Granny @ MindSay 
birthday
It's a little less rough on me this time because...well, I guess I was more ready for it. She and Poppa Joe had been in the nursing home for what seems like a decade. (And probably actually was a decade, now that I think about it.) He died back in 2006.
Granny was from Mississippi, and all her family is still there. We're going to travel to Meridian for the funeral. So...blog on standby until the end of the week.
See you all when I get back.
~G~
Well our plans changed up. DeLaney threw a straight up PMSING fit over not seeing a certain film and Coltin was throwing a temper tantrum about not being able to hit the arcade AFTER the movie. So we went to the mall theater.
After those lil fits, we were good to go! I dropped off the food I usually have left over from cooking when Randy isn't home to Father Mike, filled the van up, grabbed some cash and we got to the Mall in time to get tickets and go grab something to eat.
We hit the arcade where Coltin managed to get himself 80 tickets to cash in before the movie and we walked into a VERY packed movie theater just in time to grab the last few seats for Alvin and The Chipmunks. Coltin had already seen it with his Dad but was okay with seeing it again. After the movie we hit the arcade again so DeLaney could finish spending her last tokens and cash in her tickets. I cashed in mine too:P:D You KNOW I had to get $5 bucks to play the games also didn't ya!:P
After the last stop at the arcade, the kdis and I wondered down to Barnes & Nobles. I really didn't need anymore books, I have such a HUGE pile of to read books anyway. But I look at it this way at times, my to GET list is even larger!:D But I was a good girl, we walked out with 3 calanders. One for each kid and another one for me. DeLaney was "nice" enough to point out I already had a new Celtic Blessings calander what was I going to do with the new Celtic Mandala calender. I promptly told her you can NEVER have too many calenders in the house and I could put it in my computer room. She shut up then! I swear she is like her Daddy more and more every day with her logical thinking! I guess if she is the spitting image of her Daddy it is okay for her to think like him. As long as she doesn't get to logical and to prissy she and I will get a long just fine as she gets older. But her PMSing is going to get put to a stop FAST! I dont' give a rats ass she hasn't started her cycle, she has the acne already (yes my baby girl has started gettin facial acne!), and the tude. She was told point blank today after her lil fit, that there is only ONE BITCH in the family and that is ME! I also picked up the book Little Women.
My one and only New Year's Resoluation this year is for every 3 normal books (not counting smutt books-I can read an entire weeks publishing of those with out blinking in a day if you let me!) I read; I will read a "classical" book and then a "modern" book. My sister, pointed out my libary collection of books is more along the line of a History, Anthropology, Religious, Philosphy College level collection NOT to mention soft core porn collection of the certain smutt book series I keep! So if I want my kids to read other things, I have to show them Mommy can too. Randy is NOT happy for every "Classical" and "Modern" Fiction or Non-Fiction book I have to read he has to do the same thing and then we swap if we choose different books! He is saying he doesn't have time. He is findign out that when he is home I can find him the time!:D I can also find him time when he is on the road! Read one or two chapters before you eat. He eats then he sleeps, so he has to read before he eats!
After Barnes & Nobles and wenching a lil bit to the store manager about our store's crappy assortment of Address Books, we wondered down to Hallmark so I could pick up a new address book. I got one. I am not happy with it but at least Randy can figure it out if he needs to use it and I picked up extra inserts. When you have a LARGE family with the majority of them being either R's, N's, and L's you run out of space easily! I also wenched a bit to that store manager about their crappy assortment of address books also. She at least explained that the majority of them went bye bye the day after Christ Mas. Barnes & Noble's only comment was we have a HUGE selection of Journal type books!
So we loaded up and started heading down the interstate to cross the river and go home. And for some odd reason I said nope right at the first exit to So. Sioux! I took it! Coltin asked if we were going to stop and see Granny and I said nope that is tomorrow. We went right by her nursing home and I pulled up right in front of the Pet /Grooming/Boarding Place! Where DeLaney promptly reminded me of her father yet again!
"MOM! Your NOT allowed to go to any pet store or animal auction with out Daddy, because you have a bad habit of bringing home more animals! Daddy said so!"
I ignored her and said if I walk out with something your Father will get over it!
They had an adorable puppy selection and I was VERY tempted to get the one and only Male Sheltie they had left. But I didn't. See I am not a real big dog fan. I love them but they are sooooooooooooooo much more needier then cats. And if you leave for a weekend or a week you either A have to take them with you or B find someone to take care of them or C board them. Plus I dont' really like small dogs. They are so much more in need of care then bigger dogs. I looked at the kitties they had. They had two adorable fluffy orange tabby kittens about 6-7 months in age. Of course DeLaney wnated one of those. Coltin honed in on the 3 identical short haired orange tabby kittens about teh same age as our twin black kitties. I said NO MORE CATS! We have a female that will give us a litter or two don't worry about getting anymore cats. Their fish selection was pretty crappy but they get cleaned out for the holidays since they are on of two pet stores in the tri state area that carry exotic fish. Of course atticsmouse would have went for the rodent selection for her snakes:P:D She can have them. They carry a lot of feeder mice. I guess a lot of folks in the area have snakes:P Fromt here I wondered back to the front of the store where the birds where at. DeLaney wanted me to get finches. I hate those lil things. Plus they drive my cats batty. Not going to get anymore finches. Parkettes I have two. Don't want NO MORE!
Then I honed in on the Cocketiels and Doves! They had FANCY cocketeils! Guess what we have in the house including a new bird cage! I got myself a Fancy cockteil! Yay me! They were hand raised but like most pet stores even a smaller one they don't get to handle the birds like they should. And our new addition to the family is really scared at the moment. I made them clip his wings for me. Usually I dont' clip my cockteil's wings but that is how I lost the first two! One escaped from his cage while hanging outside and the other one escaped out the door thanks to DeLaney and Coltin's lil friends in TX! So he was pretty pist when I got him home and pretty scared. I took him out of his home cage, had his wings clipped, and put him in a brand new cage. Then I introduced him to the dinning room on top of the sewing table before I clean a spot off for him in the computer room! Shadow and Socks the two older cats could have cared less. Pisser, Brothers, and Grimm were extatic! Another cage to climb on and bounce off of! Sin Kitty is outside hoing around again so I can't wait to see his reactoin to another bird in the house. Spud the dog is a jealous creature and is barking at the bird periodically! Tweek and Tweeter the parakeets are happy over another bird in the hosue! They are twittering a storm up and trying to get otu the side of their cage to go visit the new baby!
And yes, before atticsmouse can ask me, I told Randy. My reasoning for buyin another animal is: He is getting 150-250 dollar boots in January for work, plus I am paying a good chunk of our defeered payments on HIS truck off with his bonus in January so HIS truck is paid off on time this year! My bird and cage is a LOT less expensive then his boots could ever be!:P:D His comment was:
"So, do you have a place in the barn ready for me to sleep since you keep bringing in more animals?"
Smart ass man I tell you!
I cooked dinner, worked on laundry ( I swear I am always working on laundry!), and the kids and I sat down and played dominoes. They are in bed and I am rambling on and on and on again:D:P:D
My sister and I are talking a lot this holiday season. You can tell we miss the old bag of our granny that passed last year about Thanksgiving time. I called her and will still call her an old bag cause she was! Get over it! Didn't mean I didn't love the ol bat!
Anyway I grew up really lucky with grandmothers who baked and cooked. Some folks have one granny that does it all and one granny that doesn't do anything. Well Granny R who is still kicking did all the cookies, pies, and such. Granny F did all the booze and candies:D:P And the holidays we were spoiled let me tell you. I had no clue that people actually bought holiday candies till I was in upper elementry because Granny F made all her own candies for the holidays!
My sister and I managed to get the majority of Granny F's recipes. I got the majority of the food ones (interestingly enough the majority of them contain booze!:D) with a few candy ones. My sister got the majority of the candie ones with a few food ones. We are going through them over the phone and emailing the ones we dont' have back to each other. Then I am goign to email them to our cousin Tammy who didn't get anythign but the rest of my Blue Willow China (i am pist over that still and different story) And when our lil cousins Sidney and Mckenzie get to adult hood (they are first cousins also but growing up like I did on my dad's side with the 2nd cousins) we will give them Granny's candie recipes also!
Now Granny F was a tad bit selfish and lazy and unless she knew she was goign to get major recogniction for her cooking she cheated a lot but that didn't mean her candies weren't good! they were excellent! Yesterday goign through the candie recipes I have I found her Rock Candy Recipe! It is sooooooooo easy and I remember making it with my brother when I was about my kids' age. Guess what we are doing this weekend barring if Coltin is stilld own and out? Making candie and the Rock Candy is goign to be our first thing!
I am going to share it with you all!
From the kitchen of Irene K. Neill-Loofe-Fuller (Granny's maiden, married, and second married name!)
3/4 cup Sugar
Food Coloring-various colors or one depending on what color you want
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp Flavoring oil-your choice
1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
Dash of Salt
Confectioners Sugar aka Powered Sugar
In a small sauce pan, combine sugar, water, syrup, and salt.
Stir until sugar disolves.
Cover bring to a rolling boil. Remove lid, place candy themoter in pan and cook to 250 degree. Add food coloring and continue cooking to 300 degree.
Remove from heat at 285 to 290 degrees as tempetature will contineu to rise to 300 degree.
Let cool a few minutes. Add flavoring oil and cover 5 more minutes.
Pour into buttered 7x10" pan. Cut into strips with shears as soon as cool enough to handle. Cut into different shapes!
when cold, dust w/ powdered sugar.
I don't know if it is anger that feels my heart right now or pure selfishness. I made a statement to a friend that it was not fair. My fathers plan was to get both of the grandmothers back home, back to Mississippi dirt and allow them to live out their last days as stress free as possible. My father made mommy's dreams a reality the moment her mothers foot hit the soil, while his own mother would never make it. How does he feel? He had done all he could as the oldest child of 13. Daddy sent checks to his parents when my brother and I were in grade school and took care of his mother up until the day she passed. Granny never needed for anything. There were so many times as a child that I questioned why my brother and I went without and it was not until I was allowed a momentary glimpse into the life my father helped that I understood why he did the things he did. My brother and I had Mom and Dad a roof over our heads and each other, while many of our cousins only had Granny Lamb and granddaddy Lambus. Daddy did what could be done out of a sons love. I am praying daddy knows that she knew he did everything a son should and could do for her. I am praying that guilt does not touch him, my father has enough on his plate. I am also praying that his family continues with the remaining eleven siblings, but who knows...granny Lambus was the stitch that held it all together.
If there is one thing to be in a sense happy about granny escaped the shackles of the nursing home. Granny Lambus spent Thanksgiving with all but three oif her children (my father and two others unable to make the trip to Maryland). While she did not keep up a fuss or go down memory lane as much as many would have wanted her to, her children said she smiled and found peace with her family. Granny died yesterday and as angry as I am that she never made it back home, back to Mississippi mud I am reminded that she is at home...she is with my grandfather and free from the worries and pains of this world.
I love you and know that you will as you always have been with me. Peace be still!
Its not funny but it is. My grandmother was the type of woman that could tell you where to go quietly or very loudly. I was just reminded that during one of daddy's football games gram was sitting behind a white man and daddy's college was losing. I guess that this was really one of those days and times when people could say anything or at least thought they could. Daddy dropped the ball or didn't catch it I cant recall (in grandmas words) but all of a sudden I hear this man say that N...... is gonna make us lose the game. My grandmother was a very tall and robust black woman (if she had been a man she would have played defense) and granny didn't care about the times and ways of the world as far as anger about color and football. What she did care about was a man being angry about her son and the entire team was messing up...granny let the man have it and thank God for all our sakes there was no Oprah and color purple moment.
About 10 months ago when Granny was still living at home, some doctor decided to put her on Aricept. It took a few weeks to realize, but Granny started regularly hallucinating. She saw "monsters that moved things around in the night" and "workmen working on the powerlines, all hours of the night" she saw a "woman laying on the livingroom floor all day long" (that last one she said was there when she was telling us, in a "Don't you see her too?" kind of way). It was sad and scary. But then I realized that she went from no hallucinations to being on Aricept and having constant hallucinations. So, the family decided to have her weened off of it. The hallucinations stopped.
Around Halloween on a visit to Granny in the nursing home, she said that she had been having vivid nightmares that someone was going to come in the nursing home and "cut all the old people's heads off". I told her that would have to be an extremely mean person to do that to all of the Granny's and Grandpa's in a nursing home. Then she decided that the cooks were feeding dead people to the residents (the food is pretty gross, but its not soylent green, if ya know what I mean). Last week Granny tried to convince the health care workers that there were snakes in her room. And of course they didn't see them. Then I remembered Aricept. I mentioned it to my Mom last night and she called this morning.
Yep. They put her back on Aricept in October. Usually they call my Mom to let her know any med changes, but because Granny had been on Aricept before, they just slapped her back on it (They also wanted to put her on Buspar last week "to settle her down" and called about that to inform us).
Probably the reason they keep putting her on these drugs, is Granny is pretty high maintenance. The nurse she liked quit and went to another nursing home to work. So rather than builing a relationship with Granny they just put her on anything that will make her behave. Anyway, she will be off the Aricept as soon as they can dose her down on it.
My opinion is...it is torture to put people on drugs that make them have nightmares and hallucinations, just to be able to control them. Also, sadly, Aricept has not been proven to be such a successful drug anyway. It has a great ad campagin, but its just an ad campagin. It may work for other people, but not for my Granny.
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