Running for chocolate and GRAND Social No. 73

I woke up early Sunday morning, still shaking my head in disbelief at having been hugged by Andy Garcia. Two of my daughters, though, were up even earlier — and were off and running in the Hot Chocolate 15/5k in Denver before I even rolled out of bed.

Here, Brianna, Andrea and Andrea's beau, Matt, prepare to run:

And here they enjoy their spoils from having crossed the finish line in "America's sweetest race."

 

Nothing better on a cold day than hot chocolate, right? Great job, guys!

While I don't have chocolate to offer for your participation, I do hope you'll join me for GRAND Social No. 73. On your marks, get set, go...!

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, just be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up a post, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue button marked with "Add your link" below and follow the directions.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention such as This post linked to the GRAND Social to your linked posts is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a rel="nofollow" href="/" target="blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.


• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Bloggers who link up would be honored to have one and all — other bloggers as well as readers — visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social."

• For another grandparent linky, visit Connie's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday.

On books, dogs, cars and the benefits of age

Yesterday was a jam-packed day at the Life@50+ Expo. My day started bright and early as I volunteered with 700 or so other Expo attendees for the Community Day of Service, kicked off by James "JB" Brown, Dan Marino and Pepper Schwartz.

Several Atlanta-area organizations were on the slate for us to help out. As promoting literacy has long been a cause near and dear to my heart, it was quite fitting that my service project turned out to be helping sort books for Books for Africa, whose mission is to "collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to students of all ages in Africa. Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa."

 

My day ended with cars and dogs — in the Exhibit Hall. Now, I'm no car enthusiast, but how could these vehicles not catch one's eye?

 

I am a dog enthusiast, though, and one serendipitous moment among the masses was running into pit bull companion dogs and their trainers as I was leaving the hall.

I was tired and I just wanted to hop on the shuttle and head back to the hotel. Instead, these precious pits lured me into a presentation from UnitedHealthcare on the many ways dogs play an active role in keeping humans healthy. Because I own a pit bull-pointer mix and have first-hand knowledge of the bad rap the sweet dogs get (because of irresponsible owners), I was delighted to see pit bulls as the companion dog models for the talk.

 

And in between the books and the cars and dogs, my day was filled with the primary reason for my attendance at the Life@50+ Expo: to learn about all the great offerings from AARPDiscounts.com.

There are far too many discounts and benefits AARP members get for their $16/year membership fee for me to list them all here. Besides, there's an entire AARPDiscounts.com website dedicated to disseminating that information... and in a far fancier manner than what I can offer. There are a few I learned about, though, that I thought might be of particular interest to my Grandma's Briefs friends, including:

Michaels — Save 10% at Michaels Stores on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday.

1-800Flowers.com — Save 20% off or $20 off $79.99 or more.

The UPS Store — Members receive 15% off eligible products and services and 5% off domestic and international UPS shipping services. (Great news for long-distance grandmas shipping gifts for the holidays.)

Movies Unlimited — The long-time video retailer offers rare, classic movies and hard-to-find TV shows on DVD or Blu-ray. As an AARP member, you get an extra 10% off Movies Unlimited’s already reduced prices.

Live Nation Concerts — Get four concert tickets for the price of three.

Ancestry.com — Get free shipping on the results of the $99 DNA test that will reveal your ethnic roots. Enter coupon code AARPDNA13 (expires Oct. 31, 2013).

The AARP Travel Center powered by Expedia — All kinds of deals and specials. All kinds. Click and see.

Norwegian Cruise Line — Through Nov. 1, 2013, get up to $250 to spend on board fleetwide; up to $500 to spend on board when you book a Cruisetour; or a special $100 offer on our newest ship, Norwegian Getaway. Also enjoy up to $1000 in Air Credits; 50% reduced deposit; up to $100 off select sailings. Plus, when it comes to cruising, you can't cruise any cooler than on a Peter Max-bedecked vessel:

 

Getting older definitely has more benefits than I was previously led to believe.

Disclosure: My trip to the Life@50+ Expo was sponsored by AARP Member Advantages, though that takes away from the authenticity of my opinions above not one whit.

Today's question:

What was the highlight of your week?

Grandma's boogedy boiler redux

Dear readers: I'm in Atlanta today for the Life@50+ Expo. Considering my inability to provide a new post today along with the fact that the temps at home in Colorado today are in the 80s yet lows for the weekend will be in the 20s — meaning it's time to turn our heat on — I'd like to share with you a fitting (slightly updated) post from the archives, one you may have missed. Enjoy!

Grandma's boogedy boiler (first published Sept. 24, 2009)

 

The first cold snap of the season has hit the mountains, bringing with it snow, the need for jackets and the kicking on of the heating system. In our house, that means it's time to brace ourselves for another season with the boogedy boiler.

I love my house. We bought it in 2007, after having lived in the same basic tri-level for 20 years. One of the main draws of the place was that it was clearly an ideal grandma and grandpa house. We didn't even have grandkids at the time of purchase, but Jim and I knew little ones (and big ones) would love to explore the many nooks and crannies inside and the secret (overgrown!) garden outside and that they'd look forward to spending time with Gramma and PawDad if for no other reason than the wild and wacky home in which we lived.

To put it mildly, we love our house ... everything but the heating system. I absolutely HATE our heating system. We have a boiler, and if you've never lived with a boiler, be thankful for what you're missing.

We first moved here in the winter so we were introduced right away to the clanging and banging of our home-heating contraption that looked like something straight out of Willie Wonka's factory. The noise was so alarming that we had a heating company look at it for us — three or four times in the first couple months! It was brand new, thanks to the red-flagging of the old boiler the week before we closed on the house, but I still envisioned explosions that would not only ruin our new home but take our lives in the middle of the night.

Again and again the heating guys assured us that it's safe, that boilers just take a little getting used to, that they add personality and character to the home.

Well, our boiler has multiple personalities, a few of which aren't too pleasant to be sharing space with.

Because our house is relatively large, there are five "zones" for the boiler, each zone taking turns coming on at different times to warm different areas of the home. Three of the personalities zones are pretty quiet and their heat cycles go unnoticed. And when the boiler kicks on in the fourth zone — which covers the downstairs family room where we watch TV — it likes to pretend it's a massive military jet taking off from our rooftop but we've learned to accommodate it, muting movies and conversation at times as we wait for the jet to be in full flight and out of hearing distance.

But it's the fifth zone, the one that covers the study just below our bedroom, that freaks me out the most ... every night ... while I'm falling asleep. This is the zone where the boiler's worst personality makes its presence known.

Each night as I finish reading, set my book aside on the nightstand and settle in under the covers, it starts. There's a bit of a rumbling, a wheezy, heavy, asthmatic monster-like breathing sound ... that gets louder ... and louder ... and LOUDER.

"I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down! Mwahahahahahaha...!" it threatens ... and drones on ... and on ... for several minutes.

Then comes the loud, "Boogedy, boogedy, boogedy! Bang. Bang! Clang, clang. Bang. BANG!! click."

Just like that, the boogedy boiler stops. Instantly.

Just as I'm reaching near hysteria and considering waking Jim (who doesn't even notice!) to shout that he HAS TO go see what's happening with the boiler, there's a simple "click" and it's quiet. And I breathe easy ... and I think I must be crazy for worrying that my house is going to explode when all the expert HVAC guys have told me it's nothing to worry about.

Things are quiet ... and I start to fall asleep.

Then Mr. Boogedy Boiler decides to warm things up a bit again, and the whole show starts over. And I hold my breath and long for hot summer nights when my only complaint is that air-conditioning sure would be nice.

And I think about what a good thing it is that the grandkids will likely spend more time at Gramma and PawDad's house during the hot and sweaty nights of summer — considering summer vacations and all — than they will in the winter. 

For if they were to visit in the winter, this grandma's boogedy boiler would surely scare the holy bejeezus out of them.

It certainly does me.

Today's question:

When will you turn on your heating system for the season?

Picture this: Grandma's harvest

Introducing my lone edible from this year's efforts. No pumpkins. No summer squash. No cucumbers. Just this:

 

I've had worse years.

Yes, seriously.

Today's question:

How did your garden grow this year?

14 things I love about October... plus one thing I hate

My shortlisted October loves... in no particular order:

1. The sun has shifted south. Whereas summer months had the sun blazing into my window first thing in the morning demanding I rise and shine, now the mellowed sunrise fills my room with a pink glow that soon changes to golden. The gentle light begins my day with a caramelly richness unlike any other time of the year.

2. The windows can be opened during the day without consequence. Fresh autumn air fills each floor, each room, each nook and cranny.

3. Pumpkins. Glorious pumpkins.

4. Blankets. Extra covers have been added to the beds, making them all the more perfect for snuggling under with a good book before lights out.

5. Football in full force. Though I know diddly — and only diddly — about the game, I enjoy the gatherings of family, food and fun that focus on the sport. And I love hearing my oldest spout stats and such about the sport, outsmarting every football fan in the room.

6. Honeycrisp apples and homemade caramel dip never tasted better.

7. The autumn palette. The colors of fall comfort me so, they're the scheme I painted my family room for year round pleasure.

8. My grandsons have a starring role. I see my grandsons every October, the only month in which a visit has become a sure thing.

9. Lady In White. October is the perfect time — the only time — to watch this fall favorite of mine.

10. The primary regional guessing game regarding first snow. No matter the age or how jaded, residents up and down Colorado's Front Range predict and prognosticate on when the first measurable amount will arrive. Easy rapport and conversation anywhere you go.

11. The secondary regional guessing game, this one on Halloween coverups. Parents up and down the Front Range must predict and prognosticate... and figure out how to incorporate a jacket (and hat and mittens and boots, too) into kids' holiday costumes. Love this only because I no longer need to worry about this.

12. Dancing leaves. On the trees, in the street, on the rooftops.

13. Candle-lighting season. The scented candles come out, filling the house with Home Sweet Home, Pumpkin Spice, Cinnamon Stick.

14. The potential to experience three seasons in one month. Depending on the day and Mother Nature's mood, October in Colorado can feel like the hottest of summers, the coldest of winters and the finest of fall — all in a span of 10 days or so.

Plus the one — the only — thing I hate about October:

The month lasts only 31 days, which I find so very unfair.

 

Today's question:

What do you love about October? What do you hate?