My immediate family � those that live in my house � includes my husband B and our two lovely pets that we adore and spoil with abandon. I change my mind hourly about when I would like to add human children to our family. B is from Texas and, after six years in California, is just beginning to accept the fact that he doesn�t live in the Lone Star State anymore. Texas will always be home to him. He has boundless energy, a giant, easy smile, and never meets a stranger. He brings out the best in me and makes me love myself � something I hadn�t done for a long time before we met.

My parents live about 17 miles away but spend about half of the year in Florida, enjoying their retirement. My mom has a ridiculously generous heart and would cut off her own leg for those she loves. We both take everything personally, react with emotion, and can�t control our tears. She is my best friend and I cannot imagine my life without her. My dad worked tirelessly in the aerospace industry for 30-something years to provide our family with everything we ever needed and most of what we wanted. We are alike in our need for order, desire for perfection, and frustration when things don�t go our way. He loves more conservatively but no less than my mom.

My baby brother is five years younger than me. He was a such a beautiful child that, if I�d realized it at the time, I would have developed an inferiority complex we were young. He was much more rebellious than I ever was and introduced my poor, na�ve parents to the realities of teenage drinking and carousing. Although he�s certainly just as smart as me, he never cared much about school and nonchalantly graduated from college a year ago. He just got his first real job, working with mortgages in some capacity. We are both reserved until we�ve had enough time to fully scope out the situation and become comfortable with our surroundings. Once we�ve done that, he�s much more funny than I am. To the observer, he may appear to have tougher skin than I do. But I think maybe he just hides his emotions better. Although we love each other dearly, I hope that someday we will be closer friends than we are now.