Hanging out in the beautiful Pacific Northwest: February 2011

I am more than halfway through my three-week stay here in Florida. This picture shows the current all-girl makeup of the household at Norma Jean's in Zephyrhills. On the left is the current Norma Jean holding a picture of herself with Farrah Fawcett hair back in the 1980s. Pete was a professional photographer and loved to take pictures of his beautiful wife. This one struck me as being particularly stunning.

Next are Allison and her daughter Lexie, a very interesting part of the Stewart clan. To learn more about Lexie and how she came to be born, click here. I wrote a bunch of information about her conception, which I find to be really interesting and definitely New Age. She will not have her biological father in the picture. Next in the above portrait is me, on the right. Tomorrow Lexie and Allison fly back to Washington, DC. I've been enjoying this beautiful child and her equally beautiful mom.

Since I don't have any grandchildren, I have been lavishing love on my grand niece without reservation. She has captured my heart and then some. She is very smart and just about ready to start crawling as we watch her play, three doting women smiling and laughing at her antics. She's a very good baby but has been teething and in some obvious discomfort. Allison is accustomed to her never crying, and when she is put to bed, she just smiles and coos and carries on until she falls asleep. I don't remember that EVER happening to my children!

Peter, Norma Jean's son, was here when I arrived and stayed through his father's celebration. He has returned to Michigan where he works, but he calls his mother at least once every day. Peter will return at the end of March for a week to do some work around the house and dog-sit the still-to-be-found rescue dog or dogs that Norma Jean is attempting to find. (She is traveling at the end of March for a week in Texas where many of our family members live.) One little chihuahua was scheduled to be euthanized this coming week unless a foster home could be found, so Norma Jean is in the process of getting certified to become a foster parent, and the dog (Chester) has been spared. She also has her eye on another long-haired chihuahua who just captured our hearts through the online pictures. However, it takes a few days for the process to be completed. They vet foster homes carefully, but Chester should be here sometime within the next few days and, hopefully, so will Socks (the other dog).

I think that rescuing these little dogs in need will help to fill the big holes in Norma Jean's life, even if, as she says, as a foster parent she might have to let them be adopted by another family. In the meantime, she will be able to provide them love and affection and can also learn something about herself in the process. More later.
:-)