On the Move

Mr. Bankerchick and I have been on the road to Missouri with the dogs and I will not be posting until we get some WiFi. I will be back soon.

10 lessons My (Grand) Child Could Teach Me

1.) Write a short story prompted by your favorite song.
2.) Write a proposal for a kids’show you could actually stand to watch.
3.) An awkward moment.
4.) 10 Lessons your child could teach you.
5.) The perfect hiding spot.

1.  How to dance with abandon.
2.  How to speak Serbian as well as English.
3.  That I must listen with my full attention.
4.  How to navigate a floor filled with Lego trains, matchbox cars and books and not step on them.
5.  That I am not going to sit on a bench when we go to the park.
6.  When one builds a tower it goes without saying to admire it quickly as it is bound to be knocked down, almost immediately.
7.  One really big bubble is much more fascinating than a thousand little ones.
8.  That Grandma is so funny, especially when she says OkeyDokey
9.  That he does not want take a bath, brush his teeth or have sleepy time at all! Thank you very much!
10. Whether they are full body arm wrappers or he just backs into them, SNUGGLES are the best....when Лука is passing them out.

Mr BC and I are visiting in Santa Barbara this week and enjoying the Grandson.  He is an whole new little boy every time we visit.  He got his haircut yesterday and he is not a baby anymore.

Writers Workshop

The Prompts:

1.) The Police said it best when they said, “Every breath you take/And every move you make/Every bond you break, every step you take/I’ll be watching you”. Write about a time you believed someone was watching you.
2.) If you had the opportunity to throw a dream party for your closest family and friends, describe what that would look like.
3.) Opinion post:Write about how you feel about cussing in blog land? Acceptable? Unacceptable? Do you keep reading?
4.) Write a poem about your childhood to the beat of a Jump Rope rhyme. Example here.

5.) I sometimes laugh when I’m uncomfortable…or being yelled…or in church…or at a funeral. Write about a time when you laughed at an inappropriate time.

Mr BankerChick and I were attending a funeral of a relative by marriage. I did not know the deceased, but did know the family. When we arrived at the funeral home and were seated, in the back thank goodness, we noticed that room was set up where the coffin was on a dias behind a curtain. I was newly married and living in a new community, and actually had not attended many funerals in my life, so I was trying to maintain a degree of solemnness and I was not really "feeling it"  I  told Mr BC that it looked like we were attending a play with the deceased in the starring role.

The music raises we settle back and SWOOSH the curtains open and there he was. I still maintain that he was sitting up in the coffin, Mr BC says he was raised up a little more than usual.  Either way, I was startled and started to giggle,  Mr BC shushes me grinning. I reach for a tissue, trying but failing, to suppress the giggles. Every time we would look at each other we start over.  I finally got up and stepped into the LOBBY. I am not sure if anyone other than Mr BankerChick's mom saw our reactions. But I always think of this as a time that I laughed 'til I cried.

Other women in my Лука's Life

Of course there is Mama, she is his first love and definitely not an other woman.  They are at a birthday in the park for Mia.

Baba Lelia his Лука's California Baba she loves him as if he was her grandson. 

This is Tamara his Au Pair.  She is here from Serbia and will be here one more year.

Mia the Birthday girl, She is one year old, and likes to hug... Лука does not like to hug little girls even if it is her birthday!

So it is his best girl's lap that he finds security from Hugging Girls

Grandma and Grandpa Bankerchick will be seeing him next Tuesday (in the middle of the week no less) helping Mama take care of him, since Tamara will be out of town.  I can't wait!

Retirement



1954 MGTF

 Well the first week of retirement is under my belt and I think it went well!  We are going to be moving to the Joplin area, this fall, so I have been preparing for the first of many trips back there.  We tow the 2nd of Mr BC's sports cars back the week of August 22. 

Yesterday we put it in our new Haulmark trailer and we are going to move our storage where the cars were stored, to a smaller unit, eventually paring it down to a trailer load or less.  This will take us most of the fall.  Today the news said gas would be going down, and Mr BC and I Cheered!

DD2 is seriously thinking of moving back with us.  She is going to make one of the trips back with us to check out the jobs scene. It is right smack in the center of the county, so she should be able to check out jobs, in the surrounding states.  I already have several bags of clothes and 2 boxes of household items for the Salvation Army, so we plan to make a delivery this weekend.

Totem found his red ball, (MAJOR OBESSION) and turned into a bit of a tyrant.  I put it in a drawer last night and this morning he got up and started searching everywhere for it.  It made me so sad I got it out for him again.  So he is sitting next to my feet right now guarding it.  I am a pushover for my dogs.

I cleaned out the hall closet and, the linen closet is next. I am focusing on closets now, so they will be ready to pack up when the time comes. If nothing else we are down sizing 20+ years in the same location.  Mr BC use to move us around about every 5 years or so when the kids were small.  DD1 was ready to start High School when we moved here so we settled down.  Clutter happens when you stay in the same place.  So we are on the move.  The dining room is our staging area, and it looks like a disaster.

Mr BC made me some oatmeal for breakfast so I am off to start my day. Have a great weekend!

Book Review: A Three Dog Life

Amazon.com

June of Bye Bye Pie Hosted a Book Club Review of Abigail Thomas, Three Dog Night.  Here are my thoughts on this remarkable little book

Abigail Thomas has written powerfully and lovingly of her happy marriage turned upside down by her husband’s unfortunate accident in NYC. After her husband Rich is hit by a car and brain injured, this memoir chronicles her life with a man who has real no memories of the past and lives shattered in the today.

She tells of the first days when no one though he would survive, of the short time that she brought him home and he broke down into rages, and of the guilt she felt when she had to put him in a facility that deals with traumatic brain injuries.

Not only was Rich’s life drastically changed, so did Abigail’s. She writes poetically of the random thoughts her husband would relate when they were together. She speaks sadly of the times that she and Rich sit together quietly in the hospital and he would not remember who she was, then he would in the next moment say something very profound.

The Three Dog Life, also tells of the three dogs she surrounds herself with during this trying time. How they came into her life and how they helped her cope with her new reality.

I loved the poetry and beauty of this little book. Thomas is a wonderful writer. She opens to us the tragedy and joy of the new relationship she builds with Rich and of the three dogs that enhance her new life.

Day One of Phase 3

It is official I am retired!  I was up at 5:30 as usual, I will have to work on that.  I joined Facebook this weekend and right now it is just a mystery to me.  I had signed up before but it would not let me in the next time I tried to logon, so I just forgot about it.  I had lots of friends and friends of friends waiting for me.  I am still confused, but DD2 got me started and one of the friends was my bridesmaid and friend from college, that I lost touch with when I quit sending Christmas cards.  She wrote back right away and likes to e-mail which is my preference too.  I hope to keep in touch.

I dreamed last night, that I was retiring and I kept finding stuff at the office that I forgot.  I actually made it home with 3 boxes of stuff sitting in my dining room. I think if I left anything at work it would not be important.  Friday actually went well, I had no waterworks and the girls took me out to lunch, it was nice.  I imagine at some point it may hit me, but right now it is just affecting the pocketbook buddgeting and my irritable bowel.  It probably would be better if I could cry more, I would probably have fewer anxiety dreams. 

Well, on to phase 3, we are going grocery shopping on a weekday and to the movies on Wednesday afternoon, for the senior special.  Mr Bankerchick wants to see Cowboys and Aliens.  I have a pile of laundry and I am going to do it on a weekday too.  Such luxury this retirement!