Family
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Separation Anxiety
This is Maya on her first day of preschool…before she realized that Ted and I were leaving… Ms. Mamma and her Snowflake are going through one of the more painful and poignant times in early childhood…first daycare. He’s missing her terribly, crying and sad, and she’s feeling like a horrid mother, guilty and like she’s doing something that will scar him for life. I remember that time all too well with Maya. When she was about 1, we started sending her to her Grandma’s house a couple of days a week, so Ted could work on his dissertation. Maya loved her Grandma (“Ma”), and loved going to her house…and even…
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Sad tales of ears…
(See the tasteful little earrings on her ears? Not the ones in question today…) Anybody remember how Maya got her ears pierced back in August? How I struggled with the decision, because I wasn’t allowed to pierce my ears until I was 16, and here she was, 10, and I had to decide whether this was one of those things where things had changed since I was that age, or not? How we decided to pierce the ears, but only little studs, no hoops or danglies to make her look older than she is? OK, so now you’re up to date. Well, since then, her ears got infected once, so…
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Congratulations to Big Sis!!
Today, Laluna’s eldest daughter, Big Sis, is graduating with her BA from Berkeley. We are all bursting with pride, as her hard work, dedication, and all around smartness are clearly paying off. Go, big sis, go! You rock!
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A Witch!
(Picture from Salemweb.com) I’ve told you before of my famous and semi-famous relations, the cousins of ancestors, who turned out to be Presidents, Poets, writers, scholars, and adventurers. My straight lines of ancestry, though…those that don’t branch off into cousins and second cousins, are fairly low key. There are a lot of farmers, some school teachers, salesmen, construction workers, oil men, whatever. On my father’s side, the illicit rumor is that the Marquis de Lafayette had his way with one of George Washington’s slaves, and she had his child – one of my ancestors. Hard to prove without exhuming him and checking DNA, and I sort of prefer the rumor…
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What a Weekend!
Our weekend started on Friday, when we went into San Francisco to attend an Ivy League mixer at a club bordering North Beach. We found pretty good parking on a quiet street just three blocks away, and we set off looking for a place to have dinner. There was a fancy looking restaurant right on our street, Myth, and since I was hungry enough that the golden arches were starting to look pretty good, and Ted says no WAY he’s driving into San Francisco and eating THAT crap, we decided to see if we could get a table. Well, all of their tables were booked, but they had room at…
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Happy Friday the 13th!
Many people consider Friday the 13th to be a very unlucky day, the kind of day when it’s probably best to stay home with your head under the pillow. Well, maybe not UNDER, because then, being Friday the 13th, you would probably suffocate. In my family, however, Friday the 13th is considered to be a lucky day. Perhaps we’re rebels, or perhaps we’re demon spawn, which puts us at odds with everyone else, but regardless of these possibilities, we do. The reason that Friday the 13th is a lucky day dates back to when I was in the 5th grade. Back then, in the days before direct deposit and so…
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Wordless Wednesday
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Real Moms teach by example…
Have you noticed, when you get to know people, how sooner or later, your story comes out? Unless you’re hiding it, and sometimes, even if you are. But assuming you’re not hiding anything, your story explains to people who you are, how you got to be this person that they are talking to, how you grew and developed, what your strengths and scars are… Part of my story isn’t really mine, it’s about my parents. I’ve told it before, but the short version is that my mother wasn’t married to my father…or my brother’s father, and they weren’t the same man. My mother was divorcing her first husband when I…
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The Good China
Whilst out and about, watching a certain Bride to Be try on beautiful wedding dresses, I have recently had occasion to peruse the bridal magazines that they have sitting around at the salons. Anyone remember these? They’re full of pictures of dresses, of course, tips on how to get in shape before the wedding, ideas for fun honeymoons, ettiquette advice, and checklists galore. Things to be done, and when (6 months before the date, pick your venue and your dress…3 months before the date, order invitations, etc.). They also have suggestions for your bridal registry. Different people register for different types of things, some for the conventional china and silver,…
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3 Things…
1st, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, Happy Birthday to La Luna! Happy Happy Joy Joy, eat some bacon, and some cake, but please, don’t make it bacon cake! (unless that floats your boat, one never knows…) Â La Luna is a wonderful sister to me, (my sister-in-law if you want to get technical) always there, always ready with a helping hand or to walk our doggy or loan me vanilla extract…always with a kind word if I need it, ready to help out. Thank you La Luna, for being you, and keep it up! Happy Birthday. 🙂 2nd, excitingly, we’re getting our new STOVE this morning! I’ll admit, I’m going to miss our…
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My Aunt Colleen
Today would have been my Aunt Colleen’s 55th birthday, had she lived. She died of an unexpected brain aneurysm at the age of 43. This picture is her High School graduation photo, circa 1970. I’ve been trying to decide what to write about my aunt, who left us far too soon. I remember babysitting for her when I was young, dancing to “Abby Road” with her young daughters, Jenny and Kristy. Aunt Colleen bought me my first pair of shoes, when she was 13 years old. When I was 11, and let a rat come and make a nest at the back of my head (figuratively, not literally), she patiently…
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Happy Birthday Stevie Boy!
Today is Py’s brother’s birthday, and I want to wish him a very Happy Birthday. 🙂 When Py and I were married, part of the ceremony was a vow taken by Steve, that should anything ever happen to Py, Steve would be there for me, that he would take care of me. Also, if the family should ever think ill of me, if there should be a fight or a disagreement within the family, he would take my side until I was proven guilty. Don’t you all wish you had someone like that in your in-law’s family? Someone who is always there for you, someone who has vowed to be…
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Happy Birthday, Grandma!
Today is my Grandma’s birthday. I have told you about her before, here. You’ll be happy to know, she’s feeling much better lately, though healing is much more difficult in your 80s than in your 20s or 30s, probably even more difficult to heal a bone than in your 60s. She broke her wrist, and it’s having a hard time mending. But that’s not the point of my post. My Grandma is a wonderful, amazing person. I remember when I was a child, writing her letters, and her writing back, and feeling like I had a pen pal. This helped me to know her when I was living in Alaska,…
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Happy Birthday to Me!
Today is my 41st birthday…that seems wild, since I don’t feel any more mature than I did when I was 21 or 22…maybe that’s the secret to the fountain of youth…stay immature! For my birthday dinner tonight, I asked Ted if he would get me cracked crab with garlic butter, some wine (or maybe champagne?) and some french bread. He decided to do me one better on the French Bread, and get garlic noodles from Thanh Long. Oh my. They are SO yummy. So, yesterday, we drove into the city in search of garlic noodles…but we thought, why go all of the way to San Francisco, our favorite city, and…
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The Memory Keepers Daughter
I’m about 2/5 of the way through this book. Reading this has been a difficult task for me…not that it would be for everyone, but it was for me. Those of you who have read my blog for awhile know that I didn’t know my father or my sisters growing up, that I met them when I was 21 (dad) and 22 (sisters), so I missed out on a lot of their lives, as they did mine. One thing that I missed out on was that I had an uncle, Bobby, who had Downs Syndrome. He was my father’s older brother, and he died before I had a chance to…