I have 3 cousins on my mom's side of the family and I'm the youngest and we all have kids. On my dad's side, I have 7 cousins and I'm the eldest, and am the only one with kids.

It took until a year ago to finally be able to say I have met all my first cousins.

I feel bad for my kids cause they only have 1 first cousin and she has basically broken off all contact with us. She is a touch younger than K-Bug and despite K-Bug trying to form a relationship with her, the response has been "this is awkward, I'd rather if you didn't e-mail me any more". She just lives an hour or so from where we used to live.

That's adorable, Nilly. Also, great that the TV show guy would come to the police station for that.

Also, great that the TV show guy would come to the police station for that.

He's one of the oldest in the business (like, was working on tv shows for kids when *I* was a kid), and he always seems like such a nice guy, for reals.

On one of the shows he had when I was a kid, the first show he hosted alone, he used to bring his dog. The story I heard was that on the first show he asked for it because he was stressed about being alone, and later the dog became so loved, that when he passed away, at an old age, everybody missed his presence.

I can't watch YouTubes on this computer, so I can't check what's really inside this link, but this is supposed to show that man and his dog.

[Edited to wave at Suzi, with whom I haven't posted in forever.]

Nilly!!!! Smishes!!!!

Juliebird, so glad you cat came back. And a story I was waiting for his return to pass on:

A friend of mine had a cat and, since her husband was finicky, the cat was not allowed on the good living room furniture, wasn't fed people food or fed from the table, and generally led less indulged life than most cats manage. He was allowed outdoors a fair amount. Well, one morning the cat was gone for a long time and my friend was concerned. So she checked the yard and called and started going around to the neighbors to see if anyone had seen him. Next door, she found her cat - he was lounging on the living room couch, having had his breakfast - bacon - at the kitchen table. And it turned out that he had acquired a taste for, in addition to bacon, daytime TV.

Hee, Toddson! That story reminds me of the episode of the show "Spaced" I saw yesterday, in which Daisy's dog goes running next door all the time, and we get his perspective of what his life is like at Daisy's ("Oh, piss off, will you?!?") vs. at the dog-loving old lady's next door ("Here's a nummy treat for you! Aren't you beautiful?").

He does return home at the end of the show, even after being given the chance to live at the neighbor's instead.

He's one of the oldest in the business

Who is he? I didn't know the story.

Suzi, are you all done with the move now? Are you all settled in the new place?

Who is he?

Dalik Volinitz (goodness, I have no idea how to spell his name in English).

You probably weren't even born when they showed "shminiot ba'avir" (um, it roughly means, "shapes-of-8 in the air", and it's an expression, meaning trying-really-hard).

I have or had 6 cousins on my mother's side (Joanna died of a brain tumor many years before I was born) and 7 on my dad's side.

Of the ones on my dad's side, I've met 6 of them, but not often. I have more of a relationship with my mother's family, though I've rarely seen my cousin Tom, who is the oldest cousin of all. (I think he's 50.)

The nearest to me in age is a decade my senior, as my mother was the youngest of 5 and my brother and I came along late in life. My sister, however, is about the same age as the rest of the bunch, and as she was in the same country as the rest of them until she was 7 or so, had more of a childhood-with-cousins thing going on.

Suzi, are you all done with the move now? Are you all settled in the new place?

We are all moved - Colorado driver's license is in process and I just changed over our cell phones. As for being all settled - we do still have boxes lining the hall and I need to sort through those in the garage, but we are doing pretty well for the most part. CJ starts school next week, so that is the next big hurdle.

Well, that plus selling the house in California. Nothing is happening there and it is very frustrating. But ignoring that and the fact that I miss the Bay-istas like mad, things are going really well.