Category Archives: friends

Birthday Things

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Wednesday was my birthday.   It was the first birthday where Ian’s been in the same country (and even in the same house) with me on my birthday.  It was nice to be able to celebrate with him and The Little Kid.

I got some nice presents, including a Cuttlebug that I can use with my cardmaking.    TLK and I had fun making cut-out butterflies and frogs, and playing with embossing, which I must say… using a machine to emboss is much easier than hand-embossing… more dramatic and less painful.  :)

The people at work bought me an ice cream cake and my friend put a banner on my cubicle so everyone knew.    I received flowers from my family in Texas and the funniest card from my family in Kansas.   I put a call into my parents via Skype, but had to leave a message.  Not sure if they’ll hear the voice mail.  My dad says he can’t get through the Italian prompts.. but maybe he can by now.  :)

We went to Applebees for dinner, which was nice.  They have good steaks and something wonderful called “Peach Sangria”  :)   Yum

Oh, and everyone I knew on FB said, “Happy Birthday”, which was fun.  :D

Overall, a really good day.   It is good to be 23 again.  “Mommy counts backwards now”.  LOL.

Love is Good

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Good things are coming around the corner. I’m ready for change. I’m ready for trust and reliability and fun and just “getting it”, where life is concerned. Couple-ness. Working toward a goal where “WE” are the goal and being excited to grab for the brass ring.

There are times when he scoops me up in the safety of his arms, even from remote, and whatever is going on in the rest of the world falls away into incoherent drivel.

There are moments when I am silently struggling with the meaning of life, or something on a smaller scale, and a note arrives, unprompted, saying he feels lucky to have me in his life, and I know the sincerity drips from his words.

He believes in love, being there, sharing more than words can share, being concerned, insightful, attempting to keep me on the right path; the one which makes sense. Thank you for that. I love you.

Lisa’s tips to get through tomorrow:
1. Put your heart into what you’re doing, or find something you can put your heart into.
2. Think positively about tomorrow; put yesterday in a box and seal it up with duct tape.
3. Call your family
4. Hope for the best thing you can think of to happen. If it doesn’t. make it happen.
5. Love, love, love who is in your life and what you are accomplishing by knowing these people.

Day 3: Meeting Gem and Fletch

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So, back to the bouncy, happy woman.   We shall call her “Jane”.   Or, you could call her my sister, since she seems to be every bit of what I’ve always said she is:  My sister.     Upon arrival at their lovely flat, we met Fletch, who was exactly who I imagined he’d be, as well (funny how this Internet thing works, innit?)

We talked for awhile, then headed to a nice local pub for Leffe.    Leffe.    What can I say?   Leffe goes down smooth.   It goes down smooth x4.   The light german beer inbetween just makes you want more Leffe.

Can you say “toasted”?   I thought you could!

After too many Leffe’s and some pistachios and cashews, we went to an Indian curry house, where I asked Ian to order for me (lamb bhuna) and then Jane and I attempted to use the ladies room.    I could not walk a straight line at this point, or stop laughing.   I washed my hands and attempted to use the hand dryer, which we could not figure out.    Finally, Jane got it working, so I used it for .. oh… 2 seconds, and was ready to go.

After dinner, Jane and I walked back in the rain whilst the guys picked up snacks.    Somehow, I ended up drinking a glass of wine, got a headache and decided that Leffe was not good for me, to the extent that  I have sworn off Leffe.  Although I will always remember it’s very smooth taste.   Good Belgian beer.   :)

In the morning, I made pancakes, after the guys went out for supplies and Jane made us coffee.     What is

fun about British households is that coffee and tea always seem to be readily available.   At home, I can go ages without drinking a thing, but we were always picking between coffee and tea.

Anyway, the pancakes seemed to live up to expectations.

After awhile, we headed off to Cambridge, for a tour of the city.   The city was amazing, full of students returning to school and people wandering through shops and coffee houses.    The architecture was ancient, by American standards, the company was wonderful and I think I can safely say we all had a great time.