My stalker dad

So yesterday I reminded my dad that I'm leaving for college next month. I explained how I'd be spreading my wings and flying somewhere without a map for return. Of course, this was an exaggeration, but at the time I think I wanted him to get something for me and honestly college is my strategy for keeping him tied around my finger. I know, so wrong. But, it all back fired in my face. He won't stop following me! I go to Old Navy, he follows. I go to the post office, he follows. I go to the kitchen, he's right behind my every step. I know this should all be endearing, but then there are expectations. I'm his only little girl, and in return I think he expects to be the only individual I care to see, ever. Sure, he's the only man in my life, but when the sun goes down, so does daddy-daughter time. But even as I walk to my car waving good-bye, he follows. He opens the door and is standing right beside me, checking for strangers in the back of my car, listening for the clicking of locked doors, and walking my reversing car down the driveway. Never remind your father that you're leaving, but if you do, show him a map promising your return.

Want to be my friend?

I'm in dire need of a friend. Well, maybe a man. Yup, that would solve all of my problems. Someone to buy me chocolates that I have no use for except to save for an inevitable later date when i will use them to drown my sorrows. Yes, I need a man. Friends, those are great, but they get boyfriends. And then suddenly times like the 4th of July become nothing but an excuse for laying on a blanket amidst a dark night. Where am I in all of this? Eating the chocolates from last year. I should prolly put a small disclaimer on all of this. You don't need to call my parents out of concern. I'm actually writing this with a smile. A bitter smile? haha perhaps. None the less, a smile. Strangely, I'm perfectly content being single and having my mom as a friend. I'm actually pretty pumped about all of this. I get to do something my friends don't. I get to watch fireworks; forget the blanket, my eyes will be on the sky.

First stop

We just sat down at a bakery beside our terminal. Mom and Dad just left to do who knows what. I love the feeling of freedom, even if it didn’t even last the duration of two sentences. He’s back. We’re about to embark on a Freeman adventure. We have bruce who completely practical. We have Lu who just came back from the bathroom giggling “watch the faucet, it splatters”. Have you ever seen those shows with the long lines, or maybe you’ve been to an amusement park like this; there are cones and lines prearranged that loop-d-loop forever. Well this loop-d-loop wasn’t half full and ppl. were skippng to the front. But not my mother. She’s the one that loop-d-looped from the start, alllllll the way to the front, while the gentlemanly businessmen waited and smiled for her to pass, before skipping to the front. Quick reminder of Bruce, he’s the one that didn’t laugh due to his high levels of focus on trying to figure out if we were in the right place. And then we have me. I’m just “that girl” who is pretending to be on the internet, but is just typing on a regular page that I’ll later post on my blog b/c i can’t figure out how to get on the internet. Now, we aren’t hicks. To prove that Mom is carrying a stylish beach hat...because it looks “vacationy”. First stop...complete.

A Whole New World

It’s official. I’m one of them. I got my mac yesterday, which means I now also have an iPod touch, seeing that a free iPod is part of the current promotion. Technology and I have never been bff (that’s a title only very few can hold). My mom set up the laptop and a friend put music on my iPod. I’ll tell you a secret...I’m a little ashamed at my inabilities, but let’s just keep that between us. None the less, here I sit, in my long hippie skirt, Coldplay turned on loud, and typing away on this shiny object with a glowing apple. I’m home alone right now and totally feel like holding a conversation. Nothing too deep, perhaps just exchange a few jokes or discuss the highly disappointing weather that has prevented me from laying out and getting perfectly bronzed shoulders and cheeks. I’d chat with my local companions, but my fingers are tired of texting because I haven’t had the perfectly shaped long fingernails needed to type the correct letter on my palm ever since the keypad decided to fall off. It appears that a new phone has been put on hold once again, seeing that within the last week alone, I have become dear friends with our FedEx guy who now knows me as “### somethingsomething street”. Please understand that my address substitutions have nothing to do with my lack of trust in you, but rather my cautious behavior towards the unknown world of internet users. Ahh how I wish I could be discovered by the unknown (only the safe non-creepy unknown) and become known. BACK TO MAC! Maybe now I won’t feel so left behind when I go to college and am surrounded by Mac labs for the 4 years of my Communications major. Just maybe I’ll now be able to sit down and write an article for the magazine!

Thanks for letting me ramble. Learn something new today, let the unknown become known. You should probably listen to Yellow by Coldplay while you search for that something/someone special. Safe travels!

Becoming Anne

So I’m sitting at the river. I know, totally not safe for a young girl...hopefully Mom isn’t reading (if you are I have my keys by my side ready for attack if anyone approaches). Tonight I can breathe. I’m totally in “Anne of Green Gables” mode, feeling the breeze come off the river and listening to faint sounds of crickets in the bushes. I couldn’t even make it through that sentence without laughing at myself, audibly. This little town isn’t so bad. Sure, we got excited when Best Buy came to town and yes, parking lots are still hot spots for hanging out. But it’s quaint. And it holds within it kindred spirits. Anne would approve.:)

how bright is your light?

Tonight I attended my new Bible study for the first time. I have been helping lead a Bible study for Jr. High girls, but decided that I wanted to further my accountability personally. This is what brought me to a group of individuals that congregated in a circle in the middle of a building. It was after hours and all lights were out except for our area. Among us sat a wide range of personalities, interests, and backgrounds, but we all had one similarity. We love Jesus. Our goal is simply to live like Jesus. I don't think I said anything tonight, but I listened. I've been discovering the beauty of hearing with silent lips. I have nothing more important to say than the words of those around me. Their doctrine was pure. Tonight I wanted to learn. I heard a quote from a guy that I have had a class with everyday for the past few years and talked to only a handful of times. He quoted a classmate in saying, "don't shine your light so bright that it blinds". As a church we often have an unwilling heart to relate to those around us. We force ourselves into a world that doesn't desire our change. Our goal should be to literally illuminate something unmistakable and irreplaceable...something people want. Give them a chance to see this light before blinding them. Shine because it's natural...Jesus did. Love because it's natural...Jesus did. Put yourself in a place to be able to relate...Jesus did. Listen and understand...Jesus did.

a binder, poster, dust pan, and duck tape

It all began at 12:19 A.M. Hearing the swoosh of wings against the still air, my eyes immediately opened and shot towards the ceiling. The shadow of a figure dashed before me and my immediate reaction resembled action i'd practiced many times in middle school during tornado drills. Without thought I ducked and covered as "DADDDYYY" echoed through rooms. Over a year in the new house and we have encountered our first...bat. Of course Dad sprang into action which gave me enough courage to get up and dart to my mother's side. Somehow my room became the prime location for trapping the unwanted mammal. I think Father secretly hoped Willie Mac (the family tabby) would take care of business since he happened to be shut in the room as well. But our loving cat seemed just as dismayed as my moaning mother. Allow me to back up; Dad's game plan was to kill the bat, Mom's game plan for life is to give every single living creature the right to life. This is where the whimpering began from Momma Lu; she didn't want the disgusting black thing to get hurt. So as I took her side we began yelling/crying out to Dad not to hurt it.

12:45

Dad instructed us to be quiet so we didn't wake the neighbors; apparently windows were open. Oops. We'll just sayyyy he couragously and silently entered my room and with heroic strides captured the bat. Somewhere in between all of this Bond-like action Mom fetched him a binder, poster, and duck tape (the dust pan was brought in at the beginning of the mission).

1:00

I was put on door duty. Swift as a bat (pun intended), Dad carried the taped up contraption down the stairs and out the door...and down the block. There was no telling where he was going to stop. Leaning our heads further and further out the front door, I practically fell onto the porch trying to watch my Dad take an early morning stroll with Wilbur (once his life was spared I felt it safe to name him). As the two parted ways Mom simply smiled and said..."Now watch him run". And run he did, becoming one with the motions of poor Wilbur the night first flew into our home.

1:30

The giggling slowed, I became less scared of my room, and to sleep I did return.

the end

sweet dreams my friends,

Kat