Series: 20 - February 2023

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

A… lot of people read this, I guess.  I don’t know how many strangers, but a lot of people I know.  Last night I wrote what I wrote and went to bed.  Honest truth is, I wasn’t very sad.  Just… a bit introspective, I guess.  How’s that for a big word?  See, not a dumb girl!!

But I guess it didn’t come across that way.  Maybe it was the last couple of sentences.

Anyway, Jack came over tonight after work, and he wanted to talk.  Not about anything bad – “we need to talk” is often code for “you’re doing something wrong”, but in this case, it really was just that.  He read my diary and…  he was worried about me.

I told him I wasn’t really sad.

He only partly believed me.

And… and maybe he was right to.  To only partly believe me, I mean.

He told me that even if I was sad about some things that happened to me, that he wasn’t.  Because if it weren’t for any of that, he would never have met me, and he would never have fallen in love with such a wonderful girl as me…  and I melted.

He always knows just the right thing to say.

And it’s even better that he means it.

And I guess he’s right – I wouldn’t have met him, either.  Right?  Maybe I would have met someone just as good, but… but he wouldn’t be Jack.

And that’s all great…  but…  but it still hurts a little.

But Jack said something smart.  He said everyone has that little hole in their heart.  Some peoples’ are small, some are huge and gaping, but everyone has one.  Everyone thinks about what was and what could be, everyone has someone who ripped something out of them, and everything has a flower that grew out of that…  fertilizer.  And he said, for me, it’s a licoris radiata.  A spider lily.

I still don’t know what that means.

But I love him for it.

I really, truly, love him for it.

Friends…  and more than friends… really matter.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And it was WARM outside today!!!

Well, this morning, it was cloudy with a little tiny bit of rain, but then it cleared out, and it got WARM!!!

Yayyy!!!

Even Marie was happy.  She was sniffing and snuffing… you know how dogs are.

I even wore my shorts and tank top!

I was cute!

Hahaah!!!

Well I’m always cute, but I was cuter!!!

Modest too!!

Hahahaah!!!

Okay I guess I’m in a better mood today.  No real reason.  I had some chocolate, I guess that always helps.  Jack was really good to me last evening, that helps too.  Ummm…  Beth didn’t crash into anything?  Hahaha!!!  Poor Beth!!!

Oh… I got a letter from my “benefactor”, too.

I think he or she is feeling a little guilty.  I won’t post the whole letter like I did before, but he or she expressed some regret at having to keep things from me.  They’ve said that before, but never quite so starkly.  But, apparently, it comes with the job, and they’ve done their best to make it right.  But as I already knew, anything I find out, I’ll have to find out for myself.  But, they said they wouldn’t stop me.

I guess that’s good.  They’ve never been horrible to me.  Just…  did what they had to do, I suppose.

Oh, and they asked when they could make a large order at the shop.

So, mr. or mrs. benefactor…  send us your order, and we’ll let you know what we can do for you.  It would be nice if you would provide a way to contact you that wasn’t… well… posting here.  We already know you’re somewhere in Washington.  Surely you have a mail drop or something?

Oh well, enough of that, I guess.  It just is what it is.  That’s one of Dave’s favorite sayings.

Bedtime.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

My trip to LA is coming up!

And truthfully…  I don’t know what to think about it.

Robert seems to be an OK guy.  I mean, he seemed sincere when he talked about his wife and kid.  I think he meant it when he said his kid meant everything to him.  And it’s nice of him to let me into his life, he didn’t have to and I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.  And I guess that goes both ways – I don’t have to accept him, either.  But more family is better than less family, right?  Well, most of the time, I suppose.

Sabby tells me California is a very different culture… and from what I’ve seen, she’s right.  It’s… a bit more materialistic, I guess.  But the weather is nicer than here!  But… but that doesn’t really count for much, either, does it?  You can have perfect weather and it’ll still suck if the people do.

But… we’ll see how it turns out.  I hope it will be okay.

And I’m going back to Japan!  And this time I’m taking Sabby with me!  I think she’ll have fun.  We might be taking Beth too, but I’m going to let Sabby decide that.  She’s her daughter, not mine.  She’s my sister, but she’s also my younger sister, so…  it’s Sabby’s call.  Maybe everyone will go?  I don’t know.  That’s up to… everyone, I guess.  But I’m going!!!

I want to see Ai again!!!

And meet her new dog!!!

I… I saw sooo much of Japan last time, but I guess there’s always more to see, right?

I’m going to see Emiko this weekend!!!

Lots of plans!!!

I feel a bit better too.  Sometimes, you just gotta have a day, I guess.

Okay!!!  Bedtime!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I love Fridays!!!

Not as much as Saturdays and Sundays, but they’re great!!!

We’re having a movie night tonight, like we used to.  We’ve invited all the girls and we all watched a movie!  A silly movie called “Paws of Fury”!  I didn’t really like it. It was kind of funny, reminded me of “Blazing Saddles” (remember I watched it when I first started this diary?  I didn’t really understand it).  But… it was set in feudal Japan, and they didn’t bother making it, well, Japanese!

Crystal was falling over laughing though, so there’s that.  I wonder if she’s ever seen the real Blazing Saddles?  I should show her.

Liz seemed a little offended.  I guess they stuck some Chinese stuff in there and tried to pass it off as Japanese.  But, well, it was for kids, and kids really don’t care.  Grace probably would love it.

So after that we shared YouTube videos (I shared some Japanese pranks, Diana shared some Mexican videos, and Crystal, well, girl has a dark sense of humor) and now it’s bedtime.  We haven’t done a girl-pile in a while!!!

Hahaha!!!

Honestly… sometimes I’m surprised the adults don’t care if we girl-pile, but I guess they figure they can trust us.  These days… sigh.

Crystal needs lots of cuddles anyway.

Okay!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And today was lazy!

We don’t get a lot of lazy days, but today was one!!!

We all slept in.  When we woke up, I was kind of curled up, and I had a girl snuggled up to my front, one up to my back, Liz and Beth were both sprawled over the three of us… and that dang dog Marie was plopped down squarely on top of everyone!

Marie knows a good thing when she has it!

Cat was on the foot of my bed too just wondering what the heck was going on.  But she always looks that way.

I’m so surprised my bed has stood up to all of this!!!

But I hadda go to the bathroom!!!

So after waking everyone up, we did our stuff, and Sabby made us a big breakfast!  She’s good that way!  The shop was open but she’s kind of pulled back from the day to day unless there’s a need for her to do baking – the baker tends to have things well in hand right now!  Did I mention she’s really good???

Oh speaking of which, cat-girl got a couple of her friends through the hiring process, and now she”s got some help!!!  Business has never been better!!! We even had our second Japanese tourist show up!  I have no idea how they’re finding out about us!!!

And my cute frilly puffy dress showed up too!!! It’s so cute!

Aaaanyway, after breakfast, we played games and watched youtube and did fun girl stuff!  What is fun girl stuff?  Well… it’s girl stuff that’s fun!  Hahaaha!  Well…  things like trying different hairstyles, makeup, you know all that stuff.  Crystal tends to overdo it a bit, but that’s just Crystal.  Often the girls leave in the morning but today we made a day of it!!!

Besides, I think all the parents wanted a break.  Hahaha!!!

So later on, we went to the mall!!!  I mean, when you got five girls between 14 and 17, what else would we do but… go to the mall?  It was fun!!!  Except…  except Crystal seemed a little sad.

I asked her why, and she said she remembered being homeless and not having any money, and it didn’t feel right going to the mall.  It felt like… like she didn’t deserve it or something.

I need to talk to Sabby, I guess.  But I was able to fix the immediate problem by buying her a boatload of chocolate and stuffing her full of cinnabon.

I keep saying, chocolate fixes everything!

I feel bad for Crystal, though.  She’s doing better but she still seems to be hurting sometimes.

Okay, it’s bedtime!  And we’re girl-piling it again!!!  I’m gonna hug and cuddle Crystal and tell her she deserves everything good that we can give her.

We all love Crystal.  Just like we all love Liz, and Beth, and Diana, and… and me, I guess.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

We went to Houston today to see Emiko and her family!!!

It was pretty fun, actually.  I haven’t seen them for a while, so we chatted for a little while, ate Japanese food, and went to see Aika and Mika play some soccer at a local facility!!!

They had fun!!!

I’ve never played soccer.  Not sporty, like I said.  But they’re pretty good at it!

Aika nailed some poor boy in the head with a ball, and Mika got a couple of fouls too.  They’ play for keeps!  Haha!!!

After dinner, we went home.  Got school tomorrow!  But I told Emiko how we’re going to Japan this summer, and… she wants to come with us again!  That might be fun!  Besides, Sabby needs a tour guide.  Hahaha!!!

Okay!  I’m tired!  It was a lot of driving!  At least it was warm today!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I found out today that Allison won her science fair!!!  YAYY FOR ALLISON!!!  Beth has won a few science fairs, too.  I’ve never been to one, but I bet I’d do okay.

Her project was about plants and different liquids.  Like, umm… water, and sugar water, and other things that may or may not be good for plants.  David had a suggestion for a liquid she could try.

He made that suggestion in front of Sabby, and, well, he’s grounded.

Kid never seems to learn.

Also, she’s got a choir concert Friday!!! We might go!!!

Otherwise, just a Monday.  Not a bad Monday, not a good Monday, just a Monday.  Sabby didn’t feel like cooking tonigh, so she ordered pizza and those chocolate lava cakes.  YUMMM!!!!!  I love pizza and chocolate lava cakes!!!

But what girl my age doesn’t???

Okay!!! Marie got walked, Beth got brushed, so I’m going right to bed now!!!

Love you all!!! ❤