This weekend was fun�.
A part of me feels a little guilty for saying that because for the past two years, almost every weekend, I was with my Grandma. For 8-10 months before my Grandma died, I was also watching Dax.
My plate was full. It always felt like there was never enough time to do all the things I wanted to do.
Now, with Grandma gone and me no longer watching Dax, there is time. There�s time to sit and relax. There�s time to shop. Time to unwind and watch TV.
Time to spend with my precious daughter.
I can focus on her, and myself, and my other loved ones.
I feel free.
I�m so glad I have Lisa. Our friendship has endured ups and downs. In the end, she mattered to me more than any stupid misunderstandings.
Two foxy ladies:
I have a hard time writing about Lisa. It�s because I don�t think there are words sufficient to describe how beautiful she is. How wonderful and sweet she is. How absolutely lucky I feel to have her in my life.
I�ve been blessed to have close friends in every stage of my life. When I was in high school, it was Dana, Maggie, and Summer. In college it was Dana and Mike. In the Navy it was Silvia, Ricky, Ronnie, Belinda and Almo. Even my ex-husband was a friend at one time.
Ricky married my sister Melinda, and the only ones I still talk to are Silvia, Maggie (because she�s my adopted sis), and Almo. Belinda moved to Mississippi, I think, after she retired from the Navy.
Now, I have Lisa. I�ve attempted to have other friendships when she and I drifted apart. Romy was one that went bad. I have a lot of regrets. One being that I should�ve followed my first instinct about her and stayed the hell away!
But other ones, like my �friendship� with my cousin Jackie, worked out great. Yeah, we�re cousins, but in ways we are girlfriends too. We are both just �so wrong� that it�s hilarious. I think it�s genetic.
Lisa has been an enduring friend. She has been so supportive to me that I have days where I think that I could never be to her what she is to me.
She brings such light to my life. There�s joy and laughter and tears�and I wouldn�t have it any other way.
She is�perfect for me.
Friday, Lisa and Jake came over to visit. The kids were going to ride their bikes while we sat out on the porch and talk. Harry, Tawny�s husband, went to fill up their tires with air and that�s when we found out that Jackie�s tire is ruptured. I told her over and over not to squeal her tires; she didn�t listen, and now look what happened.
So, I think I may be buying her a new bike next payday. There�s no way in hell I�m going to take that thing apart.
Saturday, we took the kids to Grant�s Farm. That was a lot of fun. We got there at a decent time, about 11:00, so the lines weren�t long at all.
Look at these adorable kids: Jackie and Jacob.
The best part is that even though I had to sit down a few times, my back didn�t give me any trouble. Usually when I walk long distances my back cramps up. It�s no fun.
Grant�s Farm has a lot to offer. It�s owned by Anheuser-Busch and it�s got a wildlife area and is 100 plus acres. We got to ride a tram and see some of the animals in a natural habitat. We saw deer, horses, cows, bison, buffalo, geese, and other animals.
Once we got off the tram we took the kids to the area where you can bottle-feed baby goats. It was cute.
After that, we wandered over and watched a show about some of the animals native to the park. There were parrots, snakes and a bald eagle. There was also a rat demonstration that I missed because there was nowhere to sit so I had to wander off and find a picnic table. Lisa got pictures though.
Jackie took part in the rat demonstration:
Doesn�t look scared does she? Rats are nothing new, since we�ve had 3 of them at home.
After that we wandered off and looked at some elephants.
By this time, we were getting thirsty so we stopped at a stand to get some water. Jake really wanted a strawberry ice cream cone but 1) they cost $2.50 (!) for a single scoop and 2) we were planning to go eat.
There was a courtyard with various food shops. While Lisa stood in line with the kids to get food, I got a table. There were wasps all over the place and if you know me, I was terrified. I hate wasps.
They wouldn�t leave me alone.
Lisa stood in line for 25 minutes or so, but she finally came back to the table with food. We were famished!
Before leaving the courtyard area, we went into the horse stables. Adjacent to the stables was a museum with 1900�s type buggies and carriages. We took had our picture taken in front of an old fire truck:
After all that walking, we were pooped. We rode the tram back to the entrance.
The gift shop was awesome! I got two bags of salt-water taffy (my favorite), a Grant�s Farm t-shirt for Jackie, a mini-license plate with Jackie�s name on it, and a bracelet with her name on it for me to wear.
When we got home, Lisa and I just sat on the porch like two lumps. I proclaimed that I would be putting off doing the laundry until Sunday.
After they left, Jackie and I cleaned a little house. Then we watched �Cops� and �America�s Most Wanted�. We went to bed at 11:00 p.m.
Sunday was a pretty productive day for me. We got up around 8:00 a.m. Jackie and I both had a bowl of cereal, and we watched part of the movie �White Chicks�. Hilarious.
We went and did laundry, and were back home by 12:00.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning.
That was pretty much all. Lisa did call me in tears because her older brother is a butthole. It�s a long story, but I don�t feel like I should go into it here.
I felt bad for her.
Jackie also talked to her dad. I was disappointed to learn that there is no good time for Jackie to go visit this summer because he doesn�t have a job right now. Uranus will be done with college in June, and thing are sort of up in the air right now.
Jackie was really looking forward to spending a couple of weeks with them. So now what? It�s been 2 years since she�s been to Oregon to see her Dad.
I don�t know when she�ll see her Dad again.
That ape.
11:19 am - April 18, 2005
Recent entries:
What you missed - January 16, 2012
%%older_entries%%From hell - October 19, 2010
%%older_entries%%a rant from a few weeks ago - August 17, 2010
%%older_entries%%Tired - June 20, 2010
%%older_entries%%A beautiful lie - March 11, 2010
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