Cast of Characters

I forget that people don't know me in reals.  The lovely Lindsay commented the other day about The Nephew being the dad of the littles and it occurred to me that in this large, crazy family: it's confusing to know who's who.  Even if you do know me in reals, perhaps a recap is a good thing.

I try to give everyone pseudonyms by either their family title, initial, or middle name. So cast of characters:

Myself - Surely, formerly Firegirl. Surely is in honor of an aunt who died when I was an infant and whom I am told I am most like. (sweet baby jezus, that was quite the sentence)   Firegirl was a previous version of me that just didn't fit anymore.  I'm teetering toward middle age, married, and no kids.  We have our dog but that is not our child.  She is not our fur baby, she is a dog.

I work in social services with homeless women.  It is challenging at best and while not my dream job, a very good job.  My education and prior career was in Early Childhood.  I have found that both jobs have transferable skills. I'm also a writer with finely tuned procrastination skills.  Not published yet but the recipient of two very nicely worded, lovely rejection letters. This blog is featured on BlogHer from time-to-time.

Kevin - my husband of twenty years.  We met when I was 21 years old so the balance of time spent with him versus time without him is nearly evened out.  He is seven years older than me and Swistle swears that we are vampires. (because we appear to not age, not because of our diet)

Kevin is a pit boss for a multimillion dollar excavating company.  He grew with the family owned company to become in charge following the father and son.  It's the perfect job for him: outside, busy and ever changing.  He is also a racecar driver, which makes him beyond cool in my eyes.

When I refer to the in-laws, they are Kevin's parents. They live next door.  Well, about fifty feet away from our house.  My father-in-law is the whistler.  They have lived "with" us for about six years.

My brother-in-law is Kevin's brother.  He also lives next door, just a little further than 50 feet but not much further if measured as the crow flies.  My sister-in-law is his wife.  They have lived next door for about twelve years.

I have two brothers.  My older brother is indeed just that:10 years older.  My "little" brother is actually my older brother as well, by five years.  He has been called that since I was in my late teens when I was leading a more grown-up life that he was.

My eldest brother has two nieces, now "grown",  18 and 21 years old.  The eldest is married and expecting their first child.  Her husband is in the Army and they are stationed at Fort Bragg.  The youngest has just graduated high school and starts college in the Fall.  She wants to be a dental hygienist and we don't know where we went wrong with her. (joking, of course)

My little brother is unmarried, a lifelong bachelor I suspect.  He has a quirky on again, off again girlfriend and has Dr. Doolittle abilities on the former garden nursery where he lives.

The Nephew is my brother-in-law's son and he's like a son to us.  I met him when he was three years old, before Kevin and I were together. (long story)  He is engaged to be married to a wonderful girl who has five kids.  The "littles" came about to describe the seven-year-old triplets.  Yep, triplets.  They have two older brothers that I sometimes refer to as the bigs or C1 and C2.  (the bigs each have names beginning with "C", they're not robots)  The kids are his for all intents & purposes, just not by biology.

The Nephew has an older sister who is also married and has one child, a soon to be ten-year-old son.  He is our godson. They are not as active in our lives as the Nephew, not for any reason other than a bit of distance.

The Mom is my mother.  She gained that capitalized title when my dad was dying, which sounds cold-hearted but the martyr hat she wore was large and flowery.  She wore it for a few years after my dad passed from cancer in 2009.  Ours is a tenuous relationship. 

So that's everyone.  Whew! That's a lot of people!