the family.

First, there's J. The best big brother a girl could hope for. I don't know if it's the natural role he feels in being the big brother that makes him so helpful (when I need him :P) or if it's just his general good-warmheartedness ( do I dare say that age is ...mellowing (?) him out a bit?) ...either way, I'm a lucky girl in having someone who has loved me from the start (who is still around) and has done/does his best to be there for me.

I am just thinking about him, and them, the family, and the visit we had yesterday. It'd been a while since I'd been over (and this time around it was post-move (from the 4th floor to the ground floor)) and this visit found them happily settling in. I had suggested we just have a "hang out" kind of visit vs. the usual put-me-to-work kind we usually have. After I got there, it was nice to just spend some time talking with my Mom. It had been a rough week. I had been feeling... out of sorts is the best way to describe it right now and I hadn't gone to work for most of last week. (Um, I guess I probably need to maybe expound upon this particular topic at some point 'eh?)

Then, after J showed up, we watched "Skyfall" (the latest James Bond flick) and had pizza delivered. And then, before he brought me home, he was nice enough to stop at a grocery store so I could pick up a few essentials (TP!)

He's officially going to be moving in with them next weekend. And I'm really happy they will have him there to help. And I will like having him a bit closer. And I like when just the four of us are together. That always reminds me of happier times growing up. So many good memories. (Oh sure, Pop has a temper, but there sure is a whole lotta love he really does feel for us all. (He will grumble, and say "no" even before you ask, but he is the man who will go ahead and wash your comforter for you without your asking him to do it. And he will make you lunch when you mention you haven't eaten anything yet. And he will lend you a few bucks when you need it. And he will give your ass a ride so you don't have to take the bus. And he will take really good care of your mother for you. And he will show he loves you in a million other ways. (This reminds me of a certain special friend who is good at this too. You know who you are.))

And Mom. My mommy. Mummy. She is holding steady at her current weight -which is 40 lbs less than when she was in the hospital this past time. We'll take it. (We all know how hard it is to do.) Because that weight loss has made a big difference in how she is doing physically, which is much better than she was. We'll have to keep encouraging her. (I'll have to keep encouraging her and maybe get some refreshed motivation out of it to take a little better care of myself.) While we were watching the movie, she spent some time brushing my hair and those few moments where I got to be [her] little girl were so ...precious. ([Loving] human touch is so under-appreciated isn't it?)

Oh here's a brilliant idea. I could express these feelings of appreciation and love to the recipients a little bit more often couldn't I? Not just post them here.

So I just sent a text to my brother and an email to my Mom. (Now if I could just get my folks into texting.)

There really are so many people I can express some appreciation for/to. I think I should even send a real thank you note to R & K for their friendship. (There's nothing like a less-than-pleasant...interaction with a friend (S :( ) make me appreciate the friends I have that don't make me feel bad about myself.)

And I could really thank the people I work with for just being so ...great. Supportive and accepting and caring.

So yeah, once again, thinking about how my world really [mostly] is a happy place.

And the areas not so happy? Well, I can work on those.

(And I can hope that I'm done editing this thing so I can post it and get my ass it bed -it's going on 2am!)