Does corn really grow that low on the stalk?
Yes, yes it does. It doesn't, I learned, grow out of the top. Hey, forgive me, I'm from urban California. Have a good laugh at me, Miss Mo, my relatives already did.
If you're looking for the short version of Alison Does Davenport, there isn't one and let me just warn you now, this is going to be one of those, "Uh oh, they let her think too much" entries. Don't say I didn't warn you...
Seeing my long lost family members was fun and difficult and drama filled, but apparently that's how family always is no matter who you are. I should put a little side note that family for me is just me and my parents...yes, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins exist, but their presence isn't quite the same when they live far away and you see them never. So now I finally understand Nia Vardalos' family.
First of all, my new favorite family member...well third perhaps to my mom and dad...is my cousin Christian. We spent a lot of time catching up/getting to know each other and since he's already an older brother to 3, he decided to add me as his fourth sibling, which I love because it's always fun to have an older brother watching out for you. But Christian gets extra big bro bonus points because since I'm not really his sister, he was all about the love...including endless strong drinks and farming me off to hot, corn-fed Iowa boys. He promised to come see us sometime before we leave, so I'm looking forward to that.
Getting to see what a completely different lifestyle some of my dad's siblings have was a huge eye-opener for me. Most of what I realized is that I'm such a spoiled brat and I don't even begin to fall into the spoiled brat category, but I've had so many opportunities and material things that some of my relatives can never even consider. An example...I like to complain about the minute size of my 11x12 room but I have relatives who call trailers, double-wides, and small box-like houses "home"...see, I'm such a brat...always wanting, wanting, wanting and it's not that I don't appreciate what I've got, it's just that we've always "had," so I've never known that drive to reach a certain place or status level...it's something about a different level of preparation for life...let's just say that some work for the hands-on experience that they can apply somewhere else later on, while I feel as though everything I've done and learned in my life has simply been preparing me for the position of High-Profile Politician's Wife...I've got more cocktail party knowledge than is necessary. Maybe you won't ever understand what the hell I'm rambling about, but maybe you're starting to understand why I felt so uppity when surrounded by people who call Kraft their employer.
The other family drama aspect that I've never had any exposure to is illness and that was really hard to finally see. My dad's older brother has seizures and while we were at the wedding he had several, which means the meds he's taking aren't working and the sight of seizures kicked all the siblings, but mostly my dad, into high gear and they all did the best they could to get my uncle and his "child-like" wife home sooner rather than later. But it was so hard to watch my dad stress and be sad and be in charge (let's be realistic, at my house, my mom is always in charge!) of rallying the troops to make something happen, which is probably a role he always played as one of the oldest kids. The whole situation is just something I don't understand at all and definitely don't deal well with...here's the other aspect: I'm so sheltered (along with being so spoiled)...I've been to one funeral (my paternal grandmother's) and I didn't know her and when my maternal grandmother died, my parents left me at home, so the process of dealing with familial loss and struggling and illness is a lesson that I've sort of skipped. I think maybe what I'm trying to say is that it would have been easier to accept and comprehend my uncles illness as a young child and it has not been easy to watch at 23.
So basically, get out your violins and play them for me because boo-fucking-hoo the real world is scary and sad and not happy all the time like it is in my alternate universe. It's not that I'm in need of sympathy, but rather I feel as though I'm having one of those life-defining "Mother Theresa live with the orphans in war-torn __________" moments and there's probably a right and a wrong way to react to such a crossroad and I think the thing I want to know is how do I get to have my cake and eat it too? I'm pretty sure I'm going to head down the bad path, but maybe someday I can find a way to give back, as long as I can still wear my Manolos while I'm doing my good deeds.
We'll switch to fun news: My new plan is to start the California Culinary Academy's Baking and Pastry Program in December...I'm excited and nervous and ready to prove myself. I'm sort of taking the next few weeks to really decide that this is what I want to do because the program costs a bundle, but I think deep down I already know that I'm going to do it. The only advice that I've received from every adult figure in my life is "find a job that makes you happy" and so that's my goal. I still love the field of psychology and I love working with kids, but it's just reached a place where it's not fulfilling and I can't do another job where I spend my time trying to base my personal happiness on pre-schoolers. I want to live somewhere exotic, I want to do something that gets me noticed, and most of all, I want to do those great things that my parents and my way of life have been pushing my towards.
If you're looking for the short version of Alison Does Davenport, there isn't one and let me just warn you now, this is going to be one of those, "Uh oh, they let her think too much" entries. Don't say I didn't warn you...
Seeing my long lost family members was fun and difficult and drama filled, but apparently that's how family always is no matter who you are. I should put a little side note that family for me is just me and my parents...yes, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins exist, but their presence isn't quite the same when they live far away and you see them never. So now I finally understand Nia Vardalos' family.
First of all, my new favorite family member...well third perhaps to my mom and dad...is my cousin Christian. We spent a lot of time catching up/getting to know each other and since he's already an older brother to 3, he decided to add me as his fourth sibling, which I love because it's always fun to have an older brother watching out for you. But Christian gets extra big bro bonus points because since I'm not really his sister, he was all about the love...including endless strong drinks and farming me off to hot, corn-fed Iowa boys. He promised to come see us sometime before we leave, so I'm looking forward to that.
Getting to see what a completely different lifestyle some of my dad's siblings have was a huge eye-opener for me. Most of what I realized is that I'm such a spoiled brat and I don't even begin to fall into the spoiled brat category, but I've had so many opportunities and material things that some of my relatives can never even consider. An example...I like to complain about the minute size of my 11x12 room but I have relatives who call trailers, double-wides, and small box-like houses "home"...see, I'm such a brat...always wanting, wanting, wanting and it's not that I don't appreciate what I've got, it's just that we've always "had," so I've never known that drive to reach a certain place or status level...it's something about a different level of preparation for life...let's just say that some work for the hands-on experience that they can apply somewhere else later on, while I feel as though everything I've done and learned in my life has simply been preparing me for the position of High-Profile Politician's Wife...I've got more cocktail party knowledge than is necessary. Maybe you won't ever understand what the hell I'm rambling about, but maybe you're starting to understand why I felt so uppity when surrounded by people who call Kraft their employer.
The other family drama aspect that I've never had any exposure to is illness and that was really hard to finally see. My dad's older brother has seizures and while we were at the wedding he had several, which means the meds he's taking aren't working and the sight of seizures kicked all the siblings, but mostly my dad, into high gear and they all did the best they could to get my uncle and his "child-like" wife home sooner rather than later. But it was so hard to watch my dad stress and be sad and be in charge (let's be realistic, at my house, my mom is always in charge!) of rallying the troops to make something happen, which is probably a role he always played as one of the oldest kids. The whole situation is just something I don't understand at all and definitely don't deal well with...here's the other aspect: I'm so sheltered (along with being so spoiled)...I've been to one funeral (my paternal grandmother's) and I didn't know her and when my maternal grandmother died, my parents left me at home, so the process of dealing with familial loss and struggling and illness is a lesson that I've sort of skipped. I think maybe what I'm trying to say is that it would have been easier to accept and comprehend my uncles illness as a young child and it has not been easy to watch at 23.
So basically, get out your violins and play them for me because boo-fucking-hoo the real world is scary and sad and not happy all the time like it is in my alternate universe. It's not that I'm in need of sympathy, but rather I feel as though I'm having one of those life-defining "Mother Theresa live with the orphans in war-torn __________" moments and there's probably a right and a wrong way to react to such a crossroad and I think the thing I want to know is how do I get to have my cake and eat it too? I'm pretty sure I'm going to head down the bad path, but maybe someday I can find a way to give back, as long as I can still wear my Manolos while I'm doing my good deeds.
We'll switch to fun news: My new plan is to start the California Culinary Academy's Baking and Pastry Program in December...I'm excited and nervous and ready to prove myself. I'm sort of taking the next few weeks to really decide that this is what I want to do because the program costs a bundle, but I think deep down I already know that I'm going to do it. The only advice that I've received from every adult figure in my life is "find a job that makes you happy" and so that's my goal. I still love the field of psychology and I love working with kids, but it's just reached a place where it's not fulfilling and I can't do another job where I spend my time trying to base my personal happiness on pre-schoolers. I want to live somewhere exotic, I want to do something that gets me noticed, and most of all, I want to do those great things that my parents and my way of life have been pushing my towards.