One Week

In one week from today I will be stepping onto a plane and heading to Georgia...
In one week and one day from today I will get to see my little brother again...
In one week and two days from now I will be the proud sister of a strong man that finished boot camp for the United States Army...
In one week and one day from now, I am going to tackly my brother with a hug and immediately ask him to teach me how to do an armbar...

Im pretty excited about my trip if you can't tell.

You don't realize the luxury of having your immediate family close until they are gone and you can't just pick up a telephone, call, and meet for lunch. Joe is the cohesive glue that holds our family together. He gets along, pretty much, with everyone and seems to have the closest bond with all of his siblings. While Tanner and I are close, we aren't as close as we could be and Jake is at that stage where he would rather be close to his friends than his family. That's just how it is sometimes. While Jake and I are getting closer everyday, Joe and I just always had a bond...I don't know if it is the 7 year age gap, the fact that I helped raise him while I was still a child myself, the floating turd in the bathtub incident, or the fact that he is just so damned lovable. I mean, the kid could be the greatest car salesman in the world...instead he is going to be the greatest soldier in the world (in my opinion.) He can do everything in his power to piss you off, yet you can't really get mad at him. He put a damned hole in my wall at the going away party we had for him...the ONLY nice, finished wall we have in our entire house, he picks that one to put a hole in. Could I get mad at him...no...the hole is still there and I still chuckle everytime I walk past it. I think I will actually be sad when we fix the hole. (Joe recommends putting a frame around it and placing a plaque over it that states something to this affect..."joe's ass was here.") That is my little brother for you.
I do have the most amazing brothers though. I have Tanner, the amazing father who had all his teachers in high school convinced that he had a learning disability (he pretended to) and turns out to have this great job when all our teachers thought he would work at mickey D's forever...haha! I still laugh when I remember the face of Mr. Miller when I told him he was going to school for tool and dye and he realized he let him slack in class...
Then there is Jake. My youngest brother. The one who does have an actual learning disability, but is still one of the smartest kids I know. He is an amazingly hard worker and reminds me so much of my Papa...and that is a great thing. He doesn't give himself the credit he deserves. You give that kid a shovel and he will make a masterpiece out of your landscaping. You give him a gun and he will shoot dead on everytime. Plus, he is extremely handsome (he just needs to cut his hair) and he has old school values...but can pull out faces and sounds that make you laugh so hard you start crying.

I lucked out in the sibling department...and so far I have the coolest sister-in-laws. I couldn't have asked for better ones than Erinn and Jen. I have a lot to be thankful for.

I will post, with extreme detail, the proper way to enforce an armbar.