The Magnificent Moogie

When I was talking to my sister-in-law Mandy I got the idea of doing a blog about all of the wonderful things she does -- and then it expanded.  I have been blessed with 13 sisters / sisters-in-law who, in my opinion, are all wonderful, excellent people.  So, I have decided that I am going to tell you a little about each of them around their birthdays.  Megan is first because her birthday happens on the very first day of the year.

When I joined the C. family by marrying Derek, Megan was eleven years old.  I had to learn nick names for almost all of the brothers, but not one for Megan.  However, at some point Derek started affectionately referring to her as Moogie (said Moo-gee) here at our house.  So sometimes she is Meg, or Megz, sometimes Auntie Megan, and sometimes Auntie Moogie.  It is unusual if we call her the more usual Aunt Megan.

I thought that I should have some excellent, fun pictures of her when she was young -- but mostly she seems to have avoided being the direct subject of any picture in the albums I went through.  Here is one of her holding Trisa and standing by Doran.

Megan and her sisters took good care of my daughters.  They babysat for free and taught them letters and did art projects with them.  Before Trisa was born, when I was having to stay in bed, they would come over and play games with me.  I wish I could remember Megan as a girl better, but I do remember one story.

When Megan was about 12 she read an article on skin cancer.  So, for the family hike, in really hot weather, Megan wore long sleeves, long pants, and a hat that I think was actually tied on by a scarf.  She had sunglasses too and she was teased during the whole hike.  She took the teasing well and probably dished out a little in return.  Megan is a good sport and has a quick wit.  She was teased about this incident again years later when she was working on a fabulous tan. 

Eventually Megan grew up and went from being the girl aunt to the married woman with five children of her own.  We have a couple of kids who are the same ages and I'm glad that they don't live too far away.  Megan's sense of humor reminds me of Derek's and I always enjoy talking to her.  One of the things I admire about Megan is that I only ever hear her say nice things about Leon (Hub) and one of her favorite things is getting to talk to him every day when he's on his way home. 
She is talented, and fun, and a good organizer.  She does a good job of teaching her children a lot of things while still managing to organize in a little time for a favorite show or a book she's interested in.  She somehow keeps up on politics and I sometimes call her in the hopes she'll give me a few clues on who I should vote for.  She doesn't really go in for mushy blogs so I have tried to make this as non-mushy as possible.  I am thankful for Moogie.  She is intelligent, sympathetic, and fun.  She is truly magnificent!

Happy belated birthday!
*Really Megz, you need to jump in front of my camera a bit more often!