Nothing Like a Grandma's Embrace

Felipe and I had a wonderful visit with Grandma a few weeks ago.  Love her hugs!

Catch Up: She puts the "Grand" in Grandma!

At the very end of February, Felipe and I took a weekend to visit my grandma Hall who lives in Orlando, Florida. It had been much much too long since I had seen her in person last - and while I talk to her frequently over the phone - it's just not the same. So we flew down to Orlando on Friday afternoon and stayed in one of the guest rooms at her retirement community until Monday morning.


Grandma was quite pleased to cook us chicken and pilaf for dinner the first night we were in town - and even had strawberries and pound cake for dessert. :)


Of course we got our usual games of backgammon in.


And don't forget kings in the corner!


Most of the time we just sat and chatted. We did take a short walk down to Lake Eola - which is only a few short blocks from where she lives. And she gave us a tour of her building - it seems like a really wonderful place. We also had breakfast in the dining room on the main floor and met several other nice residents and staff. I'm so glad that grandma is so happy where she's living now. I know it was a big adjustment for her several years ago when she sold her home.





I hope to see her again soon - we may try to make it down for another weekend visit. Grandma will be celebrating her 95th birthday this coming June too!

A Beautiful Lady

I woke up this morning, and as I gazed at the clock wishing it weren't 6:30am already, I realized today was July 21st. My Grandma's birthday. So I just wanted to post a photo, and stop to remember a really beautiful lady. If she were still living, she'd be 103 today. And even though she's been gone a while, I still feel lucky to have had the time with her that I had.

Snapshots from the Past - Backgammon

Sometimes I find it hard to really take good pics this time of year - it's really busy at work for me, and the fact that it's still dark so early makes the part of the year a bit uninspiring. Okay, the days are getting a little longer as each one passes, and we have snow coming on Saturday...so maybe I can get some good pics from that. But for right now, I have nothing!

So I decided to pull a snapshot from the past. Here is a photo of my grandmother and I playing backgammon on one of her visits to Wisconsin. I always look forward to getting a set or two of backgammon in with her. I am a pretty fair player, so for the most part I can compete well against her, but there are times that she can really put me to shame! I do recall a visit I made to her in Florida where for the first three days she beat me at every game, all of them! I was finally able to adjust my playing style to have a shot against her, and we had a great time.

I can even remember, quite distinctly, playing a game or two of backgammon with her when I was six years old...sitting at the dining table at our house on Old Middleton Road. I don't know how it was possibly for her to play against a six year old, who barely knew how to play, but I can credit her for being one of my first teachers.

Backgammon has a long history with my family. Both my mom and dad play(ed), my grandma on my mom's side (pictured above), my grandpa on my dad's side (pictured playing with my dad), and my uncle Marty (pictured below), as well as countless other aunts and uncles, and great grandparents I never knew...


My dad and my grandfather playing, circa 1977 I believe. This is the board I now play with - my dad gave it to me in 2007, and I cherish every clack of the dice and pieces against the old wooden board.


Dad and I playing a game out at the Union Terrace in Madison. Probably the best place to play a game in the summer...


A previously posted photo of Uncle Marty and I playing a set. I owe him most for teaching me practically everything I know about the game.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Tomorrow is my wonderful grandmother's birthday - she's celebrating 92 years! Felipe and I will be going back to Wisconsin on Saturday to celebrate with her.


In her old kitchen.


Reading the morning newspaper.


Trimming the flowering bushes in her yard.


Reflections in the mirror.


Keeping scores for the Orlando Magic.

This was a series of photos I took of grandma when I spent two weeks visiting her in 2006.

Art Night - Linocut

Tonight we had another art night, and I'm super excited about it! I was talking with my friend Cord last week about our art nights and prints came up. So I started thinking about the time we did linoleum prints in art class way back and wondered what it would be like to do another one. So today Felipe and I stopped at Lee's Art Shop on 57th Street and picked up the supplies we would need. it was a bit involved, but in the end I was very happy with how it turned out.

The Original Photo


Preparation


The Cut is Ready


The Print