This weekend was truly awesome, and not just because it was extra-long! It was the perfect combination of productivity and relaxation. On Friday, J and I helped another couple that we're close with move into their first home. It was so much fun seeing how excited they were and watching two people we love hit such a great place in their lives! It was interesting to see it from the viewpoint of someone who just got done going through all of that. Really, really cool! :)
Saturday I was bound and determined to get our garage in order. Since the move (almost a month ago, now!) our garage has just been stacked up with stuff that didn't really have a place. So, on Saturday, I requested an early wake-up and we got moving in really good time. We went to J's mom's house and picked up some 2"x4"'s and some shelving wood that she had been saving for us. Then we went back home and got started building some shelves. We used these awesome bracket things that we found at Lowe's... One set (which includes 6 brackets) makes a 72" shelving unit (with three shelves, 24" deep). They're HUGE! We made three sets, two of which we connected together by the top shelves with extra wood, and spanned the width of J's toolbox, creating a module effect - very cool! We hung spare shelf wood next to the door into the house for my cleaning and other smaller house stuff. Our garage is definitely looking more organized and like we envisioned! Yay for no more mess!! J is such a great fiance that he even missed the entire first half of the first BSU game of the season just to finish the shelves because I'd been dying to get them done for 2 weeks. Have a mentioned lately that he's awesome??? :)
Sunday we puttered around the house... J mowed the lawn and I did the dishes and laundry. He left for work around 4:00, and I finished cleaning up the house, packed my bags and left with Huck for Arco around 4:45. I arrived in Arco at my grandparent's house around 8:00, just in time for a rib dinner. I had made the trip to Arco to see the three generations of women in my family - my mom, my grandma, and my great-grandma. I get to see my mom and grandma much more frequently than I get to see my great-grandma (in fact, they'll be coming down to go wedding dress shopping with me this weekend), so I wanted to make sure that I made time to see my great-grandmother, better known as Grandma Whit. She is 88 years old and is convinced that she won't be alive by this time next year (to be fair, she's been saying that for about 12 years now). Even though she is strong and in relatively good health, the idea of not seeing her for a long time in case something does happen really upsets me. While I was there with her, I took that opportunity to ask her questions that I've never asked her before. Grandma Whit is an amazing woman. She has experienced so much life! She was born and raised as Thomasina Madden in Belfast, Ireland. On Valentine's Day, 1944, she met Virgil Whitworth outside a movie theatre. She had been going to the show with some of her girlfriends, and he was an American soldier with a pass to come into the city for the day. She was 21 years old. They were married in early September, 1944. They'd known each other for less than 7 months!! Then he was shipped away for TWO YEARS. When he was released, she moved all the way to Idaho to be with him, where they had 6 children. My great-grandfather died when I was about 2 years old, but I'm told by everyone that ever knew him what a great man he was. I'm sorry that I never got to meet him. So while I had my Grandma Whit there, I asked her about him. I asked her what it was like when they met, what he said to her, how he proposed. I asked her if she'd had any other boyfriends (she had three, and described them in awesome detail), and asked her who her best girlfriend was. I asked her about her favorite memories from Ireland and her happiest memories from Idaho. We laughed and laughed together, and I marveled in the opportunity to connect with her on a new, deeper level and appreciate her from a woman's standpoint, rather than a child's.
It was a really, really great experience. I know that I'll remember it forever, and I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to spend that time with her, and make those memories with her.
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