mom's day

happy mom's day, everybody...

normally i bypass the cheezy comic strips and go straight to garfield, but today something enticed me to linger at 'cathy'. the little one-liner at the end sort of caught my eye: "a good mom trys to make sure her kids get home safe. a *great* mom trys to make sure that *everyone's* kids get home safe". i'll buy that.

family's a funny thing, huh? yesterday was the 3rd anniversary of the death of one of my second cousin's - one who i think that i met maybe once, if that. my dad was pretty close to him growing up, 'cause they were the same age. so i ventured off with my dad to get together with a branch of my family that i see maybe once every three years. they live so close to me, so close to me, but we have such little contact with them. and this is not normal in irish families - usually we're a close knit bunch. loyalty to your family is first and foremost. all i can think is that it has something to do with the fact that my dad's family was always fairly moderate, politically, while his cousin's family was a lot more... emphatic.

regardless - seeing the aunties and cousins and it feels like three days have passed, not three years. it's just this giant boiling vat of family and laughter and caring and petty arguments and grumbling and you just seem to slide into your place without missing a beat.

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in other news.. i've spent two nights in a row with The New Boy. am i still freaking out? hella yes. i have no idea with i'm doing. seriously. i'm so afraid that i'm going to start *really* liking this one (this is where we throw down the bullshit flag and point out that i ALREADY really like this one) and he's going to disappear like all the rest. he's not an asshole, but he's not (historically) been known for his ... how shall i put it ... constancy. the other night we were out and he said to me that under normal circumstances, he'd be out "whoring around" (his words, not mine). but he's not, and he's happy that he's not. bit of a double edged blade, i figure - he's reminding me of his tendency to be a bit of a manslut, but telling me that he's happy just being with me. erp.

but anyway... i'm just doing the wait and see thing. he's gone away for work for 10 days - i guess we'll see what happens after that, huh?