Miss Me Jeans are back...and so is my crazy older sister who can hold a grudge like no one I've ever seen.

 I've talked about my sisters a lot lately. Mostly because with every passing day it becomes more real that we are actually moving away. We are as close as sisters can possibly be and it doesn't seem real that I won't be able to just walk down the street any time I need to talk with them. I also have to think that the Sauvignon Blanc sellers in our area will notice a dramatic drop in sales since when we get into one of our long yap sessions, we drink enough white wine to affect the global supply. Not only are we close, our kids are more or less siblings and it's pretty much every day that I'm praising, hugging, dancing, singing or even disciplining or breaking up a fight between kids I didn't give birth to. 

So yeah the nostalgia is hitting me hard as I spent the afternoon packing up family pictures and putting them in boxes since I want to carry them with us instead of letting the movers take them. It's also hitting me because my older sister Jennifer is currently not speaking with me...for something I did in 2005 or 2006. 

Growing up, we always thought my parents were very cheap and sometimes unfair. Now that I'm a parent I can see the rationale behind some of the decisions that they made.  One of the things that used to drive me crazy was that my sister always got nicer clothes than I did. Of course, when we were little I always got the hand-me-downs but it really became noticeable when we essentially stopped growing around late middle school/early high school. What I didn't understand at the time was that my parents were spending a small fortune on me and Jess's gymnastics bill every month.  Jenn's much nicer wardrobe was my parents way of throwing her a bone because she was a much less expensive kid to raise. 

But boy did I have eyes for her clothes. She never wanted to share with me so I became very crafty at stealing her clothes, making sure they got washed and hung up without her ever knowing (most of the time). The thing I truly had eyes for were her Miss Me Jeans. I wanted a pair of them so bad because they were a short girls dream. The low waist and big, decorated pockets actually made me look like I was a girl and not some really buff 8 year old boy. As much as I could get away from sneaking a top or skirt, those Miss Me jeans were on lock down and I couldn't find them no matter how hard I snooped through our shared room. 

Then one day, I hit the holy grail and came across Jenn's laundry that she hadn't taken out of the dryer. I found two pair of Miss Me jeans. I grabbed them as fast as I could and hid them between my mattress and box springs. Of course she noticed that they were missing from the laundry and she basically interrogated both Jess and I regarding the whereabouts of her jeans. Jess was probably too small so Jenn knew I took them, I knew that Jenn knew that I took them but I didn't break no matter how harsh the treatment was. Jess knew that I had taken the jeans because we had practice together but I blackmailed her because she had been IM'ing a high school boy and our parents would have buried her under the house had they known . 

I pulled it off too. I had a whole plan to make it work. Most days, I had morning practice and would shower at the gym so Jenn couldn't see me putting them on to get ready. Being at school was something else entirely. I had to plan my entire day to make sure I wouldn't see her. I took the long way between classes and I would be purposefully tardy to classes we had in the same hall. On days I would wear the jeans I would skip lunch to make out with Bubs in one of our many secret spots on or close to the campus (sorry Bubs, don't get me wrong I enjoyed our time together but I was really hiding from my sister).

Don't get me wrong, Jenn knew the entire time I had stolen her jeans. Fortunately me for me, about the same time she got caught stumbling in the front door completely wasted with a boys clothes on (like literally down to his underwear). It was a Wednesday and she was supposed to have been at our church's youth group. That took a whole lot of heat off me and her constant inquisition into the whereabouts of her jeans. 

Until yesterday. 

So apparently Miss Me jeans are all the rage again. The high waisted mom cut is on it's way out and lower waisted, highly decorated jeans are back in. My 13 year old niece explained the hierarchy to me yesterday. You can buy new Miss Me's and they are cool but the absolute coolest are the vintage ones from the early to mid 2000s. 

Yesterday, we were all at our house watching football when my niece came over and asked me if I still had my jeans from high school. It didn't even occur to me and I told her of course and she was welcome to take them and I explained where she could find them in the sewing room. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jess shaking her head and I instantly knew that I had screwed up. Jenn let out "you didn't have Miss Me's in high school. Where did you get Miss Me's?" I tried my best to not answer when my niece came back into the living room saying to Jenn "Mom, look at what Aunt Dani is giving me. Aren't they awesome?" 

This was the first time Jenn would have seen those Jeans in about 17 or 18 years and she instantly recognized them. She was livid. In front of most of our family it went like this (keep in mind we are 35 and 33): 

Jenn: Danielle, those are mine. You did take them.

Maddie: She's giving them to me mom, it's ok.

Jenn: No it's not ok, she stole them from me and lied about it.

Me: In my defense it has been a while.

Jenn: There is no defending this, I loved those jeans and you've lied about it for what 20 years now? I knew it too. God you are such an asshole. 

Me: It's ok, they are just jeans. Maddie can have them anyways (instantly regretting my choice of "just jeans"). 

Jenn: No it's not ok, they were mine. Mom bought them for me. You lied to me for so long. You didn't even wear them, you just took them from me. 

Me: well actually I did wear them, I was just really good at hiding them from you. 

Jenn: oh my god, you are such an asshole. I can't believe this. 

Me: Jenn I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. 

Jenn: No you did mean something by it, you lied to me when I defended you and covered for you all the times you snuck out of the house and would be gone all the next morning. And what? They've been in your closet for 20 years and I'm just finding out about it now? There is no sorry for this Dani. 

With that she grabbed her things and left. I tried to follow her but she told me she doesn't want to talk to me. I've texted her several times and it actually looks like she blocked my number. She is furious with me. 

I'm not trying to be flippant with this, but we were kids and I felt justified at the time because she always got such nicer stuff than I did (of course my parents were essentially paying an extra mortgage each month for me and Jess's gymnastics). Part of me finds her ability to hold a grudge amazing, part of me is really sorry that I more or less forgot about something when I should have come clean a long time ago. 

Anyways...we'll be fine as we've had hundreds of fights like this over the years and we'll have hundreds more. I guess it's just a little more poignant and worth writing about since I have about 25 days left as her neighbor.