Hanging out in Cookeville

Time in Cookeville, TN--my hometown, where my parents live in the house built by my great-grandfather--is action-packed.  And by that I mean, Maybelle and I are in a house full of my family members.  You might think that I'd be relaxing and blogging all day, but my time looks a little more like this:

Maybelle with Lela, her four girls, and Dora

• In the mornings, Maybelle enjoys leisure time with Lela and the girls, so mom and I get to hang out in the kitchen, drinking coffee and talking.  We are free-range conversationalists, which means that when we're together, and we both have coffee in our system, there's really no telling what's going to come up.  We've talked about selling my house and finding other places to live.  We've talked about Christmas gifts, about the similarities between Unity and the Unitarian church, about best ways of preventing constipation, about various kinds of childhood history--hers and mine--and about incredibly sweet things friends have said to me lately (bringing my mom to tears at least twice).
• In the evenings, my dad, Trey, and Olivia join the mix, which leads to a great deal of teasing, spread around liberally.  Anyone who's on his or her phone too much?  Teased.  Anyone who does a high-five and inspires Maybelle to go into her "gimme five, right on!" regimen?  Teased (and scolded).  Anyone who has blue toenails?  Teased.
• And that leads to the next point:  we had pedicures yesterday!  Mmm, a pedicure is sooooo pleasant.  They exfoliate your feet and legs.  They rub delicious lotion on you from the knees down.  They get the chisel out and scrape all the callouses off your heels (they got a special implement out for me--I'm not kidding--because I have inherited my dad's feet).  And then they paint your toenails.  Here we are!

Look who has the Chaco tan.  I look so outdoorsy!  And I'm not.  AT ALL.

• It's also very tempting, when you have this group together, to take ridiculous photos, and we've done a fairly good job of this.  For example:

Right on!

• And my personal talent is disgusting dad and Trey.  This actually shouldn't count as a talent, because it's so easy.  They are disgusted by the mildest things.  Topics I talk freely about in my classes make them both cringe, and make my dad threaten to leave the table.  For instance, did you know they now sell super plus tampons?  Not just super, but super plus. This is a great thing!  But talk about that with dad and Trey at the table and the cries of, "That's it!  I'm leaving!" begin.

Ah, Cookeville.  Mom and I are making granola this morning.  Maybelle is probably finding some secret place in the house to pee.  My dad isn't at work (which means there's been a fair amount of teasing this morning).  All's right with the world!