Me and Harry at the Christmas Party

Baby!

My friend, Kevin, and his wife just had a baby about a week and a half ago. I can't believe one of us is a parent.

One of us is now responsible for the life of another human being 24 hours a day.

One of us will now answer to Daddy (and not in that kinky kind of way).

The baby is beautiful. He is perfect in every way.

Kevin is so lucky. I'm so happy for him.

Hopefully he's getting SOME sleep.

I'm not exactly hiding

I don't really have a reason for not letting everyone know that I've started a blog again. It's not really a secret. I guess I just want a place of my own to hang out (with the exception of John, whom I've invited in because my blog was the way we usually talked to each other).

It wouldn't be terrible to have people reading me again. I wouldn't mind. I'm easy enough to find (hell, I think I've already been found by an old reader or two). And, eventually, I'm sure I will let everyone know.

Just not yet.

I'm hoping I won't offend anyone by not telling them right away.

That is not my intention.

Sometimes a woman just needs a room of her own. Virginia Woolf was a smart lady.

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic; don't mind me.

I've been thinking about a friend from high school lately-- Chris Guthrie. I miss him terribly.

11 years ago, he gave me this fantastic fuzzy blue journal for Christmas with an inscription inside. I still have the journal. Pages have been written in and torn out in those 11 years, but the inscription page is still there, fully intact. I plan on keeping this thing until the day I die. Yes, a nearly empty journal missing pages.

But it's mine, and it's part of him, too.


The inscription reads:

Someone once told me that journals represent different parts of your life. That each journal kept a piece of you and you a piece of it. Here's a fuzzy place to keep the part of your life that's just beginning. Much has happened, much is yet to come. And much is happening now. Take a stand, hold your head high, and take what life has to give you. Remember what I told you at Shakespeare? "You're stronger than you think." When you're feeling like life is jabbing you in the chest with a shovel or hot pokers or other such devices, come here and retreat. Sort stuff out. When you're kicking life's ass, come here and gloat. You're a special gal, Lieshie, remember that. And remember Shakespeare.

Chris
12-25-94

My Late Thanks Giving

The year is coming to an end once again. My dad was right; the older you get, the faster days go by. I think that’s the only thing my dad’s ever been right about. That and real estate is a good investment.

Anyway, I was thinking about all the good things in my life right now, all the things I have to be thankful for.

I’m thankful for yet another wonderful year of marriage. It just keeps getting better and better. I wish for all my friends to have a marriage as happy as mine.

I’m thankful for my crazy family. They keep me entertained and they keep my on my toes. You have to be a defensive driver with my kin. I’ve hit way too many potholes in the past.

I’m thankful for the friends I have. I don’t get to see them often (or in John’s case, we’ve never even met), but I know they’re there. They make me smile and give me the warm fuzzies on a daily basis.

I’m thankful for another year of work. After getting laid off the week of Christmas a few years back, I will always be thankful that I’m still employed around this time of year.

I’m thankful for paying off another year’s worth of car payments (and then some). It brings us one step closer to one day having a house of our own.

I’m thankful for having pretty much all of my Christmas shopping already done.

I’m thankful for chocolate and coffee. Oh, how I’m thankful.

I’m thankful for the ability to love. There are people out there that don’t know what it’s like; I’m glad I’m not one of them.

I’m thankful for being me. I like me. I think I’ll keep me.

10 Years Gone

High school is now 10 years behind us. 10 years. “10 YEARS!” (in my best Jeremy Piven voice, which isn’t all that good seeing as I’m a woman).

We’ve somewhat grown up and somewhat grown apart.

We used to meet at our diner 4, 5, sometimes 6 nights a week. Me and the guys, C, K, and T. Now I see them once or twice a year.

C is out there, living the single life, partying to his hearts’ content, all the while trying to find himself.

K is expecting his first child this coming Monday. I can’t believe he’s gonna be a daddy.

T just broke it off with his fiancée, which is unfortunate, to say the least. I still wish only good things for him.

M used to meet with us occasionally, but he’s since moved to NY. I get an email once in a blue moon.

K’s still here, working, working, and working. I see her more than anyone else.

J really left right after high school, first to Boston for college, then to LA for 5 years, and has now resided in San Fran for the passed year.

L is still here with me, living in middle suburbia, also newly married, trying to make ends meet. Domestic Goddesses both.

H I haven’t seen since graduation. I saw in the local paper that she’s getting married and now lives in Mass. I miss her.

K, who was the whitest African American I ever knew, found her roots her freshman year of college and started dating some guy named Tiger. I’m not sure where she is now.

B is most likely doing volunteer work in addition to her 60 hours a week job helping anyone and everyone. Maybe she even joined the Peace Corps. B is amazing. I hope to see her again sometime soon.

C got married and moved to Wisconsin but recently moved back to CT this passed summer. I’m hoping to bump into him sometime.

C is living in Ohio doing what he loves: acting. Go Arlo. Hope we can have a cup of coffee together again someday.

There are so many more, friends I haven’t seen or heard from since graduation day. How are they doing? I hear bits and pieces every once in a while. I wish we could all see each other again.

I read my niece’s journal, talking about her 7 best friends, and I hope that 10 years from now, she’s still got those 7 best friends. I hope they meet for lunch occasionally.