Republicans are People Too!

If you know me, you know that I'm pretty outspoken about my political positions. I'm a pretty firm liberal, and I don't really get along with Republicans and other conservative politicians. I'm not afraid to mock major figureheads of the Republican party and I can be pretty ruthless.

Every once in a while, however, I am put back in my place. Watching this clip on the news this morning reminded me that even if I don't agree with some one's politics, that person is still a human who has fears, and hopes, and a family whom he loves, and who love him back.

Blending Traditions

My dear friend Millie recently described how she observed the traditions of her husband's family blending with the tradition of her own family right in their kitchen.

What I want to be when I grow up:

Can I just say that I love my mother? And I promise I'm not just saying that because she'll probably read it. I think a lot about how lucky I am to have such a great family, especially my momma. There are so many daughters out there who have these contentious relationships with their mothers, and I'm happy to say I'm not one of them. I like spending time with Momma, and I sometimes get jealous when she's too busy for me.

Also, my home would be a wreck without her. For some reason, I just didn't inherit her eye for design. Shortly after I moved into my current apartment, she came over and appraised the decor, then asked if she could rearrange a few things. All she did was move some furniture around and add a few throw pillows, and the place suddenly looked like a proper home rather than a dorm room.

When I think about motherhood and parenting, I always come to the conclusion that I should emulate her style. There were all these little things that she did that made me feel loved, and a little spoiled. Here are a few examples:

Blow-drying my hair after a bath, and blowing the warm air onto my cold, bare skin.

Secretly going into my room and tidying it up while I was at school.

Taking me on spontaneous adventures. (A friend and I were recently reminiscing about how we were playing together and Momma said "come on girls, we're going out!" And took us horseback riding)

Providing me with a mug of hot-chocolate to sip while waiting for the school bus on winter mornings.

There are so many other little things like this! In fact, here is an excerpt from an e-mail she sent today:

AND I got the sofa for you (the white one at auction). I would like to
come out this evening and switch so we can try it on. B and I LOVE
it!! So, if you WANT, why don't we play with your house tonight? We can
move the futon back to Husband's office, and see how this sofa looks.

I'm looking forward to it!

Home for the Holidays

The question is, whose home?

Although Husband and I have only been married a couple months, we have been living together for two years, and dating for over six. So, the "where will we spend the holidays?" question is one we've gotten used to struggling over.

Last Thanksgiving, we decided to do a double-header. Our parents live about an hour's drive apart from each other, so we planned on having a Thanksgiving lunch with his family and then Thanksgiving dinner with mine. Sound exhausting? It was.

This year, deciding that we were not up for a repeat of last year's hectic rush, we went back and forth quite a bit before finally making the decision to have Thanksgiving with my family. I happily announced to my mother that she "won," only to be told that she wasn't expecting us and had made plans to go out of town! I was completely disappointed. Fortunately, after some discussion, she and my step-father decided that if we would spend Thanksgiving with them, they would stay home.

Christmas, is still up in the air. Because of Husband's job, he may need to work on Christmas. His family traditionally exchanges gifts on Christmas Eve, so there would be no loss there; but I will then be left to spend my first Christmas day as a wife alone with my own family.

I'm sure that will be fine, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't feel just a little bit lonely if that is the case.

Boldly going where no young wife has gone before. . .

Yesterday I took on a very scary challenge: I attended one of my husband's family functions without my husband! And, to tell you the truth, it wasn't that bad.

It was husband's cousin's birthday, and the family was getting together for lunch. Husband had to work, so I went alone. I don't know what I was so scared about. It's not like I havn't been to a million lunches like this one with that family, and we get on pretty well. We chatted about the wedding and the honeymoon, and about husband's parents' new house. I never once felt out-of-place, or unwelcome.

I guess I'm part of the family now too!