Thursday, May 08, 2008

Bummed


I always look forward to Baby Bro's visits. His visits are never long enough and even when he's here, I feel like I miss him. Does that even make sense? If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll know that Baby Bro is my youngest brother (I've got two brothers) and he is the apple of my eye. I know it sounds weird, but he's very special to me because he's so much younger than I am and I was his second mom. I used to take him to baseball practices and drive him to his games. I used to bring him to his acting lessons on Saturday mornings and drive his friends home after parties. Instead of reading him Dr. Seuss books, I used to read him works by Shakespeare, Orwell, the Brothers Grimm, Dickens, etc.

Baby Bro was supposed to come to the Island for a few days to spend Mother's Day with us. He was going to bring his amazing girlfriend (I love that girl!), his best friend and his best friend's girlfriend. Unfortunately, Baby Bro's work scheduled him in for the weekend even though he requested to have Mother's Day weekend off THREE MONTHS AGO. They love that kid. I have to admit, I've seen him at his work and he has super amazing people skills.

Baby Bro is hoping to get to the Island in two weeks. I hope he's able to make it. I really, really miss that kid.


If you think that Baby Bro learned a lot from his older sis, you'd be surprised at what Baby Bro taught me!

Things I learned from my Baby Bro:
1. Not to take things so seriously

2. Learn to suck things up and just agree sometimes (when you know you're facing a losing battle with someone who will never accept that they are at fault)

3. How to burn a CD

4. How to HTML and do my own work on my own business webpage

5. That bredren is something a guy calls his friends

6. How to scan and upload photos (yes, I'm that technologically challenged)

7. How to eat sunflower seeds like a baseball player! In the dugout, Baby Bro and his teammates used to eat sunflower seeds...without using their hands to get the seeds out of the shell! That to me was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen (I'm easily impressed)! They just popped the seed in their mouth, shifted it between their teeth to crack it, et voila! Oh, and the most important part was spitting the shell as far as possible. I was never successful at that. It usually resulted in me spitting the shell right in front of my feet or on my shirt. I know...loser with a capital L!

8. How to work under pressure. I'm the type of person who likes to have things done on time waaaaaaay in advance! Baby Bro is the master of getting things done at the very last minute. Surprisingly, he does an amazing job! Me? I need to plan things out, know what I'm doing, get the job done, review, revise, review and revise again...and still worry that it's not perfect.

9. That Skoal is some pretty nasty stuff! I am a wuss. I don't like doing things that are hazardous to my health and well-being. I used to be spontaneous, adventure-seeking, a little bit stupid and fearless, but not anymore. Anyway, one night, while driving Baby Bro and his friends home from a party, his friend had some Cherry Skoal. Having no idea what that stuff was, I gave it a try. I thought it was gum or something. GAH! It was the most wretched tasting thing ever. One of Baby Bro's friends gave me his bottle of Gatorade to wash away the taste. I didn't know that I was given the bottle for that purpose, and vomited in it. Poor guy. He didn't ask for his Gatorade back. That was my first and only encounter with Skoal. I have no idea how people use that stuff on a regular basis. It's disgusting and it's so not good for you! Bleh. Oh, and don't let those fancy flavours fool you. Vanilla, Berry, Mint, Winter Green, Cherry...I bet they're all awful! LOL!

10. Laugh and laugh a lot. Baby Bro is one of the funniest kids I've ever met. (I really have to stop calling him a kid. He's 21!) He's got the most infectious laugh and his smile can just make an entire room light up.

11. Not to be a nag. Baby Bro always stops me before I even start to nag. If I even look like I'm about to say something that sounds like nagging, he'll give me the look or just tell me to stop. I love that kid!

12. That life is meant to be enjoyed.

13. Baby Bro taught me that time with family is the most important thing to me. We don't see him often because he's in K-town (8 hours away from the Island) finishing his program at Queen's University. Time spent with Baby Bro is very special.

14. Some of the most amazing things in life are surprises. Baby Bro was unexpected. We thought we had everything and that our lives were full. It was Ma, Pa, Middle Bro and me. I was almost in high school when we discovered that Ma was pregnant with Baby Bro. He completely changed our lives...for the better :)

I just wish we'd get to see him more often!!

In case you were wondering, that's not just a random YouTube video :) Whenever I hear that song, I think of Baby Bro for some reason.

14 comments:

Uncivil said...

You have a wonderful family C.
Loved the YouTube clip!

Anonymous said...

that is a very beautiful song! i've never heard that version before. i love it!

hope you get to see pj in two weeks

merinz said...

Love the video clip. It reminds me of the huge similarity between our Maori people and the Hawaiians - the timbre of the voice, the features, even the 'bone' ornament.

J said...

What a gift, that apple of your eye is. :) You scared me, though, with the "BUMMED" title and the picture...I thought he had broken up with his amazing girlfriend!!! ACK! I'm relieved that I was WRONG.

Tracy said...

What a sweet tribute to your Baby Bro...He has an amazing big Sis, too!

I just saw that your female cats are named Fred and George. I have a friend with two girl dogs named Bert and Ernie (Bertha and Ernestine). :)

Karen MEG said...

That's a beautiful version of that song. I so get this post; you have a very special bond with you baby bro, I think all the more special because he's the "baby" (I know, it's annoying to them, my baby bro is 31, and is taller than my hubs, but he still gets that moniker).
What a gorgeous pic of him and his girlfriend, though.
Hope you see him soon, that is a real bummer that he had to cancel.
Happy weekend, sweets!

Jeanna said...

I said it before I'll say it again, baby bro is a hottie!

Unknown said...

Uncivil:
Thank you, Jimmy :) XO

Hot Mommy:
I know! I love that version :) It really is beautiful.

I hope we get to see Baby Bro too! If he isn't able to make it to the Island in a few weeks, we'll be crushed! It may sound strange, but everything always seems better when Baby Bro is around.

mrinz:
Amazing you should mention that! I was just thinking that from what I know of Maori people, they share a lot of similarities to Hawaiian people :) What a beautiful video and song.

Unknown said...

J:
:) Sorry! Didn't mean to scare ;) Now, if Baby Bro and his girlfriend ever break up, I think my whole family would be crushed! We LOVE that girl!!! She is so good for Baby Bro. She keeps him in check and she even helps my Dad make wontons! LOL!

Starshine:
Awww...Thanks :) You're so sweet.
As for the female cats being named Fred and George...LOL! The lady we got them from told us that they were both MALE! She said they were brothers. I don't know why I never bothered to "check". I guess I just took her word for it. I didn't want females because I didn't want to have kittens. The cats were supposed to be "barn cats".

Anyway, I was at a tea & bazaar one day and one of the old ladies said, "I hear you got so and so's kittens!" When I said that they were the best little boys ever, the lady told me, "Oh, dear. You'd better check again. They're both female!"

I rushed home and told hubby. He picked them up, turned them over, and sure enough, they were FEMALE! BOTH of them! Weeks later, they were BOTH pregnant! We've given away a few of the kittens and had two spayed and neutered. *sigh*

The point of this long story is that the female cats are named Fred and George because we originally thought they were male! LOL!

Unknown said...

Karen:
Happy weekend to you too! :) Hope Ian and the kiddies spoil you rotten! You deserve it!
That's right! You also have a close bond with your baby bro as well! I remember you telling me that the age gap is similar to the age gap between my baby bro and me.

I love that photo of Baby Bro and his girlfriend. They're so cute together.

Jeanna:
LOL! Thanks :) You know what? EVERYONE always says that! Hey, if you watch the movie "John Q", you will see Baby Bro in the first 10 min. of the movie. He's the baseball pitcher in the scene where Denzel Washington's son collapses on the field. Baby Bro was only 14 at the time of filming. It was so funny to see him on screen. He's been in a few commercials, TV shows and made-for-TV movies. He'd probably kill me if he knew I was telling you all this! LOL!

Jeanna said...

I remember you talking about that, but didn't remember the Denzel movie. I'll have to go out and rent it. That's quite impressive.
You're no slouch yourself, girlfriend.

louann said...

Love that "not to nag" !! Wish I had a bro to teach me that LOL!

I'm sure your brother loves you just as much if not even more.

Anonymous said...

Oohhh! You're making me homesick! Family is so important in so many ways! It is a great relationship that you seem to have with your baby bro. I hope you get to see him soon.

Anonymous said...

I would love to see the list of things you have taught Baby Bro!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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