The Family Thing

Many parents must have done the deed on or near New Year's Eve, since we have 4 September babies in our family -- and I'm sure there are many more out there. Happy belated to all of you! We decided to celebrate as a group ... and the Cowboys beat the Houston Texans, which was -- at least for some -- an added birthday present.

Family and friends ... Well, mainly family yesterday, since friends were busy with their own concerns, the story of this September. Traditionally during Animefest, we celebrate after the convention; this year, we headed to separate homes and crashed. My mother would say we were feeling our ages (all over the 1/2 century mark, except for Mariann, the baby). Steph had retreated to Irving early since she was riding the train, so we postponed any celebration -- and, to tell the truth, it's been a quiet gift exchange. Joy got liquor, and I shall receive the Beauty & the Beast 2-disc DVD. It's a favorite movie of mine -- and the only animated film to be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy committee ... so the DVD will get played a bit. Our Fairemily mainly went down to Hillsboro for MiddleFaire, which -- if memory serves me correctly -- will close October 2. We'll miss this faire altogether since this would've been the one weekend that we could have gone ... ah, well, so it goes.

Strange to see the division of family at the gathering: the girls plopped down on the sofa in front of the television -- 2 of them working on homework for Monday -- Joy read the paper. Mom and the wives got the condiments together in the kitchen (and that was a tight squeeze since the kitchen is a 1-2 person affair), the boy grilled on the patio ... and I graded papers in between bouts of making commentary on Adrianne's AP lit homework. Rob took over after lunch with AP calculus ... AP biology made an appearance, but she seemed to have that covered. Steph and Billy arrived as the last batch of burgers hit the grill ... and then the feasting began.

To tell the truth, I suspect that Mom enjoyed the family thing at her house more than a luncheon at a restaurant ... I didn't get to talk to her much, but that's no biggie. After all, the Cowboys game was on, which focused everyone on the idiot box. Bad or good, following "The 'Boys" is a family ritual ... I remember listening to Thanksgiving games broadcast on KLIF as Daddy drove us home from a visit to our grandparents in Electra. (The games were usually against the Green Bay Packers -- the strategies of Vince Lombardi versus Tom Landry.) Now the game plays as background to 21sr century Thanksgiving dinners. People who haven't grown up in Dallas -- especially during the formative years of the Cowboys -- find the personal interest in the team very puzzling. Even I, who am not a major football fan, can name the quarterbacks -- and most of the coaches -- of the team. Oh, well, now that Jerry Jones owns them -- the franchise. But I started this blog about family, not football.

Of course, my other "family" resides Monday-Friday at 2120 W. Jefferson in Dallas. Today we get to sit through meetings of one sort or another ... as of Friday, none of the CILT people could tell us what the contents might be. Oh, if only I could sneak in a good book! I may be taking copious non-notes. September ends this week, and I still haven't written a word of fiction. My imagination seems to have taken a vacation; time to call it to the keyboard (or notepad). At least some share my interest in Doctor Who and Star Trek ... a few even read!! (GASP!) Still, my interest in anime garners commentary, but nothing like the sneers at my old school. Zeig & I started a "family tree" to describe our department ... talk about using the archetypes! If nothing else, it keeps us (relatively) sane ... and now it's time to dress & depart.

Dance quote: Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. -- Martha Graham