Annie-isms

My granddaughter does more than her share of making me laugh.  Her "inquiring mind" is always on overdrive.  While the passage of time has made me forget some of her funnier moments, I chose to write about two in particular that made me laugh incessantly.  Both Annie-isms had different effects on me, as you will see when you read them.

The first, which I've shared with many of my friends, came on the heels of a purchase of some card games. I bought my grandchildren boxed games of Go Fish, Crazy Eights, and Old Maid.  My oldest grandson has become very much into playing cards and he and I had just finished up a rousing game of Old Maid.  Neither of us wanted to get stuck with that old battleax!  Who wants to end a game with an old maid in their hands?  It was nearly bedtime and the kids were asked to put away the cards and get ready for bed.  Annie volunteered to pick up the various boxes of cards and while putting them back into the boxes she paused for a moment and looked my way.  A big smile came over her face and she ran over to me shouting, "Grandma! Grandma!  This looks just like you!"  To my chagrin, she was holding the Old Maid card and was proudly pointing out my apparent strong resemblance to the dowdy, grey-bun-wearing Old Maid.  Talk about a reality check for me.  I laughed it off, as any good grandmother would do when their beaming 4 year old granddaughter compares them to the old hag on the card's face, but I still haven't gotten over it and for some reason I find myself looking more critically at the face I see in my 10X Magnifier mirror each morning.  Note to self:  get rid of that God-forsaken mirror!

The second Annie-ism came this week.  She was watching TV and abruptly turned to me and came to sit on my lap.  She began studying my face and then mused, "Grandma, are you going to get old like Grandma Lores [my mom, who is 90 years old and bears the wrinkles of a life filled with love, loss, and time]?  I told her that I hoped I would live as long as Grandma Lores.  She continued to study MY face and then asked, "Grandma?  Is your face going to change?"  I knew where she was headed, wondering if I would get wrinkles on my face too.  I needed to ask why she wanted to know this, so I fell for it, fully expecting another reference to that dreaded Old Maid!  I patiently explained to her that yes, my face would change, and then readied myself for her response.  She looked at me and with her sweetest smile replied, "I don't want your face to change because I like it the way it is!"  Birds began to sing, the sun smiled down from the Heavens, butterflies danced outside my window, all was good and right with the world.  Note to Old Maid: not this time, honey!

New Glarus and Restaurant Kryptonite

When browsing someone else's blog, I checked on mine and realized it has been nearly 4 months since my last post. Wow! How on earth did I let that much time get away from me? I guess saying I've been busy is the simple answer...and I have been...but the truth is I haven't had much to chat about. My life has sort of settled into the "same old, same old" pattern. Living with little ones is all about days flying by, and then looking back at the end of the day/week and wondering what on earth just happened? Haven't I already lived this life already? I am doing it again with my grandchildren now. So, what have I been up to? Well, I've done some redecorating in our house - new look for both the master bedroom and bath, and the other bathroom (much more kid-friendly now, since it's the bathroom the kids use), been to some parties - the most memorable being a good friend's surprise 60th birthday party, traveled to New Glarus, WI for the Heidi Fest (which was nothing like it was when we last went nearly 10 years ago - no parade of past Heidis - the highlight of the day, besides the cream puffs which were also a no-show).

So, the Heidi Fest's disappointments got both Artie and I lamenting on the car ride home about how sad it is when good things go bad. Watching favorite restaurants close, shops shutter their doors, open land turn to concrete jungles, and more. New Glarus used to be one of those charming WI towns you like to share with others - a Swiss village with rolling hills, chalet-style homes, CREAM PUFFS, an amazing arts and crafts show, and best of all, that parade of Heidis, past and present - complete with many cow-themed floats, and delightful Heidis of all shapes, sizes, and ages - some literally stuffed into their corseted outfits like Swiss sausages. We visited it for the first time when we lived in Janesville, WI and fell in love with it, or what it used to be. What we got on this trip instead was a sham of a craft show (10 vendors), no parade at all, no creme puffs, no bakery with the delicious restaurant on the 2nd floor, barely any stores left at all. It broke our hearts for two reasons - one being the anticipation of seeing the town we loved and seeing only a shell of what it was, and secondly, to have wasted time and gas for nothing. The same thing has happened when we return to Green Lake each year. More and more of our favorite places have fallen to the dreaded economy, and the replacement shops just don't have the same appeal. Wisconsin has always been our "go to" place for all things charming, earthy, and even unique. This has changed. I hate it when that happens.

You should now be made aware that over the years Artie and I have become restaurant kryptonite! We have been "responsible" for the closing of many places that we were fairly regular patrons of. On the trip home from New Glarus, as we were discussing the dreadful changes we just experienced, and pouting from it, I told Artie that we should hire ourselves out to competitors of successful dining establishments. Just pay for us to dine there frequently and be guaranteed that we will shut it down. This has happened so many times that we almost hate to be "regulars" anywhere for fear we will watch it shutter up its doors and move out. What is up with this? One of our favorite places in Delavan, WI was a place called The Wagon Wheel. We would drive nearly an hour from Janesville just to enjoy the delicious food and phenomenal chocolate martinis (me). It closed! We loved a Cuban restaurant in Bartlett, Siboney, and it closed! This is only two in a long line of restaurants we've ruined by liking them. Restaurateurs, beware!