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Inzanebraned
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#1
Old 06-26-2018, 08:55 AM

We have been in our new apartment since June 16... that's ten days, now.
Most of the boxes are still stacked up and unpacked...furniture is still waiting to be reassembled or repaired...
This is mostly because the BF works all day and when he gets home he is too tired to go through the many boxes that have his stuff in them...he lays around and plays some war game on his phone.
I am still trying to convince myself that this is "home"...at least for the term of our lease, anyway!
The place is chilly in the middle of summer and I just don't feel comfortable most of the time.
I miss having Hope around to constantly distract me by asking me to play or take a walk...
She came over today...her and her mom stayed for 4 hours.
Hope played with some mega blocks for a while before asking me to go for a walk to the pool.
First she wanted to walk up and down all the stairs in our building...then we walked to the pool. She sat at the edge of the pool and put her feet in for a while before asking to go into the clubhouse.
There is a tv and a pool table in the clubhouse...Hope is very interested in learning to play pool. I hold the bridge and line up her stick and tell her to hit the white ball...she sunk 2 balls today!
I am not a good pool player...we don't play to win anyway!
About half the balls had been played when she asked to play something else...Hide and Seek!
We played a few rounds of Hide and Seek in the clubhouse, then I talked her into going back to the apartment.
She had to stop and put her feet in the pool again...then she had to go potty, so we went back into the clubhouse to use the bathroom...then we walked back to the apartment.
Hope's mom had stayed with Sarah who was having a noisy day.
I asked Hope if she wanted some homemade chicken and noodles I had made the night before...Of course she did!
She went to the car to get her iPad while I warmed the soup...then she asked for a m&m cookie while the soup was warming.
She ate the cookie while trying to make the iPad work...but it wasn't loading very well and she got upset.
I gave her a bowl of soup, then I used the restroom.
When I came out, Hope's mom told me that Hope had said that the soup was WAY better than an m&m cookie!
When I asked Hope if that was what she thought, she told me that the soup was way better than ANYTHING!
I told her that I was happy she liked it...that it made me feel good to hear that.
She ate almost all the soup...then she went to the freezer and found the popsicles and asked for one.
I had put on the movie Spirit and she sat and watched some of that while she ate popsicle.
It wasn't long before she lured me outside to play..."Museum."
We we're supposed to be statues until all the (invisible) visitors had left...then we would come to life and be a mail person and a hula girl.
I realized it was getting close to time for Hope and her mom to leave to pick Hope's dad up from work...so I agreed to one more walk to the pool before she had to leave.
This time she took her dolly...Dolly and Hope put their feet in the pool...until we realized that Dolly's feet were filling with water!
I drained Dolly's feet and Hope spied a dog being walked and wanted to pet the dog...
It was on the way back to the apartment, so the timing was good!
After petting the dog we went to the apartment where Mom had collected their things and was getting ready to leave.
Hope began acting like she didn't hear us when we were trying to get her give Sarah a hug and say goodbye...but she finally did it.
I could tell that she really didn't want to leave...but rather than to cry, she kept avoiding the door!
We finally got her to the car and she gave me kisses and hugs and told me goodbye and her and mom drove away.
I so love that little girl!!
It took me a little while to push the empty feeling away after they left...
I busied myself by finding a box to unpack...which turned into having to do a load of laundry.
BF came home, but was called right back to work before he even got in the door! (He is on-call on Monday nights.)
I texted a message for Hope to her mom...asking what she had for dinner (pizza and milk) and telling her to sleep well and have happy dreams and that I love her.
She returned a message telling me to have happy dreams and that she loves me.
It is late, now...and I am just kinda sad...missing Hope...feeling overwhelmed by all the boxes stacked up...not knowing when Hope will come to visit again...
*Sigh*
I should go to bed.
I think I will!

Inzanebraned
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#2
Old 06-27-2018, 01:40 AM

I forgot to mention that last Friday, June 22, that Hope got to spend most of the day with me and Sarah.
She "helped" me do 2 loads of laundry...and, best of all, she got to help me start my dinner.
I was trimming some stew meat...then dredging it in seasoned four...
Hope asked if she could help.
She got to put the pieces of raw meat into the flour...then she got to put some of the meat into the frying pan.
She told me that she had never got to touch raw meat before.
She did a wonderful job and was very proud of herself.
I was making Beef Tips to serve over gravy, so after browning the floured meat, I added water and boullion and some seasonings and left it to braise for about an hour and a half before I pulled a piece out for Hope to test...
She said it was so yummy!
When Hope's mom came to take her home, I had just given Hope another piece of meat when her mom asked what she wanted for dinner.
She said she wanted what I was cooking!
Sadly, her mom doesn't cook much so that wasn't going to be an option...
I gave her a few more pieces of meat before she had to go.
I must admit...dinner that night did taste a bit better than usual...
It had a bit of Hope's love in it.
It WAS soo yummy!

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#3
Old 06-30-2018, 08:01 PM

Hope came and spent the night Thursday night.
On Wednesday, her mom asked if Hope could come and hang out with us for dinner because Hope's dad had an work related event.
Thursday, Hope's mom texted me shortly after I had woke up to ask if Hope could spend the night because the event might run pretty late.
This was pretty short notice for me, but I wouldn't pass up a chance for Hope to spend the night, so I said "Of Course!"
I rushed to get a few things done before they arrived...
Hope brought her swimsuit and 2 pool noodles and a newly bought floaty with a penguin head on it, since they had neglected to bring her usual, round floaty from her other grandma's house.
Mom stayed for a short while before leaving...
Hope just couldn't wait to go to the pool!
It was so hot out that I wasn't prepared to be in the scorching sun yet, so I fed her some lunch and got her interested in playing with some of the toys she had brought.
It seemed like she asked if we could go to the pool every 10 minutes or so!
(I gotta finish this later...current events are calling me!)
...Sooo...I finally agreed that if she would help me start dinner so it could cook while we were at the pool, we would go to the pool.
I trimmed some stew meat and Hope dredged the meat in seasoned flour...
She started to put the pieces into the frying pan, but she touched the edge of the pan with her wrist and decided that I should do that part.
After the meat had browned and I had added water and boullion, I went to put on a swimsuit and told Hope to get changed.
I collected towels and things we might need...floatie and pool noodle...and put them in a bag hanging on the back of Sarah's wheelchair...then we took the walk to the pool.
I parked Sarah back from the edge of the pool and prepared to get wet.
(I didn't want to trust my strength to let Sarah sit on the edge of the pool and dip her feet because I was afraid I might not get her back up into her chair without help. She will get that opportunity one day when the BF or Hope's mom is there to help me.)
The water was COLD! The pool is not heated...but it had been a very hot day, so the water wasn't icy!
Hope got right in...trying to use her penguin floatie...but found that the penguin head pushed on her throat and made it hard to float in the water.
I slowly submerged myself up to my chest...the cold water taking my breath away...and walked back and forth across the shallow end of the pool as Hope floated with the pool noodle under her arms...me holding one end of the noodle.
I think we were in the water about half an hour before I began to shiver...so I talked Hope into going back to the apartment...using the excuse that we needed to check on dinner.
Sarah seemed to enjoy watching us...she didn't whine or complain until we left the pool.
Before we had started dinner, the vcr we had been watching movies with quit showing the picture...still had sound, just no picture!
When we got back to the apartment, the BF had come back from collecting some items from the trailer we had lived in previously to drop stuff off...
He tried to make the vcr work...but no luck!
He had to leave again to trade the truck for the car and drop off a friend who had helped him at his home.
Hope and I changed clothes and she watched some iPad while dinner finished cooking.
When the food was done, Hope ate a big dinner...Braised beef with gravy over rice, some extra plain rice, peas and carrots and salad and milk.
She had nearly finished her dinner before I got Sarah's and my plates!
When she was done, I asked her what she wanted for dessert and she pushed a stool over to the fridge and climbed up to open the freezer and pulled out a popsicle.
She ate her popsicle and watched iPad while Sarah finished her dinner.
Sarah got pretty cranky shortly after eating so I brushed her teeth and got her ready for bed and put her to bed.
Hope and I walked outside to look at the moon and wait for the BF to return...but he didn't return until after we went back inside.
Hope changed her clothes and even brushed her teeth without being told!
After eating his dinner, the BF attempted to get the vcr to work...it still had no picture.
He found an old dvd player and hooked that up to the tv...and it worked!
He put in the movie Mary Poppins...and Hope became transfixed!
We had to move some furniture and pull out the hide-a-bed, and I had to put sheets on the bed...and as soon as that was done, Hope laid on the bed and watched the movie while I put food away...
It wasn't long before Hope complained about being hungry and asked for a cookie...
I gave in and let her have a cookie...then had her rinse her mouth out.
By the time I was done in the kitchen, Hope was saying she was still hungry...so I gave her some leftover pasta with white cheese sauce and she asked for 4 strawberries.
She ate half the pasta and all the strawberries...then rinsed her mouth out again.
I joined her on the bed and she wanted me to read the 3 books she had brought...
By the last page of the last book, she had nearly fallen asleep...she rolled over and reached out to hold my hand...and off she went to sleepy-bye!
She slept well all night...and she woke earlier the next day than expected since she had been up about 3 hours past her bedtime!
It was a very hectic day for me...but I wouldn't trade a minute of it!
My next post will be about the next day...this post is already pretty long!

Last edited by Inzanebraned; 07-01-2018 at 09:29 AM..

Inzanebraned
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#4
Old 07-05-2018, 09:06 AM

The day after Hope spent the night, she woke before 11am without having to be woke up.
The night before, we had talked about grilling hot dogs at the clubhouse...so, before I was even fully awake, she was requesting that we go grill hotdogs!
I did my best to get myself going while Hope got her clothes changed...
While I was in the bathroom, Hope went to ask Sarah if she wanted to go and eat at the clubhouse...
She came to me and told me that Sarah said she wanted to get up and go to the clubhouse to eat!
I got dressed, got Sarah dressed and gave her her Ensure to drink before we left for the walk to the clubhouse.
I parked Sarah in front of the TV and turned it onto a children's channel...used the microwave to heat Sarah's chicken and rice (since Sarah does not like hotdogs) and offered Hope some of Sarah's food while I went out to the grill to get it lit.
The ignitor doesn't work on the gas grill, so I made several attempts with paper towel on fire to light the grill before it finally lit.
I grilled some hotdogs and made one for Hope with mustard...
She didn't seem to be as excited to eat the hotdog as she had been to just go to the clubhouse to grill them...but I enticed her to eat all the meat.
We watched a little TV while I fed Sarah her food...then Hope begged for us to go back to the apartment to get her swimsuit.
I finally gave in and we went to get her suit and some shorts for me...and a pool noodle.
I did not want to get into the pool...the water is just too cold for me...
Sarah stayed in the clubhouse, watching TV while I sat at the edge of the pool with my feet in the pool while Hope used the pool noodle to go back and forth across the shallow end of the pool.
Some other kids came to the pool and chatted with Hope and borrowed her noodle...
Hope was so happy to make new friends!
After a while I gave Hope 10 minutes before she needed to get out of the pool...and, coincidentally, the other kids were told that they had 10 minutes also.
After time was up, Hope and I went into the clubhouse to pack up our stuff...food and clothes...and to get Sarah ready to go back to the apartment.
Hope was in an excellent mood...happy to have grilled hotdogs, got to swim and made new friends.
After we got changed back into dry clothes, Hope wanted to play outside in a patch of really soft grass...Sarah sat inside, out of the sun, watching a movie.
Hope was sitting down for a rest when I bent down to give her a kiss when she told me "I wish I could marry you, Gramma!"
I chuckled and told her that that probably couldn't happen, but I love her very much.
Before too much longer, Hope's mom came to take her home...
I could tell that Hope was sad...but instead of acting sad, she began to not listen very well and was avoiding getting into the car.
Hope gave Sarah a hug and kiss and told her Goodbye...
I reassured her that she would come back to visit on Monday...reminded her to be good for her parents and told her I love her and that I would send her a Goodnight text later.
She picked up the iPad and got distracted by watching a video while I said goodbye to her mom...then they drove away.
I always feel like I'm left with a hole in me when Hope leaves...it's hard for me to convince myself that I shouldn't cry.
I went back into the apartment and kept Sarah company until she got cranky so I laid her on her bed to stretch out for a while and waited for the BF to come home.
BF didn't get home until very late...after 10pm...because he was doing work on a car that he had towed...and the job didn't go as smoothly as he thought it would...
He was replacing a radiator...had gotten a new one from the parts store...was putting it in when he discovered the overflow nipple was broken off.
He tried to fix it but is pretty sure it won't last long...but the car owner was in a rush to leave for Grand Junction...
He reassured them that the radiator would be fine for the trip and that he will get another one from the parts store for them when they return in a week.
After a late dinner BF went to bed...I was left to put Sarah to bed...then I stayed up for a while before going to bed myself.
I find that I need to be exhausted when I go to bed or I will lay in bed and think too much.
All in all, it had been a good day...Any day that includes Hope is a good day for me.

 


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