Marlee's on her way

We have a new baby coming into the family. Marlee will be born around December 10th to my grand nephew and Brandi, making Marlee my great grand niece, the sixth. The genes march onward and will be improved in this case by an Italian influence, something we haven't had before. I'm hoping for a happy baby -  being more and more convinced that a cranky baby ends up a cranky grown-up and little seems to change that.

Gene-wise there are some solid talents that thread through our family: a predilection for things mathematical, an ear for the word, a liking of learning, an engineering bent.  A sense of humor is pretty well guaranteed because I don't know a person in the family who got short-changed in this department. Funny bones abound. Many people demonstrated the possession of guts when it counted. I'm hoping Marlee inherits some of this stuff if it's genetic.

We're short on artistry - nary a soul that I know of has developed any such talent but there's plenty of musicality. My cousin Lawrence, a professional bass player, got to exercise his funny bone while playing with none other than Spike Jones !!( Nobody under 50 would know this band).  Most everyone in the family plays something: piano, violin, trumpet, drums, saxophone, guitar, flute. There have been a few fair athletes which they demonstrated in one fashion or another.

Now for the bad news. The genes we'd like to clean out of the pool are alcoholism,  procrastination ( I think its in the genes), hermitism, cheap skatitis (pops up now and then) , small boobs, heart disease, poor teeth, some mental illness which we've managed to position as quirkiness. A few of my so-called quirky cousins would have benefited from today's fancy medications. Instead of quirky, in 2010 they'd be called ADD or bipolar. One of my aunts was certifiable - a schizophrenic.

The Italian traits I hope Marlee acquires are passion and a zest for life. A deft hand with the macaroni wouldn't be bad either.