Category: Diary

This diary entry is part 6 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

HI! It’s me! Lily!

And we got MORE rain!  Rain!  And booms!  And rain!  And more booms!  Marie got her little feet wet when we took her on a walk!

And I got wet when running!  Awww!!!

It’s not common to get this much rain, but we did!!!  And it’s a good rain too!  The kind that will make grass and trees and flowers happy!!!

Sabby’s doing Easter baking!!!  And she’s really going nuts, as she usually does!  And this time she has baker to help!!!  And she gets to sell the excess!!! So she’s happy!  But it’s amazing all the stuff she can make!!!

The store is closed on Sunday, but she told the cat-girls to tone it down for this week.  They’re supposed to wear pretty spring dresses.  Apparently cat-girl was pouting, until Sabby told her she can wear bunny ears.  That made her happy again.

I don’t understand cat-girl.  She only seems to be happy when she’s dressed up – or, more often than not, undressed-up.

But as with everything, cat-girl turned it up to 11.  She put on a little frilly cap, and a pretty spring dress, and stockings and patent leather shoes, and was skipping around the shop humming to herself.  It was cute, I have to admit.  And, of course, bunny ears.

Cat-girl’s not a bad person.  She’s got a big heart.  But she’s…  I dunno.  A little strange sometimes.

Cat-girl wanted live bunnies.  That’s where Sabby drew the line.  And it’s pretty clear why.  Live animals and food don’t mix.

Anime-girl likes her skintight outfits, but she said it was nice to wear something loose and breezy once in a while.

Everything’s humming along.

I have an appointment with the accountant tomorrow to do our business taxes.  I’m not looking forward to that!  I’m good at payroll, but taxes are best left to a professional.  Awww.  An expensive professional.

Diana and Crystal do Easter.  None of my other friends do.  Ai’s Japanese, so not Christian.  Rebecca is…  umm…  secular, though I think Robert goes to church like twice a year, and maybe Easter is one of those days.  Liz is Chinese.  Emiko… I never actually asked her.  She’s very respectful of Japanese religion, obviously, but I’m not sure what she actually believes.  But it’s okay.  We do what we do, and they do what they do.  And we do Easter.

Okay!  Goodnight!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 5 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

We got some booms this morning!

And we’re getting more booms tonight!

Boom boom!  hahaah!!!

But it’s okay.  We need the rain.

Beth seems a lot happier.  And she’s starting voice lessons too!!!  She seems to like them!!!  Her voice is really untrained but she can carry a tune.  That’s good!  I catch her singing along to Babymetal sometimes.  “Namida koborete mo…”  She doesn’t sound like Su-metal, but not many people do, I guess.

We added Jack into our group chat.  The rest of the girls didn’t mind.  I told them he was pretty cool, but not to post pictures of bikinis!  I think Rebecca turned red!  haha!  She can blush!!!  They all tell me how hot he is.  They always say that!  Remember when Beth met him and she squeaked and ran up the stairs?  He looks like a k-pop star!! Haha!!! I guess I’m lucky.  But he thinks he’s lucky too, and isn’t that the best way to be?

Beth’s been chatting with her boy every night!  I think she’s really besotted!  Yay Beth!  But I told her that he shouldn’t get in the way of her studies.  She just looked at me like I grew a third head, then reminded me that nothing can get in the way of her studies.  Oops.  Silly me.

This weekend I’m going to see Emiko!  And Beth’s coming along!  Yaay!!

Marie needs a walk!!!  And I should while it’s dry!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 4 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Well…  Dang.  It looks like Sabby took me seriously after all.  I kinda knew she would eventually, she just takes things a bit personally sometimes.

She put some feelers out to her network at church, she wanted to see if anyone else had a similar thing to deal with.  They didn’t, but apparently there’s some kind of scientist over at UT Austin there, and she agreed to come over and talk to Beth and see what could be done.

So, tonight she came over.

Beth and her talked.  A lot.  Beth asked a bunch of questions about science and physics and all sorts of stuff, and the scientist had a bunch of answers.  At the end of it, she agreed to take Beth under her wing.  Beth is now “officially” an apprentice.  It’s not like the middle ages, where there was a formal apprenticing agreement, but she made Beth promise to do what she says (when it comes to science, of course) and in return she’ll take her to classes with her sometimes and let her help run experiments, that kind of thing.

Beth was over the moon.

She cautioned Beth that science is boring sometimes, but she’ll make sure Beth learns a lot.

I’ve never seen Beth so happy.  She’ll have to figure out how to work around classes, though, she still needs to do that and Sabby wouldn’t hear otherwise.

I asked the scientist if she knew anything about what had happened at the Pickle labs, you know, with my previous adoptive parents.  I didn’t forget about that!  She said that she’d heard some rumblings about some kind of accident in a top-secret area, but since it’s top-secret, she didn’t know too much other than that it happened.

I asked her if she could find out anything.

She said it’s top-secret so she doesn’t even dare ask.

But that’s something, right?

I’m happy for Beth!!!

I’m not jealous, either.  I don’t think I’d find that fun.  And besides, I have that business I co-own with Sabby.  You know, the cookie place that has turned into a Japanese tourism hotspot?  We’ve got one or two Japanese tourists coming around a month now!  It’s weird!!!  But they love cat-girl!!!  And they buy a lot of cookies!  Especially after baker started putting cute animal faces on them!!!

We had one Japanese girl come by dressed as a Japanese school girl!  We told her it was a great costume!  She said it wasn’t a costume, she really is a Japanese schoolgirl!  I asked her why she wore her uniform into a store in Round Rock, then.

She blushed, and said that while it’s her uniform, it’s not her uniform here, so it doubles as cosplay!

Can’t argue with that, I guess.

Some photos of our business turned up on Japanese Twitter, and now all the Japanese people are saying things like “kawaii!” and “I want to eat!” and “cat-girl is so cute!”.  That’s kinda cool, amongst all the hamsters!

Okay!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 3 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And it’s getting hot outside again!  Texas always gets hot!!! It’s springtime and hot in Texas!  Awww!!!

And it’s Monday!!! Awwww!!!!

It was a quiet day.  Boringly boring.  But it’s nice having a boringly boring day every now and then, don’t you think?  Especially after the last few!  Always some kind of drama or other.  But it was just the usual.  Go to classes, eat dinner, eat chocolate, brush Beth’s hair, you know, all the usual stuff we do on a weekday.  Not every day can be interesting, right?

It’s good, because an interesting day every day would make interesting boring, don’t you think?

I’m not as good at the philosophy stuff as Beth…

Boringly boring days aren’t fun to write about, though.  So I’m going to go to bed.  Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting!  Maybe not!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 2 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Not Cat!!!

Did you like my April Fools?  Haha!!!  I asked cat to post!  And, well, that’s what happens!  Funny how when Marie posts we get actual words, and Cat just meows!  Maybe it’s just like a cat to not care!!!

Anyway, a kind of boring weekend, if I’m being honest.  Beth had her date last night!!!  It… well, I guess it went well.  He took her to get a nice dinner, and they went to see a movie – but she didn’t really like the movie.  They went to see the Dungeons and Dragons movie, and…  I guess she wasn’t the biggest fan.  She’s not really a movie girl.  I know we have movies each week, and she watches them with us, but… I guess it’s not her style.

But it wasn’t like she walked out, and he pulled the whole “yawn and put arm around” thing that boys always seem to try, and, well, she let him.  She said it was nice, and she got a nice kiss when he dropped her off home, so there was that.  She wasn’t upset about the date, but she said next time she gets to choose the movie.  If they actually go to one.  A second date looks likely, but not at a movie.

He’s not a bad guy, but I wonder if it’ll last.  He’s…  well…  kinda smart, but not Beth smart, if you know what I mean.  But she likes him and that counts for a lot.

Speaking of which, Sabby got a little peeved at me, for saying that I don’t think she takes me seriously.  I told her that it’s how I feel, and I put how I feel in my diary, and maybe if she wants to get peeved at me for writing it she should at least spend a little time thinking about why I wrote it.  I told her that I spend a lot of time with Beth and I can sometimes see how unhappy she is, and I know she’s trying her best but Beth got so depressed for a reason.

She didn’t much like that.

I didn’t much care.

She again reminded me that Beth was her daughter, and I said yes, of course she’s her daughter, but she’s my sister too, and don’t you think it hurts me to see her so unhappy, when she is?  Would I be a good sister if I didn’t try to do something about it?

Then she asked if I was accusing her of being a bad mother.

Oh, crap, there be dragons.

I said, of course not, but clearly something’s not working, and shouldn’t we work to try to fix it?

Me, I’m not really all that driven.  I take advantage of things when they fall in my lap (and many things have) but I don’t generally go out and seek opportunities.  Beth does, and I think she feels like she gets roadblocked at every turn.  And looking at it, I’m not sure she’s wrong.  She’s 16, there’s not a whole lot she can do on her own right now, particularly with our schooling arrangements, and while they tried with that lab and other things, it… just didn’t work.  She needs more than that.  The college courses are a step in the right direction, but…  she needs more.

I told Sabby that, and she sighed.  Because I’m right.  It just takes her a while to admit it sometimes.

She’s still a bit peeved at me, but she knows I’m often right when it comes to these kinds of things, so…  she’ll get over it, I guess.  Maybe I could be a little more gentle about it, though.  Aww.

Oh well. I’m tired.  It was a nice day today, but up north they got a pretty big storm.  I could see it from here!!!  Glad it didn’t hit me, it had a possible tornado and everything!

Okay!  Time for bed!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 1 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Cat!!!

meow meow meow meow meow meow meow! meow!  meow meow meow meow!!! meow!!! meow meow meow meow meow!!!! gRRR HISS!!! meow meow meow meow meow trill trill purrrrrrrrrrrrr meow meow meow!!! meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!!!! meow!!!  MEEEEOWWW!!! meow meow meow meow meow!! meow meow!!! meow meow meow meow meow!!! meow!!!! meow meow meow.  meow meow!! meow meow meow meow trill trill meow meow meow meow meow meow!!! meow!!! meowwwww!!!!! ROOOWWWWRRRRR!!! meow meow meow meow.  meow meow meow meow meow meow!! meow meow.  meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.

meow meow meow!!! meow meow meow meow purr purr meow meow rowr meow meow meow meow meow meow GRRR meow meow meow meow grr meow meow meow meow meow!!! meow!!!! meow!!!!

“nya nya nya nya nya nya nya!! nya!!!”  meowwwwwwww!!!!! meow meow meow!! meow meow meow meow meow!!! meow!!!!! meow!!! meow!!!! meow meow meow meow!!! meow meow meow meow meow!!!! meow!!! meow meow meow meow meow meow meow!!! meow meow meow meow meow!!! meow!!!! meow. meow meow meow.  meow meow meow meow meow.

Indifferent to you all!!! 💩😼

This diary entry is part 28 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

It’s Friday!!!

And all the girls are over!  Liz, Diana, Crystal, Beth…  and we even set up a video with Rebecca and her friends and even Ai!  Allison couldn’t make it, but she said hi!  She did join the video chat for a bit to meet everyone!!!

Ai seems a little… confused… by Rebecca and her friends.  Yu was actually kind of gushing, I think she’s a worse weeb than Crystal!  But mostly I think she’s just trying to find her heritage.  But there was just so much chattering going on and it was early Saturday for Ai, and eventually she just said she had to eat breakfast and left.  Aww.  I’ll have to talk to her later.  Rebecca and her friends are a force of nature!!!

We ordered pizza tonight, and have some ice cream and other snacks too, and everyone pigged out!  Now we’re all in our pajamas and very much not playing “truth or dare” (Sabby outlawed that game, and probably a good decision if I’m being honest).  But we’re having fun anyway.  Beth’s really getting along with Kari, they’re about the same intelligence, and Britni, well…  she’s sweet, anyway.  She really is sweet, but we’ve kind of given up explaining stuff, and she really doesn’t seem to mind just watching everything happen around her.  She’ll make some guy a good wife, but, well… he’d better make a good living.

We’re going to bed soon.  Sabby’s about done with the squealing and chattering anyway.  Hahaa!!!

Okay!  Time for bed!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 27 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

But it wasn’t me! Lily! Last night!!!  I had technical problems and couldn’t upload a post!  I had to upgrade a plugin or something!  It was annoying!!!

But here I am!  Your favorite seventeen year old half-Japanese girl named Lily, and Yuriko at the same time!!!  How many other seventeen year old half-Japanese girls are there named Lily AND Yuriko? I don’t know! I’d guess none!  Hahaha!!!

Well, it’s kinda late, so I won’t write too much.  I wish computers would work all the time!!!  Beth seems to be doing a bit better.  I talked to Sabby and said I didn’t think she was being challenged.  Sabby said, isn’t she taking college courses, those aren’t challenging? I said, well, kind of, but if we’re being honest some of those people can barely read, and she’s a lot more driven than that.  Sabby said she’d think about it.

Sometimes I don’t think Sabby takes me seriously.  Oh, I mean she does sometimes, but I’l still a seventeen year old girl, and, well, she’s not!  So I tell her my concerns, and she’s as likely to tell me I’m imagining things as she is to take me seriously.  I may be wrong, but I don’t really imagine things.  Sigh.  But Beth is her daughter, so I guess at some point I just have to trust her to do the right thing.  I can go to bat for Beth, but ultimately, she’s the umpire…  or something like that.

But I guess there are things I can do too that aren’t stepping on Sabby’s toes.  Well, too badly, anyway.

Okay!  I’m sleepy!!!

Oh!  Allison wanted me to make it very clear to everyone that while she and David danced, it wasn’t a slow dance!  David doesn’t really know how to dance anyway.  Maybe someone should teach him.  Her blue dress was really pretty though!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 26 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I’ll be honest – of all the people I’ve grown close to since I was found and adopted, my relationship with Beth has been the rockiest.  Liz and I have always got along really well.  David and I, well, we’ve never really gotten along, but we’ve never really been at odds either.  He’s just David.  You can’t really be mad at him for being him, because that’s just who he is – and he’s kind of mellowed out a little over the past year.  Maybe his girlfriends have been good for him, the little player.  Emiko was a little rocky, but we got to know each other, and we get along pretty well now.

But Beth really hated me when I first arrived.  She has an acidic tongue and isn’t afraid to use it.  She called me names, she tried to bully me (but mostly failed because I’m bigger and because Sabby put a stop to that really fast), she wanted nothing to do with me.  Eventually she warmed to me – that story is at the very beginning of this diary nearly two years ago now (has it been that long? really?) but our relationship has definitely had its ups and downs.

I forgave her, obviously.  But I’d be lying if I said I completely forgot.  She really hurt me, back then.  And I didn’t really do anything to her, either, except for to exist.

But she’s always kind of been a striver.  People tell me that I’m kind but gullible, and I guess I am.  Remember last birthday, when they threw a surprise party for me, and Liz pretty much literally all but told me, and I never guessed?  And every game of truth or dare people seem to get me to do things I wasn’t really planning on doing, and I know that, and I do it anyway.  It’s the only time Sabby’s really been angry with me, is when I let people take advantage of me like that.  And wandering around Robert’s house pretty much naked?  She’s right, I guess.

But that’s a.. what’s the word?  Tangent?  Yeah.

I’m gullible, but Beth’s driven.  She’s really smart and she really wants to succeed.  She certainly seemed to feel held back at school, especially when they were doing remote classes, but she’s always trying to better herself and experience new things.  I think it’s a bit hard for her because she doesn’t have the same kind of opportunities she would in high school, even though she felt a little hld back.  I think part of the reason she gets so upset when she’s left out, is that she’s so driven, and hates to see other people get opportunities she doesn’t.

And let’s face it, I’ve had a lot of opportunities.  I mean, co-owning Sabby’s business with her, going to Japan, going to Orlando, going to LA, getting to go to the Oscars…  that’s really something, I guess.  And Beth, well, what does she get to do?  Go to classes, I guess.  She’s about to start singing lessons, which is good because she loves to sing.  And she’s good at it too.  And, well… what else?

Poor Beth.

I don’t think she’s happy unless she’s working towards something – apparently, when she achieves what she’s worked for, it upsets her.  But then she finds something else and it’s all good again.

I don’t understand her at all.  But I guess it takes all kinds, right?

I’m not Beth’s teacher, Sabby is, but I don’t think we’re doing right by her.  I don’t think she’s thriving, and I want her to thrive.  Like I am!!!

I really don’t.

But next time I go to see Emiko I’m taking her with me.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 25 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 21 - March 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Beth seemed to be doing a little better today, but she still seemed really off.  I drove her to her classes today, so I had a captive audience, and asked her why she seemed so down yesterday and today.

She was really quiet for a while, and when she turned to look at me her eyes were wet.

“My birthday was so good!”, she said.  “It was everything I ever dreamed and it was absolutely perfect and I got absolutely everything I’d ever have wanted.  It was a perfect day.”  She sniffled.  “And the next day I woke up, and I looked around, and everything was exactly the same.  I got everything I wanted and everything was exactly the same.  Is that.. is that how it’s going to be whenever I get something I want?  I’ll spend so much time looking forward to it, and then I’ll get it, and I’ll wake up the next morning and… and…” she sniffled.  “it doesn’t really change anything, does it?”

“What did you want it to change?”, I asked.  Beth was really confusing me.

She shrugged.  I was turning off onto the 290 exit and had to merge onto the frontage road, so it was quiet for a bit.

“I don’t know,” she said, quietly.  And she didn’t say anything more.

I don’t understand Beth.  I really don’t.  She gets so jealous, she wants to be included, she hates it when people have or do things she doesn’t, but…  but then she gets what she wants and she spends the next two days moping around.  Maybe she’s moody?

We pulled into the parking garage.

“Do you remember that movie we watched a long time ago?” I asked.  “Contact, I think it was?”

She nodded.

“You’re an interesting species. An interesting mix.” I recited. “You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”, she asked.

I sighed.  “You got something valuable on your birthday, and it wasn’t an award, it wasn’t the car, it wasn’t the food or the dancing or even the date.  Maybe you got everything you wanted, but the thing that you really needed, the thing you really should value, is the thing you’re not.”  I turned towards her.  “You got more than fifty people there who were there to celebrate you, Beth.  You.  No one else.  That’s the valuable thing you got, Beth, and you can’t crash it or scratch it or throw it away, and no one can take it from you.”

She was quiet for a moment.  Then she wiped her eyes.  “Let’s go to class,” she said.

And, well, we did.

I don’t know if it helped.  But I tried.  I don’t really understand, but I tried.  Why can’t she see that we love her?

But when we got home, she gave me a hug before she went up to her room, so I guess there’s that.

Oh well.  Marie needs a walk.

Love you all!!! ❤