an ordinary man

My darling grandpa just celebrated his 90th birthday recently. He's been on my mind.

I can hardly remember a time when he wasn't retired. I've always been glad that he got to enjoy a nice long retirement, and that he could be around so much for all of us to know him.

He is a very hard worker, and he installed that value in his children. He still takes care of his yard.

He was orphaned at a young age and was raised mostly by his brother.

He is incredibly handy. Grandma always said he could fix anything but a broken ear.

He has the most beautiful blue eyes.

He has a big sweet tooth, and always has a stash of candy around. Unfortunately, lots of it is candy I don't like -- circus peanuts and the like.

He has a great sense of humor. I remember him always telling me that something was "down the cellar behind the axe" with a big laugh.

He always had a wonderful garden. He would drive Grandma crazy by letting the zucchini get too big before harvesting it.

He tells great stories. The last time I visited, he told me about how he got into MIT and was an engineer in the Navy.

I can never remember a time when he didn't have a little beloved lap dog. Currently, that dog is a black poodle named Tyrone. He loves that dog, even though Tyrone bosses him around, driving Grandma to distraction.

He friended me on Facebook! That totally made my day.

He was a stake patriarch for many years. (Grandma tells me it's great to marry a patriarch if you can!)

We sometimes lovingly call him Puddingheart because he is such a softie. As soon as he sees you, he starts to tear up.

He and Grandma have been married for 66 years and have created such a legacy of love for all of us.

He always recognizes the Lord's hand in his life.

Not the best picture of Grandpa, but it shows him with his children (except Karen, who is in the hospital): Susan (my mom), Denise, Lee, and Patricia.

It's hard for me to think about Grandpa without also thinking of the beautiful song that my aunt Patricia wrote for him many years ago:

An Ordinary Man

An ordinary man
He says he's nothing more than just an ordinary man
And you might think you'd believe him
Though you'll never understand
How love can flow so gentle from an ordinary man

And there's magic in his touch
When I feel his arms around me
There is magic in the touch
Of his hands upon my head
And when I hear his soft command
I know that I have felt the special magic in his hands

If the government could know his worth
I'm sure they'd raise his pay
It's sad but true -- between me and you --
What a good man gets today
He tells me I am beautiful
That I'm his Miss Universe
I wish he wasn't taken, but my mother saw him first

An ordinary man
Still with his arms around me
An extraordinary man
When I'm headed straight for trouble
And I'm leading with my chin
He saves me from the crash
By flashing me that knowing grin

And if my Father up in heaven is anything like him
Then I would give the world to be with Him
For all eternity
And tell Him thanks for sending me
To just an ordinary man


I love you, Grandpa! You're anything but ordinary to us.

the Christmas syndrome

On Christmas Eve morning, Mom and Eva were mixing up sweet roll dough and making cinnamon bread, cinnamon rolls, and caramel-pecan rolls.

Mom asked for some ammonia to help clean the dough out of the Bosch, and I had to move some other things out from under the sink to reach it.

When I pulled out a large bottle of floor cleaner, I discovered -- much to my surprise -- that that bottle was the only thing holding the pipes together. As soon as it was displaced, a large chunk of the pipe fell off, sending water gushing everywhere.

How there was no leaking before is a mystery! The pipe was completely eroded away.

How fortuitous that we had a handyman visiting! (Can you imagine having to call a plumber to come out on Christmas Eve?)

Dad said it was the Christmas syndrome. Last year the furnace, this year the pipe. I have only two things to say about that.

1. I sincerely hope that the Christmas syndrome does not continue beyond two years.
2. I sincerely hope that my dad is here should the Christmas syndrome ever manifest itself again.

catching up

Timm came over on Wednesday for a handyman day. (oh I love this gift!) He tore down the old gazebo in our backyard that was seriously leaning. He said it came down very easily, in fact too easily, since it fell on top of him and he thought he might be trapped until I came home from my doctor appointment! (He managed to squeeze out and I couldn't get any more information out of him.)


He took down the baby gate at the top of our stairs that we no longer need. Strangely, it hadn't occurred to me to take it down. Now we don't have to finagle our way in with groceries, etc. (Jill, Landon, Whitney -- no more waiting at the top of the stairs and taking turns!)


He also replaced our cracked toilet seat, fixed the pantry door that had fallen off, and made some headway toward solving the strange haunted creaking sounds that were apparently coming from our downstairs bathroom. All that, and he hauled away a truckload of debris from the gazebo project. Gotta love it.


Jill made this coolest card and sent it to us, just to celebrate the fact that apparently, we are really all going to Paris! I still can't believe it.


Having Bell's palsy and being in the late stages of pregnancy can't keep Hannah from sending her cute and oh-so-prompt thank you cards!


Amie sent me these cute Easter socks! I may have shoe traumas, but at least I can still wear cute socks.

Heather sent me more cute Easter socks, ribbon, and dark m&ms. I ate the whole bag myself.


Kristi had the brilliant idea of wrapping up pictures of what, in a money-is-no-object world, she would buy for me. It was a bunch of beautiful dishes and table linens. I love this idea! I am always seeing things that I wish I could get for someone. This is totally cute mail.

And now on to the slightly less positive things that have been going on lately. I went to see an orthopedist on Wednesday, and he confirmed that I need to have a scope done on my knee ASAP. So now I have to go in for a little outpatient surgery on Monday. I thought it was no big deal until I found out I will undergo general anesthesia. I haven't done that since I was 5 (tonsillectomy) and it makes me a little bit nervous.

I will then have only two weeks before we leave for Paris to recover, and I will have physical therapy during that time. The doctor wrote me a note to send to the airline saying that I have to have a bulkhead seat so I can elevate my foot in order to prevent a blood clot! Not the most encouraging news I've ever had. In any case, I can hardly walk now, I can barely maneuver stairs, and I can't squat or kneel at all, so hopefully this procedure will enable me to fare much better during our Parisian stay.

(Oh, and I also need to have another surgery on both knees after we return, but that's a completely different story....)

Eva was throwing up all through the night for unknown reasons, so now I'm a zombie and Creative Friday is cancelled. Major bummer. But who knows? Maybe I'll get to take a nap!