Patricia Danielle

her name is katie. she and darrin have been dating for a few months. all i really know about her is what darrin has told me, since, until lat night, we had never met. he told me she runs, that she’s tiny, that she has short hair, that she works at her dad’s dentist office. she does that sport where you jump over the horizontal pole and she’s done with college. he also told me that she has no intentions of having some sort of “banned” list on which they would list people who they shouldnt hang out with since they are now a “couple.” as of the last time i talked with him, the parking lot of church a few weeks ago, he was gearing up for a nice ‘meet the family dinner.’ still not sure if thats happened yet.. he and i havent spoken in awhile. that is, until last night.

 

last night we were at a meeting for young adults. he was leading it. and apparently in the last couple of weeks since ive seen him, he has become confident enough to wear his shirt unbottoned, well, at least he was wearing it like that last night. he also had one of those italian chain type of things on. i thought it was a little unlike him, but, hey new girl….new duds.

 

he got up to make an announcement and called katie forward. immediately i was thinking ‘theyre getting married. he’s engaged!!” she took the microphone and shared a little bit about herself. she looked super sporty in her blue-velour warm-up suit and running shoes. she was so super fit. she rambled on and on but never reached the point where she shared what the “announcement” was. since i was sitting next to darrin and his unbottoned shirt, i leaned over and asked him to just fill me in. i was super curious.

 

he looked and me and smiled. “she got her first tattoo.” this is so NOT what i was expecting. from him or her. i almost felt pissed that i had wasted my time listening to her. why the heck do i care about her first tattoo? i dont. so i leaned over, opened my eyes, noticed that it was only 5:21am on my alarm clock and decided to re-locate myself in dream world.

 

 from there, i was on the radio with dr. laura getting ready to take over her show for her once she retired.

 

a girl can dream, can’t she?

 

me: when’s your birthday? kylee: june. me: do you know what day? kylee: no. me: it’s june 5th. kylee: no it’s not. me: yes it is. its june 5th. kylee: how do you know? me: i asked your mom. kylee: oh. me: my birthday is in may. kylee: how do you know? me: i asked my mom. kylee: oh. me: and your mom’s birthday is in march. kylee: how do you know? me: i asked your mom’s mom. kylee: oh. that’s my ma-mah. me: yeah. ***Until this very conversation, I never thought about the fact that I only know other people’s birthday because thats what they have told me. well, except in this case i just happened to be there when this little 4 yr old was born. so in this case, the reason i know her birthday was june 5th is because i just happened to be there that very morning when it happened!

yes i know, its been awhile. and, more than the fact that i have a lo to share, i have a lot i want to record. for myself. not for you or for anyone to read, but just for me to store away in my memories. life used to be so easy when i would sit all day at school in the teachers room. just sit there. chatting, reading, blogging. but things are different. things have changed. theres no time to blog….read…chat. i can hardly remember the last time i had nothing to do. but, im not as busy as some people. some people dont come home until after 3 in the morning. some people have a dog who sits in the laundry room all day, but barks and cries and makes me feel guilty that i just want to get into my pj’s once i get home after work. some people break up with their boyfriend of almost 3 years and scream at me when i find out. some people bring the new guy home after a long day of shopping and just say “hi. this is dan. i bought a couch today” and think everything is fine and dandy. well. some people stink. sleep. play with your dog. dont be mad at me. and give me a minute to be sad that the old guy is gone before the new one jumps in. i happened to like the old guy. the now “ex.” dont ask me why i care. its not my problem. or my decision. it shouldnt matter this much to me. maybe it is disheartening to me that i thought i knew her better. thought that they made an great couple. thought he was going to be around forever. so, i put some trust in him. got to know him. and after initially thinking no one could be good enough for her, decided he was. decided i knew he was. but, decisions change. for now, i have decided to go to a bridal shower. that’s a WHOLE OTHER post……

i love…. “the amazing race” and  my little orange coconut -smelling trees that smell up my car, my hair long and my electric toothbrush, buying diet coke from the vending machine in the kitchen at work and waking up to christian music on my alarm clock, dipping my veggies in ketchup and downy de-wrinkler spray, water in big plastic cups and alernating my 3 pairs of running shoes, seeing daddys with children and having 2 big fluffy matching towels for after my showers, thoughts of trekking the himalayan mountains and free yummy water at work, carmex tubes always an arm-reach away and finishing books, running in the mornings and emailing my old japanese-english teacher, dark hair and wireless internet, short voice-mail messages and long distance phone calls, sunny autumn days and being back at my home church, holidays and smells that remind me of holidays, rolling bread into gooey-dough-like-balls and country music, clean bathrooms and yummy smelling perfume, the theme song from RENT and watching gina and steven be cute with each other, dryer sheets and my new job, onion bagels and kids jokes, itty bitty emails back and forth all day long pictures of family, thursday nights with grandma to watch survivor and being ready for bed at 930, long eys lashes and i-pod playlists, chubby happy people and skinny happy people, the smell of clove cigarettes and bobbie-pins, email updates and changing the brit calendar, hearing spanish and thinking in japanese, gilmore girls and funky necklaces, rainbows and living with family, upcoming visits and visits i should be shceduling, people believing in me and being able to believe in others, my 20 minute drive to work in praying and seeing any other believer playing their part.