No. 24 - DARLENE

Darlene is my sister-in-law, Kevin's sister.

One of the hardest things about living in Australia is that we are so very far from Kevin's family. Mostly this means that I've only had the opportunity to meet Darlene on two occasions, it seems like more which is good, but really it's not nearly enough.

The thing I like most about Darlene is that she's fun. If you've ever played a game of Cranium you will know that Play-Doh is a an important game piece. On New Year's Eve 2006, we were playing a game and were a little disappointed to find the Play-Doh was no longer soft. Never fear, Darlene used her creativity to whip up a batch of dough from her kitchen supplies. I can't remember now if it worked as a substitute but the fun was in watching her make it amid a fit of laughter.

Some other fun moments with Darlene have been watching her pay for a truckload of underwear for her brother at Costco (every sister's worst nightmare), meeting up at coffee shops in town, playing glow in the dark mini golf, watching Borat, and getting to know the party girl on her Hen's night.

We have also had a few good food related experiences. I remember sitting at Darlene's kitchen table eating the best pizza ever. The base was wholemeal and the toppings were vegetarian, so it wasn't your normal "eat-like-a-man pizza", but it was soooo good. The most surprising bit is that it was from the freezer section at the grocery store. And I must admit that everytime I go shopping here I check the frozen pizza section in hope it's finally come to Australia!

We may not have spent a lot of time together but I'm pretty sure Darlene has me figured out to a T. This year's (2009) Christmas present was a heap of clear stamps, a book of stickers and a huge pad of patterned scrapbooking papers. Patterned papers can be a bit hit and miss but this pad was perfect! It's just the kind of thing I've been trying to find at my local craft store.

There are two main reasons why I would love for us to live closer. Darlene has a wonderful sense of style and always looks a million bucks. If we were to see each other more often I would be able to steal a few of those fashion tips = )

The second is that I have seen Darlene as fun, outgoing, a cook, a style guru and someone who has me figured out, but by far the reason I have wanted us to live closer, most recently, is to see how Darlene brings these characteristics to the role of Mom. I'm sure getting to watch her now would be the most fun we have shared.