Genevieve

This girl has got a headache! Again. I can't figure out what's causing these stupid things, but, at least, it came later in the day today.

I had no breakfast-for those who are keeping count-but I did have this immaculate salad that I made at home. Spinach salad topped with tomatoes, red onion, olives, green pepper, broccoli and a small bit of tuna salad. It was wonderful and just what I needed after pilates with Ms. Sarah Heston and a run afterwards. Sarah and I also had lunch at Bangkok Gardens yesterday after yoga class (that run-in was unplanned and very pleasant). People always complain that it's not the best Thai food ever. And while that's true, it's not nearly as bad as it's made out to be. I dig all those tasty veggies and spices. I'm for it. It may have nothing on the Cooper's Landing Thai, but for what it is, it's not bad at all.

Then I spoke to my fam. It turns out some parts of the country don't have to work on Veteran's Day, unfortunately, we are not of those parts so D had to teach and the rest of school went on as it normally does on National Holidays that everyone else gets off but us. However, since my brother Amit and his fam had off, they went to see my parents a mere forty-five minutes away from Savannah in Hilton Head. When I called, I could hear my niece Genevieve talking up a storm in the background. My dad informed me she had just been roller skating outside with my Mom and sister-in-law and that she was now proceeding to show everyone the pine cone she found while out on her skate. 

It didn't take long for her to decide that "Yes," she would like to talk to her Aunt Neesha and, once on the phone, she told me about her pine cone and her skate with "Granny and Mama" and that her baby brother Jacob was doing fine and that she loved me. This child, as I may have mentioned before, is a total dream. She really is the best kid and, while I'm sure all aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives...etc. say this about their relative children, I'm not being biased on this account. She really is a treat to be around. She's entertaining and fun; she never really cries even if she falls over and gets hurt, just toughs it out or, at the most, says she bonked her head and it hurts. She goes to bed when she's told to do so and doesn't whine or complain or cry. She'll happily play with you or on her own if you're not interested without ever begging or throwing a tantrum. She has a mind of her own and decides what it is she wants and when she wants it. So when Halloween came around, her mother had decide she'd be one thing (after asking her if she was ok with it), then Genevieve came home from school one day and declared that she was going to be a "witch." This news came out of nowhere and she made good on her declaration, with her mom's help, of course.

Now she has a pine cone and, it's not just any pine cone, but an enormous, well-shaped, full sized pine cone. This will entertain her for quite some time, much as the old dolls from my childhood entertain her for hours. Mom informed me that Genevieve went into my bedroom at my parents house to check things out and to pull out my old box of dolls that I let her play with when she comes by and I'm home. She took them out one by one and placed them on my bed before climbing up, lying in the bed and saying, "I love Aunt Neesha's bed!" When she was finished, she piled all the dolls back into the box and went to the bathroom. In the bathroom, she noticed a lizard had climbed into my bath tub and took it upon herself to close the door to trap it before finding my parents to let them know what she'd done.

Sometimes, when I think of these beautiful images of my niece, these simple causes of pleasure, I am reminded just how unimportant so many situations and moments are that I let myself get worked up over. I think I need to talk to my niece more often.

Genevieve with her pine cone posing for my Mom to take a pic with her camera. In the background is Chloe, my parents' shepherd who lets Genevieve play on her and, literally, spread out across her as if she were a mattress.

Genevieve holding up her pine cone for the camera. It's nearly as big as her head in this pic. Isn't she a cutie? She looks so serious with it between her fingers like that.