December 23, 2009; South King County --
 

Uncle Bob and Aunt Adelaide arrived on Monday before Christmas! To celebrate the occasion, since their schedule had not allowed them to attend the Annual pre-Christmas party posted earlier, we met with Susan & Steve, Rachel and Ruth & Paul to dine at Olive Garden in Lynnwood.

After a sumptuous dinner and a lingering visit afterwards over coffee and tea, we went our separate ways to prepare for Christmas Eve (Grumpy was "on deck" to serve at the "Midnight" Communion service) and of course there was the "last minute" shopping still to be done.

After a short night of sleep, the Grand Mother and Grumpy awoke and, after rounding up the Brazilians as well as the Resident Grandson and his Dad, 'Santa" performed his traditional task of handing out presents to those assembled.

Later on Christmas Day, Bob and Adelaide boarded the Talgo AMTRAK train for the short trip to Portland from where they would journey by auto to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood for a week of skiing. The weather, including lots of snow and persistent cold, promises a lot of powder snow for their adventure at this fabulous ski resort.

We expect to see them return after the New Year for some more visiting. Hopefully this time they will be able to visit Amy & John and family, and James & Heidi and boys.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!

Annual pre-Christmas Party and Family Reunion

December 12th, 2009; Somewhere in Snohomish County --

Although Grumpy has not posted on his BLOG for awhile, this doesn't mean that not much has happened. In fact so much has happened that Grumpy just hasn't been able to find the time to sit down and attend to this BLOG. To make up for this lack, this posting and the next will show some of the highlights of the past three or four weeks.

This charming young lady is Amelia, who arrived asleep on her Grandpa's shoulder "dressed to the nines" in a fluffy tutu -- over a pair of blue jeans. Quite au rigore! The youngest of the "obvious" guests was this apparently-disinterested young man, Zachary, shown here contemplating what to do with a cookie.

Another young guest was Elianna; she was perhaps the least eager to allow any contact with the Great Grumpy. Another one who avoided Great Grumpy -- even attempting to avoid his camera! -- was the young lady, Gracie-Mae, here captured in her futile attempt to avoid the camera's publicity.

These two brothers, Malachi on the left and Amos on the right, were unquestionably the "life of the party", chasing the girl cousins and each other until -- the girls turned the tables on the boys and soon all were having a glorious time, crawling under the furniture and over the backs of the sofas and chairs. Fortunately, no one got hurt and a good time was had by all.

Besides these youngsters, there were adults of course: Lief (Father of Amelia), Jim (Grandfather of Amelia), Steve & Michelle (parents of Zachary and Gracie-May), Amy and John (Parents of Elianna, Malachi and Amos), Susan and Steven (Grandparents of Elianna, Malachi, Amos, Zachary and Gracie-May), Rachel (Aunt of Elianna, Malachi, Amos, Zachary and Gracie-May), Mike and Jessie, Ruth and Paul (the Grand Hosts of this pre-Christmas party and family reunion), and the Grand Mother and Grumpy, the Matriarch and Patriarch of the entire clan and Great Grandparents of everyone present under the age of 21.

Besides the ones pictured and the Parents, Grandparents, Great Grandparents and an Aunt cited above, a couple of other ones were present, but not photographically obvious, that should be mentioned: Ezekiel (expected-- to become more obvious about 14 January 2010 --  son of Amy and John) and  Oliver (expected -- to become more obvious about Tax Time in April 2010 -- son of Mike and Jessie). Both of these boys were much "in evidence", though none more so than Ezekiel! In the interest of staying out of trouble as much as possible, Grumpy  choose not to provide photographic proof of these two.

Joys -- and Tribulations of Having a Grandson Around; PART II

Monday evening; Grumpy's Castle --

Grumpy thought he had heard everything about the life of the modern 14-year old boy the other day. But this evening "took the cake" for the audacity of the younger generation!

When the Resident Grandson bounded into the kitchen door this afternoon after school, he announced a new milestone: a girl, who had previously been on a "hello -- how are you?" basis, had this day become one who "gave me a hug!"

"Well!" Grumpy said. "That must mean she is pretty serious, then?"

"Oh, no! Grandpa, lots of girls give me a hug every day. It doesn't mean anything; it's just the way things are."

Grumpy pondered this development with considerable "Senior Citizen" consternation concerning "what this modern world is coming to". Later that evening, as we were finishing our before-bedtime snacks, the Resident Grandson asked his Grandma and Grumpy for our opinions on different shirts that he might wear, then -- out of the blue -- he announced that next time his hair grows out he was thinking of letting it grow long and braid it into a pony tail.

"Would you think that would be OK?" asked the Resident Grandson.

"Are you asking my permission?" responded Grumpy.

"No!" asserted RG, "Just asking."

When Grumpy wisely suggested that he might lose favor with the girls if he did such things, RG shrugged off the possibility as unthinkable. Then the Grand Mother got in the act!

"When Grumpy was your age, he pestered girls and got stabbed in the leg by a little Red Headed girl! He still has the tip of the lead pencil in his leg, too!!" the gleeful Grand Mother volunteered.

"Humph!" said the Resident Grandson, "Lots of guys have lead in their legs."

"Oh!" said the Grand Mother, concernedly, "How many do you have?"

"None!" calmly responded the Resident Grandson. "The girls just love me!"

Joys -- and Tribulations of Having a Grandson Around

Any day last week; Grumpy's Castle --

Well, being a Grandpa is oft-times a joy -- and always a blessing. After all, only a Grandpa has the opportunity to opine about the "good ol' days" with nary a soul to dispute him [well, maybe the Grand Mother, who was also there.] Only a Grandpa can mutter with all sincerity and innocence, "Why, the kids in my day wouldn't even think of doing such a thing (or things, as the case may be); what in thunderation has come over this younger generation!!??" Only a Grandpa can pontificate about any subject with some authority and get at least a modicum of respect -- or so it appears.

But this post is about an example of some of the tribulations up with which a Grandpa must put. So on with the story:

The other evening at dinner, Grumpy was thinking about how frightening it must be for his 14 year-old youngest and Resident Grandson to be fawned over by a gaggle of 13-15 year-old girls. [Grumpy well remembers his 14 year-old self being left completely alone as far as girls were concerned. It was as though he didn't exist -- such peace and quiet.] So, in trying to be helpful and constructive, Grumpy suggested to the Resident Grandson, "Do you want me to help you with your GIRL problem?"

• "I don't have a GIRL problem!", asserted the Resident Grandson.

Grumpy thought about the many possible meanings of this retort: Could it be that the RG has finally found the answer to getting rid of that bevy of girls!? [He hadn't been taking a shower every day as the Grand Mother had suggested.] But, having been so summarily dismissed as not being needed, Grumpy thought to let the matter lie. Instead, Grumpy continued his usual banter with the Grand Mother -- said banter invariably getting Grumpy into deeper and deeper trouble -- trouble from which Grumpy never can seem to extricate himself.

After several minutes during which the Grand Mother was reaching the detonation point where she utters those most-feared words, "OK!! That's it!! No more Lemon Meringue Pie --- FOREVER!!!!", the RG enters the conversation, pointing at Grumpy with this unforgettable phrase:

• "Do you need help with your GIRL problem?"

Such is life in Grumpy's Castle these days -- with no relief in sight!