The Big 3-0!

Today is owed a post. I may technically be across the ocean somewhere in the bush, but today is a special day. 30 (count 'em!) years ago, I got a big brother. Eh, I guess I wasn't yet around for that, but I made an appearance soon after. To be sure, I can't be too harsh; after all, this occasion means that I, too, am getting... dare I say, "old"? Still, today is worth celebrating. So I have compiled a list of 30 memories/shenanigans/events/etc. that DM and I have gotten into shared. In no certain order:

• Prank calling 911. That happened once, and only once.

• Running the Cowtown marathon

• "Duck hunting" in the living room

• Oakland A's and Dallas Burn games

• Climbing on top of the monkey bars at the yellow house to escape the scary dogs next door.

• Graduation trips. Some of my favorite excursions ever.

• Cheese and cracker competition on the Teton hike (above mentioned graduation trip)

• Playing on the snowmobiles in M's backyard.

• Squirrel hunting with Wyatt out the playroom window. Clarification: I was an innocent encourager bystander.

• Four-wheeler snow sledding in the ditches

• Moped in the Lorenzo parade. You were a celebrity; I rode in the golf cart and shyly waved to the 30 roadside standers.

• Riding bikes through mud puddles in the parking lot down the street from the yellow house

• Birthday pie. Yes, that's PIE, not cake.

• Creek-wading and camping trips

• Micro-machines. Need I say more?

• You packing a soccer ball into the Pecos. (It was the Pecos trip, right?)

• Bear Lake with M while Mom and Dad hiked Flattop

• Perch fishing at LBJ with Granny & Papa

• That time you knocked out (chipped?) my tooth jumping on the bed. I believe there was also a broken tooth/swimming pool incident. My teeth have never been the same.

• Ski lessons at Wolf Creek. I always wanted to be as good as you were. Sometimes I still snowplow.

• White River Youth Camp, Year 1: I got sick, Mom was mean and wouldn't let me come home, and you were nice to me and made sure I was ok. I remember that.

• Christmas morning pictures. And Easter pictures. And first day of school pictures.

• Saved By the Bell. And Dr. Quinn. And Walker Tx Ranger. I'm lumping those together under the 80's TV umbrella.

• Riding with you in the Mustang to school before I got my license. You made me late for band almost every day, and I got so mad at you. Every. Day.

• Watching you announce Wyatt and Emme's arrivals and seeing what a good Dad you are

• Making up our own rules to monopoly. Score the middle stash. Win.

• Robin Hood. Over and over and over and over. (Skip the witch part.)

• Suicide ski trip to Taos

• Rollerblade obstacle course races in the driveway on Taylor. I don't know why we timed them; you always won.

• Surprise at the Art Auction. Seriously still awesome to me.

Happy Birthday, DM, and many more. I'm so very grateful that we get to be friends and siblings. There's no one else I'd rather have my back. Or eat chocolate chess pie with.