;)
After 93 years of good health and an ever-present smile, my dear grandmother passed away a couple weeks back. I have decided that it's time for 11's first ever posthumous froast. Pretty sure she would have wanted it this way. (This is Froast IX in our ongoing 435-part series.)
-- My grandmother was always just Grannybell to me. That's probably a funny name to you, but if that's how you've known someone since before you really even knew anything, then that's just the way it is.
-- Among the many things she taught me, Grannybell taught me what elbow grease is. I was helping her clean an apartment and was having trouble doing it to her standards since I was only about 7, probably. She kept telling me to use elbow grease and I was like 'OK, but where is it?' And then I learned.
-- Our family played a lot of cards and board games, and Grannybell was a master hustler. Her usual ploy was to bait you into thinking she didn't know what was going on, going so far as to claim not to understand the rules. (Even though it would be a game she'd played for years.) Then she would strike like a shark, and you'd be dead. Cutthroat Rummy is the game I remember the most.
-- When I was really little, I once arrived at Grannybell's house in Lebanon with a voracious appetite. I declared that I wanted some scrambled eggs with lemon pepper. She made some for me. And then seconds. And then thirds. She remembered that for many years.
-- When the Wife and I got engaged, we were still in London. I called up Grannybell to give her the news. When I explained that the Wife was from Chicago, Grannybell exclaimed, 'You're marrying a yankee?' I might have slightly fallen from favor there, although all was forgiven when she got to know Eileen.
-- Later in that same conversation, Grannybell whispered some advice to me: 'They (yankees) don't know everything that we do.' I'm still trying to figure out what that is.
-- Grannybell was the quintessential southern old lady in my mind. There are many things she said with her particularly Lebanon (not Lebanese) accent that I can recall. What I find the easiest to remember is 'Sho nuff?' -- which she used as someone else might use 'you don't say' or 'really?' And she used it very liberally.
-- I hardly remember my Grannybell ever being anything less than cheerful and happy-go-lucky. The one exception that stands out was when my grandfather ('Uncle Herschel') died several years ago. I'll never forget going to her house when I heard the news and just holding her for about an hour while she grieved.
-- Grannybell delighted and made us smile right up until just a few days before she left us. Although he won't remember it, I'm very pleased she got to meet The Boy whilst she was still around.
Grannybell went to 93, and to 11.
;)
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I forgot to ever use this space a couple months back to talk about how awesome I was by agreeing in the eleventh hour to ride a bike for ~120 miles over two days. Well, the agreeing part was easy; finishing the ride was the awesome part.
I decided to join Pa Finan while we were up in Chicago in June anyway. He'd been planning to do the Tour de Farms, one of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's annual cycling events to raise funds. He had an extra spot on the team reserved for Brother Don, who unfortunately couldn't make it in the end. I agreed, literally at around 5:00pm the day before the ride, to join in instead.
Turned out to be a fantastic experience. Due to my late entry, I didn't have the chance to raise any funds, but I was inspired to do it again -- sooner rather than later.
Enter the Jack & Back. That's one of two annual rides the MS Society does here in Tennessee, and it runs from Franklin down to Lynchburg on one day ... back the next. There will doubtless be considerably more hills on this ride than there were in northern Illinois on the Tour de Farms, but at least this time I have done a modest amount of training for it.
Our team, Cycle-Ops, sets out this Saturday morning on this bad boy. Wish us luck, or better yet, please consider supporting me and/or us with a financial contribution. I've already hit my personal fund-raising goal ($1100+ and counting!), but more is always welcome. For more details on how to contribute, click here.
See, Ich really bin ein Cyclist!
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News: Ref takes a break to relieve himself during soccer match.
Elevenews: On the pitch.
(Thanks to Scott for this.)
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The more astute of you Elevenaholics will have noticed that no update on our trip to the UK ever followed. In fact, nothing at all has followed for some time now. The *most* astute will have noticed that I did in fact update the Photo Gallery with some images from the trip.
Perhaps the best photo from the trip doesn't say British at all. But it does happen to be the cutest photo of The Boy I've ever taken. This is now my wallpaper image:
;)
Well, it's time to shake out of the funk and get on with things.
The apparent theme of the trip -- apart from the wedding of Lottie and previous froastee Parham (congrats once again!) -- was children. The way I remember it, there were 11 kids that Team Hollman's friends have borne since we packed up our stuff in Chiswick... and another four in utero! That is just out of the friends we were able to see this time, that is. Needless to say, the vacation had a different vibe to it than any other I've had. (Regularly waking up at 05:00, being shat on, being puked on whilst wearing a suit, etc...) All good stuff.
It's unspeakably good to see old friends and catch up. Especial thanks to those who entertained/fed us in their own homes: Ceris & Steve and Team Day. And to Team Fairhurst-Lindstam, who journeyed with a wee one over from Copenhagen. Biggest thanks of all though to Roy and Katherine for letting us invade their lovely home for the duration of the stay, keeping us fed and tea'd, and spoiling our son with prezzies.
We're already looking forward to next time.
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Finally, some good news out of Deutschland. Feast your eyes on these amazing young ladies doing pretty much everything possible on a bike.
We can only now hope that synchronized cycling will be approved as an Olympic sport in time for the next Games.
Thanks to Shawn for this one.
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Thanks to Burkus for the heads-up on this cool news. Well, cool if you have kids. Probably lame if you don't.
Woot! has unveiled kids.woot.com, which will push kids' clothes, toys, games, furniture, etc. In the same spirit of the original Woot!, there's one deal per day, and supplies may be fairly limited.
In case you didn't already know about them, check out these other sites in the Woot! family: shirt.woot.com and wine.woot.com.
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News: Dancing With The Stars already sucked.
Elevenews: The show announces that the line-up for the upcoming series will include former House majority leader and federally indicted dirtbag Tom Delay.
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Sorry it's been so long since I rapped at ya. Been on a two-week holiday with the Wife and Boy. A full report, with photos, will follow soon.
Meanwhile, thanks to ALove for alerting us to this. A fully functional Marshall amp that goes to 11 and can be used as an MP3 output. Great gift idea for Christmas or birthdays. Order here!
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