Glue

i have, for awhile now, prided myself on being the "glue" of the family.
i probably shouldn't use the word 'prided' --rather, it makes me happy to see/do.
i'm the female middle child, which means i'm perfectly apt to be the family glue sticking everybody together.
here's the thing:
when i left home i thought i'd be so happy to get away from the house.  then i found myself extremely homesick with an awful roommate. then i wanted nothing more to be home, with my family.
so, with the miracle that is cell phones, i started my journey to becoming the Mattson Family Glue.

first, after having spent some time with the booths, i realized that when we hang up the phone we needed to end our conversations with "i love you" or "love you, bye."  i secretly implemented this in all my conversations with my family members.  they soon took the hint.  now we don't end a conversation without it. and its weird when we do. phase one: accomplished.

phase two:  i know my brother's password for his route Y account, so whenever we register for classes, i hack his account and look to see what classes he's signed up for.  then i sign up for one of the same ones.  eric & i usually have at least one class together a semester.

phase three: gmail and photoshop.  video chat on gmail is a dream come true--chatting it up with jenna and my lilykins (who yells at the computer for becca <3) is lovely when i can't be there with them. also: i become absolutely necessary for jenna, seeing as she only has photoshop elements and i have the real photoshop. which means i get to do her plentiful photoshop projects for her.

phase four: family history. i took a family history class last  semester and had a great time talking to my mom about it.  i also had the occasion to call my grandparents about it several times, therefore extending my reach as glue to another generation.  i really do love family history, too, and i love hearing any stories my grandparents have to offer.

phase five: facebook friends.  my cousins (all two of them) and my family aren't the best of friends. i added my cousin on facebook and on skype, and we occasionally chat. i couldn't find my second cousins or else i would have done that too--since they're probably who i really consider cousins most of all.

phase six: the bachelor/bachelorette. my aunt cami LOVES the bachelor/bachelorette.  its the only tv she will watch.  i always thought it was dumb...until my roommate wanted to "have" a tv show and she chose that one.  its easily addicting. but the best part is: it gives me a reason to call & talk with my aunt every monday night/whenever we get the chance to see it. i love our chats--we are, in many ways, in the same situation-except she actually has a boyfriend now!  i love talking with her about boys & life!  someday we will travel the world together. (wherever she hasn't already been!)

phase seven: calling daddy. i've been making a concerted effort to call my father--its a lot different than calling my mom (which i do almost daily), and if we get on the topic of school its generally not a fun conversation. but i love him nonetheless.

phase eight, still in progress: bryce.  we were close when i was home, because we were the only two siblings left in the house, but now that i'm gone we don't really speak.  and by close i mean when he bugged me i would hit him, and tell him to go away, etc-basic older sibling-itis. but we would have fun too.  usually when i was driving him somewhere, or something like that. it was nice.  for now, its only usually sunday phone calls.

aaand that accounts for my entire family.
all in all, i love my family.  and i love that i will be with them for eternity.