Category: Diary

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

And it was even hotter today!  Can you believe it!!!  No one went outside to do anything.  Liz came over and we rehearsed,, but otherwise it was too hot to do anything but stick your head outside and say “holy … it’s hot!!!”

But it’s supposed to cool down a little bit tomorrow – it might be below 100!!!  Amazing!!!

That made it a pretty boring day, so…  how about I tell you what cat-girl did???

She made a… well… page on a site that’s not good for young eyes and ears!!! Or even older eyes and ears!!!  And, well… she dressed with cat ears and a tail!  only cat ears and a tail!!!

And don’t ask how she got the tail to stay!!!

But here’s the thing.  She did it off the clock, she didn’t mention us, and, well…  there’s not a whole lot we can do about it.  She took what we said to heart – she’s behaving at work.  Dressing up like a cat in a maid outfit, sometimes licking milk out of a bowl and exaggeratingly washing her face with her “paws”, but…  we can’t really say much.  That’s kind of her job – to be cute and attract Japanese tourists to make us money.  But she does make it hard!!!

How did we find out about it?

Well, that’s a story in itself.  Let’s just say that someone who knows her and knows us, umm… found it.  Yeah, found it.  I’m sure completely innocently, not looking for it or anything.  Sigh.

I don’t know what to think about her, if I’m being honest.  She’s nice, she has a really big heart, she’s always happy and cheerful, and…  she has absolutely no boundaries at all when it comes to her body, and it’s actually a little, well… creepy.

Skintight girl and anime girl are doing their things, too.  I guess something for everyone.  They’re a lot less, um…   flagrant about it than cat-girl, though.  They just like to dress up and take on a character.  Cat-girl…  I don’t know.  I hope she doesn’t get into trouble someday.

Oh well.

Things are down a little at work – I guess the economic situation is starting to hit peoples’ cookie budget.  We’re brainstorming ways to add products that are a little less expensive and a little more practical, but we haven’t come up with much yet.  We’re still doing well, though, and Japanese tourists somehow keep showing up!  They want to see us, and a Buc-ees.  Go figure.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And it was even hotter today!!!

It was so hot bad people went to hell to cool off!!!

Hahaa!!!!

I don’t really like the heat.  Especially when I’m trying to run in the morning and it’s already 80 degrees.  Awww.  And Marie can’t take a long walk, she just goes outside to do her stuff and then right back in!!!  I don’t blame her!!!

Liz’s concert is next weekend, so she and I are doing a lot of practicing.  I like that she treats me like a professional now – I guess performing in my own concert (well, along with an orchestra, of course) gives me a bit of cred.  I still have a lot to learn – a lot of it is muscle memory and I’m still relearning a lot of the technical stuff, but I guess it works out alright.

She’s not jealous though.  Liz doesn’t usually get jealous and she’s pretty good at violin in her own right.  It’s just something else we can share.

Jack’s family finally found a new house.  They’ve been waiting for the prices to go down a bit, and, well, they have.  I guess paying rent every month is a bit expensive, so it makes sense.  He’s moving up to one of the towns up north where it’s a little cheaper, but still staying in the area, so that’s good.  Just a little longer drive to see him, I guess, but that’s okay.  I don’t think I’d like it much if he moved up to, say, Temple, but Georgetown-ish is okay.  I’ll probably help them move if they don’t try to move at the same time as Liz’s concert.

David gets back home this weekend too.  I guess he’s having a pretty good time, all told.  They’re still watching him like a hawk, and I don’t blame them.  If I ever meet his “girlfriend”, well… she’s a bit young to have a long talk with, but I’ll give her the stink-eye.  I have a pretty potent stink-eye, if I do say so myself.  Maybe I’ll add an eye twitch, too.  I guess it’s a bit hot to do too much outdoor stuff, so they’re doing a lot of arts and crafts.

Beth’s doing a lot better.  I guess time does heal all wounds.  Or most, anyway.

Oh!  Rebecca might be moving to Texas too!!!  I guess… there’s some new laws out there in California that they’re not too happy with.  I guess we’ll see how that turns out.  Robert’s company does have an office in Dallas, so… we’ll see.

Okay!  Bedtime!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I’m not talking about me or Jack!!! It’s the weather!  It’s HOT!!!  A hundred degrees and high humidity!!! We didn’t go anywhere today except for church!!!

So I didn’t write yesterday.  The girls were all over all day, and we played games and eat chocolate and played more games and ate more chocolate and talked and chatted… we went to the mall too because, hello! Girls!!!  I mean, how can you dangle a perfectly good mall in front of a group of girls and not expect us to go!!!

It’s funny, because I’m the oldest, Sabby expects me to be the grown up and shuttle them around and everyhing.  Well, Liz is actually just a tiny bit the oldest, but still.  I have to drive them there and make sure they don’t spend too much, and… well, it’s still fun.  It’s fun to try on clothes and go to the food court and try on more clothes and…  we bought something but not much.  Things are expensive now!!!

So we were all tired so we just went to bed and made a nice, comfy girlpile.  Yes, it’s really warm outside, but that’s why God made AC.  Right? Haha!!!

We went to church this morning and their parents picked them up at church (well, except for Liz, she never goes to church).  The organist was sick, so he asked me to sit in on the piano.  I really didn’t want to, but they needed me, so I took a few minutes to look over the music and did a passable job.  I don’t know how to play the organ, though.  I should maybe learn?  Or not.

It’s different when you’re playing in front of people you know…

Anyway, it was so hot today, we just stayed inside and were a bit more lazy than usual.  Even Sabby didn’t mind that I just played on the computer and chatted with Ai and Rebecca and friends.  And it doesn’t look like it’ll be getting any better anytime soon.  Oh well, that’s summer in Texas.  Thankful for air conditioning.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! it’s me! Lily!!!

It’s Friday!!!

Well.. Fridays don’t mean quite as much to me as they might to an… how does Dave say it… “office jockey”.  But it’s still nice.  I did payroll today and gave everyone their check, and otherwise it was a pretty quiet day.  David comes back from camp soon, and we’re preparing to go to Japan!!!  Sabby wants to hire a general manager for the store, especially since we’re all going to Japan.  I don’t really like that idea because it’s expensive, but it’s probably necessary.  And we’re still doing pretty well, so we can afford it.  It’ll let Sabby spend more time baking anyway, which is what she really likes to do.

We might hire internally, but…  keep that to yourself.  Haha!!!

I think Sabby’s a little worried about me.  She reads this too, though she generally leaves me alone about it, and I think she worried sometimes that I’m really sad about having lost my memories.  I guess I am, a little.  I mean, who wouldn’t be?  But as I also say, I paid for what I have now, in a way.  I have a family I bought and paid for with my memories.  Or something like that.  Not literally, but… you know.

We got a surprise storm tonight!  It hailed!!!  Not really bad hail, but I hear they got pounded over in Cedar Park!!! Awww!!!  And Allison has a swim meet tomorrow!!!  I hope she does well!!! She says she needs to be there at 5:15 AM!!! That’s early even for me!!!

Otherwise, the girls are over tonight, we’re playing games and doing fun girl stuff.  You know, like doing each others’ nails and talking about boys…  well, not much boy talking tonight because of Liz, but still fun stuff.  We’re still not allowed to play “truth or dare”.  No one’s fighting that rule too hard.  For one reason or other, that game has never turned out well.

Okay, not much else to talk about tonight!!!

GIRLPILE!!!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I’m full of thinky thoughts today.  I’ve told you I’m not a thinky girl, not like Beth… but I do have my moments.  I’m not dumb!  Really!  I just… don’t think as much.

I wonder why I can play the piano.

I mean, I didn’t know I could play the piano.  Then I went to Orlando, and there was a piano, and I played, and… well… I could play piano!  I also found out I could do something like karate (though I haven’t pursued that a lot), and… I can ride horses, and who knows what else I can do.  When I was found, I could talk, I had all the skills that I’d had before, everything was there – except for my identity.  I had no memories of who I was.

Do I still have the same personality that I did?  I mean, maybe I was a mean, stuck up girl, but now I’m not!  Maybe I wasn’t, but I don’t know!  Maybe I’m better now than I was!

I don’t think about that much because it hurts a little.  There are so many people talking about identity right now.  Identity this and identity that and pride this and whatever.  I don’t care too much about all that!  And one reason is that they think they understand identity, and they don’t!  I understand identity.  It’s everything I don’t really hav.e.  I mean, I have an identity.  Is it my identity?  Or is it an identity I made after I lost everything else?

I am Yuriko.  But Yuriko is someone else too.  I don’t know Yuriko.  I never met her.  But she was me, one day, a long time ago.

Am I sad?  Yes.  No.  Not really.  A little.  I like my life, I love my family, I…  just keep thinking about how much that all cost.  Who else has to pay this kind of price for their life?

Well…  I guess some guy named Jesus?

I dunno.

I went to Liz’s lesson with her today, and we’re doing really good.  The teacher had some feedback for me, and a lot for Liz, but we’ll pull it together.  Oh, and Beth chose her song.  It’s a little beyond her reach, but it means a lot to her, so…  we’ll try to make it happen.

You know what I love?  What I really love?

I love that when I had that big concert, everyone who cared about me showed up, and… and everyone cares about me.  That’s the best thing.  I loved playing and the music and all that, but it was the best when I looked out at the sea of faces after I was done, and many of them were there for me.  Me.  That’s the best feeling in the world.

Better than… well… that’s the best feeling in the wfakksjakgjadkjg CAT WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUN OVER THE KEYBOARD WHEN YOU GET THE ZOOMIES????

Sigh.

Anyway, that’s what my memories bought.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

It’s hot today and it’s going to be even hotter tomorrow!  Very high heat indexes.  I’m not sure what heat indexes are but apparently if it’s humid and hot then it feels hotter than if it’s not humid and hot.  Weather is a weird thing.  I’m glad our air conditioner works well!!!  Dave had someone come by a few weeks ago and give it a tune up, and now it’s nice and cold and sucks electricity.  And the car has good AC as well, so hey, modern living for the win.  Dave tells me though that air conditioning actually heats up the outside.  Ever wondered what all those air conditioners do for temperature outside?

I.. don’t want to think about it.  La la la!!!

Beth is doing a little better.  It kind of helped that we took her out to eat today and the waiter started flirting with her.  It’s not like she wants anything to do with a boy she doesn’t know, but at least she doesn’t feel as hopeless, so there’s that.  I told her not to rebound, she’ll find the right guy eventually.  She is putting her heart into her singing right now, which is cool.  She’s not really good yet, but she’s learning.

I think she’s going to sleep on her own tonight.  Aww.  I mean that’s good but she’s nice and warm.

Maybe I’ll loan her Marie.  Marie likes Beth okay.  She likes everyone.  She’s a people dog.

Alright, I’ll keep it short tonight.  Not every day can be interesting!  Right?  Some days are just boringly boring, and sometimes the best days are boringly boring, because, you know the ancient Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times”.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

It’s Wootday!!!

I mean Tuesday.

But Wootday sounds better, don’t you think???

Welll. it does to me, anyway.

I really feel bad for Beth.  She’s just moping around now.  She’s all cried out, but she doesn’t think anyone will ever want her again, and I told her that’s just objectively stupid.  She’s smart and pretty and pretty nice once you get to know her, what’s not to love???  But she’s not listening right now.  I guess I understand.  Girl’s hurt.  I almost want to go find that boy and karate kung-fu tai kwon do MMA him, but that wouldn’t be good for anyone.

Sabby took her for a girl’s day out and she she seemed a little better when she got home, but she’s still really hurt.

I’m about to feed her some more chocolate, brush her hair, and be her teddy bear again,.  She told me last night that she didn’t know what sh’ed do without me, and started crying again.  Awww.

It’s nice having a sister.

I get told that a lot, actually. Liz says that sometimes too.

So…  since it’s quiet, maybe I’ll just talk about some other stuff.  David’s still at camp, and he’s mostly staying out of trouble.  They took him on another pig hunt and he was quiet a bit less successful, but his girlfriend is sticking with him anyway – ummm…  girl is like eleven, and she’s showing quite a bit of loyalty.  I mean, she was actually willing to share him with another girl (stupid, but loyal), and that’s, umm… in some ways pretty mature of her.  It’s kind of cute in its own way.  He seems to be having a better time this year, I guess he knows what to expect, he’s got his girlfriend, and he’s pretty happy going out and hunting pigs and what-not.  They did catch a couple, and well, they’re eating a bunch of pork stuff.  Hey, something to be said for catching your own food, right?  I don’t really like hunting, but I like eating!!!

I mentioned a couple of days ago how Crystal seemed distant.  Turns out she was a little jealous.  She hasn’t always had the best opportunities, and she seems to feel really upset that she lost so much time being homeless.  And here I am, playing concertos with an orchestra.  I talked to Sabby about it, but otherwise, I don’t know what to do.  It just is what it is.  Maybe we can find her something to do at the shop when she’s old enough.

Jack still doesn’t really know what he wants to do, but his family is kind of pushing him now.  His parents aren’t like the “Tiger Mom” you hear about, but they want him to be successful at something, and he’s just been pushing carts at the store and dooting and… seems a little rudderless sometimes.  He’s not very driven.  But if he’s going to be a father to my kids someday he’s going to have to figure something out.  I love the boy, but his parents aren’t wrong.

I asked him what he likes to do.  And after I stopped blushing (dang him!!) I asked him what he likes to do besides that, and he said he really doesn’t know.

Well…  I guess we need to find out, right?  I’ll support him in whatever he wants to do, as long as it’s something.

And finally…  I teased you a few days ago about something cat-girl did…

I’m tired!!! And Beth needs her teddy bear!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hahaha!!! I’ll tell you soon! I promise!

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Poor Beth.

She’s doing a little better today, but she’s still kinda heartbroken.  It turns out that he dumped her because, well, he wanted something from her that she wasn’t ready to give him.  So he just tossed her aside for someone that would.  Aww.  Boys suck sometimes.

Jack’s really good about that, but remember the guy I put in jail a couple of years ago for grabbing at my floppy bits?

And remember Crystal?  And LIz?

And…  well.  Probably pretty much every guy cat-girl’s ever seen.

I told her she’s sixteen, there are lots of boys out there, and she’ll find one that treats her better.  And I also told her that when she finds one that treats her well, she won’t miss him at all.

Otherwise, more practice with Liz today, and it’s HOT.  But it’s going to be hot for a while now.  I run early in the morning and even then I’m a ball of sweat when I get home!  Awww!!!

Oh well.  Summer in Texas.

Okay.  Pretty boringly boring day, I guess.  Just practice and feeding Beth chocolate and surviving a Monday!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

I didn’t post last night.  Bad me.  I’ve actually been a little worse about that lately.  Aww.  I guess I’ve just been so busy it slips my mind sometimes.  Oh well.  It happens I guess.

It’s getting hot!  Texas summer hot!  Hotly hot!  Well… that doesn’t work as well.

But yesterday there was a lot to do!!!

Liz and I practiced a lot – shse’s pretty good too!!! I mean I knew that, but she could probably do the Tchaikovsky violin concerto.  I told her that, and she said “you really think so?”  I do, she’s pretty good, and if I can do Schumann, she can do Tchaikovsky.  I could see the gears turning over in her head, but we kept working on what we were working on.  Her recital is pretty soon anyway, so doesn’t do to get distracted.

Beth’s really not doing well – she got dumped by her boy friend last night.  She thought they were going on a date, but he just ended it.  Poor Beth.  She was crying and that’s one reason I didn’t post last night, we had a girl’s night, just her and me.  She was so sad.  She just ate ice cream and sobbed.

I told her there will be other boys and she’s smart and beautiful and will have no problem attracting a nice boy.

“But I wanted that one!”, she said, and wailed some more.

Awwwww.

Jack and I were going to go on a date, but I postponed it.  Instead he came over with a heap of chocolate.  Bless him (and not in the “bless your heart” way some southern people talk – really, bless him.)  He gave Beth a big hug and told her it’s his loss.

That made her cry again and he just held her a little.  Awww.  I knew he’s not interested in her, he was treating her like a little sister, and that’s just the best thing!

He didn’t want to stick around for the girls’ night – he said “it’s a girls’ night and I’m not a girl” – he’s right, but still.  But the chocolate more than made up for anything!!!

Anyway, we ate most of the chocolate, and then I crawled in with her and just held her all night.  She would wake up and sniffle and go back to sleep, and wake up and sniffle some more and go back to sleep.  Aww.  I hope Jack never does that to me.  I don’t ever want to hurt that bad.

She seemed to do a little better this morning.  We went to church, and she was so downcast.  But the chocolate pancakes after helped her a little.  They always help me.

Jack and I went on our date this afternoon.  We didn’t get any “alone time”, but we did go to the mall, and walked around holding hands and window shopping.  It was fun.. He bought me a cinnabon.  It’s not chocolate, but too much chocolate is bad for you,, as good as it is, so that worked fine.

It’s sooo hot outside.

Anyway, that’s the weekend.  Poor Beth, but I’m sure she’ll recover and find another boy she likes.  She’s so pretty and smart, I’m sure she’s already got some interest.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

It’s Friday!!!

So today was pretty quiet.  I like quiet days.  I just went for my run, took Marie for a walk (she loves to walk), and otherwise just kinda puttered around the house and didn’t do anything too interesting.  Sabby still wants me to do useful stuff, so after a slow morning I poked at the computer and learned some stuff.  I’ve wondered how to code, so I downloaded an…. what do they call it.. IDE and I’m playing around with coding.  Maybe I’ll write an app!  But…  but it is complicated.  Maybe I’ll start slow.  I dunno.  It’s probably not something I’ll put a whole lot of effort into, but these are good things to know.  Right?

It’s a lot of typing.  I’m not the fastest typist.  Maybe I should learn.

I also had some Japanese to study (I’m still studying that), and piano to practice (I’m going to need to keep my chops up and keep doing lessons even if I don’t have a concert to do), and some other projects as well, so… it was a quiet day, but full of stuff to do.  Maybe that makes sense!  I also dropped by the shop and gave everyone their checks!  Always a happy day when people get paid, right?

Anyway, it’s a girl’s night tonight.  Crystal, Diana, and Liz are over and we’re playing games and eating chocolate.  Well, I’m eating chocolate.  They’re fighting over the scraps.  Hahaha!!!  But there’s lots of snacks and we’re just having a good time chatting and doing random stuff.  Crystal seems a little… distant, though.  Maybe I should ask her what’s going on.  It’s not the you-know-what kind of distant, she just seems… a little off.

Mostly she’s a lot better, btw.  I haven’t said much about her, but she seems to be doing okay.  Everyone’s paying a lot closer attention to her, and that both seems to annoy and comfort her, so…  and she’s usually, well, if not cheerful, at least pretty stable.  So…  yeah.  Guess we should ask.

Well, it’s bedtime, and we’re making a girl-pile tonight, so…  time for bed.

Love you all!!! ❤