Family Time

I didn't get near as much writing done as I wanted to this past weekend, as I've been playing catch up at work since I was out of the office. Did some editing on one of the wips, unfortunately, probably not the one I needed to be working on.

We spent Mother's Day doing some shopping - mostly for me ;) - and then topped it off with a stop at my grandma's house. Luckily, my husband's family and mine are pretty close, so some members of his family came over too, so we had 4 generations on both sides barbecueing at my grandma's house. Good times.

I really did want to get some writing in over this past weekend, but it turned out to be much more of relax and recover weekend than anything else. I read some (I'm really on book 7 of my Recent Reads to 100, I've just been slow on the reviews side), I didn't write nearly enough and then just cuddled with the kids, which is a good thing since P keeps telling me how much she misses me even though I'm sitting right in front of her. Melts your heart just a little every time she says it too.

My daughter says the funniest things sometimes and most of the time it is when she's speaking with my sister, V. We went to the park for a picnic on Saturday and just watching their interaction brought on a strange sort of deja vu for me. My sister is 11 years younger than me. P is 13 years younger than V. So the age difference is about the same and their relationship is so similar to what I had with my sister it's almost eerie. And more recently, I've seen where this sort of interaction has been bleeding into my writing. My current wip still in 1st draft stage has so many of this relationship dynamic pulled in, it made me wonder how writers figure out just how the relationships in their projects will work. Mostly familial relationships.

How do you know a brother and sister will get along? Or maybe just when they will get along? Do all siblings have the intrinsic sense to protect their own, or is it just wishful thinking? Are these relationships built on your own experience with your siblings or something you wished you had with your family?

The answer, I'm guessing, for most is that it's all of the above. When you're getting along, things are great, when you're fighting, not so much. But it's life and that's what makes life so colorful. Besides, who wants to read a book about siblings who are best friends who never fight and have no conflict and agree on everything? Seriously, even the Brady Bunch didn't get along sometimes.

Just rambling now. I guess all this family talk is what happens after you've spent the last 8 weekends bonding with anywhere from 2 to 4 generations of your family.

And there's my phone buzzing - text from my sister. Well, happy Monday everyone!