Skinny Genes

[ granny joe, 1950-ish ]

My mom and grandma had birthdays this week. I am constantly reminded that I am a Murray through-and-through and that I didn't get any of those drop-dead-gorgeous Brawley genes. My sister took them all for herself. Bitch. 

 [ not even fair ]

OK, I must give credit to Dad - he did give me height and blue eyes and apparently semi-OK metabolism (it's waning, of course), even if he also passed along a slew of annoying skin conditions and non-existent cleavage (I quite literally have my dad's chest). I suppose I get a lot of my personality from my mom and maybe that's why people say we look alike when we clearly do not. 

 [ 1980 ]

 [ 2009 ]

I'm not sure how I'll age, but I'm not afraid of it. I may not be a babe-like granny like my maternal fore-mothers, but that's what face-lifts are for, right? Kidding.

Happy birthday to two gorgeous old broads!

XO

p.s. I stole the clever title of this blog from a song by Eliza Doolittle. Santa brought me her CD and I'm kinda in love with her. She's playing Coachella (along with a thousand other artists I'm dying to see) but I'll have to wait for her next trip to Canada.

Hearts growing fonder.

I miss these people. Though...I do like having distance between us. We appreciate each other more. I somehow forget that I used to want to punch my brother in the face when I watched him do innocent things like eat cereal. And how I have left permanent scars on my sister because of hairbrush fights. Nope, I just remember secret languages, dumb-kid inside jokes, fort-making, late-night bonding over wedding speeches, bunk beds, conspiracies against adults, and hysterical laughing at inappropriate times.

Now I wish we had no distance. Except 3 feet of my parents' kitchen table. I wish it was Christmas morning and we're bickering over who's going to make coffee and we're having Bailey's before noon and we're eating Pot of Gold chocolate for breakfast. I wish we were laughing at Dad (not with him). I won't take these little things for granted anymore. Promise.

My brother is in Japan (although en route "home" in 2 days) and my sister is in Costa Rica (vowing to "stay forever"). *sigh* Is it the heat? Or my age? Hormones? Isn't funny how the people who can annoy and infuriate you the most can also leave a big dumb empty hole in that inner place where you keep your best-things-of-life? 

(p.s. Happy Birthday Jill-wee!)