Wednesday, April 23, 2008

2 Little Girls

It's a hot summer night and my sister and I are laying side by side in our twin size beds with no air conditioning. The windows are open and we can hear a combination of crickets in the field and trucks passing by on the street outside. We lie there too hot to sleep. We are young and the summers seem endless. The following morning we most likely will get up and go to the beach. At the beach we may swim or make sand castles- together of course.

It is a cold winter day and the snow has just stopped falling. Our mom sends us out with a shovel and begin to clear the stairs and around the car. We work quickly so we can begin to make a snow fort. We have to have a better fort than the other kids on the block so we can win the snowball fight. We love to play ball and snowball fights are so much fun.

It is a school night, but we are at the town park- we have little league games tonight. There is a slight chill in the air, but that does not stop us from playing our games. I am on one field, my sister on another. We head home for a late dinner and go to bed.

Lying in bed at night we get yelled at. We may be giggling too loud or thumping around as we jump from bed to bed and sometimes miss. It is all worth it though.

Sometimes we fight too. We fight terribly with fists and kicks along with yelling. We don't hold back and often hurt each other. We always make up in the end.

Nobody is allowed to hurt me. My big sister will always protect me. Everyone knows my big sister and knows that she will protect me at all costs. Nobody bothers me.

My sister leaves for college when I am fifteen and I have my own room for the first time. Freedom to decorate, talk on the phone, and just have my own space. Of course, college dorms are not officially moving out so my sister comes home and we fight. She is on my turf now.

We both graduate college and live in different cities. We talk on the phone all the time. I have been bigger than my big sister for some time now. She loves asking people who they think is the older sister. Everyone always chooses me. All of a sudden my sister no longer introduces me as her little sister. She seems to like it better to just call me her sister. She thinks she is getting away with everyone thinking I am older.

We are two years and four months apart. In school we were separated by three grades. She reminded me we were ages apart and when I got to her age I would see. Now, we are two years and four months apart. And we are the same age.

My little big sister is having a baby. We don't know if it is a girl yet, but both of us secretly hope for one. We remember those hot summer nights and cold hot chocolate drinking days. We have a bond that only "twins" could have- only we're not. Someday, she may have two little girls so close in age that she and I will be able to sit up at night and giggle over her knowing her little girls are not asleep, but upstairs giggling too.




I hope this post does not allude to anything other than what is posted. I am not pregnant, nor do I have two little girls. I only share the thoughts above because as my sister begins the adventure of becoming a mom I can't help that hope she has the experience of 2 little girls.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

more pictures!

With a comment as great as the Holbrook's for posting photos I had to post more!

Here is the handsome pup in his newly painted adirondog chair. He loves his chair, but only sits in it when there is a cushion on it. Pathetic- I know. Here is the finished product of the old blue room- It is now the Black and White Room. I had posted photos a while back of the curtains and beds. The walls have since been painted and I created my art on the wall too. The other photos of the room had bad lighting effects from the window, so you will just have to remember the curtains.

Here is our hallway. We had the hall and family room painted this light tan color.

The lighting is not great, but this room was painted a cinnamon color. I love it. It is different than the red we had in Jersey, but still a warm color. I know it is bold, but that tends to be my style.


And I had to add a photo of MW and his brother! So cute.

Hope everyone is well! I have another post I would like to put up, but am trying to not post all in one day and then not again for two weeks. So, more to come!



Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Our recent travels

I am trying to live up to my promises. Two weeks ago we went to TN and I blogged about it but did not share any photos. In no particular order here are a few:

Here we are packing up for the ride home. You may notice that this is not a volvo or a mini- ??? You ask? Well, we are slightly nuts and we traded in both of our cars for two certified pre-owned BMW's. You see in the photo the autobahn racer- aka the BMW wagon and then we also have a sedan. The cars are so luxurious it is great! And we are getting better gas milage these days in addition to our carpooling to work. Here is Bailey chilling out- or licking his lips- on the ATV. He decided he liked it after a while and then he just smiled!
Here is the Palace where we like to visit. On a nicer weekend I will take photos of the views and share because they truly are beautiful.

I also took pictures of some of the painting at our house. I will post those later.


Monday, April 7, 2008

Weekend of labor

I do have photos from our trip to TN, but I have not sat still long enough to post them. I know everyone else's blog I look at has great photos, but they also have children. Nobody needs to see endless photos of me and MW, so bear with us....we are not in the same league as the rest of you.

We had a great time in TN although the weather was bad. Bailey swam without his life jacket for the first time and the wonder dog climbed the stairs at his aunties house multiple times like an old pro! He is amazing!!!!
I have photos of him taking an ATV ride with MW after a swim. He was scared at first since the ATV is louder than even the big monster of a vacuum cleaner, but once his Daddy hugged him he started to realize he like the ATV. Then the two of them did a little joy riding. It was very funny. That photo will appear.

This past weekend we still had crappy weather (in NC) but that did not stop us from spreading three and a half pallets of mulch in our yard. We got rid of the ugly pine needles the southerners use and replaced it with mulch. What a project, but it looks SO MUCH BETTER.

The house has been transforming. Even the adirondog chairs have been painted recently. I will, i vow, to post some house photos up.

We are still running around at crazy speed, but enjoying life in the south. It is starting to feel like home sweet home here and I like it. Finally, we are settling in and have a place that is home. At the end of this month we will have been in our house a year- which usually means it is time to move- but not this time. We are staying here for a while. So, get a plane ticket, hop in your car, whatever it takes- we would love to have you visit.

Stay well everyone! Best wishes.