Things I Learned about Steph

I am VERY close to my sisters. We talk almost every day, sometimes more than once, depending on what the issue de jour is. Steph and I were particularly close when we were kids, sharing a room, sharing friends, sharing our love for Laverne and Shirley, The Love Boat and listening to KHJ FM radio as well fell asleep at night. This trip has enlightened me to our grown up connection, how we are the same and how we are VERY different.

Lets talk movies. I asked Steph what her favorite movies were and the list started revealing a pattern. Let's see if you can pick it up. Ice Castles, Dying Young, Officer and a Gentleman, Uggg. I can't even think of any more but if someone is blind, dying or has died and there is a love story embedded in it, it's probably on Steph's top 10 favorite movies. When I listed some of MY favorites, (my love story fav's that is) like Music and Lyrics, Never Been Kissed, The Wedding Singer, Ever After - yep, I love Drew Barrymore, especially when she is goofy, Steph said, uggggg. Those movies are stupid. Yah, just because no one dies or was blinded by a skating related head injury.

How about music... We bought an i-phone adaptor in Iowa so we could access Steph's i-tunes and my Pandora Internet radio. Whoever was driving got to choose the music. When she drove we heard a lot of Gray's Anatomy artists, like Ingrid Michaelson and such. I searched her music and found that she only had about 40 songs and sometimes only one or two songs per artist. This was after I played my Pretenders Radio and she said someone should shoot her if she had to listen to another 80's song. I suggested we find an artist she liked, but she couldn't give one. She said, she grows bored of music after a while and that certain artists, like The Dixie Chicks and Kelly Clarkson should not be allowed to write their own music. I suggested she become a music critic and she replies something to the effect of she'd rather not have any part of that hot mess. I tried not to annoy her with any more throwbacks from our teen years and she never harassed me about my music choices while I drove.

Service. Steph does NOT tolerate shoddy service, especially in this economy. I am probably way too tolerant. I assume you remember the incident in NM with the tipping and the forged signature. In Flagstaff, we walked into a restaurant that had a green Chile cheeseburger on the specials menu. Having missed the opportunity to scratch that itch in Santa Fe, We sat ourselves down at a table and were promptly ignored for a good five minutes. No menu, no water, now way. Steph got up and walked out. As I passed the waitress, I asked if she was on her way over to check on us, and it was clear that we still weren't on her priority list. I said, I didn't think I could get my sister to come back. I see that now as a gift. In this economy, you need to hop-to! Making people feel valued as customers. Shoddy service will not be tolerated. I'm going to sew what later today and having this embroidered on a v-neck gap yellow t-shirt in size x-large boobs for Steph. Hey, someone needs to let these people know how to succeed in this economy.

There are some things about Steph that I already knew, such as, that she hates to get sweaty, she hates stained clothing and she has a real dislike for body odor.

We really freaked ourselves out along the trip when we shared the same thoughts over and over again. I would think it and she would say it or vice versa. It happened so many times that we just came to accept it. She no longer needed to say "I 've grown tired of this place" at every made in China gift store we passed after a few minutes of shopping. I just knew.

This trip was an absolute dream. I grew depressed as it was coming to an end. The only relief for me is that my sister, Stephanie is a captive in my town and in my life until her husband gets snapped up for the treasure that he is, and his career takes them out of Santa Barbara. That and the fact that my sister Stacy is on her way in, intending to move here for good. The joy of it almost hurts, like my abs from all the laughing I have done in the last ten days.