Like the Rain I Keep Falling For You

It's my last night in Renton. Of all the nights, the last one is the worst because it means goodbyes and transition. I know that tomorrow morning I'll wake up, make a mad dash for my airplane and two hours later I'll be back in Utah and this trip will take an instant backseat as I play with my friends and celebrate the new year.

I'll forget how much I hated the rain and the three hours of "sunlight" and how crazy my mother made me. I'll forget how hard it was to say goodbye and the smell of pine trees. I'll forget. Because my memory is bad. And I'm fickle.

But right now I'm just sad. Because I love it here and I can't imagine going back to dust and cold. I've started thinking seriously about moving back up here, settling down, start making some investments and growing up.

But tomorrow I'll forget.

Home Sick

I'm sick. And I'm at home. And the combination is killing me. I had nightmares last night about how my mom used to behave when I was sick as a kid. And when I woke up, the nightmare just continued on where I left off.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Wednesday night, as it was coming time for everybody to go to bed my mom looked at me and said, "Where are earth are you going to sleep?!"
"Gee, mom. I dunno. I thought that maybe you would have planned on that since I've had the tickets since September."
"Well, I suppose I can clear off the top bunk... but I was using it for storage."
"Sorry for the inconvenience."
"I guess it's alright."
I heard a few clumps as she hurled some stuff off the top bunk into a heap on the floor and then a shout, "Ready!"

Great... I crawled between the pet hair infested old blankets (there were about twelve and muddled up, two sleeping bags, one rolled and one flat, two body pillows and four other pillows) and fell asleep.

The next morning the phone rang. My mom shouted her hellos, even Wayne turned over in the bed below. "What? Who is this? Shelby? She's sleeping! I was told not to wake her up! Okay! Bye!" I heard the whole thing. Obviously. And although I was very excited to see my Shelby I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. But in two seconds my mom's face was peering over the bunk, "Emily! Emily! Shelby called and she wants to play with you! But don't worry. I told her that she couldn't talk to you yet because you wanted to sleep. So instead of waking you up, I told her you'd call her back. See how well I listen? But I wanted to tell you before I forgot."
"Ya... thanks mom. I would have hated it if you had woken me up..."
"No problem!"

Last night, I crawled into the same bed and found a battery (that I had most certainly slept on top of the night before) and a black stocking with white dog paws printed on it filled with doggie treats and toys that I had mistakenly used as a lumpy pillow the night before. As I was getting ready this morning my mom burst through the bathroom door (knocking is a lost luxury) and announced that we weren't doing stockings this year. "Really? I found one in my bed last night."
"Hey! That's for the dogs! What did you do with it?"
"Don't worry... I just put it at the foot of the bed and went to sleep. If I can sleep with all of their hair then I can sleep with their Christmas stocking."
"Okay. Just as long as you didn't throw it off. I had it all in there perfect..."

Why can't humans hibernate?

Quarter of a Century

Today I'm 25. A whole quarter of a century. Which
makes a girl think about things she's never thought
about before. Like what bark on a tree is made of.
And it makes a girl reminisce about what she was doing
when she was only a quarter of a quarter of a century
and how much I've grown.

For example, I am at least a half inch taller than I
was then. And now I like my chocolate with nuts (or
without... really, I've just grown less particular).
I'm not afraid of the haunted book in the Care Bears
Movie (well... not as much) and I can walk to my bed
in the dark without running and crying in fear
(usually). I don't watch the same Disney movie over
and over anymore (since now I own many Disney movies
and watch them on a longer rotation.) And I'm no
longer afraid of my family (probably because I moved a
thousand miles away).

Besides those few exceptions, I'm pretty much the same
girl that eats ice cream for dinner, likes to play
dress-up and has to have a hoodie or blanket to cover
my face if the movie has anything scary in it like
glaring or uncoordinated outfits.

A quarter of a quarter of a century or a quarter of a
century... I'm "Just Em!"

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Christmas Miracle

My principle came into my office today, handed me an envelope and made me initial a list he had.
"Do you know about the (insert random term here)?"
"No."
"Oh. Well... ask somebody about it. Enjoy."
And he left.

I opened the envelope and inside was a US Bank gift card with a large sum of money (by my perspective). I thought maybe it was money for my classroom so I pushed it to the edge of my desk and made a mental note to ask my mentor about it later.

After school, I talked to my lead coordinator. She said the money was mine. Something about getting bonuses for attending workshops and it being government money yadda yadda yadda. I don't know. I couldn't make it out. All that matters is that now I have money where a few hours ago I had none. And I can buy Christmas presents when just a few hours ago I was contemplating if I had enough money for construction paper and glue. Hurray!

A Christmas Miracle.