Diaries I Read:
So, right now I don�t know where anyone else in my department is. There�s a big golf tournament coming up on Monday, so I have a feeling they�re doing something along those lines, but it�s kinda creepy to be sitting here by myself without much to do. I�m still at that point in my job where I need someone to tell me what to do or I just sit here. I also think I just get everything done too quickly. I�m still in that mode from my last job where I speed through everything. But I don�t have to do that here. To be completely honest, I think I could work half days every day and still finish everything I have to do. Don�t tell anyone, though. They might decide they don�t really need me if that�s the case.
There�s no update on the house. Those jerks still haven�t responded to us. I�m sooooo sick of worrying about this. I�m not even really worrying anymore at this point. It�s just there. It�s in the back of my mind all the time and it�s starting to make me crazy. I said to B the other night, �I just want things to go back to normal.� But I�m not sure �normal� really exists. There�s always something going on. If it�s not houses, it�s mothers-in-law. If it�s not mothers-in-law, it�s puppies healing from surgery. No, wait, that�s all happening right now at the same time.
Yes, D finally had her surgery and she�s back home. She�s still a little tired and sore, but she�s just fine. I�m so glad that�s over.
I wanted to talk about my brother�s college graduation, which we all went to on Saturday. By �we all� I mean my parents, B, his mom and aunt, my aunt, and me. We left at about 7:30 on Saturday morning for the 3+-hour drive. It actually wasn�t that bad, and we stopped for a good breakfast on the way. When we got there, we hung out at Bro�s pad for a while. It was actually quite interesting. My brother is a unique individual who, sometimes, I think I don�t know all that well. He�s very uncommunicative in general. You have to ask the exactly right question in the exactly right way at the exactly right time or else you�ll just get a �yeah,� �not really,� �sort of,� or �I don�t know� in response. If you ask him what he�s been up to, his stock answer is �just chillin�.�
So anyways, it was fun to go up there and get a little peek into his world. You know, walk around his room and look at his pictures and all the little things that offer clues into a person�s life. For instance, he took a ceramics class this past quarter, and he had about 20 little pots and bowls that he had made. They were really good. I mean, they�re probably not excellent pieces of workmanship, but they were all different and I just liked them. I made a claim on the one I wanted. Then, apparently he had found a picture of my dad that was taken probably 25 years ago, and he blew it up to nearly poster size and had it hanging on his wall. It�s just weird stuff like that. He had also taken this little wooden carved statue thing of a nude woman that my parents used to have in the house. I always thought it was a little strange, but it was supposedly �artistic.� Well, maybe it was artistic, but in his apartment filled with Britney Spears posters and the like, it looked more like pornography than art.
So the ceremony itself was, of course, long. And it was outside on this lawn by the bay. So that means the sun was beating down on us the whole time. I was stupid and didn�t wear sunscreen and got burned. We had a big happy-face balloon so he�d know where we were sitting, and we actually found him in the crowd because he had the collar of a bright lime-green shirt (that I bought him on a whim because the color was so him and I�m a great sister) sticking out of his gown. The speaker they had was actually very interesting and did a very good job and didn�t talk for too long.
But the best thing about the whole day was how much my brother truly enjoyed it. He was totally into it. I remember people who didn�t really want to walk in their graduation, or those who were too hung over to enjoy it. But he was grinning from ear to ear. My mom bought him a Hawaiian lei and he loved it. It made me really happy to see him so happy. It was his day. He deserved it.
Afterwards we all went back to his apartment and had a little party out by the pool. My mom had brought TONS and TONS of food. Literally. We had lunchmeat, rolls, two kinds of mayonnaise (because my dad is gross and likes Miracle Whip), olives, chips, salsa, guacamole, vegetables and dip, deviled eggs, strawberries, cheesecake with blackberries, champagne, beer, wine�you name it, we had it. And she hauled all of this up three hours from home. Oh, and she brought tablecloths and graduation napkins and plates and little graduation hat toothpick things to stick in each slice of cheesecake. It was insane. That�s my mom for you.
So it was a good day. Until we got back into the car. Then we hit traffic, and it took FOREVER to get back home. B was being a total butthead. I get annoyed with traffic, too, but he was being a jerk. And I couldn�t really say anything because mom and aunt were with us.
So now my little brother is on his way into the great big world. I wonder what he�s going to do there? It should be interesting to see�
Bzzzzzzzzz.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004