For the first 50 years of my life, my perfectionist self mistakenly believed it was all about knowing more, getting it right, planning, attempting to prevent bad things from happening, and keeping all of my chicks in a row. It took me this long to discover that the JOURNEY is all that matters. This quote from Gilda Radner sums it all up:

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
"


Saturday, May 30, 2015

My Southern Grandson

One very important reason to visit my daughter, Kerry, 
in Nashville was to meet my first grandson, Fletcher.  
She got Fletcher as a kitten about a week after 
she moved in, and he is about a year old now. 


When we first arrived,  he was a little wary of us.


He is such a handsome cat!


He is very much loved.


Fletch didn't shy away from the camera.




He was so photogenic that I took a LOT of pictures.



He is a very playful cat, and that's how we made friends.




I bought the playhouse for him (seen in this picture) 
when he was just a baby.
It made me happy to see him using it so much!










He loves to ride in the car too!



He's an indoor cat,  but Kerry takes him outside on a leash.








He's a very easy going cat!
  The whole family loved him!



It would be nice if he lived a little closer!


Just imagine 
if I had a human grandchild
how many pictures
I would take!


Thursday, May 28, 2015

The Studio

For the past 2 years,  Annie's residence in Rochester 
was the dorm at 100 Gibbs Street.  


Over the past 2 years,  I've tried to get pictures of her 
coming out of the dorm as we wait in the car 
for her to meet us.


More often than not,  she's running late.


But she always seems happy to see us.





This is the last picture of its kind 
because Annie moved out of the dorm 
and into a studio apartment 
where she will reside 
until she is finished with college.


This is her new building.  
It's an apartment building near school, 
home to people of all ages from all walks of life.
Unlike the dorm.


She moved in a few weeks ago
 and I drove up with the minivan
 loaded to the max with furniture,
 pots and pans, food, dishes, and a bike.
Arriving at dark,  Annie and I 
stayed in a hotel until the next day
 when we had a chance to unpack the car
 and set up the apartment.
There was hardly a place for her to sit.


It is a pretty large studio apartment with lots of light!


There is a separate galley kitchen and bathroom.


The only downside is the lack of storage space with only one tiny closet.


The bathroom is really pretty with tile and an old fashioned green tub and sink.


After unpacking the car, we measured windows and headed out shopping!  We bought curtains, waste baskets, kitchen essentials, a lamp, shower curtain, and enough odds and ends to make the space functional and homey.

Then Annie went to work at her coffee shop job just down the street and I began setting up.  I hung the curtains and shower curtain,  assembled a floor lamp, scrubbed the stickers off all of her dishes, unboxed her toaster...

By the end of the next day,  it was looking pretty nice!


This is the coffee table that Annie and I made when she was at home.  We used wooden pallets donated by Agway!



This little accent chair was from HomeGoods.  Isn't it pretty?






We got a cute red basket to hold toilet paper under the bathroom sink and a gorgeous shower curtain.



Annie picked out mismatched plates at HomeGoods too.

This is the view from her windows.


On my second day there,  we did a different kind of shopping.
This item was not functional, but it was just as essential 
to making the apartment a homey place to live.


Meet Jerome.
But his story is for another post.