Usually I can find something interesting to amuse myself at an airport. On my flight down, his unique method of creating an "X" indicating this walkway was out of commission in the Oakland airport, caught my eye as somewhat clever.
Wednesday, waiting to go in for his surgery, Dan allowed me to take a picture of him in his Jolly Green Giant garb. I told him it was appropriate for a Christmas elf. His grin was not as big after coming out of the anesthesia but he rallied before too long. Dan rested/slept a fair amount and was on the path to mending within a couple days. Thursday at his home, we watched a movie together, Crazy Rich Asians (2018) which I enjoyed. I had seen it once before with Frank and had deemed it worth a repeat viewing. Dan liked it, also.
As a bonus while I was there, I got to see my three grandchildren and attend Vivian's short preschool Christmas concert.
Lillian posed for me in her adorable sheep pajamas, sporting a very stylish but totally unnecessary bandaid on her cheek.
I placed William in his bouncer seat, which he can barely fit in now, but never-the-less he can give it a very jouncy and exuberant workout.
I have two cute stories to relate. On Saturday morning when Carrie and the kids were not so rushed to get out the door I made pancakes. I called Frank and he texted me the recipe from my cookbook at home. He then suggested I put it in my blog so I would always have it wherever I was. I did. This is it. Ignore the handwritten numbers along the left margin. They are point values from an older Weight Watchers' system. Oh, and I also reduce the baking powder, omit the salt entirely, and concoct my own buttermilk from regular milk and lemon juice.
I mixed it up as I usually do but the batter seemed very runny, more like thin crepe batter and not like thick pancake batter. But I cooked up the first pan's worth and, though the results were pretty flat and came out pretty crumpled up, they tasted ok and the kids loved them. I added more flour beyond what the recipe called for from Carrie's clear acrylic canister on the counter top. The white powder was a little more fine than I was used to but it could have been cake flour. It wasn't. I had used powdered sugar. No wonder the kids like them. They were sweeeeet. No syrup was needed, that's for sure! Carrie figured out my goof and showed me the cabinet space where the flour really was. She was low on eggs so I could not scrap the batter and start again. I just kept adding flour to my thin creamy creation and forged ahead. They were truly like crepes and even eight month old William eagerly gobbled up the nibbles Carrie fed him.
Then Saturday afternoon, right around nap time Lillian (2½) came clumping into the family room wearing pink princess shoes. Vivian (4½) informed her in no uncertain terms that those those were her princess shoes and Lillian had to take them off and give them back right then and there. Lillian's shoes were the blue ones. Of course Lillian did not obey since she claimed the pink ones matched what she was wearing better. Sibling bickering ensued.
I intervened. "You know girls, Grandma brought presents when she came, right?" They both nodded. "Well that means I have lots of room in my suitcase and can pack anything you fight over in it to take home with me when I go. You will not be able get it back until you visit me or I visit you again. And I do not know when that will be." They both got very somber. "Lillian please give me those pink shoes you are wearing." She did. I held them up and began to laugh. "Look at this girls. They are two different shoes and in two different sizes. This is what you were fighting over?" They both began to grin sheepishly and the battle was defused.
I thought that was the end of it. Then Sunday morning, after I had packed and was waiting to leave for my late afternoon flight, little Lillian came up to me, hugged my thigh and murmured, "Grandma, did you pack our princess shoes in your suitcase?" I was surprised she remembered, kind of glad my ploy had been so effective, but at the same time I felt about two inches tall that I had caused her such anguish. A Grinch I was not, but it reminded me of that scene with Cindy Lou Who – who was no more that two – when she asked. "Santy Claus, why? Why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?"
THANK YOU so much for coming down and helping nurse Dan back to health. Great news - he's feeling well and is glad he had the surgery! Success! We couldn't have survived it all without you, though. And, of course, the kids LOVED having Grandma around (and not just because she fed them pancakes made almost entirely of sugar!).
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