EatnPark's the place for smiles

Good times at the EnP. woot, woot.









Julz and Hayz...so nice.









http://www.pghmono.com/Home_Page.html

Thanks, Pat!

Some people really know how to have a good time.

We know how to live; that's all I can say. Mom and I picked up Carolyn and Marita in Bethel Park and then drove up to Carolyn's brother-in-law's 15 acre wonderland a few miles outside of Seven Springs. We did the mountains PA style.

We spent the day sipping wine, gin, whiskey, and martinis, talking about politics and old times (the average age not including me was round 75, so "old time" talk was a spectator sport for some of us), feeding the fish in Al's pond, and whispering to the trees in the forest.

What a joy.

Carolyn and Marita know how to live. They know how to laugh and spend and talk and do. We always get together and have the loveliest of times. I want my whole life to be like that, and, you know, it really is.

Sex and the Country

Golf!

Dad and I went golfing today, on a fabulous course. I will say that the photo above is posed...that's not my actual swing, because one would never cock one's foot like that when actually teeing off. =)

After we golfed we met my mom and Joe for wings at Rook's then all met back at Dad's for a rousing game (2 out of 3, of course) of Euchre, my family's favorite pastime. My mom and I are undefeated. Dad and Joe have one two games, but never a round of 2/3.

I am so appreciative of my family. Being able to sit down, the four of us, and play a game of cards, share coffee and conversation, and laugh together. It's nothing short of amazing. I'm no fool, of course. Things are not perfect. There's animosity there and irritants--things from long ago that will never totally fade away. But, for the most part, we are a merry bunch when together. I hope for many more of these times this summer, and am so satisfied with my decision to stay in Pittsburgh (well, use it as home base, more like ;D) for the next few months.

Family is something that I have always struggled with. Some are of the sort where the family unit takes precedence above all else. People stay together, there is tradition to uphold. It reminds me of patriotism in a way, the many over the individual. And others are about one member of the family. The child comes first, the head of the household, what have you. Some show affection, others do not, or cannot. Money is a means to pleasure for some, and the end all for others. My family falls into many of these categories. We've had our feuds, our fights, our woes. My mother and father are so different from one another and I am just about as close to a 50/50 split as one could imagine.

I am admittedly rambling now. I have a lot of feelings jumbled up inside that I am trying to work out. Sorry that it has to be on you. I'll aim for better in the future.

Euchre in the back yard.

thoughts on summer

Time passes far too quickly, and I am somewhat obsessed with this fact of life. So much so that I waste precious minutes worrying about such things, which is, of course, nothing short of insane.

Today I walked through Oakland with my mom. It was a beautiful day in Pittsburgh, one of those rare days in Western PA. And I thought about how these past (nearly) 23 years have gone by in a flash, and it only keeps speeding up. And I worry about these things. And there's nothing I can do about it.

Finding a friend

Yi-Chen makes my life better. Thinking today was my last in Boulder, I got up early, went for a lovely little walk, gave the Flatirons their due attention (which I had been denying them), and spent time with dear friends. Yi-Chen and I had lunch, walked, shopped a bit, and just talked, and talked, and talked.

Because we could do that forever.

It's amazing to me. Yi-Chen and I come from completely different cultures, yet we share such an amazing connection. I have spent such a limited amount of time with her and, even though she is in my department, our meeting was truly by chance. The first night we really talked was nothing short of magical, I would have to say. I sat next to her at a department outing because it was the last seat available--and for the next few hours there we were in our own little world. Couldn't stop giggling, complementing each other, escaping the world. Afterwards we went to a coffee shop and continued our time together. She told me about her boyfriend on the other side of the globe. We spoke of religion and love and our families and education. She talked about her father who sounded like an exceptional person.

Today was much the same. And what struck me the most was something she said. Yi-Chen told me that even in her own country, or here with other people from Taiwan, she still did not find the connection that she and I shared. Despite all of the differences between us we are very much the same, and compliment one another as well. It filled me with a hope I was once familiar with but had lost over the years.

Every moment in this world amazes me. My mom said to me yesterday that she told her students this: "Open your eyes; every day you are walking through fields of diamonds and you don't even know it." 2 things from this: 1--and this is fitting for Mothers' Day--how lucky am I to have a mom like that. 2. How lucky are we to live in a world like this.