I'm headed to my family's vacation home in Seaside, Oregon. I love my family. I love Seaside. I just don't love being with all of my family in Seaside. It's the summer for the family reunion, which means every member of the family is descending on Seaside at the same moment. Just thinking about all 20 of us trying to stay in the beach house together makes me nauseous, not to mention claustrophobic. It's not a small home; it has 5 bedrooms and a bonus room. You would think it would have ample room and it does, when there are only some of us there or even most of us but there's never enough room when we are all there.
My parents get their bedroom, which only makes sense since they pay the mortgage. My grandparents from both sides come and they each get a bedroom, which makes sense since they are to be revered and all that. My older brother, John, and older sister, June each get a bedroom since they are both married. That used to leave me and my younger sister, Julie, in the bonus room but she just got married which means, she'll get the bonus room and I'll get the living room couch. Just thinking about it makes me want to turn my car around and head back to Seattle. If the sun wasn't shining right now, I just might have done it but I do love the sun and being from Seattle, I don't get to see it that much. I'll just have to persevere through family lore, birthing stories, diaper stories, cute baby stories and all those other stories that come from new parents and old ones too. Why do I have to be the only single one left in the family? At least my sister doesn't have any babies yet!
I pulled into the only spot left. Yes! I beat my older sister June to the beach house which means I don't have to try and find a parking spot on the street somewhere. That is always a pain! I pulled out my bag and headed into the chaos. I knew what I was getting myself into -- lots of sticky, little fingers, plenty of smelly diapers, sand in everything I owned and absolutely no privacy -- and I could do this! Right?
I opened the door and walked in and was instantly assaulted by lots of little arms trying to hug me. Someone yelled, "Group hug!" and those little arms were followed by their parents bigger arms and then old people arms. It was one great big family hug. I stood there held up by the force of arms and enjoyed the hug. I do love my family! As everyone started moving away, I looked down to see my 5 year old niece Amy with her arms still tight around me and her open-faced peanut butter and jelly sandwich stuck to my side. I took a deep breath, hugged Amy real tight and then headed to the bathroom. Clothes change number 1 underway.
After I changed my pants, we all ate lunch together and then June came.
"Can someone move their car so we can unload all our stuff and the kids?" asked June.
Everyone looked at me. Nooooooo! I thought but I went to find my keys with my smile firmly in place. As I looked through my bags, I could hear the movie Nemo playing and some aquatic animal was saying, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." I changed it to "Just keep smiling, just keep smiling." I was not going to be the sour apple at this family reunion. I smiled as I headed for the door with my keys in hand.
"Thanks, Jessie," said my Mom. "It will make everything so much easier for June."
Twenty minutes later I returned from parking my car in Timbuktu and finished my lunch with my smile firmly in place. Everyone else was done and on the porch so I joined them there.
"We were just talking about you Jessie," said my brother John. "I invited a guy from work to come to dinner tomorrow night. We were talking at work about where we were going on vacation and it turned out he was vacationing here the same week as me. We wanted to get together while we were here so I asked him for dinner. He's very nice and I'm told he's attractive and he's single. Maybe sparks will fly."
"John, he lives in Portland. If the sparks fly tomorrow, they'll just fizzle between the distance," I replied. There was no point trying to tell them I was fine being single. They were all paired up which meant I needed to be too and I wouldn't mind it, but the guy should live in the same state as me.
"Well, not to worry if that guy doesn't work out, I met a really nice man at the deli store and I told him all about my daughter and he said he'd love to meet you," said my Mom.
"Really, you're pawning me off on the deli guy at the corner grocery store?" I asked.
"No, he was just buying pastrami there. He is staying in the house just a couple of doors down from us with some buddies of his. They are here running some kind of race or something. They are all coming for lunch tomorrow. They're bringing pastrami," replied my Mom. "And they're all from the Seattle area. I asked."
I took a deep breath, smiled real big and asked, "Any other dates set up for me I should know about?"
"Not yet sis, but I'll work on it," said Julie. "I didn't realize we were all supposed to come up with a date for you!"
She was totally laughing at me!
Check back tomorrow to see which relative picked the best date option for Jessie!
My parents get their bedroom, which only makes sense since they pay the mortgage. My grandparents from both sides come and they each get a bedroom, which makes sense since they are to be revered and all that. My older brother, John, and older sister, June each get a bedroom since they are both married. That used to leave me and my younger sister, Julie, in the bonus room but she just got married which means, she'll get the bonus room and I'll get the living room couch. Just thinking about it makes me want to turn my car around and head back to Seattle. If the sun wasn't shining right now, I just might have done it but I do love the sun and being from Seattle, I don't get to see it that much. I'll just have to persevere through family lore, birthing stories, diaper stories, cute baby stories and all those other stories that come from new parents and old ones too. Why do I have to be the only single one left in the family? At least my sister doesn't have any babies yet!
I pulled into the only spot left. Yes! I beat my older sister June to the beach house which means I don't have to try and find a parking spot on the street somewhere. That is always a pain! I pulled out my bag and headed into the chaos. I knew what I was getting myself into -- lots of sticky, little fingers, plenty of smelly diapers, sand in everything I owned and absolutely no privacy -- and I could do this! Right?
I opened the door and walked in and was instantly assaulted by lots of little arms trying to hug me. Someone yelled, "Group hug!" and those little arms were followed by their parents bigger arms and then old people arms. It was one great big family hug. I stood there held up by the force of arms and enjoyed the hug. I do love my family! As everyone started moving away, I looked down to see my 5 year old niece Amy with her arms still tight around me and her open-faced peanut butter and jelly sandwich stuck to my side. I took a deep breath, hugged Amy real tight and then headed to the bathroom. Clothes change number 1 underway.
After I changed my pants, we all ate lunch together and then June came.
"Can someone move their car so we can unload all our stuff and the kids?" asked June.
Everyone looked at me. Nooooooo! I thought but I went to find my keys with my smile firmly in place. As I looked through my bags, I could hear the movie Nemo playing and some aquatic animal was saying, "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming." I changed it to "Just keep smiling, just keep smiling." I was not going to be the sour apple at this family reunion. I smiled as I headed for the door with my keys in hand.
"Thanks, Jessie," said my Mom. "It will make everything so much easier for June."
Twenty minutes later I returned from parking my car in Timbuktu and finished my lunch with my smile firmly in place. Everyone else was done and on the porch so I joined them there.
"We were just talking about you Jessie," said my brother John. "I invited a guy from work to come to dinner tomorrow night. We were talking at work about where we were going on vacation and it turned out he was vacationing here the same week as me. We wanted to get together while we were here so I asked him for dinner. He's very nice and I'm told he's attractive and he's single. Maybe sparks will fly."
"John, he lives in Portland. If the sparks fly tomorrow, they'll just fizzle between the distance," I replied. There was no point trying to tell them I was fine being single. They were all paired up which meant I needed to be too and I wouldn't mind it, but the guy should live in the same state as me.
"Well, not to worry if that guy doesn't work out, I met a really nice man at the deli store and I told him all about my daughter and he said he'd love to meet you," said my Mom.
"Really, you're pawning me off on the deli guy at the corner grocery store?" I asked.
"No, he was just buying pastrami there. He is staying in the house just a couple of doors down from us with some buddies of his. They are here running some kind of race or something. They are all coming for lunch tomorrow. They're bringing pastrami," replied my Mom. "And they're all from the Seattle area. I asked."
I took a deep breath, smiled real big and asked, "Any other dates set up for me I should know about?"
"Not yet sis, but I'll work on it," said Julie. "I didn't realize we were all supposed to come up with a date for you!"
She was totally laughing at me!
Check back tomorrow to see which relative picked the best date option for Jessie!
