Grandpa

My Grandpa was killed in a car accident yesterday. He was a fan of this blog and I want to pay tribute to him here.

This is unexpected and I was not prepared. Matt's GrandDaddy has been dying for two years, Lydia's Grandfather has been in and out of the hospital lately, and Will is at home with his Bub as cancer takes her health. But my Grandpa was still smart, jolly, sophisticated and spry and I was hoping my children would get to know him.

I don't remember any conversations I had with Grandpa when I was a kid. I remember him telling stories a bit, but mainly I remember the things he did for me. He built me a wonderful backyard playhouse when we lived in Tallahassee. He took my brother and I to the Tweetsie Railroad amusement park. He made me a dollhouse. He and Grandma provided extra money for my car and so I could go to college without worrying about finances.

In college is when we really started talking (or maybe just when I really started paying attention) - about what I was doing with my life, Christianity, religion, politics, and the politics of religion. He was so proud of me. My senior year in college, my parents couldn't come to the awards chapel at the end of the year, but Grandpa and Grandma were there with bells on, about to bust their buttons over my accomplishments. He intimidated Matt when they first met, but Grandpa made it clear he was proud of him too.

Grandpa was a world traveler. He was a smooth talker too, and could chat up just about anyone. In recent years, he started talking more about his experiences as a fighter pilot in the Black Sheep Squadron during WWII. Later, he was a spy in Indonesia. Then, after retiring from the Marines, he became a gentleman farmer with an orange grove. He built the mountain house himself. He was a follower of Christ, concerned about world missions, theology, and studying the Bible. He was a servant of the community, in retirement especially, when he drove ambulances and hearses, spoke at service clubs, and volunteered at the Chamber of Commerce. He loved Grandma, and they had fun teasing each other. In 8th grade, I interviewed him for a school project and he told me how important his family was to him.

I miss all these things already. Grandpa was a great man, and I'm grateful for all the time I spent with him, and to have a little bit of him in me.

Curiosity

The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. --- Dorothy Parker

Glamour shot of the cat #2

Rainey helps with the dishes. Note the dishwasher is empty; I had just finished unloading it and apparently he wanted to offer his assistance.

Glamour shot of the cat #1

Rainey helps me pack for Miami

bienvenidos a miami

That's my token espanol in honor of my trip down (way down) south. I took three years of spanish in high school and got A's, so you'd think I would be better at it.

Anyway, my weekend o' South Florida fun started early (I got up at 5:20) on Friday with me and Mommers running - literally running - through the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. I just noticed the website says be there 90 minutes before your flight, but we had checked in online and AirTran said 60 minutes was sufficient. Nuh-uh. At HJIA everyone going on a domestic flight goes through the same security checkpoint. The wait was half an hour. Thankfully (I believe this was some divine intervention), our security line got redirected to international security, and after a sprint up an escalator (with our bags, no less) Mom and I made it on the flight with 4 minutes to spare. But no breakfast and no bathroom.

Things improved as the weekend went on and the Steele girls did what we do best - eat and shop. Aunt Carol met us at the airport in Ft. Lauderdale and eventually we gathered up Aunt Pami and Aunt Linda too. We shopped at Sawgrass Mills, Aventura Mall, Ross, and Main Street Miami Lakes. Tio Juan, cousin Caleb, and his sweet girlfriend Elaine got in on some of the eating action, which included Shorty's BBQ, Cuban food (gracias, Senor!) at Latin American Grill, and a homemade feast of roast, smashed potatoes, green beans, and salad, courtesy of Aunt Carol.

I am blessed with una familia buena.

Book Quote

All the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk. - Lemony Snicket

Sewing Dos

My second sewing project! It's a little totebag that is kind of a weird size because I was using scraps. I think a water bottle would fit in it nicely. I made it following guidelines from this online tutorial. I plan on making a larger one soon when I have more material.

Sewing Uno

My first sewing project - curtains! There's green plaid fabric at the top and the off-white on the bottom matches the curtains in the living room.

She's a Singer - OR - Betsy, my new sewing machine

My new sewing machine! Matt and his mom went in together to get her for me for Christmas. It was unexpected and very nice. Her name is Betsy and she does all kinds of fancy things!

This is a fabulous idea

If anyone reading this happens to find an old coca-cola crate, I would like to have it!

See this link for yarn cozy!

Because there is nothing else to say...

Tonight Matt and I are very excited to be dining in the Addie Corn Ritchie Dining Hall here at the school. Then we will be shopping at Wal-Mart and watching Singin' in the Rain.

Plus Size Knee-His, or why Matt needs more training in women's undergarments

Ha! "Plus Size Knee-His" - that rhymes. Not much is going on here today (although I did get a phone call from Nigeria, from a student's parent who needed to speak with Matt) so I thought I would share this story.

Matt is not so good at getting me gifts. He wouldn't know this if I was better at lying. (Is that the correct spelling? I mean to say telling an untruth rather than being in a horizontal position or putting an object into a horizontal position. What is the rule for that anyway?) It all started the Christmas he gave me a huge container of red licorice and a shirt that said "Someone at USF love's me." Obviously, he should have known that I like black licorice and have no patience for misplaced apostrophes.

This Christmas, I excitedly opened my stocking, stuffed by darling Matt, to discover a package of black knee-hi stockings. Great, I wanted those to wear with black dress pants because I don't love panty hose. Unfortunately, there was a big "Plus Size!" splashed across the front of the package. I may not be extra small, but I am certainly not "Plus Size!" I had to explain this to Matt, and he took it like a man. Turns out, he had seen the label, but thought it meant there were bonus stockings inside, like when your bag of M&M's comes with "20% more"!

We've only been married a year and a half. I won't really expect him to bring home clothing in my correct size until our 5th anniversary. :-)

sick

Note: My grandfather requested that I write something every day. While that's not going to happen, I will try to post more often. So...

I don't get sick very often, but somewhere in the last few days, I got a cold. So, Matt's getting ready for church without me. I don't have to be back at work until Wednesday and I want to get better before then. Sick is no good when you are an adult and have to do most of the doctoring and pampering yourself. I made my own chicken noodle soup and got my own juice. I hope it's over soon.

Quote

"A city with a great library is a great city."
spotted on a bumper sticker by Mom