The Brotherly Love Edition

Friday my little brother turns 34. Being older than 34 myself I can tell him that 34 is the last good year. Don't believe me? It's the last year you're in the 18-34 key demographic group. Even the marketing people know its the last year of your prime! See when you're 18-34 you supposedly have disposable income, you can do things, go places, have fun- YOU'RE YOUNG!!! After that you're 35 and up. I'm an 'and up' (though to be fair I'm in the early stages of 'and up'). 35 and up means you're pretty much dead now. You likely have kids who needs all your disposable income, you're too tired to do things, you can only go places that aren't too loud, too crowded, and have nice bathrooms, you can't really have fun because of those damn teenagers making noise in the corner- YOU'RE OLD!!!! 'and up' is really 'down hill' and they remind you everytime you fill out a form. Thirty-freakin'Four?!? How did this happen? How did he go from the little kid who cried his way into getting the Mickey Mouse piggy bank instead of the Donald Duck piggy bank that my grandmother sent us for Christmas one year?- I was supposed to get the Mouse...some wounds never heal. How did he go from the tyke who used to climb the walls in the hallway and pretend he was Spiderman? What happened to the kid who in the fourth grade convinced everyone in his swimming class his name was 'Jim' instead of David? (his middle name was James so I guess legally he had some outs there but still) *sigh* Where'd the guy go who used to get me in trouble all the time- like when he was found squirting orange peel into my little sister's eyes and *I* got in trouble because...I still don't know why...and I didn't get to go to a friend's house (which by the way I could have cared less to go except I had a crush on his sister and she had let it be known the feeling was mutual...and on the church bus no less...but I digress...) Oh and do you know I saved his life once?? Yeah nobody knows this story, not even my parents. See, Mom and Dad, one night when I was home babysitting him (or as I like to call it- paying my time in purgatory) he thought it would be funny to be a total pain in the tush and jump up and down on the couch even after I told him 30 times to stop...and of course being the multi-tasker that he was he was also eating candy. Well he started to choke and I gave him the old Heimlich and blap, out popped the gobstopper returning him to a normal shade of light pink, instead of the interesting blue color he had been offering. You'd think a guy would thank you for saving his life. You'd think the least he'd do is take some heat when he bugged you so much you reached out and swatted him a few years later in the side, temporarily forgetting that he'd just come home from having his appendix removed- I got swatted in my side for that one, of course it was a different 'side'- the one in the back if you get my drift. I didn't sit down for a decade after that one. We had a name for David in my house (okay so the name was just the one I used for him) "The Golden Boy". He could seemingly do no wrong in my parents' eyes. Oh sure I got great grades, didn't get into trouble but whose baseball games did they go and see??? His. Sure they used as the "excuse" that he was younger but I know, deep in my heart, waaaay down in my soul...he PAID them to go to his games!!!! I know that my parents loved us all equally. But for the longest time it just seemed like they loved him more. Of course that all ended when he brought home some bad shrimp and nearly poisoned my Dad. That's when the reign of "The Golden Boy" hit a rough patch. Still he's a right good scout. We even got to be friends after awhile (you can't be friends with you brother when you're kids..it's just unnatural). When we played softball together I was always proud of the way he played, and when he ran down a ball in left field, or scored an inside the park home run and someone on the other team would say "wow that guy is fast" I'd always smile and tell them "he got that fast because he had to run from me all his life" So he's all grown up now. He's got two kids, and is in a relationship with a lovely lady with 3 kids of her own...(so he's one kid shy of the Brady Bunch). I guess we're both old enough now that I can tell him I love him, and that I admire him, especially the way he's a great father to his kids. Well I do love him, and I do miss him, and I know that I want to wish him all the best of his birthday... So Happy Birthday....'Jim' This has been an exciting yet emotional week. There have been many ups, including our friends Mike and Laura adopting a beautiful baby named Elisa. We're just so happy for them we're bursting. But this has also been a sad week as our dear friends James and AJ lost their precious kitty, Gilbert, suddenly on Wednesday. We also got our invitation to the yearly Snyder family Christmas this week, and it dawned on me that this year Grandpa Snyder won't be there. Never having a grandfather of my own I took a lot of pleasure in feeling as if I'd finally found one, only to lose him so quickly. It's going to be hard on everyone I know, but those Snyders are a strong and sturdy bunch and I know it will be a great celebration. But as one departs, another arrives and we'll be so honored to introduce Gracie to many of her extended family she has yet to meet and perhaps her presence will help in some small way to fill an empty space so vast. Of course what would this old TGIF be without some pictures of the little bit. We've had many questions of late about what she should be called. I've probably stated it before but it bears repeating... Primarily we call her Gracie, however the following are all acceptable: Virginia, Ginny, Ginny Grace, GG, or Gigi also acceptable are Cutey, Lil Bit, Pumpkin, also Darth Burpy (this is a new one her mum doesn't even know yet) and of course Future Madame Prime Minister (a father can dream) We'll let her choose her nickname when she's old enough, and of course if she's anything like her mother she'll decide...oh...by the time she's 72. So stay tuned won't you? Picture time... being silly for daddy... playing with her dolly...we're trying to get her to start grabbing things...yes we know we're doomed to a lifetime of her grabbing things we don't necessarily want her to grab, however we feel the upside of actually having motor skills far outweighs the downside of potential cleptomania... Here of course she's doing her very famous tribute to the legendary Don Ho. tiny bubbles... somebody thought it was a good idea to superglue the dog to the baby... gah...I'm just sooo in love... if you ever wanted to know what an 'evil little twinkle' looks like... don't make that face, or your shampoo horn might freeze that way... heh... Two champions locked in the ultimate combat...which one will win...the dreaded staring contest... sure sure...she *looks* innocent, but try coming over at 4am and see how sweet she is :p oh okay she's sweet then too... Everybody seems to LOVE this pic...and I admit I do too...she's starting to figure out how to audibly laugh. She's done it once or twice, but she's getting the hang of it. relaxing in her favorite chair... Well one more week of classes then it's winter break time. Hopefully everyone in the States had a great Thanksgiving, and everyone in Canada has a nice Thursday last week. I know the next few weeks will be wall to wall for everyone but don't forget to take time out to tell someone you love that you love them. Till next time, Cheers