Family is...

I'm proud to announce the birth of my nibling! Of course for his personal privacy we will not be posting his name, but in honor of his chubby cheeks, let's call him...

Gus Gus. 

This is my bio-brother's first kid, but the bestie I adopted as a sister about 18 years ago has three already so I'm old hat at the Aunt thing: Arrive at nap time with noisy toys, chat with Mom until the screaming hurts my ears, run away and let the parents pick up the pieces. That's about it, right?

I'm unsurprised at how homesick this has made me. One of my biggest fears with moving far away from my hometown has been proven to be valid. It took me so long to do so because I knew it would mean missing major milestones in my families' lives, and every time it's happened so far has felt like a kick in the stomach for me.

On the up side, technology has been progressing such that I now have multiple ways of video chatting with my family members back home. I've Skyped with my sister a few times and gotten to hang out with her kids a bit too. I got to Google Hangout with Gus Gus today, and check in on my nibling and his family. It's no substitute for real-life baby snuggles, but it's a damn sight better than the hand-written letters or emailed pictures that previous generations have had to suffer through after cross-continental or international moves!

And I get to meet him come October when I got back for my wedding. So knowing how soon I'm visiting helps with the homesick.

What do you do to combat homesickness?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sub-Urban Gardening

Mum and I picked up the plants for the vegetable & herb garden in the backyard today. We got a few seeds, but mostly starter plants. This year with the moving and everything we got a late start, and don't have the space or time to be dealing with seeds right now. For the basis of this entry, let's just assume that everything is neglected and overgrown, shall we? As it stands, we have an old mint garden in the back corner (away from everything else) that may or may not crop back up. Possible volunteers will be spearmint, chocolate mint, peppermint, and pineapple mint. But Mum hasn't tended to it for years, really since it got planted 9 years ago, so we may need to go back out to pick up some mint plants, as we would like to keep that as a mint corner. The catnip we just picked up will be going back there. We have two raised bed planters about 3x4 feet each which are currently housing a HUGE, delicious looking oregano bush (well, three of them actually). I mean, o...
Read more

DUDE! Get On That Already!: Making a DIY Pot Rack

Image
You know those projects that have been hanging on your to-do list so long you barely recognize them as words anymore? Those things you leave shut tight behind a closed door hoping one day they will fix themselves or just disappear? Dude! Get On That Already! The challenge created by the good folks at Young House Love , to clean out those spaces that are filled with unfinished projects and un-used decor. Join in! What are you going to finish this week? --------------------- We started building a pot rack in MARCH! Took a few measurements, bought the supplies in April, started with the hole drilling, and there it sat waiting to be painted all summer long. Finally I got around to it the other day. So here's my step-by-step tutorial. Step 1: Take measurements. Decide where you want the thing to hang. Make sure it won't be hanging where anyone is likely to bang their head, nor block line of sight in the middle of a social common area. Remember that you need to measure this inclu...
Read more

Grocery Shopping: To coupon or price book?

You can find more detailed information about grocery shopping price books at Get Rich Slowly and Organized Home (both links take you straight to their price book articles) so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say, as a kitchen manager and chef, I have been sold on the concept of price books--they're imperative to costing recipes. I haven't really used them outside of work, though. Not because I don't think you should, but a) because I did it at work and didn't want to do that at home too; and b) because I have a head for numbers and am obsessed with getting the best deal, so I do very well with that without writing things down. When I moved from Michigan where I knew all my prices (and had determined that Shop At Meijer was the best way to save money) to Seattle where I didn't know the prices and had a lot of other projects on my plate, I didn't pick it up then either. Nonetheless, I think it's a good idea. I have heard a lot of peopl...
Read more