"Make her stop being so NICE."

For my first day of BEDA (that's Blog Every Day in August, for those of you who don't already know; coined by the infamous author/blogger/twitter connoisseur Maureen Johnson) I am going to tell you a story.

So I'm starting BEDA off poorly; my nose is running, I have a terrible cough, and if I put my head down on the arm of this couch for more than ten seconds I would probably fall asleep. BUT. I am committed to doing BEDA this year, so blog I must.

Anyway. The story.

I went to Idaho this weekend, to see my family and attend my cousin Korrie's wedding. Korrie is a cousin of mine that lives in Tennessee, but before he moved to the south, he actually used to live up here in Seattle. And for a while, he actually lived with my family. Korrie was more of an older brother to me than a cousin, and I was crushed when he moved away (because I have seen him very few times since then). But obviously I still care loads about him, and was overjoyed that tour didn't overlap with his wedding, as I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

My story isn't about Korrie or the wedding though. It's about fighting with my brother.

My brother and I get along pretty well, though we've had our moments. I mean, we're siblings. Of course we're going to argue and bicker over stupid things. When we were younger our family used to drive to North Dakota every summer, and 19 hours in the car with your family is enough to make ANYONE fight.

But we're older now. We don't need petty arguments over whose side of the backseat is bigger to keep us entertained on long car rides anymore. Right?

Wrong. Seriously, I don't even know what came over me. I'm 22 years old and Nick is 17, but two hours in that car together and we were fighting like we were both kids again. First he started using his iPod to glint the sun directly into my eyes, and then I smacked him and told him to quit being stupid, and finally my parents had to split us up so my mom sat in the back with me and they had Nick drive.

This spurred a conversation about the highly ingenious ways Nick and I used to pick on each other.

Our bedrooms are right across from each other down a long hall, straight back from the kitchen. Just perfect yelling distance when my mom was making dinner. When Nick was 9 or 10, he'd sit in his room all alone (while I was minding my own business in my room reading Harry Potter or something) and he'd start shouting "Ow! Tina Stop! Stop it, Tina. Why are you doing that? Mom! Make her stop!"

Then I'd hear my mom get so sick of it she's be like "TINA, WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING TO YOUR BROTHER, CUT IT OUT!"

And I would just storm out of my room, Prisoner of Azkaban in hand and say "What the heck Mom, I'm not doing anything!" We'd just hear Nick cracking up in his bedroom.

So I decided to get back at him, and on a road trip one time, instead of being mean, I was just overly, sickeningly nice to him. I kept hugging him, and telling him how much I loved him, and kissing him, and offering to do anything he wanted.. and finally he was like "MOM, MAKE HER STOP!" When my Mom asked what I was doing, he replied, "Make her stop being nice to me!"

Needless to say, I never got in any trouble when I used that method. xD

Anyway, I don't care what age you are, family trips are tiring. I just got home, and it was really, really nice to see some of my extended family, but I am happy to be home. I got a nasty cold while we were gone and I am ready to take some medicine and go to sleep.

I hope everyone else's Day #1 of BEDA is going well, and happy August! You should tell me what you're most excited for this month in the comments. I'm most excited for the Renaissance Faire in two weeks. I haven't been in a few years at least.

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