Family

The last couple of weeks have been all about family. I have enjoyed seeing my sister, Katie. We have officially become friends. She and I have the same age separation as me and my mom! It's scary to think I could have a 21 year old daughter! She'll be graduating in May and moving back to Austin. I'm looking forward to that. In 2 days she'll be in Nicaragua for 12 days for a health clinic school trip. What an adventure!

I've spent some quality time with my parents, too. They live here, but we get busy with our own day to day and don't always take the time to just "be" together. They are generous people, and I have always felt so lucky to have such champions in my life.

I've also seen my grandmother a few times. Again, she lives here, but lately I have realized that she is not feeling well. I'm worried. She's becoming more and more fragile, and it's difficult to see that. She's always been the "young" grandmother, but as I realize that I have another birthday approaching, I know she is also not getting any younger. I'm thankful that she has been a very prominent participant in my life. We have traveled together, lived together, cried and laughed together. We've made millions of memories, and I hope to make many more.

I saw my Uncle Rich and cousins Lauren & Aaron. Aaron has just started school at SDSU and Lauren just graduated from UC Boulder & lives in Chicago. We have always had Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's, good coversation, gift exchange & this year we also played a game.

Today was my birthday lunch at Trudy's. It's not really my birthday yet, but it was a good day to do it that didn't interfere with travel, work or school. Together with my parents, Katie & Nana, my other sister, Jaye, came in from Houston with her fiance. We ate great food, laughed a lot, and then did the traditional "make-a-scene-in-the restaurant-with-the-obnoxious-unwrapping-of-the-gifts."

All in all I have had a great time with family. I'm thankful for having every one of them in my life, and the fun we've all had during the last couple of weeks. I'm very lucky.