grandma cat

From her I got my middle name (not Cat, her first name is actually Marie).

From her I got long skinny feet with toes going all kinds of which ways. But you know I once visited Chatsworth house on a trip to England and there is a giant marble statue of a Greek foot. It's totally my foot. We must be royalty.

From her I think I got a bit of my humor. Kind of dry, a bit sarcastic. Like BBC comedy funny.

From her via my mom I got the shopping thing. As in drive to northern Utah (an hour away) for the day...out to eat...multiple stops....girl day.

She had a fantastic way of making me feel like I was at the top of her list, even though I'm sure many of her many kids and grandkids and greats felt the same way.

We share similar attitudes about womanhood. That women are amazing and powerful and smart and influential and that the most important thing we can do with all of that is to love our husbands and be around to raise and love our children and help each other and to live that way instead of just talking about it.

She showed me that children are always welcome. Into the fridge, into her things, running through the garden, chasing the cats, playing on her bed, changing the channel, exploring the plants, climbing on her lap. My mom is very much like this too and as a result Lily is herself around her. Good and bad :)

She's been gone just a few weeks and I miss her terribly.

My sister's since become an adoptive cat lady so Bill and Millie would have a good home. I've taken in some plants and some of grandma's very nice taste in comfy shoes (also got the same shoe size from her I guess). I can't help but think when I wear them about "having some big shoes to fill" and feel just so grateful that she and my mom have shown me what it takes to keep a strong happy family. From them I really and truly consider motherhood an amazing priviledge and serious responsibility. Their support and cheering on means the world to me.

neglecting your blog is at least better than neglecting your children

while I was gone from your e-presence on the intergoogle, we've been:

filling the vast social needs of my four-and-a-half year old (did you know all 3 of those puppets' names turned out to be Lily?)

my new part time job: kinderkamp teacher (preschool-ish 1 1/2 hour twice weekly via the rec center) here we are (with identities kept private unless you are reeeally good at recognizing backs of heads) on a field trip to the dentist's office

twirly one-piece hula hoop skirt tutorializing. about ready to post.

hanging out with non-crawling, just propped up in this one baby boys

being visited whilst high school friends are on vacation to their parents. love that about living here. everyone passes through. especially love this one's fat baby. Jenni O if you're wondering EHS alumni. she (meaning the baby) already has a boyfriend. fat max.

big sister lily "helping" max keep his pirate hat on. little brother max not very thrilled.

our children eventually got sick of the gender stereotyping that I guess I had going on choosing their dress-ups for them and showed me (not their Halloween costumes by the way, those are still in the works)