Spending the holidays with family

My In-Laws, aka. Nana and Pappy.

The youngest of the human children, Bob,

and the youngest of the pet children, Callie.

Two Brothers

Nana and Pappy's furry children: L to R: Sam, Dominique, and "Little" Poppy.

Huntyr, Aunt Cil, and Michael.

Uncle Izzy and I.

(L to R) My Husband's Great Aunt's son-in-law's Mother,

My Husband's Great Aunt Cil, and Gladys (in the blue).

My Mom and Me on Christmas morning.

My mom the baker, and my uncle who is trying

to impress his big sister with all the bread he baked;

also Trudy's youngest daughter and youngest son.

My Uncle's teenagers and My teenager,

I think that makes them second cousins.

These two were born approximatly 6 months apart.

Huntyr and, Max.

Huntyr and Michael have a bonding moment at my Uncle's house.

Pictures with Gramie before she leaves to go back to Maine.

I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap. Ani Difranco

I have come to realize of late... that if Forbes had a list for people whose wealth was measured in sincere friendships I would most certainly be in the top 100. That isn't to say that I have the most friends in the world; but the friends I do have, well.... they are just too amazing for words. How I ever got so lucky I will never know.

silent night

I'm not quite sure what to do with the quiet. It is sooooo quiet here.

Our neighborhood in Seattle was no New York street scene, but we lived close enough to two fairly busy roads that after awhile you become accustomed to it enough that you need noise to sleep. Me... I also need noise to tune out of my own head. There is no noise here. NONE, zip, nadda. There really isn't even much noise during the day, other then my own dog barking or the kid downstairs sewing, or the occasional Volunteer Fire Department Alarm.

This is a problem for me... I already have problems in my head... over thinking, analyzing, mulling, whatever you want to call it I overdo it. Noise is good, it's distracting. It helps me focus. I was one of those kids who needed to have the radio or tv on to study. I need to tune something out in order to tune in or even just to tune out.

I remember when I got back from Maine after picking HFG up from my mom's. I thought I was going to go insane lying there in bed hearing nothing except the "What if's..." in my head. My mom lives in downtown Portland, Maine; and although the street lights start blinking at 9:00pm on a Friday night as if there is nothing going on... trust me there is more going on there then there is here... because I literally got back here to our house and felt like I was in a black hole. It was/is so DAMN quiet. Camping in the middle of the Northern Cascades is noiser then my cul de sac.

Six months in and I am not used to this... If I get even four hours of sleep and something wakes me up... well forget about it, I am awake. Because... the thoughts in my head are LOUD, the mulling over this and that is like a full sized orchestra and we are no where near intermission...

Pittsburgh Left

Why am I not surprised there is actually a Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Left) for this traffic maneuver....

One thing I don't think I will ever get used to is the way people drive around here. And of course ever since my accident, in which someone made a left into oncoming traffic (me) I admit to being more then anxious about this practice.

When the light turns green, you go.
When the light turns red, you stop.
But what do you do when the light turns blue with orange and lavender spots?
Shel Silverstein

With all the regular life living (working, grocery shopping, driving HFG to the bus stop every school morning) and routines we've created I sometimes forget that we JUST moved 2500 miles across country. Sure I get it that we moved, but it doesn't always hit me that we've just done this... like less then four months ago!

but then... we will be driving over to my husband's aunt's house, or to his friends' in Greensburg... and it hits me like a ton of bricks. It took me a few times before I realized what that was about... until this Halloween when we went Trick or Treating with our friends in their neighborhood. I don't have to pack a suitcase and find someone to watch the dog and check in at the airport and fly on a plane, etc. to get to their place. We just turn on the radio, throw some food in the dog bowl and drive (about the same time/distance to their house as it was from our house in Seattle to the airport) to their house. Then at the end of it, we just drive home, climb in our very own bed, and go to sleep. I don't know how to explain how crazy that is, but to me it is crazy. Honestly, it can take me a few days to recover from that mind blowing craziness.

Here are some lovely fall photos while I freak the BLEEP out....