Hi Y’all, I’m Beth
I’m Beth Gramling Sanders, an empty nester, married since 1986, and mom of two wonderful grown women.
Way geekier than most women my age, along with my oldest daughter, Elizabeth, I stood in line for 12 hours in 2007 for the very first iPhone.
Hi Y’all, I’m Beth
I’m an empty nester, way geekier than most women my age. I consider myself too old to be a hipster and too young at heart to be a geezer. I’m a Christ follower, life-long St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, crossword puzzle nerd, wordsmith and all-around technology freak and early adopter.
I was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, as my husband, Jim, and I raised our two daughters. I enjoy my girls as adults more than I ever dreamed and love being free from enforcing curfew, nagging about homework, and throwing down a four-course dinner every night.
This blog is my personal thoughts and insights on life, family, faith, the expression of experiences and wisdom gained through 60+ years of life, and things I enjoy.
My professional self is on my website, aptly named BethGSanders.com.
Latest Post
Crappy and Rotten
This isn’t going to be a feel-good post. Because I’m feeling crappy and rotten. So if you're here for daisies and rainbows, you're in the wrong spot today. I had colon surgery on July 6 and was recovering well. I felt so much like myself that we went out Thursday...
Morning By Morning
Tuesday, February 19, about 8:45 a.m. Just a bit more than nine months ago. I was about to leave for work when my phone rang. I recognized the number as Jim's old cell number and wondered why on earth he was using it to call me. The answer came when I accepted the...
The World Series. For Real.
I'm at a World Series game. No, really. Game 4 at Busch Stadium. Cardinal baseball isn't just my obsession, it's a family tradition. And to baseball-obsessed folk, the World Series is pretty much the ultimate dream. When I found out I was going, thanks entirely to the...
Colors of Life
I'm blessed with amazing friends, who are black white Christian Jewish atheist Muslim gay straight bi transsexual empty nesters parents of small children parents of teenagers childless geeks technophobes luddites conservative liberal young middle-aged old reserved...
How to Dice an Onion Like a Doctor
My brother-in-law is an incredible cook. If he weren't an excellent physician, he'd own a restaurant and be a highly-regarded chef, I'm sure. So when he has tips for how to do something in the kitchen, I always listen. Here, he's demonstrating how he dices an onion....
Funk.
Funk has at least three meanings: it is defined as a genre of music, a foul smell, or a dejected mood. I'm kind of familiar with the first definition, all-too acquainted with the second (we have dogs, remember?) and am currently experiencing the third. I've thought...
What Baseball was Like in the 1960s and 1970s
My passion for baseball began at an early age and grew, as each year our family headed to St. Louis for a series, usually in July, which is just as miserable in St. Louis as it was in Arkansas. But I loved the Cardinals more than I hated the heat, and looked forward...
RIP Sweet Molly Girl: 14 Years of Love
In happier days — she loved playing with this foam football. She'd bring it to us over and over until we got tired of throwing. One of the worst things about being a grownup is having to do hard things. We did one of those things today. Our beloved 14-year-old...
On the Occasion of His 20th Anniversary in Heaven
Daddy and Jim were always talking about camaras. I've noticed for the past week or so that I've felt inexplicably blue. Even though they come around every year, somehow the anniversaries always seems to sneak up on me. In 1993, my dad passed away suddenly on June 13,...
Social Media, Tornadoes, and Sirens
I admit I'm particularly freaky about thunderstorms, and when the tornado sirens go off, my blood pressure tends to riseprecipitously as the barometric pressure falls. I was raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas in the 1960s and `70s. That was during the time that CB radios...
The Last of New York. And Home.
I shot a bit of video with my phone throughout our trip and sort of mashed it together here. (Remember, I'm not a video expert. I just have an iPhone and iMovie.) Sunday brought steady rain and cool temperatures, so Mom just decided to hang in the room before we went...
New York City: Ground Zero, The Village, and The Flatiron
It's hard to write about Ground Zero. Like most of you, I remember exactly where I was when I heard. Here at home, getting ready to take Sara Ann to school. Elizabeth was already at school, as middle school started at 7:15. Jim was out of town — in Connecticut,...
New York: Upper West Side and Fifth Avenue
My last New York post ended with the following riveting cliffhanger: Did Beth really touch the side of Paul Simon's former apartment building? Did they see Art Garfunkel on Fifth Avenue? The answers are yes and no. After the Circle Line, we made our way to the Upper...
New York, Day Two: Circle Line
What a wonderful thing it is to wake up in New York City. Our first outing of the day was the Circle Line cruise. Yes, it's touristy, but neither of us had ever done it, so I think that makes it OK. The boat goes all the way around Manhattan. We started at Pier 83 at...
New York, Day One
Yesterday's flight went smoothly, after the minor glitch with my boarding pass was settled. I don't love flying one bit, but I survived the flight nicely, thanks to my iPad, New York Times crosswords and my "calm" playlist. And what may have been a tiny glass of wine....
New York, Here I Come.
Tomorrow morning I'll leave for New York City for the first time since 1993. I could not be more excited; it's one of my favorite places. My mom is treating me to the trip, since Jim isn't working now (see this post if you need to catch up). We'll see two Broadway...
Are You Creative?
I just ran across an interesting article on Lifehacker about the creative personality, called The Seven Elements of a Creative Personality. I read everything I can on this topic because it pretty much describes me. Especially this: You're creative if: Your Mind Has an...
The Gift of Baseball
So, baseball is back. The season could not have come at a better time — especially now, when we're not going out much anywhere, due to the unemployment thing. One of our simple pleasures is putting our feet up and ending the day with the Cardinals on TV, win or lose....
On the Occasion of the 21st Birthday of My Youngest Baby
My youngest baby is 21 today. It makes me a little misty eyed, I'm not gonna lie. I tried to resist the motherly instincts last night when she told me she was going out at midnight to buy her first legal drink. Me: Be careful. Are you taking Ethan (longtime...