This weekend for the first time in forever, I ended up with a whole day off, which I spent doing only social things. It was very strange, but I rather enjoyed it!
In order to reveal the mindset behind all of this, I must reveal that Friday after work, Forest and I sat down and signed a bunch of stuff with the new mortgage company. We were both really happy with them, and felt that they were honest where the other company hadn't been. We signed our permission for them to view our credit and contact our employers BEFORE they did so (last time it was AFTER.) We also signed their cost estimate, detailing the closing costs, although we realized when we read them that the costs were estimated higher than they actually would be. That was a NICE thing, especially after the last company wouldn't give us straight answers about their costs at all.
Finally, the people I saw in person were the same people I had talked to on the phone, and they were efficient and organized. I like that a lot.
So we went to rehearsal feeling much better about things, and out to a movie afterward as a sort of reward for making a good decision this time. We saw The Art Of War, which is a Wesley Snipes movie, and as far as I could tell it had nothing to do with the book. We enjoyed it; but it was certainly not Eastern philosophy.
Saturday morning I took Forest in to work, and had a mile-long list of things I was going to get done that day. I was going to mow the lawn, delouse Kirstin's room (just in case there were any lice left up there) and do a ton of laundry. I was going to move the catbox upstairs, so that they wouldn't be tracking bits of litter onto our parquet floor; and I was going to take our sleeping bags to the laundromat so they'd be clean next time we wanted to use them.
Instead of doing any of those things, I ended up just having fun. I rode back to Eaton Rapids with Forest in the car, and during the ride he and I debated politics, talked about our ideas on education systems, books we love, and generally enjoyed each other's company. After I finally dropped him off for good, I went to pick up Tiff.
Tiff's apartment is the same one that Bill and I lived when Kirstin was a newborn, except with only one bedroom. It was like walking into a strange corner of my past when I came in her front door. Things have hardly changed there in the past 9 years; they have added doors to the closets now, which is nice, and carpets on the floors instead of bare tile.
I am certainly grateful to have come a long way since then. Honestly, I think my old apartment in Spartan Village would fit in the first three rooms of our house with a little room to spare. It was TINY. Still, I think it is the perfect size for Tiff. Her things just fill it up; the place feels neither crowded nor empty.
I remember those days as a kind of fog. Kirstin was tiny and I was so busy convincing everyone around me that I knew what I was doing that I didn't have time to think. I knew so little about the world that I didn't know what there was to be afraid of, and I didn't care. I vaguely remember washing dishes in that tiny single sink, and carting smelly baby-stained clothes to the laundromat, where I was always the only person who spoke English as a native language. I remember being sick right after Kirstin was born, and being certain that spiders were crawling all over me, and not being able to get out of bed, not even to use the bathroom. Actually, those 'sick' memories are my clearest memories of that time, probably because I wasn't busy trying to mentally program myself while I was being sick. I was just myself. Other than that I hardly remember anything that I can pin specifically to my Spartan Village apartment, except for pictures that I took back then.
Memory is fickle; that's why I keep a journal now.
At any rate, I picked Tiffiny up, and we went to do a lot of shopping she needed to do to outfit her place. I'm afraid I might have been a bad influence. I didn't encourage any specific purchases, but I suppose just by being there I might have rushed Tiff into buying things she might otherwise have taken more time to consider. Still, I think she's happy with the things she bought; hours later when we took the stuff back to her place, it looked as though Christmas was already there! It was kind of fun to shop like that, though. I was proud that I didn't spend any money to speak of. (Okay, 69 cents for some rod-brackets. I'm so ashamed.)
It was fun to talk to Tiff again. She and I have a lot in common, and our lives have been running somewhat in parallel with each other. In the past couple of years, we've both ended long-term relationships, and wound up in wonderful new ones that resulted in engagements. We're both incredibly happy with that, but it's also nice that we can reassure each other that other couples go through these wonderful, strange, unexpected relationship-things. For example, the love of my life is somehow able to hurt me EXTREMELY, more than anything else in the world, without even saying anything out of the ordinary. Of course he immediately takes care of me and everything's okay; but I never would have thought he'd have the power to do things like that. Tiff and Risto have gone through the same wonderful/hideous discovery. I say that because it's wonderful to find out just how close to a person you can be, and hideous to discover the awesome power you have over another person when you're that close. I always try to be careful with Forest's feelings. (Sometimes I don't succeed, but I try.)
Amongst all this talking, laughing, and sharing, Tiff and I shopped all over the place, and ended up at Olga's, where Forest was waiting tables, subbing for his sister, who took his shift at the Store instead. I guess they both wanted a little variety.
Forest is funny to watch as a waiter. He has the right combination of flirtation and efficiency with women, and an easygoing, entertaining manner with men. It's no wonder he makes such good tips. Afterward, we ran over to the Store to say 'Hi' to Darcy and grab a little ice cream, and then went to visit Reagan. That was a funny experience, because the first time I asked what time it was, it was only a little after 11 PM, and I thought to myself, "okay, about a half hour and I should probably go home."
The next time I remembered to ask about the time, it was well past midnight. Reagan was on the phone with Yeffy, and he and I simultaneously said, "Oh, no, Wendy's [I'm] going to turn into a pumpkin!"
Reagan laughed at me for a while after that.
It was really fun to hang out with a couple of girls. I haven't done that in a very long time. We talked about guys (our specific ones, of course), plans for the future, cats, apartments, our parents, art, travel, and stuff I can't even remember. It was great fun, and I almost didn't have the self-discipline to leave when I did! I haven't gotten to spend much time with Reagan since our trip to Porcupine last year, and I wish I had! Reagan's fun, she's really nice, and neat to talk to. I like a lot of her ideas and her sense of humor. I shall make an effort to get to know her better.
I'm being sorely tempted by auditions again. Romeo and Juliet is auditioning this week at LCC, and I think it would be great fun to be Thibault. I'd get to do lots of fencing and combat; sounds like a blast. Forest and Darcy are both auditioning for it.
I figure, I'll try out with all my conflicts out in the open and see what I get. "Hi Miss Director. I can't rehearse until after Sept. 15, because I'm already rehearsing for a show. I also am not available on Monday and Tuesday nights, and prefer not to rehearse late, because Kirstin needs to go to bed at a reasonable hour. "
She probably won't cast me with a schedule like that, anyway, so there's nothing to worry about.
Sunday I fully intended to get all that work done, but instead I ended up playing golf (badly) with Forest, his dad, Darcy, and her boyfriend Josh. I'm a terrible golfer. If you take par on a hole and multiply it by 3, that's usually my score. Still, I like walking around on a nice day at a pretty park, and being with my sweety.
By the time we got done golfing (it takes me far longer than most people) it was time to open the Store. Darcy and Josh are moving in together, and had an extra computer, which they have put on indefinite loan to Forest and me. We didn't want to just leave it sitting at the Store all day, so I ran it back to Eaton Rapids, unloaded it, and then discovered that I had to immediately drive back and go to work.
After closing the Store, Forest had promised we'd go play pool with his cousin, Ross, which is always fun, so we were off to do that. I like Ross. He has a great smile, quite an attitude, a huge sense of humor and he treats me like family. It's strange, because Ross is Forest's relative with whom I have the LEAST in common; but I always feel like I fit in just fine when Ross is there. I am terrible at pool, too, but I was pretty tired and just in the mood to have fun, which is just what I did. Forest, who had been grumpy all weekend, looked pretty tired, and we went home early (after 11 PM though) and hit the bed hard.
The reason Forest has been grumpy is that he's worked every day since Kirstin's birthday without a single day off, and he knows he can't afford to take one this week because we're going out of town on Friday night, and not coming back until Tuesday night. That's 4 days of work he will be missing, which is a lot of pay out of his pocket. I will be able to take Tuesday out of my vacation time with no problem, and I get Labor day as a paid holiday anyway. No such luck for him! That's one of many drawbacks to working in your family business.
When we got home last night, Forest and I set up the computer, played some cards together, and then went to bed, still chatting happily with each other. We kept each other awake until nearly 2 AM, so 7 felt really early when the alarm went off this morning. I'm pretty tired.
It's hard for me to believe it, but today was Kirstin's first day of fourth grade. She's now in the oldest class in her school. I hardly know what to think of it. She can't really be nine years old, can she?? Anyway, I fervently hope this year goes more smoothly than the last one. We are trying very hard to make sure that it will, but a lot of it depends on the teacher. I hope we picked a winner this time.
