Grammy's Magic Medicine

I have asthma that sometimes starts a chronic cough that I can't shake. My father in-law told me that Karo syrup would coat my throat and calm the cough. I had used Karo when the Grand Babies were smaller for constipation, but did not know it was also good for coughs. I tried it and it seemed to work okay. Several months ago Carissa and Hunter were staying with me when Hunter started coughing. I am a little apprehensive to give my babies any medicine that their parents haven't included in their sleepover bags or have approved. It seems that medicines are constantly being changed as to what is good to use and at what age.

When Hunter started coughing, I gave him some Karo. Carissa said that she thought she was going to cough too, didn't feel well, and needed medicine also. So I gave both of them a spoon full of Karo. Last month when I had both of them, they came to me and said they needed some medicine. I gave each one of them a spoon full of Karo and as if by magic they both felt better.

Yesterday I was busy around the house trying to get everything ready to go back to Missouri for three weeks when Carissa came looking for me. She said, "Grammy, my tummy hurts. I need some medicine. I already took it out. Will you come and give me some!". I guess we have gone from cough cures to tummy cures with the Karo. I was trying very hard to keep from laughing, as I went to the kitchen and gave Carissa a spoon full of Grammy's magic medicine. She had gotten it out of the cabinet and set it on the counter before she came to get me to give it to her.

I know the need of Grammy's magic medicine will fade as they grow, but I will alway remember how my magic medicine made Carissa's imaginary tummy ache stop yesterday.

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Thanksgiving 2009

It has been a wonderful four days home. I am enjoying my time on the road, but it does not compare with being around family. I have my Grandchildren fix that will have to last me for the next few weeks. No one on my side of the family felt like cooking the whole exhausting Thanksgiving dinner, so we opted for enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel and visiting with each other over pies at Mom and Dad's house. My Carissa stayed with us after dinner to go to East Texas to meet up with Hunter and Colton. Carissa had to have Pawpaw check her oil and listen for the Boogie Man before we could go to sleep. We did a minimum amount of shopping on Black Friday, as we headed to East Texas. Alex is in Corpus Christi this Thanksgiving with his other Grandparents, so we will not get to see him this Thanksgiving.

We pulled into the driveway in East Texas and Becca greeted us with their new Schnauzer, Milly. Milly could be Shasta's twin. The boys were out riding the four wheeler with Papaw Campbell waiting for Carissa and us to get there. They came riding up the hill shortly thereafter. Colton was out. If he is really sleepy, you just go for a short ride on the four wheeler, and he's out. I got a quick hug from Hunter before Papaw Campbell headed out for another ride with Hunter and Carissa in tow. We packed Colton into the house, but in the excitement his nap was short lived. As usual, it takes a whole table just to hold all of the wonderful deserts that Bobbie has prepared. There were six pies and two cakes. Odie's brothers and their kids, grandkids, and cousins all arrived with the next couple of hours. The house was overflowing with family, so Odie and I opted to take the Grandkids and stay down at the trailer for the night.

Carissa and Hunter play so well together and were so happy to see each other. Carissa had brought her tea set, so her and Hunter served up various teas for Grammy to taste. They shared Carissa's I-phone, watched Clifford, Care Bears, and Bambi. They discussed Santa, Christmas, and school.

Saturday we had a huge dinner. The kids decorated snowmen, deer, and penguins. They played outside raking and burning leaves with Pawpaw, rode four wheelers, watched movies, and we put up Mamaw's Christmas tree. For there to be no naps, all the kids had a great time and played well together.

Hunter was still asleep as we pulled out Sunday, so Grammy had to be satisfied with a sleepy hug. Colton gave me kiss and told me he loved me. Carissa gets to go home with us for a few more hours before we catch our plane. Her and Pawpaw are trying to see who can play the loudest. Pawpaw is on the radio and she is on her I-phone.

As we end this year and start thinking about 2010, it is hard for me to remember what my life was like before I had these wonderful little people that are such an important part of my life!!

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Springfield, IL

The past year and half has been a challenge for Odie and I both, but I have seen more of America during this time than I would have seen in my lifetime were he not traveling for work. We are on the road coming back from Iowa today. As we came through Springfield, we decided to get off of the highway and find a place to eat. We ended up in the old part of Springfield. It was awesome, and we ended up spending several hours there.

We went through the house that Lincoln lived in when he accepted the Presidential Nomination. After he was assassinated, Mary and the boys never went back there to live. The oldest son, Robert, was the only son to make it to adulthood. He gave the house to the state of Illinois with the provision that people be able to view it at no charge. When the Lincoln's moved to Washington, they sold off most of their furniture. A large number of the pieces have been found and either purchased or donated for the house. The most amazing thing, though, is that most of the street has been restored to the way the street looked in 1860-1861. (THE ENTIRE STREET-ALL OF THE HOMES). It was the most awesome step back into history that I have ever seen. We toured the home that Lincoln lived in and walked the neighborhood that he walked almost 150 years ago. Almost all of the neighborhood homes have been restored to the way they were in 1860. Some had to be moved back in from other places that they had been moved to. Several of the homes had been condemned but have been restored as they were in the 1860s. There are a couple of vacant lots where the houses were destroyed and could not be restored.

We left there and went further downtown. There were so many beautiful old buildings to see. We went through the old capitol. The room where the Representatives met was in tact, and Lincoln's hat was at the seat that he would have sat in. The staircase was amazing, the wood shining, the doors 3" thick and probably 14' tall. All the rooms were authentic to that period of time. The auditor, senate, receipts, representatives, committee, and party room were all furnished with period furniture. Odie and I joked that the auditor was probably turning over in his grave with everything that has gone on within the Illinois government in the past few years.

We ate a wonderful lunch at a Bennigan's Pub and are heading toward the Missouri border. We only touched the tip of history emanating out this town. This would be a wonderful vacation to take if you are interested in Lincoln or the Civil War era. Unlike another ride in the St. Louis Arch, I could definitely spend a few days immersing myself into the history of Springfield.

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School Daze

A couple of months ago, Becca was at her wits end concerning the day care where the boys were going. She had to find them a better one. She got them into a really good one in Shreveport not far from work. Colton started the week that Hunter was with me. He absolutely loves it. He calls his teacher Meemaw. (He also calls me Meemaw.) You can ask him if he likes his new school. His eyes light up, he starts jabbering, and shaking his head, "yes". Becca pulls up, he jumps out, hollers "bye Mom", and races to get a bike.

I kept telling Hunter he was going to get to start a new school when he went home. I assured him that Colton loved it, and it was going to be so much fun. I called him the end of his first week to see how much he liked it. He hated it. He did not even go the full week. Becca let him go to work with her the latter part of the week and decided to try again last Monday. They are good teachers, and his is a small class. He would just rather go to work with Becca or stay home and play. Becca left him in tears Monday and was in tears herself on her ride to work. I can relate. I remember a time when Travis had to be pried off of my leg, so I could get out the door and get to work. Tuesday was a little better. I talked to Hunter, and he told me some of the stuff he had colored that day.

Wednesday night Becca called me laughing. Hunter had whined a little Wednesday, but got out of the car and went in ok. There are only six kids in Hunter's class. They are all blond headed, four year old boys. Wednesday they combined a girl's class with the boy's class. When Becca went in to get Hunter, she didn't see him; and he didn't come running to her. She asked the teacher where he was. The teacher told her to look over in the corner. Hunter looked up, saw his Mom, and started waving her away. (The way he does when he wants you to go away, or he doesn't want to go do what you want him to.) He told his Mom he wasn't ready to go home yet. He had put on a policeman's shirt and hat; and he was serving the girls food and drink from the play kitchen. A lady's man at the age of four!

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St. Louis

Veteran's day was a beautiful day here in St. Louis. Odie was off, because we are in a union state and the contractor's were off. We decided to play tourist and went into St. Louis to ride the arch. It is amazing when you are looking at it, that there is room for very small tram cars inside to take you to the top, and you can look out over the city. We went under ground where there is a museum, gift shop, and old 1800's store with 2009 prices. Odie went to purchase the tickets to ride to the top. The young girl asked if we had a problem with closed in spaces, stairs, or heights. Odie said no, and I kind of muttered hmmm. We proceeded further under ground and went through a museum hall with the history of how the arch came to be. That was very interesting. We stood in line and climbed into a very small car. It reminded me of a carnival car, but it was very old, painted the old hospital aqua, and had five plastic seats that reminded me of tractor seats. Believe me, five large or probably even regular sized people would not have fit. Fortunately, we were the only two in our car. It had very small elongated windows, so you could look down as you were going up. The ride up seemed to take forever, but I am sure it only last a few minutes.

When the doors opened, you were in a very narrow stairway crammed with people waiting to go back down. You continued up about 20 or so stairs to the top of the arch. Odie took pictures out the windows from different views, as I sort of stood in the middle and kind of crouched down to look out a little, stamping down the panic attack trying to come to the fore front of my imagination. The good thing is that it was not a windy day. People around me were talking about the way you can feel it sway on a windy day.

Going down was much more pleasant than coming up. (NOT) We had another couple that rode down with us. We were knees to knees. The young man smelled of a gagging mixture or cigarette smoke and cheap musk cologne. The arch is much nicer to look at from the ground.

I can now mark off riding the arch from my bucket list. It is an adventure I will not be repeating.

Odie had been to a pizza place with one of his bosses, and we went in search of it. The name of the place was the Pi symbol. It was in a district that reminded me of the Montrose or museum district in Houston. The pizza was actually called a Chicago style pizza. It was thin crusted with sides that came up like a pie. The first layer was the cheese, then the ingredients, and then topped with the sauce. We added a salad, homemade bread with roasted garlic and butter. This wonderful meal was topped off with a very mellow dark ale.

My day ended with a wonderful phone call. When I answered my phone, this beautiful little voice said, "Hi, Grammy." It was my Carissabella. She had some new movies, had been to Wal Mart, and was going to Disney on Ice. I am enjoing Missouri and the beautiful weather, but I can't wait until Thanksgiving to see my little ones!

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Cruising

October was such a busy month that I didn't have time to keep my blog up. I will play catch up this week, since I kept several of my Grandbabies after I got back from my cruise last month. Odie and I met up with Beth, Marco, Christiana, and Wolfgang in Miami to head out to sea on the RCL Liberty of the Seas. I could write pages upon pages of this wonderful cruise, but will limit my writing to my top ten favorite things.

On a side note, Beth and Travis had been trying to get me to take a cruise for several years now. Once I took that first cruise the beginning of the year, I am hooked on cruising. I have tried to get my sisters and parents to take the next cruise with us. As I listen to their reasons, they are all the same reasons I had a year ago. If they ever make one trip, I am sure that they will be as addicted as I now am.

Ten of my most wonderful things about this trip to Philipsburg, St. Maarten; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Labadee, Haiti:

1. The best part of this cruise was spending time with Beth. With the Internet, we keep in contact on a fairly regular basis; but it is not the same as sitting next to her. I know that she is probably happier at this time than she has ever been, but it is hard on a Mother to have her so very far away. I am thankful that she has such wonderful people to help look after her and am glad that I had the opportunity to get to know them a little better on this cruise.

2. The window. I will always get a room on the side that has a window looking out over the ocean. It is an absolutely beautiful site to look out the window and see nothing but sea, sky, sun and clouds. The various shades of grays and blues as the sea fades into the sky is breathtaking. One day it was cloudy, and it looked as if the sun was struggling to fight its way through the clouds sending bursts of yellows and golds through the clouds.

3. Room Service. Beth and Marco liked to go eat at the buffet, after Beth exercised. Odie and I preferred to start our day with breakfast and coffee delivered to our room. Our wake up each morning was a call that breakfast was on its way. The fresh fruit plate was a great way to start the day. It was great to open the curtains, let the sunshine in, and eat breakfast in bed.

4. Wolfgang's Surprise Party. Beth and Marco had brought streamers, champagne, a German retirement banner, and a retirement card with Wolfgang's picture on it. We decorated their room, while Christiana kept him busy around the ship. He was happily surprised when he entered the room. We had a couple of toasts and discussed differences and similarities between our two countries. We need to learn a little more German and Wolfgang needs to learn a little more English, but all in all we were able to communicate fairly well between Marco and Christiana.

5. St. Maarten. Tourist shopping is not really my thing, although I did snag some Del Sol tee shirts for my babies. Odie and I sat at a bar as you come off the pier, drank Corona's, and watched people as we waited for Beth and family to finish a little shopping. We all gathered back together and headed for the other side of the island to a beach that Marco and Beth had previously visited. It was a small beach area directly in front of a landing strip. The planes came over so close you felt you could almost reach up and touch it. Beth, Odie, and I decided to go back to the ship. We haggled with a driver over pricing to return us to the other side of the island. He finally gave in to the $2.00 a person and took us. Beth sat in the front, Odie sat in the next set of seats behind the driver, and I sat in the back. We definitely got our money's worth for the wild ride we endured to get back to the ship. The driver turned on blaring music that had a beat we could still hear when we were back on the ship. The roads are extremely narrow. He did not like it when people were driving slower than he wanted them to drive. At one point someone in front of him pulled over, we pulled up next to them and he let the driver of the other vehicle know that he was not pleased at how slow he had been driving. Can anyone say "road rage"? There was a dump truck in front of us and and an 18 wheeler coming toward us in the other lane. Somehow he maneuvered between the two. Needless to say, all three of us were very happy when we finally reached the ship!

5. San Juan. We only spent a short period of time in the tourist shops. We spent the majority of time walking the narrow streets up and down the hills enjoying the view of the city. We walked to a castle that was at the edge of the ocean. Should we ever go back to San Juan, I would like to take a tour of the castle. We watched a women try to eat a sandwich as the pigeons literally tried to fight her for it. There were people all over near the castle that were picnicking and flying kites. We met Beth and Marco at Senor Frog's, wore funny balloon hats, and had a drink. Odie and I had our picture made with two parrots and cockatiel. One of the parrots ate the button off of the top of Odie's cap, and the cockatiel ate one of my buttons off my shirt.

6. The casino. Odie and I ended each day playing slots in the casino for a little while. He knows how much I love to gamble and indulged me. They had a Deal of No Deal machine that was a lot of fun.

7. The shows. The shows were great. It was a lot of fun sitting and laughing with Beth as we watched the "Love and Marriage" game. Those people embarrassed themselves so much, but we laughed until we were almost crying. The older women of the couple that had been married for 52 years was asked the questioned, "Which one of your friends would your husband most like to see in a bikini?" Her response was, "None of them. They are all old."

8. The different nationalities. There were over 65 different nationalities on this ship between the crew and the guests. It was amazing that the majority of the people spoke English. Yet, we went into a restaurant in Miami, in America, and we had to almost use sign language to be able to place our order; because no one spoke English well enough. The crew is very friendly, and it is interesting to hear them discuss where they are from. These people work long hours, are away from their families for months on end; but are always smiling and pleasant to visit with.

9. The food and drinks. We enjoyed the food on the Liberty of the Seas, but the food on the Carnival was actually better. One thing about it, you should never, ever be hungry on a cruise. Odie really enjoys his dinner. He usually tries more than one entree. I bought a coupon where whatever the drink of the day was, you buy one and get one free. Odie and I definitely got our money's worth out of that. Some days the drinks were great. A couple of the days, though, they were really funky drinks. That was probably a good thing.

10. The entertainment. A cruise director's job would be a very difficult job to fulfill, because of the energy and dedication his position requires. The cruise director on the Liberty of the Seas was absolutely awesome. We watched the belly flop competition. The guy who won was mostly belly. There was no way any other part of his body was going hit that water before his belly. At dinner one night, there were over a hundred kids paraded through our dining room dressed like pirates, singing they wanted our desert. There was a parade down the promenade. We watched Beth and Marco climb the wall. There was a flow rider or wave rider at one end of the ship. Odie and I stood for a long time watching people of all ages try to ride it.

Coming into port, I am already thinking when we can we start planning our next cruise. The ports may be interesting, but cruising on the ship is the most fun!

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