Happy Monday

I’m here in Austin for the weekend with family. I love visiting family. It’s probably why I love writing about family. I am an only child so I don’t have tons of siblings and immediate nieces and nephews, but I have so many first and second cousins and ‘nieces and nephews’ that there is never a shortage of family.
 
Every family keeps track of relatives differently. We all know the ‘technical’ lineage. For instance my first cousin’s daughter is technically my first cousin once removed, but in our family, anyone young enough to be your child is a niece of nephew and you become their aunt or uncle. All cousins are just – cousins. And I actually am still in contact with third cousins! For those of you who don’t keep track of lineage – third cousins share the same great great grandparents! Imagine that.
 
And the funnier thing, is because we have all stayed in touch – there are a few family traits that we can pinpoint where they must come from. For instance. My mom has a second cousin on my grandmother’s maternal side who if food does not burn your tongue then it’s cold and not edible. My mother is the same way. But so is my second cousin on my grandmother’s side.  To muddy the waters a little more for you – lol – my cousin is the granddaughter of my grandmother’s brother.  So my mom and my cousin could have inherited that trait from either of my grandmother’s parents’ families. But – because my mother’s second cousin also has that trait – we know it comes from my grandmother’s maternal side!  I find stuff like that fascinating.
 
On my mother’s side of the family we can actually trace both my grandparents paternal lineage all the way back to the late 1400s – that is truly mind-boggling!
 
Anyhow, this Friday Just One Shot goes off to the final editor. I sure hope y’all enjoy Siobhan’s story – I’m trying really hard to do her justice!
 
Okay - Here's a photo of my morning view as I drink my tea and write this blog. Welcome to Texas Hill Country!