Ob-La-Di

Too much has happened and it's been too long since I posted last. The festival of Colors was amazingly fun. I think it must have been similar to how it felt to be at Woodstock. Okay, maybe not, but I thought of it when I saw the masses with their bags of colored powder traipsing around a giant bonfire like pagans. It was fun. And I hit a small kid with a rock. Oh boy. Maybe I'll post more about it when I get my pictures developed. We'll see.

Meeting Dean and CJ was fun - I was sorry to see them go, even though I did not in fact actually see them go. I liked being around people who were so carefree.

I ate soup for the first time in approximately fifteen years and loved it. I hate soup. I have one hazy memory of staring at a bowl of tomato soup as a child. But krebscout's taco soup tasted like chili, so it went surprisingly well. Apparently it had cilantro in it, as well as about fifteen other things I would never think to eat. Good, I say. I should try more foods.

ND, my mom's best friend since 4th grade was in town and M-Lite and I were supposed to hang out with her, but she had to reschedule and I missed her. Last time she came she took us to the grocery store and told us to buy twenty dollars of whatever we wanted. Bony M got a lot of blueberries - blueberry pancake mix, frozen blueberries, etc. I don't exactly remember what I got. I know I picked up some chocolate chips and a few other baking essentials. This time she left us each twenty dollars, so when Optimistic. and I went to the store I bought all the things I would never ordinarily buy for myself, like fruit snacks and DOTS and bread.

And I found out last Friday on my birthday that M-Lite has cancer. Melanoma stage IIB. I dismissed it, not knowing at that time how serious it was. Now I know. I went with her to her consultation in Salt Lake where we found out all the statistics involved, what the procedure would be, studies she could participate in, etc. That scared me down to my core.

She coped with it very well and worked out all the insurance information with the nurse behind the desk while I paced. I pace a lot. When I talk on the phone or when I brush my teeth I find it necessary to roam about the space I'm in. So I paced the office and worried and paced and panicked more than somewhat and tried to keep it together for M-Lite's sake because I wouldn't be much good to her if I broke down right there on the spot. I wished I could have called someone. Instead I worked in my Boggle book and roamed the halls until I found some bubble wrap to play with.

We drove home singing to the radio, a million thoughts going through my mind, the main one being, "If there's anybody who doesn't deserve this it's her". I scribbled in a spiral notebook when I saw interesting things, like the license plate of the car in front of us that said SO M UP, which M-Lite guessed must have been driven by a surgeon. And there was a billboard with Abraham Lincoln on it. Our sixteenth president is now linked in my mind with everything that happened that day.

Anyway, we drove, sang, and got lunch at Wendy's once we were back in Provo. I never would have been able to remain as composed as she did, and it surprised me that she was so upbeat and that I was coming undone. Anyway, she's going in for surgery this week. F2 is flying in to take care of her, thank goodness. If she wasn't coming it would mean that I would need to be the responsible one, and while I know that I can be, it's nice to not have to be. I don't want to be the brave responsible one; I want to be the younger sister that I am.

M-Lite said she was more worried about me driving her home from Salt Lake than she was about the actual procedure. I can't say I blame her. I'm a nervous driver when I have passengers. It's good that F2 will be here.

All in all this last week has been okay. The week before that was not as okay. I should sleep more. Oh well. That's most of the major plot points. Also in there somewhere, I did my taxes, signed a Summer housing contract, drank a very tart Slurpee, went to an eagle scout court of honor, got creamed playing Boggle, took a walk, drove to Borders, went to work, aced my English midterm, listened to some great accordion music, went to Carl's Jr., and saw some good movies.

The end for now.