Headlights.

One night I came back from rehab and asked Grammy if WalMart sells headlights because one of mine is out. Grammy got really excited and went and yelled down to Papa to come upstairs and go to WalMart with us because my headlight was out. When Papa came up, he started quizzing me on what I know about changing lights on cars. I told him that I’m a professional because my car’s lights used to go out all the time.  He responded with: “What?! Not while you lived here, right?!”  I told him it was when I was in college, so I had to learn how to change them all. We all piled in the car and headed to WalMart.  When we got there, we discovered that a small, red car had parked in Papa’s parking spot. Not a good way to start off a WalMart trip.  One time I asked Papa what he does when someone parks in his spot and he told me he just goes home.  He didn’t do that when Grammy and I were with him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t do it when he’s by himself. 

Anyway, Papa and I headed back to the auto section and while passing the paints, Papa flagged down an employee to help us. Papa likes to get help from the employee’s at WalMart. Like when we bought the TV and he became besties with the electronics guy. The employee took us right back to the car bulbs and helped us find the right one. Papa was impressed with his knowledge.  The man that helped us find the bulb is the same man who helped me pick out a new car stereo, complete with a CD player and an iPod plug. (I know. I finally joined the world of new technology. I also just got texting this year. I’m so technologically advanced!) While he was helping me pick out the perfect CD player, the guy asked me: “You’re not going to listen to your music with the bass on full-blast, because I cannot handle that and I think it is one of the rudest thing someone can do! I hate those stupid teenagers who pull up next to me and make my car shake!”  It was a pretty intense lecture. I told him I never listen to my music loudly and I turn the bass completely off (like I would EVER admit that I listen to my music on full-blast after that sermon!) Anyway, my original car stereo was more of a static-player. It only picked up two stations, and I was usually lucky if I got those.  The only way I lived with it for 2 years is because I had an iPod and an iPod adapter. Then, this summer, my iPod was stolen so I was left music-less. I don’t know why someone would want to steal my iPod. It was one of the really old, really chunky, really heavy white ones. I guess a really old, really chunky, really heavy iPod is better than no iPod, though.

Papa is really impressed with my auto mechanic skills.  After we bought the bulb, we went home and I started installing it. Papa kept asking me: “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Have you really done this before?”  I knew what I was doing. I have done it before. Many, many times. Poor SnowShamrock.  Anyway, Papa just watched me work and when I was done, he looked at me and asked me: “Have you ever thought about being a mechanic?”  I just laughed.  The only things I really know how to do on my car are check my fluids, change my bulbs, check/change my fuses, and fill it with gas.  And connect a new stereo. Well, I guess it was more of a CD player. Whatever it is called, I must admit, I am very proud of my stereo-inserting skills.  I had no idea what changing the stereo would entail and it turns out, you have to unscrew the whole front panel to pull out the old stereo. This was the easy part. After that, I had to connect all these wires by twisting them together and taping them all with electrical tape and then fitting the CD player into a sort of stereo cradle that would fit in the car and then connecting some more wires and then putting the front panel back on.  Papa and I made many trips to WalMart on our stereo day.  Every time we went, Papa found the employee in the car section and asked him what to do. He turned out to be an expert in inserting car stereos. Convenient. Maybe I should be a mechanic. Perhaps I’ll get my master’s degree in car stereos and headlights instead of public health. 

Fire.

So yesterday, I got home from work and the electric company was working on the wires next to our house. I walked inside and Grammy was lying on the couch by the fire reading and Papa was watching the electric workers from the table. I told them it looks like they had a relaxing day, and that is when I found out the truth. Apparently, a huge truck was delivering something on the street and it ran into a telephone pole. Well, somehow, the collision split a wire and made the wires in our back yard fall, and when they fell, a huge fire started between our house and our neighbor's house. Grammy said she looked outside and the wire that fell had caught her birdhouse and it was swinging it all around and then she saw the fire.
The firemen and policemen and electric company and cable company (and probably some neighbors) were all in our backyard doing their jobs, but Papa wasn't home, so Grammy went to find him. She had to have a fireman manually open our garage door so she could get the Lincoln out. Since Papa didn't say where he was going, Grammy just went to WalMart to see if he was there, and he was, so she started paging him over the intercom. Papa said that it was not necessary for her to page him, but Grammy just said: "There was a fire in our backyard! You should carry a phone! Or at least tell me where you're going!!" Papa said he didn't know where he was going when he left. Turns out, he went to Bland and had lunch and then went to WalMart.
Grammy said she stood outside with the neighbor for a long time making sure things were ok, but then came inside because her feet were cold. Grammy hates it when her feet are cold. She always tells me that she can handle pretty much any weather as long as her feet are warm. On one of my snow days around Christmastime, Grammy and I went down to WalMart and rang the Salvation Army bell for a few hours. I swear it was one of the coldest days of the year, so we had to take turns standing outside and jingling the bell. I had a little cold, so Grammy wouldn't let me stay out and ring very long and she justified this by telling me she was wearing warm socks and her feet aren't cold so she was fine. Oh Grammy.
Anyway, after a while of just watching, Grammy and I sent Papa outside to check on everything, because we still didn't have power which is why we were all huddled by the fire. Papa didn't want to go check at first because he said: "I don't want to get involved. Sometimes it's best if you just stay out of it." Grammy and I sent him anyway because we wanted power. We were already making our worst case scenerio plans that would keep us in warm places for the majority of the night:
1) Go out to eat and stay there for a long time. Grammy said we would have to think of the restaurant with the comfiest seats.
2) Go to rehab early so we could exercise and get warm and then shower there. She told me there used to be a pool at rehab, so we could just take all of our stuff with us and bathe there.
3) Find all the candles in the house.
4) Sleep in the living room by the fire.
Papa was most worried about not having the TV or computer working. The first thing he said to me when I walked in after work was: "We don't have power. Do you know what that means?" and I knew what that meant. It meant no TV and no computer.
Luckily, the electricians got the power back on, so we didn't have to have to worry about our worst-case scenerios. Right when we figured out the power was on, Papa got to work fixing the cable (it was almost 5:30 and we didn't want to miss Jim Lehrer at 6!). Since our power was out when we started dinner, it was a Soup and Sandwich night (since the only way we had to cook anything was with the gas stove) complete with turkey and cheese sandwiches (yes, I actually put turkey on my sandwich this time!), tomato soup and cottage cheese with fruit. We also had my favorite pickles of all time. We call them Granny Green's Pickles, because they are Papa's mother's secret recipe. Papa makes them with the cucumbers he grows in his garden. I didn't think I liked sweet pickles until Papa made me try them and it turns out, I really love them! Maybe that's why he keeps making me try ham; he thinks I'll eventually like it.
After dinner, Papa was really anxious to clear the table. Grammy and I were just sitting there watching the news when Papa came up and asked:
Papa: Hey, you about finished?
Julie: Why? Are you going to kick us out?
Papa: laughs I don't know.
Julie: Well, you know what Grammy and I are? We're fighters, so you better be careful, right Grammy?
Grammy: That's right!
Papa knows we're strong because we go to rehab every night. Every day after dinner, Papa asks us if we're going to go to rehab and we always reply yes. Rehab has changed a lot over the time we've gone there. When we first started going, Grammy and I were the only people there, but now there are like 12 really buff guys that work out at the same time as us. Whenever we pull up, Grammy always comments on how many cars are in the parking lot and says: "All those boys must be here. I don't know where they came from!" We keep trying to get Papa to go, but he won't go with us. Maybe he just wants more free time.
When the weather was nice, Papa did used to bike around town every night. He would just pedal around and talk to everyone and scope out where the best gardens in town are. He would also bring dog treats to feed his dog friends. And then, he would bike to McDonald's and get an ice cream cone before he biked back home. One time I went with him and it was very leisurely. We biked really slowly and saw some really big gardens. Then we went to the ATM to get cash so we could get ice cream at McDonald's to cancel out our exercising. When it started getting colder, Grammy and I tried to make him stop biking, especially when it was raining, but he would just disappear and then we would hear the garage door opening and would see him bike away. Eventually it got cold enough he couldn't go.

Light Dinner Night.

Tonight I came home from work expecting a small dinner because we had a really huge lunch. When we have small dinners we either have:
1) Cereal. Grammy and I have our frosted puffed wheat. This stuff is incredible, believe me. It comes in a huge, economy sized bag and some people may look down on it because it is a generic brand. Ye of little faith. It is one of the greatest things my taste buds have ever had the privilege of tasting. Basically, it is the same as Smacks, that cereal with the frog mascot, if anyone remembers those. (Earlier in the year, Grammy thought she wanted regular, not frosted, puffed wheat, and she said she could never find it, so Mom and I found it for her. It was sick. Regular puffed wheat=soggy.) Papa eats Honey Nut Cheerios with fruit on it. Sometimes Grammy mixes in some Grape Nuts with her puffed wheat to give it some nutrients and on her particularly daring nights, she puts Grape Nuts and fruit in it. Since I don't really like mixing my food, I just have my puffed wheat, straight up. (I only eat fruit in my cereal with regular Cheerios. Unless you count the raisins in Raisin Bran.) In the case of dinner, the category "cereal" never includes oatmeal. It makes Papa too nauseous.

2) Sandwiches and soup. Usually, Grammy and Papa have ham and cheese sandwiches. I always have grilled cheese sandwiches because I could live on grilled cheese. Like I said, I used to eat it for lunch and dinner every single day. Plus, I don't like ham. On sandwich night, Papa usually buys some special bread. He likes to buy bread for me. Every week he comes home with something different:
-Everything bread: A delightful bread topped with an array of seeds and spices that will have you asking for more.
-Italian bread: This bread has a crunchy crust matched with a soft and fluffy middle. Sassy and sweet.
-French bread: Soft from the outside in, this bread goes well with any meal. Kid approved!
-Rosemary and Herb bread: A scrumptious Italian loaf with rosemary and herbs covering the top. Perfect for a turkey sandwich.
-Wheat bread: Trying to eat healthier? Try the whole wheat loaf, made especially for you by your friends at WalMart.
Even if Grammy and I make bread, he always brings home some more. Sometimes I think he brings home lots of bread because it is his little hint to Grammy and me that he wants french toast on the weekend. Papa also likes to buy me yogurt. When he found out I like yogurt, he came home every day with a different brand and type. Now that I decided I like Yoplait Light yogurt, he comes home every day with a different flavor.
Anyway, back to soup and sandwiches. We always grill our sandwiches. Grammy and Papa like lots of butter on theirs when they grill it, but I don't like any. It gets too greasy with all that melted butter. We eat Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup. This is the most amazing tomato soup we've ever had. It is tangy and sweet and goes perfectly with a warm grilled cheese. One can doesn't quite feed us, but two cans is too much so we always have extra, which we don't like, but a person can only eat so much tomato soup.

3) Frozen pizza. Papa doesn't really like pizza, so we usually have this on light dinner nights that he is at Lion's club. We eat Supreme pizzas.

To accompany Light Dinner Night meals, we usually have cottage cheese with fruit on it. Grammy and Papa put pineapples on their cottage cheese and I put peaches on mine.

Anyway, I thought tonight was going to be a Sandwich and Soup night, but I was wrong. Grammy didn't really like her french toast she had for lunch and she was hungry so she said she wanted a real dinner. Papa and I weren't hungry, but we ate anyway. We had baked potatoes, baked beans, bread and jelly, and ham. I told Papa I don't like ham, but he assured me that:
Papa: This ham is 99% fat free! I think you'll like it!
Julie: Oh yeah? Well, I bet I can find some fat on it.
Papa: I'm sure you can. I'm going to give you this center piece where there is no fat.
Julie: I don't like ham.
Papa: Don't worry, I gave myself that 1% fat.

I don't like ham.

Later, my sister called us from New Zealand, so we were telling her about our day and what we had for dinner:
Julie: Guess what Papa made me eat for dinner?
Rachel: Ham.
Julie: You're right. I don't like ham.
Papa: But you ate it!
Julie: No I didn't. I only ate a bite and then I put it in a baggy in the fridge.
Papa just laughed and said: "Well, I wish I would have known that while we were at the table." I'm glad he didn't know. He would have made me eat more.

Country Kitchen.

Today, Grammy and Papa came down to Cuba for lunch. My aunt, Melissa, was in town to visit her family so we all went out to lunch at Country Kitchen. Aunt Melissa thought we were meeting at noon and Grammy thought we were meeting at 11:30, so Grammy, Papa and I had some quality time together while we waited for everyone else.
On Friday I have an interview at MU for a work study job with Jumpstart, a national program to improve language and literacy skills in at-risk preschoolers, so I was telling Grammy and Papa about it. Papa said that if I go back to MU, they'll come visit me. I told Papa I didn't believe him because he only visited me a few times during my four years of undergrad. Grammy said:
Grammy: No, we visited you more than that!
Julie: No you didn't. It was only two times! I remember that because I loved it so much.
(One time they visited we went and had thai food because Papa had never had it. He ordered tea, but the tea there has milk in it because it is thai tea, so he sent it back.)
They both laughed and then Papa said: "I'm glad I don't hear everything"
Papa asked me what my little brother, Logan, was up to. I told him Logan is very busy and I don't really know what he does besides homework and hanging out with his friends. Papa asked what schools Logan was thinking about, so I told him:
Julie: He applied to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Dartmouth and Brown.
Papa: And Mizzou. He's already admitted there, but he just won't take my advice.
Julie: I know. Not like me.
Papa: You always take my advice, don't you?
Julie: Oh, of course.
Grammy just laughs when Papa talks about giving me advice. His advice always points toward MU. The other night, Papa was talking to me about grad school and I told him that I would probably go to MU and he walked around the room telling me "Well, that just made my night." I also found out that he already made a deposit in my MU account because he thinks that will bind me there. He's a tricky one. One day, my sister and I were talking to Papa about MU and how our brother, Andy, went away to the east coast for college and Rachel asked Papa: "Why don't you try to get Andy to MU?" Papa just shook his head and said: "We already lost him." Later, Papa said that Andy would be back in the Midwest eventually. I asked him why he was so sure, but Papa said he just knows these things.
After our Logan conversation, Papa told us: "I wonder where they are. I had some other things planned for today." Grammy and I just laughed and asked him what he had to do. He told us he had pretty important things to do.
Toward the end of our meal, Papa started talking about all the things he has to do today, so Grammy started asking him what important things he could have: "What do you have to do? Is it about time to go to McDonald's? I know you have such a busy life."
Papa just laughed. I bet it was McDonald's.

Anyway, when Aunt Melissa and her dad and brother arrived, we decided to go to Country Kitchen. Actually, Grammy said we should go to the BBQ place, but Papa said they marinate their meat too long and he wanted to go to Country Kitchen so we could have more variety. He ordered french toast and told Grammy: "I'm going to see if this french toast is better than what you make." We laughed because we know he really will tell her. He said he couldn't tell if it was better because the syrup was so good. I told him that's because we have sugar-free syrup at home. I wouldn't be surprised if he did think they were better, though; Papa doesn't like homemade things anymore. When Grammy and I bake cookies, Papa always comes home with store-bought cookies because he says he likes them better. I think it's because he knows how much work goes into cooking now that he is the head chef of the household. Which goes back to the reason we have bag meals.
Last week we had a chicken teriyaki bag meal. We added a lot of extra chicken to it. Papa loved it.

Belles.

Wednesday night means belle choir practice. (Yes, I've forever changed the spelling of the word "bell" when referring to "bell choirs"). I'm not sure why all of our belle choir music has the word "bell" spelled with an "e," but I do have some predictions:

1) There is a town close by called Belle, MO. Maybe the person who wrote "belles" on all of our music:
a) is from Belle
b) loves Belle, MO

2) It is possible that the person who wrote on our music just finished watching Beauty and the Beast, starring Belle. I mean, what an inspiring movie! Independence, creativity, true love despite appearances...a definite inspiration. Though, I never liked the movie growing up because:
a) it was my sister's favorite movie
b) my sister looks like Belle and that was annoying

3) Maybe the author simply likes to spell things with an extra "e" on the end. If this is the reason, I completely understand! I love writing "e's," especially in cursive and especially at the end of words. Take my first name, for example. Grab a pen and paper and see how fun it is to write my name! It is just a bunch of loops:

And it wouldn't be the same without that "e" on the end.

4) Maybe "bell" was actually spelled "belle" a long time ago. The music is really old, so maybe the spelling has changed. Maybe one day, someone decided that the "e" was unnecessary, so they just started spelling "bell" without it. Then they probably bribed Merriam-Webster with bazillions of dollars so they would make "bell" the "official" spelling.

There are seven of us in the belle choir. I have three belles (the F, F# and G) and everyone else has at least four, but that's okay because I'm not very good. Whenever we're playing, I tend to space out and then I get lost and then I just hold my belles up and look at the music and pretend like I know where we are. The ladies on the ends with the really high belles and the really low belles all have like eight belles each. They are amazing. Someday I will play eight belles, too, and my life will be complete. I stand next to Virginia (who plays the A, Ab, B, and Bb). Sometimes she gets lost, too and stands there and pretends like she knows where we are, which makes me feel better about my lack of belle playing ability. I've also discovered that I play better when I stick my tongue out. In fact, I concentrate better on everything when I stick my tongue out. Especially things like cutting with scissors and tracing things; basically anything that involves coordination or skill.

We play in church the second Sunday of each month. We get to church an hour early so we can practice and perfect our music. My favorite part about playing at church is that it doesn't really matter how well we play, because the congregation is over 75 and thinks it sounds good no matter how badly we play. Plus, I think belles sound good all the time because they echo. Echoing is great. My other favorite part is that we get to wear these awesome robes. They are dark blue and have huge, flowing sleeves that tighten at the wrists with elastic. They make me feel like an angel.

McFlurry.

This weekend Grammy, Papa, Mom, Dad, Logan and I all piled into the Lincoln and went to the Lake of the Ozarks for the afternoon. It was quite a cozy ride. I got the front middle seat, between Dad and Papa. Papa kept talking to me about my driving:
Papa: Julie and I made a deal about driving. She's going to drive 10 mph below the speed limit.
Julie: No we didn't, Papa. I said I would consider driving 10 below, but after some consideration, I decided I'm not going to.
Papa: I don't know about that. I got the engine of this car cleaned. It looks brand new. Mark, I'll show it to you when we stop somewhere.
We ate at my mom's favorite restaurant, On the Rise Bakery and Bistro. The menu was really fancy so Grammy and I had to interpret it for Papa. He wanted quiche (Grammy and Papa pronounce it "kish"), but they had already stopped serving breakfast. He finally chose a Bourbon Burger, and loved it. Mom was really worried he wasn't going to like the restaurant, but he said his burger was perfect. He cut off a piece so he could show us how well they did at cooking it. Plus, it had some shaved ham on top, and we all know how much Papa likes ham.
After lunch, we went to the outlet mall and shopped our little hearts out. Grammy is a really good shopper and could shop constantly for days if we let her. She looks at every little thing and loves it. Papa shopped a little, but then sat in the car. When my dad brought bags to the car, Papa popped out of the front seat and showed him how clean the engine is. I still haven't seen the engine, but I'm sure my time will come. He wants to take my car in to get the engine cleaned, but I'm afraid they'll find something else wrong with it. Poor SnowValentine.
On our way home, we stopped at McDonald's for a snack. We all ordered McFlurrys, but Papa got a vanilla cone (his usual). Right before he paid, he got nervous and decided to change his order to a McFlurry like the rest of us. While we were waiting for our food, Logan and I went and sat down and Papa came over and said: "These McCurry things must be pretty good." Logan laughed and said: "It's a McFlurry and they are really good."
I love McFlurrys. I asked Papa if he liked it, but he said he doesn't think he'll get it again. I guess he just really loves those ice cream cones. And the pies. While we were waiting for our McFlurrys, Papa bought 2 cherry pies. He kept telling us: "They're 2 for $1! Isn't that a great deal?" Papa loves McDonalds.

Strawberry hats.

Grammy likes to knit. She has a knitting bag that she brings with her everywhere, just in case there is any down time. She can knit pretty much anything, but my favorite things she knits are her strawberry hats that she gives to every baby she meets. Grammy also started knitting blueberry hats for baby boys, but we decided the strawberries are cuter. Recently, Grammy found a pattern for snowman hats, which are white with an orange carrot nose and a pom-pom on top.

Anyway, last fall, Grammy knitted a strawberry hat to auction at the annual church turkey supper and quilt auction. My friend Abby really wanted to buy the hat to give to her boyfriend's new niece. We sat through the auctioning of all of the quilts (well, Abby and my friend AJ sat; my sister and I always have to be the girls that hold up and show the quilts) and finally, it was time for the strawberry hat. Abby started bidding, and the hat must have been a hot item, because it surpassed her $10 limit almost immediately. It turns out, Papa was bidding on it and won it back. I asked him why he bought it because we don't know any babies, and he just said "Grammy worked really hard on it, I didn't want to see it go for a low price." Oh Papa. When we got home, Grammy sold it to Abby anyway.

Like I said, my sister and I always have to show off the quilts during the auction. Every year. For all of time. Ever since we were little, we were at the quilt auction holding up stuffed ducks and baby quilts for people to bid on. Rachel likes it, but I don't. This year, Abby and AJ came down for the evening, so I was sure I wouldn't have to hold things up, but I was wrong. I sat down, and Rachel came over and told me to get up because we had a job to do. I should have figured because we pretty much run the entire quilt auction anyway. We set up all the quilt racks, hang up all the quilts, hold up the quilts, take down all the quilt racks and pack them away. It's all worth it though because the St. Peter's UCC Annual Turkey Supper is the greatest church dinner in all of the world. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, homemade applebutter and rolls, all piled high on a disposable plate. Then comes the dessert table; a mouth-watering array of pies, cakes and cookies, made with love. On each table are different kinds of cranberry sauce, so you can choose your favorite. And you can't forget the coleslaw.

The amazing, super secret Church Lady Coleslaw. We have this at almost every church dinner. Slightly sweet, but with a kick of vinegar. One year, it was Grammy's job to make the coleslaw, so she made the dressing, using apple-cider vinegar and the church ladies FLIPPED OUT. Apparently it is supposed to be made with regular vinegar. Heaven forbid. My family just sat at the table and talked loudly about how great we thought the coleslaw was. If there is one thing these lady's don't like, it is change, that's for sure. Making applebutter last fall was pretty intense, I'll tell you what. Some said it had too much cinnamon, some said it was not sweet enough, some hated the sugar-free, and some, like Grammy and me, thought that it was fine. (We're not very picky about our applebutter. We lovingly accept all flavors.)

My dad and I went to help Grammy and the church ladies make the applebutter. I kind of figured that Dad and I would be doing a lot of work, because we would be one of the few participants under the age of 75, but I could not have been more wrong. We basically stood around and watched the ladies bustle around. I offered to help them with the stirring and lifting of boxes, but they all said they were fine. The coveted job is stirring the applebutter in the large kettles. Those ladies would get so worked up over who had gotten to stir the pot too long, while the men and I would just sit back and watch them. I'm actually confused about why they think they don't have enough help. All I did the whole time was wipe applebutter off the side of the jars after pouring.

This is how Grammy hurt her shoulder, aka the reason she isn't allowed to shovel snow with Papa and me. Grammy wanted to make some applebutter with fresh apples, so she went and picked them and then peeled and cooked them all. Then, right after applebutter day, Grammy's arm started hurting. While I slumbered that night, the ambulance made a visit to our house (apparently I can sleep through anything) because Grammy thought she was having heart problems. She wasn't. It was just too much apple picking. So we started going to rehab. Right after applebutter day a few years ago, Grammy had to have a stent put in. Applebutter is a stressful activity. Papa wants her to quit for two reasons:

1) For her health

2) And because whatever Grammy volunteers for, Papa ends up helping with also, which brings us back to Papa's need for more free time.