This diary entry is part 21 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Subscriber only content in this post.  You know the drill.

And today was really busy!!! Lots of stuff to do!!!

We got the short block apart!  That’s the bit with the pistons and crank!

And rods were bent!!  Awww!!!!

But the good news is, that was it.

So we’re sending the block off for machining of the bores while we have it apart, and I guess it’s good to machine the head surface as well.  So it’ll be a few days before we get it back.  Dave ordered all the pistons and stuff too!!!  So I won’t have any more updates until we get the heads and the block back.

But this is actually pretty easy!  Just dirty and messy and smelly and some of the bolts are really tight, but it’s easy!!!

Beth spent some time with her mentor today, she seems really happy to be learning stuff.  I guess she’s getting taught some advanced math too while they’re at it.  I don’t even know what she’s studying, but she seems happy.

And tonight I got cleaned up and went on a date with Jack!!!

Well, I went over to his place.  His parents gave us both a very detailed talk, and then took Grace for dinner and a kiddie movie.

We had some dinner and sat on the couch watching a movie.  When everyone came home, Grace jumped on me and I was happy to see her.  She invited me to her birthday party!!!  Of course I said yes!!!  I spent some time with his family and then went home.  I feel really good right now after spending time with him,, I think I’ll sleep really well tonight.

Speaking of which, bedtime!

Love you all!!! ❤

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

Hi! It’s me! Lily!.

And Lily isn’t very happy today.  Lily is pretty upset, actually.

Lily went to church this morning.

Church usually isn’t so bad.  We walk in, little old ladies hug me and pinch my cheeks and tell me how pretty I am, Little old men shake my hand and tell me how pretty I am but in a slightly less than grandfatherly way (but that’s how old men are so I don’t worry too much about it), we go to our pews, some people sing stuff and want us to sing too, and then we listsen to the pastor talk for a while.

Usually I don’t understand much he says.  he talks in platitudes.  “Love one another”, “love your neighbor”, all that kind of thing.  It’s not usually so bad.  But today he talked about God’s love, and how it meant he had to kill his son.

And, umm.

It sure seems like every time God loves someone they get hurt, doesn’t it?

God loved Jesus.  And Jesus died.  That just seems to be the story.  Whatever God loves, dies.

The pastor keeps saying God loves us.

And, well…  here I am.  Maybe I’m not dead.. .but my memories are.  He certainly took his price from me, didn’t he?

I didn’t really feel like doing much today.  We went to Harbor Freight and the auto parts store and bought some tools to put the engine back together, but my heart wasn’t really in it.  I just went up to my room and stared at the wall for a while.  I took a nap! I never take a nap!  Sabby gave me a bit of grief about it, you know how she always wants me to do useful stuff, but I just kind of shuffled some stuff around and went back to bed.  She didn’t try to stop me this time.

She just bought me a shake and I found it next to my bed when I woke up again.

Awww.

It helped a bit.  Chocolate fixes everything.  And chocolate bought by family because they care about you fixes even more.

But I’m still sad.

I go to church because they’re like family.  There’s the pastor, who’s kind of a silly-billy but his heart’s in the right place.  There’s Mrs. White, who just lost her husband and now the church is rallying around her to make sure she’s taken care of – she doesn’t have anyone.  There’s old Mr. Johnson, who comes to church every week without fail reeking of strong cologne, but you know the church is all he has and everyone treats him like their grandpa (he’s not one of the “slightly dirty” ones).  There’s the Miller family, where everyone always seems a bit stressed out, but that’s what happens when you have two young boys.  There’s Crystal and her parents, who come to church every week because the pastor was really helpful and they see him as kind of family too.  I don’t mention it but sometimes we go out to eat after (and sometimes we just get chocolate pancakes as a family).  You get to know everyone, and it’s like a little family.  Diana and her mother go too.  Sometimes when we have a sleepover on Saturday night Crystal and Diana come with us and then go home with their parents.  But we usually have Friday night sleepovers…

I don’t mention any of that because it’s boring!  But it happens!

But God?

He’s kind of a jerk, don’t you think?

I guess it’s time for bed.  Hope there’s no storms, lightning might strike me.

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 23 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

Lily talks in the third person because she’s a silly-billy!  Silly-billy-Lily!  Hahaha!!!

Allison has a birthday coming up,.  I hear she has some big tests going on.  I’m sure she’ll do well.  I’ve been thinking of something to get her, but I have some ideas!!! Maybe I’ll make her something!  Haha!!!  Dave has a 3d printer and engraver sitting around that I’ve never really learned how to use, maybe now is a good time!!!

I’m feeling a little better today.  Not too much better, but some.  Sometimes it helps to just have a routine.  It’s Monday, so we went to classes, I dropped Beth off at her mentor’s, I got some chocolate (of course), then came home.  Just a normal day I guess.  Everyone wanted details of my date with Jack on the group chat.  Of course I didn’t tell anything important, and Jack was a gentleman too.  I told them about Grace though.  They love Grace.  Of course they do!  Everyone does!

This Saturday Golden Week starts in Japan!  Ai’s really existed!!! I told her about Adult Day and Ordinary Day and she laughed hard!  haha!!! I wish I could be there.  It seems like so much fun.  But I guess I can’t have everything, right?

Oh did I tell you Ai has a boyfriend?  Well… not really.  It’s kind of tame.  But he gave her a headpat and apparently she blushed so hard she started sweating!  Haha!!! I haven’t talked to him but he seems nice.  They’re a bit stricter about that kind of thing in Japan, but they’re still spending some time together, and they might even hold hands while watching the fireworks next week!

She really hopes.

She’s looking forward to coming back to Texas too.  Maybe she can come when the rodeo takes place and the waterparks are open!!!  But we’ll see.  She did like Christmas, so maybe she’ll come then again.  She had a pretty good time.

Her dog is quite the character too!  Haha!!!  So dog much happy!!!

Okay!!!  I guess that’s all for today!!!  It’ll be a week!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 24 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I had so much to do today!!!  It was so busy!!!

First of all, the block came back from the machinist!!!

They said they didn’t have to do much, they just resurfaced the mating surface with the head and rehoned the bores.  Everything was within spec otherwise.  They told us we were REALLY lucky.  So we got the block back on the engine stand, and now comes the hard part – putting the crank back in, and the pistons, and stuff.  We probably won’t get much into that until the weekend.  It’s kind of exacting work and too many other things to do.

The heads are still on order and should arrive in a couple of days.

So there’s that.

I also started practicing that piece in earnest.  It’s not too hard but there’s a lot of notes!!!  My teacher thinks I can do it but I’m going to need special lessons and a lot of practice!!!  I won’t say every day how much I practiced because that’s boring, but I have a rehearsal with the orchestra leader in a couple of weeks!!!  So I need to practice a LOT!!! I bet they’ll get tired of it!!!

Liz also has her recital coming up too and wants me to accompany her again!  I said yes, but I’ve got a lot going on, so we’ll have to find time where we can.  She said she’d pick something that didn’t need too much work on my part.  She’s such a good girl!!!

Hmm, what else.  I haven’t been spending a lot of time at the shop, I’ve got so much going on, but Sabby’s got it covered.  We actually are hiring the second baker now!!! Yay!!!  We’re looking for someone good at baking, but also making sandwiches and stuff.  Everything’s humming along!!!  Cat-girl and the Cosplay Crew are doing their thing, we’ve got even more Japanese tourists showing up and taking lots of pictures and buying lots of stuff, and…  it’s a little weird, actually.  How are they even finding us???

I guess never understimate the resourcefullness of Japanese people when it comes to sweets or cute things, right?

And, of course, Marie is being Marie.  Sniffing everything and wanting to sleep with me all the time.  It’s cute.

Maybe severe storms tomorrow!!! Awww!!!

Oh and we’re starting to plan the Japan trip too!  But more about that later.

Okay!

Love you all!!! ❤

This diary entry is part 25 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

And storms are coming!!!  I can see the flashes!!!  We’re getting a light show!!!

But that’s okay.  We need the rain.

We don’t have much room in the garage though, and we can’t move the car already in there because it doesn’t have an engine, so I just hope we don’t get hailed on!!!  That’d suck!!!  They really got it up north!!!

Well, weather’s gonna weather, I guess.

So the heads arrived today!!!  Yaayy!!!  We spent a part of the day getting the crank and pistons in.  It’s not *hard*, really.  We just put some bearings on with a bit of assembly oil, make sure they’re fit right, and then just fit the crank on and torque down the caps!!!  It’s pretty easy!  Just not something you can get away with messing up.  But we did it!

Then we flipped the engine over and put the pistons in!  We had to put the rings on (and there’s a certain way to do it), then there’s a tool called a ring compressor you put on the piston, and just tap it in!!!  Then you put a bearing on the rod, and torque that down too!  It’s not hard either!  It’s just something you can’t mess up!!!

But it’s fine.  We did it.  Everything’s good.  The crank spins and the pistons piston and everything’s cool!

We’ll put the heads on soon, and then we have to make sure everything’s all lined up!!!

Dave told me he’s proud of me for doing this.  I told him he didn’t give me much choice.  He said that’s true, but I did it anyway, and I’m doing a really good job, and he wants me to learn how to do this stuff so I don’t think it’s hard.  Plus mechanics like to take advantage of pretty girls like me and now they won’t be able to.

I won’t lie – I blushed a little when he called me pretty.  I mean I don’t like him that way, obviously, but every girl likes a compliment if the man giving the compliment actually means it.  Right?

And even if I did like him that way – which I don’t, I wouldn’t like him that way because I also love Sabby and I’m not an idiot or a jerk.

And I got Jack, who’s plenty for me.

And he’s my father.

ANYWAY, that’s done.  I did some practicing too, I have to memorize the concerto and know it backwards and forwards, and that’s hard because there are a lot of notes!  A lot of notes!  Especially towards the end!!!

But it’s not about the notes – it’s how they fit together.  So I can manage.

Okay!  I hear rumblies and I should let Marie out to do her business before we get pounded!  I wish dogs used litter boxes like cats!  But their stuff smells, so maybe better they don’t!  Haha!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Even if you’re silly-billies!  And you are!  Hahah!!!

This diary entry is part 26 of 28 in Lily's diary dated 22 - April 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

We got the heads on!!!

Doing engine work isn’t really that hard.  It just means you have to be really careful and have insane attention to detail.  We stuck on the head gasket and stuck the heads in, and had to torque down the bolts in a very specific order using a special tool that goes “click”.  Now I understand why Dave keeps saying “click” when he tightens a bolt!  Hahaha!  That always seemed silly!!!

Well, it’s still silly, but at least it makes sense now.

It stormed quite a bit last night!  Boom!  Flash!  Haha!  But we got a bit of rain, and that’s always nice.  We can always use the rain, especially in Central Texas!!!  It’s always feast or famine here!  Well, flood or drought  You get the idea.  They got a lot of hail up north!!!

Grace invited me to her party officially!!! It’s this weekend!  She’ll be six!!!  She’s getting to be a big girl now!!!  She’ll get lots of presents because everyone loves Grace!!!

I…  I’m worried a little about something.  But I don’t really want to say.  I…

Umm…  I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Love you all!!! ❤

 

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

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I’ve got some adulty stuff to talk about tonight, so if you’re not adulty, please go watch Disney or something.

I…  got in trouble.  Dave is mad at me.  Dave has never been mad at me.  So… let’s start from the beginning.

I was late.

Late for what?  Well.. .you know.  Late.  Miss Flo isn’t on time.  My monthly visitor got stuck at the konbini and is starting at the pizza displays.  However you want to put it… I’m late  Or at least I was.

Now, let’s get one thing out of the way.  I’m not… you know.  Pregnant.  I went and got a test, and… it’s negative.  I’m told these things happen sometimes.  That’s not why I’m in trouble.

I’m in trouble because I didn’t tell Sabby I was getting the test, and, well, she found the test.  She was cleaning my bathroom and found it in the trash.

And… oh my God.

No one expects the Sabby inquisition.

She yelled at me, Dave yelled at me, everyone yelled at me for being irresponsible and for getting myself in this situation in the first place and if I really was then they’d wring my neck and reanimate my body so I could have the body and wring my neck again, and Dave told me he told me not in his house and I’d better not be giving him grandkids before my time and he doesn’t care how much money I have and how successful I am, we don’t do that.

I was crying hysterically at that point and told them Jack never, well… put tab A in slot B and the risks were very low, but..  but not zero and I was scared too, and…

and Dave just walked up the stairs and slammed the door to his room.

Sabby followed him up, but not before giving me the most disappointed look she’s ever given me.

I’ve never felt so alone.  Well, I have, but not recently.  But it’s close.

I actually called up Katie and told her.  She was very comforting.  She said that I’m probably just late, but if I’m not, then we can have a baby shower together, and…  and I broke down again.

She felt really bad.

I didn’t even write last night.  I just went to bed crying.  Sabby came in a little later, told me she’s still disappointed in me, and then let me cry on her chest.

She has a lot of chest to cry on.

This morning, well..  Flo finally visited.

I cried with relief.

Dave sat me down and had a very long talk with me.  I told him everything Jack and I did (editing for father, of course) and that we were following everyone’s rules.  He said, if I feel like there’s a risk of being pregnant, the rules aren’t good enough, and he’s going to have a talk with Jack’s parents.

Jack didn’t even know.

I didn’t even tell him.

Well, he does now.

I don’t know if I’m going to get to see Jack again before we’re married.

I’m pretty sure we’re never going to do, well, that again until we’re married.

That was scary.  Very, very scary.

I’m the one who’s grounded now.  And Sabby said it’s not even because of all the stuff we did, it’s because I wasn’t really honest with her and didn’t tell her what was going on, and that that’s not the kind of thing you mess around with and keep secret from your parents.

Jack…  knows better than to say too much about it.  He just said he’s glad I’m not, he’s not really to be a dad, but if I were then he’d do the right thing.  That makes me feel a little better… but it doesn’t.  He would.  I know he would.  But neither of us are old enough to know what the right thing is.  As proven by, well, me getting in over my head.

Dave’s still pretty angry with me, but he seems to be getting over it.  If that happens again, though…  they might rethink the whole adoption thing, I think.  They didn’t say that… but I think.

That would be worse than anything.

Jack’s parents aren’t angry.  They knew what was going on, and Dave was pretty upset with them about it.  I heard him saying pretty loudly into his phone something like “Jack’s not the one who’d be spending nine months carrying a baby and..” and that’s all I heard.  He’s right, I guess.  He’s not. 

I… ummm…  I guess I’m going to bed now.

Chocolate’s not gonna fix this.

Love you all…