Grocery List

(Click on the picture to see an enlarged version - it is worth it to read!)

I found this grocery list in a shopping cart at Safeway; I thought it was cute - it reminded me so much of both my Grandma's handwriting...AND it was carefully written to include the 'deals' that they could get on certain items on the list. See that on the sherbet? I miss my Grandmas.

I wonder if all Grandmas write the same? Between my Grandma Virginia, Grandma Margaret, Jesse's Grandma Linda and this grocery list, it appears that they must have all paid attention to penmanship in school and never had the urge to deviate from it and develop their own funky handwriting like 'kids these days.'

Anyway, here I go with my Grandma memories. I will always keep the last card I ever received from my Grandma Braaten; I was living in Portland when her health really started to go bad and I sent her a card...Aunt Elaine was home staying with her and helped her write a card back to me. Grandma started to write and it definitely was not her usual handwriting, and Aunt Elaine had to finish it for her :(
How did I get so lucky to have 2 of the world's best Grandmas? (Grandpas too!)

Here are my most favorite memories about them:
**Grandma Braaten's snicker doodle cookies
**The oscilating fan at Grandpa and Grandma Braaten's blue trailer
**The pansies at G&G Braatens - I will forever think of Grandma B when I see pansies
**The big huge weeping willow tree and poor Grandpa always worrying about it in a storm
**Grandpa's yellow pick-up parked by the field while he helped us hay in the summer
**The time when G&G Braaten stayed with us while Dad and Mom had to go down to Denver to an asthma hospital; Grandpa laughed while he watched my brother and I wrestle on the floor and then told me that "I really cleaned house!" That same week, Rodney and I were up late "doing homework" and Grandma came down the hall from their bedroom to see if we were going to bed soon - she didn't have her dentures in - it was so cute. That same week, a bad snow storm came through and Grandma was watching it out the window and she said, "I didn't know you had a dog..." - we didn't, but this poor little dog (I can't believe I am saying this) was freezing on our sidewalk so we brought him into our garage and made him a warm cozy bed. Grandpa named him Toby. Toby died months later when he ran into the front tire of mom's car when she was driving up the driveway - stupid dog. (I have to admit, that I did kinda like him).
**Playing Rummy K with Grandpa B - he ALWAYS won and had the best smile and sparkle in his eye everytime he tipped his tray upside down to show us that his tray was empty.
**Grandma Stephens' oven-baked chicken, green salad and the three-bowl salad dressing server, baked potatos and bread with homemade raspberry jam.
**The raspberry patch!
**Grandma S's daycare - when I was 11 I made up a job application to work for her at her daycare. I always wonder how hard she must have laughed at that. I wish I could take Paige to a daycare lady like her! (We do like her current daycare, don't get me wrong).
**Grandpa S playing slug-bug green, no slugs back. Ouch!
**Playing Thump with Grandpa S - his favorite game; only so hard not to cheat because you could always see how many fingers he was going to throw out before we 'thumped'
**The candy dish!
**Peanut Butter and Honey sandwich quarters - never a whole or a half, just a quarter
**Playing Grandpa (tax-accountant even though we didn't know what he did)and typing on his typewriter and using up all the tape on his calculator.
**Grandpa cheering for me in my basketball games - he was my biggest fan; he was also the only one who could get away with yelling as loud as he wanted.
**Grandma telling me that maybe I should pass the ball to the other girls more often.
....

This is getting long. But it's fun to write these things down. I wonder what Paige's memories will be of her grandparents? She's lucky too! I just wish that she could have gotten to know her great-grandparents.