Mi Chinita

I don't know if there's anything as endearing/precious as watching a baby run to you with outstretched arms and a big smile on her face. That was how I was greeted when I came out of my room this morning. I had a great time visiting with my Desi and Emilee, and here are some pictures:

Dating - What Else?

First of all, I saw a Jewish family today while at the optometrist's, which made me happy because I have this special affinity for Jews. I hope that doesn't sound awful - I just feel connected to the Jewish people; I think I have a lot in common with them, and I feel like they're my brothers.

Anyhow, the real reason for the post is to ask, Why does it hurt to not be in to somebody? There's this guy who I have mentioned on here recently that I just am not interested in dating seriously, and yet it hurts whenever I am reminded of that. Maybe it's because people keep bugging me to try. "Give it time," my roommate says, but I really feel I already know. We're going out soon, and it hurt after he asked me. I just talked to him, and it hurt coming home after. Maybe the aching really comes from wanting something but knowing it's still not to be. I want to follow another roommate's advice and just let us be friends and see if anything comes later (which I think I know it won't), but this guy actually does things right, I believe, in that he treats me like a girl. Instead of the too casual buddy/buddy thing that my generation does, we actually treat each other with that deference one should give to a potential partner. All part of that awkward dating process that I would so like to get beyond.

Musings

I just ate an unhealthy amount of Brazilian food tonight and think I might just slip into a food coma, so I will try to write quickly. Besides getting to hang out with my former roommate (who is from Brazil - hence the food) and her husband, I also got to see her husband's son, who is a friend of mine. Isn't it just great getting to see dear friends who you haven't seen for awhile? I mean, it would be great to see them more often, but when that's not really possible, how fun to have that occasional little reunion. I would have liked to take a walk with him and get some good one-on-one time to catch up on his life. But, seeing as how there were other people there to see him, too, that didn't happen. What did happen, though, was horse shoes and a bee bee gun, and lots of good eats! On my drive home I enjoyed the view of the sparkling lights of the city below. Earlier, on the way there, I got to look at some of the beautiful desert plants, prettily arranged on a hill. Isn't life great?!

A Little Reminder

I'm a big fan of PJTV. Lu's husband and my brother introduced me to it, and I am totally hooked - maybe in kind of a bad way because I am becoming more and more polar right. Anyway, my favorite program on the site is Trifecta, in which these three guys talk about different political issues. They get me pretty fired up about things. They recently did this segment where they showed clips of military people coming home and surprising their families. It was a beautiful segment; two of the guys even got emotional about the clips and the people who sacrifice to serve our country. I wanted to find the clip that they used, and I think this is it. I hope you will watch it and appreciate our servicemen and women.

Emilee is Talking!!

My niece really is starting to talk. I went to visit this weekend, and I heard "hi," "bye," "boo" (blue - apparently every color is blue right now), etc. So cool! I wish I had taken my camera so I could have taken some pictures. How do we learn to speak, anyway? I know I can look it up and understand more, but really, how do we do it? Since she was a very wee baby, Emilee has stuck her fingers in my mouth, for some reason. She hasn't done that for a long time, but when I was there on Saturday, she came up to me and shoved them in. After a bit, she started to make the "T" sound. "That's right - teeth." But how did her brain figure out how to make that sound? It's just kind of amazing if you think about it.

Am I Incapable of Having a Relationship with Someone?

I have decided that I can only handle about 8 dates with a guy before I just know that it's not meant to be. Several years back was probably my first experience with that. I don't know if we actually went on that many dates, but the boy was pretty slow moving, so it dragged things out for awhile. Then there was a shorter, month-long saga recently. And now there has been this past week. I've been out with the boy a few times before. Then this past week seemed to be this marathon of testing the waters, if you will. Monday, Wednesday, Friday (and that was camping, so that probably counts as more), and last night. I'm not sure if I like it that way because then it's over fast. I'm not sure if he's on the same page as I am, but we have another date scheduled next month, so unless things actually turn sour, or something, I would imagine there may be a few more dates, but then that will be it. Fortunately for me, this time I think the boy will decide it's not right, too, so hopefully it will end with nobody feeling hurt.
What I will be (and obviously already am ) feeling is a little frustrated. How do people ever decide that they actually like each other? I hope the boys keep coming, though (Believe me, I'm very surprised and grateful for that part - totally unaccustomed to it.), and that it actually works one of these times.

Emilee said "Cool"

and "I don't know." I swear she did. I've been trying to get her to speak for quite awhile now. We have this deal that if she says "Hi" I will buy her ice cream. Instead of saying it, she likes to smile and sign it (when I think she's perfectly capable of uttering that one simple word). Anyways, I was talking to her on the phone the other day, and I really think I heard "cool" and "I don't know" during the conversation. In fact, I wondered if one of her parents was in the background saying those things to trick me. I told her that I owed her ice cream for talking to me, so when I went to visit her this weekend, we purchased some orange/vanilla ice cream (that she selected) and some cones. By the time we got back to her place, she was asleep, so I didn't get to be there when she got her treat. My sister sent me some pictures of the event (Thanks for taking them!), and I hope she won't mind my posting one of them here.P.S. My brother heard her say "I don't know" while we were driving somewhere the day we went to visit, if that gives more credence to my claim. She wasn't responding to anything in particular - she just said it.