Lonely day, Rabid moth
It's been a lonely and boring day. Matt left with his father and family before I woke up this morning, so I haven't really had anyone to talk to (or, no one's talked to me... I'm not really comfortable with IMing people, which is just the same fear of using the phone in sheep's clothing) He had said he would try to come back to his dorm rather than spend the night at his grandparents, but it doesn't seem as though that worked out. It's odd... usually I do good on days I know I have totally to myself, but today I found myself lonely on more than a couple occasions... just laying on my bed, flipping through the channels, actually missing the struggle of positioning the phone so that I could be comfortable (and always failing), just so that there'd be Matt's voice on the other end of it. In addition to no real human contact, none of my regular sites really updated today, and though I was tempted (and tried) to read over some of the archives or other content, I just wasn't into it for some reason (as if old content or new content made a difference) There weren't any *good* movies on, and SWG could not stay stable more than 5 minutes until it would crash on me. Granted, I got to play for like an hour earlier this morning... but then every damn person possible was on, so there was nothing free to kill. I'd rather not be able to play than to keep running circles around the same town. And, to top it off... I finished my book, and by the time I had done that, the library had closed. The only other option is reading a book I've already read, and I don't really want to... at all.
The only interesting thing that happened today was a huge fucking moth getting into my room. It was about the size of a quarter, and somehow it squeezed through the pencil sized hole in my window's screen, flew up and out of the top part of the window, and then made it around the blinds and curtains... only so that it could struggle with the temptation of fluttering around my ceiling fan's light while the fan itself kept blowing the poor thing down again. Watching it fly around made me feel all creepy, and felt like things were crawling all over my arms and legs. I finally went to the bathroom and got tons of toilet paper (because if I had to squish it, I didn't want to feel it though whatever I was using... yuck...) and cornered the moth on a curtain. I had meant to kill it (even though I had not wanted to) because I felt too lazy to carry it out into the living room to set it free. But after "capturing" it, and feeling it still moving in the tissue and realizing it was still very much alive and unharmed, I took my lazy ass to the living room and flung it out the door. I had to close the door fast, since even then it still tried to get inside...
I really need to get out more 
I just wrote a sizeable paragraph about a brown moth fluttering around in my room, while I'll bet most people would forget and not even mention such a thing. I'll simply have to write while Matt's here, even if I have to make myself. But then, like all the other times, my entries will be sparse when I actually have something to talk about. Heh, figures 
I had meant to maybe write some opinions about the war, since I don't think I have yet.... but now I no longer feel like it :ehh: The moth story won... which is even more disappointing
Mary’s son’s birthday, Call to Dianna
My mother and I left sometime around 5:15 for Mary's son's 21st birthday party. My mother had arranged Cindy to meet her somewhere up in Falmouth (sp?) at a truck stop near a McDonalds. The traffic was horrible for us (well, maybe not that bad... we got there 20 minutes later than we would have normally) but not as bad as it was for Cindy, who was coming from much farther south than us. She spent 2 hours driving to meet us, and ended up pulling up to us around 6:30ish. At the time, while my mother and I were waiting, we had agreed that we were just going to leave if Cindy had not arrived by 6:30 (since my mother was somewhat worried that maybe the party had been called off... it wouldn't be the first time that they canceled something like this and not told her). But, sure enough, Cindy's purple van pulled in around 6:22, which I couldn't help but exclaim "shit!" to, since I had really gotten comfortable with the idea of skipping the party and going home.
We followed Cindy after that point (since that was the point of meeting - for her to show us the way) and to my surprise, I knew where I was. Stephen lived in the area, and I was actually quite tickled that I was able to point out to my mother the road that Stephen lives down. Heh, nice I know how to get to his house easily. But, anywho. Mary lives in a pretty nice area, which somewhat surprised me for some reason, though I don't know why; she makes good money as bakery manager. The house inside was also very neat and beautiful. It's going to houses like that that make me ashamed of the one I live in when I come home.
Our little group (Cindy, her kids, my mother, and I) were the firsts to arrive, with Debbie and Lissa and their friend to arrive shortly after. Mary encouraged us to take off our shoes and kick back, but I kept mine on, simply because I knew my mother wouldn't be comfortable doing that and I didn't want her to be the only one with shoes on. Shortly after, she gave us a little tour of the place (since it was the first time me and mom had been there), and I remember thinking what a nice little house it was. It looked somewhat small from the outside, but it ended up being a pretty decent size - 2 stories, 3 full bathrooms, + a good sized basement. Not too big, not too small, and very homey and spacious all at the same time. I'd love to live in a house like that someday.
The majority of the evening was actually really great, even though I had made a big fuss about going. When Kevin finally came down (the birthday boy) we went about eating the 6 pizzas that Mary had ordered, and then after, eating the cake (which she had put a 6 pack of bear built right into the middle of the cake, which I thought was cute.) The conversation was about stuff like my axolotls (my mother has everyone there at work interested in hell about them), talked about old TV shows we used to watch, and they also talked about stuff at work, and there was a little conversation about how much I look like my mother, and what a "beautiful young lady" I was. I like hearing that, since I've always thought my mother was her own version of gorgeous, though I think I only look more like her now because of the weight I've packed on (since I no longer have a skinny face like my father). Debbie (who wasn't at my mother's birthday party, but I remembered her from last summer when they had a get-together dinner) kept saying I should start "a business" with her daughter, Lissa. She said we have alot in common, which from what I heard we do, and it'd be nice to get to know her... I'd love to be able to hang out with someone new, though they've only seen the real awkward version of me, who drowns in crowds of people. Debbie asked me alot more questions, too, like about TV shows and what not... and I was really horrible at talking with her... kept stumbling all over my words and what not, and choking on responses, but I think I did rather well. She didn't seem to like me any less by the end of the evening.
I was just starting to get comfortable really, but my mother asked me if I was ready to leave around 8. That's understandable, since she has to be at work at 5 in the morning. We said bye to everyone, and I got Debbie's e-mail to send her a picture of the axies. I did do so right when I got home, and her response was, "the pictures are great, but I think I am glad they live at your house" heh 
The drive home from Mary's was a mess... we ended up going through Fredericksburg, since the line to get off on 95 was too long. It was raining, and when you combine that with bad windshield whippers and my mother's piss poor driving, we missed a couple of accidents only by a little. I bitched at her the whole way home about it in a playful way. We didn't make it through the door until 9PM.
So hrm, yeah. I'd actually love to do more things with the people my mother works with, but I don't know if she'd really like to see them anymore than she has to. My mother's sleeping schedule isn't really made for doing such things... she gets home between 1-3, fixes dinner and it's eaten by 5, and then is asleep no later than 6 or 7, simply so she can wake up at 1 or 2 AM, and then go to work at 5 or 6. She could easily move some time around to make it so we could do more things like this, but I don't think she'd really want to... and I certainly wouldn't want to go by myself. But, yeah. It almost makes me want to get a job at Giant... but my promise to myself of never working at a grocery store keeps me from considering that more than just a second.
OH! Speaking of job... I called Dianna around 4:30 today, with the thought at first that she wouldn't be there.. I was just going to leave a message and say I would be home around 8 or so, and ask if she could call me. But she ended up being there, and I talked to her. She apologized for not calling me back, saying again that she was so busy. I can believe that she was. She told me that it ends up that they're not hiring right now, but will be after May 15th. I told her I'm not going to be looking for a job in the meantime, so when that time comes, I would love to take the job. I also told her about Matt's visit shortly after that starting date, and she said it'd be totally fine to have those 2 weeks off totally while he's here... but I made sure to stress that if they needed me at all, I'd be fine with coming in. So, yeah... I just hope that I actually do get the job then, since I seriously need the money to pay Matt's parents back, and start paying off some money on the credit card. I would have put my DAoC account money toward those things if Dianna had not made me feel secure in the fact that I would be getting the job and thus have other money coming in soon. I just hope it turns out like she says this time... that there will be a job waiting for me on the 15th.
I am slightly bitter, though... they hired a woman a week after me and Dianna were talking back in March. I don't know why she got hired, while I did not... course, I don't know how long Dianna was in contact with the other woman. But it always hit me funny. Maybe it's because they are sort of inventing a job position for me? Who knows.
Site traffic, Birthday party tomorrow
Less and less people are visiting this site. At first, there could be anywhere between 150-200 in a week (it's not alot, but it's not bad at all, either). Despite all the things I've joined to generate traffic to here, this site just doesn't seem to interest people like it used to. Not that I mind, really... not at all. Since I've had this current layout up, though, the hits have gotten even less... right now I'm averaging about 90 a week. Not that that number is entirely bad, either... I just don't know what's stopping people from coming. It could be the layout; maybe the layout is boring. Or, quite possibly, maybe it's me that's... boring. I don't really have anything dramatic as highschool or a traumatic relationship or a fussy college roommate to talk about anymore... and while I could write about the happiness in my life,ion still striving to reach a point where I can comfortably talk about it (*curses her parents for letting anger be the only emotion ever expressed in this house*). So... it's just me and my rambles left, which, even to me, aren't that appealing. But, hrm. I'm currently working on a new layout... maybe it'll be alright. It's more "techie" than anything I've done since I've picked up doing pages again. Maybe it'll be something nice... or maybe it'll be just as ugly as this layout seems to be.
I spent most of the day doing... well, nothing. Been dieing to play the Star Wars Galaxies beta (since last night, while on the phone with Matt, I was finally allowed to do a search on the beta forms [as they were "busy" all the times I tried earlier] and find a posting that told me how to set the movement controls in a DECENT way, and not that stupid mouse shit that Lucas Arts is so proud of itself for inventing), but they've been down most of today due to hardware upgrade, and then after, hardware failures. I also learned that because I use a router (and the actual brand name, Linksys, was sighted in the form I read this on) that I am more likely to be kicked off the game every 10-15 minutes... just simply because, no other reason. And that's exactly what's been happening while I've been playing... it was just disappointing to know that the problem is somewhat on my end, but something that SWG will need to have fixed before the game goes live, as alot of people will "be in the same boat as me", as Matt put it. They probably won't fix it before beta ends, either... probably has to do solely with the fact that this IS beta. Ugh. I should probably be more quiet about SWG, though... the NDA is still up, as far as I know... but the mouse controls have been published in semi detail on many internet reviews of the game, anyway.
Yeah... this is another boring entry. But I feel better writing it out... almost makes not being able to log in ok.
My mother told me today that I need to accompany her to a stranger's birthday. Course, this is also a stranger to her. Well, actually, not really, but he might as well be. Today, Mary approached my mother at work, asking her to attend her son's 21st birthday tomorrow. When my mother said no, Mary said ok, but then went over and cried, and starting sobbing that all her family wasn't there and yadda yadda... My mother felt guilted into going because Mary had thrown the recent birthday party for her ("and after this, me and her are even," she had said). Marry also pulled the same on many other people from the bakery, as she listed a whole list of the people that were also going. My mother said she didn't think Mary had many friends... and she obviously must not, since she's inviting (and crying to them, if they politely decline, just so they'll frantically accept...) people from her work. Her son must not have any friends, either, since Mary never mentioned anyone else coming to my mother. I mean... what's more comfortable? A birthday shared just with your mother, or having all her friends come from work, when you barley know them and must know they're not really coming for you but for Mary? I don't know. My mother wanted me to go with her for moral support, and even though I would rather do anything but, I will because my mother asked. It's sort of late in the evening... another event past 6PM. I told my mother she should have written Mary's crying off by simply saying that was too late, but then, Mary comes in to work the same time as my mother. But I doubt Mary feels the need to wake up 5 hours before work just so she'll be "awake" like my mother does. But it doesn't matter... We're going to a birthday at a woman's house who intimidates me, to celebrate the birth of a stranger.
The other holes in my day were spent reading and feeding Herbie. I get to look forward to cleaning Herbie's tank Saturday evening with my mother... dragging it to the tub to completely clean it and all. Oh, joy. And I can't wait to get through this part of the book... I hate the current story I'm on, and I'm only a couple of pages away from forgetting it forever.
Mom’s Birthday, Star Wars Galaxies
I suppose I should write a journal entry. I have not really felt up to writing the past couple of days... either being lazy, or, just doing other things like fiddling with PSP or reading Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. Maybe it's best I waited, because even though I had started an entry about my mother's surprise birthday party, I was feeling too many emotions and was trying to cram too much of it into the entry. I've been reading my archives, and noticed that maybe I was a little too vague about the happenings (as I am left thinking... "what?" about my own life), and then in comparison, I am being too detailed now. Though, I love having long thoughtful entries... hmmph.
My mother's birthday party went alright. Course, it could have gone better... and all the blame of that lays solely on my father. There were only two reasons, but they just... hrm, I don't know. The party wasn't bad, not bad at all. I actually had a great time, seeing my mother so happy. She said he had a great time, as well.
But, blah... before I babble on about how great it was (even though there's not much to say) I have to say the two things that my father did to lessen the whole fact that it was a "surprise" party.
First, this party was arranged to happen late in the evening. We were supposed to be there between 5:45 and 6PM, and even though those are fairly normal times, that's usually when my parents are going to bed, and they usually end up eating anywhere between 3-5PM. So... needless to say, everyone in the house (yes, including me) was antsy to go and eat. My mother would whine occasionally, asking why we had to go so late, and my father would just casually respond with, "Well, I'm hungry too, but I'm not starving," and then say something along the lines of "It won't be long, only such and such more time left." My father had told me to not let my mother "convince" us to leave early... so, I thought I would be clever, and I called my mother into my room. I was showing her a layout I had been working on, but before she left, I told her I had something to tell her. I told her, "Don't tell dad I told you this, but the reason we're leaving so late is because there's a special going on at Red Lobster that doesn't start until 6... it's this really awesome platter or something, and he wanted it to be a surprise." I don't think that Red Lobster would ever have a special like that, but my mother wouldn't know the difference. All she did was nod with understanding, and seemed as though she believed me. Before she left, she asked if "Mary and all them are going to be there?" (people from her work), and I thought I did a pretty good job of lieing and telling her no. She left shortly after.
While me and my mother were outside with the cats, wasting time, I told her to hold Jazzy's leash while I went to the bathroom. I went inside the house, and told my dad what I told mom... now, of course, I can't figure out why I felt the need to do that, but I figured it might just be good to let him on it encase it ever came up in any weird way (say, if my mother asked outside of Red Lobster, "So, what's this platter have on it?" not that I thought she would, but just encase. It was all just encase... and my father seemed at first to not like it, but then to understand.
We were leaving in the car, and after a long period of silence, my father chose to say something... something loud enough so my mother could hear. I have no idea what possible thought process could have brought him to say this. It's just frustrating that my father has the complete inability to understand/hear anything I ever tell him. This is what he said: "So what were you telling me about a special?" Uhm? He was saying it as if I had told him earlier that I knew of a special, when I distinctly told him that I had only told mom that so she wouldn't be so fussy about waiting. I mean, my god... all I could respond was "Dad, don't." Yet again, my father didn't' hear to me, and he slightly turned to my mother and asked, "What did she say?". She didn't respond, which to me, means that either she didn't understand what my father was asking, or knew that I had lied about it. Either way.... not to say that I was totally perfect in telling her that lie (just so she'd stop edging me and dad to leave early, because even though my dad told me not to give in, he's the one that would give in to leaving early more than me...) he certainly was out of bounds (and reason) for asking that question to me in the car, totally blowing the cover I had setup.
Then, secondly, even though my father had told me early that morning that we were told to be there between 5:45 and 6, throughout the day, my father kept creeping up the time we were leaving. It went from 5:30 to 5:15 to 5... and it was killing me. I mean, my father's obsession for leaving early is annoying by itself, but to let it actually consume him to the point where he would knowingly risk ruining the whole surprise part of this surprise party was infuriating. So, I did all that I could do... I couldn't really speak to him outright, nor ask him to some room out of my mother's earshot without looking suspicious, so I wrote him a note. It simply read: "We cannot leave before 5:30, because these things do not work if you leave early." I handed him the note and walked away. I can only assume that he read it (if he could read my handwriting, that is... it seems that every form of communication with me he has trouble with, other than typing). But... we still left at 5:15, right on the dot. I could have told him simply, "I'm not ready", or "wait just one minute"... but I wouldn't have put it past my father to whine like he always does. To be downright hurtful and mean, just because I interrupted his plan, and possibly make me cry. I wasn't going to let him ALSO ruin my mother's party that way as well, so we just left.
We arrived at 5:35. All of us got out of the car, and my eyes instantly went to a couple of people across the parking lot. I recognized them instantly, from having dinner with all the people from my mother's work last summer... and to add to that, they were also carrying many balloons and bags. I simply turned to my father (who was behind me while I was looking) and simply whispered "you see..". I didn't make eye contact, but just enjoyed his silence of stupid understanding, even though he still had a silly grin on his face. We walked into Red Lobster, with my mother seemingly oblivious to the people across the parking lot, we went to get seated, and along the way we passed a two tables pushed together, and one woman sitting at it. This was Mary I later learned (as I had never seen her before). My mother stopped as soon as she saw her, though I can't remember what she said. Mary did a good job of covering the fact that she was the only one at the table, and said "What would you think if we invited Odie and Cindy and everyone else to come sit here and have your birthday dinner with you?" or something along those lines. My mother seemed pleasantly surprised, and she sat at the head of the table, with me and my dad on either sides of her. The people from the parking lot came in shortly after, less than 5 minutes, and it had only taken them longer, because when they had seen my mother, they ducked behind the cars and then sneaked to the back entrance to come in. In less than another 5 minutes, the final person arrived. This all happened before 5:45.
So if my father had simply listened to me, and not just thought of himself (because he later confessed that he was getting hungry, and that's partly why we left early...) my mother could have gotten the full surprise of a full table of people, with balloons all set up around. It was sad they had to position them while my mother was already at the table. My father just sat there with a stupid grin on his face, pleased with himself, when he really had no reason to be. He had a very simple job (was everyone else from her work did everything else) and he could not even do it right. He kept that same smile on his face all night, and basically ignored the conversation. He would add in "old man" things like, "I'll bet I'll sleep good tonight" (because of the good dinner) which no one responded to. I look at my father, and am amazed that my mother is not as repulsed by him as I am.
Anyway.... /end horrible rant, and on to the fun stuff about my mother's party.
As I said, overall, it was nice. Everyone at her work seems to get along, despite the stories my mother tells when she gets home from work. Or, they are just really good at being nice to each other in a fake way As I also said, this was the first time I had seen or met Marry. She wasn't at all like I expected physically, but the more she spoke, the more her personality came true to how my mother described her. She made alot of pot smoking references, as well as lot of lesbian jokes and come-ons. She was funny to listen to, though slightly intimidating, and controlled the conversation very thoroughly. Cindy was also there, who I remembered from the last summer. I had always liked her... she seemed really sweet and nice, and I probably would have paired up as friends with her had I worked at Giant. There was someone else beside her, who I was not sure who they were... and then beside her was Odie, the only other guy at the table. He seems like a real nice guy, though maybe someone what shy and quiet. Across from him was a girl that was slightly younger than me, named Candice, who I later found out used to live in a house near me a couple of years back (but they got kicked out of the lake because they had too many cars piled up on their front lawn... my mom says she's not like her family at all, and from what I saw of her, she really wasn't). Then, beside her, was Marry, an empty eat, and then me again.
The people at the table tried to involve me in the conversation was much as possible, but it didn't really work I would simply respond with nods or shakes of my head, possibly a laugh, or maybe just a combination of noises (not really words) that suited as a response. They were ng h about it, though, and sometimes laughed. I'll bet I probably flushed, though... I was pretty uncomfortable, but not as much as I was last summer. I thought it was odd that people made more of an effort to include me in the conversation more than my dad... though, of course, I was actually making eye contact and listening, while my dad was just staring off into space.
When it was time to bring out the cake (after a big dinner... I ate about a pound of crab [of the pound and a 1/2 I ordered... my mother chickened out on eating any once they arrived, even though she said she would as we were ordering] and had about 20 or so shrimp), they had to write Happy Birthday on it real quick, since Odie (who brought it over) can't write on cakes very well. Mary had called my father a week or so earlier, to pick out a funny baby picture of my mom so we could put that on the cake. My mother does not really have any of her baby pictures in her possession, so we had to settle with a mid 20s picture. My father had originally picked a very normal looking one, but they had originally said something funny... so I went in her little photo album and picked the picture with her hair short, clothes clashing, sunglasses on, in mid speech... she looks like a high hippie in it And when the cake was presented with that picture on it, she said "Oh no!" and hid her face somewhat The rest of the night, she was blaming dad for that picture, even though it was me that had picked it out. Almost everyone had a piece of cake, while I had two I was a true oinker that night.
Then, my mother went about opening all her presents. I took pictures of each gift as she opened them. Cindy gave her alot of things that were "Over the Hill", as well as having all black balloons and bags to match She actually got quite a bit, and it was nice to see her happy and smiling about each one.
Another thing that sort of made the evening, was the waiter. He was a young guy, pretty good looking, and even though he was somewhat quiet and talked fast, he tried his best to be funny and sarcastic. An example of that, was one time when he was refilling Odie's glass and it was spilling on the floor... Marry pointed that out to him, and he tried to play it off by saying something cute and then purposely spilling some more on the carpet. He went down, filling more glasses to the end of the table to all that needed it. On this way back, he stepped dramatically by the spill spot, and while pointed, asked Odie, "Sir, did you spill your drink over here?" Heh It was funny at the time. Also, when I was going to take a picture of everyone at the table, I had to get past the balloons around my mother's chair (which gave me a royal fit, let me tell you) and the waiter, who was sitting nearby, kept offering to take the picture for me. He offered twice, until I was at the head of the table and he was right beside me, and asked me again. I said, "Are you sure you won't mind?" And he was like "naw, I don't really want to, I only asked twice." I did a slight pause... and he just shook his head and said he was joking, and I laughed, thanked him, and walked back to my seat (again, having a fit with the balloons). Even though the whole night Marry and them kept teasing him about deducting his tip, everyone tipped him pretty good (my parents giving him $10+ I think).
On the way home, my mother said she thought that was the first birthday party she had ever had. She said there was a possibility of having some when she was younger with her mother, but she didn't remember them. I'm really glad she had a nice time, and as we were organizing her presents out of their bags when we got home, she still seemed to be beaming.
Hrm. Yeah
In other news... (because even though I mentioned I've been babbling too much in entries, that's all I've been doing in this one. Whoops) Matt got into the Star Wars Galaxies Beta. I was so happy for him! He had been so disappointed in the backing up the date, and it was so neat that the got in (course, he's been getting in tons of betas nowadays.) And, the other great part, is that because he purchased the CD to be sent to his house for $6 (before he knew he could download it instead) he also got another free CD key to give to a friend (!!!). I thought it was awesome of them to be doing that. Because, really, when someone gets into beta, they usually give a friend access to that same account anyway, just so they can see too... so they went one step ahead and made it so you can actually play in game with them. Really neat
I've been playing for a little while now, though I have not played that much. I can't stand the way movement is done in the game, and it's sucking alot of the joy out of the game for me (because, as of right now, there's no way to switch the controls to "normal", like every other MMORPG. The lag's a little bad, too, but is beta, and things are bound to be not at their best. Matt doesn't seem that interested in the game, mainly because it's so complicated. I've spent the past two days reading the online manual they have, and some of today reading the forms. Course, there's nothing really up in the forms of "guides", just mainly people bitching about the problems of the game (which, of course, I added my two cents about the moving controls)
But, hrm. I don't feel up to writing much anymore, because my stomach is giving me problems, which is no doubt a factor of staring my period soon Oh, how I wish I could go back on the pill again just to get rid of this double whammy that hits me. Period cramps are bad enough by themselves without adding an upset stomach to the mix It's the only real time now that my IBS comes to haunt me.
Installing the AC, Herbie’s new gills
I meant to write yesterday, but never quite got around to it. Not that yesterday was very exciting; I just prefer to write daily. Never know what I won't say today that might matter tomorrow or months or years from now.
I finally got the AC unit installed in my window. I've been kicking the box around my room since we got it on April 4th (just wanted to add a few things about that day that I didn't write about: while driving into Fredericksburg, a truck got behind me, and I tried to stop too short for a red light, and since they were following entirely too close and driving way too fast, while he was breaking alot of smoke came out and he had to swerve lanes... but by the time he did that I had decided not to stop because he was there. Then, as me and my mother were leaving Wal-Mart with our stuff, I saw Daniel standing outside, for what I had assumed at the time might have been a job interview. He could have been waiting for a ride as well, who knows... anyway , which was exceptionally hard to do while painting as well. So, today, I just randomly asked my mother if she would help me install it right then. I didn't really expect her to, because she never had all the other times I asked, and this time she gave a very over exaggerated "I'm frustrated and have things to do other than that" sort of noise/expression. She left to go to the bathroom, and I proceeded to cut up a cucumber and eat then with sour cream. I came to my room and found my mother sitting on the floor, eyeing the instructions. She yet again bitched about how she didn't see how the instructions were going to work (even though she had not taken any of the parts out of the box to see) and going on and on about how it wasn't going to fit in the window (even though I had told her many times, by the design of the thing, it would never "slip" out of the window, no matter how heavy it was on the part sticking outside.)
The installation went alright I suppose. There was really no arguing between me and my mother... actually there was none. We did our usual things of making funny faces at each other, trying to be funny, which was nice... alot better than being pissed off. Near the end, I had to stand in the breezeway and hold the back of the AC, while she situated it in the window. All in all, it worked out really well (even though my mother kept fussing about how there was this small gap underneath the it and the window, and kept bitching about it until she finally just plugged it with something), and I have only really run it once since then... which was just when we were testing it. The fan modes sound alright, but the AC setting sounds rather loud... possibly very similar to a hotel AC thing. But, hey... I'd rather it just be loud than having to cook all summer, and I'm sure the axolotls will appreciate it (since Herbie's tank is right under it, and I'll move the babies over to there while it's running as well.)
Before we were installing the AC thing in my window, I was feeding the axolotls in the kitchen. I had brought Herbie into the kitchen to feed her, because it's easier to do at a table, and I wanted my mom to see how nice her gills had gotten. I had noticed it the other day, the night I had finished painting, and was utterly amazed with how much better they looked. I had also brought Herbetta out there simply so my mother could see her. I fed Herbie some more of the cow liver like I had last time, and also tried to add in some of the shrimp my mother had also picked up. I put the shrimp in front of her, and even though she ate some, most of the time she just put her nose up and stayed still under my fingers... as if she was waiting for the real food. It's odd, because I always had the impression that axolotls were not very picky, and would basically eat anything that was put in front of them... so, of course, I get the one picky axolotl out of a million, which suites me so much it's funny. Course, I'm finding Kasey is also a picky eater... and even though I had thought Cayenne was, she's just picky on the size of the food, not actually what it is. Hrmph.
Something else to note that I have not yet, about something my mother did with Herbie. When I first bought the Baby axies, she thought they were alright, but would also give me odd looks whenever I would gush about how cute and adorable they were. My mother honestly thought they were ugly, or, "certainly not cute." I kept bringing the babies, and even Herbie, out to the kitchen table to feed them, only because my mother seemed not interested (and she was... she just wasn't in love with them like me . Soon or later, she would start to gush about the things the little babies were doing, like coming up to the surface of the water or biting at the image of her finger on the side of the tank. I would call her on it, and she would get this uncaring look on her face and just say "I don't know what came over me."
Soon after that I told her about a little thing that Herbetta does while I feed her - I'll give her some food, and she'll swallow it. When she's done, she'll instantly raise her head, and start walking slowly toward me, raising her front feet real high in the air as she did so. Even though I told my mother, she didn't really believe me at the time. A couple of days later, I fed Herbie on the kitchen table so she could see it for herself.. and she was utterly amazed. She started gushing about it, going on and on how cute that was, and laughing everytime Herbie did it. I think it was then that she started to let my axies into heart some more... I suppose she thinks axolotls are sort of boring since they're underwater, but that doesn't mean they can't have personalities.
When I brought home the axolotl book I had gotten from the library, she almost snatched it from me and read all the parts that were interesting to her. She now tries to tell me advice on them from time to time She also read about how axolotls can sometimes metamorphosis into salamanders under certain conditions or if they've been extremely stressed, and she teases alot and asks Herbie all the time if she's going to or not Even when my mother bought the cow liver and shrimp, and the guy behind the counter asked what the shrimp were for... she had alot of fun going on and on about axolotls, and liked getting the "oooo, they sound neat!" response from him
But, anyway... there's a point to bringing all this up... to basically encompass my mother's feelings for the actual axolotls, no matter how cute she was starting to think they looked through the tank, she thought they were disgusting. She thought touching their water was just hideous (which was how I feed them - I feed them by holding the food in my hand underwater) and she would always grimace at the food I gave them. Until, that is, the time I fed Herbie before last... I was at the sink, cleaning off my stuff (a butter knife and a plastic top as a "plate") and my mother walked over to Herbie's little tank. I saw her slowly put her hand in there with Herbie as I walked closer, and saw her sort of pet Herbie, too. I thought this was just priceless... that she had started out thinking they were just disgusting, and here she was, curious and comfortable enough to actually touch Herbie. Course, touching an axolotl isn't much... they're VERY soft to the touch; almost to the point where you wonder if you're really touching them at all, but their bodies are solid (not like a jellyfish, but like a frog). I suppose my mother chose to touch Herbie when she did, because I had just finished feeding her, and Herbie wouldn't feel up to nipping at my mothers fingers with a full stomach. I keep offering my mother to try feeding Herbie, or let her try to nip at her fingers, but my mother's not to that stage yet She may never be... but her liking my axies more is cute.
And then, yesterday as I was taking Herbie back in my room to put her back in the big tank, she asked me to bring the babies (Kasey and Cayenne) out to feed them in the kitchen, because she had not seen them in a while. Cute
Hrm... guess this was more of a recapping entry.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow, though. It's my mother's birthday, and her place at work is sort of doing a surprise birthday party for her. They had called my dad a while back, asking if we could send in any funny baby pictures of her so they could put it on a cake... but my mother doesn't have any baby pictures of herself as far as I know :ehh: So we sent in a couple from her late teens and 20s... one where she looked pretty decent, and the other where she's in the middle of talking, and sort of looks high We're all going to be meeting at red lobster. I'm not really looking forward to being with all the people from her work, but, ehh... maybe I can just snuggle up to my mother and only talk to her like the last time we got together with the people she worked with at a restaurant... which I think was last summer sometime, for no real reason other than just to do it. Heh... at Red Lobster, when it's someone's birthday, they come out clapping and and then surround the table and sing to you. That will embarrass the hell out of my mother, but that will be part of the fun