Blue Nettles

I'm still at my job at Commerce. The clearance finally came through but a few days before USAID's 06 appropriation came in with a $50m cut. So the office I was going to work at immediately put a hiring freeze on the whole agency. So I'm in limbo until they figure out if they are really going to hire me or not. The Director still wants to hire me, and if my clearance had come through a few days sooner I'd be packing my stuff up now, but they have to figure out how to handle the budget cut. The people at Commerce are happy to keep me but I'd like to move on now.

For fun, last Sunday, a friend and I went to see/smell the "Corpse Plant" at the botanical garden. That was some good stink this year (I went to last year's bloomin'). Afterwards we went out to brunch.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving day/weekend?

We are driving to Dallas, Texas. The more I think about it, the less I like it. I am in action mode and try not to think about it. Hazel and George Sr. drove down from Colorado Springs last week. Melva and her family drove down this week. My George has to work Wednesday, but is trying to get off by noon. The boys get out of school at noon. We will pack up the van and drive 18 hours. We will stay about two days and drive back by Sunday.

Hazel and her two sisters and most of their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will be there. Now, that is a family with lots of dynamics - illegetimate children, divorces, teen pregnancies, young deaths, some siblings do not talk or see each other, high school drop outs. It will be an adventure.

I will be looking forward to a day off.
But I am thankful I will be with my small family group. We have fun, talk, relax. Just us sometimes, is very comforting. The boys are looking forward to watching ALL the Star War movies. Thank God for car tvs.

May you all have lots of blessings to be thankful for. I will try to call. My cell phone is a handy tool driving across barren Texas.

Love, Ellie

everyone please tell me your email addresses because I do not have any of them!
-megan
my email address: brightyellowphish@hotmail.com
you can IM me as well

Thanks, Dad for responding with your thoughts!

I, too agree that we are each made up very uniquely. As a family group (Blue family of 7) when we were kids, I think it was easy to be that “family group” because we didn’t have extended family close by. It was fairly simple to have a family dinner, outing, event. We were a solid family together. We had limited contact with extended family; visits through the years with a few extended visits, correspondence by mail/phone. As adults, we have all gone in different directions.

That’s interesting- your comments about our dynamics remaining some of the same as far as parent/child and birth order. I do still feel the parent/child dynamic but with my siblings- I think of us as equals at this point. But this is coming from the “baby sister” and maybe I don’t realize that I still am viewed by my older siblings as the “baby sister”. I really would hope for equal ground at this point.

Dad, you mention your relationship with Lois. That’s very interesting to me because as you tell about how close you were as children and early adulthood- it eventually grew apart. Why did Lois abandon her ties with her siblings? I’ve heard you talk some about it. At the time that you felt the distancing- did you ever talk about what was going on? It seems from what I have picked up- that you were always interested in more contact with your family- but not as much effort happened from Uncle Charles and Aunt Lois- maybe a little more effort with Aunt Mackie?

So, you mention Uncle Carl Thompson’s family- what keeps them keeping their ties? That’s impressive.

Clearly, everyone sees how our dynamics are now- in different ways. What feels like “keeping in touch” to one feels like “not enough” to another. Acknowledging that we’re all in different places with this opinion. Those of us with spouses, have the influence of them and what the connections of family means. For myself, I was obviously drawn to the family dynamics of Duane’s family. Here I grew up in a large family and felt comfortable with the togetherness of his family as well. As I got to know his extended family; aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers- I embraced that dynamic. Now, with my own children- that circle has grown even bigger. I love those connections. It’s a big, cold world out there and I love knowing we have those relationships. That’s Duane’s family. I don’t really compare my side of the family to his- but I’m drawn to looking at the dynamics of both. I also am drawn to the dynamics of friends’ families as well. I have loved learning about all of our family history. We have great connections and stories that have traveled through the years. I look forward to all of the times we get together- whether it’s others’ visits to Salt Lake or when we’ve traveled to others homes. I love seeing my daughters in conversations/play with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It feels like the way it should be. I guess this is where I’m at with family relationships. While I definitely pursue my own life and outside friendships- I never feel like I’ve had enough extended family time. I believe it’s the time together and conversations that keep that togetherness. Without that, it seems by some examples of other families- that a family grows more distant. They end up losing the connections and history together. Even with differences in personalities and opinions, it shouldn’t become more distant yet should be even more interesting and enriching to put us all together often.

Well, there are some of my thoughts.

Love, Kay