Category Archives: Family

It Was Easy Yesterday

It was easy yesterday to feel like there’s nothing wrong. All of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins and some of their kids — four generations — were gathered for Grandpa Snooky’s 83rd birthday. We  joked about who’s the #1 grandchild and discussed ordering a bucket of chicken. We caught up with each other and fawned over the littlest family members.

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Ever the humorist, Grandpa tried to convince a fully uniformed security guard to show up and take one of us away. We all laughed when the security guard said, “I heard it was somebody’s birthday…” and everyone’s first thought was that he might be a dancer hired for the birthday boy.

It was easy yesterday to feel like we were gathered in Grandma and Grandpa’s house for Sunday lunch instead of in a sterile, quiet hospital room. It was easy yesterday to feel like there’s nothing wrong.

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Where The Boat Leaves From [And The Best Day of Hugh's Life]

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Friday night, as we walked across the bridge to Georgetown to see Iron-Man 3 (which was awesome), Hugh and I decided that we’d rather sit near the water in the sunshine, fishing and/or reading, than stay at home and do chores. So the next morning we hopped in the car and off we went to where the boat leaves from.

We took the boat out to test a fishing contraption my cousin had fashioned. The boys did all the work, I just enjoyed the ride and occasionally got in the way.

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Hugh even got to steer us through a crab pot mine field.

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Back on the dock, I braved the chilly breeze through a couple beers while watching a snorkel operation to scrape some barnacles off the boat and Hugh began to tackle his new tackle box.

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Then yesterday — the day he now calls the best day of his life — Hugh set up shop on the dock and put all his new fishing knowledge into hours of casting, baiting, tying, re-tying, and trying every lure in his box…

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…until finally

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Hugh caught a striper off the dock, which has never been done before. Yes it was too small to keep, but next year that fish is going to be tast-y.

After the excitement, I went back to my post — reading in the boat where the breeze couldn’t get me.

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And admiring my surroundings.

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“My Brother Stared at Me” and Other Troubles of a Big Sister

Last weekend while visiting my parents, my mom brought out my kindergarten diary which she had recently found. In my kindergarten diary, I drew pictures of my daily thoughts and had an adult help me write the captions. On January 2, 1992, when my brother was not even a month old, I lamented that

“My brother stared at me when we went shopping yesterday.”

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Life was rough at five years old, you guys. Little did I know that staring was going to be the least of my worries — eventually little brothers learn to talk and poke and toddle into your room and point their fingers an inch from your face in the backseat of the car while exclaiming “I’M NOT TOUCHING YOU!!”

[Related Note: I am sure, being the youngest of three, that Hugh has never been guilty of any of these sibling annoyance tactics]

Luckily the little guy has grown up to be less annoying.

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And we get along juuuust fine now.

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Meet Our Newest Addition

Last week we made an exciting new addition to our family. Meet Sharon, our my new computer.

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She’s replacing my beloved but recently decrepit Norma Jeane who has refused to even boot up in the past few days.

I am excited to have a fast computer that does not spontaneously shut down while I’m working on an unsaved Photoshop document.

My camera is excited to be able to offload pictures at long last.

Hugh is … well he might be … slightly jealous.

And Lily is just curious.

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On a related note, yes, I have a tendency to name things. Our car is Joan, Hugh’s old car was Huggy Bear, my stand mixer is MaryAnne, my old computer was Norma Jeane and this one is Sharon. I have no explanation.