A friend sent this to me today, and I'm sure most of you on the east coast get this and may feel the same way. (Or if you just hate snow.) The first snow was great, the rest can suck it. But this made me laugh, and I hope you enjoy it too.

First, let me say, yes, I did provoke this behavior in my nephew, but I had to show you the fight I have on my hands here. People, this is MY quilt, and I'm not giving it up. I don't care how cute the little stinker is, this means war.

I was born on June 15th. That makes my zodiac sign Gemini, the sign of the twins. I love being a Gemini, but not for the reasons you may think. It has nothing to do with my personality or my horoscope. It has everything to do with something about me that you may not know.

As a child, I was fascinated with all things twins. Almost every doll that I had, I gave a twin (if it didn't already come with one). I read every story about twins I could get my hands on, I watched every show on twins I could find, and I had an uncanny ability to tell the difference between Mary Kate and Ashley as Michelle on Full House.

If I'm being completely honest here, I've never felt whole. I've always felt like something was missing. Or someone was missing. Like I'm half of a pair. I've spent every Christmas, every birthday feeling like something just wasn't quite right. Like we were missing someone in our celebrations. Once, when I was 12 or so, I became convinced that I was really a twin, that she was kidnapped at birth and to save me from the pain of it, my parents kept it from me. (Dramatic, no?) I waited until my parents had left the house for a bit, went into their room, opened the strong box, and found my birth certificate. I was heartbroken when I saw that the little box marked "singleton" was checked.

I couldn't believe that I could be so wrong. Every ounce of my being told me that the "twin" box should have been checked. I KNEW that I was a twin. I had to be. Only I wasn't.

Except that I was.

My mom lost my twin while she was pregnant with us. So, all of those feelings, all of those little pings and pangs that something was missing were right. I felt so relieved and happy to know that I was right.

But also I had to grieve. For the sister I never got to know or grow up with or laugh with or cry with. I had lost her without ever really having her. It just didn't seem fair. It wasn't fair. But I knew deep down that for whatever reason, that's just the way it was meant to be.

I often wonder now what life would be if she were here. Would I be different having grown up with her? Would our family be different? What would family functions be like?

It took me a long time to realize that she IS here. She's part of me. She has been with me for every single day of my life. She's experienced everything through me. I can feel her presence, which is why I think I was so fascinated with twins when I was a child.

No, it isn't the same as if she were here, living life as I do, but it helps my heart to not feel so empty to know that her spirit lives inside of me. That gives me peace, and that's why I love being a Gemini.

Do you remember when you started blogging. How you were quite sure that probably no one was reading what you were writing. How you weren't sure that you WANTED people to read what you were writing?

That was my biggest hang up when I started blogging. I wasn't sure about any of it. I knew that Jessie would read my blog, and if she were the only one to ever read it, that was fine, but I admit that once I started blogging again, I was having fun writing. I was amusing myself by some of the things that I had to say, but I'm pretty sure not many people were reading. If they were, I couldn't see them.

One day, I logged into Blogger and I had a follower. Whoa.

Do you remember your first follower? I'm not talking about the people that may have been following your blog that you don't see or don't know about. (I know that Jessie will forever and always be my first follower.) I'm talking about (on Blogger) that first little green "person" that shows up on your dashboard that says "1 follower".

I'll never forget the the rush of excitement followed by the disbelief of "who the hell other than someone who really knows me would want to read my writing?"

I'll never forget who that first "little green follower" was. It was Audrey.

Audrey and I met when I first joined The Sisterhood. She always seemed to like my posts and seemed eager to learn some of the things that I had learned along my weight loss journey. So, when I saw that she wanted to read my little blog of just about nothing (or everything. However you want to look at it.) I was absolutely thrilled. And it made me want to write MORE.

My point is that never underestimate the power you have to make someone smile. We all have the power within us to brighten someone's day, to give them a tad more confidence, to make their day. It doesn't have to be something huge...it can be something as tiny as clicking "follow" on their blog. Just like Audrey did for me.

This June, Audrey and I get to meet for the first time. (Want to help us get there? Go HERE.) And I cannot wait to give my first "little green follower" a great big hug!

Do you remember the first time you ever watched Jurassic Park? The very moment when they first get to the island and Grant see his very first real, live dinosaur?

The magic of Hollywood captured the hearts of many, many people who have always wondered what life might be like with dinosaurs.

Today, my mom went with to the show called Walking with Dinosaurs. This brilliant show aims to give you in person what we all experienced while watching Jurassic Park on the screen.

Being told that I could only have a point and shoot and not being allowed to take my Nikon, I was armed with my mom's ancient Cybershot. This camera was one of the very first Cybershots released and is probably three times the size that point and shoots are now. But I don't care because it still takes okay pictures and I'm going to SEE REAL LIVE DINOSAURS. (Yes, I am that big of a nerd.)

The show starts, and my mom's camera craps out. (Thanks Sony.) Luckily, I did have my blackberry on my so I was able to capture some not-so-great pictures. And the kicker? I saw tons of Nikons. They weren't checking bags. Damn.

Still, the show that is Walking with Dinosaurs is AMAZING. If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be in the presence of one of these creatures, this show is a must. The absolute best part for me wasn't the dinsosaurs themselves. Nope. It was the little girl next to us. When the first dinosaur came out, she whispered not so quietly but with such awe to her father, "Daddy, is it real?"

I've enclosed some of the better pics I took today. Even though they're not great, you can see what an amazing experience this really was. Especially for a nerd like me. :o)