Ramblings from Aunt Betty

Richard, Johnnie, Nancy, Ginny & Stacey

Carla sent an e-mail out yesterday with pictures of kids getting into all kinds of messes for instance kids who spilled a bucket of paint in somebodies living room. Ginny and I were commenting that we probably wouldn't have thought some of the pictures were very funny if they had happened at our houses. Aunt Betty sent this reply:

"No, none of us would be laughing. Actually one of us rarely laughed at stuff like that. Like the time I was stupid enough to have a bucket of water on the kitchen floor with a mop in it, and left for a minute to attend to whatever crisis in another part of the house, then came back to find one of mine mopping the flooded floor! Or the time Johnny's dog Taurus had a run in with a skunk and when he came to the door, we were unaware, opened the door and in the house he ran! Or the time Stevie had a ball walking through deep mud, but knew he'd better not come inside, so he walked down the hill to Great Grandma's instead. She cleaned him off! Then the teenage years with a bedroom full of clothes tossed onto the floor (not Ginny!!), me ironing her hair, her not setting the parking brake and the car rolling down the hill on the drive, just to mention a few!Or the time Johnny and Richard were fishing with Grandpa's equipment, unknown to Grandpa, and Richard's hook got stuck in Johnny's head!

Oh, speaking of head, mine hurts now. Guess I better go have some coffee. And a cookie! Betty"

Trip to See Memphis

I finally got to go home to see Memphis last week-end. Friday night we went shopping at Oak Park Mall then to Ginny's house to visit with them and Betty and Cal. Saturdy more shopping for diapers and baby formula. Sunday morning we got ready for church and then found out it was canceled because of the snow. Carla and I got all her baby shower stuff sorted through, washed and put away. Most the time we just watched Memphis. In the few short days I was there he started using his right hand to hold on to a rattle, cooing more, and trying to imitate us when we moved our arms around. He is a character and the happiest baby I've ever been around. His smile lights up a room!

Happy Valentine's Day

A week ago we rented the movie The Jane Austin Book Club. The book club comes into being when a woman discovers her husband is having an affair. Her close friend decides a monthly get together with three other friends will help get her through the current misery. The women are all Jane Austin fans and decide to reread her books and discuss one each month.

Several years ago we both tried to read Pride and Prejudice, after watching Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan battle out the books merits in You've Got Mail. I got through page one and decided I couldn't deal with sentences that were ten lines long. I felt I needed a highlighter to mark the comma's, the subject, and the verb of each sentence to not get lost in what was being said. After watching the book club movie though I thought maybe I should give them another try someday.

Last night I told Jeff I was going to run out to Barnes and Noble and get a book for the plane ride back to Missouri. A few minutes later he came in with a gift bag and Valentine's Day Card; there inside were all six of Jane Austin's novels. What a wonderful surprise! He surprises me constantly with the things he thinks of. Wonderful husband of mine!

I've picked out Northanger Abbey to read first. It's one of the shortest. I usually read pretty fast even to the point of skimming paragraphs, but that's not possible with these. They need to be digested sentence by sentence and the first page of Northanger Abbey is no exception! I'll enjoy this present for the next year, it will surely take me that long to get through them!

Jane Austin's Books: Sense and Sensibility, 1811; Pride and Prejudice, 1813; Mansfield Park, 1814; Emma, 1816; Northanger Abbey, 1818; and Persuasion, 1818.

January 2008, The One to Remember

Skipper is finally weaned off the last of his meds. The vet came out and looked at him one last time. He has about a 1/2 inch scar on his cornea, but the uveitis is gone and he can be outside now during the daytime. I'm planning on going back to MO to see Memphis over a long week-end in February.