Are menus really necessary?

I found Sheri's confession about not planning menus very interesting. She is sooooo organized that I naturally assumed this carried to all parts of her life. I must confess, I never actually plan menus on paper. I think about what I would like to have, factor in what is on sale and then I too, fly by the seat of my pants. The last few times at the store, Wm. accused me of just cooking the same 5 things every week, just mixing them up. Not true, although it may seem like that. I try to cook things that will allow me to have leftovers for his lunch and leftovers for Uncle Roy. Reading some of the comments on Sheri's blog, I feel a little twinge of guilt for not planning menus. That probably would cut down on all the quick runs to the store for something we have forgotten. I like the prices at WalMart but Wm. does not like their produce or meat. Wegman's have great produce and meat but the prices are higher on a lot of things. Too many choices in both stores and going to WalMart almost always means spending more that you plan (face it, who won't wander into the retail side of the store). Wm. has always said that it all evens out in the end so just shopping Wegman's is smarter. I think that as long as we need vitamins, band aids, etc from the retail side anyway, why not get the groceries that are cheaper at WalMart then. Maybe you just can't teach an old dog new tricks!
On a lighter note, I heard something this morning that I have never heard before. Someone begging to clean the toilet! Matt loves to clean anything, yes, even the toilet. (well what can you expect, his father is Mr. Clean) I finally was worn down enough that I gave in and he was jumping up and down singing "yea, I can clean the toilet". Well, at least someone can sing about it!

Yesterday I had another MRI of my neck to monitor the growth that PTL, has not been increasing in size. This usually takes about 25 minutes for the test. Because I will not stick my head into a closed MRI, we need to go to East Syracuse to the open MRI. It was snowing hard and Wm. was late picking me up but we still managed to get there on time. Once there however, we waited and waited and waited. Over an hour. Now Wm. had not had any lunch so he was not a happy camper. Once out there, yes, the open MRI is in a truck like it was in Canton, I was freezing. My head was throbbing and the jack hammering of the machine only exacerbated it. I took the opportunity to pray for strength to get through the test. After it was over, the tech informed me that my doctor had called and asked we do it again, this time with dye. YIKES! I was grateful for making it through the first time. Obviously, I made it through and on the way home Wm. decided to stop at Kirby's (our favorite restaurant) for an early dinner. (no point in his going to work as it was 4:30) Yum, all you can eat shrimp Thurs!
I had Matt in the morning and I told him he could not take a nap as his other grandmother was going to pick him up at 11:30 (nap time is 11) He wanted me to hold him in the rocking chair and when I looked down at him he was holding open his eyes. I asked him what he was doing and he said "trying to keep my eyes from going to sleep"
He was back this morning but for some reason, he is slapping, kicking and pushing, no definitely not normal for him and not behavior to be tolerated.

I've been tagged:

I am not into these games any more than I like games at showers; I was making a statement but I guess that can be #1.
I have broken most of the bones in my body.....not my hip however, so the doctors say the Boniva is doing it's job.
I lived in the same house from the time I was 1 until I moved out to get married. (My parents lived there until they died)
Wm. and I have lived in 12 houses since we got married.
When our kids were small, we moved every 2 years (upward mobility)
I have always wanted to work with stained glass.
I went to college for business because my parents did not think art or interior decorating was worthwhile. I decided I wanted to get my interior decorating/design degree and was 50 when I did it.

OK, because everyone has been tagged already, I will take a cue from Sheri and just say if you read this and have not been tagged yet, consider yourself tagged!

On another note, we have pretty much mastered the potty. He needs very little prompting from me anymore. That was certainly a trial. Not this time because it only took a week once he decided to try. When I was trying before he was ready to learn, he would scream and cry and that was the trial.
Matt still loves to cook and bake. When I put him down for his nap a while ago, I told him we could play when he got up. His answer was he wanted to bake a cake when he got up. One with frosting. Then maybe play.
He still remembers his signs. I thought he may have forgotten them since it has been a while without using them. I would ask him what the sign was for all of the 32 signs he knows and he remembers all of them. :-)

Please pray for my grandson Max. He is 11 months old and has had an ear infection since Christmas. He is on his 4th antibiotic and none have worked. He spiked a fever of 104 yesterday and his lips turned blue. Donna called the pediatrician who called 911 as she said she could hear him wheezing. Max and Donna went to the hospital in the ambulance and Jon followed in the car. They administered oxygen to Max on the way to the hospital. Once there however, they decided it was not pneumonia. They gave him 2 shots. He has to have 2 more today and 2 more on Tues. Please pray the doctors at Duke can find what out wrong with Max and why none of the antibiotics they have tried are working for the ear infection.

We have made some real strides with the potty training situation. We have a few accidents but for the most part, we wear our "big boy" pants all day with the exception of nap time.
Yesterday, most of our wet accidents came from playing in the kitchen sink (doing dishes) and splashing our clothes with the water. He takes his clothes off and says "wet clothes in the dryer, Gramma". While I was putting his things in the dryer, he came in behind me with a small plunger (one I got for him at the $ store so he would leave the one in the bathroom alone) stuck to his stomach. I admit it, my frustration from him being constantly wet from playing in the sink gave way and I could not stop laughing. Just when you think that you can not take anymore, he does something that makes it all worth it.
I love being gramma.
This is from this afternoon......must be he has a new fascination with sticking the plunger on his tummy. Wm. said it looked staged, but he really did this himself. It was much funnier yesterday when all he was wearing was his "big boy" pants!

I miss the girls; I mean I really, really miss them. It seems like forever since I saw them. In reality, I know that it isn't, but knowing it doesn't stop the feelings. I love being a gramma and I love having Matthew here with me everyday. I love watching him grow and learn. On the flip side, being this far from the girls (I do realize that 3 hr. is not that far) I am missing out on watching them grow. I check Jackie's flickr more often than I should hoping for a glimpse of the girls in a new photo. I have resolved myself to the fact that we will only get to see Morrigan and Max a few times a year; the girls, however, I saw nearly everyday when we were in the north country. So not seeing them for long stretches, really bothers me. There are a lot of reasons for not seeing them as much as I would like. The drive, the weather in NNY in the winter, the fact that Wm. has to work some weekends. Oh, I know they have their own lives up there, it was our choice to move to Syracuse but none of those reasons (excuses) make up for the simple fact..... I MISS the girls!

Conversation in my kitchen this morning:
Matthew: Oh, no, just look at this mess!
Papa: What mess, what are you talking about Matt?
Matthew: Just look at this kitchen, what a mess, where is my broom?
By this time, I went into the kitchen to see what all the commotion was about. I had cut up some celery for Wm.'s lunch and there were a few leaves from the celery on the floor under the cabinet that pulls out for the trash. (honestly, I am talking about in the toe kick of the cabinet) I was expecting some horrid mess when I heard all the fuss he was making.

Later on this morning, he was "washing" dishes in the sink while I was getting his breakfast on the plate. I don't understand where this new fascination with washing the dishes came from but he is happy so I tend to let him go ahead and "wash" away. I did ask him to only use one side of the sink and to only "wash" the plastic dishes, so he won't get hurt. He is very good about leaving the china and glasses in the other side of the sink and only "washes" the plastic in the other side. This afternoon, when he got up early from his nap, I was still in my pj's but my clothes were laid out on the bed. So I made the decision to put him in the recliner watching Blue's Clues, while I got dressed. It was only about 30 seconds later when I heard his footsteps in the kitchen. I asked what he was doing and he shouted back "washing my dishes". By that time, I was dressed and hurried to the kitchen only to see him with many more dishes than were originally in the sink. I said "where did all those dishes come from?"
"Plastic dishes from the dishwasher, gramma" . (Insert a huge Matthew smile here) The dishes in the dishwasher were already clean!!!!!!

glimmer of hope

Today I have had my first glimmer of hope as far as Matt ever being potty trained. We have tried many times but he was never interested. This morning, I decided to try a new approach: we simply took off his pull-up and just wore his sweat pants. I was trying him on the potty every 8 min. like I saw Melisa write on her blog that she was trying and he had dry pants when I put his pull up on at 11, so he could take his nap. After his nap, he sat on the potty and then wanted his pull up off and we continued as we had this morning. Unfortunately, I came into the office to get some markers when he came in and said "Look Gramma, wet pants". I was not a happy camper to say the least. He said "Need dry pants on now, Gramma" to which I replied "pull ups". We did have 2 hr. this morning and 2 this afternoon with dry pants. But I am starting to think his mother may be right. She said he is in the largest size pull ups (a 6) so is his next step Depends? :-)

On becoming my mother (+ edit)

I have always told myself I would NEVER be like my mother. I am sure we all say that when we are young. However, now that I am an old fat woman, I find myself doing the same things my mother used to do. This is strange to me as it is not things that I would normally think of a genetic traits; just silly things she used to do that I am now doing as well.
Like what you ask? Well, New Years eve day, I spent the day cleaning and doing laundry as one should not start the new year with a dirty house or with dirty laundry. (my mother's rule and now that I think of it I am sure my grandmother did the same thing) I found myself stripping the bed and washing all the bed linens not just the sheets. Maybe now that I am thinking about it more rationally as I write, I am just following a family tradition and not turning into my mother.

On a lighter note, Matt is back today for the first time since Dec. 21st. I missed him so much but was also glad for a break to rest up a bit. He told me this morning that he NEEDS to make some cookies today. I actually did not bake any without him so it was part of the plan for this afternoon. I took the time when he was gone to sort out the toys he no longer plays with and put the ones he does into new storage containers for easy access. (blocks together, books together, etc) I was awed at the amount of "baby" toys we have. *Looking for anything for Lauren, Jackie? :-)

In my eagerness to clean up and do the laundry before the new year, I washed Wm.'s cell phone with his jeans. Now, that is bad enough in and of itself, but last week my SIL said she washed her cell phone. I remarked to Wm. "how can anyone be stupid enough to wash a cell phone with their jeans, doesn't she check the pockets?" I did check the pockets, all but the side pocket on his carpenter jeans......besides, I thought he had the cell phone with him at work. I guess not! Now it is bad, but not as bad it could have been. Tom got a new phone for Christmas and he will have Wm. number put on his old phone. I am so grateful for that. Also I probably should apologize to Karen, I guess anyone can be stupid enough to wash a cell phone with the jeans!

edit: allow me to brag for a minute here......we were making the cookies and Matt was telling me what to put in, he said 2 eggs and I said right; then he changed it to 4 eggs and I said no silly, 2 eggs. Once I started up the mixer I knew something was wrong. He just looked at me and said 4 eggs. Then I realized I had doubled the recipe and did indeed need 4 eggs! Well you can call it coincidence if you want to but I think this just shows that all our work is paying off; he is one smart boy!