Pecking order

I'm used to being the odd man out. I'm the third of seven kids, and, like Australia, am somewhat more isolated from the other six than they are from each other. There are nearly three years between my older sister and me and between me and my younger brother. Everyone else has someone that's within about two years of being the same age.

So growing up, everyone had a sibling that was close to their same age that they sort of palled around with. Except me. Which was OK, because I've always had great friends, so I just hung out with them instead.

The whole odd man out thing more or less came to an end when I got married. My wife is also the third of seven, and she likes Moab and mountains and good books and has a great sense of humor. And sleeping with her is one of the significant perks of the relationship, whereas sharing a bed with my friends or siblings is something I would only have done if it were the only way to avoid freezing to death. Plus she's a great cook. So even if there were nobody else in the world, we'd be content to just hang out with each other.

Or so I thought. Until yesterday, when Dug pointed out that he is listed on my wife's blog roll under "faves," but I'm only listed under "friendly blogs." Now I think "faves" versus "friendly blogs" is one of those things like assigning non-letter grades or giving everyone a trophy at the end of the season, where there's no clear hierarchy, but any thinking person can figure out pretty quickly who's where and why.

Maybe moving to Dug's neighborhood wasn't such a good idea after all.