If only all kids were like this

I'm Facebook friends with my friend's teenage daughter. She has a 7 year old brother. Her recent update:

this morning my mom told my brother that her school was sending candy to the troops, and to pick out the candies he didn't want. he took out a piece of chocolate and a lollipop and put the rest in a box and wrote on the box "der arme i hav a pezet for you. loev to arme" :D i love that kid!!!

Awww...

My friend had sent out an email Saturday asking about climbing on Sunday, in part to get rid of the candy hangover. I checked in with him Sunday night, and he said he had no candy hangover because the damn kid gave it all away... :-)

FB update I can't quite write

No you CANNOT have a bite of my peach.

I truly have an amazing peach that I am about ready to eat right now. I mean a piece of fruit people!!!

Reunion

So, Saturday I went to meet up with some people I hadn't seen in at least 20 years. Friends from high school. Before going, I was a bit anxious. It's kinda like going home to your parents - you start acting the way you were when you were younger. Well, back in high school I was pretty shy. I had more than 2 friends by 10th grade, but it was still an odd thing. I was a misfit.

Thing is, there were a bunch of other misfits too that kinda all found each other. By end of 10th / 11th grade there were enough people to have a group. We were very fond of saying that we weren't 'clique'y (well, in a traditional way!). In fact, someone within the group coined the term for us - claque. There was a core group who all lived on the same street near the junior high school, and then the outliers like me, who kinda even in a misfit group was hesitant to be part of the group all the way.

Well, a few people got together on Sat and I decided to join. I was anxious, but I eventually told myself that it would be like meeting new people, because really they were new. I mean, 20 years had gone by.

But in the end it was so relaxed. I was still kind of a misfit, being the only one not married and childless, but it was great spending time with them. And hearing about other people we all knew. I mean, who woulda thought that C would become an opera singer in Germany?? Seriously, he is. And W is a sommalier. And one of the guys who was there is my age and just starting his residency for becoming a medical doctor. He loves it. And another brought cheese that he had made himself.

It was great. And the best thing that came out of it, driving home I was thinking to myself that I really can do anything I want to. I can dream, and make that dream come true. I'd lost that attitude over the years due to all the chaos in my life, but I'm stable enough(ish) now that I can start dreaming again. Or at least percolating.

Like, I'd love to go live in New Zealand for a year or two. Realistically, some things would have to happen for me to do that (stabilize medication, find a way to have health insurance there, my mom die - which is horrible but realistic - I don't want to be overseas when she dies, etc.) but it's something that could come true. And that's all I've come up with so far. But it's something. I have some time.

And I reconnected with some really truly good people, and hope to continue to be in touch. Thanks Facebook!

Grab Bag 2

- I found out yesterday that there's a really cool set up so ground water doesn't flood my basement. I saw that there's two inconspicuous holes near the drain outside my basement door that water is seeping up and through, and it goes directly into the drain. We've had so much rain, I'd be in deep water if I didn't have that. Whew.
- The trouble with pulling out clothes at home and bringing them somewhere is that sometimes you make mistakes. Yucky combination today, but I think I fixed it with clothes I have at work.
- Facebook has been crazy for me lately. Random stranger who knows two people I know liked a comment I made and wanted to be my friend. OK. Friend of this random stranger saw my last name and asked if I had relatives on the east coast. She used to surf with some people in NJ - I still have to figure out if it's a cousin of mine. Old college acquaintance saw my name on someone I'm closer to, who doesn't really use FB all that much, wrote to me and became my friend. Hope he's not looking to hook up, because just not interested. A FB friend of a guy I used to work with asked to be my friend because I apparently used to work with him in the first job I ever had here. I don't remember him AT ALL - and had to write to the one person I know from that job to ask who the hell he is. He even remembered that I got 'let go' from there.

Oh, yes, I got fired. I worked for a real asshole, and put up for it way too long. And there were many other assholes at that place. My at-work demeanor thus was not good. They also said I couldn't write worth a damn. It was ultimately a good thing they let me go, since I was approaching the job like I had every relationship: keep trying and trying to make it work, even if it's clear it's just not a good fit, and ultimately bad for my mental and physical health. But it still sucked to be let go.

Facebook status I want to write but shouldn't

So here it is:

Pamela has to mow the jungle tonight. The one in her backyard.

This just in - Facebook

Court approves using Facebook to pass along foreclosure document.

"You've been "superpoked" - and served. A court in Australia has approved the use of Facebook, a popular social networking site, to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan"

So much for not having anything serious on the site.

Facebook status I would never write

But would love to. [this may become a regular feature]

Pamela is wondering where on her body she should warm the cold banana she just bought.