Vacuosity

Aging alone

My sister MaryEllen is 35 today. 35 is way up there. She's the first of the second half of kids to cross that line. I callously reminded her of it, so she callously reminded me that in just over 14 months I'll be 30. Trading digs, that's family.

I always used to look around at my peers and know that they were older than me. Now, I'm often surprised to find that they are younger than me; I tend to be the old guy. Caleb, who's 19, is almost a decade younger than me. To think he was born in '83!



Jaime is wickedly smart; we're going to have our hands full I think. She yells and points for stuff, understands most of whats said to her, and plans for things, sometimes doing two, or even three, step actions. It's pretty crazy. Today she had the T.V. remote, and just to see, I asked her, once, to turn off the television. Right away, she did it. She didn't guess or anything, just shut it off. I was pretty surprised. I wasn't even sure that she knew what 'off' was, let alone how to do it.

I'd like to think she gets her smarts from her pop, except that she's so much like her mother's side of the family I doubt she got anything form me.



I discovered U of M radio today. I had heard it before, but was never sure if it actually was a university station. I like it; I was treated to an hour of great, new ambient and electronic.

Better still, I listened while doing the dishes. What you need to know is that in a house with as many people as this, there is precious little in the way of alone time. And for someone who needs a lot, that's pretty tough to deal with. I hadn't realized how bad it's been, and how much I needed it, until I reached a state of practical euphoria doing the dishes, simply due to the fact that I had gotten to spend several hours by myself with some sweet tunes. Maybe I could 'accidentally' lock myself in the basement.

posted by David @ 12:20 a.m.