On Being Grandma

I never realized before that being Grandma is a full time job. That's not a bad thing, but I do have to be flexible. Emily is trying to get Corine to use a bottle so she can go to work without her. She just works part time(12 hours a week) and can bring her. She did at first, but now Corine wants more attention and Emily is working for Thrivent and doesn't do money and is learning money, so it doesn't work well. Sunday after lunch, I tried a bottle of breast milk on Corine. It was slow and she didn't really like it. Then I rocked Natalie to sleep. Aubrey put her in our bed and then I rocked Carly to sleep. She stayed on my lap. Monday I had the "dance run". It starts at 1:50 and goes until 4:45. Tuesday, Emily and girls came over, ate lunch and I rocked Carly to sleep again. Wednesday was my turn to take Claire to ECFE. Then babysat Carly while Emily had a work lunch. Rocked her again. Last night Natalie was throwing up and Aubrey is staying home today as she got no sleep either, but she is bringing the girls over later so she can shampoo the rugs. Tomorrow Kim and I hopefully are going to buy our washing machine, but it depends what comes up. Saturday we are babysitting Brandon so Andy and Christine can go to his work's Christmas party. Sunday, we will have dinner and it starts all over again. Don't get me wrong, I love having them all here. I love it when they cry when they have to go home because they want to stay with Grandma. I just don't get as much done as I would like and I just have to be ok with that. Alair and her nieces and nephew are much more important and I want them to remember coming here often and playing with our toys and rockimg with Grandma.

Washing Machine

Our washing machine has been making some awful noises lately. It still works, just makes noise...scares kids and grandkids and in general makes people ask" What is THAT?!". I had finally had enough and Kim pulled it out and turned it upside down this morning. It was leaking transmission fluid on the floor. He cleaned up the mess and put it back. We are now looking for a stacked unit as Kim is going to build shelves where the dryer sat for more storage space and then hopefully I get the pantry done.

Organization

Thia week I finally feel ambitious. It takes time after all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. Family is here a lot and I cook a lot. Last minute projects usually take longer than originally planned, so I get behind on other things and some just have to go by the wayside until later. The basement has been cluttered since I put autumn things out on Labor Day weekend. The kids couldn't play down there and played in Alair's room, which I don't like as they tend to get into things that aren't always age appropriate. Monday I took the tree down and after work,Aubrey came over and helped start organize things in the basement. I will be back at it today and Aubrey is coming again. The girls are on a daddy visit. I also need to clean out my pantry. There are a few things I really can't find and it's frustrating.

Speaking of the girls, Claire will be able to go to the same little school Alair goes to. We pray that it will stay open. Aubrey's ex said alright, but she had to give up some support from him. We are very happy that she will get a parochial education though.

I also am finally writing my Christmas cards. If Martha Stewart says it's ok to send them in January, that's good enough for me!

I have been sewing in the house, as the shop is hard and expensive to heat. I really don't like it. I don't have access to all my supplies and have to keep a list of stuff to bring in as I take other things out. I don't like having the stuff sit in the kitchen on th floor. This defeats the purpose of having a shop. We are looking to find an efficient way to heat the building. It's not very big. We also see where there are leaks and have to seal them up.