Beth's Journal

Oh, a lot went on over Thanksgiving, and just about all of it was good. Some of the things I learned about my family scared the shit out of me, and explain a lot, but for the most part, it was good.

Wednesday morning Bryan and I left for my older sister Jo's house, and we got there in the afternoon. When we got there, it was just Logan and Kyle, my two nephews, since Jo was out running errands. Logan was happy to see us, and I don't think my younger nephew, Kyle, really understood who we were at first (he's autistic), but later on when we were unpacking the car he turned to me and said "You're my mom's sister, you're my aunt." And I said "Yeah, I am your aunt!" And he replied to that with "I just don't remember you because I haven't seen you a hundred times yet." He's a cutie. :) Anyway, Jo came home within a half hour, and she was really happy to see us. I ended up spending a lot of time with my nephews that night, since Jo had to go meet with her lawyer (she's about to divorce her husband, who I hate, and just about everyone who knows him hates him) about getting the divorce papers finished up. (He's getting served tomorrow, I hope.) After that, Jo had to go to Oswego to get her boyfriend (yeah, already), and Bryan ended up driving her because she has horrible night vision, like most of the family. So Logan and I sat around and talked while Kyle watched stuff on Youtube. I feel so bad for Logan. He's homeschooled, so he doesn't have many friends his age. The poor kid needs to get out and socialize! We talked and talked, and I told him about Mom (his gramma) and Ruth (who he barely remembers), and we had a lot of "I guess that runs in the family" moments, like with video games and stuff. It was so cute. I want to bring him up to visit sometime, and take him out to do stuff. I bet he'd have fun. Sure, it's not interaction with kids his age, but it gets him out of the house, and I'm sure he'd enjoy that.

Thanksgiving was great. Eric (Jo's boyfriend) is really nice, it felt like he's been part of the family forever. He fits right in. He cooked everything for Thanksgiving dinner, including the turkey. Bryan helped a little too. (Us Mirra girls don't know how to cook, haha.) And I call us Mirra girls because that's Mom's maiden name, and we've all got different last names - Johanna was raised as my Aunt Connie's daughter, so her last name is Gardner, and Ruth and I are Blakeslees, and Mom still has her first husband's last name of Sterpe, so what the heck do we use to refer to ourselves? Anyway, turkey day was amazing, and we all had a great time together. The food was amazing, and Eric's first turkey ever turned out delicious.

Friday was good too - Jo ended up driving Eric back so he could go to work, and Bryan and I did some more free babysitting. After Jo got home, we went and visited Mom, which was nice, and we got to see her new dog, Two. Yes, Two. Or Twoie, or Twotwo. The dog's original name? Talulah. Mom bought her from a breeder, she's a Great Dane, she's about two and a half years old, was a breeding dog and now she's Mom's new baby. She's a sweetie, I love her to pieces. Also got to see Aubi and Levon, Mom's sweet little Cocker Spaniels. After that, we went to Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob's- Jo hadn't seen them since she was 19, and I hadn't seen them since the family reunion three years ago. I got to meet their dog, Jeb, and my cousin Bob's dog Waylon, and oh lord those two are funny together. It was amazing - if I'd seen Ruthie, I'd have seen just about all my family all in one day. (Aunt Connie's off in Florida, and so's my cousin Jimmy, but I'm not very close to them)

And it's so weird how Jo and I are so similar. We both have favorite blankets that we can't really sleep without, we both cuddle up around pillows when we're sleeping on the couch, we both remember ridiculous things from ages ago, we both love to draw and paint, we're both stubborn as all hell, we have a lot of the same mannerisms, and it's just so weird how alike we are. It's not like that with Ruthie. I mean, yeah, Ruth and I have our similarities too - we read a lot, and we're not terribly picky about our music (we'll listen to just about anything), but other than that, we're not that alike. It's just scary how alike Jo and I are. It's interesting, getting to know an older sibling after you're both all grown up. I wish we'd grown up together, though. I really do. I think it would have helped me out a lot. It's so weird, realizing I'm someone's little sister. I was always the big sister when I was growing up, and then when I was 17, I wasn't the oldest anymore. And now we're actually able to have a relationship, since Dave is out of the picture (thank God, that guy is just horrible). It's nice to have a big family. :D

Edit: HAHAHA, I am a durr. I went to see if I could just show this to people who subscribe to me, just in case my younger sister stumbles across this (I'm so paranoid!), and I accidentally ended up deleting the entry. Oi vey. Let's try this again.

I figure my family is a good place to start the detailed entries. My issues and experiences with my family have contributed a lot to who I am, and I think it might be good for everyone to know where I'm coming from. (Also, for those of you who enjoy trainwrecks, this is for you - my family is so fucked up it's ridiculous.)

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