We're (Almost) Famous

Printed in today's edition of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press Bulletin Board:

The Vision Thing (Pet Edition)

"'As I was leaving the house, I stopped to say goodbye to our new tuxedo kitten who was underfoot. "Goodbye, Figaro," I said to the black and white cat . Out of the corner of my eye I saw our 16 year-old striped Tabby cat sitting on the table. Not wanting her to feel jealous of the attention given to the new kitty, I called out, "Goodbye, Shadow!"
to....a.....watermelon!

Grandma Jody"'

Mama Mia!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year.... almost too good. Made me think that I was at my own funeral or something! Bob was great, the kids were great, the Grands were great. See what I mean?


Sarah and Tony stopped by with Sophie and Luke on their busy day looking at houses. Sophie made me this precious card. "Those are rainbows, Grandma." I am more touched by her You are nice than I am by her love you.



Bob humored me with a new 1lb. kitten last week. And he took me out to lunch, and included dessert. He bought a beautiful card. And to top it off, he didn't yell much when I wanted to stop at a few stores on the way home.



James stopped over in the morning with this beautiful bouquet and a card from him and Hannah. And Hannah posted a very sweet message to my Facebook page from Albany.
"Hannah Kippels
Happy Mother's Day to the most tolerant mom in the world, Jody Marie. Thank you for not disowning me when I was a teenager. I love you! :))"



Zach bought me these lovely roses AND a bag of my favorite candy (the pastel mints with non-pareils). He also stopped by after work to bring me ice cream!





Molly and her family bought me this lovely hydrangea plant. And the kids stopped by to hang out even after we got home from hanging at my dad and Twylla's.



When I had stopped by Molly's earlier, she showed me a picture that Max had made for her for Mother's Day in preschool. I asked Max if he made me one too.
"Sure", he said. "Just a minute."
We stood in the kitchen and listened. First some commotion in the office, followed by the frantic sound of scribbling.
"Here you go Grandma", said a beaming Max!



Last but not least,Emily also sweetly posted on my Facebook from Mexico. Complete with this dorky picture of me!
Emily Marie posted to Jody Marie

"Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.
Proverbs 31:28-29
Thanks for the coolest (themed!) childhood a crazy girl could ask for, for all the dance and Halloween costumes, parties, trips, and support, and heaps of tolerance LOVE YOU! "

Thank you to each and every one of my wonderful family for a wonderful day. You are the reason I celebrate Mother's Day!

California, Here I Come...

FIRST, CARMEL AND THE 17 MILE DRIVE:






THEN, SAN FRANSISCO:










FOLLOWED BY A RIDE DOWN THE COAST ON CALIFORNIA-1:







AND A JAUNT TO THE REDWOODS AND SANTA CRUZ:








To escape our never-ending winter, Bob and I took a trip to the Bay area. We had been there many times, but not for the last 15 years or so. His 97 year-old Aunt Mary welcomed us into her home again. She is very sharp and independent, but a bad case of the shingles last summer had rendered her housebound for the last 6 months. We arrived, scooped her up, and took off every day for an adventure. We put 500 miles on her car even after we took the train to San Fransisco from her home in Mountain View. We re-experienced our favorite places like Carmel and San Francisco, and discovered new ones like Half Moon Bay and the State Parks along CA-1. We picnicked, went to dinner, and ate a constant supply of sweets supplied by the devil Aunt Mary. She has slowed down some, and it was a different trip than we would have had alone, but it was SO WORTH IT! Aunt Mary loved having us there, and we loved seeing her in person again. We packed some mind-blowing accessories with us to show Aunt Mary: we video chatted with Sarah and the kids, and I looked up park hours and restaurant hours on my phone; "Samantha" helped us find our way around courtesy of our MIO GPS; I bought her some remote-controlled flameless candles because they are under a burning ban right now and she missed her fireplace; and we watched a slideshow of the pictures we had taken everyday by hooking up my camera to her TV. She was thunderstruck! We promised we would come back again, and we intend to do so at the first opportunity.