Vantage Point: The Bird

Today is November 22nd... but on November 14th it was my big sissy's birthday. I called and sang her a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday. I will spare your ears and not share. I'm sure she loved it though ;) I also sent her a gift.. it still hasn't arrived. I'm awesome. When it does arrive I have asked her to take pictures though so I can share with you. I'm hoping it gets there today. Fingers crossed!!

Even though its 8 days after the fact... again, I'm awesome.. I was going through old pictures I can't help but share with you what an amazing girl entered this world just a few, short, years ago ;)

This bird, as she, first was affectionately called by her Grandpa, was the first grandchild on my mom's side- setting the bar extremely high for the 5 of us that followed... show-off!

She wasn't allowed to wear pigtails because they turned her into the evil spawn of Satin... poor kitty, I hope she didn't need those whiskers!

She was a great Christmas card model... Christmas by the pool, the joy of being a California girl!

She had incredible fashion. Sweet legwarmers! Wait.... this is happening again isn't it?

She had an Afro in the 80's that could go down in history books.. Don't worry Kalee-Bird!! I'll spare you here!

Then, after many birthday cake wishes, just after her 7th birthday,

she got the little sister she THOUGHT she always wanted (insert evil, little sister, maniacal, laugh here... hehehehe) and she has been stuck with this

ever since!

We have had our battles. I wasn't always the most adorable little sister. I may or may not have put melted Gak in her hair, made 'new' make-up for her by blending all of her compacts together, used her whole jar of Aveda Confixor in my hair (which later had to be cut out), stolen her feather ticking for 6-ish years before telling her, spied on her through my window when she would come home from dates and then made her pay me to keep quiet, or have given her the worst case of chicken pox this world has ever seen... hypothetically of course. No one can prove that any of this happened.

But she DEFINITELY had her moments of torturing me by absolutely cutting my hair into hideous creations. She irrefutably tied a string to my tooth (that wasn't loose) and slammed the bathroom door to see if she could pull it. Undoubtedly there was a time when she made me eat dog food. Without question, she let our neighbor flush my goldfish down the toilet, alive. And she 100%, don't even try to deny it, got me drunk in Venice for the first time ever, with the Canadian volleyball team.

But all of that aside, the really undeniable moments are the ones when she was the best big sister that could ever be dreamed up. She used to pull me into her bedroom on weekends and make a floor nest for us to watch movies in while we ate raw cookie dough and Chocolate Resins. She would sleep with me on Christmas and we would listen to the radio all night and when Wham's Last Christmas would come on, we would sing it to each other..

and she always got me the best Christmas gifts.. (and she may have gotten me an Ariel fish bowl and replacement goldfish years later..) She took me to Europe for a non-planned adventure when I was 16.. (did I mention we have amazing parents?!) She tells me the hard things even when I don't want to hear them, answers the phone at all hours of the night, listens to my tears and then wipes them away when the time is right, is the voice of reason when I can't see straight, and is my very, very best friend..

Now she lives all the way on the other side of the country from me and I miss her so much it physically hurts.

It's OK though. She is over there being the best mother

and wife

I have ever seen.

She has so many incredible adventures ahead of her and she is going to nail all of them! Because that is just the kind of person she is. Strong, wise, beautiful, compassionate, adventurous, faithful, admirable... and a little bit fiery ;) We were all blessed with an amazing daughter, sister, mother, wife, person, the day she came into the world.

I love you Kalee-Bird. More and more each year.