pretty glow

and life goes on...
...written on 01.10.05, @ 11:07 am

I found out a cool thing about Todd yesterday. He�s comfortable just letting me have my silence. On the way out of the airport we were headed down an escalator and he asked me if I was alright and I simply said �no� and started crying harder than I had been crying and he did nothing but hug me for a moment. The only reason it�s important is because I can�t stand big emotional displays and I can�t stand 20 questions especially when it�s obvious why I�m upset. He just let me be and I liked it.

I don�t want to be sad all over so I won�t tell you about how awful the last few moments were but I found it rather comical that my sister who is always cool under pressure was freaking out. She forgot her driver�s license at my parent�s hotel in Ft. Collins and was frantic. By some act of humanity she managed to get checked in and through security without her license (and as she predicted they got to frisk her boobs). What about a passport you wonder? The Peace Corp gives them their passports during staging so she didn�t have it until today.

We drank, we laughed, we cried, and we all wished her well. All of us girls (my mother included) did one last dirty girl scout shot and my mom, dad, and I dazzled the young college grads by sucking down an entire fish bowl of rum filled fruity drink in one shot. There were numerous murmurings of, �Aimee�s parents are so cool. My parents would never do this with us�. It always feels kind of good that people think my parents are cool. I mean� I�m biased but I think they�re pretty stellar myself.

If nothing else, the knowledge of how well she�s respected and loved might keep her heart warm on lonely nights.

With that� life goes on. I�ll have an excuse to write snail mail again since I�ve wanted to for a while but haven�t decided whom to write to and I can live vicariously though my sister. It isn�t the end of the world. She promised Todd she�d come home from Africa and break some limbs if he was an ass to me. Regardless of location� some things don�t change.

Todd finally met my mother on Friday night. I had told him all along it wasn�t my dad he had to worry about so he was understandably a little nervous. I�ve managed to keep him pretty much to myself for almost 3 months. This weekend was as good a time as any to throw him to the wolf. I�m pretty sure he passed with flying colors. He talked to her, answered her questions, wasn�t rude, and was respectful. She can�t ask for much more. Since I can tell who she likes and doesn�t, I had to reassure him that he did just fine. Despite all the baggage my mother usually frowns upon, I could tell she really liked him. No one questioned us getting a hotel room in Ft. Fun and he hung out with my family all weekend. The scary part is over. With Aimee gone I�m going to be hanging out at home a lot more than normal I imagine and Todd was perfectly happy devoting more time to my parents.

I was so mentally and emotionally drained last night that I almost let the truck lull me to sleep while we were watching �The Breakfast Club�. I even mentioned it to Todd and he agreed that some nights when he gets the idle just right he drops right off to sleep. I can�t even begin to describe the sensation to you but it�s comforting.

The little house in the mountains becomes his today. We went and finalized his paint choices and the tile for the bathroom last night. I hesitate saying �our� but that�s the way he�s been putting it. Perhaps I�m just gun shy but I don�t want to get my hopes out of control. We�re currently sharing a cell phone plan and he purchased the quilt I fell desperately in love with for Christmas. I won�t even tell you how much he spent on it but for perspective sake� he could have purchased a couple of round trip flights to Vegas or something with the money. I got a little misty over it and we stood in the living room wrapped up in this quilt for a good 5 minutes while I told him I loved him and he told me he purchased it for us.

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pretty | glow