Taste

Anyone not from an area that has a "Taste of insert appropriate town name here" is missing a grand event. I don't know if they are only held in the Chicagoland area (ok, I know I live a sheltered life!) or not. Well, I volunteered for the Taste of "the village I work in" for the first time. Naturally, I volunteered before I knew it was going to be in the hundreds, temperature-wise & the humidity is like 150% today. So, I'm sitting here in my volunteer "Taste" shirt dreading I ever said I would do it for 3 hours. Thank Gawd my shift isn't until 6 pm. My husband & I had a impromptu BBQ last night & since it was sooooo impromptu no one could make it except our oldest son & his daughters. So we got to visit with the girls (ok, I got to visit with the girls) while the guys did their "guy" thing. Last night that "guy" thing happened to be listening to music on Grandpa Maury's new sound system (another whole story - I don't like to whine too much on this site) & drinking wine (again, another story because I don't like to whine too much). I have another site I just journal on. That's my whiny, complaining site. Hopefully, no one sees that site. It's really not very interesting anyway. Just me complaining.
Last night Little A wanted cookies after dinner. Like I have said earlier - I don't bake anymore (because of my willpower) & after becoming 26 lbs lighter I really don't want to test it. I am going on a cruise in October. It is the first cruise I have been on in my whole life. I am so excited. No I'm not going with Grandpa Maury as he is not a cruise person, so my best friend from MI & I are going. We've been best friends for 42 years. Whew, that's a looooonnnnnngggggg time! I have a best friend in IL but my MI friend is my best and longest friend.
Anyway, back to little A. I actually tried the "let's do something fun" game. I will say, as a mom I just did the "shut up & behave" game. I have the time to be better with age. I'm glad of that. We both danced & sang & had a grand time. I have learned, unfortunately, that I do much better as a Grandma than I did as a mom. Sorry Mama, Sher & Bubba. Today I'm not uploading any pictures I took last night. I'm really disgusted with my camera & I do not have photo shop so I can try to make them look somewhat decent. I am taking my camera to the Taste today. Hopefully I get some good shots. I am going to shop ebay to see if I can get a PS program to help my poor photography skills! (Any tips Mama or CD?)

I read back on this & I really did whine alot! Sorry.

Congrats, Bubba!

I'm so proud. My son, with a little prodding from me, my husband, & his oldest sister applied to a college here in IL got accepted today! WAY TO GO! Now, I have to go e-mail A, his sister, to let her know before she reads it here.

Oui Oui!

My wonderful husband took me to a wonderful French restaurant tonight for our anniversary! He's so good to me. He's the main cook in the household & he didn't feel like cooking so we went out for an anniversary dinner. Before we left we had a great visit from Peanut even though she slept most of the time! Here's a picture. I think she's a dolly. I'm biased but all my grandkids are smart & beautiful!

Happy Anniversary Grandpa M

Grandpa M, originally uploaded by Grandma Jacki.

I know you would like to meet my better half (okay, I'm really the better half!). Today is our anniversary. Grandpa M & I are celebrating by babysitting our youngest grandaughter, Peanut! She's a sweetie & will be 5 month old soon. Peanut is Little A's sister & since Little A is going to the movies with her Mom & Dad we get to play, visit, love on Peanut. I think I have some of this figured out as far as uploading pictures. Who knows, I'll try more later when Peanut is gone. Have a great day.

TEST

Here's my test with uploading my first picture. This is a picture of Andy, our dog. Unfortunately we lost him on Halloween of 2005. But this was a picture I had stored. I'm also experimenting with getting pictures onto my Flickr account today too. Well, since I've uploaded a picture of Andy, I'll talk a little about him. He was a Peke mix (but mostly Pekingese). What he was mixed with we don't know but he had a nose that wasn't flattened to his face & he was a cute-lovable guy. We alway had him shaved except for his tail. They always trimmed his ears. Otherwise all his hair would be just above ground level. He always had a problem in the winter when it snowed here in the Chicago area because, as you can see his legs were only about 6" long. With legs that long (or short) he would always get lost in the snow. In his golden years we had to shovel a path for him in the backyard!

Some Rules (I Think) for Being a Grandma

So today was kinda normal. I'll start @ the end & work my way back. I gave my husband a haircut. I always like that cuz I feel he gets too shaggy before he asks for one. Of course, if I ask him if I can give him a haircut he says "NO". I've learned to wait until he asks for one. My boss is on vacation this week so I'm the "Big-Wig" in our department. That's a kinda scary! So, my hours are 7 am to 3 pm this week. I hate starting that early but I really like getting off work @ 3. (There's so much day left) I go excercise then come home. I'm normally fairly busy in the evenings during the week but Wednesday night is "DATE NIGHT" with my hubby. It's not as exciting now (we talked about paying the house off, buying bonds, saving money after the house is paid off, etc. tonight) as when we first started dating about 13 years ago but it's still "our" time. All our children are grown (not first marriages for either of us) but we've still kept this habit. I haven't figured out how to put pictures on my site yet but hopefully this weekend I will experiment & get that figured out. I actually found out that we have a digital camera in the house! WooHoo! I thought that Grandpa M had lost it so right now, this is my journal. Oh, back to my day. Well, I'll sure be glad when my boss gets back. No matter how much I moan & groan about how he doesn't work Did I really say that - it's been hard while he's gone. Did I really say that! So apparantly he must do something! Did I really say that! I have a new appreciation for him. I feel new insights are always great. We have 2 new people in our department (who are wonderful) but people from other deparments have figured out that I can do some of my boss's work so they keep coming to me while I'm trying to get my work done and answer questions for the new people. Don't get me wrong - I always welcome questions. I would rather a question be asked & it be done right the first time than for it to be done incorrectly. Side note: I work with numbers so sometimes it is very hard to correct after the fact. I realized today that I could very easily become a workaholic. Eww! So that's another reason I'll be glad when he's back. I won't work as hard (even though I'm a very hard worker). After work, I excercised then went home & watered the garden. I think that's a rule or something. When you become a Grandma you have to garden. Another Grandma rule (I think) is that you have to bake. I'm losing weight now so I've laid off that for my own good right now. I have no will power. I am a powerhouse with cookies @ Christmas time, though. I start baking cookies about the week of Thanksgiving & bake until after the new year. Whew - just saying it makes me tired. I basically stay with the same hand-me-down recipes (I feel those are the best) that I got from family but I bake in bulk & freeze. Cookies freeze really nice but with 4 sons they don't stay around long! I will add more "Grandma Rules" as I think of them (or discover them!) My day is over. Time for TV then bed. Have a great day.

Let's Start Blogging

Okay, here I go. I am going to attempt to use a blog to journal. I will even attempt to post pictures - later! I am taking baby steps! I just got back from visiting TX & I have some great pics but for now you just have to know I had a great time. I really toned up my legs cuz I did alot of stair climbing @ my lovely daughter's new home. I did this by chasing grandkids, which just so happens to be my favorite thing to do! I don't know what I'm supposed to write so maybe an introduction is in order. I'm Grandma Jacki. I have 7 grandkids - all are gorgeous! (I may have spelled that wrong) Two lovely granddaughters live close (Little A & Peanut) & four wonderful grandchildren live far away (Mols, Loo, Dyl & Loco). You can visit them @ www.flickr.grandmajacki.com.