The Good, The Bad, and the Weird

Wow. Remember when I used to post stuff on here and you guys would come read it and then we'd get to talking (and sometimes drinking... OH! Remember drunk blogging?! How fun was that?!) and we'd laugh and joke and sometimes talk about serious stuff like the side-effects of Accutane and Sports-Rage in Grandparents and Sex and Politics (wait, that wasn't me - I don't talk politics)... Anyway, we talked about stuff - important stuff - and we had such fun? ...

Good tiiiiiimes....

Well, it's been a month, and I feel as though I should write an Ode to April. I could title it "Weird as Hell".

First, let me note that I posted the following quote sometime in February. I liked it, and it spoke to me, but I wasn't sure why. Many weeks later, it makes perfect sense...

“In the arithmetic of love one plus one equals everything and two minus one equals nothing.” -Mignon McLaughlin

I had been living in a "two minus one" world and didn't realize it. I started to realize it last October. It took 5 months for full realization to hit. I can be slow to come around.

Back to the weird stuff:

• Grandma died. That's not really weird, per se. She was almost 90, had cancer and was in diapers. But her funeral gave us (me, Ali, Mom and Dad) the opportunity to reconnect with Dad's brother and his family in Florida. And it was great. I highly recommend hanging out with family. Mine and Alison's cousins are young - 13, 15, and 18 - their dad is only 10 years older than I am. But can I just say, I think we rocked the cousin-hanging-out standard. And we participated in "Bring Your Old Cousin to the Beach Day." You should try it. It's fun.
• Dillon got himself arrested. I hesitate to post that on here lest his Dad read this and use it against him he will, but let me just say, it's a fact. It was Really Stupid, he totally regrets it, and hopefully his one night in jail will circumvent any further plans to be an idiot.
• We had an earthquake. In Indiana. And it woke our asses up at 5:30am. I'd like to schedule all further earthquakes for later in the day. Preferably around Happy Hour.
• Cat spent 4 days in the Animal Hospital. He had a raging ear infection that last Friday we didn't think he would survive without the $4,000 MRI/surgery combo. Monday came and went without him having to be euthanized and now, though he still has a head tilt and walks like a drunken sailor* and will be on antibiotics for another month, the brain seizures and inability to walk have ceased. He still can't jump onto anything and may never be 100%, but at least he's alive and well. And, the vet somehow fixed his meower. He never meowed before he was sick, and now he never shuts up.

* I know. I've seen thousands of them.

• On the very day I thought to myself how grateful I was that I had not gotten a summons for Jury Duty, I arrived home from work and guess what was in my mailbox... A summons for Jury Duty. I am so not making that up.
• I had birds in my car. Yes. Birds. When I went out to the car on Wednesday morning to take Mac to school, I opened the door, got in, and was surprised to find 2 birds flying about my head. I asked myself, "Birds?!" Then yelled, "BIRDS," just as Mac was rounding the corner. All she saw was me screaming and jumping out of the car, flailing my arms about my head, screaming, "OPEN THE DOORS, OPEN THE DOORS!! BIRDS!! BIRDS!!" We did, and they flew out, and life was Good again. I still can't figure out how they got in there.
  
• I began a new relationship. This, in and of itself, is not weird at all. The weird part is that he lives next to Mom and Dad, I've known him for about 7 years, and I used to hang out with he and his ex-wife when I came home for a visit. His name is Tim. He's a Firefighter. In March, when I realized the truth in the above-posted quote and took back control over that part of my life, he somehow noticed the change in me and decided to ask me out, after having thought about doing it for a year. After spending 5 hours with him on our first date, I recalled how much I missed having another adult to talk to and it occurred to me that just going through the motions of a "settled life" - work, home, laundry, kids - wasn't enough. So we went on a second date. The following night. And we started to realize the millions of things we have in common. Now, my life is Enough. And I am happy. As are we: