Sister, Sisters, There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters

My big sister, aka Kiki or The Apple, is coming for the weekend! The Mr. has to be out of town for a work/fun trip that I usually go on--but the X-Man has a school audition (err, observed playtime) so I'm taking one for the team. But since Kiki will be here, it's not at all a raw deal.

Our history of her being absolutely wonderful and great to me goes way back. When I was two--and she was eighteen--my parents somehow convinced her that we should share a room. What were they thinking? Or maybe they were smarter than we all realized-when I was old enough she told me that was the best birth control ever.

When we were both a little bit older and she was out on her own, at the start of her nursing career (did I mention she's an incredible nurse?), she would come to visit and take me to SF in her VW bug. I'd ride "shotgun" on the side--the front passenger seat was out (I don't remember why), so I'd stretch out in the open space. She always let me choose the restaurant and I'd always pick Zim's.

Having her for a big sister is a little like having a spare Grandma around--she's willing to hang on every tiny anecdote about the kids, no matter how ridiculous or trivial. When the X-Man was a wee, tiny baby and still on oxygen, she would come to visit and play night nurse so the Mr. and I could get some sleep. I'm not sure I would have trusted anyone else with him at that point--but hey, my big sister and a NICU R.N., no problem.

She went even further for me with Miss Z. We had to stay out of state for two weeks when Miss was born--holed up in a hotel in the middle of winter, missing out on Thanksgiving. the Mr. had to get back to keeping the world safe for capitalism, so he flew Kiki out to keep me and Miss Z company. I can't imagine anyone else being with me then. We took turns sleeping with the baby, changing diapers, kept each other company watching bad tv and eating tuna and rice. We got really familiar with the local Starbuck's (never my first choice--but they don't have Peet's in Ohio). We California girls drove around in the snow in a huge SUV, trying not to panic when the passenger seat would flop back and the tail gate would suddenly fly open (Miss Z sleeping through it all). We had Thanksgiving dinner (my first away from the Mr. since we met) in a restaurant and actually had a lovely time.

She's just the best. She understands what makes our darling parents so crazy-making and why on occasion you have to tell Mom to just "back away from the fridge." She knows what a spoiled primma donna I am, and she loves me anyway. She appreciates my obsession with Michael Buble because she has a parallel one with Josh Groban.

So this weekend we'll hang out with the kids, do a little shopping, eat some yummy stuff and just revel in each other's company. I "heart" my big sis.