Photos photos photos

Last one first. Brody has such a good time in the mountain air of Dillon, Colorado, that he passed out on his Oma. My stepdad Jacques on the left is pretending I'm not taking his picture.


Jeremy, Brody and me after our brief sojourn in the canoe. I remembered why they called canoes tippy. We didn't, but I was surprised we didn't. Toddlers are not stabilizing factors in a canoe.

Purposes of this photo: Scenery. Also, my mom and sister. My almost 70 year old mom is the blonde on the right. Not bad, Oma!

Brody took this photo. I don't think he meant for it to be a bit crooked, but honestly, I kinda prefer it that way.
My 8 year old nephew took this photo.
This is just gratuitous from Brody's bath tonight. Anything can be a hat, even a disposable salad bowl. Also, I think he's giving me the finger.

Sisters and quandaries

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.

~Marion C. Garretty

My sister Marilyn and I went to dinner last night to work on a present for our mom's 70th birthday.

We spent 3 1/2 hours at the restaurant. We came close to closing it down.

I don't think I have laughed that hard in months.

We reminisced. We gossiped. We filled in each other's memories. She got teary eyed reminding me of a birthday card I sent her when she was in college (and I was apparently 11 or 12). She even remembered what it said. I have absolutely no memory of it.

It's that kind of night that makes me think maybe Brody should not be our only child.

He would never miss having a sibling, I suppose. But Jeremy and I would know he was missing that. It's one of those decisions I wish would become clear.

And, you know, easy to execute.

But I digress.

Last night was amazing. Also, this is a really wonderful restaurant. They let us loiter while we created a gift for mom. (Which will be revealed after this weekend, because said mother has indicated she reads this blog!).

As I write this, my mom and stepdad are traveling to Colorado to a condo in the mountains. Marilyn, me and our families are meeting them there for the weekend. I cannot wait!

My mom and Obama

I just emailed this to my mom, and this is her email back. But before you read her email, let me just tell you that for the first, what, 25?, years of my life, my mom was about as Republican as you can get. We lived in a very wealthy area, in a very cloistered existence.

My mom moved from Germany in the 1950's, when she was 18 (She turns 70 in a few weeks). She is retired, and lives in New Mexico.

Thanks for this confirmation. Are they nuts in the Republican Party? I am working on the Obama campaign making phone calls on Monday nights. It is very interesting and I feel I need to do something. The whole Democratic Party headquarters here in Las Cruces are staffed by young people and some came here from other states. He said that he wants to be able to tell his children later on that he did everything he could to get Obama elected. I am getting very nervous about this election!

How proud of my mom am I?

To quote another female great, I love this woman.