Confusion?

We had a wonderful family weekend! There were 35 here for supper Saturday night with children and babies everywhere. Everything in my house feels slightly sticky from their little fingers and I love the thought of that. There were tornadoes and thunderstorms that tried to dampen our fun but we didn't let them. We just lined beds up everywhere we could put one and slept just fine knowing we were together. We laughed and we cried and we ate and we talked but one little incident summed up the event quite well I think. Ella, who is 4 years old, is the granddaughter of my sister. She calls my sister Nanny. Ella and Laney, my granddaughter, were born on the same day and though they don't really look alike their personalities are quite similar - they are full of energy, determined to do what they want to do when they want to do it, and can melt your heart with a look. One afternoon after playing in the backyard for hours Ella came running in the house straight to the rocking chair where I was sitting. She said, "I picked these flowers for you!" She had a fistful of azalea blooms (yes, blooms only, no stems) squeezed tight in that tiny hand and she carefully poured them into my cupped hands. I thanked her elaborately for thinking of me and she looked up at me with her big, round eyes and said, "Are you Grandma?" Bless her heart, she knew I was somebody she ought to know but she wasn't quite sure who!

And just exactly who was I? I find myself in a position I never though I'd have...matriarch of the family. You know you read that term sometimes in books and it brings to mind a picture of the mother/grandmother who brings all her family together and binds them into a cohesive unit. I don't know how much binding I do but I do hold the title of oldest so I'm the matriarch by default. It's not a bad place to be, but I do wish Mama were still here and still had the title. I'm pretty sure I'm not really this old. I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming it and will soon wake up to find I'm really still a teenager. Or is that a nightmare...being a teenager again. :)

Today I.....

1. Did my morning devotions
2. Made my bed
3. Put a roast in the crock pot for dinner
4. Walked 2.1 miles
5. Showered and dressed
6. Cleaned both bathrooms
7. Washed 2 loads of bathroom rugs
8. Went to weight watchers (down 13 1/2 pounds, yea!)
9. Washed 2 loads of clothes
10. Went to the doctor for my annual checkup
11. Took books to the library
12. Made 4 dozen cookies
13. Washed the dishes
14. Talked to a friend on the phone
15. Talked to one of my daughters on the phone


When you list all you do in a day it sounds like a lot doesn't it? Some days the time flies by and I wonder what I did, but if I sit down and list it then I don't feel so bad. :)

Tomorrow I must:
1. Make pimento cheese, tuna salad, a blackberry cobbler and a bread pudding
2. Vacuum
3. Vacuum the camper
4. Clean the storm doors and the patio doors
5. Walk
6. Change the sheets
7. Write a note/card to a couple of my grandchildren who are going on a trip
8. Check the bathroom for things needed by guests
9. Bring in paper plates, napkins, cups
10. Put drinks into an ice chest

Can you tell I'm having company this weekend? Lots and lots and lots of family coming - my sister and all her children and all their children (there's 11 in that family in all), my son and his family (5 of them), and I think both my daughters and various members of their families will be here at some point for dinner. They will all be here, in and out, Friday and then on Saturday we'll add my oldest brother and his sons and daughter with their families plus part of my youngest brother's family for dinner that night. And my aunt and cousin are coming too. Whew! The weather man is not cooperating - he's promising rain and I'm praying for sunshine.

I can hardly wait to see everyone! Every bed will be full, plus the camper, plus both my daughter's homes, plus some motel rooms - and there will be children everywhere. I hope I have enough food. What a blessings this weekend will be for us all.