Life

Life isn't the greatest right now....we just found out that my Grama is quite a bit worse off than we thought. Very little of her heart is working. I remember a similar situation a few years ago. I hoped to never go through it again.

That's not going to happen....not the losing my Grama, that's inevitable.

But the part of having to sit there and watch, helplessly, waiting, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and her not be there any more. It's hard to be a caregiver, it's hard to have the medical training that allows you to know what is happening by the signs that the body physically gives.

It's hard to sit here on the couch and suddenly realize she isn't snoring anymore, "OH SHIT, is she okay?" and she is....but I know that the reality is, that it's possible one time she won't be. Or I will go to get her up, and she'll be gone...Gone to see my Grampa...I'm sure she is looking forward to it...she's lived a good life, and deserves peace.

Grama: I want you to know, I will always love you. Always miss you! I won't be able to watch the Golden Girls without thinking of you. "Thank you for being a friend" will bring tears to my eyes. Thank You for loving me, for caring about me, for teaching me all those things that only Grama's can teach. Thank you for sharing your beloved tea cups with your cherished granddaughters. I will never drink a cup of tea that tastes as good as the ones that Grama made. I will always remember the time we spent together. I will always remember how I almost ruined my 16th birthday party because I told my mom I didn't want to go to your house for the night, because I was being a typical teenager. Thank you Grama, for life. For what you taught, for what you showed, for what you lived.

Now it's time for me to stop showing my feelings. I must. For her sake. So that she doesn't feel bad about leaving us.

I have to take off my hat of grand daughter and put on my CNA/Nurse/caregiver hat. It no longer matters how I feel. It's all about her. She deserves my unselfish care. After all, wasn't it only a few years ago, that she gave it to me?





This is a picture of myself, my cousin Welcome, and my Grandparents, when Welcome and I were probably 4 and 6 respectively....

Looking forward to a New Year

2011....it sure has zoomed by!

Looking back, i have to say it was an interesting year to say the least. We had a wonderful summer with our camper, loved meeting new friends, saw a few new places, bought my husband a new truck (which is now broken down due to the accident), lost a few loved ones, and gained some new friends.

Looking forward to 2012...

There are lots of possibilities opening up for us, and a few humps to overcome still.

I am looking forward to the possibility of a new house of our own. Please pray for us as we make this big decision, as it means we will be moving many miles away from our family, however, that being said. While it is still only a possibility and there are a few things that have to fall into place before we make a final decision, we know that this would be good for us, because we will finally be able to be on our own, and while we would be far away, we would be close to some good friends who will be there for us. We would also be accomplishing a dream that has been mine, and has been Dale's, since before we were married. Our potential new home is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

As far as humps go, the big one is my husband's truck. (rolling my eyes) the rest are small and easily overcomeable (is that a word?).

I can't wait to see what changes this new year brings. I hope the new year brings everything you wish for and your dreams come true!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and yours, from me, and mine!!!!

After Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is over...and the Christmas season has begun. My mother in law cooked 40 lbs of turkey to feed about 18 people and we had maybe 4 lbs left...

Friday was the Fantasy of Lights Parade in Howell, MI. It is a parade my husband, son, and I take in every year. It has gotten considerably smaller, when I was a child, there was at least 60 floats every year, this year I think there might have been 15. Chalk it up to the economy, I suppose. The floats were still beautiful. The bands played great. I think there were more people there than usual. (usual, being 20,000). It was nice to not have to wear 3 snowsuits, 4 sweatshirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of long johns....well you get the picture, to go to the parade this year. It never seems to fail it is sleeting about parade time, not this year. It was 60 degrees. I wondered if I was in Florida.



My husband is building my son's Christmas present this year. We wanted to get him a barn, for his tractors and animals, but all we could find in the store were cheaply made plastic ones. So, we decided Dale will build it. The final dimensions my husband came up with are 24 inches wide, by 30 in long, by 24 inches high. He says after it is put together, he is going to stand on it. If it will take him standing on it, it should hold up to all the abuse my 5 year old can give it. I will post a picture when it is done.

the problem of too many email accounts

I have about 7 different email accounts...at least...the problem is three of them are associated with google...either gmail or my one yahoo account that I used to create this blog.

I have trentonsmom2006@yahoo and trentonsmom2006@gmail...plus 2 more gmail accounts, one I cannot remember, but that's not the point...

For about a week maybe longer, I have been trying to get into my blog...it kept telling me my password was incorrect....

so I sit there telling myself, now I know that's the password...retype it...password incorrect...ARGH!

I never checked the username...guess what...i had the wrong user name...silly me!

so now that I have the correct user name entered, I am back on my little blogger world...excuse the absence, i was having a brain fart!

another season in the books

Sadly, the camper has been winterized. Another happy season of camping has come to an end. Even Trenton says "No more camping, Mom." Think he is camped out?

We had a great season this year, albeit it had it's unpleasant parts too, but we won't mention those.

We had several weekends at Brighton Rec. Vacation in the Upper Pennisula, and some short excursions to other campgrounds like Sleepy Hollow State Park and Pontiac Lake State Park. We checked out a few other campgrounds we've never been to before, like Algonac State Park, Ionia Recreation Area, and Muskallonge Lake State Park, as well as revisited some others that we didn't camp at but enjoyed their facilities for the day. We met some great people, made a few friends, enjoyed camping with some old friends, and wished a few people would find another park to camp at. Ha ha.

I think my favorite memory of this season was going to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. That is truly a memory that will last a lifetime.



I have lots of plans for next year already. I am trying to talk my husband into going to the Upper Pennisula again. Baraga State Park maybe...if not then maybe Hoeft State Park in Roger's City, MI or Otsego Lake State Park by Waters, MI. of course there will be lots of weekends you will find our camper parked out at Brighton Recreation Area. Always feel free to drop by!

it's coming to an end

Well, blogger buddies, it's coming to end...it's finally getting to cold to go camping. We are going to be doing some remodeling to the camper over the winter...we are going to finish taking out the bathroom and put in a bed for Trenton and some better storage. We had a good summer with the camper. The two weeks at Brimley rocked (once we got there). It was great to meet Cathy (Yooper Yarns), maybe next time I can meet Joan (Retirement Chronicles) Brenda (Sault Boat Watcher) and some of my other online yooper friends.

We have a bit of plans for next summer...vacation in July for one, probably at Hoeft State Park in Roger's City, or maybe Harrisville State Park in Harrisville, we are going to take in the Buckley Steam Tractor Show in August...you will probably find us out at Brighton Rec's Bishop Lake campground the rest of the summer. While we are on the subject of Brighton Rec....I have to give them some Kudo's.....Ranger Charlie is in charge of keeping the bathrooms clean...he does one heck of a job! Those bathrooms are the cleanest of any State Park I have been too, and I have been to a lot of them. Even during the peak camping times, he is there 3 or 4 times a day cleaning. Rarely do you find the floors dirty with mud...the showers are sparkling, the mirrors are clean....The other rangers, Deb for one, do their best to see that rules are enforced, and everyone has a good time. Thank you Brighton Rec for being outstanding!!!