An Escape From Reality

Today was my last at work. It was strange leaving by choice, with a sweet card signed by all the people in Oncology. Usually, it’s, “You have ten minutes to clear out your desk, Vanessa!!” So, now I’m getting all purtied up for tomorrow, which is my BIRTHDAY, and I’m going to celebrate in Mississippi at the casinos with my favorite Auntie and my favorite Mom. We’re going to go to one of the fancy-shmancy restaurants and eat a big, juicy steak and have a bottle of good red, which will give us all the nourishment we need to hit those slots and clean 'em out. Plus, I’ve been practicing my poker online, so I’m going to try my hand at that, too. Oh, and I’ll drink lots of vodka and smoke lots of cigarettes and generally just be a degenerate sinner. I only wish the three of us had matching gold wind suits and fanny packs. That would make the weekend a real winner!

(Note to brother, Dave: just because you're out of town doesn't mean you don't have to buy me a present.)

Filter Between Brain and Mouth: Broken

Last Sunday afternoon, Auntie Linda and I went to Walgreens to look at hairstyle magazines. We were looking at different magazines and were showing each other the hairstyles and making comments when this redneck woman walked up beside me. She listened to our conversation for a few seconds and said, “Mah husband wud keel me if ah cut mah har.” My first thought, (well, my second thought because Emily reads this and therefore I cannot publish my first thought) was, “well, we don’t have to worry about that, since we don’t have husbands.” What came out of my mouth instead was, “Well, you need to get rid of that bastard.” Poor ol’ redneck gal didn’t know what to think. But Auntie Linda thought it was funny, and that’s all that matters.

Pathetically Optimistic

I haven’t been home much lately; trying to squeeze in all the family I can before the move. While at dinner one night last week, my brother, Don, mentioned that he was flying to Venezuela on Sunday, August 6. He’s already promised me he was going to help me move on August 5 and now he tells me he’s got to catch a flight from Memphis at noon on 8/6. There’s no way he can help me move the six-hour drive up to Columbia, MO and then make a flight the next day in Memphis, unless he doesn’t plan to sleep. Of course, he made his travel plans after he’d promised to help me move, knowing all of the above information. I don’t know why he couldn’t just come out and say, “I won’t be able to help you move, dear sister, because I’m going out of the country at that time.” Of course, that would be the sensible way, and so non-passive-agressive, which is not his way. So, luckily, I have a spare brother who is willing to help me make the move. You know the thing about family is, no matter how much you want to choke them sometimes, you still love them. And yes, I’ll miss my brother, Don, even though he’s pissing me off right now. And Venezuela?? Alone?? I’m trying not to worry about him going to S. America alone with no hotel reservations and very little knowledge of the Spanish language. His Ph.D is in philosophy, not common sense.

Last week, at one of Reece’s baseball games, Dawn revealed to me why Emily’s been acting as if I’m no longer on the planet. (She’s been ignoring me for the past couple of months and it’s been upsetting me terribly, but I’ve been thinking she was just becoming a typical preteen.) Anyway, Dawn told me that Emily has been thinking that I would forget her once I moved away. Bless her heart. All this time she’s been hurting and I’ve been hurting and we haven’t communicated and lost all that time we could have been spending together! We quickly patched it up over tears at the ballgame and then she spent a couple of days with me over the weekend and all is well. I, however, have turned into a huge baby and cry every time I think about leaving Emily and Reece. Up to this point, I have been in denial about leaving them, and I have deduced that denial is WAY better than reality.

Later today, I’m driving Emily, Reece, Dave, and Dawn to Memphis to catch a flight to LA, where they’re going to be vacationing for the next ten days. They’re going to have a great time and I’m so excited for them! I have to get all of my packing finished during that time so that the three days after their return I can spend it hanging out with the niece and nephew.

Auntie Linda has decided that she’s going to move with me. She’s actually going to help me move, along with my mom and brother, and she offered to stay with me for a few days after the move. Good Lord. I don’t know who’s the bigger baby: Linda or I. We cry and hug all the time. We are pathetic.

I am pathetic right now.

However, I am trying to be optimistic.

The Time Is Drawing Near

I finally got registered for classes today. It took me all afternoon to figure out how to register and decide which classes, etc. Mizzou has the most complicated registration system I've ever seen. In fact, everything I do through their website is complicated. I have about five different log-ons for all the crap I have to do online and I have such a terrible e-mail user name and password that I have to look them up everytime I use them. Oh, and they don't allow students to change any user names, etc. Enough complaining. What am I saying? I'm going to complain every day until I'm pushing up daisies. It's my nature. Enjoy the posted photo. It's where my classes will be. I'm majoring in Library Science, and so I assumed my classes would be in the library. Logical, right? Nope. I'd forgotten how ridiculous universities seem after having been in the "other world" for a while.

I'll post later about my weekend with Emily. Be sure and have tissue on hand for it.

Later!
Vanessa

Champion Softball Player

While Reece and I were busy skateboarding and watching movies and eating candy last weekend, Emily and her softball team were busy WINNING FIRST PLACE in a tournament. Congratulations, my darling niece!


Emily catches another one!!



Yeah, you're too cute, Em!!

If There Are Nine Kinds Of Tired, I Have Ten

The garage sale went really well and I got rid of a lot of stuff that I don’t want to move with me. My books didn’t sell, however, and my mom said they were a little too “high brow” for the crowd buying junk at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday. I thought that was funny. I sold every single “I Love Lucy” video and I think I had twenty of them.

Reece stayed the weekend with me and we had such a great time. Mom and I took him to see the new “Pirates” movie and he loved it. We, the adults, were bored with it, but Reece thought it was wonderful, so it was worth sitting through to watch his reactions. Unless you are taking a kid with you, don’t bother with the movie. One of my coworkers said she dozed off during the movie, but her little boy loved it, too, so based on that I’m declaring it a flop. The thing made something like $132 million over the weekend, so what do I know.

Here’s where all you moms of little ones get to laugh out loud: I kept my eight-year-old nephew from Saturday morning at 8:00 until this morning at 9:00 and I AM EXHAUSTED. No idea how you mamas do it every day of your life and still manage to speak in coherent terms. And, Reece is the perfect boy. He’s polite. He thanks me for the fruit punch, even. He is an absolute delight and not at all demanding, so I guess it’s just the responsibility that wears me out. And the going. We went to the movie (and I’d been up since 5am that day) and the pet store and twice we went to the skateboard park and I sat on my butt while Reece played, yet I am pooped. I’d do it again in a split second, though. I adore that boy.

I told him the only thing I insisted I get to do all weekend was watch the World Cup final Sunday afternoon, and I dozed off during the first half of the game. Sitting up. Reece came into the living room and saw my eyes closed and he got right up in my face and said, “hey, Nessa! Are you asleep?” I jumped out of my skin, all embarrassed, and recovered with, “oh, thanks for waking me, Reece! I sure don’t want to miss this match!” He gave me one of his precious grins and said, “you’re welcome! You got any fruit? I’m hungry!” So I got up and fed him.

A Very Lame Post Written Because I Feel Guilty For Not Writing Sooner

I spent most of my four-day holiday going through my stuff and deciding what to sell at my carport sale I’m having Saturday. I have about a hundred paperbacks and half that many literature anthologies that I’m selling. Some of these are great books, and I’d love to keep them, but I’m trying to be realistic about it. I don’t want to keep packing these and unpacking them until I’m ninety years old and STILL haven’t read them. Or, I’ve read the books at least once and will never read them again, so why keep them?

Did manage to get to the movie and see “The Devil Wear Prada” over the weekend and I loved it. Meryl Streep made the movie. Anne Hathaway was good, but Streep playing the Boss From Hell completely overshadowed everyone else in the movie. If you haven’t seen it, get thee to a moviehouse now! I also rented "The Producers" - so good! - and "A History of Violence" - excellent, too.

There’s so much I want to write about now, but I don’t have time. Plus there’s a mosquito gnawing at my leg and I must go kill the little sucker.