What a Ride!!

Hurricane Erin (my sister) blew in last week. And MAN, did we have fun!

But first, a little history.

Erin and I are the only two children of our divorced parents. We are 2 years, 11 months apart. (But I won't tell you who's older) Erin met a guy in college, and about 12 years ago, they moved to Florida. As I tell Emerson, it was the worst day of my life. Since then, we see each other about twice a year for about 4 days. Each time it's a whirlwind of activity until she leaves and then it takes me literally a week to recover from the exhaustion. Erin also has a son, Gage, who is the love of my life. He is exactly 6 months younger that Vivi and they are so cute together.

So Erin and her family came in on a Thursday and my father picked them up from the airport. My mother went to pick them up from there to take them to her house in downtown Chicago. Now, my mother just bought herself a new car. She got a Mitsubishi Spyder convertible. It's a GORGEOUS car, but it doesn't have much trunk space. Now being the diva that Erin is, she couldn't pack light, so I was the valet and took their luggage in my car.

I took Friday and Monday off of work to spend with them. On Friday we were going to meet at the race track but I got a call in the morning and this is how it went;

Erin "Hey, I need you to do me a big favor."

Me "What's that?"

Erin "I guess I must have dropped my glasses on the plane yesterday and the airline has them and I need you to go and pick them up."

Me "Are you serious?"

Erin " PLEAAAASSSSEEE!"

Me "Fine!!! But when I need a kidney, you better give me one!"

Erin "You ROCK!!! But you already staked claim on all my vital organs years ago. "

Me "Just make sure you take care of them until I need them."

Erin "Done!"

That's basically how it went the whole time. We did go to the track on Friday and drank beer. On Saturday we gave Matt a belated birthday party at a Karaoke bar and drank A LOT. We got a hotel room by the bar and on Sunday, Matt and I went to a Cubs game and then back to mom's for lasagna (and beer). On Monday we went to my dad's house and had a few beers and then went out to dinner. They were going to leave really early on Tuesday morning, so we said our goodbyes in the parking lot of the restaurant. Erin, Emerson, Vivi and I were sobbing!!! That is the absolute worst part about the visits, the goodbyes.

Erin is starting school in about a week, so we have no idea when they'll be back. I miss her so much all the time!!!! I know that this sounds really corny and sappy and a bit of a cliche, but she is my other half. When we're together, it's like we're one, and when we're apart, I feel a huge hole inside of me.

My only hope is that maybe she'll move back, but then we'd just get on each other's nerves all the time. And we probably wouldn't see each other very often because of work and everything.

So, maybe that's why we have such a good time together, because we know our time is limited and we have to make the most of it.

I don't know, but thanks for listening.