WWC: "9" and "Desire"

This week's Weekly Word Challenge words are "9" and "Desire." Fortunately, The Granddaughter rose to the challenge again this week, giving us some good opportunities for photos.

9 (That's her uncle's baseball jersey.)

Desire (Granny's left arm/hand is getting a lot of "face time," isn't it?)

Bonus Photo I walked into the laundry room where Granny was folding clothes. Apparently, she needed a safe place to put The Granddaughter. She found the perfect spot.

The Love of a Good Wife...

I awoke this morning to the sound of rain on the roof. It was a perfect day to stay in bed. It was also Wednesday, which meant I had to drag my old body out of bed to go to work.

I stretched out my morning routine as long as possible--feeding the fish, drinking coffee, nibbling my granddaughter's cheeks. After a while, I heard Granny say, "There go the trash cans."

I knew exactly what she meant. We live on a hill, and whenever there is rain, our gutters turn into the River Nile at the height of flood. It was also trash day, so the blue recycling can and the black trash can was at the curb. Combine a raging river and large plastic trash cans, and you've got problems.

So far, our bins were safe. We watched some of the neighbors' cans pile up across the street, but ours were holding firm. Then the truck came along to pick up the blue can. As soon as the blue can was lifted out of the curb by the automated claw, the black one (still full of garbage) went sailing down the street like a raft on the Mississippi. Fortunately, it came to rest--upright--against the bumper of a car. The workers were smart enough to put the blue bin down on the parkway, otherwise I would still be chasing the damn thing.

I dashed into the bedroom, threw on some clothes, and went downstairs to rescue our cans. I waded into the flood and hauled the black can to safety. I figured if the claw could put the can down on the parkway, it could pick it up from there, too. So I dragged it through the swamp and put it on the parkway.

I began to bring the blue can back to the garage, but it was missing a wheel. An entire wheel--about 8 inches (3,206 meters for you non-Americans) in diameter--had simply disappeared. Where it went or why, we'll never know.

Then I went back upstairs to the living room where I found dear, sweet Granny laughing at me. I was drenched. She had been upstairs taking pictures. I simply glared at her as the next garbage truck arrived.

The claw lifted the black bin off the parkway and then put the can back down. The can, however, tipped right over and dropped into the river of rainwater. Down the hill it went. The open end of the 50- to 60-gallon can (3 liters for non-Americans) was facing uphill. Water rushed in.

The enormous weight of the water in the can slowed it down enough so I could catch up, but it took me some time before I could get the thing upright again to return it to the garage. All during this time, of course, the rain was still pelting down. As you can imagine, I was in a very good mood.

I got back in the house, and I was more waterlogged than the first time. Granny was still laughing.

She stopped laughing as soon as she looked outside and saw our neighbor struggling with a blue can across the street. It tipped over, and garbage went everywhere.

"Oh look," she said. "He needs help."

Granny immediately raced outside in her bare feet and went to help. Together, they collected his cans and returned them to safety.

She came back in, wet as a duck. I was so mad, there was steam coming off my head. Her husband, the man she made vows to, her partner, her love, grandfather to her most adorable grandchild, had been outside just moments before, fighting the elements and potential wet dog poop on the lawn, and what did she do? Laughed and took pictures from the warm, dry living room.

But then, the guy across the street came outside, and what did she do? She darted outside in bare feet to lend assistance. What does that tell you? Something smells around here, and it's not a dirty diaper!

She's gonna get it.

WWC: "White" and "Mailbox"

I decided to get in on the Weekly Words Challenge (WWC) fun since there is now a photographic muse at our house 24/7. The challenge is to take photographs that illustrate the words of the week. This week's words are "white" and "mailbox." Enjoy.

White (that's Granny's lovely arm in the background)

Mailbox (please take note of the bib)

See, with a baby that beautiful how could we in good conscience not take lots of photos?

Editor's note: said baby's cheeks are still delicious.

Nicknamery Is Grandpa's Job

I take my responsibility to think up cute nicknames for the Granddaughter very seriously. If Gramps won't do it, who will? Granny already wrote a post about the nickname Baby Boomer. My favorite is apfelpfankuchen.

Apfelpfankuchen is German for "apple pancake". A couple of months ago, Xboy was making them for his German language class. I quickly made the connection between the Granddaughter's delicious cheeks and the German dessert. So, of course, each night after dinner I get my own dessert of apfelpfankuchen cheeks. As previously mentioned, the cheeks grow back while she sleeps so I can dine again the next day.

Look at those delicious apfelpfankuchen cheeks.

Editor's note: please think good thoughts for Granny. The doctor told her today she has pneumonia, something not nearly as delectable as apfelpfankuchen. Also, a couple of weeks ago, a blood test revealed high antibodies for the Epstein-Barr virus, the same virus that causes mononeucleosis. That may explain some of the symptoms she has been experiencing for years. She is at home, and Gramps is bringing her lots of beer, which has been clinically proven to cure everything.

Gramps and The Baby Boomer

There's really not too much to report from the world of Granny and Gramps.

The oldest daughter is a GREAT mother - she goes to school, does her nursing clinicals and gives the Granddaughter so much attention, we rarely hear any loud, piercing screams of hunger. Actually, it is a very nice - the ability to wake up almost every morning hearing coos of baby laughter.

Our Drama Queen - is still our Drama Queen. I took her to the eye doctor for the much anticipated contact fitting the other day. The dr. put the contacts into her eyes:

"Mom - it feels like there is a piece of plastic sitting on my eyeball."

"Uh, dear - THERE IS A PIECE OF PLASTIC SITTING ON YOUR EYEBALL!"

"Oh. Grandma says I get my drama attitude from you. Do you think?"

"Ughhhhh."

Xbox Boy and Gramps are killin' me with "Left for Dead." Now, I've seen Gramps postings about the Zombies ... and I've seen his latest "ha!" towards Grandma and her playing Luxor; and despite his posting, that evil xbox system does NOT control my life - not like it does theirs.

Recently the oldest daughter upgraded her cell phone to the new TMobile "G1". It is a pretty cool phone with lots of neat games and other texting/calling capabilities ... My husband/My son - they found the "Zombie Finder" Yes, this phone will act as a mapping device and it shows us how close proximity the zombies are to our home.

And take 2am this morning for example. Gramps can't sleep. Where do you think he is? Yep, you got it - Killing Zombies! Why can't he do something productive at 2am? Ladies, You know what I mean - it would be nice if he would empty/load the dishwasher ... clean out the kitchen cupboards ... do a load of laundry - you know, the helpful stuff! Nope - He is KILLING Zombies!

Proving my point ... I have attached a recent picture of the Granddaughter. In this picture, Granny is feeding Ms Adorable her first cereal ... Gramps is in the background taking pictures and teaching her the sounds of the Dreaded Baby Boomer (again, from XBox - Left for Dead) ....

"BLUUAAAGHHHH"

The Zombie Apocalypse

Granny hates zombies.

Oh sure, we all hate zombies, don't we? But they really irk Granny these days. The reason is Left 4 Dead. This Xbox game is my latest passion. Xboy and I have wasted...er, I mean "invested"...many, many hours in this latest imagination of a zombie apocalypse.In the game, players take control of one of four human survivors--Bill, Francis, Louis or Zoey--and shoot, punch and burn their way through hordes of deliciously angry zombies to safety. The game has everything--gunpowder, explosions, body parts flying everywhere, and lots and lots of zombie blood. And that's just regular play.

The heroes--Francis, Bill, Zoey and Louis

If you play online, you get to play as one of the special zombies--hunters, smokers, boomers and tanks. These specials have unique skills and are quite powerful. If there is one thing better than blowing away hundreds of zombies to reach safety, it's ganging up on four puny human beings and hacking, strangling and pounding them into oblivion.

The villains.

It is so good I have even created a diary of a survivor on a separate blog (When the Dead Rise Up), in case you are interested in important tips about killing zombies. Go over there every once in a while for some bloody undead fiction.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a real life zombie apocalypse. Just don't tell Granny.

The Pot and the Kettle

You may recall that I am an Xbox aficionado. I could play for days on end, taking breaks only to use the bathroom and get more beer from the fridge. But you have to understand, I am in complete control of my Xbox play and can stop any time I want.

You may have gotten a different impression if you read Granny's comments about how evil the Xbox is and that it takes her husband and son away from her all weekend. She claimed that if she had her way, she would smash the vile machine into a million bits. Keep that in mind as you enjoy the following picture.
Yes, that adorable sleeping child in the photo is The Granddaughter. And the woman playing Xbox while cradling that child? Granny.

You see, Santa Claus brought an Xbox game for Granny that included Luxor. I don't get the appeal of Luxor, mostly because there isn't any gunpowder involved. Granny, however, can't get enough of it. Since Christmas, her children have been complaining about the time Granny spends in front of the television playing Xbox, the game system she called "evil."

I think a retraction of Granny's previous statements is in order. Don't you?