Golden Girl

It's Leslie's birthday!!! I look forward to this day every year because 3*2=6 (3/26), and because it means we're that much closer to 70 degree weather (well, maybe).

But this year is extra special because it's her golden birthday! Woohoo!

In honor of this momentous occasion, I've decided to do a list. So, here are 26 reasons why you are awesome, Leslie.

1. She was a very happy baby, which probably contributed to me being born. Which I appreciate.

2. When she was 3 years old, she told my mom that Wizard of Oz, Land Before Time, and some other movie (American Tail?) were all the same story, which was people going on a journey to get back home again. Not too shabby of a thematic analysis, if you ask me.

3. She has always been my example in everything, from hobbies to school. In some ways, I always already had my school schedule picked out -- I would just do whatever she had done. And it worked great!

4. She has also been a big cultural influence on our family. It took some of us a long time, but we all learned to like Vienna Teng because of her.

5. She taught me my first recipe -- spaghetti.

6. She was always very good at making sure I sang the hymns right. If I tried to sing the alto part for "Because I Have Been Given Much," she would tap the "Unison" marking until I got it right. She also taught me that in "How Great the Wisdom and the Love," Christ's blood was spilt, not split.

7. Oh, and she's also very very good at using words correctly. Here's a list of examples of things she is right about.

8. And while we're at it . . . so when I was a sophomore and she was a senior, I went with my mom to parent-teacher conferences. I can't remember why Leslie wasn't there, but we decided to hit all her classes too. When we got to AP Bio, Mr. McMillan told us that on his last test, she tactfully and humorously corrected his spelling on one of his problems. When we got home and asked her about it, she said that he had written complimentary bases instead of complementary bases. Then there was a question that asked about bases doing . . . something that didn't seem very nice (like destroying some proteins or something). So she commented that those were not very complimentary bases. I dunno. It was funny. (Like this.)

And then, two years later, the same typo was there! And I was able to make the same comment! It was one of the proudest moments of my high school career.

9. She taught me how to make cool bookmarks. We'd draw pictures on some paper with crayons, and then we'd hold the paper up to a lightbulb to melt the wax onto the paper. I have no idea how she thought this up.

10. She is the best sightreader I know.

11. She is also the best accompanist I know. One of my favorite parts about going home is going through her piano books and singing songs together. (I have tried and tried to find people who like to do this here in Michigan, and so far I haven't quite been too successful.)

12. Once we stopped fighting over the bench and our pinkies jabbing each other, it was always fun to play duets together.

13. She didn't give me a hard time about being a lot shorter than her. Actually she did, but I eventually grew enough that she couldn't rest her hands on my head anymore.

14. One time she had a friend over and I wanted to bug them and she didn't want me to and my mom made me leave them alone. So I grabbed a stuffed animal and stuck it on a broom and went out outside and tapped on the window with the stuffed animal. When I've mentioned it to her, she said she totally forgot it. It's like all the annoying things I ever did when her friends were there never even happened!

15. She taught me how to dance! When we were little, we would pop in 25 Classical Favorites or Heigh Ho Mozart and jam. Although, I like to think I was the one who came up with the idea to run around with pillows on our heads during Triss-Trass Polka.

16. She would let me hang out with her friends in high school. Actually, she'd let the entire family hang out with her friends in high school.

17. She gave a valedictory speech all about Harry Potter quotes. It was great.

18. She was really good at treating me to Wendy's. Like the time I thought the world was going to end because my CS 142 test was killing me. Or the time she went to celebrate because she "smoked" the GRE. She also took me to Burger Supreme and Leatherby's, and it was always awesome.

19. She can be very stoic about things might freak the rest of us out. Like cancer. When she lost all her hair, she decided to make this video .

20. She has naturally curly hair. Sometimes this makes me so jealous . . .

21. Oh! She also helped write this fun video. 98 miles of bookshelves . . .

22. She is a voracious reader. For example, in 2010 she read 200 books. 200 books! And that's including the unabridged Les Miserables!

23. When she was little, she got into the newspaper for saying she wanted to play the harp someday (must have been a slow news day). And then she decided to take a harp class! So my sister plays the harp!

24. And the organ. And the violin. And she probably learned the recorder at some point.

25. I like her blog.

26. She is pretty much the best gchat buddy ever. She has been so good at talking to Joseph even when he has refused to smile. And she's good at dealing with my stream of consciousness.

Anyway, there's so much to celebrate about her! I hope it's a wonderful wonderful day! (besides your car getting broken into, of course.)