37 posts tagged “family”

Many people consider Memorial Day Weekend to be the kickoff of summer. Show us what you're most looking forward to this summer!

On the Beach 3

I came home for lunch today, by myself, which is no big deal - just a statement of fact.  Oftentimes, Rob and I have lunch together, but not on Mondays, as he has a weekly lunch meeting.  He'd also scheduled a repairman to come and it just so happened that Rob couldn't get out of his meeting early, so I am "stuck" here at the house way past my normal hour while the guy attempts to fix the stove that has never worked properly.

All that to say that I now have no real excuse not to blog about something.

And so, here I sit.  And I offer you these random thoughts and tidbits from life a la Nicole:

The Steelers suck.  Not in how they play - obviously they had a great team this year.  But I just can't bring myself to like them.  Not even one iota.  Sorry my friends!

Rob and I have been tossing around whether or not to move forward with a kitchen remodel or go on a "big" family vacation before The Daughter graduates from high school next spring.  Back and forth, back and forth, we've gone with the pros and cons.  Then it hit me last week - the kitchen is usable, albeit not the most attractive ever (I was spoiled by our last house and that newly remodeled tile and hickory room).  But our kids - all three of them - will only be here with us for so long.  The memories of a grand vacation will last forever (Don't you guys still remember with joy how great Disney was all those years ago?).

So, we brought it to a family meeting.  We wrote down all the "big" things we'd like to do, then had each person choose which one they thought we should tackle if we could only do one in the next two years.  God love our kids - we had to really stress that we wanted to know what they wanted to do, not necessarily what might be logical or practical (we had one of those moments where you see that they are listening and learning the values you hope for).

Long story short - we are planning our next family vacation, and it will likely be a cruise or trip to Hawaii....I am leaning toward the cruise, but as long as it's warm and exotic and we all get to go, I am there!

And finally, a quick note about my recently-passed 2-year voxiversary.  I know I haven't been present here as much as I'd like, but just knowing I have this place - knowing that so many of you are still here and reading - not to mention the encouragement, laughter, thoughts, and prayers you so often offer - helps me keep my sanity.

So, thank you.  All of you. 

You're the best.

It's been a week or two since we decorated the tree, but I am just now getting around to uploading the photos.

The Youngest tree1

The Daughter tree1

The Middle tree1

The Daughter tree2

Those are ornaments Rob tries to hide every year.  He thinks they are ugly, but The Daughter and I love them.

2008 Decorating Tree2

2008 Decorating Tree1

Putting angel on tree5

The Middle is silly1

The Middle is silly2

2008 Decorating Tree3

Zorro under tree

The Middle: Mom, do you think these are stale? (Shows me an opened sleeve of oreos.)

The Mom: I don't know.

The Middle:  (Tastes one and chews thoughtfully.)  "Does this taste stale?"

The Mom: "I am not going to taste that.  If you think it's stale, throw them away."

The Dad: (Imitating The Middle) "Hey, Mom!  Taste this!  It tastes like crap!"

Yes, you read that right.  I was fortunate to enjoy a 5 day weekend this week.  Which gives one a moment of pause.  If one has 5 days off in a row, even if it does include the weekend, should such be referred to as a 5-day weekend?

See what a decent nap on a rainy Sunday afternoon will do to you?

Back to why I started writing in the first place (ADD, much?).  Since it's been a bit since I actually wrote anything of substance here, I thought I'd at least make an effort to describe whatever one might call the last 5 days with a few bullet points.

• Wednesday was a half-day at the office so I smushed all my work into two days so that I could take the day off.  I spent the morning at Target finally spending some birthday money. (Yes, my birthday was 6 months ago....doesn't every one wait this long to spend birthday money?  Besides, I didn't actually get the money until the end of August, so really, I only waited 3 months.)  I scored a cute black jacket that I can wear with dress pants or jeans, a hot pink, long-sleeved, v-neck tee (I adore v-necks for some reason), and a new red top for Thanksgiving-ware.
• After spending way too much time a leisurely shopping trip that morning, which also included a quick stop at the pet store and that-store-which-annoys-me-but-is-so-freakin'-cheap-I-go-there-anyway*, we packed up and headed to the Steve and Janie abode (where I was reminded that their celebrity name is Stanie, precipitating much laughter, again - even though we came up with that about a year ago.  I am mature like that.)
• We got there that evening with enough time to enjoy Janie's kickin' guacamole with the chips and salsa I brought.  That stuff rocks (sorry, Hannah, I don't think it would be as good without the cilantro).
• At about 15 minutes till Thanksgiving Day, my mother and sister realized that there was no pan to cook the turkey in.
• They did at least have batteries in the air pump for the air mattress, saving us from hearing Yours Truly scream at 3 AM because the air compressor was still plugged in and decided to begin charging (those suckers are loud, and when one is sound asleep, most definitely sound like an incoming air strike or zombie invasion).
• I awoke to the sounds of my mother lamenting that she still did not have a turkey pan and why hadn't her youngest gotten up yet to procure one.  It was not late, nor was it early, but her efforts to convince those of us who were awake that one of us should awaken the slumbering woman-o-the-house were largely ignored.
• Within a few hours, the house was enlivened with the smell of turkey (good) and saurkraut (bad).
• Yes, we ate later than planned, but that enabled The Best Friend and her son to arrive in time for her to actually sit down and eat with us (she'd simply asked us to save her a plate because she couldn't arrive until an hour or so after our planned dining time).
• The rest of Turkey Day can be summed up with the following:
  

1108 Thanksgiving Mosaic

I didn't take any photos on Friday or Saturday.  I don't know why.  There probably would have been some good ones from our lively games of Apples to Apples and Taboo.  But, alas, I did not.

And believe it or not, Janie, The Best Friend, and I did brave Target and Costco on Friday.  But we waited until after 2 PM and the crowds were no larger than a typical weekend.

Not sure if that bodes well for the state of our economy, but it made for a pleasant shopping trip for us.

In summary?  Another fun weekend with famiy and friends, an occasional outburst from one or another of the participants, too much good food, capped off with the bittersweet feeling of being home and snuggled into my own bed once more.

1108 Us_sepia

Tonight the whole family went out for ice cream.  As we were walking to the car, we started gently ribbing The Middle about his upcoming Family Life* classes.

(For those who don't know that term, these are basically what we used to call the Sex Ed classes.)

The Youngest had his Family Life class a few weeks ago.  Not to miss out on the teasing, he promptly piped in:

"Just wait!  You're going to have so much fun if Mr. Johnson teaches your class!"

There was a moment of what one might call awkward silence as we all processed his statement.

The laughter began as a gentle wave through the car, but soon found it's way to gasps for air as the statement was repeated again and again.

Poor kid* had no idea what was so funny.

(*Once we could all speak again, we shared the joke with The Youngest.  His sense of humor matches ours.)

What do you find interesting or unique about your family history?

Here are a few things - perhaps not unique, but interesting, at least to me!

• Our great grandparents on our mom's side (our Mom-Mom's parents) were from the same village in Hungary, though they did not know each other and did not meet until after they had both immigrated to the states.  If I am remembering the story correctly, Grandma Meyer was Grandpa Meyer's house help when his first wife was alive.  Some time after his first wife passed, they married, but I seem to remember Mom-Mom saying that he never treated her as he should have - that he favored his first wife and wasn't shy about letting her know that.
• The Meyer surname is not actually accurate - it was Mayer, pronounced like the bologna, but they Americanized it - well, all but our Great Uncle Dominic (who I believe was from Grandpa Meyer's first marriage), who retained the original spelling.  I have no idea what Grandma Meyer's maiden name was - I wish I did. 
  
• Our great grandmother on our paternal grandmother's side married her childhood sweetheart when she was in her 70's, I believe.  She was 98 when she passed, outliving both of her husbands by many years.
• On both sides of our family, the name Charles is very predominant, though only one person goes by "Charles".  Here's the count and how we keep it all straight: my father (Charlie), his father (usually went by his last name), my other grandfather (Buck), his son (Chuck or Butch), my mom's cousin (Charles), his son (Chucky), and one of my dad's uncles (Brother).  Needless to say, no one in my generation - on either side! - has felt the compulsion to use the name Charles for their progeny.
• Our mom's parents eloped on Thanksgiving day.  He was 26 and she was 17 (I think - do I have that right, Janie?).  They won't back "home" separately.  After a week or so, Mom-Mom spilled the beans to one of her sisters, and I believe that is when word got out.  I am not sure what the reaction was or when they actually got a place of their own (maybe one of my sisters can shed some light on that).
• Another "famous" surname within our family tree comes from our dad's side: Hefner.  Do you think we could be heirs to either a lunch meat or - *ahem* - other fortune? (Heh.  Not likely.)
• When our mother was pregnant with me, she wanted to use Patricia for my first name.  Our paternal grandmother thought that was outrageous since our father had been engaged to a Patricia.  A year or two later, our parents reconnected with Pat and her hubby.  The four became fast - and best - friends for years.  I've always found it humorous and ironic that Mom and Pat became such good friends.