Patricia Danielle

i am missing someone. a lot. but i cant quite put my finger on who it is. i just got off the phone with my parents, and though i do miss them, it isnt them i am missing right now.

last night i went with brian to the avril lavigne concert.

super cute. little teenie-boppers all over the place. FULL of look-alikes.

i also found out that the new style in guys wear is fitted clothing. when i left 2 years ago, guys were still wearing their pants low enough that the whole butt of their boxers hung out, but high enough to keep them on somehow.

last night, i saw guys with tight jeans and tight shirts…..fitted jeans and fitted shirts….nothing like it was before.

i dont know how i like this new ’style’ yet. im not a fan of guys whose ribcages are visible through their t-shirts. so im thinking long and hard about this style.

it seems that this style has crossed the gender line as well. girls have always been dressing in tight stuff, but for some reason the newest trend i have noticed is that of the girls wearing pants that are 3 sizes too small. and though this is obviously bad if someone is a little heavier, it does nothing but make the thinner girls look like they are wearing their younger siblings clothes.

My sisters bunny had baby bunnies a week or so before I came home from Japan. In an attempt to get rid of the 5 extra bunnies, she promsed one to my 4 year old cousin Kylee.

on saturday, jenna called me and told me that she was going to take the bunny over to kylees and put it in the new cage she had bought for it.

when we pulled up to where kylee lives, she and her little 18 month old brother were sitting,waiting, and watching out the window for us. at first sight, she started jumping up and down and yelling out of excitement. once the bunny was tranferred from box to cage and all the homely surroundings were fixed…water, food, pink chew stick…we left kylee and “emi”, her newly named  white bunny and all was perfect in the world. 

come wednesday afternoon, this just wasnt the case. i got a call from my sister:

“the bunny is dead.”

“what bunny?”

“kylee’s bunny. ryan left the bunny outside for awhile today and came home and the bunny is dead. kylee saw the bunny and told her dad that the bunny was sleeping. he went along with it and covered the cage so the bunny could sleep.”

“now what?”

“i called the the pet store and they said that we can just take the bunny out of the cage and tell kylee that it went to see its mommy. or i told ryan that i have another white bunny that i can give them. we can just switch them.”

once the decision was made that indeed, there would be some bunny switching going on, jenna and i decided that since she lives farther away, she would bring the bunny to me at work and i would take it over to kylees house later.

“you dont care about touching the dead bunny?”

“ill take marin with me. she’ll do it.”

after work, marin and i went over to kylees and went to the back gate to get into the back-door of the house. only one problem. a 100 pound, big, black, barking, HUGE dog of a problem. after trying to go in a little at a time together, inching the dog back, only to get the dog upset and running towards us, we split up. i went to the front gate to try and slip in while marin tried her best to keep the dogs attention at the back.

some minutes of barking and screaming later, i was in the house and uncovered the cage. i was instantly covered in shivers. the bunny was dead, laying stretched out on its side, legs straight out in front, and heres the kicker, eyes WIDE OPEN. marin came in through the front door and saw the bunny. i handed her the note i had found on top of the cage. its read:

“thank you. we owe you.”

heck YES…you owe me, i thought. especially when i learned marin has a “thing” about touching dead animals. since there were only two of us, that left me to be the “remover”. GROSS. hand covered in a plastic bag, marin helps by ‘advising’,

“grab it by the back legs.”

“thanks marin.” said in a, “youre supposed to be my best friend and you are making me, ME, pick up the dead bunny.”

the bunny just happened to be STIFF. GROSS again. i put it in the box, and put the new bunny in the cage. i make sure the bunny lives through the “relocation” and cover up the cage before going to throw away the body and scrub my hands.

 

heres the morning update from amanda, kylees mom:

i just started to sing the song in my head as i typed that. of course, i didnt get past the “monday, monday” part, because i dont know any more than that. its weird to think that my life now is not centered around a computer or dvd’s. for the most part, i have hardly used the computer since ive been back, which is obvious by the amount of posts lately. and, since being back, ive only sat through one dvd and maybe an hour, at most, of television. things are just different when there is a real job and so many people around me who are part of my life. im super thankful for those people right now. even more than usual. this is because i  have never really needed people like i have these last 2 weeks. someone to drive me to work. someone to pick me up. someone to let me borrow their car. someone to drive me around to look at cars. someone to help me me mail things. someone to help me figure out which cell phone to buy. someone to talk me through all of the DMV paperwork and buying auto insurance. someone to take me to lunch and talk with me about a god centered life. its been a never ending process of being helped. and its alright. i had to become ok with asking for help and asking for things. im not one to ask for help. or to ask people to do things. its difficult for me. i dont want to put people out of their way or have obligations to people because of all they are helping me with. but, its a part of life. a big part of mine right now. i got a few wise words of wisdom from my dad last week when i called to ask him about a car. “as long as youve got time on your side, youre in control.” this was good in that moment of me freaking out, after the second day of having to be driven to work. that night, i probably would have bought anything from a pinto to a hummer just to finally HAVE A CAR. he reassured me that there are people here to help me and that people are willing to help. i just have to ask. he also reminded me that there were many times i have helped people because they have been in some sort of situation where they needed someone. and thats true. so, ive sucked up my pride and asked away. and another thing…. its been nice to be with/around numerous english speaking americans. the people at the grocery stores who ALWAYS ask how i am, if i want some help to the car, and tell me to “have a good day.” then there are the people i pass while i am running. some just smile, others nod or wave, but most say hello or good morning/evening. i missed that while i was in japan. most of those people just stared at me, ignored me, or had a crazy dog with them that would practically attack me on the spot. stupid japanese dogs. i say all of that to say that i appreciate being here. i appreciate all that is available and possible. as a sister. as a friend. as a daughter. a grand-daughter. an employee. as american citizen on a monday….monday.

back at work, and no, it is not like i never left. i very much did leave. i spent the last two years of my life living and working in japan.

there are good things and bad things about where i am now and what i am doing. it is taking a bit of patience, which i now realize i have plenty more of, to just sit back and observe. id say im a natural born leader and being the newbie on a team of people who have worked at this company shorter than i have, is different for me.

im happy to be here and to be using my brain. the processes and systems are all right at the tip of my memory and everytime i hear some kind of issue or look through paperwork, seeing it all brings it to my rememberance.

i still dont have a car. and as of last night, i have a cell phone with terrible service which is getting returned tomorrow. other  that that, i have plans tonight and 3 upcoming concerts in my schedule, but thats it. thats probably the biggest difference in my life today. im finally done counting down. im now looking forward and up.