As you all know, I'm NOTAMOM (see early posts here in the Hygge Hut), but I am most proud that IMMANAUNT!
I am the very delighted aunt of Megan and Allison, aged 19, twin daughters of my step-brother, Scott. I am the aunt, by marriage, to Christine, age 28, and Michael, age 25. I am the excited, fortunate and involved aunt to my 15 year old nephew Jackson and my 17 month old niece McKenna, children of my brother Doug. They live in Long Beach, just two miles away.
This aunt thing is working out pretty great. I get my nephew once a month for a dinner, when he's not playing water polo, and I go to the water polo games to cheer him on when he is. I get all the good stuff and none of the teenage boy stuff. Jackson is a really good kid, with straight A's and a talent in the pool. He's also a 15 year old boy.
I've been trying to get my niece McKenna once a week or so to play the auntie. We're working on dancing with Beyonce's "Single Ladies" video and any "So You Think You Can Dance" stuff on the DVR, as well as watching part of "Finding Nemo" everytime she's over. She loves the jumping Pixar light that comes on screen before the movie starts. You know the one. Boing! Boing! Boing! She's also quite good at wrapping my heart around her finger.
Jackson will know and remember me, but I worry about McKenna. I'll be 53 soon and she'll be 18 months when I hit that age. I need to keep working on creating memories for her so they will stick and so she will always think of her Aunt Katie with happy thoughts, long after I'm gone. Not to be morbid, but I'll be pretty old when she graduates from college - and I plan to be there, by the way.
I want her to think of me when Jackson has kids, even with kids of her own, and she gets to say "IMMANAUNT, just like Aunt Katie, and aren't I lucky"?
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Top Ten
We have been asked to provide a Top Ten List for a New Year's Eve gathering. No subject matter, just come up with a Top Ten List for 2009. I thought I'd share a couple with you, while deciding what to share.
Top Ten Items to Pack in Your Suitcase:
1. enough underwear
2. deodorant
3. a pair of sandals
4. camera battery charger
5. charger for any electronic gadget you're dragging along
6. bathing suit, because you never know when you'll need it
7. blank thank you card to write out while you're visiting friends to leave on the pillow
8. hostess gift
9. an extra pair of underwear
10. camera, with a charged battery
Top Ten Things I did in 2009 and Hope I Won't Do Again:
1. not take enough underwear on a trip
2. forget the camera charger
3. not believe my husband when he says he's worried about losing his job
4. hold my poor old cat in a towel instead of her carrier when going to put her to sleep
5. spend 7 hours in Denver trying to get to Atlanta instead of buying a ticket
6. try to reason with an unreasonable client
7. spend over $70 per person for tea
8. fall behind in my SalesPro updates
9. forget to floss
10. stop counting/tracking points
Top Ten Things I did in 2009 and Hope I Will Do Again:
1. start the New Year on a boat in Sydney Harbour
2. go to Australia three times in one year
3. go flying in a private plane
4. have a nice visit with Anna
5. spend time with friends around the country and around the world
6. spend time alone with Jackson and with McKenna
7. make something good out of tragedy, like a new friend
8. lose 24+ pounds
9. tell and show my husband I love him frequently and with gusto
10. make a difference with Pathways to Independence and Long Beach Basket Brigade
Still a work in progress. Happy New Year to all!
Top Ten Items to Pack in Your Suitcase:
1. enough underwear
2. deodorant
3. a pair of sandals
4. camera battery charger
5. charger for any electronic gadget you're dragging along
6. bathing suit, because you never know when you'll need it
7. blank thank you card to write out while you're visiting friends to leave on the pillow
8. hostess gift
9. an extra pair of underwear
10. camera, with a charged battery
Top Ten Things I did in 2009 and Hope I Won't Do Again:
1. not take enough underwear on a trip
2. forget the camera charger
3. not believe my husband when he says he's worried about losing his job
4. hold my poor old cat in a towel instead of her carrier when going to put her to sleep
5. spend 7 hours in Denver trying to get to Atlanta instead of buying a ticket
6. try to reason with an unreasonable client
7. spend over $70 per person for tea
8. fall behind in my SalesPro updates
9. forget to floss
10. stop counting/tracking points
Top Ten Things I did in 2009 and Hope I Will Do Again:
1. start the New Year on a boat in Sydney Harbour
2. go to Australia three times in one year
3. go flying in a private plane
4. have a nice visit with Anna
5. spend time with friends around the country and around the world
6. spend time alone with Jackson and with McKenna
7. make something good out of tragedy, like a new friend
8. lose 24+ pounds
9. tell and show my husband I love him frequently and with gusto
10. make a difference with Pathways to Independence and Long Beach Basket Brigade
Still a work in progress. Happy New Year to all!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Where are those glasses, anyway?
My beloved husband, my dear engineer, absent-minded professor and farsighted guy received some nice gifts this year from our families. He loves the argyle sweater. He likes the iTunes gift card and the BevMo gift card. He even thinks he can use that utility cord carrier that someone gave him.
He was quick to tell me we'd need to exchange the nice Eddie Bauer shirt that someone gave in him in Large, because he needs at XLT.
Of course, he has no idea who gave him any of those things. Nor did he know that the L shirt he opened was actually OUR gift to my step-father.
That's because Cameron can't read the tags without his glasses. He didn't want to get up to find them, he wasn't sitting next to me to have me read everything and said "I just opened what I was handed".
That pocket on your shirt, Cam? That's for your reading glasses.
He was quick to tell me we'd need to exchange the nice Eddie Bauer shirt that someone gave in him in Large, because he needs at XLT.
Of course, he has no idea who gave him any of those things. Nor did he know that the L shirt he opened was actually OUR gift to my step-father.
That's because Cameron can't read the tags without his glasses. He didn't want to get up to find them, he wasn't sitting next to me to have me read everything and said "I just opened what I was handed".
That pocket on your shirt, Cam? That's for your reading glasses.
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