to Grandmother's house we go

there's nothing like going to grandma's. the moment you cross the state line and gulp in that nostalgic mixture of crude oil and pig poop, you know you've arrived in the Land Of Stincoln. horrible smells aside, going to grandma's reminds me of childhood. the red barn loft, grandpa's garage (with those nutty, steep steps), and the depot, are weathered and wobbly now; but still very iconic. as i walk around, i remember summers of horseback riding, chores with grandpa, drinking 'pop' from glass bottles, and playing with those duck-billed cardboard things that were stuck in new cowboy boots. and didn't it seem like we kids were always being fed boiled hotdogs and fried potatoes..
well, today the next generation of young explorers are running around the farm creating fun memories while i've joined rank with the 'old people' sitting around talking about boring grownup things... so the cycle goes..

speaking of 'old,' let's talk birthdays!

in olden day, mothers would spread their child's name on a corn cake with freshly churned goat butter to acknowledge his day of birth. being that food was scarce and the average household boasted 20 children, 'naming the cake' would guarantee the birthday child would, in fact, get something to eat. with the Great Corn Shortage of 1896, corncake was replaced as the birthday standard with a more readily found mixture of flour, eggs, and goat's milk. thus, today we have 'yellow cake,' paying homage to the corn color.

over the weekend, we celebrated stormy, aunt gloria, sarah, abri, grayson, sissy, and grandma's birthday with one big cake (no corn added). though every one's name was included on the cake, candles were omitted (with the number of years represented, it would have been necessary to light 23 candles at both ends to make them all fit).

of course, grandma, having turned 87, bestowed upon us a couple of her tried and true, passed down from the ages, home remedies (while we were eating). in a million years i would never have guessed that Vick's Vapor Rub was the magical cure for foot fungus. or that puffy eyes could be freshened up with a little dab of Preparation H (try to keep it out of your eyes, she cautioned).. and don't even get me started on the medical advantages of WD-40.

overall, we had a great time. we ate alot of food (customary at grandma's) and we put our crazy lives on hold for a minute and relaxed (also customary at grandma's).

of course, it would be an injustice not to draw attention to a couple highlights of our visit:

• 1st highlight goes to sissy (she never lets us down) trying out aunt niki's Jiggilator. and yes, she did break it.
• 2nd highlight goes to jeremiah, who tempted fate trying to improve tv reception atop aunt niki's house. the fun really didn't begin until he grabbed the business end of a live wire. (jeremiah, as your older brother, it does my heart good to see that you are not too proud to show emotion. but screaming like a little girl? come on..)

of course, honorable mention must go to uncle howard in his speedy gonzalez getup. (the pic pam took was priceless, so i had to show it again.)