Never, Ideas, Babies and the Tree in Me

I have decided that if I ever have a child, I will name it Never. Imagine the poor child's confusion when being yelled at or told to do something. "NEVER, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!", "Never, take out the trash.", "Never, quit picking your nose!". Think they'd grow up hating me?

I'm in a weird mood, and Livejournal is finally working for me again, so I decided to take advantage of that fact. My brain has been churning lately, and full of ideas, but it's as if they've got dragon fly wings attached and I've got a hole in my net. I might catch them and hold onto them for a minute or two, but they escape and dance just out of my reach. I suppose I should be grateful for the few minutes they're in my hands, the little bit I'm able to pound out on the keyboard. Eventually they'll have to land, and then I will catch them and force them to share their secrets with me.

The past few weeks have been busy ones for me. Full of visits from family, first my second/third cousins on my Grandma Bell's side were here for a week. Then second/third cousins from Grandpa Bell's side were out at the house visiting for two days, then finally this past Saturday I was at a surprise party for my Grandma Anglin's 70th birthday. As I do, I sat back and watched/listened to these different branches on the tree that makes up me, and made some observations.
My Grandma Bell's relations (and for the most part, my Grandma Bell, too) generally overlook me. This really doesn't bother me much, I'm content to blend into the background most of the time - easier to observe people that way. I don't think many of that branch of the tree really like me much, or perhaps my tattoos and piercings put them off, or perhaps my less than perfect exterior is hard for them to look at. I don't really know. Honestly, in most cases, I really don't care. My cousin Robin did take time to tell me that I looked happier than she'd ever seen me (she's one of the few that actually notices me, I think.) which is possibly true, at least in part, but it made me acknowledge the fact that when the down slide part of my bipolar disorder happens, I'll have that much further to fall. Oh, well.
Seeing Grandpa Bell's relations was good. My second cousin Penny and her daughter Jennifer were there, along with Jennifer's two kids and her sister Kim's son. It was good seeing Jennifer, and her kids are adorable. It brought back memories from my childhood/early teen years when Penny and Kim, Jennifer and Jamie would come and we'd spend hours upon hours playing SNES and playing in the creek and just being kids. Those were good times, and Jamie and I reminisced over that fact when I spoke to her the next day via Myspace IM. It's surreal that we're all grown up now, they've all got families of their own. Tempus fugit.
My mom's side of the family, however, is a whole different experience. These people care about me, take time to speak to me, and I feel like I belong there. They're a lot more open minded, and I'm not the only tattooed, pierced freak of the bunch. (And when I say 'freak' it is NOT an insult. I am quite proud to be a freak. :cP) Nor am I the only crazy one. Nobody puts on airs, nobody is ashamed, nobody is uptight...everybody is who they are and that's that. This is NOT to say there aren't issues, FAR from it, it's just a different vibe.

My best friend had her baby last Wed. I've only seen two pictures of him so far, but he's adorable. He was a big boy, 9lbs, 13oz. I can't wait to meet him. I hope Heidi and Brian and Ethan are re-adjusting to life with newborn well.

And now, I shall nap.