The next Grilled Grandma

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This is the Christmas Eve Eve edition of Grilled Grandmas and I'm happy to feature Verna.

Verna's kids live overseas and across the country from her, proudly serving our country.

And they have her grandchildren with them.

Which means Verna gets to hug her grandbabies only about once a year!

Sheesh! I complain about seeing Bubby only every other month, so kudos to Verna for being such a strong -- and sweet -- grandma!

Check out Verna's grilling here.

And, as always, let me know of any grandmas you'd like to see grilled by sending me their first name and e-mail address.

On another note: Keep in mind that the deadline for the Friday Haiku Contest is tonight, due to Christmas being Friday. Be sure to enter your haiku here to be in the running for an offbeat prize from the antique stash. The winner will be announced tomorrow.

And ...

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

If you could Christmas shop until you drop in any one store, which store would you choose?

I would choose Barnes & Noble or any other bookstore. Actually, if I could just shop on Amazon.com for all the books my heart desires -- without having to worry about the "until you drop" part since I'd be sitting down the whole time -- that would be even better! My one addiction in life is buying books -- for myself and others!

What would Granny do?

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Granny, the last time we visited her (Sept. 2009).Jim's mom, aka Granny, is not doing well. She had a stroke in April, which I wrote about here. But she's held out and despite no longer being the Granny we all know, she's still here, still hanging in there.

Last Thursday evening, just as I was getting ready for my monthly drinking-and-bitching session girls' night with my former co-workers, Jim got a phone call. The nursing home/hospital where Granny resides had called Jim's sister in because Granny's vitals had dropped significantly and things didn't look good. I quickly cancelled my night out to be with Jim as he made and fielded phone calls with family.

Then he got a phone call from his sister, who put Granny on the phone ... to tell Jim "goodbye." Heartwrenching stuff.

After that call, there were no more for the night. No bad news, no good news. So Friday morning, Jim called the hospital to check on his mom. "She's stable," the nurse told him, "but death is near."

WTH? Who says that? I've never heard such a dramatic statement, even on the most sappy movie of the week. Images of the Grim Reaper standing in the corner of Granny's room are now hard to shake.

But Mr. Reaper is biding his time, it seems. Jim talked to Granny Sunday and she seems to be normal -- a sadly relative term as Granny is nothing like the normal Granny she used to be. But she's doing better than she had been.

And now all I can think of is the phenomenon of people who are on the brink of death seeming to recover briefly -- doing better than ever -- just before dying. I've heard of it again and again, and I saw it happen with my stepdad. It allows time for the one dying to say their goodbyes, I've read.

Which, if that's what's going on with Granny, death really is near. And I'm so conflicted about that.

I love Jim's mom to the core. She's the kindest woman I've ever known, and she's served as my spiritual compass for years. Forget what Jesus would do; I'll obviously never be like Him and questioning how He would handle things doesn't do me much good. But I've often thought to myself, "What would Granny do?" She's handled incredible bullshit from kids and men tough circumstances with patience, grace and faith, so when I face tough circumstances, I often wonder what Granny would do. She's gotten through far worse situations than I've ever had to deal with, and I'd do well to follow her example.

Odd as it may sound, I know Granny looks forward to getting to heaven. She's lived her entire life for that purpose, and now, in true Granny fashion, she's been trying to sneak through the pearly gates at a time when the focus is on Jesus so no fuss will be made over her as she makes her entrance. She attempted it at Easter and now she seems to be trying again at Christmas.

And although it's what Granny wants -- and I truly want her to have what she desires -- I don't want her to die at Christmas. For selfish reasons. I don't want every Christmas going forward to be colored blue by it being the anniversary of Granny's passing.

So I'm conflicted on what to pray for Granny. Do I pray for her to stick around, at least until after Christmas? Or do I pray for her to head off to heaven to hang out with Jesus, as she desperately wants?

What do I do?

What would Granny do?

What will Granny do?

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

If you kept a journal of Christmases, which year's Christmas would have the lengthiest entry?

My answer: The Christmas I thought would never happen ... the year that Jim and I separated briefly in the spring but thankfully didn't divorce and were back together as a stronger family by Christmas.

Grandma's cookie monster

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When Jim and I visited Bubby, Megan and Preston recently, I brought along an assortment of cookies from our annual Cookie Swap.

I don't think even Cookie Monster from Sesame Street gets as much enjoyment out of a few cookies as Bubby did from these.

More? More? Mmmm, mmmm, good!Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

Approximately how many dozens of cookies do you bake during a typical Christmas season? Would you like to guess at how many you eat during the season?

My answer: I usually make about 15 dozen -- of the same kind, for swapping at our annual cookie swap. This year, I've probably eaten ... AAACK! ... about two dozen total so far.

Fave photo of the week

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'Is that Santa I hear?'

Today's question from "The Christmas Conversation Piece":

Approximately how many Christmas cards do you send out each year?

My answer: It's been about 50, maybe a few more, the past few years. But this year -- for the first time ever -- I'm not sending out any. I'm hand-delivering cards to those I see during the season, but I won't be mailing any. With all the craziness in my life right now (Jim still can't do anything, so I must do everything!), I've decided to cut out stressors where I can, and Christmas cards were one of those to get the ax.