Pokie

I was watching NCIS:Los Angeles with my mom and we were sitting next to each other. I was wearing a shirt with cap sleeves and I raised my arm incidentally. My mom glanced sideways and then poked my underarm. I screamed like a little girl. My mom just stared at the television and said in a casual tone, "Well, you just left it out there in my face and it was rude so..." She never finished her sentence. We spent the rest of the show in silence. I love my mom.

Of anger problems and golf balls

I had a friend from out of town who visited today and we were supposed to go to meditation class together. The studio for the class was closed however so there ended up being no class. We went downtown to play miniature golf (or put-putting, as he calls it) instead. I had only played golf once when I was in sixth grade so naturally, I did not know what I was doing. Well, I was so frustrated with my first few swings and with missing the golf ball that I took a really angry swing and...well, it was one of those moments from right out of a sitcom. The only thing missing was the slow motion. My violent outburst caused the golf ball to bounce into the air, hit the wall, and slam into my friend's face. Yes, I hit my friend in the face with a golf ball. Indirectly and accidentally, yes, but the fact still stands. He was a nice guy so he just waved it off, but he was massaging his face for the rest of the evening. Poor guy. He's going to have a bruise on his cheek tomorrow and have to explain to his coworkers what happened. Which makes me the bad guy. As if life couldn't get any worse.

On the bright side, I learned a little bit of patience from playing golf, and we also went to this pawn shop where I bought a nice gift for one of my other friends. The last thing we did that evening was visit Spill the Beans downtown. My friend ordered a sugar-free vanilla ice cream with toffee and peanut butter. He commented on how the "pretty girl" at the shop was making his ice cream for him. I misheard him and thought he said that he wanted to milk her again. Whoops. Second slip-up. Anyway, I asked him why he didn't just give the girl his phone number if he thought she was pretty, but he gave me a sarcastic look and said, "Yeah, because I live SO close..." He only lives an hour away though and who knows? It could have been something great. They both work at ice cream shops so that would be something to talk about. Besides, I've seen people carry on relationships from a much farther distance.

Swimmer's Bump

I went swimming today at the local YMCA. I practiced all of the tricks I learned from my friends--dead man's float, holding my breath underwater for 30 seconds, paddling, kicking, screaming for help, all the good stuff. I even swallowed some pool water. I remember the last time I was in a pool, I tried swimming by dunking my head underwater and kicking my legs to see how far I would go. It actually worked pretty well and I even reached the other side of the pool. I know this because my eyes were closed and I was not holding my hands out in front of me so I bumped into the pool wall headfirst. I didn't hit hard, but I did feel my teeth rattle and I was left with a tingling sensation on my forehead for the rest of the day. Swimmer's bump, I called it. I mean, if we can have swimmer's ear and tennis elbow, we might as well have a swimmer's bump. Although I'm not sure anyone else gets swimmer's bump other than me and people fool enough to dive headfirst into shallow water. Or into a pool without any water at all.

Peach Cobbler

I made Peach Cobbler today!

Photo Albums

Last night, I was looking over photo albums and it is astounding to see how much I have changed since then. I used to be such a beautiful child, I thought as I looked over the photos, and then I hit puberty and everything went downhill. That's when the childhood cuteness was replaced by the oily skin and gawkiness of adolescence. Suffice it to say, I'm glad to be out of teenage years, but at the very least, my personality and character didn't turn out too bad.

As I was perusing through the albums, I realized that my earliest memories were when I was three years old. I remember the house I used to live in at three years old, and how the walls were sky blue. I remember the pale yellow dress I wore to my brother's first birthday party and I remember holding a gift box in my hands that was wrapped up in red plastic.

One of my fondest memories, however, is the day I spent at my grandfather's house. I had put on his reading glasses and was sitting on a plastic lawn chair pretending to read a magazine. I realized that the magazine was upside-down so I turned it right-side up again. My grandfather, however, said, "No, no, no, turn it upside-down again." So I did and he snapped a picture. It was adorable.

Gah, I used to be adorable when I was young. Well, I suppose I'm still adorable now, but somehow, I still miss childhood cuteness.

Ah, all of these trips down memory lane has me nostalgic...

Oh, Brother

Today is my brother's 20th birthday and, try as I might, I still can't think of anything to get him. I have been thinking about this for a week, but not many good ideas have surfaced. I thought about getting him this DVD set of a television series he liked, but then I realized that he can just watch the series on NetFlix. I then thought of giving him something to help with his work out. He's recently been on this regimen of exercise and protein to gain muscle mass and become buff (or become "big" as he likes to call it). I couldn't, however, think of anything to help him there, either. Well, unless I helped pay for his giant canister of powdered protein that he drinks regularly.

When I asked my mom about it, she said to just give him money. My brother is currently out of a job at the moment so he doesn't have much money to pay for gas or to eat out or to go to the movies. I have never liked giving people cash as a gift since it seems so impersonal, but it might not be such a bad idea. I've given my brother money as a gift before, and he hasn't begrudged me anything. As a matter of fact, he would probably prefer a gift of money over a good many other things.

Besides, if I don't go with the money idea, then I don't know what to get this guy. Seriously, sometimes shopping for males is tough. I mean, they don't usually go the whole "chocolates, jewelry, stuffed animals" routine. I didn't want to give him clothes again, and I would give him gift cards had I already not used that idea in the past. Oh, what's a sister to do?

Beautiful Hair

I saw a woman with the most beautiful (and the most unique) hair. It was three different colors and three different styles all in one. Somehow, she managed to combine it without making them clash.

One third of her hair was flaxen blond, so pale that it was almost white. I think they call it platinum blond. The texture of the hair made it look like spun wool. Another third was colored black and was woven into long, tight, thin braids, knotted like whips. The last third was colored a magenta-copper and was straightened so that it fell down like a thin sheet of metallic luster. It was amazing. What's more, she managed to make wind half of it around her neck while the other half dangled in space, catching the light. Now I'm not usually one to rave about hair, being the non-girly girl I am, but this woman had it going on. (Even Beth liked it. As a matter of fact, she was the one who pointed it out to me.) Seriously, the woman looked like an Amazon warrior crossed with a European fairy-tale princess. *sighs wistfully* Some people have it all.