Reunion of sorts...

Thursday I got a call from my SIL but I missed it. When I tried to call back no one answered. I tried her cell phone, it went to voice mail. I tried the house again...still no answer. I know that she was home as she had just called me from the house phone.

Finally I called my brother's cell phone and he answers "I don't know, do we really want to talk to this person?" I answered back in a not so friendly voice "Well obiviously not since no one there will pick up the phone!"

Sorry for that bunny trail... turns out that SIL was on the house phone with her dad and had just told my brother to call me...and the reason for the call was that my oldest brother was in town and they wanted to schedule a get-together with me before he flew back to Tampa.

So arrangements were made. Darly & I would go there at 6pm on Friday. We would also bring my middle brother's girl scout cookie order.

{I need to come up with some way for you to tell my brothers appart and we all have the same initials so using initials won't work. LOL! Okay here is our cast of characters: Me, Darly, Nephew, B#1 is my oldest brother - the one in from Tampa, B#2 is my middle brother - the one who lives here, and SIL is B#2's wife - also nephew's mom...oh wait, I need B#1's wife too...she'll just be B#1's wife as she wasn't really there}

So Darly & I had a Leap Day party to go to Friday afternoon. Then a bit of time to kill before I headed up to B#2's house. We asked Heather if we could visit at her house for that time. Darly was very sad to leave there when it was time for us to go...and I really couldn't blame her. I mean she was leaving her best friend's house to go to her least favorite uncle's house. Not my idea of fun either. B#2 likes to tease Darly.

Originally I was going to give myself an hour to drive to B#2's house from Heather's...giving myself time for traffic. However, Heather convinced me that I could make it in 1/2 an hour and she of course was right...although it was cutting it really close. We arrived at B#2's at about 6:05 which by B#2's standards was EARLY as he is NEVER on time...even before Nephew came along. For me that was late, but I didn't say anything about it and neither did they.

B#1 answers the door and he looks JUST like my father! It was so shocking. It was also a reminder for me that my father used to be a very good looking man. I just hope my brother chooses to take better care of himself so that his face doesn't turn into my grandmothers...BLECH! She was not pretty in her old age.
B#2 looks just like my father's twin brother & my grandfather's...he'll need to take care of himself too.
I look like my mother in the face, but since I bleach my hair, I look more like my aunt with brown eyes instead of blue. And I should mention that up until about a year ago my mom was in great shape and looked good. But her illness has aged her and she knows it.

Okay back to time with my family. Dinner was...well it wasn't great. SIL doesn't cook things the same as I do so Darly was not very interested in what she was serving (normally one of Darly's favorite meals!) but she had marinated the meat in red wine vinegar which gave the meat a flavor that just wasn't what Darly was used to. Darly then tried the potatoes...oops, SIL had put sour cream in them. I didn't bother trying the salad and asked if we could get some bread. Darly ate some dinner when we got home.

B#1 & I told SIL some stories about B#2 as a kid. She was very shocked. hee hee

We visited for well too long. Darly, the silly girl...she was bored and wanted to leave right up until it was Nephew's bed time. Then she was happy to stay. course it was a HUGE help that B#1 had let her use his digital camera. She had a blast snapping loads of silly shots of herself. SIL says she will give Darly a camera for her birthday (I suggested with B#2's help, that a used camera would be just fine!... we have gotten into this giving the kids used presents lately...recycling them. For Christmas I gave Nephew Darly's old toy bbq grill...he loves it! and B#2 & SIL have tons of now upgraded electronics they are happy to pass along to a good home.)

During dinner B#1 had snapped a picture of Darly with his cell phone (blackberry I think...had tons of buttons and a stylus, but I realy have no clue as I'm not a gadget gal.) He sent the pix to his wife who kept texting him back. She had a silly story about B#1's son that none of us really got. B#1 showed me pictures of his kids. His daughter is now almost 15 and has turned into such a beautiful young lady! It's really amazing. His son still looks the same and is still just as crazy as ever.
B#1 was in Afghanistan for a year last year. When he came home his employer had terminated his position (that is supposed to be illegal, but they were tricky in that he could still work for them, just not in that positon...Jerks!) And a week after he got home his dog died. Poor guy. So a few weeks ago B#1's wife & daughter loaded the family into the car and drove to an animal shelter where they adopted a puppy. B#1 wants to KILL THIS DOG! And it's so not the dog's fault, he is a bored little puppy that they aren't paying attention to. I can forsee either B#1 taking over the care of this critter or the dog finding a new home.

B#1 was out here because his friend was moving back to Denver. So B#1 being without a job, flew out to help him move...and while he was here he went skiing with B#2...B#2 ended up injured...not too badly though. But he is flying home today in just about a half an hour.

It was great to see him again. He has grown up a lot.

As we were going home Darly asked me how I ever survived living with those boys. LOL! Poor Darly, B#2 takes great joy in teasing her to no end. I've advised her that if she stops showing that it bothers her, he will give up. But at her age that is really hard to do.
And how did I survive? Well when I was a kid I was bigger than they were...and when I was smaller than them (I'm the oldest and the shortest) they were too busy to bother with me...except for the time they taped me to the phone.

okay, you're gonna want to know how they taped me to the phone.

I was on the phone talking to my boyfriend. My brothers were bored and there was a role of masking tape sitting nearby. So they start taping me to the phone and at first it is funny as it was just masking tape, I could get out of it...right? well I thought so, but they continued to add more and more tape. By the time I finished with my phone call I looked almost like a mummy and could barely move. They had taped my free arm and my legs as well. My dear brothers were now long gone. I don't know how long it took to get myself free, but my brothers had very wisely decided to Leave the House...so that is the only reason they are still alive.

ah memories!