City of…

Last night I watched “City of Angels” for the very first time. I did not know Nicholas Cage was in it. If I had, I probably would never given it a shot. I was enchanted by the story… until last couple scenes. I was so mad. Surely no one is THAT dumb. Meg Ryan’s character didn’t strike me as the type to ride a bike on a open road (with no freaking helmet! Her character was a doctor, for crying out loud!) with arms widespread and and looking up. That is an accident BEGGING to happen.

So I’ve decided. I’m going to rewrite the ending, make it happier. I HATE SAD ENDINGS. Don’t really know how it’s going to go yet. I have something to sleep on tonight.

The movie was great research, though. For my other project. I am 95% sure of how it’s gonna work now. Before, I was barely 25% sure. So it’s an improvement. I will keep you guys posted on my progress.

Weekend Fam-Bam Reunion

On Friday, my mom, my niece Aliza and I went to Leavenworth to pick up my aunt Lisa… we were going to a family reunion in Hillsboro, Oregon. My dad couldn’t go as he is Cashmere High’s girls basketball coach and his team had a tournament that weekend in Auburn. So it was a girl trip! The drive over was long, and complicated by the fact that my mom and aunt didn’t really know where we were going. We got lost twice (that I am aware of). Aliza was jibber jabbering away in her car seat next to me for most of the drive. When we were over halfway there, we stopped at a McDonald’s for a much needed bathroom and lunch break. Aliza got to play on the playland set. She didn’t really know how to go down the slide the proper way, so she would climb on the bottom and go up a ways and then slide back down to the bottom. There was a big smile on her face.

Aliza finally fell asleep when we got back in the car, for forty-five minutes or so. She woke up when we were driving around Hillsboro, trying to follow the directions we had to no avail. Finally, my mom called my Uncle Craig (it was his house we were trying to find) and I saw him waiting for us outside. YAY! I think we were in the car for at least 6 hours.

Papa was already there as well as Uncle Curt and his family. Due to their living in Cali, we haven’t seen Uncle Curt and Aunt Kelly Jo since my grandmother’s funeral in September 2009. Mersie (which means “grandmother” in french) was always the driving force of our family, and I am so glad someone (my beautiful cousin Maggie) bit the bullet and said, “HEY, WE NEED TO GET TOGETHER!” There was even an event created for it on Facebook. That is one way to get people to sit up and take notice. Kudos to you, Maggie. I love you soooo much!

We had spaghetti for dinner (one of my favorite foods ever!) and I started talking to my cousin Madeleine about books. She’s 14, about to start high school (Little Maddie!) and loves to read, draw, and write. She’s really talented. Her mom, Aunt Kelly Jo, told me that Maddie wants to write a book, like me. So I recommended some books and we ended up talking about “Untold Story” by Monica Ali. For those of you who don’t know, that book is about Princess Diana and it asks the questions, “What if the car accident had been averted? What if she had faked her death and stolen away to America where she could live in complete anonymity?” I had just finished that book two days before, and while I found it really creative, it is also really insane. The number one thing I had a problem with was that, in real life, Princess Di would never ever consider faking her own death and leaving her precious sons. What’s even more crazy is that Monica Ali is British. Hmmm. The controversy of this book is so great that I can hardly believe that Ali had the nerve to put it out there. Of course, she has creative license, all writers do, no matter what country they live in. Imagination is a fantastic thing. But this story? Just fiction. No way it can ever be anything more than that.

Other people had joined this conversation at this point. We talked about a few other books as well. My cousin Jordan is 20, and he wants to write as well. I told him about “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold. I absolutely loved that book in high school. The first 2 lines had me hook, line, and sinker: “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.” BOOM. Caught my interest! We also talked about “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” series. I told Maddie not to read them until she was 28, though. Originally, I said 21, but after I told Jordan a little bit about them, he suggested the age 28. LOL. Which is good. I don’t know if Maddie would want to read them anyway. The books are translated, and the language is a little tedious. On the cover of the 2nd one, it says, “A gripping, stay up all night read.” Yeah, right! These books have a lot of dark and twisted stuff in them. Shocking stuff. I really doubt I’ll even see the movies. I have zero interest in them.

Uncle Cary, Aunt Liz, and Carlyn arrived (and their schnauzer Edgar) and then Aunt Kelli and Brooke and Issac got there. My mom, Aliza, Aunt Lisa and I didn’t get to the hotel until after midnight. Aliza was so tired she was in tears. I slept in until 10, and woke up to Uncle Cary poking me and saying that Aliza had peed on him. She was wearing a diaper this time (which is much better than the time she peed on me 3 weeks ago – she was wearing panties that time). They were sitting at breakfast and my uncle was like, “She just peed on me.” And my mom said, “Those diapers are leak-proof!” But sure enough, when Uncle Cary lifted Aliza up, there was a wet spot on his pants. And he was like, “It’s so warm!”

After we all were ready, we went back to the house and I played with Aliza and my cousin Emma and my mom’s cousin’s little girl, Lexi, for a bit. Emma is 10, and she’s Uncle Curt’s little girl. She looks sooooo much like Mersie. I just love Emma to bits! Every time I wasn’t looking, Uncle Curt would put a beer can down next to me and act shocked that I was drinking so much. Haha, very funny.

Everyone soon left to play a softball game nearby. I stayed by myself at the house and watched tv and read… Yes, I was a party pooper… but I was more comfortable at the house. When Aunt Karen came back, she was like, “The old geezers won!” (It was old folks against youngsters.) And I said, “Maybe they let you win.” And she scoffed, laughing, and said, “Highly unlikely. There were tears.” But Maggie came in the house then and said I was right. And they didn’t cry. LOL. Later, I went with my mom and Aliza back to the hotel where the cousins hit up the pool (I can’t play softball or swim lol) and I watch Aliza splashing around in the pool with cousin Taylor and Taylor’s boyfriend Davy. I had brought my book (The Girl Who Played With Fire) but I was much more interested in watching the others.

When we got back to the house, we had a bbq and a patio jam session! My cousins Jordan, Maggie, and Cramer started us off with some Jason Mraz. Cramer is soooo talented! I can see him going to Hollywood and becoming a huge star. He’s got the looks, the talent, and the voice! He should be on Glee. Could replace Finn in the 4th season. LOL. Some other people got up and sang – Brooke and Carlyn did Adele. Uncle Cary and Carlyn sang “Don’t Stop Believin’.” And then, of course, there was a dance-off.

After that, we all moved our chairs closer to the patio fireplace and told stories. Some of us roasted marshmallows for s’mores. Aliza fell asleep in my mom’s lap, and was eventually carried indoors.

We didn’t go back to the hotel until after 1:30 am. Yesterday, we got up earlier because we had to check out. When I opened my eyes, I got two kisses in a row from Little Miss. It took my poor mom a while to pack up the room, so Aunt Lisa took Aliza to a nearby park to play and let out some energy. We went back to Uncle Craig’s house for a bit, to say goodbye to everyone.

It was so much fun. Hopefully we don’t let another 2 years pass before we get together again, and like Aunt Karen said, hopefully, it won’t even be a year. I love everybody dearly! The Chris Harlows weren’t even there. Definitely next time, guys! As Papa said Saturday night, “No one had more fun this weekend than Mersie.”

Beautiful Stranger (250-word sentence)

When Jacob startled awake, he heard Rachel’s soft snores behind him – “Rachel,” he whispered, shaking her shoulder gently, “We’ve got to get up,” and she was blinking up at him in the shadows – She stumbled to her feet, and gathered Joseph, sleepy baby, in her arms – “Wake Leah and the boys,” he told her – she nodded and went off to do what he had asked – soon, they were all gathered on the shores of the Jabbok, the boys yawning and grumpy – Jacob sent the women and children over first, and then he sent over all that he owned – he was alone and then he wasn’t, a man was there with him, glowing a little, and Jacob tackled him, thinking he better strike first while he had the advantage – the stranger fought back just as hard, finally touching Jacob’s hip, and Jacob went down with a scream, begging for a blessing – “let me go, for it is daybreak,” the stranger said, but Jacob said, “Not unless you bless me,” – he saw the wings in all their glory, they were huge and white, and the feathers looked soft – the beautiful stranger asked for his name, and Jacob answered, in shock and awe – “your name will no longer be Jacob, but rather Israel, because you have fought God and men and have overcome” – Jacob pleaded to know the angel’s name but the angel just blessed him and vanished – “this is Peniel,” Israel declared, “because I saw God face to face and was spared.”

Dream Book Nook

I WANT THIS!

I can easily do this…. fill a whole wall full of books.  The only problem is, books on the higher shelves would be extremely hard for me to get by myself.  But someday, after I get published and have more money than I have now, I am so totally doing this!  It is just perfect!  So cozy!

Bye Bye

I have never before in my life cried as much as I have this week…  Watching neuroblastoma stories on youtube and such.  I’m sucked in by them – the more I see, the more I am determined to help them.  No child should have cancer!

One story I saw was not about cancer, but instead of a beautiful little girl named Haylee Mazzella.  She died in 2006 at the age of 4 due to a needless drowning.  Haylee’s mom wanted to go in and change Haylee’s brother’s diaper, but Haylee begged for 10 more minutes in the pool.  Her step-grandmother said she’d watch her, and Haylee’s mom reluctantly agreed.  But the step-grandmother left Haylee in the pool and went inside.  The next thing Haylee’s mom knew, someone was shouting for somebody else to call 9-1-1.  She rushed outside, thinking that someone had hurt their foot or something.  But instead she saw her daughter on the ground having CPR done on her.  She was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.  She had been under the water for too long and didn’t have the strength to come back.

All because of one woman’s selfishness!  Who does that, leave a 4 year old baby unsupervised in a pool?  And why didn’t she have floaties on?  It just burns me up inside.  Haylee Mazzella was a healthy, happy little girl.  It took ten minutes to lose her.  An instant.  My heart goes out to her family.  Wednesday would have been her 10th birthday. I googled her step-grandmother’s name (Laurel Mazzella), trying to find something that said she was at least charged with child neglect, but there was nothing.  Instead, I found a youtube video of Laurel holding baby Haylee in the hospital just after she was born.  Seriously?  Take that off!

I got to know Haylee Mazzella a little bit, reading what her mother wrote about her on her memorial page.  Her trademark look was ribbons (usually pink) in pigtails.  She loved her baby brother, nicknaming him Bubba from day one.  When he would bite her, her mom and grandma (who she called Me-Maw) would tell her to bite him back, but she would say, “I can’t hurt him.  He’s a baby and he’s my brother.”  She loved dinosaurs and wanted a dinosaur tea party for her 5th birthday, which was 10 days away.  She loved animals, even lizards.  She was forever catching them and keeping them as pets. She would tell her momma and grandmother that she loved them out of the blue all the time.

The whole thing just breaks my heart.  It shouldn’t have happened.  It probably wouldn’t have happened if her eejit of a step-grandmother had been watching her as she said she would.  Or, if she really had to go inside, if she had just made Haylee get out of that pool.  She was the adult.  She should have known better.

It makes me want to scream.  That little girl should be here today.  As should all the children who have died, no matter what the cause of death is.  Children should not be allowed to die, period.

This reminds me of my first friend, Missy.  We met at Children’s Hospital in Seattle around 1984.  She was a few months older than me and had leukemia.  My mom told me the nurses had nicknamed us “the smiley sisters” because every time we were together we were smiling.  But the one picture she has of us, we are not smiling, but we are holding hands.  Missy died not too long after that picture was taken.  I don’t remember her, but I am sure I’ll meet up with her again one day, when this life is done.  There are so many people up in heaven that I want to meet.  My baby cousins, who never took a breath.  My great-grandmother who died in a dentist chair when my maternal grandmother and her sister were young.  All the neuroblastoma angels.  Hundreds and thousands of faces.  It’s all I see when I close my eyes at night.

Haylee Mazzella

A Hodge Podge of Things

Tuesday, June 12, 2011

Today, I went with Tammy to her mom’s cake shop.  We scrapbooked the rest of the Glee concert pictures and ate peanut butter cookies and cherry cheesecake.  Yum!  We talked about her upcoming wedding (she kept saying, “We have a year!  We have a year!” until I reminded her that it was going to go by just like THAT.  She said something to the effect that was a bad thing.  I was like, “Or GOOD.”  And she agreed.  LOL).  At the reception, she and Curtis are going to have a candy buffet (I smiled when I heard that….  brings back memories of high school when Tammy would stuff my locker full of candy) and a photo booth, where we adorn ourselves with silly costumes.  My cousin Carol had a photo booth at her wedding in 2009.  I didn’t know what it was back then, and so when my sister said, “Come on, let’s go get our picture taken!”  I was like, “Oh, no!”  I really hate getting my picture taken professionally.  Seriously hate it.  The flashes of the camera are bright and scary.  But as it turns out, it was not what I expected!  I loved it.  Being silly is one of my specialties!

Soon after Tammy took me home, my brother Patrick and the Little Miss showed up.  My parents are working hard on the backyard (it got really torn up last summer when the house was being extended to accommodate my room.  My mom is forever moaning and groaning about the never-ending house project and I reminded her that it will be worth it in the end.  Patrick has been a real help to my dad.  Aliza loves playing in the dirt.  She just knows that whatever is going on, it is fun.  My mom has been taking pictures of the project almost every day and posting them on facebook.  She has some super cute ones of Aliza and Kobe (dog).  She’s gonna have a hard time figuring out which ones to frame!  Maybe she can make a collage of summer 2011 pictures.

Aliza Fay is a wild child!  I think I’ve always known this, deep down.  I was sitting on the floor having just put the Glee scrapbook pages in the album (and the album away in the drawer) when she came into my room.  She TACKLED ME!  I was flat on the floor, and so I grabbed her and started tickling her.  Ticklefest Summer 2011  (I must stop to say that I absolutely dread the day when Aliza discovers that I am just as ticklish as she is, maybe even more so)!  When she moved away from me, I rolled over on my stomach, and what did she do?  Stood on my back!  And then she sat on me too.  My mom heard the commotion (we both were laughing our heads off), and then she went and got the camera!

Thursday, June 14, 2011

I am in mourning already for my favorite Glee characters – Rachel, Finn, and Kurt.  They’re graduating from William McKinley High School at the end of this upcoming season.  I get that they have to – nobody wants to watch a show where kids are in high school forever (heck, nobody wants to be in high school forever), and the show can’t follow Rachel, Finn, and Kurt to college because, well, the show is about a high school glee club.  I wish they would do a spin-off show called “Gleeful” or something.  Gleeful to get away from Sue Sylvester, that is!  LOL.  The Glee franchise has a reality show, so why can’t they do a spin-off?  I know, however, that Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, and Chris Colfer want to do other things and I will support them in whatever they do.  True fans are like puppies in that way.

If I had 3 wishes, though,  I’d wish for Glee to never end (or for the original characters to come back and do guest spots), a cure for childhood cancer, and an answer to the infuriating question that has haunted me since high school:  HOW THE HECK DO I WRITE MY STORY AS A NOVEL?  I am getting closer to the last one, though!

“You Are Headed for a Land of Sunshine.”

Katie Hears A Who

“You are headed for a land of sunshine.”  That is what my Jones bottle cap said last night.  I love it.  Who doesn’t want to head for a land of sunshine?  Especially when it is more gray than blue outside, but still in the 80s…  That is a Washington summer for you!

Yesterday, Tammy came to spend the day with me.  She had found her wedding dress on Thursday, and she brought it to model for my mom and I.  Aliza was here too.  After she had put on the dress, she came out of my room and handed me a manilla envelope.  I was like, “What’s this?”  But she refused to say anything so I just opened it.  I pulled out a photo collage of us and it had these words at the top:  “Let’s create another memory together…  Will you be my bridesmaid?  July 07, 2012.”  I grinned from ear to ear and handed it to my mom.  She read it and instantly teared up, which made Tammy tear up too.  Yes, yes, yes, I’ll be your bridesmaid a thousand times over, TJ!  Anything for you.

We spent the day watching The X-Files (I am slowly making my way through the gazillion episodes, and like every other female X-Files fan, I am in love with Mulder) and scrapbooking the pictures that we took at the end of May/beginning of June (At one point there was an unfortunate incident involving Aliza peeing on my lap – oh boy). I’ll see Tammy again for sure before she goes back to Yuma on Friday the 15th. She’s getting in quality parent time!

I recently finished The Hunger Games trilogy.  Sunday night, I had a dream (nightmare, actually, if you want to get technical) where the Glee cast was in the hunger games.  If you are not familiar with the books, it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, about a girl named Katniss Everdeen who lives in the country of Panem (where North America once was).  They have a very powerful (meaning, of course, evil) government in this country that works out of the Capitol.  The Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol officials draw the names of one boy and one girl from each district in the country to fight to the death.  What is the point of this, you ask?  Well, that is a very good question, and the answer is that the Hunger Games exist to prove to the citizens of Panem that not even children are beyond the reach of the Capitol.

Sounds like terrorism, right?

So you can imagine that my dream wasn’t very pretty.  Imagine the Glee kids killing each other.  Exactly.  I was like NOOOOOOO!  And then I woke up and realized it was just a dream.  Thank goodness.

A land of sunshine sounds good, right about now, doesn’t it?  Hugs and puppies and rainbows!  Or as Katie says in Horton Hears A Who, “In my world, everyone’s a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!”

Restless

Feeling distracted today.  Restless.  I know whatever the future holds will take time, a lot of time, to come to a head.  I want results now.  I want to write a novel in a day, get published tomorrow, and throw every penny I can at childhood cancer research.  But it doesn’t work like that.  The process is slow.  So very slow.  I want to scream sometimes.  And I want to strangle myself for wasting time.  Every.  Second.  Counts.

But distraction does serve some purpose.  It helps keep me sane.  It enables me to be creative, to dream.  Distraction nourishes my soul.  But too much distraction is bad.  I don’t want to feel out of control and neglected by myself anymore.  I want take charge.  Resolve face!  I am going to write.  I am writing.  Writing is key.  At least in my case.  I am ready to be reunited with myself, joining body and soul.  I am one.  Breathe.  Say it again.  I am one.

What was I doing, anyway?  I am trying to remember when I lost myself.  Maybe I’ve never been found before.  I’ve never been this determined, that is for sure.  I feel horrible when I take a look at what got me here.  Children dying.  What the heck?  Seriously.  I should have woken up my soul ages and ages ago.

I am stronger now.  When I am writing, I am freer.  I am happier.  More balanced, for sure.  Why didn’t I make time for it before?  Why now?  Better now than never, I think.  It is scary, at times.  It’s frightening to put myself out there in the world when I haven’t really stepped out before.  I’ve always hoarded my writing.  But I don’t want to be another Emily Dickinson.  I want to get out there in the world, to help people who need help, to love people who need love.  There is so much need in this world.

The problem is, when I try to look at the whole picture, I panic.  So I have to break it up into smaller pieces.  And distraction helps.  It is only when the distraction takes over that I run into trouble.  So I need to set goals.  Start from my whole picture and work backwards.  The are holes, of course.  Places where I have no idea what to do.  Places that are empty.  And that’s okay, I think.  They will be filled in eventually.  Writing is a slow process.  That cannot be helped.  It is what it is.

Getting Brave

What is it about me, in general?  Why am I here?  Most of the time, I feel so small, like I can’t possibly make a difference.  My speech impediment surely hinders me from getting out there in the world and taking a stand.  When thoughts like these come, I can’t help but wonder what God’s purpose for me is.  Then I look at my left hand. I look at my laptop, at the keyboard.  And I think, again, that I can do this.  There’s a reason for everything, and even if sometimes I don’t understand, God does, and that is good enough for me.

My life is about something bigger than just me.  I figured that out a long time ago, in high school, I think.  But sometimes I forget.  Sometimes, I admit, I feel sorry for myself.  After all, who wouldn’t, if they were in my shoes?  Who wouldn’t want to just crawl under a rock and hide?  And possibly die?  It’s safe under that rock.  No one judges me. But then, nothing changes either.

When I think about tomorrow, about next year, five years from now, I freeze.  And I thank God I don’t have the ability to see into the future like He does, because I would be so scared I wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning.  So I just live today.  This moment.  Yes, my life is about much more than this moment, about more than just my feelings.  I just go with that.

I am graced with something so many others don’t have – time.  Sometimes I am brave enough to tap into the power of the moment, and other times, I hesitate.  Time disappears.  Longing and despair suffocate me.  The number one question is HOW?  How am I going to do what I have to do?  Anxiety is an old enemy.  I can’t seem to shake it.  Depression comes.  How do I get out of it?  God is silent.  He wants me to figure it out for myself.  I wish He would point me in the right direction.  But maybe I am on the right track now.  Maybe that is why I don’t hear anything.  God is holding his breath, going, “Yes, yes, yes, you’re getting there.  Yes!”

Is it up to me?  Do I hold the intangible key?  The ultimate power, is it within me?  Has it been all along, and I’ve only just now beginning to realize it?

 

Firework

I feel bad for Katy Perry….  Glee keeps covering her songs and their versions turn out better than the original.  It’s a good thing that Katy is such a big fan of Glee!    Of course, I don’t see how anybody could actually dislike this show, unless they are my brothers or think it’s super cheesy.  Which it is, I admit, but I think that is part of its appeal!  I love cheesy stuff!  The cheesier, the better!

On May 28th, I flew to San Diego to meet my best friend from high school, Tammy James, her fiance Curtis, and their roommate Zee (who I had met before in 2008 when I flew to Yuma for a LeAnn Rimes concert).  They had tickets for us girls (plus the lovely Heather Marek) to see Glee live in concert the very next day!  All four of us were so excited!  The day of the concert was a long one, as we shopped at Fashion Valley Mall until we were literally starving to death!  We went to Cheesecake Factory (my first time!) and split two main dishes and had cheesecake.  Tammy and I were giggling about “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett.  If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.  I about died laughing when I got to the part where the character Minnie explained what she did that was so “Terrible, Awful.”  I won’t give it away, don’t worry!  But if you read it, you will understand why we were giggling about it at the Cheesecake Factory!  I had red velvet cheesecake, same as Tammy, and it was soooooo good!

After the Cheesecake Factory, we had to rush back to the hotel to get ready for the concert because we shopped an hour too long.  We dressed up as characters from the show:  I was Quinn, Tammy was Brittany, Heather was Rachel (she made a point of wearing her cross necklace…  she said she was a “non-Jewish Rachel Berry”), and Zee was Santana.  We made it to the concert with time to spare!  There were girls wearing red and white cheerleading uniforms outside we got to take a picture with their pom poms.  I got “GLEEK” temporarily tattooed on my right arm.  I have never seen so much Glee merchandise in one place before.  It was insane!  I b ought Tammy a FREE YOUR GLEE tote bag for her birthday present (her “hatch day” as she calls it is May 25th), and I got a Glee live 2011 t-shirt with all the cast members’ faces on it!

The concert itself was AMAZEBALLS.  Haha.  They started out with “Don’t Stop Believin’,” of course!  The actors/singers were totally in character, which I absolutely loved!  Someday we will get to know these people as who they really are, but for now, at least for one more year, they are the New Directionals kids.  Rachel, Finn, Kurt, Brittany, Quinn, Santana, Tina, Lauren, Puck, Sam, Artie, Mercedes, and Mike.  And of course, the Warblers.  Just before they came out, Rachel (Lea Michele) sang “Firework.”  I was really excited when the Warblers performed on the little stage closest to us, instead of the big one.  I got a good look at Darren Criss in person.  He’s my Glee crush!

All of us were disappointed because Rachel did not sing “Get it Right.”  I identify so much with that song, both in high school and now.  There is a lot I want to get right, mainly my writing and my relationships.  Pretty much everything.  When I heard the song for the first time on the show, I was like, “that is me!  Me too, Rachel.”  It’s everybody, I think.  Everybody wants to get everything right.  But a lot of the time, it doesn’t turn out so good.  It’s just life, just the way things go.

The next day, Monday, we celebrated Tammy’s #30 hatch day with dinner at an Italian place called Buca di Beppo with Curtis, Zee, Heather and her family – her husband, Adam and their sons, Ethan, Ben, and Aaron, and Curtis’ parents and sister Bridgette.  Aaron pretty much spent the whole meal making me laugh.  He’s 4 yrs old and is absolutely adorable!  On the way back to the hotel, we (Curtis, Tammy, Zee and I) decided to stop really quick at the beach where Tammy said “Curtis made me fall in love with him.”  Awww.  Photo shoot!    And then we went to see the “Hangover 2.”

On Tuesday, we went to Seaworld!  While we were waiting in line to get in, a kind stranger gave me a coupon for 50% off the admission price.  I thanked him profusely…  He didn’t have to do that!  Once we were in the park, we decided to go to as many of the shows we could.  Whales, dolphins, sea lions, pets.  One right after another.  We saw the turtles, the penguins, the sharks, the polar bears, etc.  I held a starfish, which kinda freaked me out.  I asked Curtis how they know that the starfish are alive.  Yeah, seriously.  He said that they grow bigger, and when they are (seemingly) upside down  tentacles come out of their bodies.  Eeeeee!  I don’t like things with tentacles.

We went on the motion helicopter ride and then the Atlantis roller coaster.  I sat in the back, because it had the most back support and because the guy said that you get wetter toward the front.  Zee sat next to me, and Tammy and Curtis sat in front of us.  I was screaming before it even started to move.  I was like, “I’m gonna die!”  (I say that all the time, mostly when I am cold) and Zee screamed back, “I’m gonna die!  I hate you people!”  At which I about died laughing.  Thanks, Zee, for making me laugh at such a crucial moment!  I didn’t have my hearing aids in, and I had a ear plug in my left ear.  And I still heard her.  She must have been hollering at the top of her lungs.  Of course, when the ride began, I was back to screaming again.  Oh my gosh.  It was terrifying.  But I wanted to go again and Tammy wanted to go again, so Curtis didn’t even budge from his seat.  But Zee was up and out of her seat so fast, even though Tammy was begging her to go again.  I made Tammy get in back with me.  No way was I going again without someone beside me.  Tammy was my anchor, as always.

After that ride, I won a cute stuffed penguin for my niece Aliza, and we went shopping for souvenirs.  And then we were starving again…  So we left Seaworld behind and went to Pick Up Stix for dinner.  We were all pretty much dead on our feet by this point, but Curtis was a trooper and got us back to Yuma, AZ all in one piece (where these three live).  The next few days were filled with movies, scrapbooking, parties (a scentsy party and a birthday party).  And then on June 5th, we all woke up super early to get me back to the airport in San Diego to go home.

But don’t worry….  Tammy is coming home for a visit this week, so there will be lots more to tell, I am sure!  I am looking forward to re-introducing the Little Miss Aliza Fay to her! 

Happy Independence day!