Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Sausage

Gracie, my baby loves sausage. She loves it so much if you even say sausage she smiles.

I'm a little creeped out.

Monday, December 7, 2009

But Now We're All Grown Up

I have been blessed with some of the most excellent of childhood memories. And, many of my favorites include cousins. We didn't live close but when we got together you could count on chaos.

For example I have this cousin Ryan who is just a few years older---old enough to be annoyed by me while we were growing up. Like this one time when I stole all the Tinker Toys at grandmas to make myself a statue costume. "Look! I'm the statue of Liberty!" I proclaimed. "More like the Statue of Stupidity," he replied.

Another time our families were vacationing at the beach house where I loved to literally climb the walls. That summer Ryan spent the day laying out and getting tan, um, make that burnt. Burnt to a crisp. The most painful part of his lobsterfied body was his armpits. (Boy, were they red.) As he gently walked down the hall, arms spread, looking for aloe vera, I attacked. Down from my perch on the ceiling I came landing square on his blistering back and shoulders. Some say on a quiet night when the tides are just right you can still hear the echo of that painful scream.

I could go on---the time he made me cry by smashing baby bird eggs, the time I covered him in toothpaste while he slept, the time he talked me into hanging onto an electric fence, or the time we talked our other cousin into peeing on that same electric fence--but I won't.

I'll just say this. Ryan, that sunburned farm boy, is all grown up now and he called me today. Unfortunately, I wasn't playing with tinker toys. You see Simon's mystery illness is back and I'm beside myself with worry. And grown up Ryan, now a doctor, thinks he can help. So now Simon and the Statue of Stupidity are scheduled in to see Dr. Ryan first thing Thursday morning. Who knew we'd all grow up?

So, today I'm especially thankful for family and Ryan I'm sorry about the toothpaste.