Oh, It's A Sad Day In The Gray House

Well, I've know this day would come for several months now, but I can't believe it has come and gone and Joan is gone as well. It all started almost 12 years ago when I left my last paralegal job. She took me in and made sure I didn't starve or feel too sorry for myself and she's been a part of me ever since. (Well, I guess you could actually say it started when I was born, but...) She helped pack up our entire townhouse when we moved here and Ansley was a newborn. She kept Ansley as a baby, came two days a week when Zack was born and after the kids got older dropped back down to once a week. But, really, the only thing the kids have ever known is that Aunt Joan comes. It was hard to say goodbye. Actually, I couldn't. I just had to go upstairs. When I heard her leave I came back down to first find Zack in tears, next came Ansley and then we were all bawling on the floor.

She has been such a huge part of our family and we'll miss her terribly, but we'll still see her and when the new baby is bigger it will be fun to go and see them. I've thought a lot about what Joan has meant to us and here are just a few small things that will never be the same again.

-The Christmas Village will never be set up because she is the only one who knows how to do it.
-The house will be dark because she was the changer of the light bulbs.
-Everyone will wear wrinkled clothes because she's the best and only ironer here.
-The thingy in the washing machine that holds the fabric softener will always be cruddy because she was the one that cleaned it out.
-Summer clothes will never be switched out for winter and vice versa. She always took charge of that task.
-Drawers will go unstraightened generally.
-I don't even want to think of what the inside of the refrigerator will look like. She was the best at cleaning and organizing that thing.

I could go on and on. She was the best and we'll miss her. She tried to leave her garage door opener behind but I wouldn't let her. I'm hoping that she'll still need to use it occasionally.

Now, I'm going to go be sad some more.

The Doll Is Made-finally!!!

Zack has been doing a research project this month on a famous woman since March is Women's History Month. Zack was given Barbara Jordan who the first African American woman from a southern state to serve in Congress. Part of the project was to create a doll of the woman out of a soda bottle and styrofoam ball head. The doll had to be covered in the appropriate colored hose and then dressed accordingly.

And.....here she is!!!

Okay, it's no secret that I am a total hair-a-phobe and this hair is everywhere! It's so disgusting. It kept getting all over my gluey hands and there are little hairs all over everything. Ick! Needless to say, we didn't need near that amount of hair.

All finished!!!!!

Fat Boy Has No Shame

Or manners. Nothing is my own anymore. I share my kitchen with livestock and my sofa with this.

The Gray Stable

So, apparently my kitchen has become a barn. I came in to start dinner and this what I found saddled up and ready to go, but with no owner in sight.

Meet Josefina

Ansley and Gary just got back from the American Girl store and would like you all to meet the newest Gray, Josefina, a beautiful girl from Mexico!

Little Things That Aggravate Me

So I get out the grape jam so I can fix my english muffin before I go work out. I turn it over so it will be easy to get out and I'm not banging the jam on the side of the counter trying to release it from it's death grip on the sides of the container. I step away for a few minutes, and come back to this bloody, grape jam mess.

More Colorado Pictures

Oh my gosh, could these pictures be any smaller? I took them from my facebook page and wow, you can barely see them,huh?

Anyway, got to go. The weather is getting cruddy again. Duck and cover everyone!