Just Shauna

It's Shauna's birthday!  Hooray!  Aren't we all glad that Shauna came our way?!  Remember when she was a cute little bald toddler who'd roar to scare you until you just couldn't stand it anymore?  Then she'd relieve us with her famous catch phrase of "I just Shauna."  What a relief indeed.  When I was in the throws of preparing for a visit from Shauna Juana last October I texted her that I had just purchased a new (overdue) bath mat for the guest bathroom for her.  She texted back "don't worry about getting ready for me Kelly, remember 'I just Shauna.'"  She is one funny gal indeed!  I love laughing with her, and I am lucky to have her as my sister. She is first in command on Team Cougar.  For those who don't know what Team Cougar is.... basically it's: Kelly, Ed, Shauna & Marcy.  The last 'set' of kids- if you will.  Not knowing what would be the best way to refer to the second set of Whatcotts, I believe it was Shauna who made up that nick name for us.  Sometimes Team Cougar isn't doing so well.  Sometimes we are having a good season.  Overall it's been a good year for Team Cougar, and most of the credit for that would have to go to our head cheerleader -Shauna.  She takes care of Ed which is a huge undertaking.  She makes sure Dad is doing well and stocked in medications that she can provide for him.  Basically she saved Dad's life a few years ago when he needed his heart looked at and she picked up on it.

Shauna was recently introduced at a family get-together before Dad's wedding as 'the smartest Whatcott' and I would have to agree that she is one smart cookie.  I don't think she ever slacked off in school for as long as I've known her.  She has always excelled.  She is also a caring kind person who looks out for the underdog.  She has impeccable taste (have you seen her house?!) and loves to search out a good deal calling herself a "freegan." She enjoys reading self-help or do-it-yourself books and then plunging into a project like building a deck or planting a garden.  I really admire her for that.  She recently took on the brave project of finding a husband for herself.  She put herself out there and found love with her new husband Greg and we are all so happy for her in her new life as a wife and chosen mother to Douglas and Zoe.  I have especially enjoyed seeing her step into motherhood with such grace.  Those are some very lucky kids!  Shauna has always been great with children and now she gets to use those talents in a very real way.

Some of my childhood memories of Shauna are making pretend hair for our hands out of yarn.  We'd make elaborate yarn hairdos and then loop them over our hands.  'Henrietta Hand' was what we'd dubbed our hands when they were in action with their hairdo's on.  I'm still not happy with that name choice.  Oh well.  We used to watch "Gone with the Wind" over and over until we pretty much had all the dialog memorized.  We both had great ability to memorize lines.  Other movies we tackled in this way were Cinder Rabbit, and Bugsy Malone.

Shauna had a great talent for torturing people.  She and I would sometimes sleep in the same bed on vacations together, and she would lie on her stomach and thump the mattress we were both on with her foot, keeping me awake.  Try as I might to get her to stop she enjoyed bugging me so much she just couldn't bring herself to do it.  She once managed to get Marcy to walk across rocky terrain up in the hills across the street from our house barefooted.  I'm not sure about the details, but it seems to me that broken glass may have been involved.  She had the lovely habit of starting to tell you something and then stopping herself quickly and suddenly remembering that she wasn't supposed to tell you that.  "Never mind" she'd say with a sly grin.  Oh she was a clever one.  We had our fair share of fights and I may or may not still have the scratching scars on my arms (and emotional scars on my psyche) to prove it.

But through it all I am super glad to say that Shauna is my sister.  She has turned out to be a fine upstanding woman who I am proud to be related to.  And to show her how much I love her I am going to post a very flattering photo of her here on the blog.  This picture proves once and for all just what my 7 yr old pointed out to us a couple years back.... That "Mom looks a lot like Aunt Shauna but Mom has a bigger tummy."  Blast those 5 babies!

Happy Birthday Sis!