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I am going to the book store.. I am going to be busy tody..... reading PFP~!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

*today

After that story, I’m not sure whether to be sad or happy that I’m an only child.  (But I do like pickle juice!)

Teresa, how on earth do you know that you like pickle juice unless you had a mean little sister to trick you into drinking it?

genuinely curious,
Eloisa

What, like you never drank it right out of the jar just because it was tasty?  PULEASE!

Actually, I was SO known to love pickles when I was a little girl that if my grandfather stopped by our house and we weren’t home, he would leave a big jar of pickles on the front porch for me

I, too, was an only child (and so is my husband, but that’s another story...) but we have four kids. Three daughters, and they were all home for Thanksgiving, laughing and drinking together, cheating at Scrabble. They are each others’ best friends. One’s auburn-haired and brown-eyed, one’s blond and blue-eyed, one’s nearly black with hazel eyes, so we have the whole Mendel thing going on, but they’re all alike in that they love each other and pretty much support each other no matter what. My husband and I just love to listen to them.

Of course they had their fights when they were younger and all shared the same room (once my husband removed the door from its hinges so it couldn’t be slammed anymore---that smartened them up in a hurry), but the memories they have will bond them forever. I’m almost jealous!

My big sister is three years older than me and we fought like cats and dogs because I wanted to hang out with her and she wanted to hang out with her friends.  We drove each other nuts.  We are COMPLETE opposites of each other!  We shared a room growing up and her half would be all neat, organized, color coded and mine had clothes falling off of hangers, rolled up, the bed all messy...it was HELL growing up with a neat freak!!  Anyhow, now that we are all grown up we love each other so much!  She lives an hour north of me.  When seh takes my kids out, people actually believe that they are hers because they look like her and she loves them as if they were hers!  She’s even taken them to New York without me and my grandparents thought they were hers!  My mom had my younger sister when I was 15 and I think she was treated more like our own child rather than a sister.  She was kinda like a toy for us.  We were all more protective of her and still are (she’s 17).

Maggie, I am taking notes!  I like your husband’s idea--if my sullen 13-year-old slams his door one more time...wow.  What a great option!

And brownone, my sister was/is a neat freak too!  The weird thing is that we’ve become more similar as we get older--I think we’re meeting somewhere in the middle these days.

Eloisa

I have 3 brothers and desperately wanted a sister growing up.  I blame it on LITTLE WOMEN.  One of my brothers is only a year younger though, so I do remember an “incident” involving cider vinegar and being told it was apple juice.

I’m looking forward to my next trip to the bookstore - PLEASURE FOR PLEASURE is next on my list.  I still like books about sisters and have loved this series!

I was the only girl with 3 younger brothers and I pined for a sister.  Seriously.  I had a few girlfriends who were sisters, and they were each other’s best friends.  Some of the best times we had as a group were just spent listening to what they’d been up to when they went home.  They used to write these hilarious parodies of our favorite tv shows and book series; or sometimes just “not quite true” stories of things that happened at school.  It was sooooo fun to be around them and, at the same time, hard because I wanted that relationship with someone!  You get an approximation with university roomates, but you don’t have all that history together.  Now I’m a mom and I have 2 daughters, only 17 months apart.  I was so excited when the second was a girl!  They’re already best friends and I enjoy seeing their love for each other every day.  And yes, that includes the girl fights! (LOL at the pickle juice) I hope they stay or at least end up as friends like you describe Eloisa.

I too am an only child but I had the good fortune of marrying guy with two big sisters who claimed me as the little sister they never had.  I love ‘em to pieces. After hearing some of my husband’s childhood stories I don’t know if I should be jealous that I didn’t have some of those great adventures with them or thankful that I got ‘em as kinder, gentler adults though!

BTW...I can’t wait to read PFP.  I’ve so been looking forward to Josie’s story.

I have six siblings, but I was always closest to my younger sister (23 months younger, to be exact). She my hero(ine). She’s six feet tall, (I’m 5’2") beautiful (I’m, uh, Really not), and just one of the nicest people I know. She won’t listen to mean gossip, gives good advice, can always give me location directions I understand, etc.
She’s also a great singer and a wonderful Mom.

The only problem? Well, for one, she got married a couple years ago. Yes, he’s an awesome guy, her perfect match, and they honestly make each other better people, blah blah. But now I’M not her favorite anymore. :-( I’m only partly joking. And, to top it all off, they moved OUT OF STATE! It’s a 4 or 5-hour drive, one way.

One of my memories (of her driving me nuts) was when we were really little—I’m thinking 3-4 and 5-6. She said she was older because her birthday was in March and mine was in April. I knew, somehow, that was wrong, but I didn’t really understand the calendar at the time and I couldn’t explain HOW I could be older and have a later birthday. I was so frustrated! 

Of course, I paid her back when I could tell time and we would “play Cinderella” when we had to clean our room. I would “let” her be Cinderella as I ordered her around. We were supposed to switch every five minutes. Somehow, her turn always lasted a much longer “five minutes” than mine.

I actually still feel a little guilty about that.

We’re still close, and when we play team games at the holidays the family considers us a major threat if we’re on the same team (which we almost always manage). We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how each other thinks. At Thanksgiving, we played Cranium. Me and Mo on one team, everyone else on the other. We won.

Eloisa, on the slamming door thing, my mother once asked my youngest brother, who was slamming doors, if something was wrong with his arm.  It seemed to have grown uncontrollably strong, since he was having trouble shutting doors normally. 

As far as sisters, I have one, 16 months younger, who was always the favorite.  We did not get along at all until about 8 years ago.  After a very miserable confrontation when I stood up for myself, we have grown to be best friends.  We are both a lot more alike now (as you said, meeting in the middle), we are both mothers, and our mother has passed away.  Now we talk several times a week and see each other a couple times a month (we live an hour apart and she works in a hospital, so has weekend shifts, or it would be more often).

I love series with sisters.  I love series with families too.  The family relationships add a whole other dimension of love and support to the growing dependency between the hero and heroine.  I like the richness all of the relationships bring.

Hope to nab PFP at lunch today

Lynn

I have a younger sister who’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed, extremely popular and was a cheerleader all four years of high school.  And then there was me - brown-haired, hazel-eyed, not a cheerleader/Drama freak.  I wouldn’t say that we’re close or buddy buddy… like we don’t talk about our secret desires/fears… we tend to fight.  She’s bossy and likes to manage everything from how I don’t dress right to what people should say, and I don’t.  But, as much as a pain as she is, I’m glad that I have her… well, most of the time any way.  *g*

I grew up with a sister who is 2 years older than me and a little brother. When I was about 7-9 my friends all thought she was so cool and when they came over they would want to do whatever she was doing. I hated it, lol I thought my sister was so mean, she was nice to everyone but me. We used to dare each other to do things, such as drink a concoction(sp?) we made up usually something like tobasco, worchester sauce, cherry kool-aid mixed together.My dad remarried when I was 11 and I got 2 step-sisters ages 21and 20 along with a step-brother. They didn’t live with us though. My sister and I continued having spats all through school and even when she moved away. My oldest step-sister who to me is my real sister now and has been from me is my best friend. She’s 10 years older than me but we have bonded in a way I never did with my “real sister”. She lives an hour away and we do almost everything together. I think we always got along so well because she didn’t treat me like a baby and cares about what I think,instead of assuming I dumber because I’m younger. My “real” sister and I don’t fight anymore but we aren’t very close. My other step-sister and I can barely stand each other, she’s always degraded me and excluded me and I’ve only seen this chick about 10 times in my life. My “real” sister is pregnant with her first child due in December and it has brought us a little closer because I’ve had three and have plenty of advice and answers.

I have a younger sister, too who’s the complete opposite of me.  She’s blonde, blue-eyed, and former cheerleader.  I’m brown haired, hazel eyes, and my idea of exercise is to walk from my car to the building where I work at.  *g* I used to beg her as kids to play Barbies (b/c I loved making up stories), and she’d be more interested in baking with my mom. 

I’m not close to her where I tell her my secrets/fears.  And at least, I know that she’s there to bake cookies and cake!  *g*

I’m the oldest of six and there’s only one girl besides me. She’s thirteen years my jr., so at the moment she’s only 5 (nearly 6). LOL. When I was little I always wanted a younger sister to talk to. Mostly about guys. I had an eye for the hunks when I was barely out of diapers. I could just see us being the best of friends. However, since she’s so much younger than me she probably sees me as an old-as-dirt-dinosaur rather than a sister.

We fight like sisters who are closer, mostly because she’s too sassy for her britches ‘cause she spends the majority of her time with me, and I happen to have a deadly sharp tongue that can make someone feel about two inches tall. Learned it all from my wise-cracking family, I did. LOL!

I remember when my second little brother was born, my Grandma had filmed it (not the actual birth) and my mama said, “Y’all have a baby brother!” and I was like, “Darn, I was hoping it would turn out to be a sister...” Nevermind the fact that we’d seen the ultrasound and was 100% positive it was a boy.

My oldest cousin and I are like sisters, so what I don’t get to talk about with my baby sister, I can talk about with her. She’s a riot and still getting used to my quips. She’s still young and learning the ways. And when she’s not around I can always count on my mom. We are very close.

Oh, and Eloisa, I’m chubby and 19 so I can totally relate. Actually, I prefer to think of myself as voluptuous rather than fat or chubby. (I’m steadily losing weight here...)

I’m totally looking forward to reading Pleasure For Pleasure!

My sister is three years younger, 4 inches taller, and the complete opposite of me in personality, and I’m the blonde, green-eyed one.  She used to be blonde, but has slowly gone brown, and now just dyes it brown.  However, she was the cheerleader, and I was the honors student.  We’re of similar builds, which means she always stole my cloths until I put I put a lock on my bedroom door in high school to keep her out, but she could never wear my shoes b/c she’s a size 10 and I’m a 6 1/2.

We had sibling rivalry down to an art.  Let’s just say we went way beyond tricking each other into eating and drinking gross things (although we did that) and into the realm of weaponry. (Like this: one of us got shot with a bb gun while in the shower and the other lost some hair to a butcher knife).  The rivalry lasted until she moved out of my parents house at age 17 (she’s the wild, irresponsible one).  Now we’re great friends, and she’s coming over to my house for lunch today (she can’t cook, or clean apparently, and she says she’s bringing her laundry), along with my poor mother who had to put up with us for all those years.  I’m lucky enough to have my whole family close by, I think. 

BTW: The current temperature here is 0, and I just had to shovel the driveway so sis and mom can get to the front door.  How’s that for love?

Sorry everyone that I posted the comment twice - the work computer I’m on is acting screwy.  *grrrr*

Do I have sister stories!  My sister and I fought (and I mean physically as well as verbally) our entire childhoods.  We still do not have the best relationship.  We are just very different people - polar opposites even. 

When we were young I was the smart/overweight one (notice not using the ‘f’ word) and she was the really skinny but not-so-bright one.  Really, she didn’t even know who fought in the Civil War when she was in HS.  But now she wears a size larger than I do, I have one degree and am working on a second while she has no college and I have a wonderful daughter while she has her 17 lb cat.  LOL!  I’d say I like things much better now.

The irony is that when I had an awful experience two years ago, I called her crying so hard I couldn’t breathe.  And she told me she loved me and cried with me.  Neither of us would admit this today but I guess that is what being sisters really means.

Wow mrsbfc you guys were rough!! the meanest thing I ever did to my sister, that I can remember lol, is when I was 8 and she was 10. My best friends house backed up to a private beach , my sister decided to tag along when I went over to her house. Of course her being her superior self she felt I should be grateful for hanging out her. Well the 3 of us were paling around on the beach and we found this piece of wood about a 4ft by 6ft piece and decided that our “princess” should sail out to sea on it. Did I mention it was January?? well at first I thought it was funny, my bratty big sis 15-25 ft out in the ocean, until she started crying and I felt like a jerk. The waves brought her in little by little and after about 20 minutes she was on dry land. I thought she was going to beat the crap out of me, but she was too exhausted from crying and yelling. I don’t remember if my parents ever found out

My sister is 15 years older than me.  She spent the first five years of my life ensuring I had a semi-decent childhood...normal stuff like Halloween trick-or-treating, real Christmas gifts, and Birthday fanfare.  She even took me to my first movie: Sleeping Beauty. 

Then she got married, and I was pissed at her for about 10 years.  *LOL* I always thought she was the cooler, older, all-knowing adult.  She could have fun with practically no money--and she always found things for us to do.  Or she’d find one really semi-cool thing and would hype the heck out of it until you thought you were going to Disneyland...I’m not really sure.

When I was 17 and thereby a know it all, we pretty much had a falling out.  I think she should know better; and she continues to make glorious (what I call) mistakes. And like when I was a kid, I tend to watch her and learn from her…

Occasionally we have confidences, but not too many.  Not a lot of time--even though we literally live like 5 minutes from each other--and it’s hard not to give your unwanted opinion about a situation when you’re just supposed to be listening.  *LOL* I don’t know.  We’re just different.

Alas, I did not have a sister growing up.  I was surrounded by two brothers, all their friends and a zillion male cousins. 

My sisterly salvation came when I was about seven and met my cousin, Mimma.  She is my sister-cousin, as we clung to one another whenever we got together. 

She never made me drink pickle juice (I’m with Terri here--yummy) but we saved one another from the diludge of testostorone we grew up with.

To this day we are still as thick as thieves and, once I check to see someone has an eye on my kids, we disappear into a corner and catch up. 

She moved to the States from Canada in our teens and somehow a great cosmic shift happened and we switched body types. She became thin and I became not so thin!!  She is gorgeous, self-reliant, mistress of her own destiny and remains the wind beneath my wings.  Funny thing is, she’ll say the same about me.  God, I love her!!

My sister and I are actually remarkably similar.  I look alike, we have the same tastes in TV, books, movies, food, and our voices sound exactly alike.  We’re 3 years apart and found like crazy as kids.  (It was just the 2 of us.) But things got much better once I started thinking of her as a person instead of my bratty little sister.  This happenned when she finally became a teenager. (She was 13 and I was about 16) Now we’re really close.

Sister sister

I was blessed with a sister and a cousin whom I love like a sister.

I love them both more than life itself, I don’t know what I would do if they weren’t in my life, but boy! Do they drive me crazy.

Growing up was particularly hellish.

My cousin was a bit on the chubby side but all bubbly and cheerful and popular like anyone else.

My sister was a size 4-6 most of our adolecent years, while I stayed (and still stay) a firm size 10-12. I always knew I wasn’t fat, but growing up with a sister like that it was hard to believe.

Time passed, we all changed. I guess I’m closer to my sister now , and we are still different in many, many ways, but I wouldn’t trade her for the world even if some times I wish she would understand me better, and I wish I could see her point of view more often.

:D

but that’s sisterhood.

My sister was very pretty growing up as well.  She is about 2 1/2 years younger and was a nudge when we were little.  In high school she would date the guys that I liked.  When she came to the same college that I did, I think I realized it had more to do with how she valued my opinion...although the dating guys I liked did hurt my feelings.  I did find other guys to date.  I was aware that Eloisa’s sister lived nearby when she told the story about her daughter in a kindergarten show and the search for tights.  I thought that was great.  I would love for my sister to live 5 minutes away and I think she would be happy to have me live nearby, too.  She is a 4-5 hour drive away and we see each other about once a month, now.  I definitely share a lot with her. 

I really liked that aspect of the Essex sister books--that it was about sisterhood and all that it entails.

Amanda

Sisters are the best. I love mine and don’t know where I would be without her. She has been mom, sister and best friend since I was a teen. So of course, I had to move over 2000 miles to be close to her (20 minutes away!) just in time to hold her hand through Gastric Bypass surgery. SHe was Queen this and Miss Popular that through highschool and became obese in college while I hated fake socializing but didn’t have the weight problem. She bought and stuffed me in a dress for prom and I taught her how to exercise. When I had my last daughter and was alone recovering in the hospital I made a morphine induced call and all I said was ‘its a girl, I need you’ and she was with my by midnight!
The fights were grand too! She is 6 years older and when I was little she came in my room, yanked my hairbrush out of my hand and refused to give it back until she was done. I couldn’t verbalize anger very well, so I uh, picked up a pencil and stabbed her in the leg. My mom laughed her butt of because she knew how much I was bullied and my sister survived (she has a grey spot on her leg still) But, she loves me!
I love sister stories and luckily I have to go to the store today. YEAH!!!! Now, if only a good snow storm will hit, I’ll have an excuse to stay inside and read!

Eloisa, you’ve met my sister-Laurie.  Enough said.  This blog isn’t long enough to discuss all our stories. Fights!  Laurie stabbed me with a fork once.  I’ll have to show you the scar on my hand. We drove each other crazy.

Due to having an 8 year difference between us we really didn’t connect as “human beings” until Laurie was at Montclaire State and we both became “adults” about everything. Now, we barely live 4 miles from one another, talk to each other everyday, sometimes see each other everyday etc.  and just laugh at all our antics.

I was the youngest of 5....a change of life baby for my parents.  My closest sibling was 5 years older than me (a brother) and the oldest was 18 when I was born (another brother).  My sisters are 16 yrs and 7 yrs respectfully, older than I am.  I have always been the ‘baby’ of the family and always will be.  It has it’s benefits but many more difficulties.  I was personal maid for my two closest siblings, waited on them hand and foot....ran errands, etc, etc, etc.  I’m closest to my brother who actually treats me as an adult.  I live in NY and my siblings are spread out.  Unfortunately, I lost my oldest brother several years back so there’s only 4 of us left.  We try to stay in touch, but we each have our own lives.  Me being so much younger and having younger kids, we don’t even have much in common.  But I love them and know that they are there if I need anything. 

Eloisa, I can’t wait to get my hands on PFP.  I will be going out tonight hunting for it. 

--dorothy

my confirmation word is ‘peace86’ I wonder if it’s trying to tell me something??  lol

I always wanted a sister too!  I got stuck with a younger brother, who used to annoy me constently, until the day he moved out!  Brothers smell, and do gross thngs afterall...lol!

I always thought it would be better to have a girl in the house, but my mom assures me that her sister who was two years older than her, did nothing but beat her up! 

I did have two great girlfriends growing up, we were sorta like sisters, we were honest with each other, went through first bf’s together, music class together,(yeah we were all band geeks~though band wasn’t considered geeky where I went)

I’ll never know what a sis is like!  But I do know I love pickles and pickle juice!

I love books, movies, anything about sisters, maybe because I’m thisclose to my little sister.  We’re about 2 years apart, but we’re so in tune with each other, its actually scary. She knows me like no other person can...we say things at the same time, finish sentences, and even showing up somewhere dressed alike unintentionally.
Not that we get along perfectly....far from it! Since we’re so close, when its bad… its BAD...from threatening the decapitation of a favorite teddy bear to calling each other the ‘ungrateful’ and ‘selfish’, we’ve had fights so bad as to rival any soap opera catfight.  But the weird thing is, no matter how bad it is, no apologies are necessary.
She never made me drink pickle juice, but I did convince her that a mayonnaise-mustard-relish sandwhich was a good idea.

I don’t have a sister just a younger brother but I was close to two of my girl cousins growing up. 

Funny but just this weekend on our annual shopping trip to the states me and my two girlfriends were just saying tthat we think we are such close friends because none of us has a sister but we consider each other to be the sisters we never had!

Eloisa, I loved the relationships that went on among the Essex Sisters.  I have 3 sisters, I am next to the oldest.  My older sister (by 2 years) and I are the closest.  She was always there for me, especially in high school.  She would answer all the questions my mother was too embarrassed to address with me.  She taught me how to put make-up on and what was in fashion, since I never could understand what all the fuss was with clothes. (As long as I was comfortable in jeans, I didn’t really care). Now I wear business suits everyday.

We live a thousand miles apart but manage to talk 1-3 times a day on the phone and send no less than a half dozen e-mails everyday.  We see each other at least 3 times a year. We’ve promised each other that we’ll travel the world in our older years together. She’s my rock and I love her so much.

I’ve already read PFP, which I loved, my next book to read is THE PRINCE KIDNAPS A BRIDE.

I don’t have any sisters, just one younger brother.  But like Santa, I do have sister-cousins - four of them, in fact, with whom I am very close.  We see each other every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and at family parties.  But we also try to get together every few months for a Cousins Nite.  The five of us live and work in the same county.  We used to have Cousins Nite once a month, but as time passed the interval has become longer and longer.  These get-togethers sometimes consist of going to a restaurant, a bar, or watching Colin Firth or historically-set period movies (which none of our husbands will go to).  While growing up, the 3 older ones (I’m an older one) didn’t like hanging out with the 2 younger ones.  So we always reminisce and laugh about how divided our 2 groups were, and wonder in awe that as adults we are all such great friends.  I can’t imagine life without my wonderful “sisters”. 

I loved TPKAB!  Now I’m looking forward to reading PFP!  What a great week for the Squawkers.

Wow!  All these ‘sister’ stories are making me sad.  :(

I am the oldest with 3 brothers.  The youngest brother is 15 yrs younger than I am.  When my mother was pregnant with him, she told me she wished for a girl, because she didn’t have any sisters either.

Alas, I grew up a tomboy.....to this day, I do not have a ‘best friend’ who is female.  I don’t relate to females that well either.  On any holiday, it’s just my brothers and their friends.....never any girls.

I try and I sit and watch in awe when a friend and her sister squabble or hug or rummage through their closets.

It would have been nice having a sister.  My other brothers are very single......so, no hope as to acquiring a sister by marriage either.

To all of you who have sisters.......cherish each other.

g

Oh, this is my specialty topic! I have had sister issues my whole life, and, sad to say, I still do. It’s not just because she’s thinner and prettier, although that never fails to prick my envy. My sister is four years older and she has always been the super-smart overachiever, while I am the lazy slacker; let me tell you, in a family that values smartness above all else, that can really do some damage. Maybe this issue will cool off a little once we get out of school (I’m in my senior year of college, she’s about to start med school).
Let me give you a little background: in high school, my sister took a total of 16 (that’s right, 16) advanced placement tests - most people just take two or three, and four is considered a lot - and got the highest score of 5 on EVERY SINGLE ONE of them. The subjects ranged from computer science to art history. When I was in high school, I got a 5 in AP calculus in junior year, but didn’t even pass my other two APs. By the way, she took her first AP in EIGHTTH GRADE in PHYSICS and got a 5! She was also captain of her high school’s science team which got 2nd in the national competition two years in a row. She spent her summers in science labs doing various cancer and new cell research at MIT and the Weizman Institute in Israel (still high school) and she always made straight As. She also played flute and ran track (LA marathon in tenth grade). Whew! When I was in eightth grade, struggling through that same physics course, which I got a D in, my sister was accepted to Harvard. That was a lovely year for me.
I’ve always been a middling student, pretty smart but laaaazzzyy. Growing up with that genius, Bs and Cs were my form of rebellion. I’m at UC Davis, which is no Harvard but it’s still not a bad school, and my poor study habits really caught up with me the first two years. Now everything is kind of evening out, I’ve found my own goals to work toward, and my sister has rejoined the human population since her crazy high school days. We’re actually pretty good friends, and we talk often and affectionately and have great fun together, but the wounds, at least on my side, aren’t completely healed yet.
It’s really good to hear so many other stories of reconciliation. I especially relish the idea that people are brought together by true life moments, like babies being born and surgeries being comforted through, rather than the artificial world of academics and petty appearance comparison.

Sorry this was so long, it’s a deep topic for me!

Wow, sisters. I am so blessed in this area. My little sister is actually my step sis, but you can’t tell by looking at us- we look alot alike even if we are very different. She has an amazing ability to revel in life.

My big sister had been given up for adoption and she found us (mom & I) a couple years ago -we just had our 3 year sister-versary. We are very much alike in alot of ways-we sound alike, especially on the phone (our Aunt can’t tell us apart), we both get lost whenever we go somewhere new (even with mapquest directions), we’re usually running about 5 mins. late, our husbands are very similar-not in looks, but in attitude, and looking at wedding pictures-our dresses were almost identical.

I am so blessed to have these women in my life.

Di

Oh Eloisa you are making me feel quite nostalgic…
I have a sister who is 13 months older than me and one who is 2 ½ years younger. Did we drive each other crazy?  Of Course…I had teasing my Sisters, particularily the Older One, down to an Art form. I had the uncanny ability of being able to mimick my Sisters voices And I could “say” the exact thing that they said As they were saying it. Drove them absolutely Mad. Did we fight and squabble? Hell Yes. Our adolesent arguments where famous amoung our peers. Surely you heard of the time my Older Sister, I’ll call her Godzilla, asked me to move the frozen turkey? I was on the phone. So I told ‘Zilla, in my most distanful don’t bother me you little peasant voice, to “ move it yourself”…which resulted in a broken: window, clock, and a light fixture. Poor ‘Zilla. Not only did she have to explain to our parents how She broke all of that stuff…she had to pay to have it fixed! Ha, that fight was one of my finest Torment Your Sister Moments. Truly, I was brilliant…Anyway after I told Zilla to move the turkey herself she got mad and stomped her foot.  I couldn’t help myself, I started to laugh. Because How could anyone take a size five foot being stomped seriously, hmm? Certainly Not I. Forcing my face into a mask of inocence and sweat sisterly love I turned to face The Enemy. “Oh”, I purred, “ I had forgotten how weak a ‘lil wimpy thing like you can be. ( Zilla is barely 5 foot and has never gotten over the fact that I at 5’ 2” am significantly taller than Her) Or is it that the idea of coming up with an original idea…like where to Put the turkey (I gave her a Meaningful look here) is too taxing for your pea size brain…” On and on I went, twisting the words around her ego like a python cuddling up to it’s prey. Finally, I ended my soliloquies with … “If your going to be rude, then I Am leaving. And You can explain to Mom and Dad why You ruined Thanksgiving…” Then I exited the stage. Actually it was the back door…Which ‘Zilla promptly slammed behind me …with enough force to shatter the door’s window…and send the wall clock crashing to the floor. That got her so mad, she kicked her foot into the air in frustration… and…her shoe flew off and hit the overhead light. Yeah, she broke that too. It was great! Definitely my Finest Moment as a loving Sister… For the record I did help her clean up. Not that Her temper tantrum was My fault or anything…

Every Thanksgiving my siblings and I gathered, as many families do, to reminisce about our youth. And every year my husband brings up this story. You see he was the person that I was on the phone with. He was my boyfriend at the time and he heard the whole thing…Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but he married me any way!  And as far as teasing my sisters go…well sometimes I’m still up to my old tricks…which is why I hang out at Squawk Radio. But that’s another story isn’t it.

And Santa, I would be more than Glad to act as your Surrogate Sister. I Would not ever want you to feel left out you know! That’s just thong…I mean wrong!

Dear Reader....no wonder you ‘think’ you’re lazy, watching your sister must have been daunting, not to mention EXHAUSTING!!!! and UC Davis is an outstanding school!

Julie.....girl, you had me laughing my ass off...LOVED IT!

I read all the posts (don’t know if everyone does when the number racks up there high!) and love everyone’s stories. Don’t get me on the brother stories....My big bro is just as special as my sis. Without my siblings, life would be so boring!

word ver....feed75: hope that isn’t my horoscope for Christmas!

Hi Eloisa,

At the risk of being horribly repetitive - PFP was amazing!!!!

Concerning sisters, I’m the younger sister. My sister and I are 14 years apart, so we’ve never really fought. Sadly, we live a couple of states apart, so I don’t see her too often. It was still hard, though, in high school especially. My sister (still beautiful) was gorgeous and slender in high school - I am not. It never caused tension because of the age difference, but I totally knew what Josie was feeling when she was envious of her sisters. But, like Tess, Annabel, and Imogen for Josie, my sister’s always had my back and I love her, so I’ll forgive her for looking so perfect

Kat

PFP is in my hot little hands. Yippeee.

A winter storm watch is posted for my area with a half inch of ice and heavy snow. Guess I’ll be snuggled up reading.

My only sister is ten years younger. I finished raising her after my parents died when she was 13. Wish I’d thought of taking her door off the hinges!!!!! She is/was a world class door slammer. She and her family live three hours away. That’s three hours too far in my opinion. We’re much closer now that she sees I had her best interest and safety in mind. Her daughter is 12 now and giving her the same grief she gave me. Life really does come full circle.

Ann

Oh!  I’ve got funny big sister stories!  My older sister is three years older then me and when we were younger I was always the tomboy and she was always “prissy”.  Every Christmas she would ask for a barbie and I would ask for a game (i.e. hungry hungry hippoes, chutes and ladders, cootie, etc.).  Well, one year after playing with my hungry hungry hippoes, I asked my sister if I could play with her “kissing” barbie (it would put an ink “kiss” on anyting you put its lips on).  She decided she wouldn’t let me play with her so when she was not looking, I took the barbie and bit the feet off so she could not get shoes on it anymore! 
Needless to say...I got in SO much trouble and my sister was SO mad at me!  She still talks about it so I guess I scarred her for life!
Another time, in the house we grew up in, which was VERY old, my parents used bottles to hold the windows open.  Well, my sister and I were looking out the window catching ladybugs and she decided she wanted to put one in the bottle.  Lucky for me my hand was still on the windowsill and the window went slamming into my fingers.  She just stood there in total shock until my parents heard me screaming bloody murder and lifted the window off of my fingers (three of the nails eventually fell off and re-grew).  She got in SO much trouble, and she’s still mad because she didn’t REALLY do anything wrong!

A big hurray for the new releases!
No siblings, here, either, and really no important female role models (I guess that is another blog)..but great male role models, and so I guess I am comfortable in both relms, male and female.
I too, listen hard when siblings, especially older, teen siblings talk. With 3 of my own, I am clueless at all the ‘inner’ sibling dialog that goes on. Why do they talk so mean to each other all the time. I give the lecture to my 3, some day you will all only have each other, so what then? My DD is middle bwtn 2 boys, she has moxie I never had!
Lovely stories, today, ladies, the makings of some great short stories (Small Squawk Tales?)

I was an only child ho desperately wanted a sister. Now, I’m a mother to 2 children; a Daughter who loves her little brother, but loves torturing him, and a Son who thinks his older sister is perfect.

The book sounds wonderful!

Eloisa, it feels as though everything you’ve blogged about today was taken from my life!  I had that gorgeous sister of whom I was/am a plainer version.  The popular, seemingly “sweet” sister who kicked was valedictorian and kicked ass in everyflippinthing she did. 

And then there was me.  Loud me who she once asked to kick the shins of an annoying boy scrammbling for her attentions.  She was too polite to do it herself....the problem is, I keep wanting to kick the shins of people who hurt her now that she’s close to 40. 

She lives as far away from me as is possible without needing a passport, but i wish she’d come back to the east coast.

My relationship with my sister is a constant source of regret for me. 

And wonderful Santa called me today to ask if I wanted a signed PFP as that’s where she’s headed.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  OF COURSE!  My only hesitation is having to wait for the mail.

My sister has always been one of my best friends, but we certainly had our share of fights growing up. (She once threw the telephone at me when I was hounding her to get off so that I could make a call.) I was a people-pleaser when we were younger; she saw my policy with my parents as sneaky. She was a rebel, and I saw her struggles with my parents as troublemaking. I resented her designation as “the pretty one”; she resented my designation as “the smart one.” But even then we led each other’s cheering sections and teamed up against our brother and our herd of male cousins.

For most of our lives, we have lived in the same town. When she lived several hours away in a neighboring state for eight years, we talked on the phone at least twice a week. When we were in graduate school in our thirties, I covered her PTA and Little League responsibilities when she could not meet them, and she typed my papers, including a 230-page dissertation. Even now that we have both arrived at our purple-wearing years, we still have heated disagreements. We drive each other crazy when we work together on projects because she is all organization and details and I am all big-picture and seat-of-the-pants. But we have seen one another through broken hearts and broken bones, sick children and terminally ill parents, divorce and death. She is one of the greatest blessings in my life.

I am the youngest of 6, with 2 sisters and 3 brothers.  There is a big age difference between me and my sisters (12 and 8 years).  While we got along fine, we weren’t particularly close.  I know I drove my sister nuts sneaking into her room to play with her makeup and stuff.  I can’t think of anything terribly evil that happened, but we squabbled.

Now that we’re all adults, we are closer.  They both live about an hour away, and we see each other pretty often, though not as much as I would like.

My one sister’s two girls are wonderful to watch as sisters.  They are 20 and 16 now.  When Stacey was born, Kelly saw the nurse prick her heel for the newborn screen and was furious that someone hurt her little sister, and they have been incredibly close ever since.  They are such a joy to watch.  But I’m a little envious I never had that kind of relationship with my sisters.

Two words:

Lady
Godiva

Wonderful!

(password: main64)

I just came home with my copy of PFP and now I’m torturing myself and building suspense by coming online before sitting down to read.

I have been looking forward to Josie’s story since my first glimpse of her in Much Ado About You.  I’m also the youngest of 4 sisters (although we do have 1 brother also) and I really feel like I understand the push and pull of being happy to see your sisters’ lives advance but still feeling left behind. 

There is a 13 year age difference between the oldest and me so we fought and supported each other in about equal measure growing up. The next to the oldest mothered me a lot.  She is the one who taught me to tie my shoes and who I used to go to at night if I had a bad dream.  On the other hand, I used to take great delight in calling my nearest in age sister, Nancy, NannyGoat in front of her boyfriends when I was young.  I doubt she is ready to laugh about that even all these years later.

Now in middle age, the 4 of us live in three differrent towns.  Yet we all are much closer than we have ever been.

I’ve been thinking about sisterhod alot lately.  My mother (also one of 4 sisters) is in her late 70’s and she and one of her sisters have been best friends most of their adult life.  Her sister is now in failing health and it is really touching to watch that relationship at this stage of life.

All family is important, but there is something about your sister

Eloisa, on a non-sister note, have I missed you mentioning what’s next after PFP?

Lynn - who did go to the bookstore to get PFP but they didn’t have it yet . . . so now I try another store tomorrow (no other shopping time in the schedule

i have a sister 2 years older and a twin sister my complete opposite.(i am older by nine minutes) i am tall brown hair, brown eyes, dark skin, she is short blonde, blue eyes, and fair. people always said me and my older sister looked more alike. i was always the tomboy with the outdoor chores while they stayed inside. i am fortunate that they both live within 20 miles of me and our parents. we may not get along all the time and disagree but family means evrything. i can always count on them!

I have a younger sister and brother; both of whom I love unconditionally, but we have had our moments and still do. I mention my brother because he was right there in most of the major battles. We three can fight like cats and dogs, but if an outsider picks on one of us, the other two come the aid of the one. My brother is the youngest of us, and my sister and I have united forces against him numerous times, like the time when we hid the KISS tape on top of the china cabinet and my brother toppled it when he tried to climb it get the tape. I still ask him if “Heaven’s On Fire” is worth the dent in his nose. My sister and I would also get so mad at our brother that we would hold him down and place bar stools over him. We would sit on the bar stools keeping him pinned down until one of our parents would get home. Even with the fighting and arguing, we know that we can always depend on the other. Just last week, my brother announced that he had signed up with the National Guard. During Thanksgiving dinner, my sister and I kept kidding our brother about basic training when the whole time I was silently begging him not to go in my thoughts. My sister and I would just not be same if we lost him.

HOORAY!!!!  I met my hunky UPS guy at the curb just as I was fixing to leave and pick up a grandchild at school.  Guess what he had for me from Amazon.com?  Yep, my hot off the press copy of “Pleasure For Pleasure”!  Made me smile big time.  I have been looking forward to stories about Josie and Mayne.  Thanks, Eloisa!

Like others, I am an only.  I always wanted brothers and/or sisters.  Not to be.  Apparently my mother was lucky to have one.  Good thing for her I’m so special. Well, she thought so anyway.

I made up for my only-ness by acquiring 2 blood children and 5 step-children.  I am now the proud grandmother of 12 grands and will be a great-grand come the end of April.  (No steps allowed there) I don’t know how this happened as I am only 25 myself.  Something to do with the water, I believe. 

In the grown up brood there are 2 girls and 5 guys.  Grandkids are evenly divided so far.  We have one heck of a good time at Christmas and our occasional Family Fun Days.  Sort of makes up for growing up only.

I still wish I had a sibling, though.

Julie said, “that’s just thong.”

I wonder if San remembers, Julie.

No time to read blog or comments.  Worked all day then rushed to B&N--no PFP or Princess/Bride!  Scored them at Borders. Woo hoo!  Gotta go read.

I am really annoyed, I waited too long to get to Target today, and all the PFPs were gone.  Will have to widen the search tomorrow :(

I have a younger sister.  She is about 14 months younger so we are very close.  I talk to her everyday even though I am staying in my lovely dorm.  We get along well enough.  Sometimes if we spend too much time together we fight but it is mostly just yelling and slamming doors.  We only fought with fists once when we were little and our mom straightened us out.  She is my best friend and I am really thankful I have such a wonderful sister. 

Mom tells me when we were little, I would be able to translate my sister’s babble talk and knew just what she wanted.  I don’t know what I would do without her.  We like different things but that always gives us more to talk about and share. 

I also have two friends that are just like sisters.  My mom and dad call them their adopted daughters. 

I can’t wait to read “Pleasure for Pleasure” but I am a new reader to you, Eloisa.  I decided to start at the beginning of the Essex sister books and read them all in order.  I have “Much Ado About You” coming up next to read.

My lips are sealed roflmao (she visits here too)

I went to the Barnes and Noble today specifically to get Pleasure for Pleasure, and they DIDN’T HAVE IT.  I was so upset.  Then, as I was grocery shopping at the Kroger, there it was.  Amazing.  I was soo happy.  Now I am just going to have to ignore all my homework and read it.

About sisters- I’m only child, and I haven’t really missed having sisters.  I always wanted an older brother.  I have the very best of friends, though, and I use them as my sisters.  I think they’re probably better, because at the end of the night, they go home, so they never get the chance to annoy me (too much).

I never had any sisters just an older and younger brother.  My older brother was a nightmare!  He always loved to sneak into my room at night and scare me by wearing his freddy Krugar mask and glove...such a butthead.  My younger brother is just a dork, but he’s FUNNY!  We’re all friends now, but when we were little...we had some MAJOR fights...I think the meanest thing we ever did was leave my little brother tied up outside in the middle of July alllll dayyy longggg.  Poor guy was so burned...we were playing cowboys and indians...he was darker than us so he was the indian lol...and there were some fights that involved knives...but I don’t remember much about it.

I have a sister 2.5 years younger, a sister 2 years older, and a brother 4 years older. We grew up two houses down from my aunt’s house. One of my cousins is the exact same age as my sister and both have red hair (while I have very dark hair). They would dress exactly the same and run around together. I was always so envious and wanted to play with them but, of course, when they decided to let me play, they would do horrible ‘sisterly’ things. Such as: tying me down while playing doctor and force feeding me ‘medicine’ (made of year old candy, toothpaste and anything they came across--it’s a wonder I’m alive), playing hide and go seek and leaving me in my hiding place for an hour and any much more.

They didn’t even need to gang up though. My sister was always a pro. When I had just turned three, she came up to me (with a dollar in my hand, a b-day gift) and said, “I’ll trade you these two pennies for that dollar. Two is better than one and, besides, paper you can get anywhere but these are metal, which is much harder to find.” *sigh* Yes, I traded. I was three, what can you expect? LOL. Of course, I got her back in later years. Her room was directly across the hall from the bathroom, and both doors opened inwards. I took a jump rope and tied the doorknobs together so she couldn’t open her door and get out. Being smaller didn’t matter, I had the brains to make things work!

We went through our fighting phases, but now both of my sisters and I have really good relationships. We are so much closer than we’ve ever been and I can’t imagine not having them in my life.

A not-so-off topic comment: I looked everywhere today (and yesterday, and the day before...) for PFP and NOBODY had it. Neither did they have Xtina’s book. Grr… I guess I’ll just keep looking but I am SO impatient. I NEED PFP!!!!!

Oh, and I remember the thong convo…   You three had me cracking up soooo bad.

I am the third of four sisters...we are a pretty close group.  My 2nd sister and I are the closest in age and can still finish each other’s sentences.  I was just talking to her today and reminiscing about Christmas past...we used to put on an entire performance piece to the tune of “I’m gettin’ nuthin’ for Christmas”.  We also had an entire “pony” routine for “Sleigh Ride”...
she pretty much roped me into anything and everything...there’s even a rumored bug eating incident.  I wouldn’t trade her or my other two amazing, wonderful, beautiful and talented sisters for anything!

I just finished PFP.  It was wonderful, everything that I wanted it to be.  I had off today and what a lovely day it was reading and walking the dog. 

I just have two older brothers.  They are great, but they are brothers - very different from having a sister I imagine.  When I was younger I was thrilled that I was the only girl.  No sharing a room or clothes or toys.  Now that I am older I wish I had a sister.  I have had some very good friends, but none who have lasted a lifetime.  I think a sister would have been my lifelong best friend.  Can you miss someone who was never there?

Gosh.  My sister made me do all sorts of things.  I’ve never fought anyone harder than her.  But she was also my best friend for a very long time.

knitterlynn--Eloisa’s next book will be Desperate Duchesses in June ‘07. AND the cover for it just got put up on her website!! Its gorgeous. http://www.eloisajames.com/new-next.php

Hi everybody!

I’m back from a long day teaching...it’s the end of the semester and (heh heh) I gave a test! 

All these stories are so lovely: even the ones which involve permanent fork wounds and pencil marks in the leg… I’m having an attack of sorrow for my daughter because I never gave her a daughter.  Though she’s doing quite well torturing her older brother.

Thank you every one who said kind things about PforP—and I hope those who looked fruitlessly for the book find it tomorrow—thank you so much for looking!!!

kisses in all directions--

Eloisa, staggering off to bed

I’m still looking for PFP but....Eloisa you may have done your daughter a favor after reading through some of these!!!!!!

Yes, Julie and J Perry, I do remember every- thong we blogged about!!  LOL!

I also just got back from NYC with my copy of PFP signed by Eloisa.  She also gave me a loaf of rye bread which my husband is very excited about! 

I suppose it was because of my rye, I mean, wry sense of humor or perhaps she sees me rye-thing in delight over PFP!! 

Ha, I still crack me up!

Santa
Going to bed to read more PFP!!!

I was 7 when my sister came along. And at the time I was really enjoying the fact that it was just me and my mom. Can we say greedy? Well, for the longest time I felt like my sister stole my mom away. But then I also was protective of her as well. I would have to babysit her and stuff and it drove me nutty. I hated having to change diapers and all that stuff. And yes, we were at babysitters but they were normally busy on the phone (useless people lol). So I would often make sure my sister had what she needed.

But as she grew up some, she became very annoying, and hyper. I would do her hair for school or something and she would squirm around. I had seen my mom tap her on the head with the brush before and did the same, my bad, truly. Little did I know your not suppose to hit that hard and you’re not suppose to use the bristle side. Anyhow, one of the plastic parts came off in my sisters skin and got infected. Man I got into so much trouble for that. And she still swears I was trying to beat her and kill her.

She doesn’t live close to me, which I thank the heavens, as she still drives me nuts but I so love her and still look out for her. She’s just really “I get my way” so she can be hard to deal with haha. I’m more mellow (shocking huh lol).

But as someone who drove me nuts not only then and now, I so adore my sister and truly would have been bored without her. In the end, I think she got me ready to have my kids, because with her, I learned a lot. Like not to smack on the head if they squirm around hehe.

btw my word is moral69 (someone mentioned about there being a lot of 69’s lol).

I think all of us (with a sister or sisters) are gesturing toward the truth of family: she can drive us more crazy than anyone, and then somehow we still adore her.

I love teh sum-up, Haven, “I truly would have been bored without her.”

If only someone had told my adolescent self that!

Eloisa (who has had 69 about 40 times, so it must be heavily weighted to come up often)

My sister is two years younger than me and she definitely could drive me insane when I was younger. We used to fight all the time but now we’re 21 and 19 and are extremely close. We still share a room and sometimes fight but are likely to get over it five minutes later when we say something stupid to make the other laugh. She is seriously the person in the world I am closest too, despite her critical comments on the way I dress, do my hair, don’t use jewelery etc. I can only hope when we’re both married and have children we live five minutes away, because I don’t know what I’d do without her!

I’m actually getting the book today, but that’s one of the reasons why I love it so.  I love my sister even when I don’t. 

I’m older so she didn’t torture me too much.  However, she was the pretty one.  I hate to say that because it was just that she was more confident to do more things, to talk to boys, to join a pageant, audition for a play, do almost anything.  I was never jealous.  I actually didn’t care how I looked, was fine with the way I looked.  Plus, I knew that when it all came down to it, she’d hang out with me anytime I wanted her to and drop her social life to lump on the couch with me and my pjs. 

Now that we’re much older, she lives about 15-20 minutes away and we see each other often.  We talk more often, mostly by email because she hates the phone, but I call her a lot anyway. 

And we get sister time this weekend.  She’s asked me to go shopping with her and have a Girls’ Day.

That is so sweet, April!  I should force my sister out to go shopping.  She works far too hard..
Eloisa

Okay, don’t want any spoilers and am not far enough into this book to know much about pickle juice, but I can say I enjoyed some real belly laughs at Mayne, Josie, champayne, “The Corset” and a pink dress.

Good grief, what scenes.  Loved it.  I have enjoyed immensely this series about these four Scottish sisters.

I attended the RWA in Atlanta, Ga in July with my daughter.  Received The Taming of the Duke in our goody bag.  As an avid reader, had lots of books to get through before I got to this one.

So, did I like this series.  You bet your last dollar I did.  Each one was great.

This, “Pleasure for Pleasure” could very well be one of the best.  I can say, that thus far this has been one heck of a series with one great story after the other.

I am looking forward to seeing where this story takes Griselda.

Well, Ms James, Kudos to a job well done with this.  Can’t wait to finish Pleasure for Pleasure.

Will we find our who “Hellgate” is?......no, don’t tell me, remember, I did not want any one to spoil this for me. 

Thank you Eloisa, reading should definitely be “happiness”.  This series is.

Yesterday I posted that I could not wait to finish Pleasure for Pleasure.  Well.....what can I say?  Kudos to a wonderful book.

Loved it.  Mayne and Josie provided much entertainment as well as Darlington and Grizelda. 

Although I have no sisters, reading about these four, I wish I had at least one if not three. 

Kudos to you for portraying Josie as “lush”, for Griselda and her “younger man” (I think in the real world this should be a trend rather than the gossiped about situation) and for Lucious Felton and his strength.

I have enjoyed all four stories.  Great job.

Now, what’s next?????? 

I lift a glass of champayne to this series.