Falling Back

Autumn in Rural Ohio

So far, fall has been quite eventful for us. First of all, it certainly doesn't feel like fall in Florida. We had a couple cool'ish days in October, but they were only a few days and overnight lows didn't get out of the 50s. Having lived the majority of the past 16 years in states with moderate climates, the one thing I miss about living somewhere with definitive seasons is the autumn.

My grandmother passed away last week. She had a history of diabetes, the childhood kind, not the fat people kind, and heart disease and had been on a steady decline for a while now. For some, the release of death is a kindness and not a devastating loss. For my grandma, who had been shocked back to life by a defibrillator several times in the past several weeks, knowing that she was finally at peace was a relief. Added to that, when my grandparents sold their house back in 2009, I had said goodbye to what was. We didn't make it back to Ohio between that last visit and my grandma's passing. Yes, I'm sad that my grandma is no longer with us, but I've come to terms with her passing and I'm okay.

We took the girls and Bailey and drove to Ohio for her funeral. The trip north was quite picturesque. Once we got into Tennessee, fall colors started showing themselves on the trees. As we made our way further north and into Ohio, the colors were more vibrant, varied, and plentiful. The last time we had been able to enjoy fall like that was when in the fall of 2006 when we were still living in Vermont. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was in the middle of it once again. Still, you'll never, ever hear me say that I miss the snow and winters, lol.

The trip north wasn't all about my grandma. We also took time to visit what family that we could, carving out special time with my dad. Recently, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He actually got his third round of chemotherapy while we were there. I hadn't seen my dad since 2010 when I was in Ohio for his last open heart surgery. You might get the idea here, that my dad isn't always in the best of health. Seeing him and the drastic physical changes he has undergone was the most difficult part of the trip for me. As you could probably guess, he's lost a lot of weight. According to my sister, his hair has started to thin, but from the way he's wearing it (in a hippie ponytail, lol) I didn't notice a difference. The most startling difference was that he now looks older than his 62 years. It was hard to see. My dad has already had surgery for the cancer and the chemo is to, hopefully, ensure that the doctors got everything and that it doesn't come back. We are optimistically hopeful. Despite the circumstances, I was glad that my girls got to spend this time with their papa and that he was well enough to go to Chuck E. Cheese (I have an 8 year old nephew) with his grandkids.

After spending a week in hotels, we are more than thrilled to be home. I missed my cats terribly. We hired our 14 year old neighbor to look after them and she did an excellent job. We are back in the land of summer though. It was 80 degrees when we got home and it's in the 80s today as well. Time to put the winter clothes back in the closet for a few more weeks. Fall is all about change. Change comes a little later for Floridians. We'll have to wait and see what it'll bring.

August Challenge, Day 20: Three Smells That Bring Back Memories

I realize that I fell off the wagon several days back. I've had some personal stuff going on. Oh wells. I thought about going back and playing catch up but decided not to because it would just be a post dump that I don't think would be all that interesting to read. I'm going with today's prompt and you all can just pretend that you read the previously missed days. So there.

Lakeside, CA 2003

 One smell that brings back memories is the smell of wood smoke. For a while, every time I smelled smoke, I'd run to the window and check the sky for signs of a brush fire. This was due to living through the 2003 California wildfires. When we moved back to California, I was pretty paranoid about fires for probably the first year or so. Then we bought a fire pit for our backyard and started re-associating that smell with good memories of s'mores, wine, and good times instead of bad. Even today, when I smell smoke, my first reaction is to check the skies but I don't immediately panic anymore. Plus, we've gotten so much rain this summer that it'd be pretty impossible for NW Florida to have out of control wild fires. We're much more likely to drown.


Another smell is the corn silk. It was so funny...On our drive from CA to FL, we saw corn fields in either Arizona or New Mexico. I don't remember which. But, it was so out of place. It was entirely weird to see so much corn in the desert. Then, the Mister and I sort of looked at each other and then cracked the windows just to see. And yep, we could smell the corn silk on the freeway. A smell that we both associate with growing up in Ohio. It was kinda neat to smell that familiar smell so far away and in such an alien-type of place. The smell of corn silk and soy beans will always remind me of hot summers in Ohio.

The smell of a ham or turkey roasting will forever remind me of the holidays, no matter what time of year I smell it. I'd say about 90% of my holiday memories are good ones so roasting turkeys and hams are a gooooooood smell. I suppose you could add in the smell of pine from a fresh cut Christmas tree too. And pumpkin pie spices. Man! I'm looking forward to the holidays this year, lol.



If you'd like to jump in and participate in this blogging challenge, please visit Natalie Grueninger's blog for prompts.  

My Home Town

#30DaysHathNovember

This is something that my family (The Mister and the kids) and I talk about a lot. Both of my kids were born in the same hospital as I was in Marion, Ohio. The Oldest only lived in Ohio for 26 months of her life and not all in one stretch. The Youngest child only lived in Ohio for four months of her life. I boogied outta there the very moment her pediatrician said it was okay for her to fly. Since leaving Ohio for the last time, they have lived in six different cities/towns. What should they consider their hometown to be? Do they even have one?

I never know how to answer this question for myself either. I lived in Marion until I was 12 then I moved in with my dad in Pleasant Hill where I finished junior high and graduated high school. It was somewhere between five and six years total. While I lived in Marion for a longer amount of time, I graduated high school while living in Pleasant Hill. I suppose I could consider both places to be my hometown because they both have equal importance in my formative years.

Even though I haven't lived in Ohio since 1999 and I have no intention of moving back, I still consider Ohio "home" for technical reasons. Well, for tax reasons. Once the Mister retires from the Marine Corps in five years, we will no longer be able to claim Ohio as our home of record. What then? We're like freaking nomads. Modern day gypsies for cripes sake.

Vaca Visiting the Fam Pt. 2

Let's see. We left our house last Friday so today makes ten days since we've left home. I'm ready to go home. It's not anyone or anything but I guess I'm just homesick. I miss my bed, my house, the peace and quiet, my office, my Internet, my phone charger (I forgot the wall charger and can only charge my phone when we're in the car which is a major PITA!!), and most of all, I miss my sleep. Everyday that we've been here we've been up late and I've been woken up by either kids, dogs, or my sister's alarm going off at top level for an hour. I'm not exaggerating either. I am whining but I'm not exaggerating.

As a result, we're heading home a few days early. Just a few but enough that it'll be nice. We're not going to be able to go to the zoo, Cedar Point, or COSI but who cares. I want my house.

Anyway, enough whining.

I don't really have too much to say though. We haven't done anything. We did get to go to this petting zoo thing that had a giraffe, llamas, alpacas, goats, kangaroos, camels, and some other animals. What was cool about it is that you could feed and pet everything there except for the donkeys. I got to feed and pet a giraffe which was way cool. I also got to pet the kangaroos which was neat too. We had a lot of fun. Other than that, all we've done is hang out, shop, and eat. We discovered The Cheesecake Factory which is our new favorite restaurant. We've been twice and got something different each time and shared. Great food, HUGE portions, awesome cheesecake, and a nice environment. My only itch about it is that the menu is so big that it's hard to decide cuz everything sounds good and so far I've tried five different entrees and liked them all.

Despite my sister's alarm clock, I have truly loved staying with her. It seems very grown up to stay with my sister and her family, lol. I introduced her to my favorite wine last night and we enjoyed a bottle together. I also introduced her to Dooney & Burke, Coach, and Burberry but that's another story. ;)

Tomorrow we're leaving my sister's to visit some other fam. Then, we're headed back to N.C. first thing Thursday morning. We're driving straight through since staying in a hotel didn't really work out last time, heheh.

If you're tweeting me, leaving me Facebook messages, or comments on my blog and I'm not answering, I'm getting them, it's just hard to respond on my phone which constantly needs to be charged and I can only get on the Internet sporadically. I love and appreciate them though so don't stop!!

Vaca Visiting the Fam Pt 1

We've had a pretty good trip so far. We haven't really done all that much yet except for visit. We've been gone six days and gotten gas four times already. That's how much driving we've been doing.

Sunday, we met my cousin Mandy, my brother, my niece and nephew, and my grandparents for breakfast. The last time I had seen my cousin was nine years before at my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party. I was honestly shocked when I realized it had been that long. It was so great to see her again. She had to leave that day to drive home to St. Louis and I really wish we had had time to visit longer.

After breakfast, we drove out to my grandparents' house to visit for a while. Bittersweet is the only way to describe it. Anyway, my grandma has this table that she got for her 50th birthday in Italy. The table is inlaid and is six triangles that fit together to make an entire table. Each triangle piece of the table opens up and plays a different song. Because my grandma started my music box collection, she told me that one day that table would be mine. Well, since they're moving, she told me it was time to take my table home. I absolutely love this table and we are having it shipped home. I was also supposed to get this ballerina, harpist musical statue thing that was my great grandma's but my uncle snaked it from me. I'm not happy but what can I do? Had he taken my table, I'd be in Iowa right now beating him up for it, lol.

We've been staying with my sister while visiting. She just bought her first house so it's been a real treat to stay with her. It all feels very grown up, lol. Also, she loves my dogs so they've been welcome in her home. She and her husband actually have an appointment set up with a breeder to look at Boxer puppies, hehehe. I'm a bad influence I guess.

Like I said, it's been a nice visit so far but today was a touchy day. The youngest child and my nephew who is four like to nitpick at each other. Today, he was spitting on her which caused her to lose it which caused me to have a meltdown. I really just wanted to beat on everybody. Now, we're kind of all in our own corners, lol.

So, that's the trip so far. I have no idea what's planned for tomorrow. We're supposed to be going to the Columbus Zoo, COSI, Cedar Point, shopping, and we have tons more family to visit with. It should be an interesting few days. ;)

Oh. I got a cute pair of shoes on sale today too.

Getting Ready to Go

Our first order of business while we're in Ohio is to visit my grandparents. They are selling their house so this will be the last time that I get to see it. I am most unbelievably sad about this. Their house has been the one constant in my life. My grandpa and my uncles built that house. They've lived in it since before I was born. This house represents summers spent swimming with my cousins, Christmases spent camping out on the living room floor with all my cousins, walks in the woods behind their house, walks to the bridge with my great grandpa, just so many memories. This house was a happy safe haven when I was a little girl.

There is a folding door that goes from the den to the hallway that every grandkid has gotten their fingers smashed in at least once, lol. When I was teeny, tiny, I locked myself in my grandparents' bathroom while I was playing in my grandma's makeup, heheh. My uncle had to take the doorknob off cuz I wouldn't let anyone in while I was trying to clean up my mess. My cousins, sister, and I had this kinda traditional game we'd play during the holidays that we aptly name The Wall Game. Basically, it was a game of tag where the opposite living room walls were "base" and you had to run safely between the walls while the cousin that was "it" tried to tag you. My grandma was in a constant tizzy over the hand prints us dirty kids would leave on her white walls. One year, my 6+ foot tall uncle decided to join in and his clumsiness led to a mirror getting knocked off the wall and broken.

I can remember many nights sleeping in the middle bedroom that used to be my great grandpa's before he passed away. Their house is in the country so the silence is very complete at night with the only sounds being from crickets in the summer and the wind in the winter. It was quite different than my childhood bedroom in my house that was on one of the busiest streets in the town where I was born. It was peaceful.

There were also nights that I would sleep in my grandparents' bed with my grandma because my grandpa was working a 24 hour shift at the fire house. In the mornings, I would sit and go through my grandma's jewelry boxes trying on her rings and picking out what I would have liked to have had for myself.

And now that I'm grown with my own kids, I enjoy memories of my grandpa taking my daughters for rides on his lawnmower. Memories of them swinging with my dad in the swing in the backyard. Walking with my kids out to the pond so we could watch the frogs jump in and bluegill swim around the cattails.

Life goes on and change happens but this will take some getting used to for me. Maybe some Xanacs and therapy will be in order, heheh. I'm sad but I'll get over it. I'm really looking forward to seeing my grandparents and their house once more time before they move. It's been a few years since we've been out to visit. Our trips to Ohio don't often coincide with them being in Ohio at the same time since they enjoy travelling and spend their winters in Texas. It'll be a treat if not a bittersweet one.