See you soon, Granddad!

My Granddad, William Phillip Golden, passed away this week.  He'd been in poor health for awhile.  He had been recently moved into a nursing home after he'd been hospitalized for pneumonia.

He and my Granny had been married for over 65 years and had 3 children, my Aunt Jane, my mom, and my Uncle Phil.  For some reason it was always interesting to me that each of their children had only children.  Jane's son David lives in Florida and Phil's daughter Melissa lives in Texas.  And me, of course!

Granddad worked on oil rigs as a "roughneck"

When I was a little girl my Granddad worked on oil rigs in West Texas.  Later in his life he owned  a bike shop in Irving, TX.  Danny & I still ride the bikes he gave us!

This was the driveway to their home in Giddings, TX.  I wish I had a picture of the house, as its shape always reminded me of Pizza Hut!

Playing office!  Yes, that IS a pink rotary phone!

 I loved visiting Granny & Granddad!  They knew I loved Blue Bell Cookies-n-Cream ice cream (since you could only buy it in Texas back in the day!) and to play dress up and office.  I may have gotten a bit spoiled there!

I loved helping Granddad mow the yard!  I was DRIVING!

The children, my mom and I drove 1100 miles in October 2010 to see Granny, Granddad and Aunt Jane in Alpine, TX, where they were living at the time.  It was the last time I got to spend time with him.  He absolutely loved seeing his great-grandchildren!  I'm so glad they got to meet him and they brought joy to him.  

Granddad with Caleb

I'm so grateful I had my Granddad in my life for as long as I did.  He was a character and I'll miss him.

Linen Closet Reorganization

We moved into our new house over a year ago and most things have stayed where they were shoved placed since then.  Our linen closet (the ONLY one in the whole house) has been operating in a "shove and shut the door fast" mode since then.  Now that my days are child-free (and I need PROJECTS people!) I've decided to conquer it!

Linen Closet Before

I took everything out, which may not have been the wisest method since I was surrounded by linens and could barely move!  I read online (because everything online is true) that a family needs at least 2 sets of sheets per bed, one on the bed and one in the laundry.  I pared down our number of sets according to that guideline.  I also read that it's easier to keep all the pieces of a set together when you fold up the sheets and put the flat sheet, fitted sheet and 1 pillow case inside the second pillow case.


On to towels...Danny & I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this summer and we have towels that we received then!  The yard sale pile has grown now.  I kept all the towels that match our bathroom decor at the present time.  We really hope to remodel our bathroom sometime soon and will buy new towels at that time.

Linen Closet After

What an accomplishment!  Of course, I marked it off my project list!  Anyone need a closet remake??

Life's New Season

Today was Caleb, my youngest child's, first day of school. He was all smiles when he got his picture made holding his large brand new backpack. Caleb walked into school holding his Daddy's hand.  He is in a wonderful teacher's class, Mrs. Crystal, the same one Carah and Cate had when they were in kindergarten.  

With that said, I did have a bit of a rough time with him going to school this year.  He's my baby, the last one at home.  I spent the night before looking through his baby pictures and my eyes started leaking!

I read a status update of a friend today who just sent her oldest to college and it resonated with me.  She wrote, "I could put on my optimistic face and say I am embracing change…change is great... OR I could just be real, and say I don't like change, but I'm choosing to learn to adapt better...."

The first few days of school parents can walk their children to their classroom. We walked Caleb into school, took a picture of him in his seat, gave kisses and left.  On the way home, Danny made the comment that we have now entered into a new season of life.  All 3 children are in school, every day, all day.

Now the big question for me is...What now?  Back to school?  Work?  Doing what?  Oh the decisions!!

For now, I've applied to substitute teach in Pleasant View schools and will continue being the Calendar Girl (read: event booking agent) for my friend Abby.  I'm sure I'll find enough to keep myself out of trouble!

Back to school

Carah and Cate went back to school last week. I can hardly believe Carah is in 7th grade and Cate is in 4th! Time is going by too quickly. They both have great teachers and hope to have their best years yet!