rich.

yesterday i got back from the big 70th anniversary celebration. those are my adorable grandparents. check out my grandma's tiarra. i think my aunt gave it to her for her 90th birthday a couple years ago, and she decided on her own to whip it out for this occasion.

how do i begin to describe the magic of this weekend?

where phrases like "fine, you can put pants on" and "speaking of quail..." were heard.

where i discovered i have a relative known as the "buzzin cousin."

i guess i'll just start with the story about how my grandparents used to get their farm animals drunk.

i was a little confused about this one. there is a method for preparing the feed for the animals that involves rye, and it eventually ferments. i don't know if it's supposed to do that, but on this occasion, it did. they fed it to the pigs. the pigs lapped it up, began running around in circles, and squealing. my grandma said the next day when they brought the feed out, the pigs wouldn't stop squealing. "i had never seen them so happy!"

there was a cow who was not quite as delighted. my grandpa walked out to find the cow backed up against the fence, as far from the food as possible, with her head hanging on the ground. "we had to milk her right away."

oh, and there was this. my grandma's lawn chair.



seems ordinary enough until you realize it just arrived in the mail one day. or so my grandma says. she didn't order it, or pay for it. it just showed up. my grandpa tried to tell her that "you don't just get lawn chairs in the mail" but she insists that she did.

it's a mystery.

and of course i heard stories i've heard before. about how my dad learned how to walk at 7 months old. or how he was recruited from his sand pile in the backyard to work for a restaurant behind their house, as a "take out the trash" boy. his first job at age 12.

isn't that special.

or about how we're related to alexander hamilton. (we're not, actually, but we're not telling them).

grandma: i got your mom and dad some money, to thank them for all their trouble this weekend.
me: that's really nice of you.
grandma: i'm giving it to them in ten dollar bills. do you know why?
me: because alexander hamilton is on the ten dollar bill.
grandma: yes. aren't you glad we're related to him?
me: i'm so glad.

and then there were the more disturbing pieces of information...

me: so, i know you're the youngest of 12 children. but i can't remember...how many kids were in grandpa's family?
grandma: (darn, she told me, but i forgot already...). but you know, everyone suspected his mom of starving that one baby to death.
me: why did they think that?
grandma: i don't know. she really, really liked your dad.
me: i'm very thankful for that...sounds like a good thing...

it was a fabulous weekend. lots of laughter. lots of baby holding. lots of information. my grandma was engaged to some schlep named albert, before my grandpa. when my grandparents got married, they lived off of $6 a week. my grandma cooked all the food for their wedding. they've lived in the same house for 58 years. my grandpa has miles davis, johnny cash, bob dylan, elvis presley, willie nelson, and others...on vinyl.

pictures of baby makenna tomorrow...