Category: Diary

HI! It’s me! Lily!

A sad Lily.

A really bad hurricane hit Florida today.

I know it’s not the first time a hurricane will hit, and it won’t be the last.  I mean, after all, Katrina was one of the reasons I was abandoned in the first place.  And I don’t know anyone in Florida.  But it’s still awful.  I can’t imagine winds of 140mph.  That’s just excessive!!! And all that rain and flooding and people on roofs… aww.

But I’m sure it’ll be okay.  Sabby says they’ve got a good governor.  I’m sure he’ll get them help when he can.

Emiko was telling me a while ago about Harvey – a hurricane that hit Houston a while ago.  Flooded out the city.  Even Austin got some of that!  Sabby was telling me about that!

Well, in better news, Jack got a job!  He’s working at HEB, you know, the one over on Greenlawn.  It’s not far from him and I hear they’re a good employer.  He’ll be working after school and on weekends.  I hope he’ll still have some time for me!  But I guess I can’t blame him if he doesn’t have too much.  I’m sure we’ll figure something out.  Maybe I’ll go there and make questionable purchases and make him blush!  Hahaha!!!

So remember that prank that Sabby and I were going to do?  We did it tonight!  Hahaha!!!  So the prank was…  the three of us dressed up like cheerleaders, went downstairs, and did a cheer for Dave!  “Give me a D!” “D!!!” “Give me an A!”  “A!!!!”  “Give me a V!”.. .well, you know the drill.  We did pom poms and everything.  He was actually blushing!  Hahaha!!!

And then after that, Sabby went over and sat on his lap, and whispered in his ear.

Then they went upstairs.

I…  umm…  that wasn’t what I expected to happen.  I knew Sabby seemed way too easy to convince.  Hahaha!!!

So Beth and I looked at each other…  went over to Liz’s house, and gave her a cheer too!!!

She fell over laughing!!!

Mostly because we looked up her name and described the hanzi! hahaha!!! “Give me a grass on top of a stop!”  “GRASS ON TOP OF A STOP!” “give me a grass on top of a right!”  “GRASS ON TOP OF A RIGHT!”  “What does that spell?”  “ZHI RUO!!!”

Hahaha!!!

And then we went home and changed out because both of us felt silly in cheerleader outfits.  But I’ll save mine for Jack.  Hahah!!!  I know you read this Jack!  I bet you blushed!  Hahaah!!!

Oh, I guess I’m in a mood.

I did eat a little chocolate.  GIMME CHOCOLATE!!!!!

Sabby and Dave are now cuddling on the couch and seem really, umm.. happy.  And Marie is whining and needs a walk.  So I guess I’ll do that.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Quiet days are nice.

I like quiet days.

This was one.

Beth and I went to classes, we came home, and that was pretty much my day.  It is cooler!  Yay!  The daytime is 90 or so, but the low is 60!  I went for my run this morning and it was nice for once!!!

Yes, I’m still running.  I don’t talk much about it because there’s not much to talk about.  I get into running clothes, run, come home, and then I’m not running anymore.  Jack runs too, but not quite as religiously as I do.  He’s pretty fit though.  Thankfully.

Before I run I take Marie for a quick walk – she loves it.  Just wanders around sniffing everything.  Dogs are funny that way.  They love to smell stuff.

This evening Dave grilled!  Yay!  Have I mentioned I love it when Dave grills?  Only every time he grills!  Hahaha!!!  I asked them if they’d consider getting a pool, and they weren’t too enthusiastic.  It’s not that they don’t want one, it’s just that there’s not enough room and they’re expensive to install and maintain.  Besides, there are waterparks if we really want to get wet.  I guess.  Would be nice, but not the kind of thing you raise a fuss over.  Besides, they’re kinda right – waterparks are way more fun.

Anyway, it’s nice to have a day where military guys in helicopters aren’t showing up wanting cookies.

You know… that really was weird.  It seems the weird stuff always happens to me.  I guess that’s to be expected with my history – or lack thereof.

This weekend we’re taking possession of the new storefront and bakery.  Dave’s going to come with us and help us plan a remodel.  It’s making a significant dent in Sabby’s savings but Dave’s really confident that she’ll make it up quickly, considering how prodigiously fast and good she makes her cookies.

I started doing the books for our new LLC, and… well…  we’re well into the red right now.  But that’s what happens when you start a company.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Oh!  I got so distracted by the cookie situation and the date with Jack that I forgot to tell you that I met Liz’s boy friend!  Not boyfriend, but boy friend!!!

His name is Jayden, and..  well, he seems pretty nice, actually.  He’s just average looking – not ugly, but not hot like Jack either.  But he’s smart!  He’s at least as smart as Liz!  And he seems to treat her well too.  I told him what had happened with her previous date (she blushed) and he looked offended.  Said something about “boys like that giving boys a bad name”.  He said he’d be crazy not to want to touch Liz, but not that way.

I didn’t get the same vibes off of him that I got off of Kevin, so… he’s alright in my book.  But I told him I know forms of martial arts and I don’t even know what they are, so if he doesn’t want to be kung fu chopped or karate kicked or judo whapped, then he needs to keep his hands to himself.  Unless invited.

He gulped.  I won’t lie, that was cute.  I think he’ll be fine.

So he and Liz went on a date, and apparently he was a perfect gentleman.  Remember how Jack got me a big piece of chocolate cake?  “What’s your richest, most chocolately thing, and how big a slice can you make it?”, I think he said.  Awww.  He did something similar for Liz.  He…  gave her a necklace.

No, not anything gaudy.  He’s a high school student.  He can’t afford that.  But it was a rhodium plated chain with some very pretty red and blue gems, and apparently they were real gems.  It was surprisingly tasteful.  Heck, I don’t wear jewelry often, and I’d wear that!  She thought it was too expensive, but he said he got it from a thrift store, and she was worth every penny he did pay for it.

So…  I didn’t know that was the way to Liz’s heart, but he did.  She let him put it around her neck, then looked down, looked at him, then pounced on him.  Their kiss didn’t end for quite a while.  Awww.  Looks like she might have found her Prince Charming.  I told her to be careful, and she is, but she’s so besotted now.

As long as he behaves, I’m happy for her.  Maybe Liz and I can double date with Jack and Jayden.

I guess giving gifts on a date is a Chinese thing.  Who knew?  It’s just, Jack gave me chocolate.

Beth has a boy she’s interested in in classes.  Apparently in her advanced math class, there’s a boy there that’s at least as smart as her, and to hear her tell it, cute too.  She’s not allowed to date, but I’m going to talk to Sabby and see if we can’t at least let her bring him to dinner.  Even if they can’t date yet, she needs friends.  And her sixteenth birthday is coming up fast.

She’s almost sixteen!  She’s really beautiful now!  She lost all her baby fat and she’s kind of a stunner!  Maybe she could be a model!  I have that olive-toned half-Japanese skin – nothing wrong with that and Jack says it makes me look really exotic.  But she has that kind of milk chocolate skin with long, curly hair and a slim body.  She’s so pretty now!  I hope it works out for her, I really do.  But even if it doesn’t… there are other boys.  And I’m sure they’ll be falling all over themselves to date her.

Anyway, that’s the news.  I hope it works out for them both.

Jack started school today!  He seems alright.  He says it’s very different than Ohio, in a good way.  There’s all the cliques and other stuff, but the other kids seem friendly for the most part, and I think he’ll get along fine.

Hey, did you know Allison has a dog?  She never told us!  She wants him to meet Lily and Marie!  I think we’re going to have a dog play date soon!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Well, they didn’t waste any time, did they?  In fact, I’m a little amazed at exactly how fast that happened.  If I had to guess, those cookies went right to Fort Hood, then hopped a plane right to DC, and took a helicopter to the pentagon, because this morning I heard that the cookies are a hit.

I mean, seriously, a hit.  The way my “benefactor” described it, an entire office at the pentagon stopped work completely so that everyone could rave about how good the cookies were.

And on a weekend, at that.

Let’s see, how did he or she describe it…  “These cookies are so good we should send them to foreign embassies as a goodwill gift.  In fact, when you’re set up, we’ll be your first order, and might do just that.”

Well, to be fair, Sabby did pull out all the stops.  She made the triple chocolate chocolate whipped cream espresso drizzled cookies.

In other, I’m sure quite unrelated (hah!) news, we got a phone call today from someone who just happened to have a space available for lease at a very attractive rate.  The owner used to work in the intelligence services.  Yes, I’m sure quite a coincidence, indeed.  He also knows people in local government who can fast track our permits, and…  umm… wow.  Sabby’s over the moon!!!  She can make cookies full time!!!

Well, benefactor, I still don’t know who you are, but thanks.  And I’m still nervous.

Oh, and he or she had something to say about that, too.  “You’re right to be nervous.  What happened is… unfortunate.  But not your fault.  People at my level of government think blame is very important.  And blaming a fourteen year old girl for the negligence of others is not what we do.  We owe you a very large debt – the kind of debt that causes us to send out helicopters to pick up cookies.  Keep making us proud.”

Well, I’ll try.

I went over to Jack’s house today.  His family was there, and we went out to one of the grills at the complex and had a small picnic.  It wasn’t Dave-grilling, but it was delicious nonetheless.  They made teriyaki beef on the grill, and then put it over rice with spices.  It’s.. um… really good.  Then Grace and Jack and I ran around and played some games, and we went to the pool and splashed around for a while.  Dave and Sabby don’t have a pool.  They have a nice house, but no pool.  So that was nice.  I love Jack, but I love Grace too.

Maybe if Sabby does really good with her cookies, they’ll put in a pool.  That’d be nice.

Anyway, gotta go.  Marie is whining.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

So…  as you may have noticed, yesterday no one came to pick up cookies.  This morning, however…

We heard a ruckus outside. We opened the door, and there was a military helicopter landing in a parking lot near the freeway!

Then a couple of guys in full uniform came out, and walked resolutely to our door.

Sabby answered.

“Umm… can I help you?”

“Yes, ma’am.  We’re here to… ummm… pick up some cookies?”, they said, sounding a bit unsure of themselves.

“Oh!  Wait here.  Come in.”

They came in, and stood in the living room looking a little out of place.  They took their hats off, which was nice.  But soon Sabby came out with a few tins of cookies, all wrapped up nicely with a bow.

“Thank you, ma’am.  We’ll be off now,” they said.  “We have to airlift an old lady to a medical appointment.”  They said this with a completely straight face, but a little side glance at each other told us they were being a little silly.

“Not a problem,” she said.  “Enjoy.”

“Not for us, ma’am.  General.. er, I mean, these are for someone else.”

Sabby and I looked at each other, and I swear the guy who slipped up was blushing.

“One moment,” she said, and ran into the kitchen and came out with a small box of cookies.  “For you.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” they said, and walked out the door.  A couple of minutes later, we heard the helicopter spinning up and taking off.

Ummm… wow.  All that trouble, just for Sabby’s cookies.

Sabby looked at me.  “Umm..  is that what we’re spending tax dollars on?”  She shrugged.  “I won’t ask.”

Probably wise.

I…  I’m not comfortable.

I’m not comfortable because apparently what happened to me was so important and has the attention of people so high up in the government that they can dispatch two military guys and a helicopter just to pick up some tins of cookies from Sabby.  That…  I’m glad they’re on my side.

I’m not upset… but I’m nervous.

What happened?

Otherwise, Jack and I went on a date tonight.  I let him choose where to go tonight.  He took me to Congress Bridge to see the bats!!!  They all flew out from the bridge like swarms of birds!!!  The sunset was nice too!!! Then he took me to a nice steakhouse and we had a lovely dinner.

After which he took me home.  I told him we could go back to his place sometime soon, but not tonight.  He understood.  Dave and Sabby invited him in, and we all watched a movie.  We cuddled up on the couch.  Beth looked a little put out, but I just gave her a dirty look, and she sighed and watched the movie.  I… really don’t blame her, in a way.  If I were her I might be a little jealous too.  After the movie Jack kissed me goodnight and went back home.

It was a very nice date.

So…  a couple of military guys came in a helicopter to pick up cookies.  How weird can things get???

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

It’s Friday!

Today after classes I went over to Liz’s house – her family and Jack’s family (kind of the same, right?) wanted to have dinner and they invited me as well.  I guess they really do consider me a part of the family.  I dressed up nicely and went over, they made some traditional Chinese food.  It was delicious, as always.  There was a little grilling (the conversational kind, not the Dave kind!).  They asked us if we wanted children eventually.  Both of us blushed hard.  I think so, but we’ve never talked about it!

… Maybe we should, come to think of it.  We’re not quite that serious yet, but would be good to know, I think.

I mean, I think I want children someday.  Not now, of course!  But someday.  I mean, Grace is cute.  I’d like a little girl like Grace.  But then, I might get a boy like David, so…

David’s not a bad kid, but I wouldn’t want to be Sabby!!!

Anyway, it was a nice dinner, and then Liz and I came back here to watch a movie.  I’ll go somewhere with Jack this weekend, but not tonight.

Beth is over at Diana’s house.  I think I told yall that it’s repaired from the tornado now?  Yay!  So it’s just me and Liz.  But that’s alright.  I need to spend more time with Liz anyway.  She’s my best friend and my boyfriend’s been taking up a lot of time.

Ai wants to meet Jack too!!!  She thinks he’s hot too.  Sigh.  Everyone seems to think he’s hot.  I guess I’m lucky?  He’s just Jack.  Hot, yes, but Jack.

Oh, Allison had to have her baby teeth removed today.  Awww.  But I hear she was brave and didn’t even need much pain medicine!  I hope when she’s feeling better she gets lots and lots of ice cream!  Chocolate ice cream with whipped cream and cherries!!!

Anyway, I gotta go.  Marie needs walked and then Liz and I are going to my room to chat and sleep.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

so today was busy with studying.  Busy busy busy.  Lots of studying.  I went to classes, and then spent the rest of the day just reading and writing and doing all of the stuff that one does when taking college classes.

Sabby was making cookies.  By the way, to my “benefactor”…  to answer your note, they’ll be ready tomorrow afternoon, send someone by anytime.  She’s also going to have some for the owner, and probably enough left over to feed the rest of Round Rock.  Heh.  Oh, I haven’t given an update on that in a while.  Even though I can’t really invest yet, Sabby did get the LLC set up, and named me as an officer!  I’m taking some accounting classes, so maybe that will help.  There’s currently a real estate crash happening in the Austin area, so we’re hoping that in a few months we can get a place for a more reasonable price.  She’s keeping an eye on some of the sites for auctions and stuff for industrial baking equipment – the garage already has a few things in storage.  Like this REALLY BIG dough kneader with this massive stainless steel bowl.  It’s pretty cool.  She can’t really use it yet but it’s okay, good to get the equipment.  There’s also one of those large refrigerated glass cases for displaying things like cookies, but Dave doesn’t seem too happy about that being in the garage.  Oh well, then he’ll just have to help us get a place to put it!

Oh… I think I can tell now.  So do you remember that guy who was running my trust, and when I said I wanted to invest in Sabby’s company, he wanted in?  Well, my lawyer was not happy with that.  Something about a conflict of interest.  In fact, he was so not happy with that, he started looking more closely at how the trust was managed.  He sent a bunch of letters (you know, lawyer-type letters) and, well… turns out he wasn’t managing it very well.  So my lawyer filed a lawsuit, and, well, he’s not managing my trust anymore.

It’s true the economy’s gone a little bad, but he was doing some naughty things.

I’m not sure how that’s going to work out for me financially, but we’ll see.  My lawyer says I should at least get reimbursed for what the bad management cost me.

The lawsuit is still working its way through.  I don’t have to attend or anything because I’m not a witness, he just has to show up, Sabby and I have to sign a few papers, and, well…  money.  Maybe.

Beth is still being jealous, and quite honestly, it’s annoying me a bit.  Doesn’t she realize that the reason I have so many nice things is directly because I lost so much?  I mean, even that trust is somehow related to what happened to me, though my “benefactor” isn’t telling.  Maybe I’ll find out through other means.  Maybe not.  But as much as I really love Beth, she’s my sister, I wish she’d pull her head out and realize that things aren’t exactly rosy for me all the time.  At least she knows what it’s like to be a little girl.  I wish I did.

Anyway, otherwise, not much going on today.  Jack’s getting ready for school next week.  He applied for a job at HEB too, hope he gets it.  I mean, he worked at Kroger up in Ohio, maybe the fact that he has experience will help.  I wonder what they’d have him do.  I like HEB when I’m not getting accosted by random karens.

I haven’t talked about David much, have I?  Well, he’s just being David.  Playing computer games, getting in trouble, but he’s growing up a bit, and is being a bit nicer to me and Beth.  I guess being a pig wrangler at camp changed him a little.  He wants to go next year too.  He’s still in touch with his girlfriends, but they’re ten, that’s going nowhere for now.  It’s kinda cute though.  They’re teaching him how to treat girls, and that’s an education he sorely needs.

Okay, gotta go.  Marie’s whining at the door.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Another nice and quiet day.  It’s about time I had a few of those in a row, don’t you think?  Well, mostly quiet.  Beth is still in a snit.  She’s not a bad girl but she has a jealous streak the size of Texas.

I had to take her to school today, so in the car, I had a talk with her – while she couldn’t leave.  Haha.  I asked her why she doesn’t want me to be happy.

She said she wants me to be happy, she just wants to be happy too.

So I asked her why she thinks finding a boy would make her happy.  After all, I didn’t even want a boyfriend until Jack came along.

Long and short, I think she’s lonely.

Yes, she does have more friends than she did, or at least better friends, but she’s a quiet girl who prefers to read a book than do “friend” stuff, and…  I think there’s something she needs and is missing.  I’ll have to talk to Sabby about it.  She almost seems desperate and that’s… not good.

I wonder if Sabby’s attempt at a “friend dating service” did more harm than good, actually.  Maybe Beth got the wrong message out of that.  I dunno.  Poor Beth.

I did tell her she’s my sister and will always be my sister, and…  it’s not personal, I guess.  She doesn’t hate Jack, or me, she’s just jealous of me.

It’s hot again.  Booooo!!!

Jack starts school on Monday.  He’s a little nervous.  I think he’ll be fine.  Texas is not Ohio.

Well, I’m going to take Marie for a walk and brush Beth’s hair.  Yes, we still do that.  Even if she’s in a snit.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Well, things are a little bit back to normal now, I guess.  Jack registered for school today, and he’ll be starting soon, so he has to get his supplies and all that kinda thing.  He told me he was a bit jealous that I got to go to community college, and I told him it’s hard, and besides I have to drive a lot further than he does.  The school is about a half mile from him as the crow flies, but he’s on the other side of the tollway, so that’s a little bit of a production.  Oh well, he’ll figure it out.  I hope starting fresh will give him the chance to make new friends.  Heck, I don’t even mind if he makes female friends, as long as he’s very clear on who gets to date him and who doesn’t.

He doesn’t seem the type to wander, so it’ll be fine.

I told him that he has my permission to say he has a girlfriend in college if it will give him a little “street cred”.  He blushed, but he might do that.  I think that’s funny!!

Anyway, other news, I guess.  There’s not much of it.  I’m just going to school and doing other lessons with Sabby and… I might have some news soon!  Still working on some details.  Aww.  Guess you’ll have to wait, but it’s okay!  I’ll tell you soon!

Beth is really kind of jealous of me with Jack, to the point where Sabby had to sit her down and tell her that she’s too young yet, and her time will come, and to snap out of it because her jealousy is one of the worst things about her.  They had a bit of a yelling match, but that’s not unusual.  She went stomping up to her room and that’s where she is now.  But she’ll get over it.  She’ll turn sixteen soon and then she can find a boy and date him and learn that it’s not as easy as it looks.  Speaking of boys, Liz has her date this weekend, and she wants me to meet him.

I’m sure he’ll be fine.

Liz isn’t dumb, it’s just that the heart sometimes wants what it wants, when the mind says “whoa, hold up there, this isn’t a good idea”.

Oh, Sabby wants to send a tin of cookies to our “benefactor”, and wants to know how to deliver them.

Anyway, bedtime.  Other than Beth flying off the handle, it’s been a pretty quiet day.  I like quiet days.  Hopefully nothing soap-opera-ey will happen for a little while.

Love you all!!!  ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Jack was quiet today.  I texted him and asked him why.

“You remember, I can read your diary, right?  Even the subscriber parts?”, he said.  “I want see what you write there.”

Aww.  I had forgotten.

“Are you mad?”, I said, very fretful.

“No,” he said.  “Not mad.  I just..  don’t know what to do.  I mean, usually my first thing to do with you is buy you chocolate, but…  it doesn’t seem the right thing to do this time.  You have plenty of chocolate.  I don’t like just throwing chocolate at you to try to make things better.”

“It… does usually make things better, you know that, right?”

“Yeah,” he said.  “But you’re more complicated than that.”

Thing is… maybe I’m not.  I’m a simple girl.  Chocolate in, Happy out.  But I know what he means.  And maybe he’s right.  Maybe I’m too easily bought with chocolate.  But I do love chocolate!!!

“But,” he added, “I don’t know what else to do to show you I really mean it.  I…  maybe I don’t know you that well after all.”

“Maybe I don’t know me that well either,” I said morosely.

“huh,” he said.  “I’d forgotten.”

“What?”

“The memories.”

“…  oh.  I see what you mean.”

He went quiet.  I was worried a little, and he wasn’t answering my texts.  About twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door.  Sabby yelled for me, and I went down to see what it was about.

Jack was there, and he just pulled me to him, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me senseless.  Right on the doorstep.

“Jack?  What was that about?”, I asked.  It was nice, but I was very confused.

He took both my hands in his, looked me straight in the eyes, and said “I just gave you another memory.”

OMG.  That did it.  I melted.  I seriously melted.  In fact, I busted out crying and just clung to him, blubbering.  How did he know?  Even when I didn’t?  How did he know that memories were one of the few things in my life more valuable than chocolate?

“And I gave you memories yesterday, and the night before, and…  I’ll keep giving you memories.  Memories of fun, of love, of happiness, of…  of me.  That’s what I’ll give you.”

He kissed my forehead, turned around, got in his car, and drove away.

I turned around and looked at Sabby, tears running down my face.  I sniffled and wiped them away.

“He… he told me he was going to give me memories.  That’s how he’s going to show me he loves me.  He’s… he’s going to give me memories.”

Sabby sighed.  “No grandkids yet.  You promised.”

I nodded and sniffled.  And then we ate dinner.  But my mind was elsewhere.  On that boy who figured out what I needed more than nearly anything else in the world.

I’m not worried anymore.

He’s perfect.

He loves me.

I know he does.  He loves me.

He loves me enough to give me memories.

I am such a lucky girl.

Love you all!!! ❤