Memorial Day in the Mountains

It may be spring in the rest of the world, but here at 8500 feet (or so) it's still acting a lot like winter. But am I complaining? Nope!! We've enjoyed sun, clouds, rain, thunder and hail - all in the space of 24 hours. But Mr. H. and I - and Puddin' - are happy to be back in Grand Lake, Colorado for a few days. I would say "of rest" - but Mr. H. hasn't found too much resting time so far!

Now. My contribution to the trip has been finding delightful new items for our mountain home. Since the coffee table was looking a little bare, I picked up this copper tray and then harvested a few teeny pine cones from our "yard" to put inside. (With babies on the brain, I tend to think "unbreakable" these days!) I found the tray at a wonderful store in the area called The Bronze Elk. There is also a store called The Silver Moose (they sell jewelry) - so I guess the metallic animal theme is de rigueur these days! At least in the mountains. I thought the copper blended PERFECTLY with our knotty pine coffee table so I am a happy mountain person today!

Since we completed the addition to the house (finished the walk-out basement making two more bedrooms/family room and an extra bathroom) of course one faces the REALLY BIG challenge of finding furnishings and we accomplished most of that during a trip to Denver. The door that exits from the basement has a small window so when I was still in California I looked all over for a nice valance that would go with our mountain home theme. I finally found a suitable plaid valance at the large linen store (BB&B) and wouldn't you know it - it was the last one. So I begged the clerk to sell me the display valance because they'd discontinued carrying the pattern and - Hello!! What were they going to do, honestly, with a display of a product they no longer carried. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.

But THEN...wouldn't you know it. I went to the really neat-o hardware store (Ace Hardware in Granby) and dang if I didn't find the valance in the picture above. Now, the photo doesn't do it justice, but trust me - it's very cute. Shows a little house amongst the pines and says "Welcome to the Lake...Welcome to the Lake...etc." Why didn't I wait until I got here to look for my valance - but really - a HARDWARE STORE??? That carries curtains??? Yep, they do, and they are darned cute, too!

The other neat thing that happened yesterday is that the homeowners association where our house is located was having a free seedling give-away yesterday! Every homeowner was allowed 4 seedlings of a Colorado Blue Spruce (state tree) plus another variety of pine called the Englemann Spruce. So on top of all the work Mr. H. has on his plate, he took on the task of planting these little babies yesterday afternoon. (Note the four holes all in a row above)

I know it may be hard to see, but there IS a little tiny tree in that red cup and today said tree is resting comfortably - we hope - in its new home. May it grow tall and strong!

Finally, yesterday brought another nice event, which is that I finally met our next door neighbors. They are a beautiful young family who live in Denver and travel up to their mountain home here in Grand Lake on the weekends. Our houses are quite similar and were built by the same contractor. Their names are Andrew and Dayna (or Dana?) and they have a 4-year old daughter named Skyler and a 2-year old son (just 4 months older than our Gracie!) named Tanner. I am happy to see a nice young family for all the visits to come by the Stromberg and Wagner families. Kinda like seeing into the future :)

Tomorrow is the "real" Memorial Day (Monday) and at 10am there is going to be a parade in the village of Grand Lake. I'll be there with my camera - hoping for a few fun photo ops!

Flashback Friday: Time Rewound

You may not recognize the three ladies above...but you have probably guessed that's me with m'girls WAY back in 1987. It was November and we had decided to surprise Mr. H. with a formal portrait of us for Christmas. We made appointments at the wonderful Arthur Mintz studio in Los Gatos. He was quite well known in the Bay Area and had won countless awards for his talents in portraiture. At the time, he was quite an elderly gentleman with a shock of pure white hair. He was present at the shoot; he set up the scenes and posed us and then let one of his assistants release the shutter. Ashley was 11; Alyssa was 7. I was...well, 22 years younger than I am today!

I chose this photo and the ones that follow for this Flashback Friday because I was remembering something that my good friend Rose Wallis told me when Ashley was pregnant with Gracie. I'd been enlightened by so many friends and family members who had already become grandmothers about what a special bond it was between grandmothers and those grandbabies. But Rose's words resonated with me the most. She said that holding your grandchild is like being given another chance to hold your own babies once more. And oh, boy, did she ever nail that one right on the old noggin!

When I look at that picture I remember the girls exactly as they were at that moment. Ashley was venturing into that "tween" time and she borrowed one of my blouses for the photography session. We did her hair into curls pulled back with a bow - not sure how she feels about that "look" today, but she seemed satisfied with it that day. Alyssa on the other hand is showing her mischevious side in this photo. I loved the deep green velvet dress with the white lace collar - but if you could zoom in REAL CLOSE in this photo, I think you'd have caught a little grit beneath those 7-year old fingernails. She was having way too much fun to stand for much of that dress-up nonsense. But she allowed me to get her all girlified for the day.


Now getting back to what my friend Rose said about holding your own children once more through your grandbabies...I've been delighted with the similarities I've seen between Gracie and her mommy. (And who worked out the miracle that Gracie's other grandma sees traces of Jim in Gracie!?!!!) The picture of Ashley, above, was taken at a cabin we rented in Lake Tahoe when Ashley was about Gracie's age. There are countless moments these days when Gracie gets a look in her eye that brings about an instant flashback to 30-some years ago when Ashley was a toddler. And those days of "holding" your child keep on coming...over and over and over again. It's a feeling that's, well...simply beyond great!

Then there are times when you see your child do something you did as a little kid. I found Alyssa having a little pause to refresh from the sprinklers in our backyard when we lived in San Jose. Now I can't explain it, but how GREAT is the cool, clear water that comes straight from the garden hose on a hot summer day? I know it was one of my favorite treats - and the picture below shows how my grandpa found me helping myself to some water from the sprinkler head in his front yard and he came over to give me a hand. I had a very special bond with my grandparents and I hope with all my heart that my grandchildren will - many years from now - remember the bond they had with me as I do of all the special times that I spent with my own grandparents.

Looking closely at this photo, I see we must have had something going on later that day because my hair was all done up in those tight little "pin curls" that my mother used to do on me - a form of torture, I think. She was a stylin' lady back in the day and it was only natural that I be stylin' too :) (And don't ask me what the deal was on the turned up toes in those goofy summer sandals of mine - but I'm thinking that's just how good that refreshing water was - it made my toes curl!)

The Mimi Monologues: 'It's a Girl Thang....'

It seems like yesterday. The day Ashley and Jim got "THE" ultrasound. The ultrasound confirming that the new Baby on Board (the first time around) was a GIRL. With that news in hand, I went to town to the cutest baby clothing boutique this side of...well just about anywhere.

Now I KNEW that said baby girl was a LONG time from wearing the accessories you see in the picture above. But I knew that she would. And she DID. Well, sort of. Those were not the most PRACTICAL shoes. And the hat? Ok, Gracie saved her hat (which dipped down and covered both eyes in the beginning) for her 'Hat Love' days - and I did get some pretty neat-o pictures of our pint-sized fanshionista in her fancy hat. Of course don't expect me to locate them today. But they're around here on my hard drive....somewhere!

But stylin' like a girl didn't stop with fancy red polka-dot shoes and hat. Oh, no. Gracie's mom had quite a feminine little wardrobe ready and waiting. Such as the fancy pants above with Gracie's brand new "toe-toes" peeking out.

Tragically, it was about this time that Ashley's sense of fashion went...well, you know where. When, a few days post-delivery she made an appearance in her flashy striped skirt and floral top, ok...I just had to find my camera. Yes, friends, this is the kind of get-up that would make Anna Wintour (Vogue's Editor-in-Chief) need to go lie down for a bit!

Soon enough, Gracie's mom re-established her sense of fashion and before we knew it - wow! Another "fashion statement" was made - this of a very different nature. Last July Gracie made the announcement that she was about to become - yep! - A BIG SISTER!

And you know how that turned out. That's right; in a few short months we were once again welcoming a sweet baby girl and alllllllll the fashion statements yet to be made. Baby girls are pretty special that way...a mom gets to relive (to a point) those fun, carefree days when you dressed up your baby dolls for fancy tea parties and other elegant outings. I kind of know about this because having been blessed with two daughters, I've sorta been around THAT block. And the reason I say "to a point" you can relive those days, but hey! Nobody in their right mind would've invented a "Betsy-Wetsy" that, well...pooped.

(Now this is not to say a Baby Boy wouldn't be welcomed with many open arms in this family. Can you imagine with all these girls around? Wow - he'd be some kind of rock star, that is FOR SURE!)

So in April came the arrival of Miss Emily Mae. Shortly thereafter, Ashley, in the image above, must have been contemplating the many fashion options to be for her two pretty daughters. And - like Vogue's Anna Wintour - she just had to go lie down for a bit.

Flashback Friday: Mothers Day Times Two

If you could see a full shot of my mother in this black and white photo, you would see that she was quite the fashion plate. Yes, we were in an apple orchard back on that long ago Mothers Day (or perhaps it was Fathers Day, I honestly don't remember which since, as you can see, I was kinda young).

That was the tradition in our family for EVERY holiday: get everybody all dolled up (my dad even wore suits for these auspicious occasions), find a pretty place and stand out there in the soft, loamy, spring earth in your high heeled shoes (well, not my dad) to get your picture taken.

Yes, times - and styles - have changed and these days Mothers Day is a bit less formal - but no less celebrated. Mothers Day remains a Sunday in May where the memories we make are, well...timeless.

This year we celebrated Mothers Day - the "real" day - with the Wagners and the Navones at the senior Wagners' beach home in Aptos. The waves were big and beautiful and it was a restful, relaxing, very special day because not only did I get to spend Mothers Day with some pretty special people, we also met for the first time Rob and Alyssa's new niece, Carla Corinne, who seemed pretty mellow as her Auntie Alyssa held her in the photo above.

Carla's grandparents, Corinne and Lou, make grandparenting look easy above. Enjoying the miracle of a new little life and a sweet baby to love, Lou couldn't have put it better. "My cup runneth over," he said. I know, Lou - mine too :)

Mothers Day at the Wagner beach house in Aptos. I could take in this view all day - and pretty much did! The sun was low in the sky and beginning to set when we gathered our things and headed back "over the hill" for home.

But Mothers Day - at least the "times two" part - wasn't quite over yet because the next morning - about 5:30 to be exact - I headed south to Long Beach. A six-and-a-half-hour drive? No problem. With the "Sensational Stromberg Sisters" waiting at the other end, my car has wings that fly the distance in no time. Above, Gracie contemplates a small handful of clay.

Miss Emily Mae, 5 weeks old, has already grown so much...she and her mommy enjoyed the sunny afternoon outside.

Gracie with a bow barely clinging to the back of her hair decides that teeny tiny pieces of clay stick really good to a girl's bangs and certainly enhance the hairstyle! (Click on the photo for a larger view of the mini-glam.) Later, a chunk got stuck in her teeth (well, when you are 22 months old, you really need to see how these things taste, right?).

Emily Mae listening attentively to her mommy. Ashley had best enjoy it now while she has Emily's attention. Because we ALL know what it'll be like in a few short years...

Gracie having fun in her playroom. Since Emily and Gracie share a room for sleeping, Ashley and Jim have set up the small bedroom in front for the girls to play in. Emily isn't quite sure yet what "play" entails - but her big sister will show her the ropes before too long.

Emily Mae - in a talkative mood. Not sure what she was saying to her mother here, but it was undoubtedly profound. Probably went something like this, "...and when I'm 16 I want a car and my own bathroom and a cell phone with unlimited minutes and..."

So Mothers Day Times Two came to a close on Thursday morning - 5:30am - when I left the sleeping Strombergs and pointed my vehicle north to return home. Until next time.

Mothers Day - then and now - it doesn't get much better than that!

Flashback Friday: Everything Old is New (Kids on the Block) Again!

Yes indeedy - in an honest-to-goodness "Blast from the Past" America's favorite boy band is back. Intact. Ready to Rock your Block. And if these New Kids, er..."Men" don't bring back the pop music era (think "Step-by-Step") nothing else will. This is how the literal interpretation "boys to men" (no, not THAT Boyz II men) looked (above) this morning on NBC's "Today" show. They were breakin' out and I hope I'm not forever banishing myself to the land of Dorkdom, but I LIKED them. Yep - the Kids are Back!

So maybe the guys are a little longer in the tooth these days, but I've gotta admit - I am so NOT SORRY to see those icky hairstyles go! Above picture is the way we loved 'em back then, back in the pop music, bubblegum-squeaky-clean days gone by.

Then one dark day the kids got a little hinky. Gone were the squeaky clean boys on the block. And their star darkened with them. Daughter #2, Miss Alyssa, was growing up with the music of the Kids...Donnie Wahlberg was (I am PRETTY SURE about this; if I'm wrong I know I'll be set straight) her fave...but one day I noticed a change in her room: the t-shirts, the buttons and posters - all the accoutrement's cherished by a "tween-age" girl of her favorite boy band faded from view.

Jump on forward to 2009 when BACK they came...the buttons, the t-shirts, the concerts, the tweens. Ahhh...Pop Culture. Pop Bands. It's a-Poppin' once more!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So with this Flashback Friday theme in mind, I submit to you the thought for the day....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big Esprit Bag in basic black for tween-girl's 1st day of school in ? grade...$10

Mega "New Kids on the Block" button for Espirit bag...$5

"NKOTB" Tie-Dye t-shirt for tween girl's 1st day of school in ? grade...$12

Ankle socks in sherbet colors of lime and pink to match the shirt...$3

Cool slip-on tennies to go with the socks...$14

Sending off to school your baby girl who grows up to become the wonderful young woman her Mom always knew she would be...... priceless.

And THAT, friends, is The End. Yeahhhhhhhhhh.......................

Column: A Mother by any other Name

In my last column I "paid tribute" to moms. Well, if not a "tribute" per se, then just a simple nod to the moms that us Boomer kids grew up with way back when. These ladies were true June Cleaver-type mothers. A mother who knew that her sole purpose, the one she was put onto this earth to accomplish with award-winning perfection, was to prevent her kids from ever - and I mean NEVER-EVER making contact with - yikes! - a germ! Yes, dirt and germs went hand-in-hand in those days, and Mom's mission of cleanliness made us rowdy kids shake in our Keds. So when I found "Dr. Germ" on one of my recent flipping around the electronic universe excursions, I knew I'd found my tribute to mothers past. And ok, some present moms, too, who admit to giving those 50s moms a run for their money! If you'd like to read up on "Dr. Germ" and how he relates to Mom, check it out right here: http://www.mushroom-city-memoirs-the-column.blogspot.com/. And don't forget to wash your hands after using the computer!

It's a Monday Thing: The Mimi Monologues

I am trying to get organized. Yes, I really am. So I had an idea to do my postings about my baby granddaughters on a separate blog. But Alyssa said (and it was a really good point), "Why not have everything on your blog in one place?" and yeah - I see the point. I just sorta didn't want to go off all willy-nilly and post things too randomly. You see? I AM trying to get organized.

Alyssa came up with her "Friday Flashback" nifty posting idea a few months ago, which I immediately glommed onto. And then I thought, hmmmm...maybe I could work this grandchild business into a weekly thing and be SUPER organized about it. Right? So introducing today - the newly launched Mimi's Monologues on Mondays. Get it? All that alliteration is just way cool :)

So this first foray into The Mimi Monologues is to formally introduce my own personal "gold watch" of parenthood...That's right. When you formally "retire" from doing the job of full time mom and raising your kids, if you've done a (hopefully) really good job, you MIGHT just be rewarded with a "gold watch," figuratively speaking - i.e. "GRANDCHILDREN." And trust me, the retirement benefits of this new status are simply ginormous!!!

On June 18, 2007, Jim and Ashley brought Miss Gracie Elizabeth into the world. Here she is above at just two days old - freshly brought home from the hospital. Jim deposited Gracie on the living room floor, still in her car seat. We all stood around and looked at her. Then Ashley piped up, "Well. Now what do we do with her? Aren't we supposed to do something with her?"

And thus was the kick-off for the greatest/hardest/most magnificent job in the whole world: Parenthood!

A mere 22 months later, along came another sweet baby miracle - and a second gold watch for Mimi and "Bompy." Miss Emily Mae appeared on April 8, 2009 - a little more on track than her big sister. While Gracie was 5 days late, Emily was only 1 day behind schedule. She couldn't wait to launch into her brand new life, I'm sure. And this time when we brought her home, nobody stood by staring at the new baby and asking, "Well. What are we supposed to do with her??!!!"

Gracie is turning out to be a nice big sister. She gives Emily hugs and kisses and is becoming a nice help to her mommy. Gracie seems like such a big girl next to Emily but she is, after all, not much more than a baby herself! She and Emily are going to be best friends for life. Above is Gracie showing Emily how it's fun to "chill" and watch a little TV in the morning :)

So Mimi has two babies to love and spoil and watch "Momo" with (that would be Elmo on Sesame Street) and just enjoy the heck out of. Sure beats most any other pastime that I could ever begin to think of! And Mimi's Monologues on Mondays? Wow - I am feeling SO organized!