Fooled Ya!

3rd grade Switcheroo

Notice the sock-awesomeness. Courtesy of my mother's ingenuity.

We only had one pair of each color. Hence, the solution.

April Fool's was always exciting. Not only did we have to check the toilets for Seran wrap before doing our business, but we also had to strategically practice, plan, and place our every-school-day move on the other until we reached perfection. Anything less would result in capture and defeat. For April Fool's Days brought opportunities of class room infiltration and identical twin occupation.

1989 was the first Switcheroo. I remember being terribly nervous with excitement as I marched into Tara's homeroom and did my best to hide my face from Mrs. Seacat for as long as possible. Flying under the radar was the surest way to make it through the day. Just before lunch I heared a commotion from across the hall as my 3rd grade teacher Ms. Pew entered the room with Tara in tow and exclaimed, "I think you have one of my students!". We were caught.

And so began our yearly escapades of April Foolishness.

4th Grade, the children in Tara's class found the switch so comical that as soon as Mrs. Donkersley entered the room, bursts of laughter bounced off the walls and she was so confused by them that she asked if she had put her makeup on wrong or if her clothes were inside out. Needless to say, with classmates blowing our cover that quickly, our day in the other's shoes did not last long.

We must have done a good job in 5th grade because we made it all the way through our Advanced Reading class where I remember the next day our Teacher getting terribly upset at us for cheating by taking a test for the other. Why she couldn't just switch the names on the top and call it good, still beats me.

Junior High and High School became less tricky because we only had one hour to spend with each teacher and usually coasted through those classes with ease. The planning, of course, became more intense as we had to map out and describe where in each class the other sat, who their friends were, and what little idiosyncrasies we needed to incorporate into our classroom routine. Those were fun planning sessions. And they must have paid off, because I don't remember ever having to switch back all those latter years. That's not to say we didn't get caught, but teachers are good sports and April Fool's is a day for breaking rules.

Enter 2004 when I worked at the Court house as a sworn-in deputy court clerk. It took some talking into, but Tara finally agreed to a good old-fashioned switcheroo. Try training someone on a new job away from the facility and equipment, with different passwords for every procedure, in a very small amount of time. She took a lot of notes. I worked at the front counter, so she had to take and tender money and answer "criminal's" questions and provide lots of information. We prayed for a slow afternoon. I let my front counter counterpart in on the secret though so she could cover for Tara as much as possible and try to draw traffic to her side of the window if necessary. Then I left for my break. I let Tara into the secured back door and I sat anxiously on the back steps where I would be undetected while she performed. It was only about 20 minutes later when all of my coworkers came to the back full of laughs and grins. One by one, they had each slowly realized the differences in my demeanor and figured the joke out. Then they sent

Tara to deliver something into the back office where she came face to face with the boss. Once so many are in on the secret though, it only takes a quizzical raise of an eyebrow to send the rest into spurts of laughter and the gig is up. I was a little worried about breaking the rules inside a courthouse, but I had an awesome boss, and she got a great kick out of it. Phew!

That was the last of our switching Era. Perhaps one of these days we'll try pulling one over on our kids or spouses.

Now that would be something to talk about.

Could not get this darn pic off my phone,

so here's a terrible pic of an actually decent pic

taken March 25th during an awesome shopping spree Tara won.

I'm the one on the left.

-------

April Fool's!!

Chapter's End

The only "nursing" picture I have - Me and Tara - our babies are 6 days apart. So cool!

Dear Taryn,

I will miss you. While it was shorter than I would have liked, we had a good run.

You've become too independent. Too easily distracted. And perhaps I got a little too lazy. We were great partners. You were a natural receiver and I a willing giver. But it is a partnership that has to be maintained, and that was our collapse.

Thank you for being so easy-going. For giving me space when I needed it. For not being picky. And for latching right back to me when I was ready. You were great at making me feel important, wanted, needed, and preferred. Mom's need that. I needed that.

I will miss the rythm, the symbiosis, the convenience, the communication, the uninterrupted time, the relief, the closeness, the practicality, the connection, the sensation, the bond.

Thank you for sharing that time with me Taryn. Thank you for your unconditional love. You are so precious. So perfect. And I love you.

Tara-ara-bo-beara

She looks a little like me. Apparently we sound alike too. But for all the glaring similarities, it is our differences that have made me come to love Tara so much.

Tara is tough. Heck, she's 9 months pregnant and still playing softball each week on two different teams! But as kids, her toughness was proven on nearly a daily basis when we would arm or leg wrestle each other, or get in small fist fights, or test how long and hard we could pinch eachother before saying "mercy". I don't really remember who would win, but I do remember always thinking I was going to have to really push myself if I stood a chance. And I was glad to have that motivation to be stronger. To be tough like Tara.

Tara has lots of friends. She was always more popular than me. I remember in Elementary School she got mad at me because her friends wanted to invite her to a birthday party, but that meant they would have to invite me too, and they didn't want me to tag along... Sometimes it's hard to be a twin... As years went by though, Tara still had the most friends, but she was always very quick to include me in her circle. And I felt so cool around her; to be under her wing; to have her as my big sister, even if it is by only two minutes.

Tara is soft-spoken and kind. She is so pleasant and easy to be around. Nothing is awkward or forced. Her smile and caring eyes put anyone at ease. She is a listener. And a good one. I want to be one of those.

Tara is smart. And its the real kind of smart. The kind that takes dedication and application. I was a better test-taker. I feel bad about that, because I didn't deserve to do better on a test that I didn't study for than Tara who was an excellent crammer. And for the record - for all of you out there who have been wondering - I definitely did not deserve to graduate from high school with the same GPA as Tara. She earned that GPA. I just talked my way into it. Every achievement and recognition and honor that Tara has received, she earned. And her hard work has carried over into real life. She knows how to get things done. And that is what makes her so smart.

So, even though it is the differences that mark us as individuals, I can't help but want to be more like Tara every day.

Happy Birthday Tara!

Riddle Me This - Riddle Me That

I wish I had a Twin

Tara top, Tasha bottom 1999

I can't count the number of times I've heard that statement. And, growing up, I always wondered why someone would say it. Most of the time a twin was someone who stole my clothes, teased, and got me in trouble. I remember sobbing in second grade when Tara told our friends that she was two years older than me rather than two minutes. Being older was great leverage and I didn't want her to gain a second more than she already had. I got grounded in seventh grade when she told my parents that I had held a boys hand for the first time. And of course high school brought the endless tug-of-wars over clothing. I suppose these are normal riffs between any sibling. But I must admit that there were times I despised having a twin.

But then again... having a twin could be lots of fun. April Fools always brought along a great joke. Since the third grade, we would switch classes. This was my Mom's brilliant idea. Elementary school brought on the challenge of how long we could get away with our home-room teachers not noticing. In Junior High and High School we would watch the clock tick during each class' hour and see if we could get through an entire period without being noticed. We had some great victories. This was due to careful planning the days before hand. We would map out our schedules, seating charts, locker combos, what friends we talked to in each class, and even the way in which we organized our desk each period. It was all very strategic. Like drawing out battle lines and attack plans. Then we would dress to look the part. Until fifth grade, this meant dressing alike, but later it meant dressing a part. And we would strut the halls in the other's shoes and laugh if our teachers ever caught on. The 1st days of April were great days, and everyone loved playing along. Being a twin meant easy logos for student council campaigning. In 6th grade it was "Doublemint Twins" and 9th grade brought on the "TNT" (our family nickname - Tara and Tasha) dynamite twins. People may have thought we were popular. But we really weren't. We were just twins. Kids know who you are when you have a twin. Another advantage to having a twin is that we could play endless hours of barbies and micromachines together without ever having to send the other home. And of course having a twin meant always having a friend.

And we were friends. But never great friends. That is until recently. Though I always wanted her to be, Tara was never my best friend, nor was I her's. But that has absolutely changed. Wifedom and motherhood somehow linked us together. We rarely go a day without talking to eachother and moments in her presence are bliss. Ever wonder if twins read minds? Me too. But perhaps we do and this is why being together is so easy. We just needed a time in our lives when we were on the same page to really connect. We can talk about everything and nothing and be at peace with our company. We can take road trips or day trips and come home wanting to do it again. We even enjoy sharing our clothes.

She is my twin, but more importantly, Tara is my best friend. You should wish you had a twin. A twin as wonderful as mine.