I just received word that a family reunion is coming up in November and it make me think of a past reunion. My family is huge. We have two reunions a year; one for my grandmother's side and one for my grandfather's side of the family.
A reunion from two years ago, I took my now husband with me to let him meet my family. This wasn't a usual first meeting of the family. He hadn't even met my parents yet, so he was meeting everyone at once. Basically, he was bombarded by family members. He did so well, too. He's so sociable and everyone loves him as soon as they meet him. One person in particular was my grandma.
After everyone finishes eating and mingling, it is then time for pictures. No matter how many pictures people take and promise to give some to my grandma, she always still has to have her own pictures. It really is never ending with the picture taking at these events. Anyways, Grandma decided to take some pictures of my now husband and I. He must have been talking to someone and not paying attention to where the cameras were because Grandma made sure to get his attention. She yells out to him, "Smile at Grandma. Well, almost Grandma." I think we had only been dating for a few months at that point. Just like Mom's always know, Grandma's always know too.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Relationships
When it comes to relationships, my grandmother always has a "secret code" question she asks when I or my cousins see her. She always asks us, "How is (whatever the boyfriend's name was) doing?" That always meant, is he still around, not really, how is he. I did find that changed once I got married, then the question really did mean, how is your significant other doing. When I was in the dating scene, and I replied, he's good. She would always say, "Still good huh" and then she would laugh. I don't think I will ever forget that memory. It was just one of those questions you expected to hear when you either talked to her on the phone or went to visit.
One time I will never forget, which I believe she has done this to all of my cousins as well, was when my response to her "secret code" question was, "Well, he's not around anymore", she replied, "That's good." Of course, when your young and you break up with your boyfriend, you're sad and you think you'll never meet anyone like him ever again, that's not what you want to hear. But, obviously, Grandma was right. It was a good thing. Obviously, because after many break ups, I finally met and married the love of my life.
My grandma explained to me one time that when she was young, you could date whoever you wanted, you just didn't have a boyfriend that you were exclusive with. That was normal then. She just couldn't understand how us girls only had one guy we dated. Which explains why she always told us, "That's good" when we broke up. She told me a guy brought her chocolates one time and wanted to take her out on a date and she said no, but took the chocolates anyway and gave them to her younger brother. I thought that was hilarious. A guy in this day and age would probably take the chocolates back.
I love listening to her stories of back when. It's crazy how times have changed so much.
One time I will never forget, which I believe she has done this to all of my cousins as well, was when my response to her "secret code" question was, "Well, he's not around anymore", she replied, "That's good." Of course, when your young and you break up with your boyfriend, you're sad and you think you'll never meet anyone like him ever again, that's not what you want to hear. But, obviously, Grandma was right. It was a good thing. Obviously, because after many break ups, I finally met and married the love of my life.
My grandma explained to me one time that when she was young, you could date whoever you wanted, you just didn't have a boyfriend that you were exclusive with. That was normal then. She just couldn't understand how us girls only had one guy we dated. Which explains why she always told us, "That's good" when we broke up. She told me a guy brought her chocolates one time and wanted to take her out on a date and she said no, but took the chocolates anyway and gave them to her younger brother. I thought that was hilarious. A guy in this day and age would probably take the chocolates back.
I love listening to her stories of back when. It's crazy how times have changed so much.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Sunday Visit
My husband and I visited my grandparents two weeks ago and had lunch with them. They haven't had a chance to see our wedding pictures yet, so we thought it would be nice show them the pictures and give them some pictures too. I still get a kick every time just looking at their living room. They still have their yellow couch, made with a foam cushion, sea foam green walls, and pink curtains. At least they don't still have the green shag carpet.
I started helping my grandmother get lunch ready and she was showing me some sort of chicken dish she made. I mentioned in my first blog how she liked to creative sometimes when cooking. Well, this was one of those moments. Apparently one of neighbors gave her this recipe. She took chicken breasts and pounded them until they were super thin and it looked liked she covered them with some sort of breading and them sprinkled corn flakes on top. Now, I have had dishes with corn flakes sprinkled on top, just to add a little crunch to the dish, but I wasn't ever able to tell that they were actual corn flakes on top. On my grandmother's dish, you could actually tell there were corn flakes sprinkled on top. She made macaroni and cheese as well and I guess she had some extra corn flakes and sprinkled that on top too. Everyone in my family loves my grandmother's macaroni and cheese, as it is. Just wait until my cousins read this about what she did to the mac and cheese.
So anyways, I thought I would give her new chicken recipe a try, since grandpa wouldn't even touch it. I hate to say this about something my grandmother made, but it tasted about how it looked. Not very good. I guess, I should follow my grandpa's lead, he usually won't eat any new dish my grandmother comes up with. He likes to stick with the basics. Luckily my grandma made him some fried chicken as a substitute for her mystery chicken dish.
I started helping my grandmother get lunch ready and she was showing me some sort of chicken dish she made. I mentioned in my first blog how she liked to creative sometimes when cooking. Well, this was one of those moments. Apparently one of neighbors gave her this recipe. She took chicken breasts and pounded them until they were super thin and it looked liked she covered them with some sort of breading and them sprinkled corn flakes on top. Now, I have had dishes with corn flakes sprinkled on top, just to add a little crunch to the dish, but I wasn't ever able to tell that they were actual corn flakes on top. On my grandmother's dish, you could actually tell there were corn flakes sprinkled on top. She made macaroni and cheese as well and I guess she had some extra corn flakes and sprinkled that on top too. Everyone in my family loves my grandmother's macaroni and cheese, as it is. Just wait until my cousins read this about what she did to the mac and cheese.
So anyways, I thought I would give her new chicken recipe a try, since grandpa wouldn't even touch it. I hate to say this about something my grandmother made, but it tasted about how it looked. Not very good. I guess, I should follow my grandpa's lead, he usually won't eat any new dish my grandmother comes up with. He likes to stick with the basics. Luckily my grandma made him some fried chicken as a substitute for her mystery chicken dish.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Engagement Party
I just have to share this story about an engagement party I attended for my cousin and her now husband. The party was at a relatives house one evening and they had set up the back yard so beautifully. There were strings of lights everywhere in the oak trees and candle light tables for everyone to sit at. My favorite was the canoe that they filled with ice and had all types of beverages in it. There was also a margarita machine!
Once dinner was wrapping up, my Aunt came around and started filling people's champagne glasses to get ready for the speeches. My grandmother is completely against alcohol and rightfully so, as she grew up with an alcoholic father, who didn't treat her very well sometimes. My Aunt of course knew this and bought a very special bottle of sparkling grape juice, so she could still toast with everyone. As my Aunt is coming around to give my grandmother her special drink, my grandmother very jokingly asked her, "You're not tricking me are you? You're not trying to give me the alcoholic drink, right?" Everyone started laughing at the thought of Grandma getting tricked into drinking actual champagne. She eventually gladly accepted the sparkling grape juice and everyone gathered around my Uncle to listen to his speech.
It may have been about a minute into the speech when all of the sudden I hear something like a liquid of some sort being poured onto the ground. I quickly turn around to see my grandmother just finishing up pouring her sparkling grape juice on the ground and shoving the plastic champagne flute, with a twist off bottom, into her purse. I immediately asked her what she was doing and her response was, "I want to take this home and show Grandpa." What do you say to that? All I could do was laugh. Oh well, Grandma had a good time that night.
The next time I went to visit, I noticed she had the plastic champagne flute and a plastic plate in the window sill of her kitchen. I guess somewhere along the night she snagged a plate and shoved that into her purse as well.
Once dinner was wrapping up, my Aunt came around and started filling people's champagne glasses to get ready for the speeches. My grandmother is completely against alcohol and rightfully so, as she grew up with an alcoholic father, who didn't treat her very well sometimes. My Aunt of course knew this and bought a very special bottle of sparkling grape juice, so she could still toast with everyone. As my Aunt is coming around to give my grandmother her special drink, my grandmother very jokingly asked her, "You're not tricking me are you? You're not trying to give me the alcoholic drink, right?" Everyone started laughing at the thought of Grandma getting tricked into drinking actual champagne. She eventually gladly accepted the sparkling grape juice and everyone gathered around my Uncle to listen to his speech.
It may have been about a minute into the speech when all of the sudden I hear something like a liquid of some sort being poured onto the ground. I quickly turn around to see my grandmother just finishing up pouring her sparkling grape juice on the ground and shoving the plastic champagne flute, with a twist off bottom, into her purse. I immediately asked her what she was doing and her response was, "I want to take this home and show Grandpa." What do you say to that? All I could do was laugh. Oh well, Grandma had a good time that night.
The next time I went to visit, I noticed she had the plastic champagne flute and a plastic plate in the window sill of her kitchen. I guess somewhere along the night she snagged a plate and shoved that into her purse as well.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Welcome!
Hi everyone and welcome to my blog. My name is Anna and I absolutely adore my grandmother. So much, that I have decided to blog about my relationship with her. I recently visited her and my grandfather this past Sunday for lunch and realized how much I really take after my grandmother. It is really amazing how many words, sayings and actions I have obtained from her.
My grandparents used to watch me every summer as a child and I always spent the night at their house every Saturday night from the age of 5 to about the age of 17. Every Saturday night my Grandmother would make her usual spaghetti dinner with homemade sauce. My grandmother likes to get creative with her cooking sometimes, so the spaghetti sauce usually would change from time to time. After dinner we would always watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Once those shows were over then it was time for the English comedy shows. There was always Keeping up with Appearances, As Time Goes By, Faulty Towers, The Manor Born and my favorite, Are You Being Served. I must have seen every episode at least 10 times.
Once Sunday morning came around, my grandmother would make me bacon and eggs or sometimes pancakes. We would both get ready for church after breakfast and then head down the street to Sunday school. After church let out, we would drive back home and eat a lunch that my grandpa had prepared while we were at church. Usually lunch was always stew, baked chicken, or sometimes chicken pot pie, if my grandma had enough time to put the dish together before church.
After lunch, my grandparents would usually relax, while I put a puzzle together or played a board game. Once the end of the afternoon rolled around, my parents would come pick me up and I waited until the next weekend to head off to grandma's house again.
Thanks for reading a little introduction about my grandmother and I.
My grandparents used to watch me every summer as a child and I always spent the night at their house every Saturday night from the age of 5 to about the age of 17. Every Saturday night my Grandmother would make her usual spaghetti dinner with homemade sauce. My grandmother likes to get creative with her cooking sometimes, so the spaghetti sauce usually would change from time to time. After dinner we would always watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. Once those shows were over then it was time for the English comedy shows. There was always Keeping up with Appearances, As Time Goes By, Faulty Towers, The Manor Born and my favorite, Are You Being Served. I must have seen every episode at least 10 times.
Once Sunday morning came around, my grandmother would make me bacon and eggs or sometimes pancakes. We would both get ready for church after breakfast and then head down the street to Sunday school. After church let out, we would drive back home and eat a lunch that my grandpa had prepared while we were at church. Usually lunch was always stew, baked chicken, or sometimes chicken pot pie, if my grandma had enough time to put the dish together before church.
After lunch, my grandparents would usually relax, while I put a puzzle together or played a board game. Once the end of the afternoon rolled around, my parents would come pick me up and I waited until the next weekend to head off to grandma's house again.
Thanks for reading a little introduction about my grandmother and I.
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