Happy Birthday, Sis

This past weekend it was my older Sister's birthday. This is particularly interesting for a few reasons:

1. She's pretty cool and very worthy of many fine birthday wishes. She's got two great children (and thus I have an awesome niece who is about to start middle school this week and I have a wildly creative 6-year-old nephew, too). She's a teacher's assistant working with severly handicapped children and she loves her job, and over the past year she has lost over 75 lbs on Weight-Watchers. I'm so proud of her I could spit.
   
   
2. When I say she's my "older sister" I say this in jest (though it's still a fact), as she's only 34 minutes

   Another true story

   Whenever I tell people that my sister and I are 34 minutes apart, most seem to think that that's a decently long interval between the birth of twins. I have no idea what the average length between the birth of twins is, but 34 minutes must be toward the high end. In fact, I recently found out 34 minutes was enough time for my mother get up, get out of the stirrups, go to the bathroom, and smoke a cigarette.
   
   I am told my father tried to dissuade her on the grounds that she wasn't allowed to smoke inside the hospital, but that these protests were ultimately futile.
   
   Though I love my mother dearly, I blame all my short-comings on this event.
   
   In my mother's defense, I'm going to assume that they didn't know back then just how bad it is to smoke during pregnancy. A few years ago I went to see "The Exorcist" (1973) in a theater and was shocked to see scenes of doctors smoking in hospitals. I also have a copy of "Extpectant Motherhood" published in 1952 (don't ask) that supports this less than stringent prescription re: pregnancy and smoking, and I quote:
   
   "While most obstetrical authorities, then, disapprove of excessive smoking in pregnancy (twenty-five or more cigaretts daily), there is no reason for believing that a woman who smokes moderately, let us say ten cigarettes or less a day, need change her custom at this time. If you have been used to smoking considerably more than this for several years, by no means try to give them up in pregnancy. There is no surer way of upsetting the nerves at a period when you should be calm and happy, or of converting a placid, sweet-tempered girl into an intolerable shrew. With negligible effort, even the most inveterate smoker can usually be content with a package a day or somewhat less, and if you arrange this there is no great cause for concern."
   
   I shit you not.
   
   close
   older than me.

Yes, we are twins. Way back when, when clomid was the bleeding edge of infertility treatments, we were conceived. As an adult with diabetes, I have given much thought to how indebted I am to modern advances in science, medicine, and technology. Without these advances, it is unlikely that I would have even been born, let alone survived past the age of 5! (And so I quote Kip: "Yes, I love technology").

To save some time, here are my pat answers to common questions about being a twin (you can fill in the questions as you see fit):

Q: ?
A: I don't know, it was fine, I guess. I don't really have an alternative to compare it to, really. What's it like growing up with an older/younger brother/sister? I bet THAT's really cool.

Q: ?
A: No, she doesn't have a beard.

Q: ?
A: No, I don't grow a beard so people can tell us apart.

Q: ?
A: We look about as alike as any other brother and sister would.

Q: ?
A: No, we're not identical (duh!), we're fraternal twins: that's two separate eggs, not one egg that has then split.

So she came down for a visit with my Mom and some close friends of the family, and we had a nice little birthday celebration at the ol' homestead with some other friends. 'Twas very nice.

And to put some proverbial icing on the proverbial birthday cake, I had my 2 month check-up with the opthalmologist. The doc made some statements like "this looks great" and "excellent" as he waved that bright little mirror of light in front of my eyes and asked me to look up, down, and to the left, and to the right. No new signs of capilary growth, just the remnants blood spots of the non-proliferative variety (which he said probably will not go away). Quite a relief. I go back in 4 months for another check-up and then I'll be on an "every-six-month" schedule.