Summers in Maine…

My husband’s parents have summered in Maine almost as long as they have been a family.  Mum-in-law is Australian, a war bride, whose family was far, far away.  Dad-in-law was a State Department diplomat and they lived in London, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City and Toronto, punctuated with a couple of years between each posting in the Washington DC area.  The one constant was the vacation cottages they rented each summer on the coast of Maine.  So, when another family’s health issues forced them to sell their summer home on the ocean, my in-laws scrounged and borrowed and bought the paradise that is now our home away from home.  Our kids spent a part of each summer there and we know that if/when, their children will do the same.

Home away from home…a really nice thing to have.

Front yard

Family reunion…

This was a very special vacation…Family Reunion vacation.  My mom has always worked hard to make FAMILY very important.  I am one of four girls, my mom is one of four kids, her mom was one of 5 (I think).  We have lots of family and are spread all over the country.  When we were little, we always had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner with my mom’s sister and her 4 kids, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my Grandma and Grandpa and great aunts and, later on, we hosted an Easter party where cousins came from far away to camp in our back yard for a weekend.  I was the first of the sisters/cousins to have a child.  When Bug was three and Dude was 9 months old, my mom hosted the first official Family Reunion at her house in Los Osos, CA.  This began an every two or three year tradition, ranging from Los Osos to Idaho to Seattle to Maine and around and around.  It was so important for us that our kids grow up knowing their cousins.  We managed so successfully that the cousins are really good friends in real life.

All that said, reunions have always been enormously stressful occasions.  We stuff 15-25 people into a little space for a week or two, cook (this was the first reunion where we weren’t split pretty evenly between vegetarians and carnivores) eat, sleep in very close quarters, share bathrooms, talk talk talk…that talk often leads to hurt feelings or bright flashes of anger, hard to manage in such a small space.  It never ceases to amaze me how love really does conquer all…when everything is said and done, we are family and we love each other.

Ahhhh…sappy, but true.

On blogging…

A friend of mine, who does not now and never will blog, asked me the other day why people blog?  What do they have to say that anyone would want to read?  Hmmmm…what makes me wonder why I think that anyone out there has any interest in what I write.  I don’t think of myself as being self-centered, self-absorbed, but maybe…

‘lympies, etc…

We have always watched the Olympics…when my daughter was little, she called it the ‘lympies…too cute.

I am really tired.  But what else do I expect during the Olympics?  My sleep patterns are all askew.  I’m so tired when I get home from work that I fall asleep.  Then I wake up around 11pm and watch the Olympic coverage until the wee wee hours.  I doze off for a couple of hours, then it is time to get up and go to work.  Yawnnnnnn…

Speaking of watching the Olympics, it is really interesting how coverage has changed since I watched my first televised Olympics a gazillion years ago.  I could definitely do with less commentary, but I love all the live action.

I’m getting mentally prepared for family reunion in Maine next week.  I can guarantee lots of good food, hair brushing and braiding and yak yak yak…folks coming from AK, CA, WA, GA, NV, MA and maybe VT.  Our first reunion was 25 years ago, and my generation, which started as the new moms and not yet moms, are now the moms of grown children…our youngest this year is 14.  The best news is that both my parents (with their respective spouses whom I adore) AND all my sisters (including my cousin, who is my “fifth sister”).  Who knows what the next reunion will bring…I hear it is going to be in northern CA in two or three years!

Off I go!  Busy day at work ahead…that’s a good thing…need to be sure I get all loose ends tied up before I go away for a week.

More little bits…

My Google Reader gleaned only 1 post this morning (thank you, Ragtop), so instead of getting dressed for work, I’m sitting here on my bed, watching the US men’s soccer team beat the Japanese in a well-played game with too many called and uncalled penalties IMHO, sharing little bits.

One more trip to Vermont in our future, probably Saturday, to take The Boy the last of his things (the bikes, biking equipment, desk) that just didn’t fit in the two loads we drove up last Saturday.  He is happy which means I am happy.  I am such a mother.  I am happy when my babes are happy and they all seem to be.

Getting ready for family reunion…best news of the week was that my youngest sister WILL be coming, making it 4 for 4 for the sisters.  Plus, my “fifth sister”, actually first cousin, will be there, along with my Dad and his wife, my Mom and her husband…a very full week spent in one of the most incredible places on earth, where we plan to retire when/if we retire.  This year, reunioners are coming from Alaska, WA, CA, NV, GA, MA and possibly FL and VT to our heaven-away-from home, ME.  We will toast those who weren’t able to come this year and hope that they can make it to our next reunion, tentatively planned for Northern CA.

I have pretty much decided to audition for Steel Magnolias with a group other than my own.  I haven’t acted in a long time and this is a show I have always wanted to do.  I had actually thought I would direct it, but the group in the town next door nabbed it and I just can’t resist.  Auditions are the day after my return from reunion.  Good thing I LOVE to audition!

We have finally gotten our rain…a lot of rain and thunder and lightning and wind for days, on and off.  Love it, but we haven’t been able to mow the lawn for weeks…also, it hasn’t brought with it the cooler temps rain usually brings.  Sweaty and rainy…

Churning through the books on tape/CD this summer.  Lots of entertaining trash, the occasional more cerebral offering, thank you PaperbackSwap.com.  Lots of podcasts, too, on my trusty Zune.  Musicals have taken a back seat, haven’t listened to a single one.

Off to get ready for work…it is definitely NOT a top down day, boo hoo.  Happy Thursday, all.