The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We’re heading to Myrtle Beach to spend some time with my family. We rented a huge beach house so that we could all spend time together and the kids would have a lot to do. My sisters are actually from Raleigh and my parents from Columbia, SC so my sister asked a friend what there was to do in the area. We got word that there was a Baskin-Robbins and a Dunkin Donuts close by. Chocolate chip or mint chocolate chip ice cream from Baskin-Robbins and cake donuts from Dunkin Donuts are a couple of my biggest weaknesses. They happen to my mother’s biggest weaknesses along with blue cheese salad dressing. These also happen to my sister’s biggest weaknesses. Isn’t it funny how our favorite foods are hereditary? I just love bell peppers and know that a lot of people don’t like them. I remember seeing my grandmother eating one like an apple. I guess that’s where I got that from. And the way Jack eats berries. My father can eat blueberries all day long and I also have a borderline obsession with them. Jack is the same way. That’s when I started to think about genetic garbage. What determines what gets passed down? I understand about blue and brown eyes. That’s straightforward. But what about things like cankles? You know, those people who don’t have a defined ankle and their leg goes right into their foot like what Hillary Clinton has? I started thinking about the good, the bad and the ugly of my genes.

The Good:
- Symmetrical feet (although my right foot was ruined in 8th grade when Kim Stapleton kicked my foot when we were playing soccer)
- Skinny arms (was on my bad list 20 years ago since they looked like Grover arms)
- Big lips (was on my bad list 20 years ago because they were not in style and all the kids at school made fun of me. My father even said once, when I sunburned my lips, that I had burns on over 90% of my body)
- Fast growing fingernails
- Very logical brain

The Bad:
- Eyes (20/700 vision before LASIK) = Coke bottle glasses throughout puberty
- Scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
- Narrow feet (can’t wear Payless Shoes)
- An “apple” figure—weight gains around the belly (fine for when you’re pregnant “oh you gain weight only in your belly”. Uh huh. And it stays there.)

The Ugly:
- Thin hair
- Gray hair
- Freckles
- Zits
- Spider Veins!

Uhh, I think I could go on and on with The Bad and The Ugly list but I don’t want to scare people. What if we could pick the best thing from ourselves to pass on to our kids? I find myself praying that Jack doesn’t get my eyesight or my problem skin. Oh, well. Not worth worrying about what we can’t fix… just hope that technology can fix some of these things.

This week we have spent time getting ready for our trip but I did find time to visit with a friend who will be taking care of the cats when we are gone and then I went to Annette’s house with Jill and Tracy where we slammed two bottles of wine and yakked for a couple hours. While we did have this planned for about a week, I liked the way it was “come as you are”. I wore my comfortable nursing bra and had greasy hair. The girls didn’t seem to mind too much. I might wear my pajamas next time. Have a great Thanksgiving if I don’t get a chance to blog until my return.