Final Weekend of April

I've been busy and tired so haven't posted in a few days.

Thursday Ron had an appointment with the gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy consult. All went well with that, and the procedure is scheduled for June.

After the doc appointment, we went to Crossgates Mall for some shopping and then to Colonie Center. I prefer Colonie Center over Crossgates. It's a quieter, gentler mall -- if there is such a thing. Fewer kids hang out there, which automatically makes it quieter and gentler.

We had dinner at Outback to celebrate our annivesary. We had a $50 gift certificate I got from earning points at mypoints.com. Dinner was OK. I'm not a big fan of steak, but since our dinner came to $48.17, I'm not complaining.

The best part of dinner was dessert at Stone Cold Creamery. I had a mid-size serving in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. It was really really good. It's OK to splurge once in a while and worth the stomach ache I had the next morning.

Friday was an Ember care day. I love her soooooo much, as Em would say. There's nothing like her arms hugging tightly and her saying, "I love you soooooo much, Grama." Of course she also says that to their dog Pudgey and Bear, her favorite comfort toy. Her emotion is sincere for she does love us all.

Em said something Friday that brought tears to my eyes. We were on her front porch after her nap and her next door neighbor, a woman who also happens to be Em's distant cousin and sees Em all the time and knows who I am, came over. Ever-friendly Em said, “Hi, Kewwy (Kelly). How you?” Kelly said she was fine, and Em said, “This is my grama," gesturing at me, as if Kelly didn’t know the relationship. It was a huge WOW moment for me, because it was Em demonstrating that she knew that being grandma meant more than the label. I've decided that being a grandma is pretty heady stuff.

Today's weather - The weather on Thursday and Friday was perfect. Warm and sunny, with the temps in the low 70s and high 60s. Today started off cloudy, but the clouds broke up and by noon, it was sunny. The air temp is about 65, but the heavy breeze makes it a bit chilly.

Life changes - My girlfriend Barbara said something very profound in an email to me the other day. She said, "We're always saying good-bye and hello." It was in reference to the change in weather, with spring flowers, so long waited for, already starting to wane but summer flowers and foliage on the horizon. Good-bye and hello. This applies to everything in life. People, jobs, animals, homes, cars, ideas and ideals. Hello and good-bye. Nothing stays the same or stays forever.