Heaven's New Resident

My grandma, Grace Annabelle.  I miss her, but smile when I think about the reunions taking place!

She was a talented vocalist before Star Search could find her.  

Today, she might have been a multi-millionaire.

She was a wife and mother back when that profession was honored as it should be.

She was a modern woman before her time – widowed into single motherhood with five kids at home.

She was a single mother before it became a protected status.

She was a strong woman who worked hard to support her family when women were not appreciated in the workforce.

She raised five children who love Jesus.

She may have inadvertently invented the crock pot by slow-cooking a roast in a big pot on the back burner for a couple days.

She was present and involved with family events and activities.

She baked a mean pumpkin roll.

She spoke her mind.

She loved.

And she found love again when she married Russ in 2004.

He has lovingly cared for her since that time.

She was beautiful her entire life.

And I can only imagine her glorified body as Jesus will see her.

She lived well.

She is loved.

Eighteen

There is now another legal adult living in our home.  Beautiful, brainy, silly - she bought an e-cigarette over her lunch hour.  Maybe she isn't concerned about second hand water vapor.

Her grandparents, an aunt and a cousin visited for supper and chocolate cake.  My mom reminisced, "When I was your age, I was already engaged.  To Bob."

"Who's Bob?" Rachel asked. 

Audit Risk: High

I mean, I appreciate the honesty of Turbo Tax, but what am I supposed to do?  Un-deduct my business expenses so that it appears I turned a profit?  Not take the child Earned Income Credit?  Forget about the unreimbursed business mileage?  Quit reporting donations to religious groups?

And how is it that we both got raises in 2013, yet our AGI fell by 3K?  Oh, yeah - the deductions - and increases in insurance premiums.

C'mon, IRS!  You've audited us twice already.  Please leave us alone.  Don't you have bigger fish to fry?

It was a Dark and Stormy Morning

Mr. Rellim and I decided to brave the weather to do some Wal-Mart-ing.  I wore a pullover with a hood.  The fella in line behind us planned poorly, but I give him points for ingenuity.  He was paying for a box of Hefty trash bags - minus one.

That one, friends, was out of the box and over his head - with three holes poked out for his neck and arms.

I haven't seen the likes of that since my high school summers spent roguing and detassling corn.  I wore a trash bag every morning to walk through the corn until the dew evaporated.

While looking for a picture to post of such a sight, I came across this blog post about how trash bags can be an excellent piece of a survival kit.

Communicators R Us

While eating at a local restaurant, Rachel and I both heard Mr. Rellim exclaim excitedly about his ovaries.

Rachel laughed.  I wondered if he had taken some pain meds before leaving.

When given chance to explain himself, "Mr. Rellim happily stuffed more of his over-easy eggs into his mouth."