The beginning...

Wow, I just found out yesterday that I am going to become a GrandMom! That is just the bestest news and I figured what better way to celebrate that event than to begin a journal of sorts; a collection of thoughts, events, etc. that surround the baby to be, the child to become, the teen to grow and finally, the adult. Gee, I sure hope you don't grow up to be an English major or else my grammar will ultimately drive you crazy 'cause I write best in the familiar style that I also use for speech.

Yesterday, November 2, 2004, was election day here in the US. I awoke very early to make sure to get to the polls in time to get my vote in since it was expected to be a huge election turnout and it sure was, but unfortunately today I am listening to my choice for President giving his concession speech, John Kerry did not win enough votes to unseat George Bush from the White House. Now I know that people are not expected to offer their vote publicly, but this just seemed like such an important election to me because I was one of those hundreds and thousands of people to lose my job and my healthcare during the last four years of the Republican government, so I had to try to make a change for myself and others like me.

Ah, but I digress... the reason for this newly created Blog is to find a way to let you know, way in the future, what's going on, how things feel and, most importantly, to share with my grandchild(ren). Yes, I made that plural, just in case, but for now, just knowing there is soon to be a grandchild, well it sure does make me smile. So let me tell you about my day yesterday....

I was at work, I work for Ohio Shared Information Services, a non-profit computer networking company in Cincinnati, Ohio. I may have more to say about that later on, but for now, I want to focus on November 2, 2004. I received an email message from your Mom saying that they had misplaced my cell phone number and needed it so they could call me. I sent back a message with both my cell number and my work phone number and *poof* five minutes later my phone rang. When I answered it, your Dad said Hello and then proceeded to tell me that I needed to get a new t-shirt, instead of the ones I have that say 'Mom'. Then he asked me to wait until your Mom was back in the room and all of a sudden I just knew what he was going to say. I have waited soooooooo long, well not really, it hasn't been all that long, but it sure feels like it, to get to be a grandmother and now I was finding out it would really, really happen! So when your Dad told me that I needed to get new t-shirts that said 'GrandMom' on them, well I was laughing and crying all at the same time, but don't worry, they were happy tears. Of course I don't think I have ever heard anyone actually use the term 'GrandMom', but I figure I will go with it until you grow up and let me know just who I am. It is a little bit different, so for now it will work for both of us.

After congratulating your Mom and Dad and listening to them being so happy, giggly, excited... I promptly called out to the entire office, the good news, that I was going to be a grandmother! We finally had to say goodbye because they were calling from Italy and I was just sort of babbling by that time. I then announced that I hoped no one would expect much work from me for the rest of the day, it was only about 3PM here, as I was just way too excited to concentrate. Congratulations came from all those around me and then I started phoning family and friends to let them know, too. When I left work, I went out to dinner with my friend Nonie to celebrate and then on home to knock on my neighbors' doors to spread the news. My next door neighbor, Mary Geoff, gave me a happy new grandparent to be gift, a box of Christmas cards she had picked up at the store that had a picture on the front of the card of a little girl in blond pigtails and a purple long dress, curled up in a chair hugging a kitty and a puppy climbing up too. She said it had reminded her too much of me, she wondered when the artist had found time to paint me, so she had to get them for me and then decided it was the perfect celebration gift!

I know why she thought of me when she saw that picture, cause I dressed up as a Little Dutch Girl for Halloween this year. I went to the Witches' Ball with my friend Karen to help her sell jewelry that she makes, so I needed a costume. I just happened to still have a pair of wooden shoes that your Great Uncle John had brought home to me as a gift when I was 13 and they actually still fit, so all I needed to do was make the clothes and braid my hair. Then I asked Mary Geoff to guess what I was, just to make sure I had made the costume properly... she guessed right! And it was that look which matched the one on the cards she bought. I will try to find a way to include the picture of me in the outfit on this blog somehow, just so you will know, way into the future, what in the world I am talking about!

So, suffice it to say that I am sincerely excited, extremely happy and anxious to meet you, to get to know you, to share this world with you, be it one or more of you. It just feels so right and so good. I just want to say Welcome, dear baby, to a world that I have always worked on making good just for you, for the future... making friends, sharing love, enjoying fun. Now, before I get too sappy sweet or something like that, I will post this first entry with a warning... some days I just can't stop myself once I get started, but somedays I just can't get started, so this blog will be sporadic, but filled with all the emotion, love and color that I want to share just with you!

Hugs and kisses,
GrandMom