"You know what's not one of a kind? Twins!"

Bonus points if you know where that quote comes from! 

I have the best sisters in the world. My twin sister in particular is the most generous and kind hearted person I know. And I...well I have caused her trouble since before we were even born. 

"She was just found first"

So I am a very important 2 minutes older than Susan. But according to Susan, I was just found first because I was bigger. See, my mom had to go to the hospital as they realized I was stealing Susan's food and nutrients she needed. She was losing too much weight and I was the issue. So they did a C-section and I was found first. I was born at a little over 4 pounds and Susan was born just barely around 2 pounds. She was put into the NICU and after a couple of days I was sent home healthy and happy...while my sister fought and eventually regained her strength and weight. 

We were always told to look after each other. Susan has always been there to look after me...sometimes I would get a little distracted. 

No child left behind...

When we were little and in elementary school, we rode the bus to and from school. One day, after a full day of school, I got off the bus, walked all the way home and grabbed a snack. It was then...that my mom asked where my sister was. She had fallen asleep on the bus and I walked home without her. She took a nice little ride to the bus depot where my mom was waiting to pick her up. Ummm...whoops! Sorry Sue! 

Pants with little Scottish terriers on them

When we were in either first or second grade, my mom was away picking Susan up from ballet practice and my older sister was babysitting me. I told her that I had to go to the bathroom and along the way...I picked up some scissors. 

I was wearing one of my favorite pants which were cotton pants with little Scottish terriers on them with little red bows. Since I have always been taller, Susan would often get my hand me downs, and well...she loved those pants. 

It was the late 80s and one of the biggest fashion trends of the time was to have ripped knees in your jeans.  It didn't occur to me that it wouldn't quite look the same on those sweet dog pants. 

So I cut a couple of holes in those pants, decapitating dogs left and right. 

But I didn't stop there...I looked in the mirror and just started cutting. As my hair fell into the ceramic sink, I kept going and going and going. I thought I looked pretty good! I did it exactly how I watched my hairdressers always do it. 

My mom came home with Susan, took one look at me and what was at first sheer terror turned into anger which turned into laughter. My poor sister on the other hand took one look at those pants and started to cry. She still hasn't fully forgiven me for cutting those beloved pants.

I may have a gift for cutting hair though, as my mother looked at it and said "you actually did a pretty good job." 

I think I owe both my sisters an apology on that one! 

We will jump on 1, 2, 3...

My family lived in London in 1990, when Susan and I were in 3rd grade. We had gone on a trip to Belgium that year for Easter with our parents and my mom's friend Maureen. Our older sister had to stay behind for school. We were constantly on the hunt for the Mannekin Pis. (Shown below) 

Legend has it that: "tells of a wealthy merchant who, during a visit to the city with his family, had his beloved young son go missing. The merchant hastily formed a search party that scoured all corners of the city until the boy was found happily urinating in a small garden. The merchant, as a gift of gratitude to the locals who helped out during the search, had the fountain built." Wikipedia (best source of accuracy!) if you are interested there are many hilarious legends behind the Mannekin Pis. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis 

Our friend Maureen, repeatedly had us sing "you don't want to miss, the Mannekin Pis!" I was so enamored by the story and thought it was hilarious in my 9 year old mind, that I even bought myself a little statue trinket and couldn't wait to meet this young boy. 

So we were staying in a hotel and one morning while the grownups ate breakfast, Susan and I asked if we could go play outside. One of the biggest benefits of being a twin is you always have someone to play with.

Well it was Easter time and there was a large pool that was empty as it was too cold out still. I stared at the pool and instantly an idea popped into my head. We should definitely jump in. Susan, being slightly afraid of heights, being much smarter and significantly more practical even as a little girl was completely opposed to the idea. I used my charm and got her to finally agree to jump in with me. We decided to jump in on the slope of the empty pool as I felt that would make it easier to land. So smart right?!? We would count to 3 and then jump. 

1....2....3...

Nothing. The first time we both chickened out. 

But the second time, I assured my sister without a doubt I would jump. 

Once again, 1....2....3....jump! 

Susan jumped. One minute she was next to me, the next she was sprawled out on the bottom of the pool holding her ankle. And I...had totally chickened out.

She had sprained it by jumping into the pool. I ran down to help her walk out and carry her to safety.

I agree...not the smartest thing we ever did! I mean...I kind of blame Susan for this happening. She was always the one to keep me grounded....but on that day...well that day she decided to fly. 

I really wasn't tricking her...I promise! I just got scared and couldn't jump. She had sprained her ankle but thankfully she was ok and not more seriously hurt. Poor poor Susan. 

Moral of the story:

1. I'm kind of a jerk. 

2. You should always think twice when Patty says, "ooh I have a great idea!" 

3. Sisters are the best! 

4. And finally go see the Mannekin Pis! Its really just a statue of a little boy peeing...but you don't want to miss...the Mannekin Pis! 

Don't worry...the cats will eat it!

This is a story of a time that proved to me just how much my mom loved me. 

A not so interesting fact about me is that I have an incredibly weak stomach. There was a time in my life where I threw up, literally every time I took out the trash. Smells, weird foods...all contribute to my weak stomach and propensity for umm...getting sick.

One day, when I was in middle school, my family was traveling through Spain and we were visiting a beautiful ancient castle. We were walking around the grounds and there was a courtyard in the center of this castle. All of a studen, I started to feel naseous. I was on my way to tell my mother when it came spewing up...I rushed over to the corner and proceeded to throw up...in an antique vase/urn. As soon as I was done, I instantly felt much better. 

My mother being the incredible woman that she was and a nurse so not very squeamish, didn't have any tissues and allowed me to blow my nose in her shirt. It was at that moment that I knew my mother loved me. I had never questioned it...but come on...that's pretty gross! My mother sacrificed her shirt so that I could blow my nose. Forget Romeo and Juliet or Frozen...that's love. 

As for the vase/urn...well...my mother told me, "don't worry about it, the cats will eat it." 

It's gonna BLOW!!

This post is dedicated to the one and only Ashley who is pretty much the only person in my life who finds me really funny! We spent countless hours in my office talking, laughing and dancing and this one is of her favorite stories of mine...the car...not what happened before. 

It all started as I was speaking as the student speaker at Corps Graduation for City Year. My mom was too sick to fly down so my father came to hear me speak and my older sister stayed with my mother. Following graduation and tears from my father as his shy baby girl had grown into a confident young woman. We headed off with the corps to a local bar to celebrate. My older sister called to tell us our mother had stopped breathing and was now in the hospital. We rushed my dad to the airport to fly home while my twin sister and I packed up our home in South Carolina. We packed all night and left early the next morning to move back up north to be with our mother who was breathing on her own again though still in the hospital. 

We packed up both our cars completely to where there was absolutely no space and gave the rest of our furniture to a man downstairs who was very drunk at a party. I was the lead car and we were driving from Columbia, SC to Boston. 

Shortly after we entered Maryland, I heard a very loud pop and my engine started to stall. So I pulled over to the side of the road with Susan parking her car right behind mine. I pop the hood and as I lift the hood of my car...all I see is flames. 

I drop the hood so hard it slams shut and take off running as fast as I can. 

Susan, standing in shock screams, "Patty...what the hell are you doing?" 

As I run away...leaving my poor sister in the dust...I yell "It's GONNA BLOW!!!! Run!!! RUN!!!!" 

Susan stands there stuttering and wondering whether she should move her car since it's right behind mine and I keep yelling "there isn't any time!! RUN!!" 

We get a safe distance away and call 911 and they respond within minutes. A fire truck with firemen completely decked out in their gear come running and we open the hood to...

Nothing. There was nothing there. Apparently when I threw the hood down, the fire went out immediately. 

The firemen sighed and shook their head at the crazy young woman in front of them who so clearly wasted their time. They called a tow truck for us and just as quickly as they arrived, they took off. 

So we found a rental car place, got a new car, re-packed and moved our entire life at the time and continued on our way to go see our mama. Just a note...I may be a touch on the dramatic side. 

Rest in Peace dear Saturn. You were a very good car. 

I once crashed in a hot air balloon

I absolutely love to play the game, Two Truths and a Lie. I'll let you in on a little secret to the game. Take your craziest experiences/facts about yourself and tell those while altering one fact to be just slightly off from the truth. I often share 

1. I have broken my left arm 4 times and no other part of my body. 

2. I have once crashed in a hot air balloon

3. I have a twin brother 

Now if you know me, you know that #3 is false. I have a twin sister Susan, not a twin brother. See? It's easy! 

Another fairly well known fact about me is my very bad luck with transportation devices. I have crashed on a horse, a moped, ski lift, dune buggy etc. I have been stranded at airports overnight over 8 times, I have had my luggage lost over 10 times. It's rare that I fly without some sort of delay. I have been involved in 4 car accidents, multiple times fallen off bikes or skateboards and roller skates. Etc. BUT I did go skydiving without incident with my buddy Paul! A fact I am proud of...but that is a story for another day. Today I would like to share about the time I crashed in a hot air balloon. 

At the time, my dear friend Rich was a balloon chaser. A profession I never knew about but says ridiculously fun! He would follow hot air balloons until they came down and would pick up the passengers after they finished their flight. 

Well Rich had been offered 4 free passes to ride on a hot air balloon and invited my friend Jenni and I as well as two of his fraternity brothers. We were required to wake up early in the morning around 4am to get to the launch site early. My college boyfriend at the time had spent the night and I was so very comfortable that I didn't get up. He convinced me to be a little late so we could have a little fun and I was easily convinced. I ran to my car and to get Jenni but we ended up being close to 45 mins late. Rich was really upset with us as it became more dangerous to be up in a hot air balloon, the later in the day it gets. But he was Rich and so very kind so he let it go and we set off for our adventure. There was a group of four people who would go first and then the pilot felt it was safe enough for us to still go a little bit later. 

When it was our turn we climbed into the basket and started our ascent. It was an incredible rush. I was fully aware that it was just a basket that held us up. The propane was uncomfortably hot but also created quite an adrenaline rush. We saw beautiful country landscape and watched the deer run across fields as we saw hunters in their stands ready for a shot. I was tempted to yell loudly to the deer.."Run! Run for your lives!" 

After we had been up in the air for quite some time, our pilot radios down to the van that we were running very low on propane and that we were in a no land zone. He said, "if we don't land soon, we will run out of fuel."  Apparently, there was an apple farmer in the area that restricted us from landing on their property. Now I know this is probably a common conversation pilots have but our peaceful day in the skies got a lot more scary hearing that. We frantically looked for a place to land but saw power lines wherever we looked. The van radioed back that there was a housing development nearby so we headed that direction. 

My neck was burning from the propane feeling like a bad sunburn and we were anxious to find a place to land. 

These next moments will stick with me for the rest of my life. 

As we entered the housing development, we see a man standing peacefully on his porch with his son in his arms casually waving to us. His look of pure happiness turned to sheer terror as he realized we were headed straight for his house! 

He ran inside the house and the next thing I know, instead of hitting the house we barely missed, we careened to the side and landed in a large tree. Our basket fell forward and I was on the basket side that was perfectly horizontal to the ground with several people who had fallen on top of me. 

We quickly righted ourselves and headed towards the ground. We hit the ground hard and bounced back up as we went back towards the heavens. I didn't think much of it until our pilot yells down. "You have to get us down! The balloon is completely ripped and won't keep us in the air!" 

I freak out for only seconds until I see several members of this housing development running towards us in their robes and pajamas...ready to save the day! They all start pulling on ropes and when we are about 5 feet up, our pilot directs us to jump. Now 5 feet doesn't sound like much but my twin sister is 5 feet tall. (She claims 5'1) so I jumped, skimmed my knee a little but one by one my little crew made it down and the basket finally came down as well. We celebrated with champagne and thanked the friendly neighbors and received our certificates of completion. 

All in all it was an incredible morning and one heck of a great story! 

The worst part of the day was that our poor pilot was set to retire that day and this was to be one of his last flights. He had flown these balloons for over 30 years and had never had an accident. 

Important life lessons/take aways: 

1. No matter how great it may be, morning sex could have catastrophic consequences if you have somewhere to be at that time. Thankfully no one was hurt...aside from the balloon! 

2. Never judge a housing development by its outside appearance...it's what's inside that counts...those people helped save our lives! 

3. Chase balloons, chase deer, chase people...but always live life to the fullest!