Hello,
It's been a while, so I figured I'd take a few minutes and get you caught up on what's happening in this 50 year old's life.
Winter is mostly over, and some days are very nice, which is a wonderful thing. I've noticed that the older I get, I have less tolerance to cold weather. My mom winter's in AZ, for about 6 months, and she will be home Thursday, barring any storms they might drive into. There have been a lot already this year, and there have been a LOT of tornadoes. By they, I mean mom and my sister-in-law.
Speaking of my sister-in-law, she does this every spring and fall. She uses her vacation weeks to fly one way and drive mom the other way. What a saint!! I did it once and thought I was going to die. I get motion sickness, and driving through the mountains is no place for someone like me. I digress...
I'm still looking for a job *sigh*, I visited my grandsons, Steph & I rearranged, and redecorated the living room, I've read a TON since I got my Kindle, and I've seen some really good movies lately. So, that gets you caught up.
The main thing I was getting to is that when mom's coming home, that means that spring and Easter are coming, quickly, so it's time to do a little spit shining, and so forth, when doing the cleaning/preparing for Easter at my house. Some years we have it at the party room where my brother lives, but sometimes not. And, really, it doesn't matter if we're having it or not. I still have to super clean my house because my mom's coming over for the first time in 6 months.
This year is Easter at my house, and while I started some preparing for it, I realized a few things. First, and foremost is that I LOVE having people over, but my favorite is having family for a holiday. We frequently will also have someone who's not family, because they have nowhere to go, so for that day they're family. This year we're having a schoolmate of Steph's. Her name is MacKenzie, and she's from New York. Going home just isn't always feasible, and she's more than welcome here.
Steph & I live in a tiny little 2 bedroom townhouse, but we put in a family room in the basement, which is mostly finished, and between that, living room, and kitchen, we can always make do. Every time we get together we have way too much food. But the food is VERY good. That's the second thing I realized. The food is always so good! My mom and my sister-in-law are very good cooks!
Also, every time we get together we play a lot of games. There's usually a few people in the basement playing SceneIt of one kind, or another. We have several of them. And at the kitchen table you can find people playing 13, Pictionary, Scrabble, Parcheesi, Upwords, Yahtzee, or Boggle. There are many more, I just can't think of them all.
The third thing I realized is that because of the game playing, we spend a lot of time laughing. I love that most of all. I'm related to a lot of very funny people, and we always have a good time when we get together. We can just sit and talk and we have a good, funny time.
Sometimes my brother brings over his dog, which I also love. This is a good thing. A very good thing because Stella is as sweet as they come. She's such a cute, and good little dog. We love her because she's family, too.
This year my nephew and his wife are coming over, which is also a good plus. They're a lot of fun to hang out with.
But, the very best holiday is any holiday when Sara, John and the boys can be here. I don't care which holiday it is, I just love it. It reminds me of when the girls were young and right around the time of the gloaming, my kids would be in the house. Every family member would be here, and everyone was safe. I don't really know how to describe the feeling...I just love it, and having them here for a holiday brings that feeling back. I have my daughters, my son-in-law, my grandsons, my mom, my brother and his family here and life couldn't get better. I love being with them all.
My brother and Patty frequently host holidays at their place. She has a party every 4th of July, and every New Year. We get together early, we eat way too much, really good food, we play games, we visit, we play games, we eat some more and see fireworks. These parties are not family only. They invite a lot of people and it's like being with extended family. Some of them we've gotten to know quite well, and it's always nice to see them.
I feel bad for people who have no one to spend their holidays with. I have an older brother who moved to AL 27 years ago, and the first few years, before he was married, he was invited to the homes of his boss or a friend for the holidays and I was always very thankful for that. So, I figure what goes around...someone who's alone is always welcome here.
I feel very blessed. We've lost one brother, who moved away, and my dad, who passed away. But I still have a lot of family. People around me on holidays who know me well enough to know they can bring a stranger with them, and that they have to bring chocolate to my house. Otherwise, no egg bake for them!!
