The thing about sisters...

The thing about sisters
Is truly perplexing
Each other's boundries
To always be testing
Stealing of clothes
and makeup galore
Some day you'll find
Common ground at the store
That outfit is too boy
That hair is too flat
Usually ends up in
A commonplace spat
One moves away
To cities afar
It's then that you learn
How lucky you are
You can't always say
Things at the same time
But it does happen
With that sister of mine
When things do get scary
And boys break your heart
It's my sister who's there
Like she was from the start
We are weird and unruly
Sometimes it's a shame
There's no camera rolling
We'd have fortune and fame


We may not agree
On all things it's true
But in the end
I'll always have you



Thanks for everything, Liesl.

Happy birthday!

Birthday Love for Warren

He routinely pushed me down the flight of stairs in our tiny two bedroom house. I retaliated by scrawling his name on walls and furniture leading my parents to believe it was him that did it. He got in trouble.

He bit me every day before I left to catch the bus for kindergarten. I retaliated by tying him to the grand piano with robe belts. I got in trouble.

I would tease him until he got so angry he would swing out of blind rage and swear. I'd act like he hurt me and I was going to tell. We were even.

We were like oil and vinegar. He was the annoying little brother that always ruined everything. I was the big sister who picked on him with no mercy.

And then came high school. One year ahead of him I got a head start. Of course, he got picked on. Sometimes pretty badly. We didn't get along at the time, but he was my brother and no one was going to pick on my little brother. No one except me and I would take you down if you tried. I spent more time in the principal's office for taking on boys three times my size for challenging my promise.

We both fell in with the wrong crowd. Our lives went to hell in a hand basket strapped to a rocket ship. At the end of the day, we were all we had. And in that moment we realized our powers combined, we were unstoppable.




The tears wouldn't stop the day his heels made a deafening roar in the awed silence of the parade deck. My heart shattered with pride and love.



The tears wouldn't stop the day he hugged me goodbye and made the long trip down the gravel driveway headed straight into a war zone. My heart shattered with love and fear.



The tears wouldn't stop the day he told me I would have to make the decision of whether or not to continue life support, heaven forbid. My heart shattered with fear and responsibility.



For all the breaking of my heart he has done, Warren and only Warren knows how to put it back together. Few make me laugh and cry like he does.






I was cruel. He was a beast. And I wouldn't trade him for all the little brothers in the world.



Stay safe and come home soon.


I love you kiddo.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

83 years young today!!

Tape and boxes

And brand new lockses.

That's right, I'm moving! I found a renter for the house (who will be paying my mortgage for me thank-you-very-much) and I will be paying drastically less every month for my housing. Thank goodness for Cari, the best roommate ever! We will be signing our lease tonight and then I'm going to get my hair all chopped off. Well, depending upon how brave I get. But at least it is brown again. No more blonde for this girl.

I am not really looking forward to the next two weeks of packing, cleaning, selling and moving but it is a huge step for me, and one that I believe to be in the right direction. It will be strange living in an apartment building again after being in my own house for so long. I'm sure for the amount of time I'm actually home, I wont notice, well except for when it comes time to clean. That will be a giant piece of yummy chocolate cake. Right? Right.

I even found good homes for the dogs. Montana went to a coworker's mom's house. Lots of land where she can run until she can't and there is another black lab for her to wrestle with. Her favorite. Mom and dad have been gracious enough to be Henri's temporary home. I'm pretty sure she will manage getting used to all the attention from mom and the kids. As long as they have a tennis ball or two, she is a happy dog. I will miss them though, but definitely not all the dog hair.

Other than that, I don't have much time for anything else. The next few weeks will be filled with dust, tape and trips to Union Grove and back.

I guess I will see you all on the other side of Hwy 75!

It's that time of the year again!

It's family reunion time!

I have learned a few things from last weekend. I present them in list form...

1. I am no good at golf. Particularly when the driver is almost as tall as you. (But thank you Uncle John for sharing!)

2. I must buy stock in some random golf ball company. I think I lost 14 balls on 9 holes. Whoopsie!

3. My family makes awesomely wonderful food. And I eat too much.

4. My family is VERY competitive. VERY.

5. Someone I am related to can eat a banana in three seconds. I KID YOU NOT!

6. We are hilarious.

7. I love our reunions. It's kind of a bummer we only do it once a year.

Other than that, life is moving along swimmingly. I found a renter for the house and Cari and I found an apartment in Union Grove. We will go look at it again for her, for the first time for me. I hate moving, but it is worth the pain when the checkbook is considered.

I'm heading to Florida for 5 days. Forgive me while I go look for my 100 SPF sunblock...

I hope you are all well!