Tag: family

Really, not really

Posted on March 2, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

Home, not really. South Bay, not really. Schedule, not really. Ambition, not really. Stress, not really. Anger, frustration, blame, regrets, not really. I’m here, sitting on a camp chair overlooking the blustery sea in my sister and cousin’s unfinished Palos Verdes Estates home, a… Continue Reading “Really, not really”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #birthday, #grandma, #gratitude, #growingold, #home, #hope, #lifeizgood, #palosverdesestates, #pleasureway, #purpose, #rvlifestyle, #solowomen, #solowomencamping, #southbay, #thenextchapter, #travel, #travelingwithgrandma, #travellinggrandma, #whatsitallabout, #wisdom, @retirement, celebrations, comingtopeace, fallinginlove, family, gettingolder, grandparenting, momsok, traveling-grandma

Ordinary Greatness

Posted on February 8, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Hope and sparkling crystals and all things magical and misty-eyed are Queen Melancholy’s cousin. Like George of the Jungle, I swing between the two, between longing for Kauai’s turquoise waters and Cambria’s soul-fortifying coast to the anticipation of missing the icy-slick-sidewalk-skating rink of Winter… Continue Reading “Ordinary Greatness”

Category: #gmashavingfun, #grandparents, #hope, #lifeizgood, @retirement, unconditional loveTags: #babies, #cambria, #children, #faith, #kauai, #loveeverymoment, #newyork, #newyorkcity, #parenting, #thebigapple, #travel, #winstonchurch, baby, book-review, family, grandparenting, love, motherhood

Breaking Bad and other News of the Day

Posted on January 13, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

1 Comment

You’ve caught me in a Hope Diamond moment: I’m alone. In the apartment. Windows and blinds wide open—high winds and 30-degree temps be damned. I’m in short sleeves. Showered. Hair brushed. Pink lipstick applied. Perfume generously spritzed. Funny how simple acts can make you… Continue Reading “Breaking Bad and other News of the Day”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #breakingbad, #children, #daughters, #grandchildren, #grandmas, #grandparents, #hope, #mother-daughterrelationshipss, #newbabies, #newmexico, #newyorkcity, #nyc, #parenting, #retiredteacher, #whenitstimetogo, family, love, mama, mom, motherhood

Two weeks ago …

Posted on January 1, 2024 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

It’s 1 a.m. and the apartment is quiet. The parents are taking their shifts, The Littles are in Dreamland and I’m two glasses into a new bottle of Rangeland Cabernet and the final season of “The Crown”. It’s raining outside and will do so… Continue Reading “Two weeks ago …”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #2024, #bestlifeever, #findingthegood, #god, #grandchildren, #grandma, #grandparents, #grassisntalwaysgreener, #hope, #joy, #parenting, #peace, aging, family, happynewyear, love, memories, newyearsresolutions

Born again

Posted on December 7, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Nov. 27, 2023: 8:50 p.m. Full moon Monday in New York City My daughter yells from her bedroom as her husband drills-in screws to hold up a curtain rod for the new beachy curtains she recently purchased to soften the paint-chipped 1960s windows in… Continue Reading “Born again”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #babies, #blessings, #daughters, #findinghope, #fullmoon, #grandparents, #gratitude, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #newgrandma, #newmommy, #newyorkcity, #nyc, #prayer, appreciation, birth, Christmas, family, following-god, love, mothers, newbeginnings, newbornbabies, peaceonearth, photos

Passing the Baton

Posted on August 10, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Montana Reunion 2023 Family from Oregon, Texas and California converge to celebrate a beloved member’s 70th birthday at a spectacular 40-acre, four-bedroom plus two-bedroom cottage home in White Fish, Montana. Every minute bustling, joyous, energy drink-and a few bottles of tequila zany—MAGIC! There was bean… Continue Reading “Passing the Baton”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #backfortylodge, #cousintime, #familyreunion, #loveeverymoment, #montana, #peace, #summervacation, #whitefish, @retirement, family, love

The Silly String Saga

Posted on January 10, 2023 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

Junky, junky, junky stringy stuff invades my thoughts, my days, like a wild river that steals innocent trees and summer’s lawn chairs. Minding my own business, doing my thing, wading through a different kind of Christmas, the volatility of a California New Year like… Continue Reading “The Silly String Saga”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #angels, #California, #education, #familystrife, #forgiveness, #grandparents, #healing, #hope, #loveeverymoment, #maryoliver, #powerofpoety, #retiredteacher, #teachers, #thebiggerpicture, @retirement, family, love

The Adjustment Phase

Posted on May 14, 2020 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

This is me on Jet Blue flying over the Grand Canyon. It doesn’t look like it did three years ago on our Spring Break camping trip. It’s magnificent in a different, far-off way. To really appreciate the Canyon’s vast glory, you have to had… Continue Reading “The Adjustment Phase”

Category: UncategorizedTags: #beachlife, #blessings, #California, #daughters, #everymomentcounts, #giftfromthesea, #grandaughters, #gratitude, #hope, #jetblue, #newyork, #redondobeach, #teaching, family, love

Life in the midst of darkness

Posted on March 22, 2020 by JANET L BARKER

Leave a Comment

On this day, an extraordinarily normal thing happened to an extraordinary ordinary family during anything-but-normal times: A child was born to a NYC couple, the woman, age 29, the father, 30. This girl-child greeted her teacher-mother and first-year med-school dad soon after lunch time,… Continue Reading “Life in the midst of darkness”

Category: UncategorizedTags: baby, family, grandparent, love, motherhood, newlife

« 1 2