My Sisters

Today is the almost halfway point between two very special days--- Palmer and Emily's birthdays!! My sisters had the good fortune of being born a week apart (well okay 3 years and 53 weeks apart....but you know what I mean). This makes for a fun weeklong stretch of celebrating! Or when we were younger it meant some GREAT birthday parties.
As with most kids when we were little we pretty much had the same set of friends, so Emily and Palmer would have joint birthday parties. I honestly don't know how many children my parents would play host to, but they sure were some good times! No party was complete without a game of "What's Missing" (anyone remember that?) or Dad's magic trick performance, a little Duck Duck Goose, perhaps a rousing game of Kickball, and some Slip n Slide action. Some of the fondest memories of those are my slip n sliding naked at one of Em's parties (i was young okay!!), when Em dropped the entire plate of cupcakes on the floor, and the fire truck birthday.
The Fire Truck birthday..........awwww memories. Perhaps the most talked about birthday in Middletown, when my parents actually got the fire men to come to our house! No no, this was not planned as many children wanted to believe. Mom was making pizza (if I remember right) for everyone to have for lunch. Well the pizza got a tad overcooked, setting off the smoke alarms, which sent out a distress signal, which brought the fire truck to our house. Good times, good times.

Okay, well this post has gotten a little off track since I got immersed in memory land. My point was to honor my sisters for their birthdays. So here goes it: Happy Birthday to two of the best sisters in the entire world! I love you both so much and am so honored to be buffered on both sides by such wonderful women. Although I am slightly jealous that my birthday wasn't so closely aligned to yours, how fun would it have been to have them three weeks in a row??

Palmer first, since your birthday is first: you are the family comedian, you are also a go-getter, dedicated, hard working, loyal, loving, honest, ambitious, talented, athletic, inspiring, creative, smart, warm-hearted..........tall and blonde! Haha had to throw those last two in. You are a tremendous joy to have as a sister, and an inspiration to my lazy butt to stay fit and get fast so that perhaps someday I can run an entire race with you. You sail through the ranks at work because of your dedication and hard work. You have a lot of love and healthy respect for the animals you work for, and they are lucky to have you. There is never a dull moment in life with you, and I truly cherish that. And I miss you so much being way out there in Seattle, but Ainsley and I will be there soon for a visit.

I thought I would throw in a few of my favorite Palmer moments, just because- a little chicken soup for Palmer's soul. :) Cutting off the popples tails, cutting your hair and then trying to reattach it with Crest gel toothpaste, when you injured your jaw and said you didn't want your picture in the newspaper, your ability to create cameras out of McDonald's nugget boxes, our countless hours of driving together to and from the barn and to and from horse shows, spending two weeks together at Brownland-training ourselves the second week!, playing Lonesome Dove around the Breezeway at Lochmoor, riding Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point (after our failed first effort), watching you ride at Junior Finals, seeing Duke win the NCAA Championship game with you, your being one of my two Maids of Honor (and the wonderful shower you and Em threw for me), seeing you with Ainsley, yearbook camp (we are so cool!), our two miles of running together during the Flying Pig this year, and perhaps my all time fave: touring the museums together in Rome when you couldn't see from the sweat pouring into your eyes! Happy birthday once more, I hope 26 is a fabulous year. And I cannot wait to run San Francisco with you.

Emily- the big sis. You are so kind-hearted, family-oriented, loyal, loving, sweet, honest, dedicated, smart, caring, talented, considerate, and indecisive (which is a GOOD thing) because you are waiting for what you really want. :) You have always been a challenge to follow through life because you have set the bar so high on everything, I always had to match your grades and efforts! You have developed an amazing skill set of massage therapy and athletic training. Where would I be without my personal athletic trainer keeping my sore muscles and bones together? I've always felt safe because I've known that you are looking out for me. And I have so enjoyed embarking on our running career together many years ago, and the countless miles we have ran together. You are such a wonderful caregiver, I know the numerous athletes that have had the joy of working with you count themselves lucky to have had you tending to them.

Here are some favorite Emily moments for you: when you got Blitz, being on our first "track" team together (I believe we were 6 and 8? or 8 and 10?), finding Fonzie, all the times you came to my rescue in college, the night you sprained your ankle at Duke and we spent forever in the hospital-- while they wheeled a dead body past you!, our Belmont apartment with Rudy toots, running that path in Durham every Sunday, good times at Looney's with Red and Dunn, Emo (nuf said), seeing you and Jeff Mayne studying together (will NEVER forget that), having you as my other Maid of Honor and the great shower you threw, sharing Ainsley's baptism with you, and running our first full and half marathons together. And I am eternally grateful to you for somehow coaxing me through our second Disneyland half when I pretty much had a monumental collapse at mile 9-- I don't know how you got four more miles out of me! Here's to 30- may it be a wonderful year!

I am sure I have bored the heck out of anyone besides Emily and Palmer who may have read all the way through, but I felt that this was the most opportune time for a fitting tribute to my sisters, whom I love so much. I would not be me without the both of you. So once more, happy birthdays to both of you!