A guest post from my sister Jeannette

Before I turn over my blog to my sister Jeannette, I must tell you that I can't blog until I finish my second manuscript, The Art of Avoiding Pain. I got a swift kick in the ass from a renowned poet/author/humanitarian/genius. With the help of his wife and some really great wine, he reminded me that I need to quit playing around and be a WRITER already, the kind that gets PAID. As usual, I have so much to blog about but, alas, it will have to wait. In the meantime, I'm begging my HUGE family to come on over and keep this blog fresh for me. To no surprise at all, my sister Jeannette was the first to sign up for the job. The beyotch needs a full-time blog of her own. She's pretty kick ass when she wants to be.

Before I let you go, I'm at MHM tomorrow (Wednesday) blogging about The Eleven Story. In case you're in the neighborhood...

So without further ado, may I present you JEANNETTE:

Hi. I'm Jeannette. Cathy's little sister. Sister number two of five. It feels a bit weird saying I'm her little sister because I don't really feel like a little sister. I'm taller. Louder. Aggressive. Out-spoken, pretty much the exact opposite of Cath. First to marry. First to divorce. First to have kids and therefore I may be the first to be a grandma! Yikes! When I was given the opportunity to post a blog on her site, I jumped at the chance. Being a bit demented and twisted I thought of all the juicy things I could post about our beloved Cathy. She promised me she wouldn't censor. Oh, and no one in the familia calls her Catherine, too formal and too long for my taste. In fact, no one calls me Jeannette, it's Jan instead. I guess we are a bit lazy when it comes to our names, in fact, none of the kids go by their "real" name. Weird.

Before I dish the dirt on Cath, I thinks its only right to give you a sense of who her sister is: I teach high school Government and World History. No one told me this in college but "teacher" is actually code for: parent (ok, I knew that one) counselor, cop, court monitor, referee, coach, janitor, friend, maid and secretary-and I love my job. I really do. I love my department members, they are like my distant cousins that I can tell off, then make up with via email. My principal is brutally honest. But I find that to be a good thing. I guess this is where I say that I am brutally honest too. My students are amazing, their dedication gives me butterflies and challenges me to be better. And you know what's the best thing about my job??? My little sister, Lizzie teaches right next door. That's right. She's the Criminal Justice teacher. Think shorter than Cath, super petite, short curly hair, a moderate, and can drink us all under the table. It's fantastic! Yes, we are a little bit country and a little bit of rock n roll. That's my job in a nut shell, I have more stories about my two wonderful daughters and some pre-teaching details but I will leave you with this small story of our dear Catherine:

When she was little she used to read me the Bible until I fell asleep. You see we lived in a haunted house, at least I think it was haunted and the only way I could sleep and keep the dead-bride-ghost away from me was to hear Cathy's voice shouting out the word of the LORD! Then one day I caught my dad banging on the window, trying to scare us....and you wonder why I'm a bit angry and demented....she kept reading anyway...