A Perfect Start

I have to tell you all, that today was one of those perfect nights. The kinds that you want to save in a scrapbook, and take it out again and again when the hard times come, to remember how precious life can be.

I was on the go from 8:25 AM this morning until 3AM tonight. I picked up 3 girls for church, took them home, picked up James, K, & J, and met A & P at a Chinese restaurant. We ate, sat around and played Uno (story about that to follow when my pics are all uploaded), and then went to Walmart... wandered around for quite some time, and then went to K's to bake cookies for James family thing. Baked them, burnt half (despite pre-heating the oven for 30 minutes while I made the cookies, the first batch of cookies took 30 minutes instead of the recommended 15-20, and the second batch cooked maybe 15 and were almost all burnt. WAY wierd!), and got back to James house at 7:10 or so. BTW his family thing started at 7 AND he had to make a batch of chili for a church thing he was going to. So he made the chili at his Aunt Martha's house, and all was good. But in the meantime, his mommy called and was mad that he was running so late... by the time we got to his family party, I was about to burst into tears. :o(

But then I settled in, beat my cousin S at air hockey, beat some strange little kid at air hockey, royally sucked at pool, and then said bye-bye to James as he left for his family thing. Soon after, we realized James had left his cheese at the house, and I went to church (his current church, my old church, which I left on kinda bad terms) to bring it back to him. I made peace with the pastor's wife, wished her a Happy Christmahanakwanzakah and a Merry New Year, and went back... played three games of Euchre with my cousin Karen as a partner... lost ALL THREE!!!

*MENTAL NOTE: If your cousin has been drinking before the game even STARTS, she is probably NOT a good Euchre partner!*

But I can't blame it on her, I was absolutely exhausted and not too focused.

We ate, chatted, and then watched the ball drop & had toasts. Aunt Anita hugged me, and I felt special.

I played Texas Hold'em for the first time, and lost... but I wasn't the FIRST one to loose, so it was all good. Not bad for someone who had barely had any teaching on it.

Sat down and talked with "The Aunts"... Aunt Anita (who I'd never talked to much before), Aunt Clara (who I have known FOREVER), and Aunt Martha (who I'd known a long time, but not really KNOWN, ykwim?). Had some awesome chat time with Aunt Anita, which was WAY cool. She even invited me to stay the night if I needed too, but badly wanted my bed. Got phone numbers of Aunt Anita & Aunt Clara (I already had Aunt Martha's). Played with the camera phone, and then got into a discussion of art... which led to a discussion of art classes (I'm going with them to one next Saturday.) ... which led to Aunt Martha mentioning her "workshop"... which led to me getting to see an artists paradise! A room as big as my bedroom, TOTALLY FILLED WITH ART SUPPLIES!!! Brushes, canvases, stamps,... it was HEAVEN!

Chated a while longer, and then we all went home. Chatted with God on the way home and was just beyond thankful. James's family was SO nice to me. I was overwhelmed. Sad because I realized that when my 2 cousins and i got our pic taken together, it was the first time it had ever happened. Sad because we're so distant... before today I had only one pic of one of the cousins, and no pics of the other. But very happy... to be reconnected to my family again.

I was also thankful for the time with my cousins... sometimes the things that happened to me when I lived with my dad seem like a nightmare... so terrible they can't be real. But when I chat with my dad's family, I feel VALIDATED. Together, we know that the way our family was is not right at all. Together we can chat about it and understand and be understood.

Together we can heal.

Categories: James, Family, Friends, Aunts, Healing