Perfect Spring Weekend!

(Sunshine + tree blossoms + social time) - schoolwork = a great spring weekend

I am feeling the whole spring renewal, new life sort of feeling. I don't have a crazy beginning of the week at work which meant I was able to enjoy a beautiful spring weekend.

It started with a super fun Birthday Club happy hour at Jean's Friday afternoon. Jean invited the daughters and grandkids too. Sally and Ellie made an appearance and it was the best! Jean's daughters Deirdre and Grace were there and they were fabulous hostesses.

blossoms

Sally, Ellie, Grace and Deirdre

2 generations of Birthday Club girls

Easter 2017

We got to spend time today with both our granddaughters and their amazing parents. 

Matt, Sally and Ellie went to 7am mass with us then came back to our house for breakfast. 

 This afternoon, we stopped in Wayne and Julie's at the same time Lauren, Greg and Brendan were there. Super fun family time. No brunch or petting zoo like the Union League Club but there was an adorable 13 day old Vivian there. So blessed! 

 

 

Vivian Marie has arrived!

It's a girl!! Vivian Marie was born on Monday, April 3rd at 10:49am, weighing in at 9 lbs 14 oz, measuring 22 inches (the exact same as her father's birth stats!) Vivi (pronounced viv-ee) and Julie are doing well. Wayne is too!

 

It was an exciting day when Vivian was born. Jack was out of town all week for work and could not change that. Everyone understood. I used one of my personal days and took the day off work. I knew I would not be able to concentrate! Julie and Wayne were given the 4pm time slot for her c-section, but were told that it could possibly be earlier in the day. The night before, Julie found out that she would move up in the schedule, sometime between 10am and noon.
I fidgeted and tried to get some work done, but for the most part, I just stared at my phone, waiting for it to ring. Sally and Ellie came over after Sally got off of work so we could wait together.  We fed Ellie lunch and put her down for a nap around noon. At 12:27pm, we received the call! A girl!! And a big healthy one, praise God!!! Sally and I started making our plans. At around 2pm, we ran to Target and picked up some girly clothing for Vivi (forget newborn size! she is already 3 months!). While we were at Target, Wayne texted that Julie was having some blood pressure issues and was not out of recovery yet. We decided to head into the city with Ellie, with the hope that Julie would be feeling better, get settled in a room and be ready for visitors. It was a long slow drive into the city. It was raining and it was the early part of rush hour and we decided to get dinner at the hospital and wait to see how things were going with Julie. Ellie was a trooper, but it got to be 6pm and Wayne texted us an update that Julie's blood pressure still wasn't where it should be and they weren't sure when she would be moved. We felt so bad for Julie that she wasn't feeling great and decided the best idea was to head home. We were glad to have made the effort because we were so excited it was next to impossible to just sit at home!!! We made some great memories on Vivi's birth day. There are not many days like that in a person's life, the day a grandchild is born. 
I officially met Vivi on Tuesday night. Heaven! Amazing to hold my baby's baby!
They came home from the hospital on Friday, April 7th.  Wayne took two weeks off of work and the three of them have had a wonderful time learning how to be a family. Julie and Wayne are naturals!
Thank You, God for this precious new life!

 

Coming Soon! Baby Bear

I am finding it hard to concentrate on anything lately. It's for a good reason! Julie and Wayne's baby will be here within the next few days. Julie is having a planned c-section because the baby is breech.
Wayne called on his way home from work tonight and it was great to talk with him and hear what he and Julie are thinking and feeling.
It is just the most exciting time ever, waiting for this new family member to join us.
I cannot wait to see who it is!
Praying hard for Julie and Wayne and Baby Bear.
This morning, when I walked into Starbucks with Jean, the song "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn was playing. It is not a super mainstream song, so my heart warmed when I heard it. I felt like my brother Tom was reaching out to me, connecting with us with a song that brings back many great memories. Tom played that song often on one of our family Dallas trips. I have that whole body memory of being in his SUV with Jenny, Tom and the kids (Arne, Dane, Kjell, Wayne and Sally) with that volume cranked up and all of us belting out that song.
I imagine all of "our saints" (as Susie called them and now she is one) rejoicing that this baby is ready to join our family.
We are ready for you, Baby Bear!

Ellie at Kramer's

Spring Break 17! Woohoo!

We have been doing that "Spring break (insert year here)! Woohoo!" chant/rally cry for at least 14 years. I am pretty sure Sally started it. The first time that I truly remember us saying this was Spring Break 03. Kinda random memories, but strong ones. There was lots going on that year. My brother Tom had just been indicted and it wasn't clear how things were going to shake out. Plea bargain? Go to trial? Tom got permission to leave Colorado for a trip to St. Louis to visit Ann's daughter and son-in-law, Shannon and Jayson and their kids, Abby, Emma and Sam. Sally and I drove down to St. Louis to hang out with them. That was also the spring break when we were waiting to hear whether or not Wayne got into USC, It was kinda of a tense Spring Break, What I remember more than anything is the time with Tom. He made it fun.My family is always fun.I am not kidding when I say that. My family handles life's ups and downs like nobody's business. We make it work.
So then there was Spring Break 04 Woo Hoo! Jenny, Sue and I spent it in Colorado attending Tom's trial, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I wouldn't say it was fun, but it was so incredibly profound. My brother was a defendant in a white collar criminal trial that was headlines in the Denver Post and daily AP stories. And all the while, Tom took such good care of us and set the tone. Wow.
Moving on to Spring Break 05 Woo Hoo! (Note: Tom's trial had ended in a mistrial after a 7 week trial with four defendants and NO ONE was convicted- and he ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor) Dane had just died four weeks before Spring Break. Sally and I had made plans to visit my friend Lynn in NYC (her husband was GM at a major hotel there). We went, we had fun, but we were changed. Raw.
Spring Break 06 Woohoo!? Oh yeah, also very memorable. Sue, Jenny, Sally and I went to Houston to hang with Tom and Ann while Tom was going through radiation for his GBM (very aggressive brain tumor). Again, Tom made it fun. He did. Always.
Spring Break 07 WooHOO! Tom's memorial service, which Jenny and I planned and executed. Oh my gosh!
I am not even going to go all the way back to Spring Break 97 which is when my dad called and told me he was in final stages of colon cancer.
I am getting a little dramatic here, right?
Geez.
So this is why I blog.
I did not set out to write this and did not know where I was going with the whole Spring break (year) Woo Hoo thing.
It does help to explain why I have been so emotional today, as Spring Break 17 begins.
I hope and pray that the tide is turning.
Two years ago we had the fabulous trip to Arizona with the kids. Last year, I got my new hip and this year we are waiting for the birth of a grandchild.
May Spring Break 17 be the best one ever! WOOHOO!

This is Us

Jack and I have been watching the NBC series This is Us, pretty much since it debuted last fall. I had heard about it and was intending to watch it, then I had dinner with Lynn K one night in Sept and she raved about it. I had only missed the first 2 episodes. I quickly caught up. 

I love this show because it explores such universal themes. The writing, the acting, the music are incredible. 

I love that Jack and I watch it together and I can (and need) to watch each episode more than once to absorb its brilliance. Family dynamics and relationships are complex and deep and the foundation of who we are. 

I want to be a better person. That's how This is Us makes me feel.