Friends, Sisters and Sleepovers!!!!!

"Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and have her nonsense respected." - Charles Lamb

I have been very blessed to have great friends in life! It just so happens that it is one of my two best friends birthday today!!!!! I call her my sleeping buddy... Ya know, we have slept in the same bed many times ( not in a weird kind of way). More like sisters do. Boy's can't do that, only girls! We have traveled together many times before on vacation or to dance competitions etc. Sometimes there is only one bed so you make due with what you have. We have suddenly bursted out to the hotel clerk that was staring at us one time after checking in " Just in case you are wondering we aren't lesbians. Our daughters are in a dance competition together. " He looked like a deer in headlights replying to us" Oh, I wasn't thinking that!" We knew he was by the way he was looking and trying to figure who was the masculine and and who was the feminine one in the relationship. We always leave debating with each other which one is the "guy". Although we may have slept in the same bed, I've never asked her to tickle my back or anything like me and my sister did when we were trying to get to sleep, but I know if I really needed her to she would. However, she would demand that she gets tickled first because she knows of my past history. I told her about me and my sister when we were little, making the deal to tickle each others backs while trying to fall asleep. The deal was that you had to tickle the others back while a whole song played on the radio, from start to finish. I think it might have been around the Bread, Helen Reddy or Seals and Crofts era. My sister would always want to tickle mine first, that way she would get the job done and then reap the benefits of being tickled last and then would be so relaxed, she would easily drift off into dream land. She never told me that was the reason but, I was onto her and little did she know I had an even better plan. We would lay face down and pull our silk nightgowns all the way up to the top of our shoulders, so high your shoulder blades would poke out. That way the tickler wouldn't just tickle in one spot. We would wait until the very second that a new song came on and it was heaven! My sister always had long nails so it felt really, really relaxing! Mind you, I bit my nails my whole life so what she got in return was nubby little fingers without nails except for the occasional one that had such a jagged edge that seemed to rip through the flesh on her back when I wasn't paying attention. After one time through of tickling each others, back we wouldn't be asleep yet so round two began. My sister, being the dutiful sister that she was, continued to stay focused at the task at hand while thinking about how relaxing it would be for her to get the final tickle and then be able to call it quits. The third song would always come to an end and you could feel the bed bounce when my sister would quickly flop on her stomach pulling up the back of her nightgown and saying "your turn" all in a split second because she didn't want to miss any of the song. After 10 seconds with no response from me, her next comment would be "Jen, Jen, (pause, pause, pause) Jennifer, Jennnnnniferrrrr! She would roll back over and tap me, tap me harder, then harder again followed by a little shake until she would finally give up and go to sleep. I had pretended to be asleep and was feeling the relaxing benefits of being the last one tickled, knowing I would not have to tickle back... at least for tonight! I beat her at her own game!!! Why, my sister fell for the ... I'm asleep trick i'm not sure. She fell for it sooo many times that I don't ever remember giving her that second round of back tickles she so deserved. Maybe, she let me off the hook because I was her little sister and she loved me or maybe it was because my hangnail never felt that good on her back anyways! Whatever the reason, people would fall victim to my antics for years to come at sleepovers. My best friend growing up,Tauni, would fall everytime for the same trick when I slept over at her house. One, two, three songs into it and sure enough she would fall victim to me. Maybe that is why she started inviting the girl across the street for a sleepovers sometimes and not me! Me and this other little girl never liked each other. Maybe partly because she threw raw hamburger on my bedroom window and I got her back by throwing stewed tomatoes back on hers! ( suggested and supplied by my mother, I might add!) I would be in my own bed wondering if they were having fun without me. If they were playing the tickle back game and "IF" they were, was Tauni tricking "the new friend" like I did her or playing fair and square!

That is why my friend today would never play that with me because she has heard my stories! Besides it would be a little freaky I'm guessing at our age. I no longer wear satin pajamas and given in to sweats and oversized T-shirts. I'm not big into people seeing my back fat these days! Times have changed, I'm not the ten year old girl anymore who never gave it a second thought of what her back might look like. Now the experience would be different. It would be more like taking your fingers going on a rollercoaster ride ( backrolls) and you could etch your initials on my back from the dry skin. It's just not the same!

However, my friend has always had my back and hopefully she knows that I have hers! The first time I slept next to my friend was at her husbands aunts house on our way to Country Jam. I thought I was going to die sleeping in the same bed. I think I stayed awake most the night in fear that I would by accident touch her with my foot or pass gas or snore or worst of all.... touch my bum with hers because it was a small bed and we were turned away from each other. Luckily, I don't think any of that happened that night. Now, she is such a great friend and we have traveled so much with each other that I would warn her if I felt a little "fluffer" coming on and if I scooted past the middle line on the bed while asleep she would kick my butt back over!

I have learned that true friends in life are like sisters. They humor you when you are not even funny. They pick you up when you fall ( and I do mean literally! My one hand was busy holding my mug of diet coke the other hand had my daughters newly won dancing trophy in it. I tripped and fell to the ground. I saved the mug of diet coke but the trophy didn't survive. Sorry Kylee!) Meanwhile my friends and Royann and Konadee are laughing so hard they're in tears while I am feeling the blood rush from my knee caps through my levi's, listening to my daughter scream " my trophy, my trophy"you broke my trophy! But hey I didn't spill a drop of my diet coke! My daughter stormed off rightfully so.... But my friends were there to pick me up!) They forgive you when you can't even forgive yourself. They cry when you are hurt. They close their eyes when your faults can be clearly seen.

I've learned that with life as crazy busy as it gets, a good friend can pick up exactly where your last conversation stopped. I am very, very blessed with two very close friends in my life that are like sisters to me. I am so blessed with my "growing up friend" that will always be a sister no matter how much I don't get to ever see her. I am blessed with friends that have moved away or that I don't ever see anymore but I have so many memories of fun times with them! Lot's of laughs! I have a sister that lives far away that I consider my best friend! When you move back I will tickle your back and you can still be first and I promise that I will not fake asleep this time. However, you might check my pulse if I don't respond because I am getting older! Love you Sis!

To my Birthday friend Royann, I love you and I hope you have a great birthday! Remember it's your birthday! If you want a "backrub" you deserve just that! Sorry Scotty Boy, your birthday is in August!