The REAL sisterhood of the travelling pants...

Dad's pants, that is. I'm sure we travelled a couple of feet in dad's pants before falling. We should really see about doing this again... We were always close... we didn't always like being close... like when Leslie sat on my head to keep me from telling on her, I didn't love the closeness. But, we couldn't be luckier to have each other. So that was then, and this in now... Some differences, probably can't still get in dad's pants together, although I think we should try. We love to have a good time, and we LOVE to laugh. Mostly at ourselves. We think we are the funniest people we know. My sis and I experienced another sad loss in our life this last week though. Many of you may know about Lowly.... corn snake extraordinaire... but for those who don't, Lowly was Leslie's pet since 6th grade. I was in 4th grade when she came to live with us. We have many good stories to share with you, from the day she came home "Over my mom's dead body" to the day she escaped her cage and we found her later, wrapped around one of Leslie's Madam Alexander dolls. She made friends with ALMOST every visitor to our home... except for a few especially wussy males who wouldn't give her a chance. She ate many a rodent.... an excellent trait I hold dear to my heart... as there is almost nothing I hate more than rodents. (almost...) Visited many a science classes, homerooms and show-and-tells. She educated the neighborhood with her National-Geographic-esque shedding of skin and constricting and swallowing of small rodents. She taught us that snake sperm can live in the body of a female for greater than 10 years! She laid two sets of eggs with babies in them... non-viable, but educational nonetheless. Had it not been for Lowly, I would probably not have the appreciation I do for this reptile. I'll pause here and remind you snake haters (those who are still reading) that without a little appreciation of snakes... I shudder to imagine our homes and neighborhoods over-run with the nasty little rodents they feast on. This is a pic of Lowly finishing her spaghetti-mouse dinner. After a few years of mishaps... we learned that if you put lowly in the bathtub with a little warm water about 2 days after she eats... she'll poop right there in the bathtub and you can clean it up so easily! How many of your pets can poop in the bathtub on command? (Don't worry, we never pooped her in our current house). I can just hear all the judgements you guys are hurling around about me putting my new baby in a snake poopy bathtub. So rest assured. Although Lowly was technically Leslie's' pet, always living in her room when we were growing up... she came to live with me (and Sara) at A&M during my sophomore year and moved with me out to Lubbock and back to Sherman and Allen. I was not only her aunt, but her adopted mother for a time. These were the best of times and the worst of times. She laid her second set of eggs (which we videotaped), she suffered from occasional seizures during the end of her life as well as some senility, we think, and we finally found her the PERFECT AstroTurf for her aquarium. We know she was content. Wouldn't you be with a life expectancy of 10-12 years... going on your 20th?? (At least 20 by the way, we are unsure of her age at the time we brought her home) We know she got some action... even if it was 20 years ago. And most of all we know she brought much joy, surprise and excitement into our lives. (Some day I'll elaborate on the excitement that precipitated 1. the diagnosis of Leslie's allergy to snake saliva and 2. Lowly's move from my house back to Plano to live with her real mom). So.... Lowly was buried this weekend... although we always planned on making some coin purses or shoes out of her after her death, we didn't plan well enough to execute this. We just didn't think she would EVER die. So... so long.... long friend. We love you. We miss you. We never thought we would say goodbye! You were a good and NOT slimy but smooth pet.

Did I mention that my sister is a VERY interesting human being? Not just the kind of girl who will bring home a pet snake in the 6th grade... but interesting in so many ways. You'll be lucky if you ever get to know her... And you'll know its her because.... well, you'll just know.

I'm 13 weeks now! Yes... still icky feeling... I don't even know how to elaborate, and I bet you don't want me to. We go back to the doc on Thursday... but I don't think we will get to see of find out anything good. But I will keep you all informed. This last pic is of my sister and I.... standing beneath our mantra... the code we live by... and believe in. I'm sure we've driven many people to the state mental hospital with this mindset. I suspect/ fear that a child of mine could inherit this trait. I wouldn't mind all that much... it WOULD be a relaxing and peaceful way to live but for all the nagging you have to hear all the time about "hurry up" and "we should have left 20 minutes ago." I'm not even going to elaborate on all the dramatic countdowns given to us by our father as he waited for us to finish getting ready. From now on all I can say is Kevin... Dad.... I'm sorry but Olafer said....

LATER!