Summer Tales, Volume Two

There are so many summer stories that make me smile. This one makes my cousin Ariel and I blush and laugh.

My cousins and I always slept in the green room when we visited our grandparent's. It was formerly our aunts' room (including my mom). It has three beds in it, I always slept in the "big" bed. We called it the big bed because it was taller than the others, at the time I usually had to climb up from the other trundle-ish bed or take a running leap to get into it (much like my bed junior year of college that was lofted so high that it was occasionally comical to watch me try to get into it, especially if I was tired)

My cousin Ariel and I both woke up around the same time one night even thought we'd all been in bed, sound asleep, for some time. We weren't sure why we had woken up, but started whispering for a few minutes. We were talking when we heard a thud, followed by some other strange sounds. We thought there was a burglar in the house. We had a brief, whispered conversation about what we should do before hiding under the covers and pretending that we were asleep. That lasted all of maybe two minutes, during which I think we heard another strange noise. We decided we couldn't just lay there. We crept out of bed and cautiously opened the bedroom door. We peeked out into the long hallway towards the living room. Once we were sure we didn't see anyone, we flew down the hall to our grandparent's room. We woke up my grandpa and told him what we'd heard, then climbed into bed with our Grama while he went to check it out. He came back a few minutes later to confirm that everything was fine. We weren't convinced until he pointed out that their dog, Doogie Bowser, hadn't made a peep, and surely he would have barked if there were anything wrong. He then suggested that what we'd heard was merely the air conditioner. We accepted this explanation (though we probably secretly thought we'd heard something...this may have be the summer of "there's something fishy going on") and went back to bed. Naturally, it took us a while to fall back to sleep. Before we fell asleep we heard a similar noise...this time we realized that it was clearly the air conditioner, trying to rob the house of the summer heat.

Missed Connections

We've all received wrong number calls. They're not completely uncommon. I've even gotten the occasional wrong number on my cell phone. But wrong texts? Those are rare indeed. I've gotten one in the past, something about someone needing to reschedule a nail appointment. Not sure what that was about, but I let them know they had the wrong number. I was rather amused. Here's tonight's wrong texts from "Massimo":

M: Celeste is this u? Its Massimo
Jaina: Wrong number. Sorry.
M: Oh sorry to bug u
Jaina: Np

I much prefer wrong texts to wrong calls...wrong texts can be so intriguing and entertaining. To the two I've received (both within the last 6 months I believe), I've replied to both, letting them know they have the wrong number. The nail salon one realized they had the wrong area code. It was rather amusing. But seriously. I have to wonder about Massimo and Celeste. First off, the name Massimo makes me think of The Wedding Planner. Great movie. But that's beside the point. How did they meet? Why was Massimo trying to reach her? How did Massimo get the wrong number? Did Celeste meet him in a bar somewhere and give him a fake number to let him down easy? (not that I condone such action...because it's going to hurt the guy eventually and lying is not okay) I wonder what the real phone number is, if it's just a number away from mine. So many questions that will never be answered. I could write silly stories about the whole thing. Hey, that's not a bad idea. Maybe I should concoct stories about Massimo and the elusive Celeste.

Oh I feel a blog series coming on. Don't worry Gramma Ann, I may even get so into my story weaving as to take pictures to go along with it! Either way there will be plenty of pictures coming on here. :)

L-O-V-E

Because Converse Mama asked SO sweetly (and because I promised)...

I'm in love. Haha, makes me giggly just to write it...that's the first time I've "said" that. I've known for a while now, but I hadn't said it. I had a talk with Jasa about it several weeks ago, because honestly, this is all new to me. We talked about timing and right-ness. He left me with the thought that the next time I felt like saying it, to just say it. (of course in person and not on im or in a text) The opportunity presented itself within an hour of that conversation, but it's like I lost my voice each time I tried to say those three little words, they just seemed to catch in my throat. And so time continued, those three words continued to lodge themselves in the back of my throat.

I was pretty sure I loved him relatively early on, but I wasn't sure how to be sure. I tend to love fairly easily, as a friend, and to think about it, I don't think I've ever really been in love before, only crushing...so this was all fairly new. And "I love you" is kind of a big deal, and you can't take it back. I just needed to be sure. I can't tell you exactly when I was 100% certain, I just knew.
Fast forward to last Friday. Our drive up to my aunt's on our way to my house started almost unpleasantly. The bf was frustrated because he wanted everything to be perfect for my family, and we were running later than I had said I wanted to (this was actually my fault) I'd been feeling like I was frustrating him a lot lately, and this just made it worse. I got very, very quiet. (which, if you know me, is a very rare occurrence, usually the result of getting distracted and lost within my overfull, racing mind) See, I don't have the greatest track record when it comes to relationships. And I was so (still sort of am) so scared of screwing this up. It was really bothering me, because I really, truly cared if I messed it up. I love him and it scared me that I thought I was going to screw it up. The bf reads me really well, and knew something was up, but I was in one of those places where I just couldn't find my voice. I lifted the center console in the truck and slid over to be right next to him and just laid my head on his shoulder and held onto him for a while. After a bit I found my voice and told him how I'd been feeling, and he reassured me that everything was fine, and he was not and had never been upset with me or frustrated by me. And he assured me that there was nothing I could do to make him go away. I could have kissed him right then...actually, I'm fairly certain I did. I knew that I had to tell him. I mean, I was sure he knew, but I HAD to say it.

And again the words caught in my throat. Stupid words must have barbs on them or something, seriously. A short while later my good mood returned (I'm telling you, I am one of the happiest people you will ever meet, my rare bad moods never last long) We were singing and listening to one of the playlists I'd made earlier that afternoon on his ipod. came on. It's one of my favorite songs, and it was the song we had been listening to, and the first thing the bf heard after he left after we kissed the first time and admitted our feelings for each other. And yes, I am now officially the princess of cheesy-ness. I knew that I needed to be the one to say those words first, because he was worried about scaring me or making me skittish (me and my track record, seriously) I also knew that I couldn't just blurt the words out, they literally would not come out of my mouth. So, following the first line of the chorus (you know the one, "I love you baby...") I quietly said "I do, you know". He asked "do what?" And of course, I replied with "love you". He of course told me he loved me.

To add to the humor, shortly after, I said something about knowing I had to say it first, and he said "you still haven't said it". I was SO confused. He'd gotten so flustered at hearing it, he didn't hear the first part of what I'd said, and had changed it in his mind to me asking if he loved me. D'oh! It definitely made the moment memorable, we both couldn't stop laughing. I was grinning like an idiot the rest of the night...in fact, I still sort of am. My cousin and I nearly burst when I told her at my aunt's. My family really likes him and have really accepted him into our circle, and his parents and friends really like me too. It just works. The whole things just feels right, like it's meant to be. We fit.

I'm his princess, always and forever. That's what he says. And he said I could keep him, always and forever. And that makes me subliminally happy. I have the bestest boyfriend in the world. And I love him. And I love that I can say that. And now that I am grinning like a lunatic, I'm going to head to bed. Sorry that post went SO long...I need to learn the beauty of brevity...but perhaps I'll try that out on a post NOT about being in love. Hehe, in love. Me. :)
It's an older picture, taken on our poppy excursion only a few days after we started dating. We took a picture because of the massive size difference between his truck and that little Prius. I thought it was appropriate that since the cab of his truck was where we first said I love you, that the photo for this post be of his truck. (this is the only one I currently have) I love my bf, and his truck. Haha. I hope everyone has a wonderful evening, and I wish you all a beautiful Friday!