Non-Negotiable

Because I don't have any new stories on the top of my head, I'm gonna recycle one from when my eldest niece, Samantha, was less than two years old. (She is nine now.)

My sister Casey and her husband Solly were discussing some unspecified matter of great import when their then-toddler Samantha wandered into the room just in time to hear Solly say, "It's non-negotiable."
Casey told Samantha to go play. Samantha replied: "It's non-negotiable, Mom."

~Sharon

Cupboard Bling

Last night at dinner, the subject of remodeling the kitchen came up. Everyone had ideas of what they would change about it if they were to change something. Mom wanted to paint the cupboard doors pale blue and get some different doorknobs and inner instead of outer hinges.

The cupboards ARE a bit tacky.

The wallpaper also was deplored. Not too hard to see why

I mean, look at it.

But what took the cake of this conversation was Dad's suggestion for the cupboards. He suggested spraypainting the hinges and handles gold and then painting the doors glittery purple. Glittery purple. Not only is this the best kitchen decorating idea I've ever heard, it came from the number one most unexpected member of this family. Ok. Number two most unexpected. The boy pictured above (with a purple facepaint beard) would never suggest such a thing. BUT! Seriously. My dad is epic.

~Sharon

Blanket Blondfold

~"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."~

Picture a blond ten-year-old boy with a blue fleece blanket draped over his head.

Then picture this creature running through a house. (Just to see if he can make it, you know.)

Well, just as he thought he had made it, bam! Ben's head collided with the doorway

from the dining room to the kitchen. (Yeah, we're one of those families with a dining room AND a kitchen. And we actually eat in the dining room.)

And then the blue thing goes flying backwards, and the blanket slips off,

revealing a laughing young boy. But he's not just laughing. He's also 

in a lot of pain because....drum roll please. He's got a goose egg forming on his head!! It's not as bad as the one I got when I was twelve, but it's still there.

Ben said afterwards he thought it would have been funny if we had caught the accident on videotape.

~Sharon

Writing the Wrong Books

Today Emma and I were discussing my book. Since my characters are going to England, Emma decided that the royal family had to be involved. I was like, no, because that would make it easier to pinpoint a year. I don't want a year pinpointed. So, she says, leave out the baby.

Then we got onto how I would respect them more if they gave their son swords and chain mail. Emma reminded me that they don't use chain mail anymore. I remarked that we really need to go back to old fashioned warfare...without explosives, you know. Emma agreed, because then we wouldn't have nuclear weapons. I said that we needed to go back to when warriors fought man to man, with the clashing of steel against steel, or the twang of a bow as an arrow sings through the air and sinks into your enemy's chest with a sickening thud.

Emma gives me a weird look and says, "I think you're writing the wrong books."

I DO write books with swords!! I write modern fiction AND medieval themed fantasy/allegory! Seriously. It's like she hasn't read Follow the Star.

~Sharon

A UO?

Silver hasn't been himself lately; he has been quite lethargic. He wouldn't eat or drink or go to the bathroom or play much at all. After a couple days of this, Dad finally decided to take him to the vet...well, send him. Dad's in Boston for work, so Mom, Emma, and Lilly took Silver to the doctor.

Here's a picture of the little bugger, just because :)

Well, it turns out that Silver, like the good little monkey who was always very curious, has an unidentified object in his stomach. He's got to stay overnight at the clinic, and the doctors plan to check it out in the morning.

(The doctors called it a "foreign body" but after I called it an unidentified object, Lilly stated that it was "a UFO, only it isn't flying".)


**UPDATE**
Silver is home and doing much better. They now think he has asthma. He's not quite back to his usual self but he's on the way there.

~Sharon

Our Pets

We've had a lot of pets over the years...3 different dogs, I don't even know how many fish, a few tadpoles, and 15 different cats. (Not all at once you understand! We're not THAT crazy!) But here are the pets we've got now!

One-year-old Silver belongs to my sister Emma

This fifteen-year old belongs to me. Her name is Fluffy.

Jasper really belongs to himself, but he's integrated himself into our family.

This little bugger (Silver's littermate) is named Caspian. He's my precious.

Lilly's kitty, Sparkle...she is a littermate to Silver and Caspian.

Mom's kitty, Jasmine. She's Sparkle, Caspian, and Silver's mom. (This picture was actually taken while they were in her tummy!)

This is Dad's dog, LaBelle. Morgan rescued her from a pound in LaBelle, Florida back when Morgan was 12, but long story short, the dog ended up becoming Dad's.

And this...this is Carl. Carl kind of forced himself on us. I tried finding him a new home but then I heard Ben referring to himself as "Daddy" to Carl, so I couldn't do that anymore. The ironic thing is, Carl DESPERATELY wants to be MY cat, while it's Ben who wants him.

~Sharon

Blog Ideas

So there have been some ideas floating around for upping this blog's awesomeness. Unlike my other blog, my family seems totally on board and wanting to get involved with this one. So why not let them?

Lilly's idea was to give everyone a catch phrase. I thought perhaps a profile would be in order. And I also thought we could post one a week. Like "This Tuesday: Introducing ------"

Yes, I said "we", but no, I'm not Gollum. That brings me to another idea I had. What if this blog wasn't just me? What if other family members got to post too? They could do it directly from their google accounts; or I could let them use mine and just have them sign off. (I would of course supervise, so that they didn't get into any of my other stuff.)

I don't know who I have for viewers, but if you're viewing, give me your opinions. I'd love to make this blog really cool. I don't want it to be as big as say, Blimey Cow, but I think it would be fun to have a smallish following. People who comment. I love comments. Like, so much.

Not knowing about my viewers, my sisters and I will probably get to work on this shortly without feedback. But give feedback anyway if you have any and feel inclined to share it.


~Sharon

Accidentally Closed It

So I was in the kitchen with Dad and Lilly. Ben and Emma were on the (enclosed) porch. We heard strange screaming coming from there, so I went to investigate. This is what I saw:

Emma was lying on the couch, screaming/laughing. Ben was kneeling on the floor next to the couch, and his face was near her feet. She screamed, "He's biting my toes!"

Ben quickly denied this. It was an accident, he said.

HOW CAN THAT BE AN ACCIDENT???

His explanation?

"I was pretending to bite her toes, and she started kicking, and then her toe got stuck in my mouth and I accidentally closed it.

Accidentally closed it.

Sad thing is...it's probably true. He's not one to lie, and...I believe him.

~Sharon

"Oops" Moment

My cat got lost last week and came home without his collar, so I had to order him a new tag (Mom bought his new collar) today. I had called my best friend, Jackie, to see if she could come over before that, and Lilly thought I was still talking to Jackie when she picked up the other phone and impetuously announced,

"Sharon, you need to get off the phone for like two minutes because Dad is ordering PIZZA FOAH LUUNCH!!" (exaggerated ghetto/New England accent for emphasis, you know) She then added, "Hi Jackie."

Awkward pause.

Me: "Uh...this isn't Jackie, this is the Get-Me-Home tag people."

Lilly: "Oops."

~Sharon

Meet My Crazy Family

I'm not going to bore you to death with all my extended relations. They're all oddballs, too (meant in the best way, of course); but there are WAY too many of them. So today, you'll be meeting my parents and the eight of us, and we're going oldest to youngest. Oh, and, most of these pictures are kind of old...

This is my dad. He's a very strange man, in nearly every way possible. He likes boats and having weird conversations.

This is my mom. She's usually practical and no-nonsense, but she loves us and she can also be really creative.

This is Casey. She's 29 and is married with three kids. Their last name is Dragon, and she's a "crunchy granola". 'Nuff said.

This is Beth. She's 28 and married to a lobsterman. She doesn't like animals and I thought she had an intense fear of arachnids, but there she is, holding lobsters in her bare hands. Life is full of surprises. (Oh, and Kathy, if you're reading this, yes, I took this off your facebook...That's my cousin I'm talking to, by the way.)

This is Morgan. She's 26 and is a scientist...Well, scientists are weird, right?

This is Nick. He's 22 and has a 2-year-old son. He likes skateboarding and stuff like that.

This is me (Sharon). I'm 18 and I'm a writer, and I love colors.

This is Emma. She's 14, and mostly likes to be practical and common sensical, like Mom. But then, there are those moments when she surprises you and has the wackiest thought you couldn't have even thought of yourself.

This...This is Lilly. She's 12, and she's...Lilly. That's enough said right there.

This is Ben. He's 10 and likes things that blow up or make weird noises.

~Sharon