Family Above All*
LOL.
*This title is in reference to the theme and tagline behind the show.
Follow the Frog is an online record of a 20-something single girl raised in Los Angeles, but now living in Baltimore.
Feel free to leave (nice) comments, or you can send (friendly, encouraging) emails to: followthefrog@gmail.com
Labels: Boys, Friends, Weekend Business, Woe Is Me
The other day I was at my parents house working on my taxes. My mom was out and my dad was washing my car. He spoils me by taking care of my car, and so I always feel like I should do something for him during those times. There usually isn't a whole lot I can do. I offered to make him lunch, but he doesn't like to stop and eat when he's busy doing things around the house. So I thought, I'll could maybe get him something refreshing to drink.
Now some history.
My dad drinks Kook-Aid. It is HIS drink. It is what he has drank all my life at every dinner and every weekend day I can think of. He always has it in a large plastic cup and he always wants a lot of ice. He always drinks red Kool-Aid and because of that, we always have a container of prepared red Kool-Aid in the door of our fridge next to the milk. Always.
Back to the story.
After my dad turned down my offer of lunch, I said, "Do you want some Kool-Aid?"
He looked up from where he was scrubbing the hood of my car down and said with a big kid-like smile, "Yeah! That would be great!"
It's been about four years since I lived with my parents, and I can't remember the last time I went to the fridge to get my dad Kool-Aid. But it was funny because I knew the routine. I knew to grab the large plastic cup and fill it up with ice, and I knew there would be Kool-Aid ready to pour. The whole process made me reflect with amusement on this little quirk of my father's. For a second it made me really appreciate home. There are certain things about how a family lives--places things are stored, lights that are turned on at night, rooms that are used for specific events, ways of doing things. You know--all the routines of daily life. The family knows these things. The family does them without thinking, without question. Anyone outside the family wouldn't know about these things. They wouldn't "live" the same as us.
The General and I have some of our own traditions. We have been roommates for four years now so in many ways we have also created some of our own "home habits." Here are some examples: 1) We use only half a paper towel each. We rip it in half and leave the other half there for later use. 2) We leave our keys in a bowl by the door. This is a carry-over from when we used to have tandem parking. 3) We only lock the bottom lock when the first one of us leaves in the morning. 4) We have sides of the sink where we leave our dirty dishes. 5) We don't generally use the house heating, but we have a little portable one the General stole from the ex that we use constantly. 6) We always try and leave a light on if one of us is still out. Right now, that means one of the floor lights near the window.
Sometimes these little habits are comforting. And it is nice to know that the people you live with--whether they are family or friends--know and follow those same habits. Maybe that's what they mean when they say there is no place like home.
(There's another post from today below. I'm very busy at work.)
I started doing Spin before my Body Sculpting class. It's a tough two hour workout. Today was only my second day of doing them both together, and the instructor was particularly harsh in Body Sculpting. We worked with those step things (with a minimum of two risers.) We used weights and resistance bands. I've never done so many lunges and squat combinations in my life. And doing them AFTER an hour of hill work in spinning left me feeling very weak.
After class I walked to my car via a shortcut--cutting through a pretty little garden on a quaint stone path. I stepped on a stone at an angle, lost my balance and fell. I think I would have been able to right myself had my core muscles not been shaking. Whatever. I twisted my ankle, rammed my shin on a rock and said the F word loud enough for someone to come and see if I was okay. I was. Just a little sore.
Then on my drive into work, I spilled coffee all the way down my new shirt. My new ivory colored shirt. THANK GOD for Tide Pens. Seriously, it is one of my favorite things. If I were in the Sound of Music, I would have a verse in that Favorite Things song dedicated to the detergent pen. It would go like this:
Tide Pens and Sushi and Trader Joes Salsa
Battlestar Gallactica and very cheesy pasta
Fluffy down comforters and my grandmothers rings
These are a few of my favorite things
Whenever I have to do something that is really important, or something I am nervous about (like take a big test, run a long distance, give a big presentation) there is a moment right before it starts where my mind goes from a panic/stress mode to a calm quiet. I stress until it's time to not to, and then I think, "don't think, just go!" I go on autopilot. I take the test, run the run, present. It always works. I never freeze up.
I found out on Friday that I got into the other nursing school I was waiting on. One could argue that this school is better than the first. Personally I think it offers better programs and opportunities more in line with what I want. So I've decided to go there. I am still moving to the east coast but now much sooner. Sooner as in two months.
So I've made lists, had discussions, created spreadsheets organizing the "project." Now I need to start actually preparing for the move. Physically. I need to sort through my stuff and decide what to get rid of. There is so much I no longer want, and I am looking forward to this move being the catalyst that really drives a transition from the stuff of my youth to a leaner, more adult compilation of stuff. So this is my plan. And I need to start.
Yesterday I stood in front of my bookshelf. On every shelf there were a handful of books I didn't want to read, didn't like, or no longer feel the need to keep. But I didn't want to take anything off the bookshelf. So I just looked. I wasn't ready to dismantle. I froze up.
Today I woke up early and went for a run along the beach. It felt good to be outside after almost two months of primarily indoor exercise. On the run I decided it's time. It was a little late, but the "don't think just go!" moment happened. The tear down starts today.
*This is reference to Lisa Lisa and her Cult Jam. I've been listening to some favs from the 80's lately. I can feel the beat now. Que sera, que sera.
Labels: School
Labels: Food
Labels: Random
Labels: Boys
Labels: Exercise, the ER, Weekend Business
(I can't get the captions to line up next to the photos, so you'll have to solve the mystery).
1) My Grandmother's piano. I think it was in her family before it was hers and came from Hawaii. She's a pianist and many of the other piano players in my family (myself included) first learned on this. 2) My grandfather grows everything in his garden. This is a perfect little pineapple that was growing there over Christmas. 3)Morning light shining through big green leaves.