My sister is fabulous!!

Look at what my sister sent me...

How can I slack off if I am wearing this???  (Dirty, sweaty, post-workout!)

A perfect reminder of why I do Crossfit.  Did I tell you that she joined her local Crossfit gym and loves it?  I am so happy for her.  After all, misery loves company!

Thanks so much, Love Aphid, you're the best!!

Can you tell my sister thinks my life is thrilling?

This is one of the birthday cards my sister sent me.

Obviously, she's dialed in to the high points of my daily life...

Friday Photo Flashback

It's Friday and Alicia has us all digging through boxes pre-digital photos to remember those times and share them (rather than keeping them in boxes in the hopes that we'll get them into photo albums).This time, I dug through and found pictures (bad pictures, but pictures none-the-less) of a trip I took to NY to introduce Charming to my birth family. Charming was 11 months old and I remember being in a panic trying to figure out what kind of clothes a baby would need in NY and Pennsylvania in January. (Remember, my kids were 4th generation natives to the San Fernando Valley!). I had to buy him "real" shoes. He needed "warm" clothes, but since we'd never need them again, I refused to spend much money on them. I was working for Citicorp at the time and my NY trip was a stop-off before I headed for training in Delaware. Superman was meeting me in Delaware and he was happy to have the opportunity to introduce Charming to his grandmother and some cousins. So, it worked out that I was going to be traveling with an 11-month old for 3 weeks, however, so I needed a bunch of stuff--oh, and Charming was already wearing 2Ts and 3Ts !!!

Anyway, it was important to me to take Charming to see her, even though I'd not met her in person myself until I was 24. Because of my grandmother, I stayed connected to that side of the family and I've always been grateful for her efforts. I know my siblings didn't care for her and maybe if I'd grown up near her I'd think the same things, but she was the only constant in my childhood. (Plus, she made no blood distinctions and sent my little brother birthday cards and Christmas gifts, so I was that much more loyal to her--pretty progressive for a woman born in 1901, don't you think?)

This is a four-generations picture. Even more cool? It is mother-son-mother-son. That is my grandmother, my birth-father, and me with Charming. I noticed when I was scanning it in that behind us is pictures of me as a child and a picture of Charming I'd sent to my grandmother. I remember photocopying it on the art-departments color photocopier at work (the guy who worked in media was super sweet - he died of AIDS - sad thought there...). Charming was her first great-grandchild, but she lived until after Buttercup was born. My two cousins each had two children, so when she passed on, she had 7 great-grandchildren. Pretty cool for her.

This other shot is when my sister Kate got to meet Charming. She was home from college (but not done, I don't think - because she was 21) and I think she was pretty taken with him.


She doesn't know it, but whenever I think of her in my mind, this is how I see her... This wasn't the house she grew up in, though...they'd recently moved to a rental house and I have no real memory of this house...all my memories are linked to her childhood home.

So, there you have it. The pictures aren't the best, but the memories are pretty good. For more trips down memory lane, head over to Alicia's for Friday Photo Flashback to see what everyone else dug up.

Awesome Surprises via the USPS

My terrific sister, LoveAphid, sent us all an early Halloween gift package. (She said she sent it early so we'd be able to enjoy it the entire Halloween season. Truly, I think she sent it early so I'd have to start decorating earlier than normal. It worked!) Two of the things she sent (for me - yay!) were these cool cat ornaments. My problem was what to do with them. I'd seen those cool spooky trees, but I've never bought one. Solution? "Hey, Superman, can we (that would mean you) get a tree branch and paint it black and then cut out a base for it so I can hang these awesome Halloween ornaments my little sister sent me?" As always, Superman was up for the challenge. So, what do you think?


I think it turned out so well, I'm already begging for a silvery tree branch for some small white and silver Christmas ornaments. Wouldn't that be terrific?... "Hey, Superman! Where are you going? Wait, come back...I need a favor..."

P.S. Thanks again, LA, I do so heart them!