Finally a Girl & Pink Stuff!!

Today is Briana's birthday. The little girl who four years ago, broke the 43-year-all-boy-since-me tradition. You see, I was the last girl and youngest in my family. Riley has two sons and Tony has three sons. An entire generation of boys...what's a girl to do?? Turn one of the boys into a shopper, that's what!! I did a really great job of "forcing" my shopping habits on Nephew #2 and am quite pleased with myself in that arena, but I was missing the shopping-for-frilly-things experience. Hey, I could only go so far with the boy, so...I waited and waited and waited. When I heard that a GIRL was on the way...I got jealous!! Yep, I did, for a brief while. I wasn't sure I REALLY wanted to pass along my last-girl-in-the-family tiara, but the baby girl was cute, and after a few "discussions" with her, we agreed to move forward with the understanding that all the prissy, girly, frilly things that I had been waiting to do would be bestowed upon her. Boy am I sticking to that promise. Our lives have been forever brightened by Briana's arrival. Watching her become an independent, talkative, bright, loving, protective, beautiful little girl has been nothing short of spectacular.

I'm delivering these to her after school:

Happy Birthday to Auntie's Princess Briana!! I think we make a pretty awesome team!!

Sheila Denise

Recipe courtesy of Tip Junkie. (I used Strawberry Lemonade)

Turning 50

Today marks the 50th birthday of my late brother, Tony. 50, fifty, the Big Five-O...however you put it, he'd be half a century old. WOW!!!


I was talking with my other brother, Curt, a few days ago, and we were discussing Tony and wondering how Mother feels to have such "old" children. As the youngest, I was really referring to everyone BUT me. Nita & Curt are both pushing HARD on 60's door and I know I'll always be a "baby" in Mother's eyes. As a non-parent, I'm always amazed to see young-uns I've know from babyhood to adulthood, so I can only imagine how parents feel when their babies evolve into full-fledged grownups. I mean AARPers, seniors-shopping-on-discount-days and the likes. Mother happens to be the proud owner of some of these people and it simply boggles my mind.

As I thought about this entry last week, I wasn't sure which direction to take it--should I keep it serious or should I be as Tony was--silly as all get-out. After Facebooking with Alexander, the youngest of his three sons (Andre-oldest & Jamal-middle), I decided that silly would be the route to take. Since I tend to assign numbers to "The Nephews", Andre is #3, Jamal is #4 and Alexander is #5 (just for future reference if names aren't used).

I can hear Tony's distinctive "squiggle" as I type this--it's kinda hard to describe or duplicate his laugh, so the best I can do is blend a squeal with a giggle. It was one of those sounds you'd hear coming from him and you'd burst into laughter too (after you got over the shock of that sound actually coming from a boy). Mind you, the entire family is quite silly, so it doesn't take much to get us on the giggle train, but there was absolutely no way we could hear Tony squiggling and not join in. Don't you just love folks that make you laugh??

You know what?? I've decided that I won't turn this into a long story about Tony. I'm going to end it here and ask you to think about the person who possesses "that" laugh...you know, the one that throws you into your own little gigglefest and leaves no doubt that they are truly tickled from their toes to their nose. That's exactly what I'm doing today.

Happy Birthday T!!

Sheila Denise