Phone Calls from Nashville - Priceless

One of the highlights of my week is the occasional phone call I get from Nashville, TN.  It usually goes like this,

"Hi Grandma!" says my grandson.

"Hi honey, how are you?"

"Fine Grandma, is Grandpa there?"

So usually when Ronan calls he immediately asks for the other person.  One day he called me while I was driving to work.  So I answered the phone and told him I was so happy to hear from him.  When he asked for Grandpa I told him,

"Grandpa is not with me, honey.  I am on my way to work and Grandpa is at home getting ready for work."

That call ended quickly because Ronan really wanted to talk to his grandpa.  I think he just enjoys directing the conversation and being in charge of who is on the other end.

During one conversation Ronan had talked to me and then asked to talk to his grandpa.  Then when the phone was handed back to me my husband said he thought Ronan as done.  I checked by asking for him and no one answered, so I hung up.

The phone rang immediately after that and I heard Ronan say, "Grandma, you hung up on me!"
Oh boy, was I in trouble.  I tried to explain that when I did not hear him say anything when I checked I thought he was gone.  I have now learned to wait until I am absolutely sure he has moved on before I hang up. 

Most recently we were talking to him and he proudly told us that he had "Green Coke" that day.  My husband and I thought since it was St. Patrick's Day maybe that is how he celebrated at day care.  We later found out that "Green Coke" is Sprite.  Makes sense.

The phone calls are always fun, short and a learning experience.  They are also priceless. 

The Never Ending "To Do" List

One thing that happens when you have been married forever like Pack Rat, my husband, and me is that you fall into roles within your relationship.  We each have certain jobs we have taken on as ours in the running of our house and our day to day activities.

This was brought home to my thinking because as Pack Rat was recovering and rehabbing from his total knee replacement all of the daily tasks fell on my shoulders.  For the past two months my evenings after work have consisted of walk the dogs, feed the dogs, make dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, do a few tasks such as a load of laundry, walk the dogs again, watch a little television, walk the dogs again, give pills to the dogs and then go to bed.  Well, in reality it has been go upstairs and fall into bed exhausted.

Pack Rat, "See, you think I do nothing but you can see that I do much more than that when you have to do it all."

Me, "Yes, I get it, no wonder I'm exhausted at the end of the day."

Pack Rat, "Maybe you will appreciate me more when I am back to full activities."

As I tell my friends, it's a good thing he had the knee replacement in the winter.  The ground was frozen and it was too much work to dig a grave in the backyard.

All kidding aside I do know that the days of me doing everything will be coming to an end.  He will soon be back to doing his tasks within our household.  I will have a new appreciation for what he does.

I am grateful that we are coming to an end of this part of our lives.   We will be back to normal and he will have the benefits of his new knee.

So we don't realize all the little things that our partners in life do daily to help things go smoothly within the workings of our households or relationships.  I do know that I am grateful for everything he does do and I am grateful for him. 

Reinvented - Steven Tyler Style!

Recently I have been fascinated with people who are in the process of reinventing themselves.  Last Sunday at church I was talking to a young couple we know. They were telling me that they are selling their house in the suburbs and moving to a condo in the city.  One reason for the move is they will be closer to work, within walking distance.  The other reason is that the move brings them closer to the people they serve through a local organization that works with homeless youth.  Their work with this group has become so important to them that they changed their entire lifestyle to devote more time to what they love doing.  This young couple is reinventing their lives to be able to provide service to a group of individuals in need. 

It seems I have been surrounded by people who are in the process of reinventing themselves recently.  Some are making changes to simplify their lives.  Others have reached the end of a career and are taking what they know to develop new jobs or work in other fields.

Last weekend I was working around the house and my husband, the Pack Rat, called me.

"Carolyn, there is a new show with Steven Tyler on it.  You should come and watch this!" 

Now I am probably a marginal Aerosmith fan.  I have seen them several times in person but have never been a raving fan of the band or Steven Tyler, their front man. 

"OK, I'm coming."  I reluctantly said.  So I joined the Pack Rat thinking I would watch maybe one song and move on. 

The show was the CMA songwriters series, Front and Center.

(http://www.frontandcenter.com/cma-songwriters-series-steven-tyler/)  Steven Tyler was performing his body of songwriting work but in an unplugged format.  He was backed by a group of young musicians and the songs had a definite country music bent.  

So watching maybe one song ended with me sitting through the entire show and loving it!  I have told several people about it and now am writing about it.  What really struck me was hearing those songs in a new format, performed by wonderful musicians.  Steven seemed to be having a great time working with this group.  Overall it was an experience where I realized that here is someone else who has reinvented himself, and has done it quite well. 

So reinvention is happening all around us.  It can be a young couple changing their lifestyle to better serve their community.  It can be a baby boomer like me who left one career, went back to school and now works with college students, loving every minute of it.  It can be an old rocker, like Steven Tyler, who re-imagines his music in a new format making it fresh again.  

How will you reinvent yourself.  Think about it.  Change is happening all around us.  You can choose to be part of the change.