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A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves – a special kind of double.
~Toni Morrison

Well, my little baby sister is older today.  I don’t want to say HOW OLD, let’s just say, it’s a year older than last year.  I can remember the day she was born.  Why?  Because I was freaking THERE!  We were one of the first families at Sharp Memorial that allowed kids into the labor/delivery room.  I can remember exactly when it was decided it was time to go to the hospital.  We were in the middle of watching “Welcome Back Kotter” (I remember being STOKED because it was past 8, and I was still up). And, yes, you can say it — I am OBVIOUSLY the older sister! 

All of a sudden, I was on the way to the hospital with my grandma, who had flown in for the event.  Up until this point, I was SO freaked out that Courtney might POSSIBLY be born on my birthday (which I *think* was her actual due date, give or take a day), that I was finally feeling calm that it was the 21st of April and THANK GOD she wasn’t going to steal THAT thunder.

I can remember SO much of that night.  But yet, so little.  The memories I do have are short in duration, yet so very poignant.

I remember:

~My grandma and I sitting in a waiting room for, what seemed like, HOURS, and hot tea with cream and sugar (and LOTS of sugar, I remember especially).  It was the best “cocktail” I had ever had (little did I know!).

~Someone telling us that it was time, and entering into the L&D room where my mom was somewhat moaning in pain.  Um….let me just say something…  I have since “been there, done that”, and I now KNOW first-hand the pain that birth entails, and the lovely wonderfulness that the epidural brings.  My mom did NOT HAVE ONE OF THOSE!!! WTF?  And, she was only MOANING?  She wasn’t yanking my dad’s balls off with her bare hands???

~Hair – lots of it.  Blond.  Sticking STRAIGHT up.

~Umbilical cord, wrapped around her neck.  A few moments of silent fear in the room.

~A simple cry.

~My new SISTER.

~A pink, screaming, blond-headed Mon-Chi-Chi.

And then, right after, I started planning her eventual demise.  Or at least, her trip back to wherever the hell it was she came from.   I had been an only child for 7 freakin’ years!  The term “culture shock” didn’t come CLOSE to how I felt.   But this picture SHOWS how I felt.   -  W.T.F.  And, “is she going home soon”?

But DAMN, she was CUTE!!!

So, I kept her.

And since then, she’s gone on to grow up, marry, have a baby of her own, and become the best mentor and friend that anyone could ask for.

Coco, I wish I could shower you with gifts that you deserve, but this will have to do for now.  I love you to the moon and back.  Happy Birthday.

xoxo, Kiki

What a week!  It appears that we may have sold our house today.  Um, WHAT?  Stop the presses.  The sign JUST went up yesterday, and there hasn’t been any traffic yet!  Well, “good news!” an investor puts an offer in, sight unseen, and will take his chances in negotiation with the bank.  So, mixed emotions over here:

SO Happy that we won’t have a ton of people trampling through our house, OUR HOME, interrupting our life.

SO Sad that an investor can just snap up our home without even seeing it.

SO Happy that I don’t have to wake up early in order to get the house “show-ready” before I do anything else.

SO Sad that our HOME could become someone’s “investment”.

SO Sad that Delaney will have to move away from the two best friends she’s ever known…