The Whole Famn Damily!

Last weekend Josh & I took Aine up to my parents' house on Sunday for the day. My sister, her husband, his son, and my parents' best friends were all there as well. It was a great day! We found out that my parents best friends are going to be moving down to TN (they live in Wisconsin, just across the river from Minneapolis/St. Paul)! The picture of Josh & Aine was taking on the porch of the house they are wanting to buy. Check out that view!! I am so excited for them & my parents. The 4 of them haven't lived in the same town since 1981. Hopefully they'll been able to put up with each other. Seriously, though, I can't imagine how excited they all much be. It's an amazing thing that they've been able to stay friends through an age before cell phones (free long distance), internet, etc. Most of that time they lived in Minnesota and we lived in Tennessee. At most, we'd see them for a few days in the summer up at Spruce Point. If we were lucky. They sure have earned this time together!

Role Models

The topic of role models came up today & I think of all the people in the headlines today who kids look up to. Honestly it makes me really sad. People like Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts and Brangelina ... these "pretty people" ... do they really warrant the title of "role model"? I'm not saying that they aren't good, respectable people. I'm not implying that they don't do good deeds. I certainly think that Brad & Angelina could do a lot more good if they used their wealth to start an organization to assist average & low income families adopt children rather than try to adopt all these kids themselves. But I digress.

I started thinking about the kinds of people, the kinds of women I want Aine to look to as role models. My grandmothers, for instance. My maternal grandmother was the youngest of 4. She grew up in Chicago. My great-grandfather was a painter (John Adams Spelman) and the family didn't have a lot of money. Still she went to Beloit College. Writing this I realize that I know less about my grandmother than I realized. I don't know if she has a Masters or not. I think that she does. In any event, she became a librarian and worked her way up to librarian (I think she was a Head Librarian) at the Kalamazoo Public Library. My paternal grandmother also went to college, though she choose to be a stay-at-home mom after marrying my grandfather.

I look at contemporary women like Hillary Clinton (who I don't always agree with but whom I can respect), Christiane Amanpour, Maya Angelou, Jane Goodall, there are so many I cannot think of as I sitting here writing this that it actually makes me sad. My mind jumps to all the standard Hollywood types, that while good at the jobs of letting us escape in entertainment for those few short hours, aren't exactly changing the world.

I may need to think about this. One think I know for certain, I want my daughter to be strong and independent. I want her to walk with confidence and THINK with confidence. I want her to believe in herself and others. I want her to have respect for her ideas as well as the ideas of others. I want her to always remember that while you don't have to agree with someone, but you should always be respectful in that disagreement ... even if they aren't. I want her to always remember that I believe in her, even if she can't or won't. I want her to know that it is ok to fail as long as you tried your best. At the end of the day, it isn't about how you look or what you wear or what kind of car you have. Things are things. They don't make you a good person.

And I definitely hope my daughter never ever thinks a porn star is a good role model. Sheesh!

On the Town

The past two weekends we have hit the Cobb County Food & Arts Festival and the Cobb County Family Fun Fest. Both were fun! We were really excited about the food tasting at the Food & Arts Fest, but most of the vendors didn't get the concept of food tasting. Oh well! The gelato was to die for though! So was the temperature. It was hot! We did manage to convince Matt, Jenn, Conner, Maeve, Mark and Theresa to go with us. I'm not sure if they were glad they went or not! I think Maeve was as she found her long sought after Vera Bradley bag.

It was just the 3 of us at the Family Fun Fest. Unfortunately, Aine was still a little too young for most of the activities (we took her last year too), but we still had a fun time! The weather was great and she had fun watching people and running around the Marietta Square.


COBB CO. FOOD & ARTS FESTIVAL





COBB CO. FAMILY FUN FEST

At the end of the day

Some of you know & some of you don't, but I work in the financial industry. Lately, I dread coming to work. Frankly, it sucks. Other than enjoying lunches with my co-workers there is nothing positive that happens during my days anymore. Angry clients, angry financial advisors. It gets old. Now some people choose to take that home with them. And maybe somedays it makes it as far as the sitter's door ... but I have to tell you, when I see Aine waving at me through the door or she runs to show me her new "discovery" for that day none of the rest matters anymore. I don't want her mood to be tempered by mine. I love that her laughter, her smile has the ability to change my perspective. To make me realize that while things are hard, I need to be thankful for all that I do have. God I love her!!