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I got an *extra* special treat for my birthday yesterday, my Dad had off from work, and picked me up so I didn't have to take the bus..weeee!

We hung out at my parents for the afternoon and when everyone else got home we made hot dogs (for them), and mac n'cheese. (I ate the mac n'cheese [guilty pleasure]) With a "surprise" birthday cake for desert...

Me:Wait...Ona's not here we can't have cake till Saturday.
Mom: It's ok...I'm making another cake for saturday.
Me: DUDE! I get 2 cakes...I am SO cool!
Everyone else:.......no.

:)

Then we watched Field of Dreams. If you've never seen it, you're a crazy person, go see it, NOW! It's Baseball, it's the Costner, James Earl Jones, and fun at Ty Cobb's expense. It's wonderful, beautiful, and leaves you with a great feeling, because "Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa."

Awesome birthday!

Remembered

I remember........


It was an "extra" family vacation. The summer, I was 7 or 8. Rafting down the Delaware River with my Mom, and Dad, and both my sisters. The hours long drive up a highway to be bussed along the riverbanks, quiet and peaceful, almost like Valley Green Park. For the hours long trip coasting down the waters. Until I fell out.

I'd taken swim lessons before, but nothing like falling out of a raft. Abington High' School's pool had always had a bottom to push off of. Cold, safe sides to cling to when laps of "freestyle" got to be too many. Not like a real river, where the bottom drops away...I panicked. I remember calling out to my Dad treading water. His voice calm, cutting through my fear, telling me what to do. Stop. Keep your head up. Get back to the raft, and pull yourself up. I remember crying until he paddled down to me, telling me to calm down. "Everything's ok" The rest of the day blurs until we're home. Sitting on the back steps, my Mom rubbing lotion on my sun burnt shoulders, telling me she "couldn't help notice how [I] called for your father when you were in trouble." I couldn't explain it away. She went inside with hurt feelings.

I'm sorry.

Previously, on 'Things That I Blog About'

I've been listening to Our Lady Peace today;

Life is waiting for you,
it's all messed up, but we're alive,
it's all messed up, but we'll survive.

The last three months, this has been my life. Normal, uneventful, routine. And I wonder just what exactly I had been expecting?

I've found:
More patience for student excuses than I thought I'd ever have.
A coworker who scares me just a bit with her needy loneliness.
A personally frightening acceptance for the mundane.
And a new perspective on who I let affect me, and how.

As far as the last bit, well, I'm not worried about who judges me, or for what. And I'm more tired of seeing its effects hurt the man I love. It stops. Period end of discussion.

As far as things that are not so vague.... well the birthday is coming up. :) Yay! Should be fun. With any luck it'll be 'the gang' down at Nodding Heads, I'm excited, we all don't get to hang out very much any more, especially me and J. (Good news being that with his disappearing act he should be grad-u-ma-cating soon! weeeeeee!!!) It's weird having a day in between our birthday's this year....screw you Feb 29th!

Saturday should be freakin sweet with any luck. Meesh and Eddie invited me to go snowboarding with them. Some 'fallin down a mountain fun' Mattie was very excited that he will be working that day, and will not need to take the ride/sit in the lodge playing my PSP all day. LOL. He's still fairly adamant about NEVER participating in snow activities EVER again.

And if all goes well, I should have my new animation backgrounds drawn in Photoshop by Friday. :) "Normal" feels kind of weird, in a good way.