I know I Said Three Weeks But....

I know I said three weeks, but I just have to briefly relay what my grandmother said this morning. I was eating lunch with my family after my cousin's, daughter's baptism (I'm her Godmother, my first time in such an important position). So my grandma's wearing this gorgeous necklace and she's like, "Colleen, do you like my necklace?" I'm like, "yeaahh, it's beautiful, where did you get it??"

Grandma: "It's vintage, it's from the 1940s. You know why I never wear it?"

Me: "No..."

Grandma: "It's because I got it from the other guy. The one that I was seeing when I got engaged to your grandfather."

Me: "Hahahaha, so you figure 13 years after Grandpa died you could now wear it?"

Grandma: (Shrugs). "I suppose."

That's right. My grandmother was seeing someone else when she got engaged to my grandpa. Apparently he was in Germany, and had been for awhile, so, um, I guess stuff changes?? Ha. Things were different back then. The poor fella got a killer break-up note I'm sure. Sorry, we have to break up, I'm engaged to another man."

That is one part of my grandmother's history I will definitely not repeat:) You have to be pretty smooth to get away with that - and I'm kind of the opposite of anything 'smooth.'

Live from Atlanta: The Callahan's Dominate Trivia

Move over auto parts, the Callahan Family now has a new claim to fame: Trivia. That's right, tonight, the Callahan Family dominated bar trivia at the Blue Moon in Atlanta. We won second place - but it was a close fight to the finish. We lost to the first-place team in an overtime tie-breaker, with the question: "According to the Illinois Transportation Department, Lakeshore Drive is how many miles long?" Please! We said 52, the other team said 48. The answer? 15.2. We were both off, but alas, we were more off.

Now, when I say the Callahan Family won second place at trivia, what I really mean is my dad, the waiter and the table next to us won second place at trivia. Granted, I did contribute to like, one question, but only in part (The question was: what actor was nominated for an oscar for best actor for playing an actor previously nominated for best actor. My dad says "oh! The guy from Ironman played Charlie Chaplin!" I chimed in "Robert Downey Jr.!" Score). Yep, my dad is pretty much the trivia king. I think that I will be good at trivia once they stop aiming everuy trivia question at the 40-and-over crowd. My mom... she's not so good. Her contribution to our second place win was (illegally!) calling her friends to find answers. I guess they make a good match - the brain and the socialite, together forever.

As mentioned, another contributor to our silver medal was our waiter. The question asked what rapper was in Above the Rim and Poetic Justice. Of course, we had no idea, so my mom shouts to the waiter "Do you know the answer!?" He kind of stares for a second and is like, "Tupac." My mom asks, "Are you sure?" He gives a polite "are-you-kidding-me" look and nods, "yeah, I'm sure." Ha. He probably thought we were ridiculous - a white family from the north asking him who was in Poetic Justice. To make matters worse, my mom was like "Who's Tupac Shaaaacckeerr?" Uh.... embarassing!

Anyway, the waiter's insight, my mom's cheating, my dad's knowledge and my pop-culture awareness won us a $25 gift certificate to the Blue Moon pizzaria tonight. Too bad my dad is the only one with any use for that. Well, I suppose possibly my mom too - since his company flies her down here all the time (spoiled!). I am going to abruptly end this blog post now, because my sister is tempting me with what sounds like a hilarious youtube video. Ma Saalama!

My Mom's Dog Sings

This video is from Thanksgiving back in H-Town, but I kept forgetting to post it. So my mom's goldendoodle, Marley, has this trick/weird habit of spontaneously breaking out in song when my mom's cell phone rings. It's strange, but cute.

The film of Marley's antics is below. Be patient, the first thirty seconds are waiting for my mom how to figure out her cell phone. If you can get past that, a treasure awaits you...

On another note, I am still in Seattle. I seriously love this city. It is so cute. Even with the rain. However, I will be getting some sun tomorrow, as I'm heading to "The Dale" as my sister calls it. Otherwise known as Scottsdale, Arizona. Again. I love winter break.

Changin' Times

While telling a story of her youth, my 90 year-old grandmother made a comment that made me realize the how small the world has become in such a short time. “You know,” she said, “growing up, we didn’t think much of anyone other the Swedish Lutherans.” I was somewhat shocked, thus exclaimed, “But Grandma, did you all believe in God, as Lutherans? And that God created all people?” Shrugging her shoulders she said, “Yes we believed in God, but I guess we just didn’t think that far. After all, I only grew up with people like me, and when I went to college, I went to a Lutheran, Swedish college, and everyone was the same there too.”

My grandmother went to Gustavus. She said it was her only choice, because it was the only Lutheran school sufficient back then. I asked her about St. Olaf University, after all that school has been around awhile and, is Lutheran. She answered like she had never thought of it before. "Oh no, yes it's Lutheran, but it is Norwegian Lutheran, not Swedish." Then she laughed.

Uh, I don't even know what the difference is between Sweden and Norway.

Crazy! Even crazier is how much the world has changed in a relatively short time. When my grandmother was born, women couldn’t vote and while black men were able, society made sure to limit their opportunities by strategically placing numerous obstacles in their paths. Now, either a woman, or a black man will be in the white house. I think that’s awesome.

This thought was brought to you by my scholarship application, when I realized that although the first paragraph had no relation to what the essay on the application was asking, but wanted to keep writing about it anyway. I know, I am pretty deep.

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot to add; today, my 90 year-old grandmother is voting for Barack Obama. Changin' times indeed.