My Cousin Donna

I found out last week that my cousin Donna died. I'm not sure exactly when, but I think it was a couple weeks ago. They are waiting on the results of an autopsy because she was a relatively healthy 40 year old. She smoked, I'm not sure how much, but I suspect it contributed to her death. The preliminary cause of death is due to an enlarged heart. Which, according to my aunt, may run in my family! I am going to schedule an appointment with my doctor to talk to her about it.

She's my favorite cousin and I can't believe that she died. I haven't talked to her in ages and I'm feeling terrible about that. It only emphasizes that you never know when someone is going to pass away. I keep imagining that she had no idea that she would just basically drop dead that day. What if she did know? What would she have done differently?

What should I do differently? I don't want that distance to happen with my other friends and family. I'm going to start reaching out to some that I haven't spoken with lately. To me, friends and family are important, but it's so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day events that happen in my life. That whole "out of sight, out of mind" in motion, you know? I have a tendency to procrastinate also, which doesn't help anything.

First on my list of people to contact when I get home next week... Donna's sister and husband. And recontact my Aunt Terry to called to tell me about it. She's the person in my dad's family that I'm closest to and it's been ages since I've talked to her...

I encourage you to contact that friend or family member you haven't called lately. I know why I didn't call her... She was living in Virginia with her husband and kids, then moved back to the OC into my grandparents' house. We exchanged Christmas cards, but then I was having all my marital problems with Jason and I didn't want to call her just to dump my problems on her and admit that my marriage was having so much trouble. After enough time had gone by, it got to a point where it was just kind of embarassing that I hadn't contacted her sooner and thus, time passed. She moved back to Virginia and then I never saw her. The last time I did see her was at my grandfather's funeral. Why did I let pride get in the way? She would've understood and she would've been happy to hear from me... *sigh*

Evan's Homemade Costume 2007

I am sure all of you remember Evan's costume from last Halloween... how could you not? It was an awesome homemade Lego-Man!!

Whenever I have kids, I want to make homemade costumes for them. I think that would be so much fun! And way better than some canned costume from Target!! I know I'll never be as handy as my sister is, but you have to admire the handiwork!!

As you know, I am a big fan of food (hence all the photos of what I've eaten or cooked!), but really it's a family thing. We all love food! Including my 7 year old nephew who apparently has watched one episode too many of Rachel Ray's show and goes around asking if we're going to use EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil for those non-foodie types out there). He's not your "normal" 7 year old in some respects. So, they started doing research on what food costume ideas they could use for Halloween and narrowed it down to a California roll or the winning costume...

I present to you, my nephew Evan, the Lipton tea bag. Yes, you read correctly...



Oh, isn't that adorable!?!