Catching Up

As a kid growing up, I often heard adults around me talking about how "time flies." I couldn't imagine how they could think such a thing, when, clearly, an eternity seemed to stretch from Christmas to Christmas and from one of my birthdays to the next.

Now, however, I understand too well what they meant. Thanksgiving has already come and gone, baby Packee has made his first visit to Googie's house, and tomorrow I will turn the calendar to December. That will give me a frantic twenty-four days to finish shopping, wrap, send cards, and throw a tree into the corner of the living room. How did I ever have time to work? I remember the older adults of my childhood saying that, too.

Situated as I am here on the short track to Christmas, I can't see how in the world I will have the time to store away all the unrecorded "treasures" of the last several months here in "Googie's Attic." Yet, because these events are all momentous in their own ways, they merit at least a cursory mention to secure their place in this record the kids and I will want to look back at someday.

I have often noticed how newspapers, at year's end, will go back to review their top stories of the year. So, taking a cue from them, I am looking back over the past three months to consider several topics that I fully intended to write posts about but, for various reasons, didn't get to. Though each of them deserves its own spotlight, they will have to share the stage this time. So here is a little "collection," of sorts, that I wish to relegate to at least this small corner of Googie's attic.

Aunt Julie comes back. In August, Pa-pa and I were surprised and delighted when Julie, our AFS daughter from three years ago, made an impromptu two-week visit to the States. Of course, high on her list of priorities was a visit to Sooby, Bootsie, Zoomie (in front), and Pooh in Kansas. She even brought a little stuffed bunny, named "Miffy," for baby Packee, whose arrival was still a month away. She also brought us loads of stroopwafels and Dutch candy. Pa-pa and I look forward to traveling to the Netherlands in the spring to visit Julie and her family there.

Green Machine wins Zombie soccer tournament. In late October son Teebo (back left) entered this team of future soccer pros in tourney play at the end of a season that saw them go undefeated. True to form, they dribbled and shot their way through the tournament, winning all four of their post-season games and maintaining their perfect record. Both Heero (far left) and Beenie (second from right) played their hearts out and contributed goals to the team effort. Pa-pa and I didn't miss one exciting moment of tournament play, and we look forward to more Green Machine action next fall.

Moose, saucy wench, pioneer girl, and storm trooper rock Halloween night. Pa-pa and I made a quick overnight stay in Kansas Halloween night as these four candy-mongers took to the streets of Maple Hill. Next year, they may not be able to cover quite so much ground with little Packee toddling alongside. Hopefully, we will get to see him on his first trick-or-treating excursion and find out whether or not he has inherited the family penchant for chocolate.

Googie's "kiddie bus" gets totaled. No, November did not start out well, and I normally would not give such a disappointing event space in our "Attic." But over the past four years all six grandkids and I have traveled so many miles together that our gold van was like our good friend. There was nothing like tooling around with all of them in tow and giggling at the overhead antics of SpongeBob, the Ninja Turtles, Elmo's Potty Time, and the like.

I am thankful beyond words that none of them were with me the day I happened to be in an intersection when another driver ran through a red light. Despite the painful bumps and bruises and the seemingly  hopeless tangle of insurance issues, I know that I am very lucky that the outcome, whatever it may be, will not be as bad as it could have been.

Great-grandma Susie celebrates her ninety-fifth birthday. Just before Thanksgiving, my mom turned ninety-five. She is an integral factor in our family dynamic, and it has been a privilege to watch her enjoy her great-grandchildren (she has nine) and to see her develop a relationship with all of them. They will be quick to tell you that she bakes good cookies and sews pretty quilts.

So--that wasn't exactly a New Year's Eve countdown or anything, but you can see that some big events have affected our lives over the past several months. They are things that have made us laugh, cheer, feel sorrowful, and rejoice. This period of our lives is a microcosm of the whole of life itself, and, hopefully, you can see why I thought it needed to be remembered.

Looking at my calendar, I am afraid I may not make it back to the blog until after New Year's. But I'm sure there will be holiday stories to tell then and photos to share. For the moment, I feel reasonably "caught up." But in only a few short hours I will have to turn over the calendar page, and once again--already--December and I will step up to the starting line and the race will be on.