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Aug. 6th, 2011 02:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicI had a fantastic time at the beach with my family. I had so much fun with my nieces. They barely tried my patience at all, and I spent more time than ever with both of them. It could be that they're getting older and more mature, but at 7 and 3, I don't think that's really it -- I think the main thing was that this was the first time I ever spent real time with them while not under the weight of depression. They certainly acted differently toward me -- both were much cuddlier than they had ever been before, and tended to favor me often when choosing a seat at the table or a buddy for playing. It was fantastic. (Still don't want kids. No way. But my nieces fucking rule.)
I made this observation to McKenzie, and it's worth sharing: I have never in my life been more excited about anything than I was when I first learned I was going to be an aunt. No matter how bratty Lucy can be, or how little time I ever get to spend with her, she will always be the root of that immense joy. To a great extent, Frankie brings out those same feelings, though Lucy will always be the one who added the word "aunt" to my definition of myself. I will always associate these girls with tremendous feelings of joy, pride, and love, and their mere existence is nothing short of awesome to me. The fact that they're both super fun kids is an added bonus, but I'd love them just the same even if they weren't (and I'm not just saying this -- there have been times when they were significantly less cool to be around).
I bonded with Lucy more than ever on this trip, riding rides together, playing cards together, and most of all just hanging out in the ocean when all the "grownups" sat under the beach umbrella on the shore. Lucy loved to let the current pull her away, forcing me to go "rescue" her and drag her back to where I was swimming in front of our family's spot on the beach. When I complained to her and told her to "Stop drifting! It's using up all my energy just to tow you back to where you belong," she said "It's good for you! You'll get stronger!" Har, har. Okay, kiddo.
She told me about her summer drama camp, where she played Lobster #2 in Alice in Wonderland. That reminded me of the scene in Love, Actually where Emma Thompson's kid is cast as Lobster #2 in the Xmas pageant and she says "You mean there was more than one lobster present at the birth of Christ?!" No one else in my family had seen it, though, so the humor of the coincidence was lost on them.
I'm home in Portland now, just relaxing and enjoying that it's 30 degrees cooler here than it was in Daytona. As soon as I gather my energy, it's back to the job search. Fun times.
I made this observation to McKenzie, and it's worth sharing: I have never in my life been more excited about anything than I was when I first learned I was going to be an aunt. No matter how bratty Lucy can be, or how little time I ever get to spend with her, she will always be the root of that immense joy. To a great extent, Frankie brings out those same feelings, though Lucy will always be the one who added the word "aunt" to my definition of myself. I will always associate these girls with tremendous feelings of joy, pride, and love, and their mere existence is nothing short of awesome to me. The fact that they're both super fun kids is an added bonus, but I'd love them just the same even if they weren't (and I'm not just saying this -- there have been times when they were significantly less cool to be around).
I bonded with Lucy more than ever on this trip, riding rides together, playing cards together, and most of all just hanging out in the ocean when all the "grownups" sat under the beach umbrella on the shore. Lucy loved to let the current pull her away, forcing me to go "rescue" her and drag her back to where I was swimming in front of our family's spot on the beach. When I complained to her and told her to "Stop drifting! It's using up all my energy just to tow you back to where you belong," she said "It's good for you! You'll get stronger!" Har, har. Okay, kiddo.
She told me about her summer drama camp, where she played Lobster #2 in Alice in Wonderland. That reminded me of the scene in Love, Actually where Emma Thompson's kid is cast as Lobster #2 in the Xmas pageant and she says "You mean there was more than one lobster present at the birth of Christ?!" No one else in my family had seen it, though, so the humor of the coincidence was lost on them.
I'm home in Portland now, just relaxing and enjoying that it's 30 degrees cooler here than it was in Daytona. As soon as I gather my energy, it's back to the job search. Fun times.
