A Tale of Two Cousins

DJ was born eight months before me and we've always been friends... close ones.

Growing up, he used to come and stay with our family a couple weeks each summer, and we'd spend hours talking, playing & betting Skittles on "Pass the Pigs," fighting, laughing... all the things that cousins do.

We went through Bible school together. When I was frustrated, he'd give me his arm to punch. And I'd give him my ear to talk to when he was frustrated.

There have been countless hours of laughing together. We saw each other through our first crushes, cried when our hearts got broken, and supported each other to where we are now.

When I moved back to NH, we lived next door to each other for the first four years, and the bond deepened.

There's nobody that I'll fight easier with, and there aren't many that I trust more.

If I ever stay home from work, I expect a phone call soon after 7:00, after he's driven by and seen my car still in the driveway... "Just checking in to make sure you're ok."

Or he can tell when it's been a bad week at work, and will call on a Saturday and let me know that he's ready for a ride on the bike, would I like to come along.

And this past week, when parts of my world were threatening to fall in on me in ways that I couldn't handle, he took over. He stood up for me, comforted me, drove to my house late at night, and called numerous times to get the status of my courage.

Right now, he's the happiest that I've ever seen him... and it makes me no end of happy for him.

Love you, Deej... thanks for being one of my best friends ever.

Dear Diary... My Life is Hard

1:16am - wake out of deep sleep to strong skunk odor in bedroom

convince self because of how light it is in bedroom, that alarm must be about to go off

shocked to see have been sleeping for less than two hours

in sleep-fogged mind think how to make sure skunk smell does not infiltrate clothes, bed, me

decide that air conditioner (with window space next to it filled in with cardboard/plastic, etc) is letting in a lot of skunk grossness

rip out cardboard & plastic, then realize air condition way too heavy for one person to get out of window

now stuck with large gaping hole next to air conditioner, where offending odor can wander in at will

open window tad bit more and watch air conditioner fall to the ground

feel pain and realize that left palm was in way of air conditioner as it fell, and is now scraped, pulsing and bleeding

close window

stare mournfully at fallen a/c unit

wonder briefly if skunk is in bedroom, as odor still strong

repair wounds with carebear band-aid

walk around entire apartment spraying yummy smelling deodorizer

crawl into bed

get out of bed after realizing sleep is going to elude me for awhile

be angry at late night talk show hosts never heard of who talk about asinine things

mute tv

blog about whacked-out experiences that only seem to happen to me

decide to pop in "House" DVD

hope to fall asleep on couch, lulled by the bitter diatribes of Hugh Laurie

Ten Random Things About Me

I was "tagged" on another website of mine, and figured I'd post it here as well... but without the guilt inducing of "tagging" 10 others.

And, all ten of these things are different than this post from last May.



1) My biggest fear is discovering a body hanging from my shower head



2) I am strangely addicted to reading biographies of random people and am currently reading one of a female neurosurgeon



3) Secretly, I've always wanted to be The Tollbooth Lady, repleat with obscenely long nails & multiple rings on each finger



4) My spelling is so poor that I keep dictionary.com or a Word document open all day long at work, so I can double check for typos (and that goes for at home when I'm writing or commenting on blogs)



5) Once I ran over a snake... it made a popping sound... I shiver uncontrollably every time I think about it



6) I attended W's first inauguration... but b/c I'm so short, couldn't see a darn thing. Periodically my over-six-feet-tall friends would launch me into the air for quick glances of the goings-on



7) I sang my first solo when I was five



8) In the last few days, I've probably killed over 30 crickets in my apartment



9) I have a shot glass collection, even though I don't drink



10) My Dad taught me how to make a mean egg roll!

In Which I Tell Not-Quite-All About A&P

Another Thursday night... another A&P class...

I walked into the classroom and with great relief saw that my shadow from last week was sitting several rows up from my self-proclaimed Lindsay Spot, and next to another participant.

My heart soared as I walked to my seat in the back corner of the room and put my stuff down. I would not be up-cracked in the knuckle department! I would not be subjected to attempted side conversations...

In the middle of my internal joyous soliloquy, she looked around, saw me all by myself, packed up her books and came to plunk her person next to mine.

"My back row buddy would have missed me," said she.

What I said cannot be repeated on this blog.

Or rather, I smiled at her and made some mumblings of "You know it" or some such trite saying.

Hairdo Lady was in rare form again... my favorite style being most of her hair in a bun, with a rat-tail-ish thing hanging down her back... and then, heaven help us all, the rat-tail was put in a ponytail... and at various junctions during the evening, threatened to be braided as well.

I fantasized about giving her a haircut. Preferably one that left only about a half inch of hair all over her head.

Oh, and I learned stuff about A&P as well.

Cells are small.

Smaller than what we can see with the human eye. And yet, they have about 873 parts, all of which are named with names that are mighty in syllable!

But, I had my first-of-the-season Pumpkin Latte from Starbucks that I nursed through the first portion of class... and that spells L-O-V-E!

(Stay tuned for next week's post entitled "Tales from the person who sat on the professor's desk, so she wouldn't ever be distracted again...")

Because Who DOESN'T Need A Pair of These??

Not Quite A Wandering Minstrel

More like a Studying Geekstrel...

I made some flashcards to help me study for A&P.

And I decided to take a walk and study at the same time.

Until I got to the church, and heard low guttural sounds and much rustling in the bushes.

So, I made the wise choice to go back home.

And I walked around and around and around our driveway. I think ten times is a mile... I'm sure I did more than that.

Studying, studying, studying.

Who's idea was it to call the front of the leg "crural" and the back of the leg "sural?" They sound like badly named twins.

However, in my humble opinion, I think that the front of the knee being "patellar" and the back "popliteal" is just plain clever!

A & P = Good!

And so it begins! The chronicling of my classes & studies. Basic A&P started on Thursday night, and I've thought of not much else since then.

The class goes from 5:00 - 10:15, which I consider a long time, especially after a full day of work... however, the information on the first night was completely fascinating, and I loved being in a classroom setting again. At least, I loved it until 8:25, but that'll come later.

Even though I'm an extreme people person, going into new situations with lots of strangers fills me with quite a bit of angst, so when I got to the classroom, I went to the back row, arranged my books around me and tried to exude please-don't-sit-next-to-me-ness. I think I was born without that specific gene, because my life consistently shows that no matter how much I try to give off that vibe, it has the opposite effect.

The room was eerily quiet as everyone sat there, waiting for class to begin, when the door opened and in walked this girl who was probably well over six feet. She looked all around the room and started walking toward the back... and to the seat next to me. In the dead silence, she turned, smiled and yelled "HI." I about came out of my chair!

During class, I could see her in my peripheral vision, and she was constantly staring at me. I'd crack my knuckles - she'd crack seven of hers. I'd take notes - she'd start writing feverishly. At 8:25, after lots of talk of body regions, cavities, medical names of things, and other fascinating subjects, the professor said, "Now it's time for chemistry." Had my teeth fallen out of my head like they wanted to, I'm sure my shadow would have produced some as well.

"I've already TAKEN chemistry," she stage whispered to me. I tried to focus on my notes.

"I'VE ALREADY TAKEN CHEMISTRY," she said, getting closer to me. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

At this point, I was hanging onto the information being taught by a very fine thread, and couldn't be distracted by giants who had already taken chemistry.

But she & I weren't the only students in the class. There were 18 in total... and being the consummate people watcher that I am, I had to keep reminding myself that I needed to listen to what the professor was saying, instead of wondering what the life story of each of my classmates was.

One lady in the front row started out the evening with a beautiful french braid. A little while later I thought, "Hey - where'd french braid lady go?" She was still there, but had taken down her hair. A few minutes later it was up in a pony tail... then down again... the two pony tails... then down and twirled around her fingers... then up... she changed hairstyles at least 17 times during class. (And NO, I wasn't counting. I was focusing on chemistry!)

Or the person in front of me who was taping the class on her little hand held recorder. She would pick it up every couple of minutes to see if it was still doing it's job.

Or the very young person who looked at the clock almost continuously, and would sigh when the minutes weren't moving fast enough for her liking.

In Swedish Massage 1, there wasn't a lot of studying, and even less homework involved. This class will be very different, but I'm ready to take on the challenge... I'll be even more ready when the chemistry portion is over!

So - to recap:

A&P = good
Chemistry = not so much

Tonight, as I stared at the Stars...

... and once again asked God questions, I remembered this song that a friend sang for me when I was leaving VA. It was true five years ago... It's true now.

I was hoping you would write to me a message in the stars
As if the stars themselves were not enough
And I awaited your arrival here from some place very far
As if I couldn't feel your constant touch

There you are - loving me like crazy
There you are - though I am unaware
There you are - when my heart is doubting
Even there you are

I was waiting for a miracle and hoping for a sign
As if each breath I take is not a gift
And I was acting just as if the way you gave your life for mine
Didn't have my foolish heart convinced

There you are - loving me like crazy
There you are - though I am unaware
There you are - when my heart is doubting
Even there you are

I was hoping you would write to me a message in the stars
As if the stars themselves were not enough

-Carolyn Arends

Saturday Equation

DJ + Me + motorcycle + long ride = H.A.P.P.I.N.E.S.S

I suggested we keep riding... like maybe to Minnesota.
He said he had to be home by 5:00.
I suspect he just doesn't like Minnesota.