Departure, and Arrivals

(Yes, things look a little different on the ol' blog.  I felt like making a change.)

I didn't mean to leave a major lag time between updates, but--March happened.

March brought the loss of my great-aunt, the last remaining sibling of my mom's mom.  She was the Mercy nun we'd visit in Baltimore--or she'd visit us, often on holidays.  In recent months her health had not been great, but 94 years was quite the full life.  I'll never forget her bright (sometimes impish!) smile, the trips to see her, and especially the fact that she wanted me to have Great-Aunt E's bedroom set as an acknowledgement of my "errand girl" contributions when my mom was helping take care of E. in her final days.

I felt a little resentful that I was the only one of my siblings to make it to the funeral--and I couldn't "not show up," because I was asked to sing for the funeral and other goings-on (which she would've hated, all that fuss!).  It was actually kind of neat because everything took place in the chapel at the nuns' retirement community, and they broadcast it into the rooms of the nuns who were too infirm to attend.  My sister had a good excuse (more on that later), and my mom excused my brother because, well, he's my brother.  He couldn't get himself together for anything that doesn't benefit him directly.

One thing that happened at the cemetery which was weird was that I'd been thinking of my one cousin, "Sonny," who'd passed away years ago--and we'd sworn he'd made his presence known at his funeral because his one sister's button at the back of her blouse kept coming undone, and another sister and his friend (the one he'd crushed on, hard) lost buttons.  Didn't one of sisters look down at her blouse and find a button undone on her blouse?  Hmmmm.  Guess he wanted to join the family gathering.

The sadness really hit me when I realized I didn't have to pick out an Easter card to send to Baltimore this year.


On the arrivals side, and maybe to balance things out, Younger Sister had her first baby at the beginning of March.  And I was asked to be godmother to this sweet little boy!  He was christened at the end of March (not exactly the timing they wanted, but my BIL's mom and sister said they were coming from England at that time).  I call him my "godcookie" because before he was born--they didn't find out what they were having--they just called the baby "Cookie."  Which I will continue to do here.

I visited DC two weekends in a row (one to pick up my mom, and the next for the christening), and let me just say not only is Cookie sweet to hold but also he knows I have "auntie magic" which puts him to sleep easily.  (I joke that I just start telling him about my love life and he's bored to sleep.)

Everyone says he looks exactly like my BIL, but those eyes? YS.

Arrival #2 is a newly adopted kitty!  I won't use her real name on here because it's kind of unusual, but I have nicknamed her "Peep" because she has a soft meow--especially compared to The Cat--so I will use that name for her on the blog.  Peep is very sweet, estimated to be three years old, and 99% black. (She has a white spot about the size of a quarter in the middle of her back, and white hairs in her "pits," as I call them, which cracked up the vet techs).  She loves to chase her toys and the laser pointer, but she also likes to come up on the sofa to rest her head on my lap and PURR.  She's very good at purring.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter have already seen her, but here's a nice big photo of her.

This is one of Peep's signature poses. Sphinx?

I adopted her from a rescue organization, for better or worse.  (I thought dealing with the SPCA left me saying "never again.")  Next time, I will tell her adoption story, so stay tuned!