Thursday, November 10, 2011

An Update On Some Lovable Characters

This was baby Hank in his first Halloween costume, a ferocious bear.

Costumed
Rawrr.

And here is my nephew Gabriel making that costume his own.


Urge to squeeze him...overwhelming! Seeing him in that bear suit, I know that my heart will go on. I love seeing the kids' hand-me-downs on other kids in the family. He and Hank do look remarkably alike to me. Anyway, Baby G continues to grow in stature and wisdom. I have a couple of little video clips from our time together in the mountains last month. If you like things that are adorable, you might want to watch.



Genius baby. Watch in high def for maximum cute.

And here is my sister absentmindedly holding him while I film her. This was pretty much the scene. One of us holding him and somebody else capturing the moment.



Baby Gabriel
G checks out Matt.
Hmm now. My post title promised you "characters" plural and I have only given you one baby character. Let's see. I've also been meaning to tell you how Normal Neighbor is doing with her cancer treatment. When I last mentioned her, she was in consultation about whether to have this somewhat investigative procedure. She and the surgeon decided not to do that (whew) and instead to do radiation therapy targeted at this one remaining lymph node. So she is about halfway through her 30 treatments right now.

When she was telling me the treatment plan, she was dreading the daily driving down into the city, and I agreed that it was an awful grind. But get this: some folks from her husband's club (he's a golf pro) have given her a car service. A large black man in a large black cadillac picks her up every morning and drives her to Emory, over an hour away. That has got to be the greatest gift you can give someone in that situation. Just awesome. These same friends have also got someone cleaning her house. Those friends are good friends to have.

So I think she is going to be okay, and that this will be the last thing. I hope it is. Her treatment has dragged on longer than mine did. It has been this entire year. At this point, my cancer treatment seems kind of like a bad weekend I had once.

Another lovable character: Frenemy Neighbor. One weekend night lately, Matt and the kids and I were up at the tennis courts. Matt and I were playing in earnest and the kids were whacking balls around. FN texted and asked if Laura could play, so I told her to just bring P up to the courts and the girls could hit. FN gets there, and instead of making the drop-off, saying hi, and leaving, she hangs on the fence and wants to talk to Matt and me. Now, we had not left our court positions and showed no inclination to chat. We were engaged in the playing of tennis. The fact that we kept calling out the score and playing points could have been a clue. But she was all talky talk talk with the talking. And then, THEN, a new and unsuspecting neighbor wandered up, and she turned her attention away from us and proceeded to suck the very life out of him. I enjoyed watching it, because what he was going through was what I must have looked like six years ago when we moved here. She gave him the full interrogation, whipping out her phone to enter his and his wife's contact info and quizzing him on their occupations and livelihood. She left him a desiccated husk. I say that in a loving way. She lovingly sucked the life out of him and I'm lovingly reporting it to you. I am all about the love.

So now you are up to date on some of the haps.
xo
b

8 comments:

Amy said...

As if the bear photo wasn't enough, I clicked on not one but both videos. Now wallowing in the tragic realization that there is no one in my life gonna step up and make me a fresh aunt.

And, wow. Note to self: car & driver (pref large/black) as thoughtful gift. Someone at that club was totally on the ball. Hugs to PN, and praying it isn't long before her treatments fade into a bad weekend too.

Amy said...

Oh!! Baby Gabriel! I didn't know you filmed that--what a sweetie he is. It makes me miss him! How can I get another one of those?

So glad to hear NN is nearly finished with her treatment. Even with all the support, I'm sure she's ready to get back to normal. Thanks for the update.

And yes, both babies make such fearsome bears!

Amy said...

Also your description of frenemy sucking the life out of the poor unsuspecting neighbor is hilarious! I could visualize it. She is something else!

AlGalMom said...

Love the dose of baby--he is remarkably cute. I am looking forward to performing my Auntly duties at Christmas when my brother, SIL, and adorable niece come out to visit. (How rude is it to post pictures in the comment thread of someone else's blog? I have this compulsion, you see....)

Thank you for the update on Normal Neighbor.

Nina said...

I know I REALLY shouldn't say this, but Frenemy Neighbor sounds just ever so slightly like my mother-out-law. When we first got together my boyfriend still lived with her, and we'd be watching a movie and she'd come and stand behind the sofa and try to chat over the movie. Even if we didn't look round or answer with more than "uh", she'd keep going. She also likes to psychoanalyse various relatives of mine whom she has only briefly met. Was I allowed to say all that?

Kate said...

Awwww, my little guy! He's famous! I plan on dressing him in that costume all winter long. I love it. Seeing those videos and pictures makes me want to be back at the mountain house with everyone. I miss everybody!

Aimee said...

CAR service??? What a phenomenal gift! It makes me wish I was wealthy, just to provide that anonymously for people who need it, you know? Wow.

Becky said...

I know! Truly wonderful. I was like, and I made you this baked spaghetti?

Katie, he is such a precious guy and I wanted everyone to see!

Nina, of course you are allowed to say that! You're among friends, we won't tell. Let it all out.

AlGal, if you know how to post pics in comments, do it!