30 Letters in 30 Days...Day Fourteen: someone I drifted away from...

Dear P,
I'm going to start out by saying, I love you and always will. You're my sister, after all, and nothing can ever really get in the way of that. We used to be so close though we didn't start out that way. I know that when we were kids I was more of a pain in your butt than I will ever admit out loud! LOL But over time, we got closer and used to confide in each other all the time. We were especially close in those days right after your divorce. You would always tell me what was on your mind and I'd try as best I could to support you through the rough time.

Oh, we still see each other every week but there have been some noticeable changes in our relationship. Our views on life in general have changed drastically. I no longer believe in god and you are a devout Catholic in the way our mother has always been and with that change you tend to try to "guilt" me into believing. I have my reasons but know that you won't hear them. You have also become, for reasons unknown to me, a staunch Conservative in your political views. I find I cannot even discuss anything remotely political with you because you only see things in the broadest terms and refuse to see the grey areas in life. A lot of good, hard working people fall into the cracks of those gray areas and it scares me a bit that you think they are there because they haven't worked hard enough or wanted to succeed strong enough. So, we do not speak to each other as much as we used to and I have to say that makes me a bit sad.

But know this, I will defend your right to believe what you will and defend you against anyone who makes personal attacks on you because of your beliefs. I love you as a sister and that is stronger than politics, religion or whatever. Maybe one day we'll find some middle ground where we can actually discuss what's happening around us without falling into heated battle. Maybe...we'll see! :)

I love you, P!
Moochie

w00t! It's the weekend!!

One time, a long time ago, I had made a promise to myself that I wouldn't become one of those people who lives for the weekend but, rather, would be someone who lives it up every day of the week. Oh screw that! Ha! Being older and wiser, I now completely understand how important it is to get in gear for the work week, get through and then let out a huge w00t! for the weekend. So, here it is...Saturday! Can you hear me w00ting?

I had a really fantastic Friday night. It was spent the usual way - dinner with family and then cards to please my card shark mama. But I got there earlier than anyone else so my mom and I had time to have a heart to heart talk. I find it hard to talk to my mom sometimes because I know she doesn't always agree with the decisions I make in my life and she worries (needlessly) about me. But we had a great talk. We talked about how we felt about what was happening with my sister. We talked about the recent raise I got at work. And then, we talked about the plans Alex and I have to get married next year and all that immigration stuff and the long range plan for us to move to Sweden. All of this was difficult for me to present to her before because she's 91 and I thought the idea of my leaving the country would upset her a lot. Even though she did express a sense of worry about that she also expressed that she has always wanted me to be happy and she knows Alexander loves me and I love him and that makes me very happy. So she completely surprised me with her responses and just made me know that she loves me very much and always will.

Mom's are great for that. I was reading Van's blog and he was extolling the goodness of his own mama. I so know what he means.



I love this picture of my mom and Alex. Not that it's a great picture. It's not. It's a horrible picture. But I love the way my mom is looking at Alex trying to look so interesting in what he's saying. The truth is, she can't hear very well so she's not catching a word he's saying! But, honestly, does that woman look 91 years old to you? Damn, I come from good Polish stock!