Category: Family

a tiny slice of the much larger spread

Birthday party / early holiday get-together with Dan’s family today, somewhere up north where harvested fields give way to elaborate churches or grain silos on every horizon.

No one left with a black eye and I don’t think any wills were re-written, so I’m considering it a success.

I had brownies and cake!

A scene from my youth

My brother dug up this photo the other day, and man it pulls on the strings of my nostalgic heart.

That’s an 11-year-old me over there on the right, as the world’s tallest E.T.

My mom’s looking on from the backdoor of our old house.

See, I was entirely obsessed with Spielberg’s movie after it was released that summer.

I ate Reeses Pieces even though they were an incredibly putrid candy. I knew the day JC Penney would have plush E.T. dolls on sale (and this was before the internet). And I begged my mom to make this costume.

I bet she had to customize that McCall’s pattern no. 8311 somethin’ fierce to get it to fit me.

It’s been a while since I’ve said it, but mom you’ve got to know I love you.

For every stitch and every moment.

Thank you for making me feel right at home on this planet.

Not quite 99 luft balloons

This July 4th, the parade in Northside was not damped by rain. At least not from our vantage.

And again my mother and brother out-did themselves with decor and food spread.

We filled up on sights from the street and the backyard, ate too much, and yet somehow found the gumption to fill up plates to take home.

There are lots of photos, but I’m beginning to think that the more photos you have to sift through, the less time you have.

Current music: Prince “Tamborine”

looking up from below

I stayed up too late last night happily jamming on a project, not considering that I’d crash hard and nap, perhaps too much, after work today.

Groggy at 11pm, I realized today is my mom’s birthday. Barely.

A quick call found her in bed, but still awake (so she says).

Love that lady.

Current music: Sigur Rós “Gobbledigook”

Among the mortarboards

Drove down to see my niece graduate from high school.

The whole ceremony was too long, but I think that is normal for these things.

Everyone’s ass was sore from the bleachers.

Still managed to enjoy the event, and proud of my niece.

A few more photos from the evening

My mom and niece

My niece had a birthday this week.

She’s now old enough to vote and a host of other things I can’t recall at this hour.

Anyway there was a little get-together last night and dag it was good to see my sis, nephews and their other halves. And of course it was good to see the birthday gal.

Cincinnati chili spaghetti for dinner and a marble cake.

Good times.

Bonus, driving by my childhood home and getting a good look before all the leaves fill in. [ photo ]

This diptych bothers me not because they’re mobile phone snapshots, but because the perspectives aren’t exactly the same.

Woke early and loaded the 10 foot long “mini mover.”
Attached tow for the car.
Hit the road.
Glimpsed the blue ridge. (left)
Ate bad food. (right)
White knuckles through the construction with concrete barriers.
I swore I felt my temples gray.
Landed in Cincinnati.
Mom had soup ready, fresh fruit, and iced cookies in the shape of a heart.
Yum. Home. Exhausted.

Current music: Pundits and percentages

An XM Radio poster behind the ticketing counter [ +zoom ]

Got up way too early and jumped on an AirTran plane. Never flown with this airline before, but it is cheap and flies out of Dayton. They serve Coca-Cola products and my flight(s) offered those individually wrapped shortbread cookies that are packaged in factories that may contain peanuts.

Met my brother upon arrival in Atlanta.

We are packing up his apartment and regarding everything as Niecy Nash would on the set of Clean House.

If you don’t know this show, it is where they find extreme pack rats and force them to have a yard sale or donate accumulated crap in order to tidy up the place. Neicy dispenses advice and acts like she personally foots the bill on gifts like sectional sofas or sideboards that provide a base for select crap that did not get sold or thrown away.

I like the show because they don’t go too far out with themes. Like say, if there was a boy that collected Hot Wheels, they don’t put asphalt on the floor and paint his bedroom like a NASCAR track, forcing him to sleep on a pile of tires.

All that’s a tangent I suppose.

Tomorrow we load a U-Haul and head back to Ohio.
Bad news: no time to explore Atlanta.
Good news: my oldest brother won’t be so far away.

Current music: Yael Naïm “New Soul”

That’s her, glowing in the middle

Over the past month or so, I’ve talked to my sister on the phone more than I have in ages. She’s been cramming on her studies to do something she’s only dreamed about: becoming a flight attendant.

On each call she was more and more excited, passing each test and getting closer to the goal. All her hard work paid off, and today it became official—she got pinned with her wings.

My mom and I came out to clap and beam.

We weren’t just schmoozing to get on the short list for flight discounts.

A handful of photos, mostly of my sister (and a few of ma to boot)

Bonus link, because it’s semi-related and National Coming Out Day: A favorite Travelocity Attendant advert (hot towel? hot towel?)

Current music: Indigo Girls “Fly Away”