An Intro to the Fam...

I figured since I talked about them so much, I should do a "my family at a glance" or something along those lines, so you know who I'm talking about, and can even visualize them, since sometimes my posts are way long, this can add to their POWER....yeah power, right!!LOL!



Meet Dad, aka "Ken", he is a computer specialist, and works much too many hours and counts down the days until he can retire. He is like a big kid a lot of the time, seriously. In Disney World, it is the worst, he is a Disney-fanatic, so he basically drags us around the parks, and while it was fine when I was little, now I like to stroll, so usually my Mom and I are strolling through, say Epcot, trying to spot Dad's head somewhere ahead, with Kate and Sam not far behind. He also loves to embarrass us in public, it's his life's mission. Seriosuly, we'll be in a store and he'll go "Let's walk like this" and starts walking like a duck! And he is a Harry Potter fanatic, so we get him all the paraphenalia we think he'd love, shirts, all the books, and he watches at least one Harry Potter movie every 2-3 weeks. He is the baby oh his siblings...maybe that explains the big kid thing. He is the ward clerk..again (they pick on him because he always does a good job), and is a professional basketball referee on top of it all. He was trained by IAABO and has done this for the last 10 years. He LOVES basketball, he reffed for church games since my brother was in YM, so he has actually been reffing for more like 20 years. He is firecely protective and we butt heads a lot *apparently our tempers are too similar, plus he is a "Driver" and I am a "Captain Kangaroo"His work had a seminar (long ago!)*, but he's MY Dad and can make me laugh, at his silliness or with his absentminded professor-ness.



Meet Mom, aka "Colleen" or "Mutti" (moo-tea), which is German for Mom. She went back to school when I was in junior high, and the same year I graduated high school, she graduated Nursing school. She is head of the Staff Development department now where she works, and loves teaching the other nurses and LPN's,etc. My Mom is an avid reader and is quite the writer too. (Who did I get help with for school papers? Yeah that's right). She had two of her short stories published in Friends magazine, before she decided to go back to school. "Cindy and the Treasure Chest" is my fave. She was also the youngest child, but only had an older brother, and her Dad was a Brigadeer General, so home life was very strict and everything had to be just SO. Which makes it amazing, how laid back and funny she turned out, growing up with so many rules! She can be very shy too, which is where I got it, but is much braver than me. Especially since becoming a nurse...you have to communicate to BE a nurse, so Yay Mutti! She is my best friend and confidante, I don't know what I'd do without her wisdom and guidance. She is the rock of the family. She is also the most kind-hearted, loving, brilliant person you could ever meet, which is why she is my hero. She loves to clean ( I know...why??!) and is very crafty.



Then there is my older brother and my sister-in-law . They live out in the Mid West. We don't seen much of either of them.



This, as you may know already, is Katie, aka "Kate" or "Kat". Yes she is the gorgeous belly dancing younger sister I have told you about. She has been at it for almost 10 years, has been teaching it for at least 4, and has been professionally dancing for the last few years. She has spent thousands on her costumes (craziness to me!) and has a website and business cards and the whole shebang. She is magnificent, she has such joy for it. Katie is the brilliant one, she excels in all sciences, and basically everything else she puts her mind to. Thankfully Art is NOT her forte, as that is MY thing...I'm the Artsy one. Katie is a whirlwind, she tries to do too many things at once and is very protective of her friends, they are also a weakness, which is how they take advantage of her or make HER feel like the one who did something wrong. She is very adamant about no one being the boss of her, even if what she is being told is the smart thing. She'll ignore you just to show you, she's the boss. And while brilliant, she has no common sense. She protests this, but it is acknowledged by everyone else. She has a laugh that shakes the whole room, and loves to make people happy. She is very similar to my Dad in that aspect. She can be quite absent-minded herself. She is currently in school for Occupational Therapy Assistant.


This is my youngest sister, the baby (and proud of it), Sandy. Aka "Sam" (because her initials spell it), "Sammie" and "Sarge", because she is SO bossy (yes you are, embrace it, love it, live it!) and loves ordering people around. She actually has straight hair but this pic is so cute! She says she has NO "thing", like Katie being the brains, me being the artsy one, but she is good at whatever she wants to be. She is crafty, we have taken some art classes together, which I loved. Sharing something I have always loved with her was great. She is quite the scrapbooker and loves to take pictures. She is also a movie-holic, but LOVES English movies and ALL Jane Austen movies (and the books). She has a contagious laugh, and when she is happy, she lights up a room. She is also, as you can see, gorgeous. She is quite the quick-witted, sarcastic little thing too. She gives the insults lightning fast, and the funny one-liners just as quick. She is in school to be a phlebotomist, which fits her dark side. And boy does she have one. She can also be incredibly thoughtful and sweet. And is very much an observer of people. She loves to watch surgeries and real life confrontations...people intrigue her.

I am extremely close with my sisters. When we aren't enemies (sisters KNOW what buttons to push), they are two of my closest friends. We love to watch movies together, and we even took a painting class all together...Katie hated it. She can't draw worth beans so it made everything hard for her...so she claims. Sometimes, besides my Mom, they are the only ones who GET me, and they see me for ME. They see past the disorders, and the fears, and know me as I am when I am completely comfortable. Like how I can write on here, being me, with the shyness not getting in the way.


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And let's not forget McIntosh, aka "Max", "Maxie", "Pookie" and so many other endearments. He is spoiled rotten and loves it. He is the best dog ever! Incredibly smart, and a good boy...when he wants to be. He is also a BIG chicken liver, but a bully too...he hates other dogs and you get in HIS yard and his high-pitched barking follows you home. He will have other posts for all his specialness!!

SO this is my family...at a glance...hope this makes the posts and stories more real...and GOOD!