One WHOLE Year

Hey Dollie,

You were not so excited that we did this to you,
if I remember correctly.

It's official. One year ago I officially joined the family.  I thought I'd share some of the highlights and horror stories with you.

This one time your brother and I went out on a date night while you were at school and we came home and your parents were wasted watching pirated Harry Potter in Russian.  Seriously, I haven't EVER heard your mom giggle that much, and watching her stumble into the kitchen for another drink made the night pretty much hilarious.

I went one day to get my new drivers licence, the one with my brand new married name on it, and I was totally stoked until it came to time to prove my address. I had to jump through strange hoops to make it all legal and your dad freaked out because "no one needs to know Michael isn't a citizen." News flash, everyone knows, and double checking with the guy at the DMV that it didn't matter if he was an alien as long as he had a social seemed like a smarter idea, much smarter than accidentally falsifying legal documents.

We moved out of our hell apartment, and within 48 hours I had bronchitis so bad I went to the ER because I couldn't breathe. I moved into your mother's house where she had you and a 4 year old, and I was a blob of germs for the first week. I was MISERABLE.


Your mom makes good food to feed sick people.

The first official Thanksgiving your immigrant family ever had was my fault, and that turkey was DA-BOMB. I consider that a win, especially when your grandmother asked how it was made.

Watching your dad pick fights over non-sense things that are really out of his control anyway. I saw it happen a couple of times, and only acted on the situation once.  Sometimes I regret not jumping in sooner, and sometimes I regret jumping in.  On the plus side I know most everyone in the family has some sort of beef with your dad, so I guess his way of "arguing out of love" will be mine.

Your little sister made me bawl my eyes out as she explained (in the only way 4 year olds know how) that I couldn't be married to your brother because she was going to marry Daddy and you were going to marry Michael.  Of course she couldn't explain to me why her mommy didn't need to be married, or how Daddy could be married to mom and her at the same time.. but for a moment it felt like she hated me and I was miserable.  This feeling didn't go away for a few days until she asked me for a hug.


There was a time when we went to visit you at school, your mom brother and I, and we went to Nagoya (the  Japanese buffet) and you people used my tongue as a testing platter.  I have seriously never ate so many awful things in one sitting. I left that place about as hungry as I arrived and twice as nauseated.  I am totally glad I did it though, now I know I know what not to ever eat again.

Anytime I ever cooked anything you didn't like. I felt like a failure as a person.  I can't wait until you get through the picky teenage years.


The Dial Up Tour at the House of Blues. 'Nuff said.

Last but not least...

Actually becoming someone's big sister.

Take care Doll-face, love you!


*In case anyone besides Dollie is looking at this, the photography at my wedding was done by my sister from another mister and you can check her out on Facebook here.