I had some very strange dreams last night.
I was sitting at a table, across from the most lovely woman I'd ever seen in my life. She was funny, beautiful, sexy - everything a guy could want. I was, in my dream, just plain head-over-heals in love with this woman.
I can't for the life of me remember what she looked like. I mean, I can "see" her in my mind's eye, sitting across from me in the dream, but I could not describe her in the least.
It's one of those odd dream-things, ya know? Like when you have a sudden epiphany in your dream, or tell the funniest joke in the world, and neither of them make any sense at all after you wake up. It was like that.
Oh, I was also dating Jennifer Lopez in that dream, so, OK, is was definitely a dream. But hey, at least I shoot high in my dreams!
Took Camie to the doctor this morning. She's been having some headaches, and the doc says they are textbook tension headaches. He gave us a few suggestions to cope with it (stretching, massage, ice/heat, stand up straight, etc), and sent us on our way.
I was just a tiny bit worried that it might have something to do with her optic-nerve problem from last year, but only a tiny bit. I pretty much suspected tension headaches as well.
Gonna go run some errands for my mom now. Oh, did I mention -
THIS IS MY DAY OFF!
Just thought I'd share that. Lordie, it feels good.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
1st Movement
The first day of spring came through Sacramento like a freight train yesterday, dumping rain and hail, along with thunder and lightning, all on my daughter's moving day!!
But, some days ya just get lucky, and we got lucky.
I met up with my daughter while they were loading up the U-Haul truck over at her roommate’s mother's house. The girls carried all the boxes and bookshelves themselves, and I organized the mess in the back of the U-Haul truck. It was raining pretty well at this point, and they got a little bit wet, but they're tough little ladies, and they survived.
Then we headed over to my x-wife's house to get my daughter's stuff. Here's where the luck starts coming in. When we arrived at my x-'s house, the rain stopped. Still cloudy, but the rain just plain stopped. So we took advantage of the respite, and quickly loaded my daughter's stuff into the U-Haul. It didn't take very long - there really wasn't that much stuff.
Which made me kind of sad, but I digress.
As we pulled away from my x-wife's place, fortune would have it that the rain started again. Pouring buckets!! I made my way slowly but steadily, driving the U-Haul over to their new apartment near Country Club Center, and pulled into the parking lot.
Again, fortune was watching over us, and the rain stopped. Just plain stopped.
We hopped out, and the girls happily showed me their new apartment. It's actually a pretty nice place: 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, nice large living room with vaulted ceiling and a sky-light, dining room, new paint, new carpet. It's an older complex, and you could tell it was an older apartment, but it was just right for a coupla kids starting out.
So, we went back down to the U-Haul and started to unpack. I’ll say this once, moving into a 3rd storey apartment isn’t fun. There was at least one time I thought I would die after carrying a box up the stairs. The girls weren’t quite as badly winded as I was, so they did a lot of the lifting themselves. As we finished unloading the truck, taking the very last item (a couch) across the threshold into the apartment, what do you think happened?
The skies began to rain. No, the skies opened up and began to pour. No, wait… let’s say, the skies cracked open and all the rivers of heaven seemed to flow through to our little part of town for a few minutes. It began to hail, leaving a layer of little pellets looking almost like snow. Thunder clapped. Water ran in small torrents to the drains, looking like little creeks gone awry. I took 5 minutes and walked the moving dolly back over to the manager’s office and came back thoroughly and completely wet.
But it was worth it. My daughter is “on her own now”, or at least as on her own as a 19-year old can be. She’s scared, a little nervous, nearly broke, and they have almost no food in their apartment, but that’s as it should be, in a way, and usually is, whenever a young person starts out. It’s the struggle that makes the achievement worth anything, and I know these two are going to struggle a bit. But when they look back in a few months, and have made for themselves a place to live and enjoy, they will be proud of themselves and one step further along the road to their degree in Life.
I just hope they both finish school, at whatever campus they wind up attending.
But, some days ya just get lucky, and we got lucky.
I met up with my daughter while they were loading up the U-Haul truck over at her roommate’s mother's house. The girls carried all the boxes and bookshelves themselves, and I organized the mess in the back of the U-Haul truck. It was raining pretty well at this point, and they got a little bit wet, but they're tough little ladies, and they survived.
Then we headed over to my x-wife's house to get my daughter's stuff. Here's where the luck starts coming in. When we arrived at my x-'s house, the rain stopped. Still cloudy, but the rain just plain stopped. So we took advantage of the respite, and quickly loaded my daughter's stuff into the U-Haul. It didn't take very long - there really wasn't that much stuff.
Which made me kind of sad, but I digress.
As we pulled away from my x-wife's place, fortune would have it that the rain started again. Pouring buckets!! I made my way slowly but steadily, driving the U-Haul over to their new apartment near Country Club Center, and pulled into the parking lot.
Again, fortune was watching over us, and the rain stopped. Just plain stopped.
We hopped out, and the girls happily showed me their new apartment. It's actually a pretty nice place: 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, nice large living room with vaulted ceiling and a sky-light, dining room, new paint, new carpet. It's an older complex, and you could tell it was an older apartment, but it was just right for a coupla kids starting out.
So, we went back down to the U-Haul and started to unpack. I’ll say this once, moving into a 3rd storey apartment isn’t fun. There was at least one time I thought I would die after carrying a box up the stairs. The girls weren’t quite as badly winded as I was, so they did a lot of the lifting themselves. As we finished unloading the truck, taking the very last item (a couch) across the threshold into the apartment, what do you think happened?
The skies began to rain. No, the skies opened up and began to pour. No, wait… let’s say, the skies cracked open and all the rivers of heaven seemed to flow through to our little part of town for a few minutes. It began to hail, leaving a layer of little pellets looking almost like snow. Thunder clapped. Water ran in small torrents to the drains, looking like little creeks gone awry. I took 5 minutes and walked the moving dolly back over to the manager’s office and came back thoroughly and completely wet.
But it was worth it. My daughter is “on her own now”, or at least as on her own as a 19-year old can be. She’s scared, a little nervous, nearly broke, and they have almost no food in their apartment, but that’s as it should be, in a way, and usually is, whenever a young person starts out. It’s the struggle that makes the achievement worth anything, and I know these two are going to struggle a bit. But when they look back in a few months, and have made for themselves a place to live and enjoy, they will be proud of themselves and one step further along the road to their degree in Life.
I just hope they both finish school, at whatever campus they wind up attending.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Spring is springing here in Northern California, and it seems to be the time for change and renewal.
My oldest daughter is moving into her own apartment today, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. She's been living full time with her mom for the past 3 years, since her mom and I split up, and things have been sometimes rocky, sometimes wonderful, but she is nearly 20 (going on 30), and very independent minded. Its time for her to make this move, and I'm not sure how to feel.
I'm know I'm proud of her. She's got a decent full-time job (it doesn't pay all that great, but it is with a very respectable firm, and it's steady, secure work, and she does get periodic raises), she's responsible about her job, and she's happy with it. She and her roommate (a girl-friend from work) found the apartment on their own, and have made all the arrangements by themselves. She's a good kid, really.
But I'm also kinda nervous. She's not going to college (ok, I didn't either, but THAT's why I'm nervous: I know it can tough with or without a college education, but there's no denying a college education can help in the workplace competition), and we all know that children who don't go to college while they are at home are much less likely to do so once out on their own. The apartment is going to be party-central for a time - she already jokingly told me as much, and she's an energetic 20-year-old - how could it not be? I think every kid who's ever had their own apartment as a young 20-something has stories. Independence and complete freedom from day-to-day parental observation and input always results in chaos for a time. How could it be any different? I don't like the tradition, but it's time honored, and for the most part, in the long run, harmless. I hope.
But I know I'm not scared. She's a smart young-lady. She's made a few choices that raise my eyebrows (didn't we all?), but over-all she's been pretty smart in what she's done. She's learning about the world, learning about people, starting her freshman year at Life U, if you will, and she's got a full load. She just needs to be picky about the extra-curricular activities, choose wisely, and I think she'll be fine.
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