Vintage Bubble Dishes & UPS

My adorable parents sent me 10 boxes in the mail while “stationed” in Phoenix helping Grandpa downsize. It felt like Christmas morning when I happened to go to my front porch to grab some basil, and there was a gigantic stack of boxes with my name on them.

(You couldn’t knock, UPS man, and let me know? Geesh. I found out soon enough the quality of the UPS delivery man, however.)

Granted, most of the boxes had broken dishes in them. Thanks, UPS.

However, a few survived.

And they were gorgeous. My Grandma had good taste.

Enough survived that I could at least entertain with.

My Grandma passed away while my family (and I) were still living in Germany. I really never got to know her. I don’t have much from her, except a few pictures and a quilt she made for me as a baby.

But, now I have dishes that she once used. Or, at least the ones that weren’t smashed to smithereens.

And I am in love. I can’t wait to have a party and put these dishes to good use.

“New” Vintage Bubble Dishes seem like a good excuse to have a party. But really, any excuse is a good excuse for me to have a party.

So, who wants to come over?

The Case of the Missing Half Banana

This past week, I flew off to St. Louis to visit my parents and Grandmother. I left behind a sad Biceps and two kittens, but that’s another story for another day.

My parents moved in with my widowed 94 year old Grandmother years ago, allowing our visits to encompass a multi-generational fun fest.

She is quite the character-often praying for the squirrels “swollen bellies” and asking God to provide enough food for them. Little does she know, my dad scares the squirrels off the bird feeder with his BB gun-”motivating them to go into another yard”.

It’s quite the sitcom around that house.

Grandma is notorious for rising in the middle of the night and having a little snack. But she often won’t admit to it, or conveniently forgets she’s done so, when the next morning Mom tests her sugar levels and they are too high or too low.

I woke up one morning to Grandma and Mom already bustling around the kitchen and to this question posed by my Grandmother, “Did you eat half a banana last night?”.

Of course my answer was “No”. I like green bananas-not the bananas Grandma keeps that are on the verge of meltdown.

“Well, someone did,” Grandma responded. I looked at Mom who rolled her eyes.

So, I posed the question back to Grandma. “Did you eat half a banana, Grandma?”.

“No, or at least I don’t think I did,” she said and dug into her watered down cereal.

Hm….

“Well, if I didn’t and mom didn’t and dad didn’t…,” I said, pausing for her to come to her own conclusion.

“It must have been the cat!,” she said, victoriously. And took a bite from her toast, confident she had solved the case.

Grandma-Would I have made her proud?

I wasn’t able to get to know my mom’s mom. I’ve heard stories, seen countless pictures and can assume from the retellings that I may know what her personality was like. But, I only have other’s perceptions to draw from.

I’ve never heard her voice, saw her hand gestures or seen my own mother in her. These are the things that I’ve missed getting to know about her, since she passed away at the young age of 53.

This is my Grandmother (my mom’s mom) as a teenager.
I wonder if she would have the same bizarre sense of humor that I do, if she would have read my blog, if she liked cats.

 

I wonder if she would think we looked alike-seeing me dressed up like this.

And I wonder how I could I miss a person that I never even knew.

One of the World’s Greatest Grandma’s

During all of the hustle and bustle, it’s important to remember why we do it all.
You see, I have one of the world’s greatest Grandma’s. She is generous, kind, loves kids and always has a story ready at the helm.

I love her and will continue making her a loaf of banana bread each Christmas-after all, it’s a “healthy snack”, according to her-due to the bananas. But, so is ice cream because it’s a “dairy product”. She ignores the whole sugar thing…

I kind’ve owe her since she made the world’s best Dad. He’s the guy with the beard right next to Grandma-sporting the purple hat.

It’s easy to forget why we are spending so much time on each gift, card sent or goodies baked. I want to remember while I’m wrapping presents, baking goodies or sewing one last present together that just why I am doing it.
Merry Christmas!