Tinkerbelle

Happy Christmas Eve everyone, I doubt many people will read today, so I guess this is a Tuesday morning present for everyone. So…welcome back to work, I guess;-)

First, Big Sis’ birthday party was an absolute blast! I told Munchkin that if she took a nap in the afternoon, she could stay for the whole party, no matter how late it ran (or at least until they kicked her out:-)) Being the good little trooper, she followed orders, and put herself down for a couple of hours in the afternoon. So she got to sit and hold court all night, drinking fancy drinks out of martini glasses (cranberry juice and 7up makes her feel Oh So Special;-)…and it is much more grown-up than a Shirley Temple…lol.) At one point the bar manager raised some objection to her still being there, but Papa Bear gently told him that there was no need for him to be concerned;-)

I have named my new little sister: in accordance with her love of fairies and princesses and all things fantasical (that’s not a word, I know), I am going to call her Tinkerbelle. She is little and cute and it seems like an appropriate name.

I had a really nice visit with Tinkerbelle and her Mom, who I like a lot. They came to get me at the airport, and then we went out for breakfast and hung out at their house for a little bit. I gave her the necklace I bought her, which she put on immediately, and I don’t think will take off for a very long time. She gave me a card that she made all on her own that is super cute and that I will put away in a safe place.

Her Mom also showed me a thing she did at school this week…they were asked to write a couple of sentences about what they were asking for this Christmas (yeah, you can’t do that in Massachusetts…lol) and she wrote that she didn’t want anything for Christmas because she already got a big sister and that was the best present ever. That made me cry:-)

We also had a great visit with the rest of the family. I think it was a little bit overwhelming at first for ‘Belle (hey look, I just changed her name!!! Do we like Belle or Tinkerbelle better?). But she settled in pretty quickly. And as expected, the whole family was really warm and inviting for both Tinkerbelle and her Mom. We talked a bit about them all on the way back to the airport and she seemed really genuinely touched by the reception.

And she hasn’t even seen the half of it…lol. She will now be invited to not only every family gathering, but my Aunts will start inviting her to their regular dinner/drinks/bowling/shopping outings…lol. When they like someone, they are VERY outgoing about it!!!

So, I am not really sure where it goes from here…it is still kinda weird. And obviously I am not gonna make it back there every weekend to see her. I think I would like to see her as much as I can, talk to her as much as I can and see where it goes. It is sort of hard to get to know someone from this far away, but I would really like to, she would really like to, and I think her Mom is pretty excited by the idea of allowing her to be closer to her whole family.

The whole family (and again, this is all of my father’s family, who I have only known for about two years) is making a trip to Boston to visit me and take a little vacation next spring or summer. Few of them have ever been to Boston, and only my two cousins have ever been out to visit me here. Tinkerbelle and her Mom are now invited on that trip, and hopefully they can make it. Originally everyone was going to come for a couple of days in May, but now Papa Bear has suggested that they all come for a week right after school gets out and spend most of the time at the beach house (someday I have to tell you about “The Beach House”…)

I think that is a better idea, but we’ll see how everyone’s schedule works out. Anyway, that’s my brief recap of my trip, and I wish everyone a very, very, very Merry Christmas!!!