State of Obvious

So I was looking through my little file of short/unfinished stories and thought this one wasn't too terrible. When Jenn and Dan were here visiting, she mentioned that she liked reading them so to the rest of you who find it dull, blame Jenn...buck passed. This is pretty rough, although I like some of my descriptions a lot, and the story is more similar to a short story called "The Dream Child" by Lucy Maude Montgomery than I'd like it to be. It's not the same story, in fact it's quite different, it just has a similar theme. It wasn't intended to be a short story but I like how and where it ends and so have no desire to explore these people any further. I think the final line is clever, but I'm somewhat biased. There is no family news, or pictures, or anecdotes from Josh sprinkled in here so if that's all you came for, you can stop reading here...or you can read on...I won't stop you. --- The wind was howling, a long low sound that filled the s...

1. The glimmer of blue eyes that meant discovery or surprise was just around the corner. 2. The never ending supply of new toys and clothes for the well loved Chibby. 3. The shaking hands. 4. The food that filled every table even when the fridge was 'empty.' 5. The extra $20 slipped into my hand. 6. The hidden treats in the china cabinet. 7. The pure excitement when Josh and Carly came into view. 8. The forgotten, hidden Christmas presents found years later. 9. The never say die democrat. 10. The flickering candles. 11. The comfort of being well loved. 12. Sunday pinochle games. In a couple weeks it will be a year since Mom passed away, all she is and gave to me can never be fully listed. I miss you Mom.

So last weekend we took and impromptu trip to Niagara Falls. We decided about halfway through last week that it would be fun to jump in the car and take the quick trip over. The plan was to drive over Saturday morning, spend the afternoon at the Falls, have a nice dinner and drive home on Sunday morning. We booked a great hotel, it was very pricey but it was literally on top of Niagara Falls. You could hear the water rushing outside the window. We had great weather, which was lucky since an overcast weekend was originally predicted. The first hard lesson we learned was that taxes in Canada are INSANE. We paid anywhere from 8-20+ dollars in taxes every time we bought gas or food, and it was also added to our hotel bill. Couple that with the deterioration of the dollar and WOW, those were some unexpected expenses. If you're planning to visit Canada, be prepared! Last time we went over the American dollar was much stronger and we didn't notice the taxes. Let that be a word of caut...

In honor of turning 31, 31 things you may or may not know about me: 1. My current favorite song is "Into the Ocean" by Blue October 2. I am a big fan of the Backyardigans. 3. I also like Spongebob 4. I also like Drake and Josh, iCarly, and Zoey 101 5. I miss watching MTV and VH1 6. I am a metzo soprano 7. I can't stand the sound of silverware scraping on dishes 8. I took (and passed!) German 101 in college...I think I could ask for a bathroom if I concentrated really hard 9. My favorite place to be is at home 10. My favorite restaurant is Olive Garden 11. My favorite food is pizza followed closely by chocolate. Closely as in I love them equally and would eat both for breakfast every day 12. I love buying clothes for Carly, especially hats and purses 13. I had my tongue pierced when I was 18. It hurt a lot ( A LOT ) and lasted less than a week 14. I had my tonsils out at 25, it hurt more than the tongue piercing 15. I love pins and we try to buy one for an...