In Praise of the Lovely Brandine~

Her name is really Brandy and somewhere along the line during their college years, she fell in love with my son, who absolutely adores her. They are getting married pretty soon. Dustin calls them Cletus and Brandine and somehow that stuck with me.

There are many things to love about her, not the least of which is the fact that she is a GIRL and I can now buy GIRL CLOTHES after always having to buy GUY CLOTHES for the boys. I am going to have a daughter and this is going to be fun.

I think I spend more money on Brandy than I do on the boys. I just keep seeing things that "look" like Brandy. I can't help it. I am hoping the boys don't notice.

Other things to love about Brandy:

1. She is tenacious. This girl sets her mind to things and doesn't give up. She wanted to go to college but didn't have a scholarship or lottery winnings. So she just packed up her Dad's old Honda and went. She worked her way through school and finished her degree in 5 years. Did I mention she made the Dean's List?

She wanted to learn how to crochet. So, she went to Michael's and picked out a book. She then sat there on the floor for hours, using a crochet hook and some yarn and taught herself how to do it. THEN she made me a lovely scarf that I call my "Brandy Scarf."

She received a book about knitting from her clueless future mother-in-law who SWORE it was knitting that she sat on the floor at Michael's to learn. Did she return the book or throw it on her shelf? NO! She worked THAT NIGHT until 4:30am to teach herself to KNIT and PURL, using the book.

2. She loves animals, all animals. This includes Mufasa, who got lost in the car one day. Instead of just waiting the snake out, she and her friends ripped apart the inside of the car to find the hiding snake. I don't think the upholstery or door panels were ever the same after that. When 'fasa got sick, she took him repeatedly to the vet, spending money she didn't have in order to get him well. Although it wasn't easy, Brandy injected him with vitamins and things he needed to get well. When he died, she grieved.

3. She is a hard-worker.

4. She is smart. Scary-smart. But I am not sure how she is with Jeopardy. If she is better at it than I am, maybe I better not know. I am proud of the fictional big bucks I win every night on Jeopardy.

5. She loves to read but claims she is taking some "time off" since college reading fried her brain. I am waiting to figure out WHAT she likes to read. In fact, I am rubbing my hands together.

6. She loves my son, which isn't hard to do, but she truly LOVES him. I can tell because a mother knows these things.

7. She is a loyal friend. She has many friends and they all love her very much. Most of them drove a long way to our house for the engagement party. A really long way for some of them - and they were all delighted to be here.

8. She has the first tattoo I ever really liked. She thought a lot about it and then only had the outline done. She is "thinking" on the colors and when she decides, she will probably think some more and maybe - maybe - she will have the tattoo colored. She says the colors have to make themselves known and these things take time.

I will have to add to this list as I think of things to add.