On Many Subjects

New pictures of the Divine Miss M and the New Guy.

It has been awhile since I posted pictures of the Divine Miss M. She is getting so big and so cute. Yesterday, she pointed to the phone and said to her Mommie, "Meemee?" (She can't say Grammie, yet, so I am Meemee.) Her mom called me and told me someone wanted to talk to me and Miss M got on the phone and gabbered away for three or four minutes, telling me everything new that happened in her life since I saw her on Tuesday.

It was too cute.

Here are some new pictures of her:


Miss M in her fuzzy bear coat.


Miss M with her Mommy and Daddy at her Daddy's promotion ceremony.


Miss M, Mommy and Me in the snow.


Miss M at her picnic table.


I just love that smile!


Miss M's slide is sooooo much fun!

She is now 1 year and 9 months old... getting so grown up so fast.

Last night, Miss M's Mommy and Daddy decided to go out for an evening to enjoy adult conversation with some friends. They asked me to babysit. (Oh goody, goody, goody! I get the baby all to myself!) Yes, I will babysit! Of course! I can't wait.

Miss M is growing up so fast, but she is still baby enough to get into trouble.

For example: I bent over to pick up the diapers she had pulled out of the bag and strung all over the floor while she decided to climb onto the sofa where she promptly fell, over the side and down onto the floor between the sofa and the book case, of course bringing a huge pile of books down with her. She gave me a half-hearted scream to let me know she was displeased with the world and was perfectly happy when I picked her up. The next thing she did was to climb on the sofa again. Naturally.

She is very talkative, although most of it is still in her own special language that we adults have a difficult time understanding. She calls me something that sounds like "Gaddy"-- not Daddy or Gramma or Grammie, but a combination of all three. Her Mommy and Daddy are teaching her American Sign Language and it helps a lot with her communication skills.

She ate a TON of food... isn't that what you do when you go to Grammie's house? But, she needed the energy so she could get into more trouble. Her favorite games are, Pull the Books off the Shelf, Pull the DVDs off the TV stand, Chase the Baby When she Has Something in her Hand She isn't Supposed to Be Playing With, Climb on the Furniture When No One is Looking and Kissing and Hugging Grammie so Grammie's Heart will Melt and Everything will Be All Right and Grammie Won't Be Angry Any More.

And, of course, here are some of the latest pictures!





My very favorite is the one where she is sitting in the chair and giggling. It must be a really funny story she is reading.

Miss M is such a delight to be near. She is happy and funny. She has a strong, vibrant personality. She can be completely giggly one moment and completely frustrated the next. Best of all is when I met Mommy, Daddy and Malia at Cracker Barrel for dinner on Friday evening and she immediately fell into my arms, giving up her Mommy, even for a little while. Miss M tends to be shy around strangers, but the cutest baby EVER doesn't consider me a stranger at all. That makes me so happy!

That's right... it's time for more Divine Miss M. It's been too long, but she is finally here for another visit!

We have watched her growing from an infant into an adorable baby. Now, she is an official TODDLER.
She is reaching out to her Grammie K wanting me to hold her. She wasn't feeling 100% today, so she was a little bit clingy. She rallied later and was a charming baby in Jo-Ann Fabrics. Her Mommy and I found some adorable fabric to make her some really cute clothes.



Here she is running away from me to find something new to explore. Such a curious little lady!



The Divine Miss M is curious about what I am doing. When I take her picture with the camera phone, I show her the photo and she smiles and giggles. She LOVES seeing pictures of herself, nearly as much as we do.



Miss M is knocking on the bedroom door. I put the cat in there because she doesn't really like Miss M. She smacked the baby on the head, so she had to go into exile. Miss M LOVES kitties and wanted to go into the bedroom to play with my grumpy old lady.

Digitaljon called it the Divine Cold because I got it from the Divine Miss M, who I am happy to report, is feeling much better.

But, I have been going to bed EARLY. I mean earlier than normal.

Normally, my brain starts shutting down around 9 PM and by 10 PM I can normally manage to read one or two pages in a book before falling asleep. Then, I wake up between 7 AM and 8 AM. I don't have a clock in my bedroom because I work from home and I don't HAVE to be anywhere at any particular time, so it is always a surprise when I am up and moving around and I look at the clock in the living room. Today, for example, I was up at 6:30 AM.

Don't get me wrong, I have pulled all-nighters before, chatting with friends until dawn's early light, or just staying up to watch the sunrise, but not in a long time. If I did that now, I am afraid it would take me several days to recover. I am getting older and it seems like I am going to bed earlier and earlier. I am afraid if this keeps up, eventually, I will go to sleep and wake up and then be ready to go back to bed an hour later.

There was a time when I could stay up all night to finish my school work, the bounce into a college class the next morning and the essay I finished at 3 AM was Pulitzer Prize worthy. Now, any essay I write at 3 AM would like have all the same rhetorical clarity as a Dali painting.

With this current ailment, I am ready to go to bed at 8 PM, which means I miss all the really good night-time TV. But, not to worry. I have a DVR and can record any show I happen to miss.

But, my bed is SOOOOOO comfortable. I have been up for an hour now... maybe it is time to go back and sleep some more.

The Divine Miss M has been away from these pages for too long. I snapped a few photos with my phone, so here are the Exclusive Miss M photos.



She is a 2 terabyte sponge who wants to know everything and see everything. We are teaching her American Sign Language in addition to her talking so she can better communicate with us.

She very tall for a baby of 14 months... 31 inches. She isn't walking yet, just almost. It is hard to get those long long legs coordinated. She is a happy baby who loves to play with her toys, chase the kitty and eat, eat, eat. Her favorite word is "MEOW."



I have had the BEST time with her lately. Her daddy had surgery and her mommy had to work, so I got to babysit several times recently. We have the most fun, together! If I knew grandchildren were this much fun, I would have had them first.

Every move is a journey, so I took pictures with my trusty camera phone of the entire voyage from Saint Petersburg to Newport News, Virginia. This was an interesting cast of characters, to say the least. My ex hubby was the moving crew and he used this move as an excuse to visit the ever popular Divine Miss M. For me, riding in a truck with a guy I divorced was, how shall we say it? Interesting. fun. exciting. Adventureous. Yes, that will work.

To begin the move, he picked up the truck in Orange Park, Florida, drove to his home where my #1 daughter is now residing, to pick up the boxes entrusted to her by me. Little did I know at the time that they put the boxes on the back porch. In the rain. And the contents of said boxes turned inevitably into mush. Anyway, these boxes were loaded into the back of the truck before my ex hubby ever got to St. Petersburg. (The boxes of mush warrant a blog post of their own.)

#1, Ex-Hubby and my daughter's friend Jason the Mighty arrived to load the truck. Jason and #1 were extremely helpful loading the truck in record time and only damaging the top of my desk where they gouged the top with the dresser they put on top of it, breaking the glass on my china cabinet, destroying my flower pots with the flowers still in them. I could do on for a day. Here is a picture of my ex, doing what he does... sitting, smoking and delegating.

The first leg of the journey in the rented truck was between St. Pete and Palatka Florida where it rained. I am not talking about a gentle summer rain. The rain was so hard I couldn't see downtown Tampa from Interstate 275. Torrential. Biblical.

Ex: Did we leave room in the back for two of every animal?
Me: There isn't room in the truck for a paper clip, so it had better be two of every microscopic animal.
Ex: That will get evolution started again.
Me: Evolution is a hoax. It is still called the THEORY of evolution which means science hasn't proven it, yet.
Ex: Then, as a species, we are screwed.

Next is a picture of the truck at Ex's home where I spent a perfectly miserable night in #1's bed with my cat cowering at my feet because there were dogs in the house. Evelyn doesn't like dogs and she doesn't like moving. All the fur fell off of her face and my pet targ looked sickly for days after the journey.

The next stop was at my Mom and Dad's place so I could say goodbye to them before leaving the state of Florida on my way to Virginia, the state of confusion. This is the truck at my Mom's place and a photo of my dad and my ex. Please note that no one is slapping anyone, so I can assume the meeting went well.

Mom: Hi, Ex. My God, you look old!
Ex: You look...
Me: (interupting) Mom, Dad, great to see you. I love you. We have to go, now.


We followed a shiny truck nearly all the way through Georgia, so I snapped a photo of my truck reflected in the back of the shiny truck.

Me: Why are you following that truck so closely?
Ex: I'm not following. I'm drafting.
Me: Drafting looks a lot like following to me.
Ex: Whose driving? You or me?
Me: I rented the truck.
Ex: And you hired me as the driver. Driving Miss Daisy.
Me: You're one of those funny truck drivers, aren't you?
Ex: Yep.
Me: Let's turn on the radio.
Ex: I would rather annoy you.
Me: You have been doing that for years.
Ex: Then, there is no need to stop, now.


Then, we stopped at a rest stop, but not until South Carolina. My Ex wouldn't stop in Georgia.

Me: Why didn't you let me pee in Georgia?
Ex: There were no rest stops in Georgia
Me: There are plenty of gas stations with restrooms
Ex: But, we didn't need gas.
Me: Are you going to be disagreeable for the entire journey?
Ex: Probably
Me: That is ANOTHER reason why I divorced you.


Then, another rest stop:

Then another:
And another:

Somewhere near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, I was tired of the whole thing. I was tired of riding in the truck, I was tired of moving, I was tired of Ex smoking non-stop.

Me: Geez, don't you EVER breathe regular air?
Ex: Are you complaining about my smoking?
Me: No. Just trying to catch my breath
Ex: Trying hanging your head out the window
Me: I did and I got smacked in the face with a big bug.
Ex: So, which is better? My smoking or getting smacked by a bug.
Me: Let me think...
Ex: You must be one of those funny Miss Daisy's.

Finally, we arrived at the Divine Miss M's home late Sunday evening and the precious baby was there to greet Grammie and Pop. She can say Pop, but not Grammie. I am so jealous. Anyway, here is the truck in the front yard the next morning before we headed to my apartment with my worldly possessions. Please note that Ex is still doing what he does best, standing (or sitting), smoking and delegating.

I didn't get a picture of the truck at the apartment complex because, as you have likely already read, I was aggrevated beyond belief by the manager. But I did snap a picture of the truck at it's final resting place, empty and lonely now.

Lady at the Truck Rental Place: Did the truck give you any problems?
Me: Yes, it leaks. It leaked on the driver's head, but it puddled under my feet. It was a wet journey.
Lady: Your husband get angry at being dripped on?
Me: EX husband and yes, it annoyed him... which pleased me, of course.
Lady: You drove from Florida to Virginia with your ex husband?
Me: Yes.
Lady: You are a brave woman.
Me: I am expecting the medal to arrive in the mail anyday.

Check out the new photo album of Miss M's luau birthday party and her REAL birthday two days later.

The countdown is on! It is official! I am going to visit the Divine Miss M, my darling son and my darling daughter-in-law in JUNE! I bought the plane tickets for Virginia and I have already started packing. This is just too exciting for words!

When I told Miss M on the phone that Grammie K was coming for a visit she said, "Meeeeooooowwwwww," which is her new favorite word. She can also say DADADADADADA and MAMAMAMAMA. I guess "Meeeeooooowwwwww" means "That is really good news Grammie K and I am totally looking forward to seeing you again and having you play with me and love all over me. This will be my BEST birthday, ever! I love you very much Grammie K!"

Or it means she saw the cat walk by.

Baby M is having fun in Virginia with her Mommy and her Daddy and the two cats and the dog. She is almost ready to walk and she chatters away all the time. She dances and she sings along with music. This reminds me of the song that ABBA sang, Thank You For the Music. Mother says I was a dancer before I could walk. Um Hum. She says I began to sing long before I could talk:sing:









So, here she is: The DIVINE MISS M, coming to you from Beautiful Virginia!