rose_griffes

It's Thanksgiving here in the US, and I'm grateful for:

• my sister-in-law's sweet potato soufflé, quite possibly the most wondrous Thanksgiving dessert ever created


• my adorable youngest niece with her head of curly hair


• a quiet bedroom where I can retreat if the cute nieces and nephews are too much


• feeling like a normal human being now that I'm over the horrible stomach virus


• having only the epilogue left to write for popcorn fic (ALMOST DONE!!!)


• lovely people like you to interact with


• a job that I enjoy


• and many more things...

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

It's Mother's Day and I'm... doing a picspam of Florence, Italy to celebrate? My brain is weird. Though in my defense, there's a maternal connection in these photos. All of these pictures were taken during a brief stay in Florence in June 2004. I took most of them, my mother took a few and a friend took some as well.

( picspam of Florence )

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who have the joy and privilege (and hard job) to act as a mother figure in someone's life.

Has anyone read The Lies of Locke Lamora yet? I started this week and I love the world-building... but the title character is currently leaving me cold. I'm wondering if it's worth it to continue.

I'm sure everyone needs an illustrated version of Tom Lehrer's song 'The Elements.' (Tune stolen from Gilbert and Sullivan, if I remember correctly.) This is the kind of music my dad used to play around the house when I was growing up, which probably explains a lot. *g*

I watched some Pushing Daisies (season one) with various family members this past week. I'd forgotten just how funny some of those episodes were. Baby brother was totally hooked. Mwahahaha!

Also watched a few episodes of What Not to Wear. One of the fun parts of visiting my parents--real TV! My sister had never seen it before. She was a bit incredulous at the whole thing. ("They throw your clothes away? Wait... how do you get picked to be on the show anyway?")

Thanksgiving day was full of the usual turkey and so forth. One real perk of being an adult in a large family is the specialization for food preparation. No one gets stuck with most of the cooking, and we each fix the stuff we're good at making. So... lots of delicious food. It was lovely!

A bit after the big meal we did the usual ballgame. No, not watching a game on TV... playing a game with a ball in the backyard. Last year it was ball tag, this year we played kickball. All ages welcome. My sister ran bases with a six-month-old carefully balanced on her hip. Middle brother played shortstop with his three-year-old daughter perched on his back.

I have an awesome family.

Okay, time to clean more of my home. Plus I need to think of what else to add to my LJ Christmas wish list.

I'm not done posting for today yet! I figured babies need to be kept safe in a separate post from zombies, right? Anyway, last week I acquired a new niece and a new nephew. My sister had another little boy, Elijah, at home. It looks like he'll be another redhead. My older brother's wife had baby Miriam at the hospital. She's already got a head full of dark hair, and her two older brothers and father wrapped around her tiny little finger.

I now have three nieces and ten nephews!
( baby pics back here )

eta: I should be able to meet them myself in a week or two. Yay!

How to guarantee a bit of spare time on the computer: wake up first

I hope the holidays have been good to everyone. I didn't get coal in my stocking yet, so I'm doing well.

Most amusing moment: watching the almost-three-year-old use emotional blackmail on her formerly-savvy dad. He was gently lecturing her about the importance of NOT going outside in the dark, even though her older cousins were doing so. (She had run out with them in the melee.) "But Daddy, we were just being happy." Lower lip pokes out. Dad melts in a puddle of non-lecturing goo. Heh.

Oh, and the eighteen-month-old loves dancing with the hideous barking dogs decoration.

Well, people are waking up here. I have to get ready to help my sister make tamales across town. Ciao!

Happy Easter, everyone! (It's probably no longer Easter as most of you read this, but oh well.) I didn't have work Friday so I went north to visit relatives.

( being the bunny )
( listening to 'The Messiah' )

*Not for yourself but for the whole world were you born.