"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." - Jane Howard

Oh, I have one alright. And it is about to get bigger! Yesterday I heard some wonderful news: my brother Brian and his lovely Kerry are engaged. I am so happy for them and for all of us. She is sweet and funny and seems to make my brother very happy. I love when there are family events in "the hopper".

And while I am on the subject of family additions, I have to mention that before I started writing this blog, I heard some other wonderful news: my brother Kevin and his wife Megan are having a baby in February! They will not find out if the baby will be my niece or my nephew, but the early sonograms showed them a little snowman-looking cutie, so they are calling the baby Frosty for now.

It's difficult to be so far away with these great events coming up, but I am really looking forward to both of them. How lucky am I to have a great family to begin with, and then to also love all of my in-laws as well? I really like being with my brother's wives, and my husband's family too.

By the way, since I used the phrase, "in the hopper", I decided to look it up for origin. I'll share:

Word Origin & History

hopper

"container with narrow opening at bottom," 1277, perhaps fromhop (v.) via notion of grain juggling in a mill hopper.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

in the hopper mod. in process; in line to be processed. (A hopper is an in-basket for incoming work.) : Your job is in the hopper, and your turn is next.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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