Breaking Headline News

Yes, I’ve been absent from MSJ for a week!  Eeeegads!  I do declare that I’ve been a tad on the occupied side.  Here are the latest headlines that should shed light on my week:

Forty-Four Year Old is Elated with Chair.  This, of course, makes my fantastic, new, green, down-wrapped reading chair sound fuddy-duddy-ish, but it’s not!  It even came with an ottoman…. and it matches my bedspread perfectly.  If you know me at all, or even slightly, you may be aware that I am a reading fiend…. a book hound… honestly, I have a wanderlust for literature.  Up to ten tomes can be found on and under my bedside table at all times.  Topics range from Christian Historical Fiction to Adoption to Devotionals for Women to homeschooling to encyclopedias to Arizona History and even Strunk and White Elements of Style.  All that to say…. I can hardly believe that I waited until my 44th birthday to request a reading chair for my bedroom.  It is a little green slice of heaven for me sitting there in my room!

Sixteen-Year-Old Sews Up $50K!  This is a prophetic headline, as my daughter finishes hand-beading and sewing her prom dress that she is entering in the JoAnn’s Prom Dress Contest.  I knew this kid had talent…. but seriously, she can sew straighter lines than I can…. and I’ve been sewing for 127 years!  And Beading!  Be still my bead-loving-heart!  The contest prizes are almost unbelievable!  $50,000 + $1,000 JoAnn’s gift card for first place!  WOW!  Can you say C O L L E G E?  Second place: $20,000 + $500 gift card.  Can you say C A R?  Third place: $10,000 + $250 gift card.  Can you say A W E S O M E   V A C A T I O N    W I T H    M O M?  Ten runner-up prizes of $1,000 + $100 gift card EACH!  Can you say S A V I N G S   A C C O U N T?  The winner is not announced until July or August, but when Larisa wins one of these fantastic prizes, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be broadcasted live here!  A sneak peek:

Children Dragged Through Museum.  This, again, sounds harsh and un-fun.  But no.  Yes, it was my birthday yesterday.  You usually get to do things you love on the day celebrating your birth, right?  Well, I’m a closet history buff who stores trivial historical knowledge in my head.  Take me to a museum and I start to salivate.  Drop me off in an old cemetary with simply a canteen and I’ll be overjoyed.  It was my husband’s idea too, not mine.  When he suggested we tour a Native American museum on the day celebrating his wife’s birth, I was all for it.  A lively, minute docent leeched onto our family and was thrilled that I asked questions and needed detailed information about all the fascinating items on display.  My family slowly distanced themselves from me and my new friend.  Off in the corner I heard my husband tell our children while nodding toward the tour guide, “THERE is your mom when she’s 63!”  Grief!  And on my birthday!

There’s more… but I’ll save some for tomorrow!

?#4 from My Sister’s Jar – Dear Grandma

 Leroy and Eddie (my dad) Nikander c.  1942?  and (my grandparents) Rev. Gus and Mary Nikander  c. 1927?

Write a letter to someone in your past.  Thank them or relive a favorite memory you have of him or her.

Dear Grandma Nikander,

You have been with Jesus now for 14 years – I know because you passed away right after I gave birth to Larisa.

I have many childhood memories of carefree visits to your home in Heppner, Ore.  Your Swedish pancakes were my favorite breakfast that you fixed.  You’ll be pleased to know that Auntie Margaret included the recipe in her church’s cookbook – and gave me one.  So I make them weekly for my kids, who love them as much as I did.  They asked for them this morning.

We ended up having so much in common but I didn’t really discover it until years after you died.  I love family history and would love the opportunity to ask you questions about your grandparents.  I have the family Bible they bought in Oregon City.  It is a treasure to me.  And I’m so thankful that you wrote the names and dates on the backs of all the old family photographs.  (Rob and Christy don’t care about them AT ALL, but I do.)

Three weeks ago Mom had a luncheon for her friends and she used the hand-painted set of china dishes that you made.  That was one long project, to be sure.  It is beautiful.  I used to relish browsing through your shelves of ware and picking out a piece of china to paint at your side.  It made me feel so grown-up to sign my wobbly name on each pathetically painted masterpiece.

I have taken my family to Heppner to see your home and Grandpa’s church.  We went through the museum and read your name on so many items that you donated.  Generous.  I found it comical that the two weirdest items in the whole museum were from our ancestors.  Hmmmmm.  Who in the world used the Ultra-Violet Ray Machine?  And what for?  The other priceless contraption was the multiple-octopus-looking hair curling device that had more wiry black arms than Medusa had snakes. I bet that made your mama look purty.

I think I’m the only grand-kid who cares about the history of the family ~ see, you would have liked me.  It is through your ancestors that blood lineage was traced back to a patriot of the American Revolution and I have become a member of the Daughters. The only other DAR hopeful is my niece, Katelyn.  We’ll see.  There only seems to be one person from each generation interested in family genealogy fluff. 

Last Fall your boys turned 70 and 75.  You would be proud of their dedication to their families and to the Lord.  They have not departed from your training in the way.  The Lord was faithful to his promise. Your five grand-kids have had 13 great grand-kids.  When we adopt our girl from Colombia, you will have 14.  There is not one, sadly, that inherited your dark, curly hair.  Grandpa’s Finish blood ran strong with mostly blondes.

I look forward to seeing you in heaven.

Love, Linda Ann  “The Other One”