4 anniversaries, a wedding and a mother's day

jeff and i left on the 10th for nebraska. the tenth being our tenth anniversary. it was actually his great aunt and uncle's 60th and his aunt nancy and her late husband's 38th. (i used to email her or call her that day, just to let her know we were thinking of her that day, but then i learned that it just depressed her more. ) the 11th was jeff's brother john and sister in law julie's anniversary, and it was the day aunt nancy's son decided to get married on. so those are the 4 anniversaries, and the wedding. it was a lot of fun. we got to hang out with jeff's older brother jim and his wife kim. jim is the quiet type, kim is really funny.
being a family function, family stories were told. this one i have to share. jeff's ancestors are the first to settle in st. paul. they came over from germany. it was a man and his 2 sons. the older son was married and had several children, but unfortunately died. as was the custom, the younger brother married the older brother's widow, and had several children with her. the children with the younger brother are jeff's immediate ancestors. i guess that's how you would phrase that. any way, my sister in law and i were discussing this, basically laughing about who we could have gotten stuck with had this still been the custom. i found it pretty funny, gross, but funny. i wonder if women back then checked out the unmarried brothers...you know "just in case". i told jeff about this. he seemed to take offense to the fact i found 2 out of 4 of his brothers physically repulsive. it's amazing the kind of stuff i find funny.
i really like getting away from the kids for a few days. i love them, but when i get away, i come home feeling like i'm 28 not 48. i think i have gotten away from them more the past year than i have in the previous 9. thank you dad and diane.

i have been taking a look at my outlook and the way i communicate lately. i think i come across very negative at times, almost like i am constantly complaining. i guess i don't know how to deal with compliments. most of the time when people comment on my kids, hubby, family, whatever, i try to down play it. i don't want to come across as a whiner. believe me, i know i'm lucky. i just feel guilty about my life being good sometimes. why is that? my mom would say it's "catholic guilt". i don't think so. i have been like this for as long as i can remember. i have only been catholic for a few years. anyway, i am going to try to be more positive. less complaining and bellyaching (as my dad would say).