1 for 5 cents, 3 for 10

My Grammy MacGregor had three children: my mom, Anne, and her twin, Ellen, and their older brother, Doug. She used to joke that when they drove her nuts she'd tell the neighbors, "Kids for sale. One for a nickel or all three for a ten-cent-piece."

When I was little I always thought, "Oh, Grammy's so funny."

Now that I have a toddler, I think, "Oh, Grammy's so wise. Three for $0.10 is a great bargain. I wonder why they didn't sell? Maybe she should have sweetened the pot even more with a batch of her famous brownies or one of her signature grasshopper pies."

Thanks to technology, when Ella's driving me crazy, I don't have to worry about visiting the neighbors or word-of-mouth. Instead, I envision putting her for sale on E-Bay or Craig's List. I've promised my sister and my mother-in-law that if I ever follow through, I have to call them right away so they can make a strong opening bid.

Well, today a day when I'm certainly tempted to follow through with that. I keep looking at these two photos of her in her kitty cat rain coat and reminding myself that, even though she made it impossible for me to clean up breakfast until 4:00pm, and even though she made it impossible for me to grade my student's papers, and even though she drove me NUTS by wanting to play kitty cat tea party every second of the day, she's still the love of my life and I wouldn't trade her for anything.