Thursday Thirteen #14

Thirteen Things That Made Me Happy During My Visit With My Family

1) Sitting out in the garden next to the pool in my Dad's backyard. It's peaceful, relaxing, beautiful, and smells like flowers.

2) Standing around the kitchen counter with Bean, Bacchus, and my Dad eating caramel popcorn, laughing, and feeling close to all of them.

3) Hugging my mom hello after not seeing her for many months. She always smells fresh and clean with a hint of perfume.

4) Sharing a late dinner with my brothers, sister, sister's husband, and my mom. My mom usually goes to bed at 10:00 pm, but when all her kids come to town, she pulls out all the stops. There was pork tenderloin for them, spinach quiche for me, and an awesome dessert. I love the good moments with them, when we can all be together, talking, catching up, and laughing.

5) Seeing Bean's baby bump. She looks so cute with her little belly and so beautiful. The baby-to-be is now, apparently 5 inches long. I still can't believe my baby sister is going to have a baby!

6) Hanging out with my Aunt Svea (from Sweden). She is strong, smart, and has an incredibly dry, quick sense of humor. I laugh often when I spend time with her. She's also very genuine and warm, and I had a great time talking with her.

7) The pot of coffee in my Dad's kitchen that was perpetually in the process of being emptied and refilled. Swedes drink lots of coffee, throughout the day, and often right up until bedtime. It's something I associate with feeling like I'm home.

8) Hanging out with my cousins, K and J. Last time I saw them, about three years ago, they looked like little blond-haired boys. Now, they've both grown by about 3 feet each, and they look like young men, particularly K.

9) My Dad and Stepmom made me a special piece of salmon after grilling piles of meat for everyone else. That was very thoughtful, and a much appreciated change from saying in jest, as they have during the last few years, "What? Since when are you a vegetarian?," and offering me salad.

10) Getting ready in my Mom's palatial bathroom. It's gigantic with tons of fun products, and my Mom always says nice things, such as how beautiful she thinks my hair is. It's nice to be surrounded with love.

11) Driving with my brothers. Bacchus picked Frey and I up from the airport, and on the way to my Mom's we chatted and listened to Bacchus' music. He's listening to a remix of Dolly Parton and some guy who makes all these sounds with his mouth. It's hard to describe, but it was super fun to listen to while flying down the highways in Houston.

12) Showing my cousins an American movie theater, and sharing with them the delights of junior mints. According to them, the theaters in Sweden are smaller and more expensive. They were blown away by the 18-20 theater complexes that we have here. They also really liked my junior mints; possibly the only American candy (along with good & plenty) that is as good or better than the average Swedish candy (which is awesome!).

13) Bean laughing until her stomach hurt after I sprinted out of the haunted house in order to escape the Texas Chainsaw Massacre guy. The minute I heard that chainsaw start, I was gone, leaving everyone else in the dust. Bean thought it was a riot that I nudged her aside in my haste to get out. Ooops.


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