We are Family

Day 3 of NaBloPoMo and I can't handle another emotional entry, can you? I want to thank all of my readers for their comments via the blog, twitter, facebook, email, and in person. Yesterday's entry was therapeutic for me in a way. While I don't like thinking about my father, it was good to get it out a bit. I appreciate all of your kind words.

Friday. There are writing prompts Monday-Friday. The weekends are a free-for-all. So, today?

Friday, February 3, 2012
Do you have any siblings? What are they like?

Yes, I have two sisters, Jill and Shelly. When describing us, I always reference the Brady Bunch: 1. because there were 3 of them and 3 of us, 2. why WOULDN'T I reference the Brady Bunch? I LOVE that show and 3. I'm the "youngest one in curls." :)

Jill is Marcia -- the oldest. And she did have her nose broken by a ball like Marcia -- but it was a softball during an intramural game in college! She was playing on the Ohio State Stadium field at night and she lost the ball in the lights. Clunk -- ball hit Jill, Jill hit ground. Jill is eight years older than me, married to Jamie, a nurse, and has three awesome kiddos. I don't want to describe my niece and nephews too much because I'm assuming that will be a writing prompt next week. ;-) Her kids are Alec, Maddie, and Ian. But I call Ian "Frank." They all live nearby in Houston, but we don't see each other often because we are so busy with activities. Jill's family loves Ohio State (where Jill and Jamie met and graduated) and athletics. Any weekend, they are at 32984 baseball games and 2290 soccer games. I don't know how she keeps the uniforms clean, much less gets everyone where they are supposed to be. Jill is very vocal, like our grandmother, when a referee makes a wrong call.

Shelly is Jan -- the middle. Shelly didn't use lemon to get rid of freckles like Jan did, but she did use Sun-in to try and lighten her hair in middle school. It wasn't a good thing. She is four years older than me, married to Judd, a kindergarten teacher, and has two amazing kiddos, Jacci and Connor. Again, I'm sure I'll say something about them later. Shelly is the artistic one and we always get each other's opinions on decorating. Shelly and I are the only ones in our family who love anchovies and oysters, so we always split a Coccia House pizza when we are together (um... without oysters, but extra anchovies!). Shelly is the lone Buckeye fan in a house full of Wolverines. Shelly's family lives near Dayton, Ohio, so I don't get to see her much at all. I keep trying to talk her into moving down to Texas. One day, I will get her here, I hope!!! Shelly is the only one of us who followed our Mom's footsteps in teaching and she works so hard for all of her students and has become quite the expert on finding lice in her classroom.

Though we haven't always seen eye-to-eye, my sisters have been there for me through some of my roughest patches in life. Sure, we fought like crazy growing up (Someone, not naming names, had a tendency of stealing all of our clothes...), but isn't that normal for a household full of girls?

Some of my favorite times are drinking margaritas and playing euchre with my sisters and our mom, hysterically laughing the night away

A Very Steiner Christmas ;-)
I love this picture. We are being completely silly, crying so hard we were laughing, and taking the cheesiest picture with our new Christmas gifts, including, apparently, hairspray for Jill.