Family Ties

So I was talking to my sister Mary the other day about the blog, and she suggested I write about my family. Now, as she never said what to write about or what I could or could not say.....No, wait, I'm not evil. I figured I'd talk a little bit about who she is, what our wacky relationship is like, and maybe a few more things. We'll see what happens with this, and as I only have 3 immediate family members (Mary being the only one who to my knowledge reads this), I may eventually start talking about any of you who actually wants to. I'll try to spare the punches (ie, I won't talk about your crippling gambling addiction or that time you sent a busload of kids over a cliff...wait, that was Veronica Mars) but if any of you actually want me to analyze you, feel free to either comment on the post with a name or send me an email. I can't promise WHEN my analysis will come, but I'll let you know in an email. I will of course be writing about family first, so there's another two posts after this one before I even think to talking about you.

But anyway, Mary. Basic description is that she's my sister. She's the one who loves pandas, acting, singing, Spanish, reading, and music, not necessarily in that order. She's the one who's either helping me start my latest scheme or coming up with a new one for me to implement. Let's start with the reminiscing!

We used to fight a lot, for some reason. She just wouldn't admit that I was right (side note: I was) and that I deserved more of the couch, food, TV programming, and movie choices (another side note: I did). So we fought, I hit, she wouldn't, I "won," she cried to Mom, I got yelled at, we both ended up unhappy. This cycle repeated itself until we got into high school for some reason. I blame her, because I was clearly cooler (side note: I wasn't) and knew more about the world (side note: I still don't, but that's because she went to Europe)

We stopped fighting when I got to high school, mainly because we were both busier and had our own friends. We became good friends whose humor plays well with each other. I understand her style and how to make it work. My Mom and I were picking her up from college a year or two ago and we stopped at a Perkins for lunch, because Perkins is delicious. And so Mary and I started fake fighting about something stupid, and our mother started laughing while trying to tell us to stop. I said "You can't be mad if you're laughing," Mary instantly repeated it, and then we both started chanting it at the same time. We also have mastered a good summary/version of the chicken cluck from Arrested Development. Like I said, we know how to make comedy work. As some of you may know, my sister is in a comedy group over the summers when she is back in Chicago. She is criminally underused, but always hilarious when she gets up there. I and her have written several skits that are based around our childhood, and if I can ever find video of them, I'll upload them here. My sister plays me because she knows what I am like, while Mary's best friend plays Mary because she knows what Mary is like. Mary also factors into some other skits, but she doesn't receive as much show time as she should have (ideally, it would be two hours of Mary up there entertaining me, with a few other people thrown in every now and then, but I'm not in charge of the show)

Mary loves pandas. I mean loves them. As previously mentioned, she's the one with the pandas covering her room, pictures of which I will take when I go home this weekend. It's easy to see anything that isn't panda-colored in that room, but if it is black and white, you're outta luck. I don't think I've ever mentioned that she's a Spanish major. Technically, she's now a Spanish grad student, which I'm not sure what exactly that entails. I imagine teaching whiny undergrads Spanish 1, but that's only a guess.

She's also a good singer, in that she pulled our collective butts out of the fire whenever we played rock band at home. She did choir back in grade school, so I imagine all that artsy-fartsy helped. She also is really good at painting and such. Basically, she somehow tapped into the heretofore undeveloped Zuidema artistic talent gene. I haven't touched mine, but I have to think that before my life is up I'll try to harness it, fail badly, and then give up to go look at fantasy baseball scores (I know my limits, and hey, baseball).

As for when she gets out of grad school, I think she's going to go into teaching kids, either in high school or college. She'll end up in a panda wedding dress someday with panda tuxes and panda bridesmaid dresses (don't ask me WHERE she'll get them, she'll find a place). Actually, I kinda want to see that. Because I know it will keep me entertained, which, as far as I can figure out, is what family is for.

Mary, since I know you're reading this, thanks for being my sister. Also, this was your birthday present. I hope you enjoyed it, read it again in like 2 months and pretend it's new.