h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is so true.. though I do suppose you could say we were closer than many families. My mom and her sister were also very close as children and are to this day, even though they are an ocean apart.

My siblings and I being close was probably helped by the fact that all our friends wanted to be at our house, and our mom was pretty much everyone's favorite mom. There were several times all of our friends would spend the night at the same time. It was a houseful but it was fun.

That sounds like a case of quasi-ordered chaos. Were your parents just slightly mad to allow and deal with this? Or was the subtle madness the result?

In all, you seem to have been quite lucky, gifted with a pretty good clan.

My parents were divorced when I was young so she dealt with us on her own. She was quite young when she married and had kids. When people ask why we get along so well (we're the best of friends and when my sibs were alive they were just as close) she always says "we grew up together".

She managed this insanity around the house quite well actually. Her closest friend at that time was my closest friend's mom, and Noriko was also often at the house. Or she escaped down the street to Noriko's house and hoped we didn't burn the place down.

You often hear me referring to my dad - he was my stepfather. They didn't marry until I was in college but he always thought of us as his own, not as stepchildren.

On the whole, it seems and sounds as if you've had a very good home life, Lady. Many others should be so fortunate.

Meanwhile, any major disruptions due around the homestead this week?

I think we did have a good life.. I'm also very grateful of that as when my brother and sister died there was never a matter of "I wish he/she had known..." We always knew how much we loved each other so the only regrets are that they are gone, not of things unsaid and undone..

Well, to the best of my recollection, I have no hard feelings between myself and any siblings. And for most of 30 years, I have lived separate and distant from them all. Not really knowing what is in their worlds, nor they in mine. So I really don't think there's anything that falls into the "unsaid" category either.

It probably all sounds very cold and foreign to you. But it IS the "family" I grew in and all I have known.

actually it sounds like most families.. PC isn't close to his family either.. I think my family is one of the exceptions..

I have known some pretty good ones, ... Just not in the time and region that I grew in. Milady's family are all huggy-kissy, regular phone contact. Sometimes to the point that I find it unsettling.

Why do you find it unsettling?

Hugs on arrival, ... nearly everytime you leave someone's house ...

In late '89, my mother asked me to wear my uniform and be pall-bearer for her mother's funeral. Just before we left to return to our home, she hugged and thanked me. I was at a total loss. I have active memories back to when I was 3 years old, and THAT was the first time she ever hugged me. How do you respond to such an alien thing?

Try to embrace it, I'd guess. You may not have grown up with that kind of affection but you have it now, and that's good. My stepdad (the man my mom married after my dad died) was an orphan and never got affection as a child.

It continued in his adult life until he married my mom. As he says it's like he just started living when he joined our family. Now I can't enter or leave their house without a hug and kiss from him as well.

We're approaching our 19th anniversary. Slowly I am getting accustomed, but times it still startles me. That line about old dogs, new tricks has some truth to it.

*giggles* PC would most likely agree with you on that..

This old is finding the learning of new tricks a bit tougher each year. And the bark that much closer to the surface some days. Ah well, so long as I don't leave scars, eh?

Has your weather given you any moisture yet? Ours has been fairly cool and 'damp' for several days, which is a nice respite. From the heat and humidity that I shipped to all of our friends on the other side of the Atlantic pond. They seem to be so appreciative too.

we've had some strong thunderbumpers for the past few nights.. but it's mostly clear during the day..

That works out well enough then. I'm not at all bothered by thunder and lightening, ... only the immediate effect on a pair of . And then let the days clear off again.

Our forecast has us creeping up in temps again by the week-end. So I'm glad that the wife's newer-to-her car (2002 Olds Alero) has a well-functioning air conditioner. By 4:00 am Saturday, we're on the highway, pointed eastwards. With good weather, and traffic, we ought to land at my in-laws in New Brunswick in time for supper.

The thunder freaks out too. It doesn't bother me other than it upsets her so much.

How IS these days? A couple of weeks ago, you were seeking perhaps an alternative treatment for her aches and woes ...

Old and creaky but she's doing better, thanks.

Slow and easy still beats so many other ways, eh? Please do give her a a little chin-rubbing for me.

Ya know, this h2g2 place is really 'quiet' the last week or so. The <./>Info</.> page showing posts as much as 20 minutes or older still in the recent 20. Is that stuff really that popular?