Naepalm

This blog post is a week and a half late.  This probably tells you something either about my sense of punctuality, the level of importance regarding writing in my blog, or perhaps the amount of free time that I have.  As to the first: I firmly believe in promptness, to the second: I find writing in my blog important despite often being not sure what to say, and for the third: my free time is desperately lacking.  Especially in regards to the last week and a half.

My parents, with grandmother in tow, came up to visit last week.  As my aunt owns a tiny little quarter-sized mobile home in Birch Bay, WA, she graciously allowed them to stay there and make use of her facilities.  Said facilities include not only the tiny little house but also a community with a heated pool (that I took full use of), a fair amount of wildlife (including bunnies, ducks, racoons, and other northwestern Washington species), and a sense of quiet relaxing community.  And a barbeque that cooks delicious food.

We usually try to get together around this time of year to celebrate Father's Day and my mom's birthday, which is on June 16th.  Off and on throughout the years they've been on the same day, which we always greatly enjoyed and never felt that one negatively impacted the importance of the other.  The same should be said for this year.

And that note, finally, brings me to the point of this post: my dad.

My dad and I have had an interesting relationship.  We got along great as I was a child (yeah, my sister and I have always been Daddy's girls), but as I grew in to teenage-hood, we started to really butt heads and that didn't stop until I moved out of the house.  I've often wondered, as I'm sure my dad has too, if some of the things that happened between us, some of the words that we said or the fights that we've had are irreparable.  It occured to me this weekend: that's not the case.

So, here I am in front of the world, or at least my miniscule piece of it, saying "Dad, I'm proud of you!"  And here's why: 

1. You always say you don't like cats.  But you secretly adore them.
2. You get excited over being Santa Claus.
3. I can always find you by your laugh.  Even though we're 200 miles apart, I bet I could hear you from Bellingham to Longview.
4. You have a sense of integrity that can only be rivaled by the joy you take in life.
5. Whenever I've been in a bind I didn't think I could get out of (roomate ditching me in 11 hours of notice with no money to pay her half of the rent and you guys spotting me $300, which I still intend to pay you back.)
6. After my roommate ditched and I didn't know what to do, you suggested I marry Nick.
7. Getting married on your birthday was the "best present you've ever had".
8. You treat my husband as if he were your son.
9. You're never afraid to be a neighbor to someone, no matter how far from home you are.  You always have a greeting and a good day.
10. When people are surprised and tell you that you're in a good mood, you respond "Yeah, I get that a lot."
11. Your smile is infectious.
12. You hate your job, but you do it anyway because that means supporting your family.
13. You made me the best cat post ever!

Everyone is aware of the current hardship many people are having with the economy.  Holding a job is hard, let along getting one if you don't have it.  And for all those people who have lost their jobs in Cowlitz County, WA (that'd be where my parents live), my dad and his co-workers are there to help.  And for that, I am so very, very, very proud.

You expect help from the people at DSHS in this situation.  After all, they're the ones that take your paperwork and dole out your wellfare if you qualify.  But what do you do for those few days inbetween finding out if you're eligible for foodstamps or not while you have two children.  I've been laid off before through no fault of my own, but because the company just couldn't support their employees.  Many people scoff at wellfare and the state helping those who need it, but I could be there right now, and so could many of the people I care about.

And if I was in that line, waiting to find out if I would get to eat tomorrow, I would get a blessing.  The employees at the Kelso Department of Social and Health Services throw fundraisers.  Of their own will, with their own money, by their own decision - the employees, not the management.  So that people who are waiting to get help in these hard times will have food and toiletries for a week in the meantime.  They keep a pantry there to give out to families in need and to be a blessing to those that are hurting in this economy.  And all I have to say is: Thank God there are men like my father who are willing to go the extra mile for a love of other people.

And to end this ridiculously sappy moment (I'll try not to tear up at work on my lunch break), some adorable cat pictures of my kittens enjoying the tree my dad built them last week!

This year is my 5th Easter after moving to Bellingham, and every year I traverse down to my parents' home in Longview to partake of the festivities.  In fact, other than Christmas, I believe Easter is the only holiday that I have spent with them every year since the move.  There's a simple and straightforward reason for this: The mall is closed on Easter.  So, when I was working at Waldenbooks, or while Nick was working in the mall, I'd only ever have to ask for one day off rather than two and could make sure that I got to spend the whole weekend in the presence of my family.

Of course, the fact of the matter is that it's all too good to be true.  Out of the last five Easters with my family, I have been sick for three of them.  Now, when I say sick, I don't mean nice and cozy wrapped in a blanket with a sniffly nose.  I mean sick with the flu from hell (twice) or some sort of wacky 104 degree fever that required an ice bath (the suck, let me tell you).  The upside is that whenever I'm sick, having Mom close to dote on me is fantastic.  The downside is having an Easter egg hunt where I'm shriveled up on the couch, trying to stare through blurred eyes, and pointing to the eggs to have Dad gather them for me.

Luckily, this year made up for it.  My sister's new husband (first Easter married, go Reese!) works at a feed store that happened to have one of the most springy of all spring animals.  No, I don't mean rabbits although those count, but the other little Easter fluffball: the baby chicken.  Whether or not you like chickens, you can't deny the ultimate cuteness of the baby in any form (If you post and deny it here, I will find a way to personally have you shanghaied into the HTML5 working group.  And have fun with that!).  Babies are cute.  Some cuter than others.  Kittens, puppies, bunnies... and of course chicks.  And if they look like the not-so-nommable peeps?  Well, who's to complain?

We managed to weedle away at least an hour of the day with the cute little ones, the resident store dog and cat, and generally chatting with Isaac to try and take up some of the work day and just enjoy the nice Saturday (seems that it was better down in Longview than up in Bellingham.  Can be grateful for that at least!).

I also managed to score epic loot for the weekend due to the fact that my birthday is coming up on Friday.  My mother, intuitive woman that she is, got a relative hint when I called her last week asking if she still had her extra sewing machine and if I could nab it.  I was disappointed when she said that it was gone, but pleasantly not-so-surprised to find that the family picked me up one for my birthday to get me started.  I even picked up some gorgeous material and snitched one of my mom's sundress patterns to get working.  I can't wait!

To top it off, we did an Easter egg hunt on Sunday.  My dad, the little kid that he is, was more excited about it than the rest of us, although it turned into a smashingly good time.  (Mom did have to remind him: Honey, they're adults now).  I know how he feels, though.  Whenever I see my little sister, I see the too thick glasses and big chunky teeth of an awkward 8-year-old.  It's all about perspective, I guess.  We had rain, but it was fun, and Nick and I scored $10, so... worth it for sure!

But... what are the real highlights of the weekend?  The absolute geek in me has the answer to this:

1) I set my parents up with Google Chrome.  Their poor old computers are at that stage where they're hazardously slow and it takes minutes (minutes people!) to open Internet Explorer (eew).  And so, web genius that I am, I installed the fastest browser out there to my mother's delight.  I can still see the look on her face as she sees that it opens instantly, and... more importantly... closes instantly, too.  Ah, the joys of being caught up with the modern web world.

2) Emily's E-bay genius found Nick the absolutely perfect gift for me for my birthday (she got me a lovely one herself, but alas I have no photos of it).  This gorgeous steam-punk medallion necklace makes my year, and the fact that it is actually a working watch where you can see the gears inside turn make me squeal with delight.  I can't wait to get sewing and working on costuming to go with it!  I have a feeling that it's all going to be absolutely.  Perfect.