Can you believe - 200!

Today is my 200th post! Can you believe it, 200 times I've blathered on about this or that. 200 times some of you have commented (but just so you know not enough of you, I know you're here, so why not stroke my ego, boost my confidence and make my day by leaving a comment!), 200 times I've sat at my keyboard pondering what to write, reading and re-reading, spell checking and sometimes deleting. It's 200 times I've thoroughly and completly enjoyed! Writing is in my blood, it soothes my soul and makes me feel "my voice" is being heard.

Anyways, today, in honor of 200 posts I have something very important to talk about. Actually it's not really something it's a someone....

As many of you know I have a brother, a younger brother. He's a great guy who grew into a great man and is someone I love and respect very much. Someone my children think is awesome and ask on a regular basis to see. He is also someone who has, for as long as I can remember liked his privacy and has asked that I keep him from this blog. With an exaggerated eye roll I said, "Ok, fine I guess so." Then I pouted for 5 minutes which was completly lost on him and I had to give up. Sigh

Aside from the fact that my bro is a blog party pooper he is also lacking one really major trait - he's not a girl! I always wanted a sister. I mean it was cool and stuff having a brother but he quickly out grew the idea of playing barbies with me, he'd rather be in the mud. He did play dress up with us girls (poor kid was always the "husband" to my good friend and we made him wear these funny purple and pink coats hahaha) but he didn't like to shop or paint his nails or do his make up. We had a lot in common but especially in my teenage years I yearned for a sister. Whether older or younger (preferably younger because well...I'm bossy) I just wanted someone who'd listen to my crap, tell me when my butt looks fat in those pants (or all of them) and who'd inhabit a different part of my soul, a part that had been empty up until a few years ago.

Enter Chelsea

ps. I totally stole this from Facebook!

Chelsea is my sister. Not my sister-in-law, that just implies boundries, we have none. (Well, except the boundry that we dont' get naked in front of each other, I don't wanna see hers and she certainly don't wanna see mine!) And although we really look nothing alike, don't share a mother or a father and grew up in different places you'd swear somewhere in there we share some blood. I guess if you want to be cheesy about it we are "Soul Sistas".

I can remember the day I met Chelsea. We were out for dinner with Corey's brother Scott on the night we decided to tell him I was pregnant with Bethany. He'd brought a friend of his (Corey's ex but let's not even go there *wink*) Helen and she'd brought her friend Chelsea. It was no secret Chels had a crush on Scott and after divulging in our surpise which turned out to be a bit of a bomb shell to someone other than Scott, we headed home. Anyways, on the drive home I commented to Corey on how sweet Chelsea seemed and on the fact that I figured she had a thing for Scott. Not long after they were dating and then in love and then engaged and then married. In all that time I was sick in the hosptial, pregnant and grumpy and then a new and shall I say highly emotional mother. And yet still, somehow we managed to become friends and to connect.

A connection in fact that I have only ever shared with one other individual. Both are their own bonds but still hold the same, forever and ever-through thick and thin-fight fire-laugh and cry at boys-don't care if you pee in your underwear (ok so maybe that's only Cindy) kind of way. Chelsea and I managed to chat our way through hours of time, making the servers at EastSide Marios think that we were planning on staying for supper as well as lunch. We've shopped (although not enough) together, learned what it was to be wives, to be sisters to each other, to be pregos and then mothers, daughters-in-law and adults, or so we tell ourselves we are.

We also some how manage to have the same stupid, crazy sense of humour. It causes great fits of laughter to extend far longer than is necessary, in a room full of poor unsuspecting and rather clueless members of our family, while trying to get a grip but finding every subesquent topic more hilarous than then last resulting in aching bellies and tears pouring down my face. It's wonderful!

Chelsea has listened to me complain, seen me cry, put up with those unpleasant prego moods, cuddled my children, loved my husband, let us into her family and become part of mine. She's a wonderful wife, a super momma, with sincerity one of the kindest souls you'll meet, she's always willing to help, ready to listen and easy to smile. Her laughter can be heard a mile away and can brighten just about anyones day.

She's the sister I imagined my brother to be (if of course he didn't posses that boy gene). Actually that's not true, she's the sister I always wanted along side my brother. I hope she knows how special she is, not only to me but to the rest of my family, my husband and my children. And I hope she knows that I appreciate her with everything I'm worth, I miss her very much (she refuses to move to Chilliwack - doesn't like cow poo, go figure) and I'm proud to say she's my sister. Chelsea, we love you very much, I'm so glad you picked Scott and he was smart enough to snatch you up.

Together we can be crazy, laughing girls who truly are Stone-d!