Where did the week go?!?

Wow! I am not sure, but I think this week flew by faster than last week did. Time flies ....

Last weekend Mom was here and we had a great time! We were on the go most of the day Friday. We started out by having lunch at the Pita Pit (fresh and healthy!) The weather was warm with a nice breeze so we ate our lunches out on the patio while we shared a great conversation. Then we headed off to Walmart to gather flowers for my grandmother's grave site. We found the best flowers! Bright and cheerful colors. Grams loved bright colors, and these were orange, pink, white, yellow and vivid purples.

After we left Walmart we ventured down to South Sacramento. We decided we wanted to see the house Grams had lived in when I was a young girl. The house is in the Lemon Hill area, off of Stockton Boulevard. We had tried to find it by memory the last time Mom was here, but we kept getting turned around. This time, I had found the house on Google, and we were armed with directions.

Looking back to my childhood years, I remember Grams house as being a large, solid square of a home that sat on an over-sized yard with acres of green grass. My mother and my brother Randy used to mow the grass weekly, and it took hours for them to do. I would play in the house with my Grams, or sit on the back porch steps with my dolls and pass the time of day while they did the yard work.

There was a little parking area for Gram's car off the the right of the property and beyond that a small duplex. Out in the far back left there was another small house, but I was never allowed to go out the the house in the back. It was too far away from Grams' house, and she didn't really know the people who lived there. I did visit with the people in the little duplex, they were both older couples like my Grams and Poppa.

Grams house was always well cared for and had a clean, strong scent of pine sol, Ajax and spray starch from the hours of ironing she did. No one could iron like my Grams. Her kitchen always smelled delightful and she always had something scrumptious for us to nibble on. I have fond memories of the house and yard, and the times our family shared there.

Fast forward back to the present day (about 33 years since Grams lived on the property.) The property is actually no more than 1/2 of an acre in size and completely and totally over developed. Besides the tiny little house at the front of the property (the house Grams lived in that I remembered as being a lot bigger!) and the duplex to the right, there is now an additional duplex in the back right corner, a row of 4 apartments that from the outside look like they are no bigger than a small hotel room, an over sized parking structure that is falling apart, and another square dwelling which looks like it was intended to be housing, but looks vacant. The entire property is over grown, depressed and in shambles. The are yard cars, refuse and other items strewn about. Sad, very sad. Thank goodness for memories!

After our visit to the old property, we went to the cemetery to share some love with Grams. She passed away 2 years ago, just six weeks before I turned 40, and she would have been 100. My birthday was on the 17th of March, and hers was the 18th. She used to pretend she was mad at me for not being born on her birthday.

Mom put the beautiful flowers on Grams grave site, and we spent some time chatting "to" Grams. My Grams was a wonderful woman, and we miss her very much. I know she is watching over us.

After visiting the grave site, we headed back into Roseville. We stopped at Costco and enjoyed an afternoon of tasty samples and stocking up of yummy treats and good things to eat. Then it was home for dinner, and time to teach my Mom how to play Wii.

Mom quickly got the hang of the Wii and enjoyed bowling. Let's face it, Wii is hard not to like. What a great way to have fun and interact with your family at the same time.

On Saturday Mom and Manda ran a few errands, then we all met for a delicious Chinese food feast. I was able to spend some great time with Mom in the scrapbook room, where I helped her to create half a dozen hand stamped cards. Mom is the Sunshine chairperson for the hospital auxiliary this year. As such she sends out greeting cards to those who are ill, lost a loved one, celebrated a birthday, etc. I thought it would be nice for Mom to be able to send out cards she herself had created. She and I had a great afternoon creating cards!

On Sunday we met my niece Kayli in Auburn for breakfast. Kayli has just moved back from Oregon, and it was great to see her. She is adorable, and a wonderful, caring young lady. While we were enjoying breakfast and wonderful conversation, Mother Nature delighted us with a beautiful snowfall that dusted the landscape but did not stick to the ground. So pretty!

The weekend went by entirely too fast! Before I knew it, it was time for bed on Sunday night, and back to work on Monday.

Now it's Friday again, and I can't believe it. Hope you have had a great week!

Happy Friday!