The Good, the Bad, and the Hilarious

I spent the weekend in St. George with Mom and Grandma, and the trip encompassed many things, including the following:

The Good:

- Visiting Grandpa at the nursing home, and him remembering who I am. :) I loooove Grandpa.

- Lots of quality time with Mom and Grandma. I come from a long line of remarkable women (who are also very independent - we found a note written by Grandma's mom telling about how when Grandma was two, she took her dolly in a stroller SIX BLOCKS down the street, said hi to the barber, and boarded a bus before anybody found her. Grandma had never heard this story before, and when Mom read it to her, all Grandma said was, "Mother always thought I was too independent." I'll say.)

- Yam gratin, recipe courtesy of Paul Newman.

- LOADS OF FREE JEWELRY - turns out my great-Grandma Kron was quite the collector of antiquey costume jewelry, several pieces of which now belong to yours truly. This is fantastic because a) it was free, b) it's pretty cute stuff and I will totally be wearing it, and c) it belonged to my great-grandma, making it both nostalgic and historical. Doesn't get much better.

- Spending hours - HOURS - sorting through a ginormous box of old photographs of my family members, some of which went several generations back. If you really, seriously know me well, you will know that I love LOVE old photographs. LOVE. It was fantastic. Also, my grandma was a child model. Also, it is unsurprising but nevertheless still kind of amazing that my mother's childhood pictures look remarkably like mine. Also, Burke was a cuter baby than I was. But we already knew that.

- First time doing temple work for an actual ancestor (of the German/Hungarian line) = COOL

-Finding a book of drawings that Great-Grandma Kron made documenting her childhood in the early 1900s, including a picture of her churning butter that was labeled, "Lolita churning butter." SHE CHURNED BUTTER. History, people - history.

The Bad:

- Grandma lives next to a golf course. This meant that by the time I left today, I had a golf ball-sized dent right smack in the middle of the roof of my car. Just a little souvenir from St. George.

The Hilarious:

- Grandma: "Tom Cruise always was such a smart-a**."

- Grandma, in commenting on her cat's unknown whereabouts all night long: "She's just out there wandering the streets like some kind of tramp."

- Ruthie, a woman at Grandpa's nursing home, when asked by Tommy, the CNA, to tell us her husband's name: "ALBERT." To which Tommy responded: "Yup. Albert Eddie Capone." To which Ruthie nodded and took off with her walker. (Note: Albert Eddie Capone is not actually the real name of Al Capone. But don't tell Ruthie.)

I really, really love my Grandma. She's sharp, dry, and super funny. She's one of the perks of living in Utah. And Grandpa? Grandpa sure knows how to make a girl feel pretty. Also, I love my Mom. They all made for a pretty phenomenal weekend. :)