you are everything

I love Eeyore, but I was getting tired of that green leafy Eeyore layout. So have a winter-y scene with a beautiful male cardinal instead. Ahhh, that's better. :-)

"Nobody tells me," said Eeyore. "Nobody keeps me informed. I make it seventeen days come Friday since anybody spoke to me."

"It's your fault, Eeyore. You've never been to see any of us. You just stay here in this one corner of the Forest waiting for the others to come to you. Why don't you go to them sometimes?" said Christopher Robin.

::sigh:: That Christopher Robin... he's very wise for his age. Problem is... I'm comfortable in my one corner of the Forest internet. I feel safe here. But it is rather quiet most of the time.

Anyway, I figured I'd post and tell y'all what I've been up to. Should be a short post, except I'll probably start rambling.

My brother and his family from Virginia have been here staying with us. Got here on June 22nd and went back on Tuesday (July 10th). This includes 2 nephews and 1 niece, ranging in age from 2 1/2 years old to 6 1/2 years old. It probably goes without saying, but I adore these kidlets! However, when the other nieces and nephews come to visit at the same time... %)*!@*(#&*(^$)!@#* I love all of my nieces and nephews and it's fun to see them all playing together and getting along, but I really can't handle more than 2 or 3 of them at a time. Yet now that they're gone, I miss them so much. Now it's too quiet.

On Saturday and Sunday we had a family reunion. This house is far too small for 9 adults - 8 of whom are strict Mormon conservative Republicans and 1 who... is me. And 4 nieces and 4 nephews, all under the age of 7. Far too small for all of us to be here at once. But - we did it. And apparently we all survived too. I don't even recall anything getting broken. I realized something on Sunday night, after things had quieted down. My family is not dysfunctional. Other than being Mormon, I mean. But... we all love each other and get along and keep in touch and... we're, like, functional or something. Always have been. WTF is up with that?

So another family visit has come to an end, and I'm having a hard time re-adjusting. Both of my parents (whom I live with - and who are still married after 45 years - so damn functional!) are as well. What am I supposed to do with all the Pokémon knowledge I gained while the kidlets were here? What do I do with the knowledge that Charmander evolves into Charmeleon which evolves into Charizard? Or that Dawn - a character new to Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl - has Piplup as her starter Pokémon, but recently captured a cute little Buneary Pokémon too? Buneary is my favorite, I think. No no... it's Piplup. SEE WHAT I MEAN??? What did these kids do to me??? LOL I might make myself a Piplup icon. Yes, seriously. Maybe. ::blushes::

I've been keeping up with the Rrambles Yahoo group this entire time, but I still feel really out of touch with everything fandom-related. Yes, I know Randy is doing Cuckoo's Nest in Stockbridge right now. I know big_brian_o posted a new chapter of Gone on Sunday - and it's incredible as always. I know I owe email to a dozen or so people. Of course I always owe email to a few people so that's nothing strange. I owe sdrichey a birthday B/J wallpaper. I want to send something cheery to the amazing and brave teary_eyed2 but can't figure out what to make or send. All of my websites are in desperate need of updates and renovations. Several sites I do for other people also need to be finished and updated and whatnot. I need to pick out some replacement furniture for my bedroom to the make the room more organized and live-able. But am I getting any of those things accomplished? Not even slightly.

So I guess what I'm saying is this: it's business as usual here in my little version of the 100 Acre Wood. Ha! Life is pretty damn normal. ::yawn::