It's hard to believe but my niece, the little lamb, turned 10 this week end. She's turning into quite the accomplished young lady and she still wants to be a veterinarian --I'll bet she'll do it, too, and save the lives of lots of little animals. When she was about 4, I wasn't working and I babysat her at least one day a week, and we called it our "Girly Day." We had our own little rituals - a certain place for breakfast where we'd make our "to do" list for the day, which usually included going to Froggie's 5&dime on Knox, going by the Mrs. Baird's Discount bread store to get smooshed bread to go feed the ducks. We always exchanged grins when people would say what a lovely daughter I had, and I'd just thank them, graciously. I confess I was delighted that someone would think I could have such a daughter.
She loves trying different cuisines and she likes Thai, Vietnamese, Sushi (only vegetable and cooked) and a good steak, but Greek didn't thrill her. As a little girl, her hair was always cut into a swing bob. With those big blue eyes, she looked like an anime heroine and waitstaff were always dazzled as she expertly maneuvered her chopsticks.
Sometimes we worked on little projects. I still have the little round-top papier maiche barn we made out of a shoebox and an oatmeal carton. We had a girly day about a week ago, but we didn't have a full day, so it was just Thai food and then on to Froggie's. Now I'm working all the time it seems, and she's busy with friends and school activities, and her piano playing, but I hope we'll always make a point of carving out a little time to spend together, because even when she's 6 feet tall and towers over her old auntie, she'll always be my little lamb. Happy birthday, sweetie! I love you.
Hey! I just noticed that if you click on the picture, you can find the face of another little angel in the photo. Sweet!
11 comments:
Great story. Ya make the fat old hairy bastard wanna be a little kid with a cool auntie.
fathairybastard - aw, shucks.
Very cute. Wonderful tribute to your niece.
She DOES look like an anime heroine. And enjoy her while you can before she stops talking to everyone over 15 - or maybe you'll always be her soft spot, yeah? Happy Birthday to the little lady.
Phlegmmy, can I just borrow your blog to vent out an issue, please? I just can't decide if I'm being stingy/paranoid/precious, or expecting simple courtesy.
If your city already had a City Daily Photo Blog, and you wanted to start a new one as well, would you name it exactly the same, and get extremely similar URL and email address? Not that we have any special ... privilege or rights, and god knows we're imports, but I swing between wanting to be like one part of a twin and work in tandem, and wanting to chuck NDP altogether and burn this upstart female pup.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
meg - She is a fun girl, and hopefully I'll have some goodwill points for that crisis moment when it becomes an unpardonable sin to be over 15!
About the city horning in on your blog action - I'd be aflame with indignation over that - I'd raise some hell, to put it mildly. I mean, there's no question they were trying to rip you off if the address AND their email are so similar - It's super low-class and reeks of cheapness. I'd think it over, but I don't think I'd pack it in just yet. I'll be sorry if yours goes away.
What a great relationship you two have. I hope that you can always enjoy each other's company and always have time for the ducks.
Happy birthday Phlegmmy's niece!
barbara - I hope we can continue - them ducks wants feedin'. :)
and I remember when she was born! ;) Happy Birthday.
She's a Peach! Enjoy your time together!! As an auntie myself I have to admit I haven't had enough of those great hangin out times..Now she is 14 and I'm waiting for the :GODZILLA " phase to pass.Here's hoping her 11 year old sister will skip that nasty phase......fingers crossed...
kim - Yup, you've been watching her from a distance all along, haven't you?
leazwell - It's funny, I talk with my parents about niece and nephew, and we know we must have some kind of bias, but we just think they are the prettiest kids in the world. Their mama, my baby sister, was a beautiful little thing, too.
schnoobie - Oohh, teenzilla - I hope we skip that stage - fingers crossed, indeed. Surely you'll luck out, though, and ONE of them will miss that stage. Good luck with that.
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