Presidents Day

Lucy had no daycare yesterday, since it was President's Day. It was not a holiday for me or Husband, but I took the day off to spend with our little one.

We started our day by sleeping in and snuggling, can't beat that! Around 9:00 or so we left the house and headed to Choo Choo Bob's Train Store in St. Paul. I had heard about this place but we hadn't been there yet. It is a store of course, but it also has a few model trains set up, as well as several train tables and a play area in the back. Lucy had fun playing with Thomas and his friends.

After that, we headed to Target to do a little shopping and then ate lunch in the cafe. We had to fuel up for our next stop, Como Zoo! This is one of our favorite spots.  Most of the outdoor animals were inside for the winter, but they have several buildings where you can view the animals inside or through a window - aquatic animals, monkeys, big cats, and Lucy's favorite - polar bears. They weren't very active when we were there, but the special treat was that a female and male lion were both inside and easy to see close-up.

Walking between the buildings was no big deal because it was 40 degrees and sunny on this February day! It also wore Lucy out, and she fell asleep on the way home and then continued with nice nap in her own bed, which gave me some time to do a couple of things around the house. Lucy was really, really good all day and we both had a lot of fun. I could handle starting each week like this!

The Jayhawks

Lastnight I had the distinct privilege of seeing The Jayhawks in concert. I've seen them before of course, because they are one of my favorites. But this was a special show because it featured a reunited band; in particular the two original founders and vocalists together (Gary Louris and Mark Olson). It is always a good time when the Jayhawks play in Minneapolis, as this is where they got their start back in 1985.

[I would just like to pause and recognize some of the great bands that have come out of Minneapolis - Prince of course; but we also claim Uncle Tupelo, Gear Daddies, The Replacements, The Suburbs, Soul Asylum, Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic - hello, Dan Wilson just won a Grammy for writing songs with Adele! Check some of these out!]

So, back to The Jayhawks. Some may say they are a bit of an acquired taste. They definitely have a "sound" but it's difficult to explain. Alt country? Rock? Folk (ish)? I'm not really sure, but I'm sure I don't care. I just know that Louris and Olson sound really good together, and they are both amazing songwriters.

This show was simply put, great. The band sounded wonderful and the vocals were spot on. Our seats didn't hurt either...2nd row center is no shabby beats the balcony any day! I've never been that close before for a show, and it added a whole new dimension. We could see the guys up close, and hey, they looked a little older...but you know, they are  older! Yet the sound was the same. They played a mix of old stuff and new songs from their current album, Mockingbird Time. I'd only spent a little bit of time with the new album before the show, but I came to appreciate the songs even more when I heard them live. The older stuff was great and I was especially glad that "A Break in the Clouds" was played, from one of my favorite albums "Smile." While the song was playing, I leaned over to my friend Gina and said, "this  may sound weird, but this album got me through labor."

A few seconds later our friend Jacquie leans across and says, "this album got me through grad school!"

Timeless. Universal. Awesome.

Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks - State Theater, Minneapolis - 2/18/12

Caption Corner

How about a caption for this one?

Polar Bear Exhibit, Como Zoo, November 2011

Heaven is For Real

I have to start this by first saying that Husband brought a book home for me this week, titled “Heaven is For Real.” It’s about a little boy who had a near-death experience and in the months following, provided very detailed accounts about heaven and specifics about relatives he saw there, that on earth he had never met. Husband read it in a day; I have not read it yet but it’s been on my mind given some of the conversations we’ve been having with Lucy lately. It was a book that my mother-in-law, Betty, read before she passed away last fall (a gift from her brother). It has been recommended to us by many people.

Fast-forward to this morning. We were all in our bedroom and out of the blue Lucy declared, “today is great-grandma’s birthday.” Husband looked at me, and I said, “it’s neither of my grandmas. Yours?” He thought about it for a minute and noted that he thought maybe one of his grandmas had a birthday in February.

We had not been talking about great-grandmas; we had not mentioned birthdays. We chuckled at how weird that would be if Lucy had it right.

You see where this is going?

It stayed on Husband’s mind, so he reached out to his sisters and a couple of uncles and cousins. He works at a law firm, so just to make sure, he had someone pull a few records. This is the email he sent:

“Good Morning,

I just sat down with our legal research person. They were able to pull up grandma’s death certificate, obituary and her birth certificate.

Grandma Mabel was born today February 3rd 1914..

Lucy was right this morning… it is great grandmas birthday today!!!”

When I read this, I was shocked. Looking at the words now, it still gives me chills. Husband called me, and I had tears in my eyes. Grandma Mabel, consequently, is Betty’s mother. Someone she was looking forward to seeing again in heaven.

How did Lucy know, when her own dad didn’t even know his grandma’s birthday? If you ask Lucy who told her, she gets a big smile on her face and says, "Grandma."

Heaven is for real, folks. There is an angel among us.

 I didn't meet Mabel until her 90th birthday in 2004,

but I've always heard about what fun she was!

Betty is in the striped sweater and Mabel in the middle.

Betty and Mabel, not sure what year this is.

Brandon and Mabel in 1997.

He always had a special relationship with his great-grandma.

  

At our wedding in June 2006.

She passed away that fall.