Grandma's Visit

My mom and her friend Paul visited this weekend. They arrived on Thursday afternoon and had to leave unexpectedly on Sunday due to the death of his brother in law back in Decorah. It was just another example of life taking an unexpected twist. We have become very used to this scenario in the last 15 months. Anna and I used to expect life to follow a standard plan, but that has not been the case for us recently.

I have always been a planner. If I do A, B, and C, then the result will be D. That logic now appears inoperable. I think we are doing a pretty good job of going with the flow considering that both of us have type A controlling personalities. It's just that the flow seems to be picking up speed.

I have a lot to do this fall between writing lectures, grading, and applying for jobs along with doing everything we can to sell our house. On top of that, my primary job is raising Anders. I love that job, but sometimes things look overwhelming. I can't even plan a week in advance at this point, so I am literally taking things a day at a time as the old cliche goes. I suppose that is what happens when one has a baby at home. We are living a day at a time because of all the aforementioned things as well. We don't know where we will be in a year. In a way that is exciting, but Anna longs for a boring life. I'm beginning to think that's not so bad either. For example, while the world was gripped with the Chilean miners' rescue, we had neither the time nor the cable to be drawn into that story.

Back to Anders, he loved the homecoming parade. He was quite taken with the Marching 110 and the OU Alumni Band. Both groups danced right in front of our position at the BP in front of Roger's Tie Dye stand on Court Street. We took some good pictures with Mom's camera, but she lacks the plug in to transfer them to a computer so you will have to take my word for it. Mom, Anders, and I took in the football game with Paul, Rose, and Kate--Rose's sister--on the grassy knoll at the south end of Peden Stadium. In between, we went up to Nelsonville for the Ohio Smoked Meat Festival.

So, it's about 4 pm and Anders has not napped all day. He looks to be fading as I feed him on the hill. Instead, Anders wiggles free from me and starts crawling around to visit the college kids sitting on the hill. It's a good thing they already announced the homecoming court, or else they might have had a re vote! One of the most impressive things about this display was that Anders was crawling perpendicular to the steeply slanting hill. He only tumbled once. He made new friends. One guy declared Anders the "coolest baby ever" for his MN Vikings onsie. I replied that I might be guilty of child abuse for pushing him in the direction of Vikings fandom. That line got hearty chuckles. I learned my lesson from the delivery room and quit while ahead. Making fun of the Vikings is a guaranteed punchline, but then stop, don't push your luck.

Anders seems right at home in the collegiate setting. At the parade, he seemed a little too excited about the frat party raging across the street from us. No one knows what the future holds for Anders, but don't be surprised if it's Anders Peterson BMOC. Perhaps he will win the try out to be The Tree.

Anders is talking to himself in his room, so I better go. He took a morning nap today, which is a welcome change from last week's boycott of the morning nap.