Just to show that nothing is safe from competition in Elise’s family, her sister Jenny left an encouraging comment about how she respects my bloggingness – leaving unspoken the inference that the respect is intact despite my hopeless fat, lazy, dumb, ugliness – and parenthetically mentioned that she is on a Dragon Boat team (huh and the what now?), so I should not count her out of the fitness competition just yet.
And, by the by, she is also a blogger, only her blog is broadcast from Taiwan and features regular lessons in Mandarin.
And, oh, in case I forgot, she used to be a competitive ballroom dancer, and she’s choreographing our first dance when she gets back from Taiwan, so I better watch my mouth or I’m going to have to learn to do walkovers and cartwheels.
Do you see what I’m up against here? Elise already volunteered herself to do upper body workouts with me when I move up to a higher set of weights. Next thing you know I’ll have have their brother emailing me songs he’s written and telling me he’s starting his own music festival.
Although, there’s something to be said for marrying a hyper-intelligent, pro-active bombshell with two similarly equipped siblings, in so much as any time I choose to slack off in some aspect of my life I just picture the appropriate one of them sitting on my shoulder, doing that same thing about five times better than I do it.
Whenever it doesn’t send me into wracking sobs or a panic attack it’s very effective. Like, just a few minutes ago I didn’t do enough bicep curls and the trio of them mocked me in imaginary three-part harmony to the point that now I can’t even lift up a glass of orange juice.
Ahh, family.
Ah, *Chinese* family.
My sister and I joke that it all starts from the dinner table — Competitive Eating. One big bowl or plate of food in the center, and it’s everyone out for themselves. You snooze, you lose. You’re slow with the 筷子, you lose. Social Darwinism from the day you’re born, baby!
Which is why I can snarf down just about anything is nanoseconds.
Really, though, I love it. I’d hate to be that overacheiving prick-in-law in any other family. In this group everyone always has big news every time you see them. It’s like the family I’ve always aspired to have ;)