so pray hard.
It has certainly occurred to me that 2016 (the best year ever) is God's way of saying "enjoy it while you can, its all about to come crashing down".
so pray hard.
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2016, the Best Year Ever, continues to impress. Last March, Jay won his first National Championship. The rings finally arrived a few weeks ago. JT kindly gave Jay a beautiful jewelry display box as well. It has a glass top, with UST’s logo, name, the year, event and Jay’s name etched in it. When you open the lid, a tiny light displays the rings to perfection. I say ‘rings’ merely because Jay has several. He even lost one in a break in over 30 years ago. This is his first National title ring but he has a Big Ten conference ring from ’82, a 25th anniversary Big Ten ring and the ring he was given when he was inducted into the NJCAA basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. The National Champion ring is half again as big as the others. The Championship season went exactly how one hopes a season would go. They didn’t look like world beaters from the beginning. They were good but they lost a few games (30-3), which is actually healthy for a team. It’s good that they know they’re not invincible. They just kept getting better as the season progressed, culminating in the Championship game, when every single player brought his best game to the floor. One young man, Ryan Saarala, played completely out of his mind. I had no idea he could be so good! How awesome is that, for the last game of your career to be your best game ever and in a National title game at that? Spring came early and summer was warm, sunny and fun. Royana came back to visit! The draught is over, the lakes and creek are higher than I’ve ever seen them in autumn but most of the rain has been at night. I think we’ll have a very snowy year; there’s no reason to believe the precipitation will end just because we’ve passed the equinox. Back in June, Katie told us she and Adam are expecting! Not only expecting but twins! Identical twins, which is rare and totally unpredictable! Girls, of course, as it’s 2016. I can’t think of anything cuter than a matched pair of little girls who are Katie and Adam’s. I can’t wait. My sister booked a national ad campaign, my nephew started his own company, three more little Pivec descendants are, or have already arrived, my niece(s) got married and Hamilton, the hip hop version of the American Revolution, played by an all minority cast, the best musical of my lifetime, maybe in the history of Broadway, is sweeping the nation. We went to NYC and several cousins ran into each other unexpectedly in Manhattan. The likelihood of that happening are like two random needles finding each other in a haystack but it happened. Not one, but two new Star Wars movies by the end of the year. And last night, the Cubs won the World Series. Don't tell me miracles don't happen. It’s as if God has been shouting “Don’t worry about a thing, I got this!” since the year began. So next week, we’re choosing a president from among the two worst choices in all of American history: a scandal monger currently under investigation by the FBI and a crass pig*. You’ll have to forgive me for not being angst ridden but I’m not worried about the outcome. We may (and probably are) in for some hard years but we can handle it. Sometimes hard times are necessary to become the people we’re supposed to be. This has been a year of unpredictable**, improbable and possibly miraculous events. No one knows what the future holds but I say: Bring it on! *as for who I’m supporting, well, in the choice between evil and stupid, I’ll take stupid every time. Plus, I’m voting for the person most likely to get impeached if he breaks the law. **The opposite being the crash of Obamacare and skyrocketing premiums. the opposite of unpredictable is 'inevitable'. We had a fun October. It started with friends from Montana visiting, beautiful weather, the Ryder Cup, painting lessons and a trip to New York. Last week, I painted the ceiling of the new nursery. Katie chose a gorgeous shade of lilac to compliment the pale cream on the walls. She and I went to my favorite fabric warehouse to think about curtains for the two rooms she’s working on. We found some for the down stairs guestroom. She painted the walls a silvery gray and the sleigh bed she found on craig’s list hot pink. It looks fantastic. Right now, the curtains are a non-descript green and yellow ticking. They bring absolutely nothing to the party. We found some fabric that is two shades of gray with shots of hot pink. Oh, the dresser she put in there is a beautiful old waterfall front three drawer piece that she got out of a dumpster! I’m so proud of her; she’s the fourth generation of furniture recyclers. She painted the dresser dark blue and stenciled the drawers with white and put some crystal and brass pulls on it. It looks great. We didn’t buy anything for the girls’ room because Katie isn’t absolutely sure yet what color she wants to go with. She’s going to find the rug first, then we’ll choose something jewel toned for the windows. The room is going to be spectacular and not at all what you think of when someone says ‘nursery’. We also went to Menards because Katie wants to get new countertops and a new sink. Her kitchen is small but super cute. She can make the changes she wants quickly and inexpensively, which is a good thing. We’ve only got two months left before the girls arrive. We want the house to be ready before that but if it’s not, that’s okay too; it’ll all get done. We didn’t do any of that shopping until afternoon because the kiddles were here with me in the morning. Babydoll and Babalouie came over while their dad helped a friend move into his new house. We had a fun morning! First we baked cookies, then Babalouie and I went out to play some football in the backyard. When he asked me to play football, I thought we were going to play some catch with his nerf football but that’s not at all what he had in mind. He wanted me to play defense. Soon as we hit the grass, he began to cackle with excitement. He had the ball in his hands and began to jink, spin, cut back, stop start and run past me. The kid has moves! As soon as I realized the game we were playing, I made some moves like I was going to tackle him. He giggled harder than ever and when he got too excited, he pegged the football at me. I tossed it back to him and we started again. Before we went outside, I’d put the last tray of cookies in the oven. Babydoll stayed in the house with Katie (they were playing something that involved lots of dolls) and as I went out, I said to her “when the buzzer goes off on the cookies, come to the back door and yell for me, okay?” She promised she would. Katie was lying on the living room couch when the buzzer went off. She heard Babydoll yelling “Nana, the cookies are done!” but could tell she wasn’t anywhere near the back door. “Where are you?” she called. “I’m goin’ potty!” Babydoll replied. I say she fulfilled her end of the bargain. Katie got the cookies. They were the best cookies ever. Sunday, Katie came to mass with us since Fr. Park was doing a special blessing for expectant mothers. Afterwards, Jay took us to brunch at Hoyt’s. They do a fabulous brunch. We had a really good time. Ty, Megan and the kids came back into town for dinner and this time, the kids were in their Halloween costumes. Babydoll has the Elsa costume that lights up and sings. She had her hair in a side braid, just like the Snow Queen. Babalouie had a spiderman costume complete with muscles. He even has matching crocs. Megan and I left the kids with their dad and Coach and we ran out to the Carter’s store, which Megan hadn’t been to, yet. We had a lot of fun. I bought two sunsuits for the girls that should fit them next summer and an outfit for Babydoll so she’ll match her little cousins. Thanks to my reward points, I spent a whopping $2.76. Megan got outfits for the kids for picture day and gifts for several baby showers coming up. Then we dashed into the Dress Barn next door and Megan bought a dress for a wedding she and Ty have coming up. When we got home, Babalouie wanted to play some baseball so we did. I pitched to him in the backyard for about a half an hour. He hit about .250, which is pretty damn good for a two year old. Ty told me that although he loves golf, football and basketball, baseball seems to be his favorite. He’s two. He doesn’t have to pick a favorite. Not now, not ever. And he has a backyard full of horses, so we’ll see. Today was Halloween. It was in the fifties and drizzly. In other words: perfect. As usual, we all met over at Katie’s, where there was a bonfire and a pot of chilli and more candy than we could give away. MJ brought all her kids. Nanners was a witch, Bean had the exact same singing, dancing Elsa dress that Babydoll wore the day before and Tot was a dragon. Or a dinosaur, I’m not really sure. There’s not really a difference, is there? It was fun trick or treating but I miss the old days when Josie was a kid. She was Olympic gold medalist of trick or treating. I can’t believe it’s been eight years since she hung up her pillow case. Next year, we’ll have matching babies to dress in costume! It’s going to be so much fun. Some ideas: an angel and a devil; Laurel and Hardy; Rosemary Clooney and Vera Allen; Thing One and Thing Two; the creepy ass girls in the Shining; a cowboy and an Indian; a two headed baby; Santa and Rudolph; a pack of Marlboros and a bottle of Jack Daniels; Tweetie and Sylvester; Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck…the possibilities are endless! November begins tomorrow. Let Eating Season begin! |
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