Bloggin' Cousins

This page has been considerably nostalgic of late, thanks to birthdays and album reviews, so it’s time to jump back to present day. Don’t want y’all to think I’m stuck in the ‘80s.

My cousin and I had dinner tonight. A nice, lazy, conversationally rambling dinner. The best kind when you’re getting to know someone … and it’s pitiful that you have to get to know your cousin.

Marni’s eight years younger than me, so we weren’t very close growing up (eight years is a big generation gap when you’re a kid). I always thought she was so cute — she was the baby of the family, the only blonde, and she was always smiling. (Somewhere, Marni, there’s a cute photo of six-month-old you sitting in my lap; I’ll see if I can find it this weekend.) Anyway, our dads’ family isn’t all that close, so we’d see each other every few years — a sin when you consider that we all live in the Atlanta area.

Marni and I started getting together for the occasional dinner a couple of years ago, and found that we’re very much alike. We’re both creative and have creative jobs. We love writing and playing in PowerPoint. We’re fanatical about music and books. We love pop culture, and want to take over Pop Candy together. We’re easygoing, funny, maybe too kind at times. And we’re a helluva good time.

And then I started this blog. Marni got hooked reading mine, and soon started her own. As she said in her first post (and, yes, it is shameless how loudly I’m tootin' that horn right now): I am so excited to have my own blog! My cousin, Beth, has one called Cup-of-Coffey and I want to be just like her when I grow up — so I decided to copy her and start my own!

I like to think I’m her blog’s biggest fan. We’ve had fun reading our blogs and getting to know each other a little more each day. As she said tonight, she feels as if she knows all of my friends because she reads about y’all on these pages.

Marni has changed her life over the last couple of years, taking control of a major obstacle that was holding her back. And she succeeded. I’m quite proud of her and in awe. She looks so pretty and happy and full of life these days.I decided to add a link to her blog in this post (she’s already on the blogroll), so that you, dear readers, can also get to know my little cousin. I skipped across the Blogger pond to get her URL … and read this. After a few sniffles, I found it funny that we’d written the same post.

But, Marni, I hate to break it to you: I have absolutely no idea which “Rudolph” song you’re referring to. You’ll have to sing it at next month’s supper.