Rough Diamonds

We've spent a few days with the family, celebrating my grandparents' Diamond Wedding first, and then recovering from that said family reunion, which took us four days.

I know every family has its issues and is probably anything but perfect. The flaws of our relatives seem to show most when we're gathering for these family meetings, which are actually supposed to be fun, but really aren't.

My grandmother has an incredible talent to turn any positive remark into misery, making you wish you did not mention encouraging things like how beautifully the new jacket suits her complexion. The only conversation I witnessed went something like this;

Mom: "Oh, you did your hair, that looks wonderful!"

Grandma (pulling down the corners of her mouth): "Mhmm, yes, we went to the hairdresser in this crappy weather, it was raining all day!"

Mom (coughing lightly, yet not surrendering): "Aw, but it really looks lovely."

Grandma (grunting): "Eh, just today.. you should see how it's going to look tomorrow!"

... and so on. And it really does go on for hours. No matter how high your spirits, be assured that you'll eventually feel so down and absolutely convinced that life really is a dilemma, that the only good thing you can do is to make your way from one buffet to the next and engage in conversation as little as possible.

Now I know why Grandpa keeps the volume of his hearing aid at absolute minimum. And even though some things can not really be changed, because they're so deep in our genes, have been so long in the family history, I keep trying hard to not follow in their footsteps. I'd much rather annoy my children and grandchildren with silliness and good mood. 

And cake, lots of cake.

I thought I'd introduce the few of you humble readers, that sneak in every once in a while, to a new member of our family: meet uhm... oh shoot, he doesn't have a name yet. But hubby was very certain it's a 'he', so I can tell you at least that much.

It's been three years now that we've been married, and we're enjoying just as much ups as downs. Can't have pancakes every morning, can you.

So this little adorable tree, which is much more like a little person instead of just a plant, is what I gave hubby for our anniversary. We first went out to one of our favorite Italians, and strangely got all depressed the further we proceeded with our menu. No no, the food was great, as usual, but I guess something just was in the air, or we simply ate too much and had to move awkwardly on our chairs while having a conversation. Or maybe it was the amount of Eros Ramazzotti that didn't go too well with our stomachs.

Who could really tell. In the end we felt like old people must be feeling, because it was still bright outside as we left the restaurant. But as soon as we got home and started revealing presents to each other, the mood went straight up. Priceless, the look on hubbies face when he first saw his Bonsai. He's been wanting one for quite a while now but only mentioned it once in my presence, and I am so happy I picked up the message. Even if it wasn't meant as one.

I have the greatest joy in finding gifts that really fit to a person. I even went that far once by saying, I would rather give nothing (or just some flowers maybe) than a gift that doesn't fit. Something that has been put together in stores already, or vouchers for this and that always gives me the feeling I could have done better, but didn't. So I prefer postponing birthdays or christmas a lot, until I really find that fitting lid for the pot, as we say.

Well, sometimes this gets out of hand though. Reminds me I should quickly be getting back to a Christmas present of a dear friend of mine. Is it May already? Oh, I hadn't noticed.