Sitting downstairs watching a movie, you squirm as the actors on-screen begin to kiss. It’s awkward…what are you supposed to do with the boyfriend you’ve never kissed while watching two people make out? Especially when he is the kind of boyfriend you think you may be in love with, the kind who plays guitar and has military short hair, and makes you cool with all the kids at the local high school for simply being associated with him. As the movie wraps up, you stand to leave, trying to look as seductive as a naive 16-year-old can, and wonder if he can tell what you’re thinking. Obviously, he is thinking the same thing, because when you reach out and pull him over by his shirt (you saw this smooth move in the movies) to give him a peck, he actually kisses you back. His tongue is in your mouth and it’s blatently obvious that this is his first kiss too. You’re wavering between pulling away and deepening the kiss when his parents call to the two of you from upstairs.

*****

It is June and hot and sticky outside - but even hotter and stickier in the tiny bedroom. As three boys look on, you face Sarah, your best friend who later decided she was a boy and became Riley. She is one year younger and claims she is falling in love with you. You are in front of three of her friends, friends who do not know this is your first time kissing a girl. You begin to lean forward when she lunges at you - lips slamming, teeth crashing into yours - and two thoughts simultaneously leap to mind as you continue to kiss her…is this how every girl kisses, and good god, is she trying to eat my face? You’re actually starting to worry about the latter when you feel her pull back. She looks at you and winks, wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and smiles victoriously at the boys. You just lean back against the bed, trying to seem nonchalant, and the looks on the boys’ faces secretly make her horrible kissing worth it.

*****

…a bite of the ridiculousness that is my brain.

After forgetting my iTunes password for the eighty billionth time, I logged my information in to answer my secret question, only to be given the following:

‘What do weasels live in?’

I couldn’t make that up if I tried, Tumblettes. I have no recollection of choosing that as my go-to “I’ll-never-forget-the-answer” question, but do have a vague memory of friends in Alaska calling me a weasarooguin.

…it’s a long story.

My affections and wishes have not changed, but one word from you will silence me forever. If, however, your feelings have changed, I would have to tell you: you have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love…I love…I love you. And I never wish to be parted from you from this day on.

Fact of the day:

When I was born, my Dad played Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Lovely’.

Best Dad ever? Yeah, pretty much.

“ It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroy the machinery, but friction.

— Henry Ward Beecher

Day 17 - A picture of the last party you attended

Also working as my yearly GPOYW.

Day 16 - A picture of you when you were little

There’s also this picture, but admit it…you’re jealous of the Peanuts purse.

“To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch … to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”