Thursday

Here's a blog for blogging's sake.

I'm wide awake and really should be trying to sleep, since I have to work super early tomorrow.

But for some reason I can't.

Maybe it's because I can still hear the kids next door playing outside.

Maybe it's because it's not dark outside.

Or maybe, maybe, it's because 8 p.m. is just too early to go to bed, not matter how early you were up this morning and have to repeat again tomorrow.

Spider-man

Have you ever taken the time to think of all the people you've ever known in the course of your life?

(If you haven't I encourage you to do so.)

It's incredible how many people come into our lives. Some you may forget, even though you promised to be friends forever. And with others, forever may have ended, but you'll always wonder about them.

One such person who was in my young life is a man I only know as "Spider."

Spider became a friend of our family after meeting my mom at the restaurant where she worked. He was a regular and soon he was a regular in our lives.

When asked, he told my sister and I he was called Spider because he wasn't afraid of anything. And after the time he put our goldfish on his tongue, we believed him.

I remember he liked to eat the french toast sticks from Carl's Jr. And I remember one visit he brought me a watermelon pencil case. We have an old picture of him on a boat, so I guess he liked sailing too.

I'm not sure when we lost touch with Spider. Maybe when we moved.

But years and years later, I saw him again.

It was Christmas Eve and I was going to college in Los Angeles. My roommates had chipped in and bought me a plane ticket so I could fly home for the holiday.

On the way home from the airport with my dad and grandpa, we decided to stop for some fast food.

I recognized him right away. He was sitting at a table. He was dirty and didn't look very healthy. But I knew it was Spider.

It was confirmed when my dad said, "Hello, Don."

He hugged us and we began to catch up on all the missing years. I could tell he was happy to see us.

Then he showed us how he had made the camper on the back of his truck into a nice home. He was very proud of his work.

Soon it was time to go and so we hugged him again and my dad gave him some money. Spider wanted to give us something too and so he gave us a big bag of shredded cheese. He also gave us his mailing address.

I wish I hadn't lost it, or at least used it before it disappeared.

Once we got into the car, I called my mom and the tears started flowing.

She tried to console me, explaining that that was the life he wanted to lead.

And maybe he always had and I was just to young to comprehend it.

I still think about him often and that fateful Christmas Eve. I wonder how he's doing, if he's healthy, or even still alive.

I wonder if I ever went back to that fast food restaurant just off the highway, if he'd be there.

Eating french toast sticks.

Drive thru

I have my best ideas when I'm in my car.

There's just something about being behind the wheel, the scenery whipping past, that just ignites my imagination.

In my car, I'm a rockstar singing my heart out to an adoring audience. In my car, I'm an explorer headed for my next adventure. In my car, I've written best-selling novels and award-winning screenplays. In my car, I'm a philosopher having serious discussions with God.

I've really come to cherish the time I spend in my car. Maybe because it's the one place I can go to be alone.

Alone time is important. Because who else wants to hear me sing at the top of my lungs?

Asparagus!

I love asparagus. The green spears have recently become my favorite vegetable. And apparently, I'm not alone.

The lovely city of Stockton has an annual Asparagus Festival. And when my friend Jenny invited me to meet her there, I jumped right on board.

I drove to Stockton on Sunday, not really sure what to expect. Something like a farmers market, maybe. But what was there was much bigger than what I expected.

Jenny and I got in line to pay our admission. Then we waited in line to buy tickets so that we could use those tickets to purchase fried asparagus and an aspara-margarita. Then we waited in line so we could show our IDs so that they would give us said aspara-margarita. There was a lot of planning involved in getting things done at the Asparagus Festival.

It wasn't only an asparagus fest, but also a mini-reunion of my dormmates from my Sac State days. It was good to see some familiar faces and reminisce about times that were waaay too long ago.

One of the highlights was seeing what asparagus looks like if it is allowed to grow. (This is how I know I'm getting old.) It's actually a pretty plant. And I admit I was tempted to take a bite out of the tree-like plant to see what it tasted like.

The other highlight of the day was Jenny and my's paddle boat adventure. We paid our five dollars and waited in line to paddle around in brown water. Jenny made some new friends while we were in line and while I pretended she wasn't one of mine.

We had our fried asparagus, which we wisely decided to share and couldn't even finish it. I guess there actually is too much of a good thing.

By the end of the day, I had seen my lifetime's worth of asparagus and had gotten a little fried myself (by the sun).

As far as friends and asparagus goes, I'd say it was a pretty good day.

Scaling back

I bought a scale tonight.

Realizing that in three short months I'm going to be on holiday and hopefully lying on a beach in Italy, I've decided I only want to bring about 75% of my current self with me.

That being the case, I've been waking up early enough to dance to my cardio cabaret DVD, led by two yoga-loving ladies who show me stretches that are perfect "moodras for my lower shakras." Whatever that means.

I'm trying to eat less too. Emphasis on the trying. Before each bite, I try to picture myself in a bathing suit, which is usually enough to scare me away from the fridge. Sometimes not.

But back to the scale. I had a scale, but with this new one, instead of rounding it will give me my weight to the tenth decimal. So any bit of progress will hopefully show up and keep me motivated.

As soon as I arrived home, I unwrapped it and tentatively stepped onto it.

And quickly stepped off.

I have a lot of work to do.

Sunshine

Every winter I forget about my wonderful friend The Sun. He doesn't write. He doesn't call. Maybe he peeks through every once in a while, but doesn't bring the heat with him.

He's such a tease.

And just when I'm in the depths of my winter depression and Vitamin D defiency, he comes back full force.

And that's what he's done this week. Out have come the skirts, shorts, flip flops and I've already spent a day at the lake.

I love the sun.

Welcome back, buddy.

Home sick.

I thought if you had a cold, you were in the clear for a while. Apparently not.

I suffered from a cold about two weeks ago and it went away fairly quickly. And then all of a sudden another one struck. Boo.

So what to do when you are home sick?

This is what I've done:

1. Wake up really early, because I fell asleep super early the night before.
2. Debate whether or not I could survive a day at work.
3. Call in after I decided I couldn't hack it.
4. Turn on the TV.
5. Flip through channels.
6. Listen to the ladies on the View talk about Twitter.
7. Hmm... maybe I'd like to join Twitter.
8. Nah... too confusing. Don't get sucked into a trend.
9. Start to watch Twilight.
10. Will myself to take a shower and go to the store.
11. Join Twitter.
12. Wonder when Twilight will end.
13. Check Twitter to see if friends have found me.
14. Blow nose.
15. Write blog.
16. Think, I really should take a shower and go to the store.

That's about it. Exciting, no?