Skip to main content

In this race, family took first place

Image
By

Finally, the weather has turned, and it’s a return to backyard BBQs – two to date with more planned. The grass has greened a lot, but we are still waiting for the trees to blossom. Alas, with the heavy spring snowfalls of the past three weeks, the buds looked burnt, so I am not sure what we will see. Perhaps nothing at all! Ouch -- and we look forward every year to the snowberries that look so cool even as they festoon our driveway with the remains of their small white flowers.

We were making plans for  our 2013 track events well in advance – the idea was to mark our calendars and plan other activities around them, so that when we get the chance to drive fast and meet with our friends and business colleagues, we can do so without affecting other plans and obligations. It worked well in the past few years,  and  we were able to carve out time to play.



Not so much this year … …. In the fall of 2012, our daughter invited us to lunch. This is not something we had experienced before -- an invitation to lunch during the work week. Not really! Well, as we suspected, there was a reason for this sudden urge to see her “’rents”:
So, we found out that her family of four (the two of them and two of their cats) is soon to become a family of five!
I admit, we talked about this being great news, and we started making plans on calling her little boy Enzo and taking him for donuts (in his little driver suit and helmet, not your usual donuts, mind you).
When we found out it was a girl, we still did not lose faith, as our daughter was determined there will be no pink color anything in the nursery – our granddaughter will be raised to become a smart and independent woman who will not be a girly-girl! OK, maybe there are donuts in the future, after all.
Our daughter’s neighbor and good friend was deeply disappointed with the “no pink” rule, so when the new parents arrived home from the hospital, they were greeted with a very pink greeting sign:
After a few days of seeing Baby Ella and getting the sense of what it really means to be grandparents, it dawned on me that our carefully made plans for the year might need altering.
Next weekend our calendar shows a driving event at Willow Springs, our favorite track in Southern California. The Pyalla Command Center (our motor home) stands on the driveway, getting ready for the trip. Participation is all part of our ongoing marketing campaign, as so many current and former HP engineers continue to show up for these events each month – if you remain a part of HP, are an engineer and like to fly planes, then there’s every chance you will also share our enthusiasm for track weekends!

The Corvette shines, all tires pumped, all fluids changed, new brake pads installed - the car is ready! Richard is making his shopping list, even as he continues to  prep the motor home. So far, that sounds familiar. Well, except I am not quite ready to jump into the motor home and miss out on Ella growing up! I just can’t imagine not seeing my girls for a whole week!
 I think it all started with me picking up this little bundle and looking at her face that is so much like my daughter’s….
And so it looks that Richard will do the trip without me.  Monday is back to work, and I just do not want to give up my next weekend and be away from Ella!
That’s the third event this year I will miss because of the changes to our family. Last week, while Ella was born, I missed ACRM Mid-Year meeting in Baltimore – I really appreciated that ACRM management gave me the freedom to skip this meeting, despite my role as their Chief Meeting Officer. The ACRM Staff stepped in, and I am sure all went well, but even so, this just goes to prove that family won! And it will win next weekend, no matter how fast Guman will drive (Guman is Grandfather in Sydney Aboriginal dialect -- with so many grandfathers, one will be Grandpa, one will be Dziadek ,Grandfather in Polish, and Richad will be Guman). I remain Babcia (Grandmother in Polish), and I enjoy my new role!



Labels:

Comments

Me said…
Super congratulations Margo (and Richard)! With grandparents like you guys, little Ella has no choice but to be smart and independent!!! Best wishes!

Raja
April 30, 2013 at 7:56 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Honey? We’re home!

By
  A ribbon pinned to the front door. Updated signage indicating that this new home had become a private residence. A glorious Florida Friday morning. Our latest new build pursuit was open and we were moving into our Florida Keys styled home. Just one year after we first drove to the Latitude Margaritaville Water Sound (LMWS) sales office and walked through the model homes, this Aruba, single-family house, was now our home. We still have our condo in Longmont, Colorado, but Panama City Beach is where we will be spending most of our time. There are programs on the HGTV channel that depict homes build in 100 days and in reality, ours was finished all but for a final clean and inspection but including pool, spa and birdcage, in 120 days. Another two months passed before closing took place as the developer closes in batches to ensure construction moves down the street. It’s already noticeable that with evening, all construction noise and disruption die down with the sound of local rep...
Post a Comment
Read more

Travel: Is it romance or regrets?

By
  Visiting the charming coastal Dublin suburb of Howth There was a time, not too long ago, when the romance of travel still felt real. The lead up to the actual day of travel in the knowledge that the world was about to reveal itself in ways unimaginable, as flight attendants poured a welcoming glass of champaign. There were visas, traveler’s checks, hotel bookings – it was all quite thrilling. Well up to a point I have to admit. However, not so much these days. Indeed, there are times when regrets are involved in lieu of days you would consider the material that fills the pages of travel books. For nearly a month, from the last day of May through to the end of June, Margo and I squeezed in visits to Dublin, Ireland, London, Paris with a side of Bordeaux. We managed to fly, uber, train and sail and through it all there were numerous anxious moments involving a shrinking selection of clean clothes as well as a declining interest in the local cuisine. The journey Back when it was exc...
Post a Comment
Read more

It’s March; celebrations continue!

By
Margo and I like to celebrate milestones, even as the numbers keep on getting bigger. January is always momentous as it is the time when we celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries. However, when it comes to March it kicks off the start of almost two months of celebration as the rest of the family catches up. It is my sister Judy who is the outlier, celebrating her birthday in February but we love her all the same. Alright, yes, this post is more than just celebrating anniversaries and birthdays as it is about the “one more house” we have always thought we just had to build. We did not know how and where or indeed, when, but creating a new home is so much fun! It truly flexes what little braincells we have left. As we come to terms with our new home town, we have come to understand that there are many miles to cover and where, at times, it seems we have crossed a state line at some point. Anyone who looks at a map of Florida will soon realize that up in the panhandle, not only...
Post a Comment
Read more