Stormy Skies

Every afternoon for the past 4 or 5 days this is how the skies have looked around here.  Dark, ominous clouds filled with lightning and the rumble of thunder rolling in from the west or north.  A gust of cool wind blowing in to relieve us from the stifling summer heat.  Torrential downpours usually follow filling the pool to the top and flooding a few streets.  The lashing winds have whipped my poor hibiscus trees sideways in their pots by the garage door.  Even the rack that we use to dry pool towels and swimsuits has been toppled on the back porch.  The power has gone out a couple of times only to return a few seconds later.  The children have hunkered down inside with movies or games waiting the storm out.

I watch the rain fall sideways and in swirls as the wild wind blows, thankful that our drought is over.  Man, I love a good summer thunderstorm!

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Flashback Friday

For your amusement, I thought I’d post one of my Glamour Shots-esque senior photos.  I have a very similar one in blue- blue boa, blue backdrop.  There’s also one where they stuffed the stem of a rose in my armpit.  I cannot find that one or the blue one to save my life.  Darn!

I’m pretty sure this photo was taken the summer before my senior year began.  So, welcome to the summer 1993!  I was 17-years-old here.  Notice how I’m slyly smiling just enough to make it look somewhat sincere but not enough to show my braces.  I believe those huge gold earrings are clip-ons that I borrowed from my mother.

Ha!

Baby Shower

I have eight first cousins.  Two are on my mom’s side (Steph and Auntie Jo) and six are on my dad’s side.  We are all girls and everyone has a sister but me.  I wish I had a sister… Heck, I wish I had a sibling period.

Anyway, I don’t really see the cousins on my dad’s side of the family for a lot of reasons but mainly it’s due to the fact that my dad is pretty much the black sheep.  He and I have a non-existent relationship and that naturally makes things difficult between his relatives and me.  Why does life have to be so messy?

So, I was pleasantly surprised when my ex-aunt invited me to her daughter’s baby shower last weekend.  There they are in the above photo.  So sweet!  Schuyler is having her first baby, a boy, in 5 weeks or so.  She is 26-years-old and will make a lovely mommy.  I couldn’t be happier for her.

I haven’t seen the cousins on my dad’s side of the family in a really long time and it was very nice to catch up with them.  I am seven years older than the next oldest cousin so we’ve always been at different points in our lives.  I was in college when they were in junior high and elementary school…  I was having babies when they were sewing their wild oats…  In fact, one of my younger cousins just graduated high school in May.  That makes me feel ridiculously old!

This is me with my Nana, my dad’s mom.  It has been a long time since we’ve chatted and it was so nice catching up.

This turkey farmer is Samantha, Schuyler’s older sister.  She cracks me up.

The baby shower was at one of my favorite restaurants, The Yellow Dog Cafe.  Everything was amazing from the atmosphere to the food.  I had a seemingly endless glass of pinot noir that left me feeling a bit tipsy 🙂

Schuyler received lots of lovely gifts.  She should be all prepared for when baby Malcolm arrives!

I left the shower feeling so grateful for my time with my family.  I need to be more proactive with my relationships with them.  It was a lovely afternoon and I realized just how much I have missed them all.