Let Me Introduce You to My Sister, Kay

Right now I am in Bali living the sweet life. Just finishing up my fourth full day, and I have a plethora of new experiences to share. But for now, I'm not going to do any of that. I'm going to talk to you about Kay.

And WHYYYYY would I do such a thing???????

Yesterday, at 4:15 a.m. while hiking up an active volcano, I realized she is my go-to person when I need to get through a sticky situation. I use her all the time. I can't believe it has taken me so long to draw this conclusion, but it is very, very true. Also, I use Caitlin's humor and my mother's strength, but without a doubt, mostly Kay.

Por qua? Because thinking about how she would react to a potentially treacherous situation makes me laugh hard enough to breeze right on through any near calamity. Before I continue on, [Kay] you should know this is written out of love. 100%. Thinking of you has absolutely gotten me through my worst moments. Now what would Kay do??

For example:
Remember the time we were sitting on your front porch in Wimberly, and there was a katydid on the wall??? Oh my gosh the neighbors must have thought we had been invaded by a mutant strain of hyper-aggressive scorpions traveling in packs, chasing us around the yard with stingers pointed by the way we were fussin' and hollerin'. It was a green, completely harmless little thing. Not even a roach. A katydid. I guarantee you anytime I see some freak-ass bug that makes me want to run and hide under the covers, I think of us on your porch and assume more likely than not, it's harmless and doesn't want to hear me screaming. Then I walk away chuckling to myself, feeling more confident than ever.

---Side note: I would love to see your reaction to the bugs for dinner options. I can only imagine it would not go well for the poor soul trying to sell you fried roaches and crickets. I'm sure he'd think twice before questioning a foreigner again---

Remember when you were in the garage in Montgomery, holding your son's hand, pretending you were all big and bad going on a mouse hunt?? Yeah, you're all talk and we all know it, but we love you none-the-less. One look at a teeny-tiny, helpless little mouse and you likedta jerked that boy's arm right out of its socket. Screamin' and hollerin' and running as if a rattler had just tried to bite your foot off. This is at the top of my list of favorite moments. Anytime a rat scurries by when I am near the water it comes to mind, and God it makes me laugh. But don't worry, I stay away from the rats. G-rosssssss.

And remember all those times we tried to hike up Enchanted Rock??! **I recommend skipping this one if you'd rather not see any vulgar or explicit language (sorry grandma)** This is what I thought of in Bali when starting out on what I was told would be an easy hike up to see the sunrise. Fekking liars. So, it's 4 in the morning and all of a sudden I'm exhausted, climbing straight up rock and volcanic sand for what seemed like an eternity, not seeing a damn thing except what was right underneath my feet (this was my saving grace, I tell you) and I'm thinking, What would Kay do in this situation??? Well, you wouldn't have done it. You would have quit, but the bitching and moaning that would have ensued between the starting point and your collapse is what got me through. I was dying, but I was laughing on the inside, and I kept going. Something along the lines of Who the fucking fuck climbes this shit, and I don't need to prove a good damn thing, and Oh my god, how much fucking farther do I have to go, and Shit, I really think I'm about to die all came to mind. And all put a smile on my face. To give those of you non-natives the lowdown on Enchanted Rock, it's (just like it sounds) a rock, not a mountain. It always took us five times longer than expected to climb, and it always involved lots of bitching and I quits before we finally made it to the top. If we made it to the top that is, success was never guaranteed with the two of us.

I also thought about you in Bali while white water rafting. Remember that time we floated the Guadalupe in April (we're idiots, and we were frozen idiots on that day), and that little grass snake tried to get in your tube???? Seriously, what a riot. There you were, trapped in the river, in your tube, no where to go, and this snake trying to get a piece of that. Now, we both knew it was harmless, but clearly, that was not the point nor was it our concern at the moment. Your attempts to get it off without actually touching it were quite a sight. And of course you were screaming and hollering all the while. Classic. I don't even need to mention how terrified we were of the three feet mini-waterfall at the end of the float, as I'm sure you can imagine. Back to Bali- this week when I went through actual rapids, had to duck to avoid lowhanging bamboo briges as if my life depended on it (it kinda did) and flew down a 5 meter drop (15 ft)!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought about you the entire time. And how would Kay react to this situation? The answer: quite comically. This kept me entertained the entire drive home, so thanks for that.

For this next one I'm gonna' take you back in time a bit to my first night in Korea. **Language alert** What a nightmare. If you don't know, after approximately 30 seconds in my apartment I started crying. How did I hold it together? Here I thought of my mom's strength and Kay's reaction; I needed a double dose. But, I imagined Kay's response to be something like the following: Umm, you're joking right? How could you possibly expect me to live here? Not even when hell freezes over you freak. Either take me back to the airport on your dollar or put me in the nicest hotel in the city, thankyouverymuch. I will not be staying here for fuck's sake. And I got a laugh out of it. Remember in college when you saw my dorm laundry room? Taking in the old washer and dryer and stacks of anonymous clothes lying around, you immediately informed me I would be doing laundry at your house for the next year. In that case it wasn't necessary, but I guarantee you I would have taken you up on the offer had I been able to do so from Korea.

Remember when I said this post was 100% out of love??? Love Love LOVE LOVE LOVE. Love. I love you, and sincerely thank you for the ridiculously awesome memories that have gotten me through my toughest times in Asia.