On being an Auntie

I don't have a series of photos for every item on the list like Pioneer Woman (Yes, I'm still reading. I resigned myself to short jaunts out in public every other day), but this past weekend I....

drove a combined total of 3 hours to see eveyone I wanted to
the first person I wanted to see was my sister
(one of these days I'll get a good photo to represent all she is to me.....eh, maybe not just one)
slept till 9 am for the first time in weeks (the favorites shockingly waited to jump on my head until after I was partially awake)
took a grocery shopping adventure with my favorite three year old niece
detoured to buy windshield wipers
stopped to see her mommy at work at Wawa
where we bought a hot dog and pink! milk lunch for her and a vitamin water (yup, the pink one) for me (it was only eleven am)
took the 8 year old stow-away back home
counted all the vrooms (translation: motorcycles) we saw on the way to the store
had 15 minute dialogue with the grandma who stopped to admire her beautiful brown eyes and blonde pigtails at the produce section, and the cereal aisle, and the pasta aisle, and the dairy section
cleaned up her strawberry milk from the chicken aisle (those handy paper towels are good for more than chicken juice)and every item in the cart (ever tried to get all the milk, the pink! milk, out of the twistie-tie area of a package of hamburger buns while perfecting your short-stop catching arm for all the items being flung out of the sticky grocery cart?)
put all the candy bars, gum and tic-tacs back in the display next to the checkout lane
loaded the groceries in the car
took her back inside to go potty (where we also dicussed world politics and interior decorating)
took her home for her nap
played Lord of the Rings Monopoly
threw some chicken in a pot for dinner(I defer to someone else's nifty photos here)
critiqued art from the newest street vendor on Sunset Dr.
listened to the pubescent cracks and whistles from the voicebox of my 14 year old nephew
documented the invasion of a gang of pirates and gypsies








finished cooking dinner with my sister
then ate it heartily with the whole loud 9 of us (yum!)
watched the first half of Australia (I haven't seen the last half yet, so shush)
mingled throughout was delicious conversation about:
God. Love. Art. Memories. Life. Dreams.
fell back into my ever so lumpy yet comfy hide-a-auntie-sofa around midnight

and that was just Saturday