Nephews and Cousins

Wow, has life ever gotten busy!

My cousin from Canada came for a visit just before Easter. Since we were out of town for Holy Week visiting Don's parents, we had to make up for lost time when we got home. So, in addition to preparing Easter baskets for half the country, buying presents for our children, pressing trousers and dresses, and making Ukranian food and dying eggs, we had to fit in visiting. We tried to spend every free moment for a couple of days with them. This cousin is the middle son of my mother's older sister, now deceased, and we haven't seen him since my parent's 50th wedding anniversary five years ago.

Randy left and, within a few days, my nephew from Alabama showed up. Daddy called down one morning and said that he had arrived during the night and his truck appeared to be packed with all his possessions. Daddy said, "I'm assuming he's planning on staying for a while." They talked over breakfast, and my nephew has moved in with them.

Again, I'm trying to spend as much free time as possible with Claude. We seldom get to see him and now, with him right up the road, I'm soaking him up like a sponge. He's always lived away from us and we've had precious little time to build a relationship. Now, at 20, he's realized he may not always have the opportunity to get to know his grandparents and has come to live with them for a season. I'm scared to death something's going to happen and he'll pack up and go back to Alabama, so I want to take every advantage of this chance to spend time with him. It can't be very fun for him - playing cards and doing yardwork all day long. He told me last night that Grandpa told him he hasn't eaten this well in years. Claude loved that. Grandma's feeding Grandpa 3 squares now that she has to feed Claude, too.

Then, Saturday, one of my nephews from California, his wife, 2-yr. old and 4-month old, arrived for a visit. When it rains, it pours!!! I haven't seen them since they married 3 years ago and I've never seen the children. His daughter looks very much like my sister (my father calls her "Apple Dumpling"), her grandmother, and it cracks me up to hear this little tidbit referring to my sister as Grandma. I have a 5-yr. old (just turned) and my sister's a grandmother, 4 times over.

My great-niece (the 2-yr. old) is bored stiff at my parent's house. Although they have a few toys they've kept around, she tried very hard yesterday to entertain herself with my mother's wooden Ukranian eggs, baskets, and keys. Not exactly a smorgasbord of toys for children. We invited her down to play with Daelyn, who has gotten quite attached to her. We didn't see her for quite some time - swallowed up by the void we like to call our playroom. It's wonderful having them here. Children grow up SO -O-O-O-O fast - if you blink, they're grown. And being that they live in California, we almost never get to see them. This is a rare treat.

Add to the mix the wedding of our good friend. 52 years old, never married, waiting for God to provide his perfect woman. God did, and the wedding is this Saturday. I'm in charge of the Rehearsal Dinner and several other aspects of the wedding. We had a shower that I helped with on Sunday afternoon, another last night, and the lingerie shower is Wednesday evening, sandwiched in with Dane's baseball practice at 6:00 and choir for Deanna and Handbell Practice for me, Dane and Don from 6 - 7:30. The shower's at 7. How to bilocate seems to be the question of the hour.

Then, yesterday, I got a call from my father. One of my niece's had been in a serious car accident and had been taken to the hospital in an ambulance. A truck in the oncoming lane had swerved unexpectedly and hit her head-on. The fire department was called, along with 4 police squad cars that answered the call, and she had to be removed from the vehicle with the "jaws of life" because her doors were so bent-in, they couldn't be opened. Mama and Claude took off for the hospital leaving my blind father and the California nephew and family to fend for themselves for lunch. Daddy called down here and asked if I'd come up and make lunch. When I arrived, my mother had left several things simmering on the stove - carrots, cabbage, and asparagus. My nephew's wife is nursing and can't have any gassy foods! I brought them down to my house and made ham sandwiches. My niece is alright but they think she has a broken ankle and lots of cuts and bruises. She's pretty shaken up and sore - she'll be traumatized from this accident for quite awhile.

Deanna has a huge, country report due tomorrow. She's been working on it for 6 weeks now. They have to talk about the history, geography, climate and people of their country. They have to hand-draw a map showing topography and pictures of typical dress. They had to show their teacher their library books, turn in their notes and rough draft, and the final draft is due tomorrow. Next week, they are to come to school in costume and each parent is to provide an ethnic dish to serve 16. Quite a big deal. Today, in addition to visiting with my two nephews and family, and making phone calls for the wedding to make sure my ducks are in a row, I have to return some clothes we bought for Easter that didn't work and type Deanna's report.

I keep hoping things will slow down after the wedding, but experience has taught me that April and May just keep getting busier until summer hits at the peak of exhaustion.

My Blog sits gathering dust while I deal with life. But occasionally I need the release of sitting and writing. It helps me with the stress.

Maybe that's why I tackled de-greasing the filter in the vent over the stove yesterday.