Well I'll be a dirty bird

I'm really not sure how I'm going to use this blog. Probably to relay funny stories and sound off truth be told. Because of my job I have to be careful about being too opinionated too publicly. That's why you won't see any long rants on my facebook page - not good for business.

Our household is different to say the least. I help Shawn take care of his great-aunt - my great-aunt-in-law. She turns 85 in August and I couldn't love her more if she were my own blood. She's blind, a cancer survivor, with two fake knees, and fusions in her spine. Novie is also the most devout Christian I know with a quick wit and an even quicker temper (at times).

So how did we end up like this? Shawn came to live with her when he was 2. She never married and never had kids of her own. When Shawn and I began dating he made sure I knew this was a package deal - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Don't get me wrong - things have been tough. There was a time last year that I didn't think we'd get through - when Novie went to sleep on us and didn't wake up for 5 days. She opened her eyes on the morning Shawn and I were going to the funeral home. I've never been so thankful.

Novie's a funny thing, with an amazing life, and some crazy sayings. She grew up in one of Huntsville's mills. Only her dad made her get an education so she could get out of the mill. She took courses at UAH and became the first female accountant for NASA. She's retired from Marshall Space Flight Center. She lived during a simpler time - when boys courted the girls, when families went to church, and when strangers really were the only danger to children.

She also has some of the funniest sayings I've ever heard. When we have something big to tell her Shawn and I will take bets about which one she'll say. They include, "You tell lies", "Well, I'll be", and my personal favorite, "Well I'll be a dirty bird".

We don't have kids of our own yet - and honestly it will be a few more years before we can consider it. But I already have my first born - she was just born 50 years before me!