grandma goes to the high museum

We had free passes to the High Museum and so we took grandma. I managed to cramp my way into the recently created "back seats" of our 2 seat Mercedes so the three of us could drive to Midtown. But only 2 minutes after leaving the house we start to hear a very strange noise: our first flat tire!

Grandma wasn't worried and we got to the museum in time. I was the worried one, because how to you take an 84 year old lady that can only walk for 10 min. at a time to see a museum? Easy: the same way disabled Americans go shopping! There was a wheel chair for elderly people waiting for her at the entrance. So we strolled around the High Museum. The only thing she could really relate to and pointed out several times was that she had an uncle who did "the same works" like the ones she saw in the museum. He was a sculpture....

grandma goes shopping the american way

Need I say more?

grandma at yard sales

This morning we took grandma to a yard sale. She thought it was great to buy things at such a cheap price. We bought a cross stitching piece that's going up on the wall, it says: "a clean house is a sign of a misspent life". Grandma agrees.  

grandama visits a park and a cemetery

I got grandma all dressed up and pretty and took her site seeing. We went to Piedmont park for a short walk and then to Oakland cemetery. She prayed for the dead confederate soldiers because there were so many of their tombstones all lines up. Driving around she points out that everyone here in Atlanta has a dog and that she's never seen so  much traffic in her life.

Grandma keeps her watch to Portuguese time, so every once in a while she'll look at the watch and tell me what time it is in Portugal or that everyone is already asleep back home. She also tells me that if she knew that photos of her were being posted in the internet for everyone back home to see, that she would have put on her black mourning clothes, proper of her recent widow status. I tell her she's in America and people don't do that here. I think she prefers wearing colored clothes.

grandma at a drive-thru

On her second day here I took grandma for a quick, super quick, drive-thru eating experience. Good old, high calorie, greasy McDonald's. She says it's too salty. That's all the fast food she's having!

grandma is in the house

After being awake for 24 hours and a 16 hour flight with everyone treating her like a princess, my 84 year old grandma is here in Atlanta. How cool is that!? I'll be posting our daily "adventures" to share with everyone back home. Here she's skyping with my sister and cousins in Canada. She sends out kisses with her hand when she sees them live on the monitor, it's so sweet. Little does she know that in a about a week my cousins will be surprising her! I really believe that when a person gets to a certain age should be pampered and surrounded by family and love. It's my way of saying thank you for all the amazing things she did for me when I was growing up. Think about it. And if your grandparents live far away, give them a call. I'm sure you'll make their day!

community supported agriculture

CSA is community supported agriculture, a great way to eat healthy, organic and locally grown vegetables and fruit and support local farmers. Today we got our first bundle from Vegetable Husband. Every week, they home deliver what is in season from organic farms around Atlanta. The vegetables look like what my parents grow back home: ugly but delicious! In out bundle is: green beans, tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant, kale, butternut squash, lemon grass and delicious muscadine grapes... 

Grandma in ATL

My grandma is 84 years old and loves to travel. Convincing her to come to Atlanta for 3 weeks was easy. Too easy. She immediately went to her doctor and then got her passport. It's going to be interesting for many reasons, mostly because she's 84... and we want her to be a part of our daily life. 

Here's a list of things we plan to do with her:

- knit, knit, knit

- take her to Stone Summit, our climbing gym (but just to watch!)

- eat sushi and other "exotic" foods she never tried before

- bake bread

- have her make tons of her delicious soup

- ride around in our Mercedes with the top down

- go grocery shopping so she can ride one of those carts they have for people with reduced mobility

- take her on a picnic to Piedmont park 

- surprise her with the visit of Sandra, Nelson and Helena (my cousins and sister who live in Canada)

any other suggestions?

hurray!!!

A follow up post: after much wait and despair these past weeks I received in the mail 2 beautiful pieces of plastic: my Social Security Card and my Employment Authorization Card. This means I can have a driver's license and legally find a job. No more loafing as an Atlanta housewife... 

But not all is peachy: on the down side, we found out we don't have health insurance. This means we'll get on the first plane out of here if anything happens! Don't you just love "first world" countries!?