Burying Grandma



Grandma Teigen, my brother Jeremy, and me a few years ago.

This past Friday we buried my Grandma Teigen. She had been sick for a while, and was in an old folks home for the past 4 1/2 years. It's odd thinking about her being gone. It was always a joke that she was going to out live us all, but we were wrong.



I remember she loved singing. Loud. And it was exactly what you would expect from an older lady-closest word I can think of is "Operatic" if that is even a word. My sisters and I would spend 2 weeks every other summer with my grandparents, and when we would go to church, we would race to get the end of the pew so that we didn't have to sit next to her. Wendy-the youngest-tended to lose. I think we used to play dirty, shoving and all. We would sit and giggle through every song as she sang her heart out, thinking everyone around us was staring. I feel bad now, because she probably did have a really nice voice-I just never really gave her a chance.



She has always loved flowers. Real and Fake, and her house was always filled with both. Any bookshelf, coffee table, side table, counter, TV, or dresser with a 12 inch clearing would have some elaborate faux floral arrangement on it. Even though that was never my taste, I can honestly say-I can't look at fake flowers now and not think of her.

She taught us to play poker. She wanted to be remembered for something other than this, but really-there are worse things to be remembered for. It was a really fun way to pass the time during visits. She would get really into it, and even shattered a chip during an extra enthusiastic 'raise' one time. Grandma, Grandpa and I laughed for hours over that. Plus none of us grandkids turned into gambling degenerates, so she did a good job.

She loved to cook. Not always what I liked to eat. It was a crap shoot at her house if it would be something edible-to me-since I was a particularly picky kid. Still am. She cooked her eggs on one side only!!! Sunny side-up? More like Sunny side-yuck. I used to beg for scrambled eggs. When those were runny, I learned to ask for cereal.  She would put butter and mayo on bread! Still not sure why. A non-sexual barrier method as far as I can tell, from how she explained it to my mom. And, the mayo wasn't smoothly spread over the whole slice of bread like I was used to. No. It was chunked on there, hiding like a ninja under the lettuce, waiting to attack. I looked a few times, and feeling safe that there wasn't any mayo in it, I bit in. SQUISH!!!! Mouthful of Mayonnaise. Gag. (Now that I think about it, this is probably the root of why I don't like mayo on my sandwiches. Makes sense.) Regardless, she was a good cook at times, and I had many entertaining dinners with her and my Grandpa where they would politely argue over who actually came up with the recipe for my favorite Italian Chicken. Compelling arguments for both, but I don't really care who came up with it. Someone did, and she cooked it fantastically. I try and make it, and it comes out nothing like hers. I will miss it. I will also miss having pork chops every week that I was with her. Hers were awfully tasty. Again, mine can't even compare.

She loved telling stories of her youth. She was a dancer, singer and all around fun person to hang out with-the way she tells it, and I loved hearing the magical tales of her WWII era single life. I also loved hearing about her talk about my Grandpa, Mom, and Uncles. I got to hear her side of stories, and she would giggle her way through telling them-which made me like hearing them even more.

She had awesome dress up clothes for me and my sisters to put on. Gold strappy high heels. Oh, how we used to fight to get these!!

MTV-a-la-Woodsworth. We used to get a little bored after 2 weeks of no TV, so my sisters and I would put on little plays, or "live videos" for our Grandparents. We would put on music, and dance to it while lip-syncing. She would sit and laugh at us make fools of ourselves, and my Grandpa would record it. When our other siblings would come up to get us, they would get in on the fun. We found the tape a few years ago. Nobody outside our family is allowed to see it. It's too embarrassing.

She loved dolls. Scary, expensive porcelain dolls. They were all over the house. I do not like dolls because of a rather creepy experience as a kid, so when I was moving up to go to college, and live with her and Grandpa, I asked her to remove all the dolls. She thought I was crazy, but took most of them away anyway. I thank her for that.

She coined the phrase "Eat a piece of cake for me." She wrote this on every one of our Birthday cards, for years. (There were 9 of us kids.) We would laugh every time we saw it, and actually missed seeing it when she stopped. Now, somebody has to say it every Birthday. It is a Classic line, that was started by her.

She loved Jewelry, crossword puzzles, nail polish, travelling, pottery, and getting her hair done. Her hair was always perfectly permed, and dyed. When she gave up on dying it and let it go naturally white, it was beautiful. Soft and pretty.

I may not have always enjoyed being around her, but I choose to let any differences go and remember the funny, caring Grandma that she was to me. We were very different, but I can look back at all the things she taught me and appreciate her for her. I love you Grandma. I really do.

A few pictures for those not able to make it.





Her funeral is next week, so I'll probably be putting more pictures up, for the family that isn't here to be a part of.  

Wordless Wednesday

I love the idea of a wordless Wednesday, because it is little to no effort on my part to get the blog done! I am stealing this idea from all of you I follow. =) Without further ado......

I Hate Corn Tortillas!

I really do. Not the taste, so much.....but trying to cook with them! I fail every time, and have screaming fits at the top of my lungs at these flimsy, stupid, grain products that taunt me every time I attempt to make something even sort of ethnic. See here...this is what I'm talking about.........

Can they not crack, and break on me?!? No. They can not. Then I wouldn't be able to yell at them, and scare my children. I'm serious, I think it gives them a sense of vengeance for the fact that I will be eating them soon.

"You gonna eat me? Yeah, well how about this.....CRACK! SPLIT! Now you see the cheese inside me, don't you? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Evil little round discs.

Here I am, trying to go a little easy on my system and eat corn tortillas since  I seem to be sensitive to everything under the freaking sun. Not allergic, but sensitive. Look up food sensitivity side affects, and you will see the insanely fun time I have every time I eat. Try and not be jealous. My mom tells me that the migraines I have been getting lately are linked to the fact that I am eating this stuff I shouldn't be. I think she might be onto something, but I can't afford to buy only meat, vegetables, and fruit-so it is what it is.

These are the results from the doctor, when I was taking a test to find out what was up with my body. Ever since I was pregnant with my last son, my body had been betraying me whenever I dared to put any food in my mouth. So I actually did a blood test to see if there was a medical reason for it. My worst fear was it coming back showing I'm not supposed to have bread. "That would be truly awful", I thought. Little did I know what was waiting for me.

When my brother had to go off dairy for a while, I made fun of him. And thought about how I could never do that. Apparently Jesus does have a sense of humor-one that I don't share.

"Shame on you Tammy for making fun of your brother. Now I will make your last pregnancy have lasting effects on you. How about no longer making the enzymes to digest gluten? Not enough? How about I throw in eggs, yogurt, cheese, wheat, and milk? See who is laughing now." Not me. Well played Jesus, well played.

Anyway. Corn tortillas are horrible to work with, and give me serious anxiety attacks while I cook with them, but they sure are tasty when combined with enchilada sauce and cheese. Whether I'm supposed to have cheese, or not. That's why I have lactose pills.

******UPDATE*******
I finally finished the Sears Tower ornaments. I made one day time Sears tower, and the rest night time. Mostly because I didn't really like how the daytime one turned out. Nathan did, though and picked it. Oh well. Here is a picture of both the day and night ones. How do you like them?

I'm back......

Ok, so I have been away from the computer for a while now. I have been on twice, in a little over a week, and only for a few minutes at that! Not away completely, I guess....I can check my e-mail and Facebook on my phone-but away from blogging. I've been dealing with headaches, and the computer is not a great place to hang out when suffering with a migraine....but while I was up watching some late night TV around 4 o'clock this morning (because of yet another headache) I saw something that I  just had to talk about. I don't know if this impacts any of your lives, the way it apparently does mine, but here it is......

Who is the stylist for the Jonas Brothers?!?!? Hairstylist-in particular! I was up watching E! Channels biography on young Hollywood from A-Zac (hee, hee. Clever.). It was about Taylor Swift, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. I found it very interesting, really. I have never cared for Taylor Swift, or her music-but after I saw this I can now respect her for what she has gone through, and for writing her own music-while I continue to not like her. Zac is adorable, and I'm glad he either grew into his teeth, or had them capped. He is talented, and though there are haters out there, I think he will go far. Um, Hello......17 Again, anyone? One of the funnier movies I have seen in a long time! Miley, meh. Still couldn't care less. Then came the Jonas brothers. Genetically gifted family, talented in acting and music (singing, playing, writing songs......), and all while being religious, and pure.....Ok. But I couldn't pay attention to that-because of the completely AWFUL hair they sport so much of the time! Oh, you don't believe me? Be prepared.....this is going to get ugly.......

So not OK...... 

I don't care that this was the hair for the movie. They should have known better.

A Razor-cut mullet, is still a mullet.

This is a Rock Star don't.

Oh, Tiger Beat......Why?

This is like a nightmare. The stylist should be condemned to this style forever, for inflicting this hair on the world!

Again, Tiger Beat!?! Again!?! Shame on you.

No....Justin Bieber can't even pull off this look. Please, somebody stop the madness!!

See what I mean? Some of the ones in the show were actually worse than these-if you could believe it. I didn't want to put them on here, because I don't want to be the cause of anybody going into a bad-hair induced coma. If you feel up to it, just watch the Hannah Montana episode that they are on. I wanted to puke. Literally.

I just don't get it! For a family that looks like this-what would make you give them such appalling hair! It takes away from their natural looks. Very distracting. Joe has an idea of what he could do, on days where his hair just won't do what it's supposed to....

Thank you, iWin for the hat!! It is very much appreciated!

They seem to be doing way better lately. In Camp Rock 2, for example-their hair was actually pretty good. And I don't know if it was the movie stylist, or just God smiling down on all of us-but we finally got a break from the hair horrors that have been plaguing them. The more natural look is definitely the way to go guys!

We'll start with Kevin, since he is the oldest.

I find it kind of funny that all the pictures I find of Kevin, where he has good hair-his wife is also in them. I wonder if it is her doing?

"With this ring, I thee become your hair stylist......."

Whether it's all credited to her or not, I will say Thank you, Mrs. Jonas! Thank you, and congratulations on 1 year of marriage.

Next, Joe....the major offender......

See how gorgeous his brown eyes look when you aren't distracted by the train-wreck above? Who knew he was so pretty? Millions of tweens, I guess. But I don't understand them, most of the time. A picture like this, I get it.

and finally Nick..........

I must admit, he's my favorite. I was hard pressed to find any bad hair shots of him, since this is his usual style. I thank him for this. It's a good one to stick with. Natural curls = Good!! Plus, I think he is the best looking out of the genetically blessed gene pool. I can say that now that he is over 18, and it isn't so creepy. I do have to take some points away because he dated Miley Cyrus, but they didn't date long so he only loses a few.....

I don't know what made them start going "Au natural", and embrace their curls; but I do thank all that is Holy that they did. Now when my boys want to watch Jonas L.A., and Camp Rock 2 I can happily watch it along with them. The Hannah Montana episode came on a few days ago, and I totally changed the channel, and told the kids it stopped working. I can't go through that again! I'm not strong enough.