nerdery

I am housesitting/babysitting for the next eight days. I started this afternoon and I must say it is just the strangest thing. I'm sitting here in someone else's house and here is what I have discovered. This family buys Equal. I didn't know that people still bought Equal. I thought everyone switched to Splenda like me. Interesting. Also, other people read Newsweek and People magazine, apparently. I thought maybe I was the only one willing to admit that I like the news, but really like the gossip.Third, I am not the only person capable of collecting more "stuff" than I could ever need or use. I really think this so-called "stuff" sneaks in when I'm sleeping and hides under the bed, only to be discovered when I have to move. Fourth, I'm always surprised when I get to be a witness to the family dynamics and find that other families function really differently than mine. I know this intellectually, but I'm surprised every time I encounter a new family situation. Fifth, people really like their TV's. I have a TV, but it doesn't actually play any stations. I can watch movies on it and for the most part, I'm totatlly okay with that. I've never really watched that much TV. Although, I did watch a record-breaking amount of football on Saturday and I am beyond excited about the return of the office on Thursday night. But, give me a good book or a pretty journal or a handsome boyfriend to play cards with, and I am set. But, back to the televisions. People have them everywhere. Like in multiple rooms of the house. When I was growing up we had one of those big screen TV's with the roll out top that projected the light onto one screen and then onto the big screen. We kept that thing until the color went totally green. We still enjoy the orange couch that has been around forever and a day.

Speaking of orange, my mom has these hideous orange flour and sugar containers. She wanted to get rid of them about 15 years ago and buy something more up to date and I practically threw a fit. I wanted her to keep those ugly orange containers. It's weird and I don't know why I'm so attached to them, but I'll probably inherit them someday. I guess kids just hold on to the memories. I always remember coming home from school and I'd sit at the counter and do homework while mom cooked dinner. Then, Dad would come home and he'd pat mom's bottom and kiss her on the cheek and I'd be totally embarrassed, but so thankful that my parents were still in love. And, those orange containers would be chilling on the counter near to it all. Yeah, I'll be the one who says to her brothers, sure take the sterling silver, I just want the orange flour jar. I can't take any of it with me when I go to heaven anyway.

So, the sadness has not passed yet. But, it's okay. It's okay.