This afternoon, I was thinking about my Grandma Duerden. I told you a little about her way back HERE. Here are a couple of other photos with her. This first one has Grandma (Nola Goff Duerden) in the dark blue dress on the far left. She's standing with Aunt Anna, my mom (Joan), and my sister Karen in the back row, and then my brother, Sterling, and myself in front. Yes, that's me at 3 years old! Squinting at the camera, as usual.
This next photo is an older one of Grandma with my dad -- her son -- Leland Clarence Duerden:
Don't you just love the look on her face?! It is so typical of her. She is the grandma that I probably knew the best, because she lived the longest of my grandparents -- outliving the others by about 6 years or more.
And the whole reason I was thinking about her, was because I remember some journals that she used to keep. And "journal" isn't quite an accurate term, because they were more like diary entries in these hardcover books. Grandma would write things like the weather that day, and she would list out things that she had accomplished, or places she had gone, but not much on thoughts or feelings, and not usually long entries. I think she kept them more as a record for herself to remember than as something that she thought her posterity might be interested in.
I haven't seen those journals in years. Though my mother had them after Grandma passed on, I think they are now in my uncle's care. I never got to sit down and read them, but I did glance over them at one time. I would love to get them and transcribe them for my kids and my cousins' families to be able to all have them. Grandma's sense of humor was unique, and it comes through in her writing.
My day-to-day life isn't often interesting. But there are moments. So, along the lines of day-to-day life, and with Grandma's record books in mind, .... here's a snapshot of life at my house lately, ....
- Emma fell out of bed last night. This rarely happens, and I couldn't figure out what the noise was.... but she climbed back in on her own, and couldn't remember a thing about it this morning.
- Emma also has latched onto the LDS Apostle Song, and now has it memorized.
- This morning, I went downstairs to get some frozen orange juice, and discovered that the downstairs refrigerator door was left open. All. Night. Long. ...... yeah. A good 12 hours of not-cold. Ugh.
- I accidently bumped a button on the blender this morning. And then I jumped out of my skin when it started up, right next to me, spewing Orange Julius ingredients all over. (the lid was not on) Mopping the floor just made it on the To-Do List.
- High School Softball has started up for Darcie -- of course, it's still cold, and the fields are in awful condition, but at least there's no snow on the ground, right?
- Small repairs around the house are kind of keeping us from bigger projects. And the outdoor projects are set to begin, too, as we gear up for spring to come. Weather permitting, I think we'll be outdoors tomorrow, getting some of the winter cleanup done.
- I really love my bed. I mean, A LOT. I love climbing into it -- and it's a climb, because it's very tall -- when the sheets are warmed by the heated mattress pad, and the soft, fluffy comforter surrounds me up to my ears. Of course, I'm always dead tired when I hit the sheets, so I usually go directly from snuggly comfort to flat-out snoring almost immediately (only sometimes snoring!). I have a hard time identifying with insomniacs, because it is never EVER a problem for me.
- I miss my college kids. The house is so much quieter and empty-feeling with them all gone.
- By the end of each day, I'm ready to pay good money for a foot massage. I have bunions, and I'm starting to think it's about time to have them removed .... this means surgery. Must investigate that further.
And finally, ...
- Note to self: when purging the young child's artwork, Happy Meal Toys, outgrown items, or seasonal décor, .... make SURE that the child does not see her precious stuff in the garbage or the fireplace. At all.
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