It was a gorgeous fall weekend.
The perfect weekend for the annual 5K Fun Run for Life.
It is held every year to support our local crisis pregnancy center.
This was a year for me to be with them in spirit.

My daughter and her two daughters signed up to run.
My oldest daughter joined them.
My son-in-love was the cheering section, along with their two sons.
God provided amazing fall weather: bright sun, blue sky, and a chill in the air.

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I’m going to sleepover at Grandma’s house.
We’re going to stay overnight at Grandma’s house.
I like to sleep in the big kid’s room. (formally the big girl room until I had grandsons)
I will bring my suitcase.

These are things I have heard my grandchildren say when they are getting ready to sleep over.
It’s fun for them.
It’s delightful for us.
It is home away from home, as it should be.

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I look at the black rotary phone that is sitting on the sideboard in my living room.
If we had a landline, I know I could plug this phone in the wall and it would work.
It is just like the phone that was in my house when I was a little girl.
I found this vintage phone in an antique shop.

The circle that is found on the center of the dial has a phone number written on it.
That’s the way it used to be.
I would love to know to whom this phone and number once belonged.
It is a conversation piece for sure.

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I have had the privilege of spending time with my grandchildren.
Many end of the year school activities are happening.
Some, I am able to attend.
Others, allow me to help my daughter with some children while she attends things with others.

Going outside is always a wonderful thing to do with children.
Thankfully, all of my grandchildren love to be outside.
Reading books to them is this Grandma’s favorite thing to do.
However, something I decided to do on a whim has become something they request.

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Mothers often complain about the placement of items in a grocery store.
Things are placed quite strategically on the shelves.
That strategic placement is done with children in mind.
To our grown up height, this is rarely a problem.

Often the sugary cereals are placed much lower right in view of the children.
Candy, near the check out, has a prominent place for those who are much smaller than us.
It is a marketing strategy that is down to a science.
In order to combat that trend, a mother has to stand firm and get the healthier options.

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When my children were small, I looked for opportunities to do fun things together.
It was important that those fun things didn’t cost a lot of money.
Discretionary income was not used on frivolities, since there was a budget to consider.
However, fun things could be done that often didn’t cost anything.

Going to the library was a weekly excursion they enjoyed.
Sometimes, getting ice cream after going to the library was the thing to do.
Usually, the place that brought the most joy was right down the street from the library.
My children affectionately called that place, the castle park.

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New houses are being built at the end of my street.
They will be at the end of my street and across the road.
Across the road and on bucolic, open land.
Open land that had steer, which often came to the fence and looked at me on my walk.

My walk has been a bit shorter after my knee issue last spring.
I am gradually getting my distance and speed up to where it was before.
So much has changed in the landscape during that time.
I am sure the houses will be lovely, complete with a walking trail, but I miss the old view.

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I got a text from my oldest daughter who is watching her two nieces this weekend.
It was a picture of my four year old granddaughter with a craft in front of her.
It was something she made all by herself.
She wanted Grandma to see it.

Of course, my response was effusive praise.
How beautiful!
I’m so proud of you!
What an artist you are!

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I am not a fan of skylights.
It is an odd thing to say when we have two sets of skylights in our house.
One set of skylights is in our family room.
The other set is in our bathroom upstairs.

If truth be told, I do enjoy the bathroom skylights at night.
I am quite partial to the moon and can follow its waxing and waning in those skylights.
I can notice when the moon is hidden by the clouds for a bit.
I can see the stars.

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We are not made for the dark.
Children will do their best to prolong bedtime so that the lights do not have to be turned off.
We scramble for flashlights if the power goes out during a storm.
Things look vastly different when they are not seen in the light.

My husband teases me and tells me that I must have “cat eyes.”
He does not understand how I am able to see in the dark.
He doesn’t know that I count steps and can maneuver in that way.
He doesn’t seem to understand when I say, just look for the light.

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