05.13.02

*UGH!* This laptop is so damn slow compared to the computer at home. Not to mention the repeated disconnection while being on NetZero! WTF?! It took me forevers to resize and upload pictures and update the journal. Mah bad! I apologize for the delay.

Today I spent the day at home with Ashlyn, Heather, and Eva....watched TV and did a load of laundry. John came over to visit. He played with the baby while I helped Heather take care of a few things. Wil, Tony, and Wing came over after work and we all went to Red Robin for dinner. I left Ashlyn at home with Mom and had a nice uninterrupted meal.
Afterwards, we picked up a DVD at Blockbusters -"Riding In Cars With Boys", then headed to my parents' home. I served up the cake that John brought over and we popped in the DVD.

As I sat indian-style on the hardwood floor with everyone, talking and eating cake, I felt a tremor...*EARTHQUAKE!* We looked at one another until it stopped. It wasn't too bad, but it was kinda long. Earthquakes are scary because you never know how long it's going to last or how severe it's going to get.
I still remember the BIG one back in '89. It was my dad's birthday...he was on his way home from work, my mom was getting ready for dinner, I was watching TV, and Wil was studying with her Math-tutor in the dining room when it hit. I remembered the shaking getting really bad. The lamp that hung over the dinner table swayed back and forth like a pendulum. I ran to the dining room to check on Wil and her tutor (a college student who was freaking out), then I checked on my mom. In an event of an accident or emergency, I've noticed that I always manage to remain surprisingly calm. Good to know. Anyhow, I wonder what the magnitude of this earthquake was?

Wil, Tony, and Wing left shortly afterwards. John, my mom, and I watched the movie. It was okay....food for thought. I was expecting it to be funnier. It was sort of depressing. It's based on a true story...about a girl who's life didn't turn out the way she wanted or hoped because she got pregnant at an early age. Throughout the entire movie, she blamed her son for what she didn't have and for holding her back from being more. Her poor kid. Then she wrote a book about it. The End.
How self-absorbed is that? Life is a series of opportunities (or missed-opportunities, depending on how you look at it). Even if she didn't get pregnant, other things could have prevented her from having the life she wanted or hoped. She chose to sulk and it deeply affected her and her son's life. Drew Barrymore had portrayed the same character from age 15 to 35...I don't know how convincing that was. And she spoke through gritted teeth the entire time...perhaps an East Coast thing. *shrug*

After the movie, I put Ashlyn to bed. John and I stayed up and talked till close to 2am. I'm so beat! G'Nite!

Pictures from tonight:


Wil and Tony


John and me


Wing and me


Wing, Ashlyn, Wil, and Marisa


Ashlyn and Mom


Ashlyn and me


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