My #1 grandie Emma Magnolia Mayne Jose danced her way to sixth in this premiere competition.
I am so happy to see her hard work pay off.
You may remember that she is the current North American champion, and now is the top American in The World.
My heart is full!!!!
What a Super Birthday Month I’ve had this year! Sure, there was some snow…
Between flurries, I had five lunch dates! Thanks to Dee, Hannah, Donna, Samantha and Casey…
On my birthday-proper, I had a lovely luncheon with the Jrs…
… I took Flat Ronna to Haley’s wedding Party and she was the Belle of the Ball…
We finished up the bathroom and are almost finished with the stairs and landing…
I finally got to the Zoo, renewed my membership, and wandered through a lovely Orchid Show to say hello to the leopard…
Teased by this Spring-like weather, I’m longing to get outside and start gardening. Since it’s too soon, I keep myself busy with my houseplants…
And now it’s onward to March… We might as well…
Peace
You’ve met my youngest grandie, Samantha Lynn Mayne Casey, many times on this blog. I’ve been chronicling our adventures for ten years now and we’ve watched her grow. She is the youngest of my four grandies, born the year I retired, and we’ve had so many wonderful adventures together — watching “toodles”, playing with Paw Patrol, riding our Magic Carpets to DisneyWorld, weekly sleep-overs, drawing lots of pictures, learning to play the piano — and we look forward to making many more memories to cherish. She has always been a happy little girl and a joy to her Jojo and Grandpa.
She’s busy today at an Archery tournament, so we celebrated together last Monday at Eastland Mall. Build-a-Bear has a birthday bear that costs a dollar per year of your existence, so our mission was to add all the bells and whistles and clothes to make a great new stuffie. Mission Accomplished…
Then we were off to the food court for some ice cream rolls from DinoIce. She chose a concoction of strawberries and banana in her ice cream rolls, topped with cotton candy, made right there with special strawberry flavoring, that was to die for.
I had a freebie coupon from Bath & Body, so we also picked up an Ariel hangy thing for her backpack. We were happy.
There are no words that adequately express the Love we feel for our children and grandchildren, but we try…
Happiest of Birthdays, dear Samantha! I wish you Love and Happiness for all of your days.
Peace
According to National Geographic, The winter solstice marks the exact moment when half of Earth is tilted the farthest away from the sun. It usually happens on December 21 or 22, at the exact same second around the world. This year, that exact moment was 3:21 this morning, so Today is the Winter Solstice, celebrated by Humans since the dawn of time at such Sacred Spots as Newgrange, Stonehenge, and the Nasca Lines, where folks would gather to welcome back the sun.
How did the Ancients know it was the solstice? I don’t know, but I think it had to do with shadows. If you stand outside in the sun (hopefully it’s shining where you are) at noon today and look at your shadow, it will be the Longest Shadow you cast the entire year. I’m going to check that out today.
One of the most enduring Winter Celebrations is Yule, begun in Scandinavian countries but soon co-opted by the Brits and made familiar to us in their madrigal “Christmas” songs. To Welcome the Light, there was feasting and singing, and a Yule Log — the bigger the better – was lit outside, with the festivities lasting for several days.
We still write our wishes on a log and send them up in the smoke of our fireplace, and of course we’re feasting and singing. But for me, this is the New Year, the Beginning of a new chapter, and a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next.
I’ll also be baking today! Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and snickerdoodles are the menu!
Peace
Today is the Number Nine birthday of Samantha Lynn Mayne Casey and I am More than nine years grateful that she was born. She is the only grandie who was born in Evansville and who, therefore, I have been able to spoil on an every-day basis all of her life. It has been a joy. I asked her the other day if she would stop visiting me every week when she gets older (like her Sissy) and she replied, “Probably”. Truth there, as even a Spectacular Jojo takes a backseat when adolescence takes the wheel, but for now we still play, even riding our magic carpets every so once in a while, so I hang on to every moment I get.
We celebrated “our” birthday on Monday at Gattitown. I really enjoy that place and the food is pretty good. Michael and Jess came along, though Jess had to leave and get back to work. Nova and Aiden, aka Shark, joined in the fun.
Samantha will be back tomorrow for her usual Friday Night Sleepover and Saturday JAM piano lesson and we’ll turn our minds to our upcoming Disney trip.
Oh, I sort of passed my stress test –at least I didn’t drop dead. I’ll tell you all about it in my Sunday Report. Until then,
Peace
My #4 Grandie, good buddy and pal, Samantha Lynn Mayne Casey has a birthday today! We celebrated on Saturday with a party. Check it out…
Grandma-ing is the Best!
Peace
I was awake bright and early, cleaned up and took my tea in front of the TV to watch the Inauguration, texting back and forth with Melissa. What a Beautiful Ceremony! Joyful tears…
All we are saying, is Give Peace a Chance…
We are All One…
I was going to post a re-run today, thinking I surely had posted something good about MLK Day in the past, but I was wrong. I had posted something, but it wasn’t what I call “good”, so I went in search of inspiration.
When I watched this, I cried. This is what I mean to say…
Peace
This was the first year that Disney has taken pictures on the Haunted Mansion Ride. I really like the snap featured above…shows two people just relaxing, looking around, taking it all in… That’s pretty much what we do… We plan to do more of it in 2021.
Today is the 8th day of Christmas and we received 8 maids-a-milking, bringing our total gift count to 120 as they joined the 14 swans-a-swimming, 18 geese-a-laying (check for the golden egg), 20 golden rings, 20 calling birds, 18 French hens, 14 turtledoves, and 8 partridges in their respective pear trees. (according to Dr. Caligari’s Cabinet) We must be up to our ears in bird poop…
Hope You’re Enjoying your Day!
New Year’s
by Dana Gioia
Let other mornings honor the miraculous.
Eternity has festivals enough.
This is the feast of our mortality,
The most mundane and human holiday.
On other days we misinterpret time,
Pretending that we live the present moment.
But can this blur, this smudgy in-between,
This tiny fissure where the future drips
Into the past, this flyspeck we call now
Be our true habitat? The present is
The leaky palm of water that we skim
From the swift, silent river slipping by.
The new year always brings us what we want
Simply by bringing us along—to see
A calendar with every day uncrossed,
A field of snow without a single footprint.
……
May our footprints in 2021 be gentle…
May our Days be filled with Love and Peace throughout the Seasons…
Ring out the Old! Ring in the New! Ring out the False! Ring in the True!
Yesterday today was tomorrow, and tomorrow today will be yesterday…
…..George Harrison, “Ding Dong, Ding Dong”
Let us Move Forward with Hope for a more Peaceful, Healthy, Compassionate World… All you Need is Love (love is all you need)
Peace
The News from Sonnystone Acres 