Tuesday Musings

Right now I'm sitting on the porch of my house watching Duey run around in circles. The sun is warm and the air is cold, just how I like it.

The past couple of days have been pretty interesting. On Sunday, I did manage to make it over to Brad's house to ride horses with his family. Horses are such peaceful creatures. I hope that one day I'll have horses in my backyard and I'll go on long rides in the country. That would be pretty awesome. Although, I expect my butt will really, really hurt. But that's okay.

Yesterday, I woke up and immediately felt in influx of emotions. They were around, 2 seconds apart. This is seriously my thought process:

8:59:42 OH MY GOD. I'M GOING TO BE LATE FOR WORK.
8:59:44 Wait, It's a holiday. *sighs, lays down*
8:59:45 Yay! I have the whole day to...
8:59:47 Oh wow. Denise is gone. I have nothing to do today. Man! I'm going to be alone all day.
8:59:52 OH! Dad and I are hanging out today. AWESOME!

So, in the matter of mere seconds, I felt scared, relieved, reflective, sad, and happy. If anyone ever dares say that I am not a woman, I will point them to this blog entry.

After forcing myself to get up, I got dressed and headed to Starbucks. Elena works there and I got to talk to her for a little while. I really like that girl. She's crazy. It seems she is the opposite of who I am. She's bold and colorful, and a bit of a hippie, which I know she won't mind me saying. She's definitely not a shy person, which proves even more that she is my opposite. I really have enjoyed talking to her the few times we have. Hopefully we'll grab a drink or something some time soon.

I got back home around 11:30 and my Dad called. I had just started to do dishes. He came over and we headed to Ryan's Place (a favorite of ours) and talked. It was awesome. We just talked. Not about our family drama. Not about his issues. We actually talked a lot more about mine. I told him how starved I was for friendship. He asked me what I was looking for in a friend. I've thought about that a lot. For a while, I considered that I was being too picky, but after talking to Dad I know I haven't been. When I finished describing the group of girl friends that I wanted, he said after a pause, "So, basically you want friends that are like your sisters." I never even thought about that. But the relationship I was describing was that of me and my sisters. We laugh, we talk girl talk, we're honest with each other, we're different and yet we accept each other. The whole thing doesn't sound far-fetched. Why wouldn't I want my friends to be just like sisters?

Anyway, this realization really made me miss having all three of us girls together. I can't wait for the time that Alison and her family live here and us girls can get together and play cards and drink Bloody Mary's. (How to Make An American Quilt, anyone?) I hope that day is soon. Like... in 3 months. :) Ok, okay. Just soon.

Dad was also telling me stories about my mom. After they got married, they had a solid four years to spend with each other before they had Alison. And did you know, that I hadn't heard about pretty much everything they did during that time? For instance, I didn't know that they would load up the pinto, attach a trailer and go to the coast all the time. That seems like so much fun. Can you just picture it?

It's the late 70s, early 80s. My Mom is rail-thin, and looks almost exactly like Alison, but with no make-up (my Mom didn't wear a lot of make up, still doesn't) and is sitting in the front seat of the pinto with her bare feet on the dashboard (like I am famous for). My Dad is driving and he looks over at my Mom, with his blue-green eyes and long light brown hair (exactly Kari's color) and smiles, as they listen to their favorite songs. It's so perfect.

My Dad said, "Well, I had already gone and seen a lot. But your Mom, she hadn't. Grandma and Grandpa were too strict. So those first four years, we did everything. We tried to go anywhere we could. I wanted her to see and experience everything."

He told me about the parties they used to go to, the friends they'd hang out with. All the things a parent should tell their child, so that they remember that they were once young, too.

After lunch, we went to a thrift store, and I bought us a couple of books and a old school black clutch. I bought my Dad, "Walking through Romans with Paul." He's reading Romans right now, so I was stoked to get it for him.

It was a really nice time. I really wish it was like that all the time. I love my Dad so much. Probably more than he realizes. He's actually pretty hilarious. :)

A quick update before I go, the house is really coming along. I've been able to unpack quite a few boxes in my boredom, and my room is almost finished. I'm trying to focus more on the front of the house, but I get so excited about how my room is going to look that I always end up back in my room, organizing and cleaning.

I'm hoping that everything is all ready when Michael comes on Friday evening.

BTW - Here is a picture of me and my new friend, Chief.