Family

Been feeling kinda funky lately. I blame my brother, and a friend who came over here for Sontoo's birthday party Wednesday.

Well, I don't really blame them. But I think they both helped me shake loose what's been bugging me lately.

First off, my brother . . . the one that lives in NY State. He Skyped me the other day, regarding a plumbing  problem. With him using his iPhone, I was able to use my computer to look at what he'd done to a faucet and try to help with a few suggestions. And I was able to call him Butthead a couple of times. It's what brothers do. 

Then, a friend came over here a little early for Sontoo's birthday party. She helped Neomom cut veggies, had a glass of wine, and just talked . . . about kids, about life, about nothing, about everything.

So, what do these events have in common and why am I blaming them for my mood.

I'll tell you. In a minute.

First, one more piece of the puzzle. 

Every so often, when Neomom has a day or two off, and I'm moping around the house, she'll say, "Why don't you take off, go do something on your own."

If you're a stay-at-home parent, you can appreciate this. As much as you love the minions, there's nothing like a little time away, doing something all by yourself. Something you enjoy and don't have to answer a thousand questions about. You know what I mean.

So, how does this all tie together?

Well, Neomom recently had a few days off and she offered the escape. But I realized, in Portage at least, there ain't much to do. And what I really wanted to do, more than anything, was head over to my brother's house and spend the day solving a 20-minute plumbing problem. I wanted to drink beer, head to the hardware store, head back, examine the crap out of the problem, call my brother a butthead, drink some more beer, fix the plumbing problem, drink another beer, accept an invitation to stick around for a steak, shoot the shit, argue about the best seasoning for steak and best way to cook it, call him a butthead again, drink some more beer, talk about the kids, talk about life, talk about everything, talk about nothing.

I miss my brothers and there are days when I would kill to live within driving distance (better still, stumbling distance).

And I miss my sisters. And would like to be close enough to do the Sunday dinner thing, men cooking meat, women cooking the other stuff, cutting veggies together, arguing about steak seasoning and gas grill over charcoal. I want to play stupid games like "Bullshit" and Sequence and laugh with them for hours on end.

This stuff does actually happen on the rare occasions that we all manage to get together. Most recently, it was in Kansas at my niece's wedding. Good, good times. The wedding was awesome, the reception even better and the lengthy game of "Bullshit" back at my sister's made us all laugh until we cried. 

I haven't laughed like that, um, probably since the last time we were all together.

So that's what's bugging me. I see it, I know it, I must work to solve it.

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
  ~Jane Howard

My tribe, my clan, my family, 2006.