Learning new tricks

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?  This video of Bruce and Esther Huffman learning to use their webcam went viral after their granddaughter uploaded it to YouTube.  Over 2 million hits so far.  You never know what is going to "go viral" in this technological society.  Better be careful not to do or say anything you wouldn't want the world to see.  These two are really sweet!

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation....

Several of my favorite past posts have been about my Texas grandsons, Caleb and Samuel.   We had gotten used to having them nearby and somehow lived through their move to Texas.  Then we all made it through a very stressful visit at Christmas time and have had many trips to and from Texas to keep the relationships alive (it helps that they moved only 90 miles from our other Texas peep, Zella!)  This year's visit was actually so much easier than that Christmas visit -- Samuel is now 2-1/2, very verbal, and Caleb turned 5 while visiting us.  We were especially impressed by remembering that Samuel is now the age Caleb was when they moved, so we were reexperiencing the joys of life through the eyes of an excitable, enthusiastic toddler. 

We had agreed/offered to take care of these two boys for 11 days so that their mother could spend time in Italy with her husband, who was there for 4 weeks of theatre training.  Bethany stayed with us for a week and a half in advance of her trip and then had almost a week with us upon her return.  She taught us her tricks on handling the boys, which really helped!  I convinced my husband to take some time off to help with the childcare and he and I were both surprised at how much we both enjoyed the experience.  Yes, it was physically difficult and at times totally chaotic, but we also experienced the unconditional love and affection that is usually reserved for their parents.  We planned outings every day to keep ourselves sane, came home for lunch and a rest for all, then usually took boys to the park next door to chase and run (the playground is undergoing renovation and was CLOSED all summer).  DVD's and computer time and special treats abounded, lots of books were read and bedtimes occurred without much grief.  Space Needle, Monorail, Imagine Museum, Woodland Park Zoo at least 3 times, Pacific Science Center, spray parks, libraries, playgrounds, McDonald's (a big hit), the Blue Park a couple of times (Sheridan Beach) -- we hit them all!

The first couple of days Sam would get up and ask for Mommy to do things, but soon found that he didn't really have a choice but to transfer his allegiance to us!  I had put together 11 treat bags -- one for each day Mommy was gone -- and a red bag to show the day she would return.    Sam would get up from his sleep or his nap and say "Red bag, Mommy home!" then "Red bag, NOW!" after which I would go through the whole explanation again.  It seemed to work to help him somehow understand this long abandonment!  He was appeased by the treats in the bag and was soon playing happily again.  Sam's enthusiasm for all things was a joy -- he does his "happy dance" whenever he gets real excited, revs his body up before taking a run, wants to do everything "Meself," and insists on "hugs" whenever anyone leaves the room or the house!

Upon Mommy's return, Sam wanted both of us to put him to bed for his nap for a time or two, and we shared the responsibilities to keep him happy.  Caleb, in all his 5-year-old wisdom, kept us laughing.  He said that one of the books I was reading to him was too scary and we should wait to read it until he is ten.  "But," he says, "your voice might be too shaky by then!"  Alas, my voice MAY just be shaky by then, so I'm really glad we were able to have all this fun while we still are "young enough" to participate!  Or, upon finding out that there was a scary exhibit at PSC, he said "SAM would really be too scared to see this!"  His other comment was that he would really like to live here again.  And "if we could live with YOU that would be even more awesome!"  We tried to explain to him that we really don't have this much fun all the time, but we are so glad that a good time was had by all! 

We have now cleaned up the entire house, made a trip to Goodwill with toys that weren't popular or have been outgrown, sold the crib we had borrowed, put back the coffee table and the breakables, purged the frig and cupboard of things we'll never eat, and life is "back to normal," a state both wonderful and sadly too quiet!  It IS fun to go out to eat as two adults, take our walks, ride in our convertible, but we cherish the time we had with these two boys.  And their local cousins have gotten reacquainted and formed new memories! 

As grandparents we are truly blessed! 

The Weather

How boring am I to write about the weather?  But here in the PNW, we are complaining about the summer that hasn't yet arrived.  In fact, we are putting sweaters on our trees!  Check out the pictures and story of our local "yarn bombing" or "knit bombing as it's called. 


We really shouldn't be complaining, however, considering that many parts of the country are having a massive, dangerous heat wave.  We are hovering around the low 70's, while many places in the U.S. are in the high 90's or 100's! 

This picture, however, sent from my father who is roasting in the Arizona summer heat, says it all!






(Tree sweaters picture from Twitpik, melting ice cream truck by Australian sculptor Orest Keywan who won the $30,000 Sculpture by the Sea prize for his comment on global warming on the coastal walk from Bondi to Tamarama, Australia.)

Friendships

It seems I am just too busy to keep up with my writing self.  I have been on a road trip with my husband, an overnight with long-time friends and have an upcoming retreat with relatively new women friends.  These are all relationships that add spice to my "senior" life.  Here's an article from USA Today about the friendships of women.  It is writing about women in their 50's finding closeness with other women friends.  This friendship need even deepens with women in their 60's, 70's and 80's as many women tend to outlive their spouses. 

I am thankful beyond words for all of my women friends, past, present and future! 

Facebook Privacy Issues

My friends know that I am a Facebook devotee and have had to defend that position with several people or groups of friends who think that social networking is surely of the devil (you know who you are!)  I have written about "keeping up" in prior posts.   I have offered my services for Facebook lessons, trying to convince others in the aging population that we must keep up to date.  Many people finally become convinced when they realize they are missing out on the pictures and posts of their extended family, especially grandchildren (although some wish they didn't know quite so much about their grandchildren's doings!)  For many, Facebook has taken the place of email updates.  A birthday full of messages from all your FB friends is a great new experience! 

But recently I have become aware that I need to also give some privacy pointers to these same FB converts.  It is unfortunate that one of the goals of social media is to get as much of our information as possible, but we do go into these internet places with that knowledge.  It is up to us to be vigilant, checking regularly to be sure that our privacy settings have not been changed.  Here's an example.

Recently, a friend was tagged in a "photo" by another friend.  What was sent was actually not a photo but a poster, detailing some controversial happenings in first person's life and work.  Sending that poster to the individual in question was a personal decision, made by tagging that person as though the poster was a photo.  This is often done by people, tagging friends at a party or family event.  It can be a lot of fun.  But what people don't realize is that if you tag someone, that notification goes out to their entire friend list, not just the person tagged, unless you have edited your settings to keep that from happening.  In other words, if someone tags me at the beach in my bathing suit, I want to be the ONLY ONE to see it and delete it before it goes viral! 

Here is a very good article on things that you should check out regarding your settings.  This does not, however, include instructions for avoiding the issue I mentioned above.  To change the settings for pictures tagged by others, go to Account, Privacy Settings, Customize settings (here you should set all to "Friends Only.") There is also a very small line to edit privacy settings for existing photo albums and videos.  You need to individually set these to Friends Only.   Under "Things others share," "Photos and Videos you're tagged in," you should Edit Settings, Customize, "Only Me" on drop-down menu, Save.  Also disable "Suggest photos of me to others" and click "Okay."

Facebook is notorious for making changes to the privacy settings when they do an upgrade or make universal changes.  They have gotten a lot of grief for this and continue to claim that they are changing this behavior.  However, it is up to you to check your settings regularly to be sure they have not been changed (perhaps by putting a note on your calendar to check settings once a month.)

 I still contend that Facebook is a fun place to see what's happening with your friends and family.  But do recognize that you must be vigilant about the privacy issues.   

(Photo by smemon87, shared via Flickr)

What's in a name?

I just read an interesting article in the New York Times about how today's "young-ish" grandparents don't want to be called the traditional names because they don't want to feel old.  I had to laugh as we were queried regularly as to what we wanted to be called when our first grandchild was about to arrive.  Her southern grandparents had a lot of ideas, including meemaw, peepaw, mimi, pappa -- I don't even know how to spell them (but you know who you are!)  At one point our son said "This is SO not a problem in my family!"  We were the more traditional grandparents, I guess, assuming we'd just go with "grandma" and "grandpa."  I have a good friend who managed to have "grandmother" stick with her grandson. 

So we went with the traditional but as soon as our oldest granddaughter began to talk, she shortened the "grandma" to Ahma and Ahma it has been.  The other grandkids took it up as well, and that's who I am.  My husband, on the other hand, remained "Grandpa Ken," until a younger grandchild shortened that to "Bompa."  A local grandson, who had another name for him by then, finally said, "I guess I'll call him Bompa -- everybody else does!"  When he really wants to get a point across or get his attention, he calls him "Bomp!"

And those southern name-calling grandparents?  Well, we have Ahma Peggy, Ahma Karen, and me!  I say let the kids name us, but we at least need to give them a starting point that they can morph!  And whether we choose a name we think will make us seem younger or not, you can't fool the kids.  One day my grandson said, "Ahma, you're really OLD!"  Yup, and I love being a grandmother, whatever you want to call me! 

My Mother's Negligee

Here's a post Mother's Day story about an incident that happened with my mother.  My sister and I visited our parents in Arizona for their 67th wedding anniversary.  While there, my sister and my mom went shopping, paid for their purchases, got back into the car and drove back to mom's home.  Upon arriving in the parking lot, my sister asked mom what she had on her back, as something was peeking around the corner of her shoulder.  Imagine their surprise when they found THIS hooked to the back of my mom's jacket, hanger in the back of her neck, complete with bikini underwear! So much for tight security in the shopping center, no one even noticed, including mom and my sister.

Embarrassed, not wanting to be taken as shoplifters, my sister returned the item to the store and told the store personnel that her 85-year-old mother had gotten this for her 67th wedding anniversary but decided it wasn't quite right!  Then she told them the real story and everyone laughed hysterically.

My mother (and my dad) had so much fun with this story.  My sister took the pictures and had them enlarged for the anniversary party.  My mom told the story again and again and her friends laughed uproariously with each new telling.  My sister and I went back to the store and bought the negligee, presenting it to mom for her anniversary!  My dad hung it on the back of the door in their apartment for all to see! 

Here's the final picture.  We will remember this story for years to come.  So glad you enjoyed it, Mom!