One of the things that always amazes me is the way different traits are passed on from one family member to another. My display picture is a sign of that.
Gramma Ratchet is my Great Great Grandmother. Her daughter, my Great Grandmother, is Gramma Loper. Her daughther, my Grandmother, is Gramma Beebe and her daughter, my mother, is Grammie. The picture just below those 4 black and white pics is of my three sisters and me. Then the children belong to three of us girls.
The thing that amazes me in all of this is to see 6 generations of family and see all the traits we have similar. We all have similar chins and many of us have similar cheekbones and eye shapes.
Until I got this set of pictures together (thanks mom for the grandmothers and you)I had thought that my sister Amy looked more like my dad's side of the family. I also had never realized until now, how much my sisters and I look alike. I see many of our traits in our children.
Erinne's girls look a lot like her. Amy's girls look a lot like her as well. My children have traits in common with me but also look like their father's side of the family. However, my son looks a lot like my cousin.
It would be interesting to be able to add all of Gramma Beebe's grandchildren and great grandchildren to this set of pictures and see how much we all look alike.
We even have similarities in personality I think. While Darren, my son, looks a lot like my cousin, Scott, I think he acts more like my cousin, Trevor, who rarely sits still. Darren also inherited an artistic ability from this family. He does things his own way but the child can draw well.
My daughter, Lisa, loves to do crafts and I believe that came from this family as well. Most of us like to do crafts of one form or another and if we don't do them ourselves, we are able to appreciate the work that the other puts into them.
It makes me wonder what crafts or artistic abilities Gramma Rackett and Gramma Loper had. I know they quilted some. I wonder if it is something they enjoyed doing or if it was done out of necessity.
It pleases me to know that they passed these abilities to my grandmother who passed them to her daughter and to me and my sisters. I am glad that I have passed them to my daughter as well.

My Birthday Approacheth.

My 40th birthday is rapidly approaching..... I only have 9 days left of being 39. I am fighting against this with my whole emotional being. I really don't wish to be 40. When I was the little kid on that stump, I never believed 40 would come. Back then being 40 was OLD!!!!!!! Of course now that I am so much closer to that age, I know that it isn't old at all. And yet.....

I don't suppose it helps much that I will be facing this milestone alone. My children will be with me but my husband, who I was counting on to make fun of this day, will be away. I am being an ADULT and facing my day without him. He is taking the opportunity to visit with his family on a suprise trip to PA. He will be gone for the entire week around my birthday. He nonchalantly announced the legnth and time of his trip to me during lunch on New Years Day. This was the perfect time to announce it since we were in public and it was a day I was bound not to have anger at him since I refuse to let my year be spent in anger at him. I am still not angry at him for this. I know that a trip to his parents is important. He needs it and so does his father. I just regret that it will be without the rest of us there.

The picture of the little girl on the stump is appropriate for this post. It was liberated (stolen) from my mother's stash of pictures while my sisters and I were trying to get a suprise video made for my mother's 60th birthday. How appropriate that it be used here when another milestone birthday approaches. I am the one at the top, my brother is in the middle and my middle sister is at the bottom. There are 2 more sisters who came along after this picture was taken.

Am I getting old???? NEVER

I don't know if yall have noticed or not but I sure have. There are GREY hairs on my head now!!!!!! I have had some for a long time but now I can REALLY see them. I have tried pretending that they are just high lights but that didn't really work. It can't work at all when the almost (but will never reach it) 13 year old says "haha Mom has grey hair" or adds "let's count them.... one.... twoo..... ouch mom don't do that" as I shoot him the drop-dead-now look.
I will be 40 in just a few months. Sometimes I think it won't be any worse than turning 30 was. Other times I realize that I made my mother a grandmother when she was in her 40s. I don't usually feel 40. Most of the time I can't believe I almost have two teenagers in the house.
Then along comes son, daughter and daughter's boyfriend to make even more grey hair for my curly locks. They can be such terrors sometimes but so much fun at others.
I have tried over the years to hide the few grey hairs with dye. That doesn't work because they are always more when the dye wears off. I have tried brushing my hair other ways to hide it. That doesn't work anymore either since so many of them are near the front. Oh well.... guess I will just have to give in and grow old gracefully......... NEVER I WILL FIGHT TIL I DIE!!!!!!!!
I am not ready to be middle aged =(

Some Days are like that

This day has totally been a royal witch. I hae wanted to walk out on just about everything that I know I can't walk out on. Some days are just like that. I am angry and hurting and confused and just wanting to crawl in a hole and leave the world and everyone in it to themselves. It isn't an option really but some days are like that. I wonder sometimes if I disappeared how things would fare? Paperwork would pile up on my desk and while they might notice that was happening would they notice that I wasn't there to complete it? Would anyone care that I wasn't there? If I walked away from home and didnt return would they notice that the meals weren't being cooked or would they just find something to eat? Would they do the chores without me reminding them every hour that they need to be done? Would life change for them or would they just go on? Some days are just like that.

Prejudice!

If there is one thing I HATE in life it is prejudice. There is so much out there that people can find wrong with other people. Maybe these people need to look into themselves before they judge others to be wrong. People make choices in their lives that may not go along with what society deems to be correct or acceptable. These are choices those people need to live with. HOWEVER, it is not up to me or anyone else to judge those choices or make jokes about those choices. I believe that some of the jokes and judging come about because some of the "jokers" are actually wishing they had the guts to have made those same choices.... i.e. the guts to stand up and say they are gay.

Manipulation

There are a lot of people out there that have figured out how to manipulate others into doing as they wish them to behave. Personally I tend to stand firm on my decisions and not let people try to force my hand. I get so annoyed when I see people that really shouldn't give in, do so. I just want to shake them and tell them to stand up for themselves. It makes me even madder when a child is the one that has learned to manipulate. Guilt is an awful thing to have to contend with whether it is an adult or a child that is causing it, but some times you have to say ENOUGH!

Appliances

Well this morning I went to the refridgerator for the first time in about a week(no kids or husband around don't you know so I was eating out a lot) and discovered that it was no longer cooling anything. I checked the freezer and everything in there had thawed and was cold but thawed. SOOOOOOOOOOO I called hubby at work and we met for lunch to go to the local thrift store to purchase a new fridge. I spent a good portion of the morning cleaning out the old fridge and disposing of the rotten food. I wonder sometimes it is that these things happen the way they do. I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it but if I had checked the fridge on a more regular basis maybe we wouldn't have had to throw away a lot of food.
I am just thankful this has happened when we had money to replace it and actually we got a really nice side by side refridgerator for less then we would have paid for a brand new one that had less storage space and had a top load freezer. I like the fridge we got.... now just to get in there and get the old one moved out so I can move the new one into place. Hubby is going grocery shopping after work so I have about 3 hours to get things in order and moved around..... Hey Karen have you found Consuela yet? I really need you to airmail her to me.