouldn't have to be on call as much as he has in times past, and shouldn't have to put in stretches of sixty and eighty hour weeks. Angela and Tori and Josh drove in Saturday evening and left early Monday morning. We went to Oriental Palace --- Tori and Josh liked the Long Island Iced teas, too. Lots of laughter and easy visiting. We played Mexican Train dominoes and came up with our own house rules. ;-) We spent an afternoon at Firefly --- Tori an...

November 11, 2019 I had a good weekend! Saturday was really productive. I got both freezers organized, did my weekly Saturday chores, finished the weekly round of household bookkeeping and made it to the grocery store. So, I gave myself Sunday off, and I spent that day exploring the Commit 30 planner and the DragonTree planner and printing the 108 day Rituals for Transformation and getting ready to do it. Just spent a lot of time on myself.  Angela and Kennedy came over for a little while on Saturday, and we got to visit. Kennedy came back on Sunday and so she and Papa got to visit. I talked to Beverly for a few minutes last night.  Barry and I spent Friday night and Saturday night down at Firefly.  JA got the little gifts I sent him, and called to thank me. Had a little text visit with Kim. Jaden can count to ten in Spanish. Chelsea said he learned it from watching YouTube.

October 10, 2019 Barry and I drove down to Firefly last night and as we were walking in from the pier, he saw Fred and Donna and shouted a "hello." We stood and talked over the fence until the moon and stars were out.  Bertice touched base. Got to phone visit with Beverly for a few minutes.  Got to pick Beth up from the airport and visit with her for a little bit.  Yesterday was Davis' first birthday and Morgan posted a sweet video and pictures of his birthday. Got to talk to Faith yesterday. She sent me a text afterwards and said that it was good to talk to me, that it felt like it had been forever. Yesterday was Jaden's first day at head start and the teacher sent pictures of him having a really good time. 

June 10, 2019 Barry initiated a visit to Firefly Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, and that was fun, and we got in the pool together last night.  We babysat for Jaden and James Saturday and Sunday, so we got hugs and smiles.  Some of my posts having gotten multiple positive responses.  Jaden getting down on the blanket to play with James. Got to have a phone visit with Beverly. She and JA had been on a hike they enjoyed.

June 6, 2019 Did I tell you already that Ashley Ezell said I was the most productive volunteer she'd ever worked with? I feel pretty much the opposite, so I've kind of enjoyed that. Evan and Chelsea brought Jaden and James over for supper last night. Jaden started lots of games with us (hiding in the cabinets, etc.) and James smiled a lot. We got take out from Taste of Thai and just laughed and talked and caught up a little bit. James was teething on his fist, so I gave him an Oreo. After he'd had a minute I said, "I should have asked his mommy first!" and Chelsea said, "That's all right. You're the granny. You can do whatever you want."  I got to have a nice phone visit with Annette this morning. I could hear in her voice how much she and Andrew had enjoyed her trip to California.  Heard from Tori. She said they had just finished a walk around the neighborhood, so I said that I was sending them each a star. Heard from Shawn. He said ...

April 29, 2019 Yesterday, at Goodtimes, we took a break in our card game for Faith and Michael to make the brownies. Noah and I were standing at the end of the kitchen table, talking, when he just put his arm around me for a hug.  Kennedy came and I got some hugs.  Faith said Daniel had wanted to skip Goodtimes to go out in the boat with his girlfriend to celebrate their 6 month anniversary, and she had stressed to him the importance of going to see his grandparents.  Got to see Kim and John when they brought Noah. As they were leaving John said, "So you told all those kids that you had a car full of stuff and no one is helping you?" And then he called Noah and they got the groceries in while Kim kept Holly from escaping. Skyler had planned to come but she got a bad sunburn on Saturday. She was here on Saturday with four of her friends so they could swim, so we did get to see her.  I got a text from Angela this morning. Amber put an article about mana...

April 26, 2019 Enjoyed my walk with Bertice yesterday. Heard from Lori this morning. Got some of my stitches out yesterday.  Heard from Tori. She said it had been an eventful day and that she and Josh were headed to a movie. Heard from Kennedy. She will be here Sunday, but has been very busy in the print lab. I've lost track of days, but I'm still happy about getting to have a nice phone visit with Beth. Just the sound of her voice telling me about her day.  Did I tell you that Amber was accepted into an online college to continue her sports medicine?  Chelsea posted a picture of Jaden sleeping in his big boy bed.

April 23, 2019 It is a beautiful day. It was a little chilly this morning but has warmed up nicely. I didn't sleep well last night, and so slept late this morning. It will make getting everything done a little dicey, but I think I'll be all right. The thing I did yesterday was to prioritize my walk. So, I got to the office later than I intended. More like 1:30. But I spent a little over an hour on the Melton Center. I didn't accomplish too much --- typed up notes from our advisory board meeting and rearranged what I have reviewed for our fundraising committee meeting.  Beverly had a successful interview yesterday for the job she wanted a Planned Parenthood.  Heard from Brittany --- she said she had a happy Easter. Amber sent me a text --- "Just got a great call at work. ...Accepted into an accelerated Exercise Bachelor's Degree program online through Franklin University. Accelerated means I will finish faster than the normal and be eligible for a combined...

March 12, 2019 Just having a good morning. We ate leftovers for dinner last night, so there wasn't any need to run the dishwasher last night, or to unload it this morning. It didn't take long to straighten the bedroom, fold the towels, get my blanket out of the family room----all neat, ready to go and behind me. In the writing shack at 7:52. I should be able to get in a walk, and the afternoon feels doable.  Angela and Tori made it back to Tampa safely, and Kennedy made it back to Pensacola. Ange's experience at the vet didn't go well, and we couldn't get Bentley interested in marking any of the spots in the back yard. There was a lot of love and laughter surrounding the effort though --- Tori and Kennedy carrying water, trying to lure Bentley to interesting spots, Ange  doing the same while toting the plastic container to catch the sample. Surprising a cat who was hiding in the playground.  Beth came over for coffee and so I got to play with Davis a little ...

March 11, 2019 Second Sunday Supper was a lot of fun, and this morning is going well.  Heard from Andrew --- text --- really busy at work. Brittany called me in to the bedroom for a minute and Jon Marc jumped  up from the dining room table and said, "Wait a minute!" Brittany handed me a gift bag, saying "We went into a gift shop, and I saw this first thing, and said, 'I have to have this for Grannie." A turtle-shaped coffee cup that says "I turtilly love you!" So sweet.  She called me the other day --- said she'd started to send a text but then thought, "I haven't talked to Grannie for a while. I just want to hear her voice."  Skyler drove herself to school for the first time today, in her new car. Annette talked about taking Skyler with her to get the oil changed, and letting her be the one to have the conversation with the people there. They've opened a checking account for her, too. Angela and Tori and Kennedy hel...

March 4, 2019 The house is straight, and easily so. The weekend chores are done, and I put some extra Wonderland time in, and so made some project progress there.  Barry and I spent some time at Firefly. The deck is almost finished. We spent some time together in the greenhouse, planting seeds.  I got to talk to Beverly a little bit on Saturday.  Evan, Chelsea, Jaden and James were over for a few minutes Friday night. Jaden smiled at me and wanted to play chase.  I got a text from Andrew. We got to talk to Angela and Tori for a few minutes early Friday evening. They both seemed pretty happy. Angela said that she works alone on Fridays and so is usually behind all day long, but this Friday had been easier. Tori had told me she was in meetings and so I asked her if that meant she was telling people what to do. She laughed and said that she was coordinating with more people.  Morgan posted some pictures of Mardi Gras, and a videos of Davis laughing an...

Morgan, as part of conversation about dressing babies up for grandparents and great grandparents, and Goodtimes: "We spent so much time in Papa's T-Shirts! That's still my favorite thing to wear to sleep! 2X" Brandon said, "She even wears it out sometimes." Morgan added pretty quickly something like "Just to the ComPac."  Kennedy said that Saturday was her first day being paid to work in the art department. :-) Work study program.  Beverly and I got to have a nice long phone visit Friday night, and Angela and Tori called us that night, too.  Kennedy came over yesterday afternoon and she and Barry spent some time out in the pottery barn working on her gun project. She said her art teacher said he could see it developing into graduate student work.  Saw Beth on Facebook a little bit. She'll be here sometime Wednesday and will stay for a few days. It will be so good to have her home. Morgan and Brandon and Davis came over yesterday and s...

January 21, 2019 We got Moe's Southwest to cater last night, and it was the easiest Second Sunday Supper of all time. They delivered and set up and everything.  Brittany and Jon Marc came early and got the family room set up --- she sent me a text around 3 to see if I needed any help.  James got lots of loving.  Jaden had a big time jumping off the fireplace and everybody clapping for him.  I just relaxed and sat at the dining room table, and we visited and had a good time. Brittany said that in one of her interviews they had asked her to tell them something about herself that wasn't in her resume. She told them that she is from a big family, that we get together for suppers once a month, that we are diverse --- that she is religious, but that she is an aunt who is Buddhist, and that we all get along at supper. 

January 4, 2019 Davis slept in his crib napped in his crib for the first time today. Brittany thanking me for always caring about what is going on in her life. Jaden trying to get a glass off the kitchen counter. He can reach it now. 

January 4, 2019 Barry said that when Kennedy was walking across the driveway with him she expressed appreciation for all of the years of support of creativity.  Morgan, thanking me, "Thank you so much, grannie! I love you so much!!! Everybody needs a 'grannie,' I swear!" Jaden, reaching as far as he could on the kitchen counter to get to a glass.  Evan and Chelsea came over with Jaden and James last night and stayed and had supper. Kennedy and Shawn were with us, too, so it was a full, happy table. James snuggled down in my arms and slept while Chelsea ate, and then Barry took him while I ate.  My progress during my Wonderland hours was stalled due to printer connections, and internet connections, and updates that needed to be downloaded. Even at that, I was able to catch up 3 weeks worth of settlements posting and credit card receipts, etc. Almost. I wasn't quite able to get through the last Lowes statement. I'm excited because I think that on mo...