Happenings II

Christ has it been forever since I've been to the library. Damn mom. Anyway, most of my news is going towards Sammy's email, and I hate repeating myself, so I'll consolidate the happenings (maybe).

We moved into the house! YAY! I got most of my furniture in. The only downside is climbing up and down the fucking stairs. The first couple days we were living in there, my legs ached all over. Well, actually, that's not the big downer of moving in. The big one is that we don't get to spend much time with the dogs because they're only allowed in the basement. But I'm currently working on turning it into a sort-of family room. I framed in a wall and put plywood up on it, and I moved a couple pieces of furniture down, along with an old TV and our second satellite box. I'm waiting for some help to move the couch and other sidetable down, and eventually our huge bookcase. Oh, and the recliner. I also need the extension cords which are being running to the trailer to keep our unmoved freezer running, since power to the trailer was cut off before we moved into the house, for safety reasons. All in all, the basement will look like the living room of the trailer. But back to the extension cords. We only have one outlet in the basement, and it's on the other side of it, so I have to run a long extension cord, some splitters, and another extension cord to plug in the lamps and the TV/satellite. I can't wait to get it done, because I miss spending time with the dogs, and I can tell they're really going crazy without us, lately.

We only have temporary occupation of the house, which means we only have 30 days to get it finished, but we can still live in it during that time; however, the inspector said that we can request an extension for 30 more days if it looks like we won't be able to make it in time, and that they've never kicked anyone out after they've gotten temporary. Still, our insurance isn't really appreciative of the temporary certificate, so I don't think they'll renew us again if we don't make it in 30 days. The good news is that we really don't have a whole lot to get done. My mom, sister, and I went to the tile store today to pick out tile, and we're almost definitely going with a black & white checkerboard floor. And in the shower, we'll have all white on the walls, with some black tiles as a listello (like a border of tile in the middle of the white tiles). It's gonna look sweet. I told my sister that we could use this series of rain forest-design shit from Wal-Mart, like cups, shower curtain, curtain rings, rugs, etc. It'll be wicked. I can't wait for it to get done.

Other big news: Our cat had kittens! Holy shit they're so adorable. She had four, and I named one Popeye because only one of his eyes opens, hahaha. He's the cutest thing ever. Sometime soon I'll upload pictures of 'em to here. She originally gave birth to them on top of some insulation underneath the trailer. It was lucky we found them there. My mom called the vet just to see if it was alright, and they said to take the kittens out from under the trailer immediately. The insulation was fiberglass, which obvious would've fucked up their tiny little lungs and sinuses and shit. I build a welping box for Shadow (the momma) to take care of them in. I have to say I was rather proud of it. Just a plain square box, but I lined it with leftover linoleum and somewhat waterproofed it for when they start peeing in bulk, haha.

Around the time that we brought the kittens inside, our other cat (the stray that showed up first, and has been living with us for a few years) disappeared. The night before she left, she seemed kind of pissed off at everyone, or maybe less appreciated. Then a couple days later, my sister found her, and she yelled for my mom. I was down in the basement framing in that wall when I heard my mom screaming, "Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" I thought maybe they found Vicky's body, and it was mangled or something. It scared the shit out of me, so I took off my toolbelt and run up the stairs. I didn't want to see the body, so I stood back and asked my mom what happened. She said Vicky was cut up. Not dead, though. She had this huge gash going all the way along the left side of her torso. We tried to disinfect it, but she wouldn't sit still. So my mom called our vet, and they (my mom and sister) took her in right away. Apparently the gash was open all the way down to her bone. She said that an animal could've gotten to her, a blister under the skin got so big and just popped, or someone through some kind of chemicals on her that burnt right through her skin. Either way, I'm glad she's okay. She got stitches, had to stay overnight at the vet's office, and now she's back home, resting it up on some pain meds. Her torso looks like something out of Frankenstein, I swear to God, haha.

Anyway, I suppose that's about it. I've kind of written myself all out, so 'till next time.

Athena

I found out last week or so that one of my old best friends, Athena, had died. It didn't really hit me with surprise, though. Athena had some kind of lung disease since birth, and she had told me she wouldn't live much longer.

Her and I used to talk just about everyday (or every night, rather). She was, without a doubt, the most unique person I've ever known. I'm finding it difficult to adequately explain who she was. I guess you just can't put words into the proper order for Athena. I used to always discuss our conversations with my mom because they were so interesting, constantly referring to Athena as "The Girl with the Red Hair". I avidly remember how her she dyed her hair cherry red, all of it. She looked amazing with it. It was mostly because of her that I dyed my hair red a couple summers ago, although mine was more of cherry highlights than anything, haha.

Somewhere in our friendship we kind of drifted off, because she stopped getting online. After I didn't see her on for a while, I sent her a couple comments on MySpace, neither of which were replied to. I started to assume she had passed on, but I never truly believed it; I wanted her to still be here. About a week and a half ago, when I came to the library, I checked out her MySpace, just to see if she'd recently logged in. Then I saw a few comments from friends, obviously showing their respect for someone who had died. It (surprisingly) got to me right away. Not extremely, but it still kind of affected me. I didn't expect the news to hit me immediately, though. Not full-force, anyway.

Ever since then, however, I haven't been able to get her out of my head. I loved her a lot, and still do (so ignore the past-tense). She was there for me just about constantly, and she's a big reason for who I am. I keep thinking about all the conversations we used to have, all the weird things we did for each other. I remember when she wrote a little note on one of her vibrators and took a picture for me, haha. I wish I still had it. When we first started talking we would make sesxual innuendos with computer terms. Like how I would want to "stroke your USB port". It makes me so sad that we won't have those conversations anymore.

Once, last year in March, she said I could come live with her (in San Francisco) with her fiance, Ross. Whether she seriously meant it or not, I have no idea. But I took it as if she did. I told my mom one morning as I was waiting for a Greyhound bus to Ohio, "Athena, the Girl with the Red Hair, said I could go live with her and her boyfriend in San Francisco." The mere thought of living with her was exciting, I felt like I had to try my hardest to make it a reality.

The absolute greatest thing from our friendship was that we were penpals. Even if we were just sending nothing, we sent something. She once sent me a ticket from a bus ride (or something of that nature). As I remember, that was all she sent that time. I loved it, though.

Sometimes I get the feeling that she's around me, spiritually. I don't know if she really is, but it is incredibly comforting to believe it. Even though we haven't talked in months, or more than a year, she's still able to comfort me.

One last thing: We both looooved Red Hot Chili Peppers. As I was prone to do way back then, I found that a song reminded me of her. I put it on my list of things to do before I do that me and her would slow dance to it. Here are the lyrics:

My shadow side, so amplified
Keeps coming back dissatisfied
Elementary, son, but it's so...
My love affair with everywhere was innocent,
Why do you care?
Someone start the car, time to go...
You're the best I know

My sunny side has up and died
I'm betting where we collide
The universe will shift into a low
The travesties that we have seen
Are treating me like Benzedrine
Automatic laughter from a pro

My, what a good day for a walk outside
I'd like to get to know you a little better, baby
God knows that I really tried

My, what a good day for a takeout bride
I'd like to say we did it for the better of...

I saw you there so unaware,
Those hummingbirds all in your hair
Elementary, son, but it's so...
The disrepair of Norma Jean
Could not compare to your routine
Balarama beauty goin' toe to toe

My, what a good day for a... let it slide
I'd like to say we did it for the better of...

I thought about it and I brought it out
I'm motivated by the lack of doubt
I'm consecrated but I'm not devout
The mother, the father, the daughter, yeah

Right on the verge, just one more dose
I'm traveling from coast to coast
My theory isn't perfect, but it's close
I'm almost there, why should I care?
My heart is hurting when I share
Someone open up, let it show

My, what a good day for a walk outside
I'd like to think we did it for the better of...

I thought about it and I brought it out
I'm motivated by the lack of doubt
I'm consecrated, but I'm not devout
The mother, the father, the daughter- Oh

You don't form in the wet sand,
You don't form at all... Whoa
You don't form in the wet sand,
I do... Yeah...