theramblingark

[theramblingark]

Today, complete

Thank you San Francisco! Good night and Merry Christmas!

[theramblingark]

Today, nearly done.

Fancy things...

[theramblingark]

Today, so far, in The City

[theramblingark]

Pearly Whites

Okay, so maybe not the most pearly of whites, yet. But, now that I'm finally done with nearly 3 years of treatment, my tooths are tight and right!

Honestly, they didn't bother me before. It came to a point where I was having some tooth chipping issues because there just wasn't enough overbite, so that ultimately led me to make the decision to do Invisalign. Now, if I can just work on the gray hair 😎🙃🤪

[theramblingark]

Waterlogged

Plumbing and other water related issues within a home can eat a big fat Christmas wiener wrapped in the sparkly silver garland. Honestly, take a bite.

Well, it's all for good though. We're looking to head outta this joint! But first, we'll get through the holidays and be as fucking festive as possible. That's how you do it, right?!

[theramblingark]

Trixie Things

I can't forget to post a little something about the young gal in the house. She's a hoot. Dancing, dancing, dancing, singing, and arting all the time. She loves the 1940s station on SiriusXM and loves having a printer at home now (free coloring pages!). She's good and growing and happy.

[theramblingark]

Right This Minute: 11/10/24 9:48am

Teaching Max to shave.

It was on my to-do list for this weekend. How is it possible? Time keeps going and I kinda wish it didn't sometimes. Having a teenager is wild, lots of grumping, lots of tense moments, lots of things to teach, and lots of things to learn (as a parent and as a teen!). It feels good knowing I can pass on little things here and there. This was a bigger deal than I thought, but I am proud of him and have glimpses of what a great dude he'll be in the future.

He's gotta empty the dishwasher more often though. Got any help with that?

[theramblingark]

[theramblingark]

[theramblingark]

[theramblingark]

[theramblingark]

🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️

[theramblingark]

[theramblingark]

Mount Rainier National Park, WA by Erwin Buske

[theramblingark]

My oil painting of an Uncrustable

[theramblingark]

Oma

My sweet Oma. She passed Saturday, October 21, 2024 about 10:30am. She LIVED 97 years. I am so very proud to have been with her for 44 of them. These are only the digital memories I have. The physical ones are all around. English toffee. The color purple. Hummingbirds. Seasoned Pepper seasoning on watermelon. Cornish game hen. Yan Can Cook. A squeeze of your hand when you visited. Impeccable handwriting. Shorthand. Burnt bread at The Ranch. Stew. Apricot brandy. Hot Kings & Spite and Malice card games. The Golden Donut on an early Saturday morning. Shortbread. A really good hot dog. One thousand different place settings for the table. The chili pepper Christmas tree. The gold Listerine. Seabreeze. Did I mention English Toffee?

You can never, ever summarize someone special in your life. You cannot wrap them up in a bow so quickly. They just live in you. Live with you. Pop up here and there.

One year we took Oma to Pink's Hot Dogs for her birthday. She loved a good hot dog, so we took her to the source. The bib was a good idea :) She always had a little something for later on her blouse.

Oma and Opa...what a pair! They loved each other and it showed. I am grateful to have witnessed it first hand. When we first had Max it was always fun to visit and have all his energy around them. Well, except that time he drank from their bird bath and had a nasty stomach bug. We have never let Max live it down. He sees photos from that day and knows exactly what happened, poor guy. The last photo with Max, Oma, Opa, and I was taken before Opa passed later that year.

After Opa passed, Oma kept going. She lived by herself for a few years and then was moved into a care facility. The usual visits were fewer and farther in between, but when we did visit, it was usually a Friday afternoon when they had a weekly get together in the common room. They'd have cake and dancing (booze, too :), and sometimes live music. About this time period we had Trixie. It was special watching Oma hold her. Older folks love babies, so they always flocked when we brought Trixie in. That's the last photo of Oma and I. I am glad I went there that day. She gave me two sets of fake flowers from her room. They were white. Trixie remembers those flowers to this day.

My Dad called me on Saturday to give me the news. I was at work testing a database upgrade, but that suddenly did not matter any more. Why should it? I pulled myself together and continued testing. I put on some music to keep me focused-ish. Then, some "woo woo" things happened.

Last week Mrs. D and I were supposed to see Deana Carter at our local theater, but we just couldn't make it. So, earlier that day I had put on her debut album and started listening. I wanted to refresh my knowledge of this 90s country singer, lolz. I didn't finish the album, but paused it and left for work that night. When I went to listen to music Saturday, To The Other Side was the next track. The lyrics weren't really about passing on, however the title was telling me something. So, I smiled and kept going.

Then, as I was finishing at work on Saturday, the Mike Posner album Keep Going came on next. Honestly, I know like two songs from him, yet here it was playing in my ears. The scope of the album is about his journey walking across the US back in 2019. The song titles were literally speaking to me. I was odd, yet comforting. So, I smiled and kept going.

Finally, the Life's Little Instruction Book has been on my desk at work forever. I remembered Oma and Opa had given it to me years ago (29 to be exact!), but had forgotten that Oma had added commentary after some of the entries. I picked it up and found the last one as I flipped through. A miracle indeed. So, I smiled and kept going. Later that night I made a Bloody Mary in her honor. She loved when I made them. It felt right.

That's what I'll continue to do...keep going. Keep moving on and moving forward. I'll smile as much as I can, but there will be tears along the way, no doubt. I am enlightened by my grandparents that have, now, all ascended. I am encouraged by them to strive for longevity, make big memories, and love a lot along the way. In order to do this, I must keep going. You should, too.

[theramblingark]

Right This Minute: 10/18/24 10:07 pm

Friday night is not the day or time to practice the recorder 🪈! Sweet sweet 7 year old. Bedtime!