Saturday evening random thoughts about family

My stepmother is here, and we have spent the day just hanging out. One of the things you miss most about family when you never get to be around them is just the quiet days hanging out.

When I was in high school, I used to spend many a happy Sunday afternoon napping on the World’s Most Comfortable Napping Couch just around the corner from the kitchen, where there would always be a hustle and bustle. I loved to slowly wake up for dinner, hearing the clatter of pots and pans on the stove and the ending notes of some Disney movie Little Sis would invariably be watching in the family room.

Those are the days before you grow up and realize that not only is the world kind of crazy, and all the people you meet are kind of crazy, but it turns out that you are kind of crazy and so is your family. And nobody grew up quite like you and some of the stuff you always thought was normal is actually crazy.

But then, some of the stuff you thought was crazy is amazing.

We got to the airport and Stepma came down the stairs from the terminal and came over to us and we discovered that she and Little Sis were basically wearing matching outfits.

Little Sis calls my mom “aunt”. Our moms hang out together, talk on the phone. Stepma recently cared for Mamacita after a surgery. Christmases in my family are like a patchwork of marriages past and present.

I like to say that I come from the world’s most functional dysfunctional family.

What a lucky duck I am!

2 comments May 15th, 2010

Sibling revelry

Welcome to Day 2 of 31 Days of Blogging at Least on the Weekdays or Else!

So, I am writing this post late Monday for Tuesday morning. This is helpful because I can update progress at the end of the day, whereas at the beginning of the day, there is obviously nothing done yet.

The Daily Plah: Day 2
Currently reading: still Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Song running through my head all day: I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas*
Book 2 progress: I am examining story, character, and motivations today and therefore have not increased my page count. No, for real! I did work. Just not pagecountable work.
Other notable facts: Much laundry has been done, much food procured, many dishes washed. The house regains its sense of balance. Also, I learned that if a salad says, “Use by 3-1-10,” use it BY that date and not ON that date, because (if you are me) you will get mild food poisoning and spend the whole afternoon on the couch whining to your dog and rubbing your food baby. (You know what a food baby is, don’t you? If you don’t, this should educate you: food baby at Urbandictionary.com.)

Anyway, I’m much better now. But I had a headache all day. Iffy food almost always gives me a headache. Little Sis tried to help me get rid of it by massaging my head and pressuring my pressure points. While this happened, I discovered that I can still make her burst into uncontrollable peals of laughter, just like when she was a baby and I would fake-sneeze at her. My new method isn’t much more sophisticated: while lying on the couch with her looking down at my face (upside down from her POV), I open my eyes.

Yep, I open my eyes. And she laughs until she cries.

Aren’t little sisters the best?

And then, as an added bonus, Winston came to sit on my stomach, and we played a fun game of “Winston tries to stick his tongue in my mouth”. Despite all of the many co-dependent ways in which I overindulge and baby my dog, letting him lick my teeth isn’t on the list, so it got to be a bit like a game of Whack-a-mole. Kind of.

So anyway, as soon as she pressed on my pressure point (Little Sis, not the dog), I would open my mouth to screech in pain, and Winston would leap forth to try to stick his tongue in my mouth. This would make my eyes pop open, which would send Little Sis into a hysterical burst of laughter.

I don’t know why I’m sharing all of this on the internet except that it’s a little slice of life that shows how much fun it is to have Little Sis here living with us. It turns out that even though I once threw her across the room (ah, no big deal, she doesn’t even remember), and she totally upstaged me in my only good photo from senior prom, there is still a bond between us.

I can relate this back to writing because I write books about sisters, you see.

Happy Tuesday!

Contest time!

Since you made it this far, leave a comment on this post to win a handmade tote/resuable grocery bag by yours truly. You don’t get to choose the bag, because it’s already made, but it is a cute bag. I would keep it and use it myself if I didn’t already have fifteen (and one in the works).

As you can see, it is dark blue with purple vegetables on it (don’t adjust your monitors).

* It is a huge pet peeve of mine to use contractions incorrectly as in this song title: “I Gotta Feeling.” “Gotta” is short for “got to.” It is LONG for “got a.” You see this a lot with “wanna.” Short for “want to.” Long for “want a.” There can be no other explanation than this: the Black Eyed Peas just GOT to feeling, y’all! BTW, I once saw them at the airport and they are all little tiny people.

10 comments March 2nd, 2010

Off and running on revisions!

Book 2 notes are in from the Delightful Editor! So I’m going to spend a week or so doing a preliminary plan and then start revising. I’m so excited. As usual, her insight is great and she has a fabulous way of pulling me back when I “cheat.” Her suggestions and questions force me to look at the root of the problem and deal with it, rather than patching over it. There’s something about an additional point of view that energizes me!

In preparation for the rewrite, I rearranged my sewing room. The room is a decent size, but the space is kind of awkward, so I’ve always had problems finding a place for my desk and sewing table. I think I came up with a good configuration… my little sister approves, so that’s good!

Speaking of Little Sis, she’s been here for two weeks and is doing wonderfully. She’s still looking for a job, but I love having her around. We have the same goofy sense of humor, and she puts up with me very nicely. She must be a saint. I keep thinking of “Emma,” where Mr. Knightley apologizes to Emma for always telling her what’s what and what to do. I’m like a less apologetic version of Mr. Knightly, ha ha. If she would just learn to close the garage door when she drives away, life would be perfect!

Thank you all for your comments, and I’m sorry I haven’t been good about replies. I don’t like feeling invisible at a blog, and I don’t like the thought of making others feel invisible. So booooo on me. I will make a real effort to get better!

I’ll wrap this post up with a quote I just read that really resonated with me. It’s from the introduction to the book Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Wellen Levine. The line itself is from Carole Gilligan:

Americans place a high value on individuality and independence, but these values quickly become hollow in the absence of practices that cultivate an inner voice and relationships that encourage its expression.

This really struck a chord with me. Lately, the thought running through my head has been, how many more Jennifer Anistons and Elin Nordegrens and countless other women have to be mistreated in their relationships for our culture to realize that good looks and money don’t equal the promise of a happy life?

6 comments February 11th, 2010