April 28, 2012

it's [just me] and her titles...

When I was little I had bright red hair. Bright red. And I had a lovely little cowlick right smack dab on my bang line. Red hair and a bang cowlick? Cute, I tell you. Cute indeed [sarcasm intended]. To make matter worse, I had three older sisters who had mastered the skills of a curling iron and a bottle of hairspray. So of course I had to keep up.

I would try to curl my hair everyday for school. Emphasis on "try". You see, the hot rod inches from my skin scared the crap out of me. I could curl the sides of my hair just fine because I could see what I was doing. But the hot rod and little arms didn't mix for the back of my hair. This equated to the left and right sides of my hair being curled and the back...well let's just say it looked pretty stupid.

That is, until Kimmy took pity on me. I remember the fist day she curled my hair in a long time. I got on the bus and the bus driver said, "Wow, all of your hair is curled! You should do it more often!" From then on, I always begged and pleaded with Kim to curl my hair. I am sure it annoyed the crap out of her, but she did it anyways. So I appointed her with the title of my lifelong hairdresser.

To be honest, I appointed her with a lot more titles than just "hairdresser" throughout the years. She's been my chauffeur. She's been my cook. She's been my maid. She's been my roommate. My TV-viewing partner. My second mom. My wedding planner. My counselor. My college planner. My secretary. My vacation coordinator. My financial backer. My secret keeper. My shopping partner. My role model.

Best of all? She's been my sister.

Happy Birthday Kimmy. Thanks for...you know...everything.  

April 25, 2012

it's [just me] and my big brother...

Today I had an Oral Final for my Spanish class. After several "Yo soy amable pero un poco terca" and "No me gusta cocinar" the professor asked me to tell her about my family. I responded, "Yo tengo cuatro hermanas y un hermano." My professor's eyes showed her surprise and she replied, "¡Ah, pobre chico!"

Poor boy? Uh, yah right. That "poor boy" has the best "cuatro hermanas" anyone could ever ask for. And I am sure he would say the same. I think. No, I am sure of it. Pretty sure anyway. Definitely. 

***

When we were little, we had a LONG lane that we would ride our bikes down to catch the bus to school. One day, after the bus dropped us off, my big brother and I jumped on our bikes and decided to race home. I looked over at Alan to see how much faster my little legs had to peddle. My eyes somehow steered my bike...straight into the barbed-wire fence. [Really, I still have quite a substantial scar on my hand to prove it.] Let me tell you, I cried. I cried and screamed and thought for sure I was dying. 

Alan jumped off his bike and ran over to my oh-my-gosh-I-am-sure-I-just-died little body. He didn't hesitate. He didn't get disgusted by the gushing blood [Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't gushing. But to my seven-year-old self, it definitely was]. He didn't point, laugh, and run back to his bike to win the race. Instead, he picked me up and RAN all the way home. Ran. The whole lane. And let me tell yah, it was a long lane to run, especially for a nine-year-old holding his screaming seven-year-old little sister. 

Even at nine-years-old, my big brother took care of me. 

Happy Birthday, Al. Thanks for always taking care of me. 



April 22, 2012

Spring Sunday...

pink skies // flowers picked and gifted // volleyball in a park by the river // walking across bridges 

oh, the perfect spring sunday.

April 18, 2012




16 days, 11 hours, 58 minutes, & 11 seconds. 
10 seconds, 9 seconds, 8 seconds...