Cate

This afternoon I was having a hard time thinking of something to blog about, so I sent out a plea for topics to the universe (i.e. Twitter). The universe said nothing. Then I got one response saying I should blog about food. That just made me hungry, and considering that I am oozing out of my jeans like Jabba the Hutt as off late, that was not a good thing. So, I waited. I thought about blogging more about the swine flu, but then I realized I write about that all day and would rather put skewers through my eyes. I started a post about trying to stay on Weight Watchers during this time of super PMS (eleven weeks this Wednesday, hollah!), but not even I wanted to read that. And then, a miracle. My little sister Cate came up with an idea. I could write about her "awesomenicity." Yeah, that's not a word, but it's still a great idea.

Cate is pretty awesome. She is five years younger than I am (which means she will be thirty this year), and I always said that while I had great parents growing up, I really wish I had had Cate's parents. That five year gap gave my parents just enough time to relax and having two teenage girls at once, and then decide to let Cate do whatever she wanted. For instance, Mandy (older sister) and I had to share a station wagon that previously belonged to our grandfather the chain smoker for most of our teen years. It was like driving a tank, and gave us both emphysema. Cate? She got her own Toyota 4 Runner. Oh! And she never had a hard time getting money from our parents (Mandy and I didn't either, but I am going to forget that right now for dramatic effect). She was known as "keep the change Cate" because no matter the size of the bill, or the cost of the purchase, the money went into her pocket. My Mom says I wasn't very nice to Cate, and that when she was an infant/toddler/in her early 20's I used to poke and pinch her just to make her scream. I do not recall this, and will not take any more questions on the matter.

As an adult, Cate is many things, but the word that describes her best? Hilarious. No, really, she's funny, and not in the typical Mitchell way. Not only is she sarcastic, and biting, she's crafty -- as in glue gun and sparkles crafty. For instance, when Ryan and I started trying to have a baby she made us a very nice "bless our home" tole painted sign. It reads "Bless Our Humperdome." A few years ago she bought a large rubber bat to hang on her front door for Halloween, but then decided she wanted to keep it up year round. So, she made it costumes for every month of the year. Not just simple costumes either, for July it had a complete Lady Liberty get up, including light up torch. If she were to use her power for good instead of sarcastic crafting -- no, I don't even want to think about that. I love the crafts too much. Good will have to wait.

Oh, and while Cate may be funny, she is also fuckin' tough. We have a saying in my family -- don't poke the badger. Because really, she will take your face off. You do NOT want to fight with Cate, and many theater patrons in the intermountain west have found that out the hard way. Oh, so have many Broadway tour company managers. When "Wicked" came to town the actress playing Elphaba wasn't the only one looking green. That lighting guy really should have watched his mouth...

I just hope she likes this blog post. I love you, Catie. Okay?