Siblings

Yay! Friday! All day yesterday I was CONVINCED it was Friday, so having to get up early today to get to work was quite harsh.

I had a really good evening yesterday though. Mixi turned 23, so we all went to Mum and Dad's place to celebrate her. 'All' being Mixi, mum and dad (obviously, Peter, Rebekka, Emil, Lars and I. We had a really cozy evening, and it was neat seeing Emil again. He's grown heaps in just the 10 days since I saw him last :)

Today Lars is going out with Peter for a beer-tasting thing Peter's work arranged (Peter took me to the wine-tasting and Lars to the beer-tasting... fine by me!) so I'm planing on hitting the gym on my way home as I've neglected that terribly lately. I really enjoy training once I'm there, it's just getting out that takes a bit of effort. Fortunately I've discovered that I can use the cross-trainer without problems, even with my leg - and the screen (showing effort level, time etc.) is a perfect 'stand' for whatever book I'm currently reading ;)

Tomorrow Henni is coming over so we can plan our trip to London in September (since Lars will be trainspotting most of the time anyway, all of us thought it a brilliant idea when Henni asked if she could come along, as I'd have company that way ;) ) - booking flights, hotel and picking out the musical we want to see. I love London, and it'll be great having Henni come along. Hopefully I'll also get to meet up with a dear friend from New Zealand while I'm there. I haven't seen her since 2004 and even then it was only for a brief hour or so. Can't WAIT!

Speaking of New Zealand, I wasted some time on facebook yesterday and found SO MANY of my classmates from 1996/1997. I have no clue why I didn't think of looking for them earlier, but think I found 10-15 people yesterday :) Of course I sent friend requests to all of them right away, and now just HOPE that they'll actually remember who I am ;)

Anyway, I know I'm jumping subjects, but spending yesterday together with two of my sisters and looking through our old baby-books got me thinking a bit about how alike and different we all are.

Nina was born in 1981 when I was 4 days shy of 1.5 so I don't remember a time when I didn't have her around. From memory we've always been very close, and best friends as well as sisters. Of course we didn't always agree, but as we're quite different in temperaments, our fights were never vicious nor lasting (again - as far as I remember ;) ) Nina was the one I could (and did) talk to about everything and up until the age of 14 we often slept in the same room. In high school Nina was just one class below me, and quickly became the "IB Little Sister" as she hung out with my class quite often.

Nina is the creative one out of the four of us. She write great stories, sews clothes for herself and her kids (and the rest of us once in awhile), is great at drawing and painting and and impressive dancer having taken lessons in ball-room dancing, tap-dance, jitterbug, and at least two others whose names have escaped me. She currently teaches dancing to young kids.

Nina is the home-maker. She's the one most like Mum, and the one who's followed most closely in her footsteps. She was the first of us to start a family, and is now very content being a SAHM taking care of her three kids and her husband.

Rebekka was born in 1983 so I vaguely remember her birth. Or rather, I have a memory of staying at Farmor and Farfar's place that may or may not have been from when she was born ;) Rebekka is probably the sister who resembles me the most in temperament, which was cause for some major fights when we were in our pre-/early teens. We consciously made up just before I went to New Zealand (as we were very aware that we loved each other even if we exasperated each other at times too) and have been mostly good friends ever since ;)

Rebekka was usually the one I'd share boy stories with as she had more experience there than Nina did (who married her first boyfriend). Rebekka is probably the rebel of the four of us, as I think her teenage years were 'wilder' than they were for the rest of us (at least Nina and I).

I think Rebekka is also the most ambitious of us. When she decides to do something, she throws herself into it heart and soul. I remember her having a talk with Mum and Dad because they thought she was spending too much time on her jui-jitsu classes, but that's really par for course for her. Anything worth doing is worth doing 110% seems to be her motto. The same has been the case for her medical studies, where I'm sure she'll do really well.

As the youngest, Michala was born in 1985. Her birth I remember very vividly, as I was 5.5 at this time. Despite us really not being all that far apart in ages, the fact that there were two other sisters between her and me made her seem younger than she is, and for a long time she was the 'baby' of the family... which probably also meant that she was more spoiled... or perhaps it just seemed that way at the time ;)

I think that it's occasionally been difficult for Mixi to be the youngest, and she's probably often felt left out as the rest of us got to do things earlier than she did (earlier in time, not earlier in age - it was probably quite the contrary there, actually), especially my last year of high school, as the three of us were all at the same high school and went to the same school parties that year. I know that's also the case now, where the rest of us have all gotten married, and she doesn't even have a boyfriend. Not that she's in any rush to get married (at least she says she isn't, and seems content with her life), but it frustrates her greatly when everybody asks "So, when are you getting married?" and that she no longer has an obvious room-mate when we go away on vacation together.

Though definitely book-smart as well, Michala's greatest asset is her street-smarts. She's had more jobs than the rest of us put together - not because she couldn't keep them, but because she started much earlier than the rest of us. She really likes working retail, loves the customers and her dream job is running a Danish version of Virgin Megastores.

It took some years before the age difference 'levelled out' in my head, but Mixi is now the sister I spend most time together with, and Lars' darling as well :) (not that he doesn't love Nina and Rebekka as well, but there's a special bond between him and Mixi). I also happen to think Mixi is the most beautiful of us all - which I've told her :)