Summer Vacation Part 2... =)

Previously on the path of pure d-lite....

...I wrote about my short trip to Washington to see my Aunt and my cousins that I had not seen in almost 2 decades. On part two of my Summer Vacation of 2011 I will be talking about the more reflective part of my vacation. 

A little over a decade ago things were a lot different for me. I was staying with my buddy and his parents to finish out my senior year in high school. Why was I staying at my buddy’s parents house instead of my own mothers house? Well, do to my mothers divorce she had to sell the house I had lived in for 15 some years. Don’t worry I am not going to go into all that. The point of me bringing this up is being thrown into that position I was living with another family I actually became part of another family. I often refer to the Jackman family as my second family. They have done so much for me. From the moment I became friends with Mike in sixth grade to current day. How does this tie into my vacation you might ask? Well, after staying almost 2 years after graduating high school and having to move on from living with the Jackmans because Doug (Mike’s father) got a job up north in Seattle. All the Jackmans have moved up north eventually from Oregon. Mike being the last one to leave Oregon. So for the second part of my 10 days off from work my glorious “Summer Vacation” I made arrangements to go see some of the Jackmans. I talked with J’anne (Mike’s mother) and Mike to see if they would be available to see me for a few days before the last part of my vacation that was near where they lived. Of course I did this months in advance and they were both very excited to see me. So Sunday early evening is when I got back from my Aunt’s and Monday morning 9am I took the first Amtrak train to Seattle. As many of you now from reading my past blogs or watching my train video know that I love riding the train very much. It’s the closest thing I have to spending a day with my father. It was a very easy and wonderful trip up to Seattle. The weather was the best it has been for me when riding the train up to Seattle. I arrived around noon. There at the train station waiting for me was Mike and his girlfriend Sylvia. We then proceeded to head back to the Seattle area suburbs to meet up with J’anne for some lunch. Now I am not going to give you a detailed description on what happened for those 4 days. I will tell you what I got out of it. 

First off, the best thing I got out of these 4 days was sleep.... I know that sounds silly, but it was amazing too get a full nights sleep. To wake up when the body was ready to wake...not when it was obligated to wake up. I had plans to meet up with Mike and Sylvia everyday I was there, but there was no rush on when that was to happen. We also really didn’t have an exact plan either of what we were to do together. Normally that would bother me, but my life has been very busy of late and it was nice to let go of that. 

Second, Being able to have long chats with Mike and J’anne over the course of those few days. Especially J’anne. Her and I got in a few long conversations like we normally do when staying at her house. It is very engaging to talk with her. She is a Sagittarius and again like my Aunt I love that energy. My sister is as well and there is a lot about the connection that does well for me. There is nothing we don’t talk about. There is no judgement. It’s just two people having a good old fashioned conversation. That I truly missed. J’anne and I when I lived with her on many days would sit in their family room playing Tetris and talking about anything that came to mind for hours. I am very thankful to have her in my life. She gave me a wonderful place to stay and relax. A home away from home if you will. This visit was not my first mind you. She helped me come up for last years Superbowl that was not to long after my bike accident. It was very sweet of her and it was awesome to get way from everything even for a few days. I also came up for my birthday few years ago when I started this blog. I even wrote a few early entries in my blog while up there.

Also, while staying with J’anne I got to see both of her wonderful cats. One is named Scrawny butt and the other is named Balrog. They are both very sweet cats. I was surprised this time around when visiting them that when taking my stuff upstairs I was greeted by both of them. Normally Scrawny butt takes some time to warm up to me.  This time around she did not shy away at all. Balrog never has a problem he loooooooves the attention. He makes me smile. He is such a loving cat. He greeted me every morning I was there. Always wanting to be involved with whatever it was that I was doing. I have a funny pic of him trying to get on my lap when I was working at my computer. He only got half way on my lap and seems just fine with what he got. Just a very affectionate cat and it’s hard not to want to pet him.

Scrawny Butt greeting me upstairs

Balrog on the table before I told him to get down

So cute. =)

Balrog a.ka. the bathroom Gargoyle...lol

Balrog trying to get on my lap while I was working on my laptop

Balrog on the bed waiting for me to get started for the day

Finally, I got to spend some time with Mike and Sylvia and the family. Mainly the two youngest girls. Sammy and Jessy. They are pretty close in age. I don’t remember exactly, but I want to say about a year apart or maybe a little bit more. They are a perfect combination for each other. Sammy is a chatter box and Jessy (the older one) is a bit more quiet, but she is very intelligent when she speaks and usually fills in the blanks for Sammy as she is rambling away. One night I sat with Sammy and tried to help her with her Madagascar 2 video game. She was too cute. She did much of it herself I was very impressed. All why she was talking away too mind you. For the most part we just talked, played cards, played some video games, and watch the movie Inception which I hadn’t seen yet. It was some just good old fashioned hanging out with friends. 

Looking back over the whole vacation something that I did think a lot about while I was hanging out with them is that I was definitely the third wheel. I spent much of time thinking about that over my vacation in general actually. Just the fact that lately I have been playing the third wheel a lot when out with friends or doing things with others. It has been weighting on me a lot lately. Nothing against any of the couples that I have hung out with they haven’t done anything really to make me feel that way it just is what is right now. It has not been a good thing for me these days when I have been very lonely and struggling with being single. The last day I was there I was talking to J’anne about it. It helped a little, but honestly it’s not something that will just fix itself. I will just say I am working on it. Some things are out of my hands. I just have to push forward and continue to make the best me that I can be. I long for the days to have a special person of my own to share my life with. Till then I love where I am and were I am pushing myself to. I must continue to focus on the parts of life that I can control because we all are blessed with this gift called life. Enjoy it because it is NOT forever. =)

As usual I give you this with love and pure D-lite. =)

Too be continued....