Series: 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me!  Lily!

I can’t believe it’s May already! Only two months until Lily Day!  I asked Sabby if we’re doing Lily Day this year, now that we know what my birthday is, and she said yes, because I was going to celebrate it in New Years, and then I found out before then.  So Lily Day!  A day where I can do whatever I want!!!

I don’t know what it will be, but I know it’ll involve CHOCOLATE somehow!!!

And in September is my real birthday!  YATTA!!!!

At the end of the month is Memorial Day, and that’s the last day of school too!!  SUMMER!!!  But that means I’ll be working more.  BUTTT…  even though I’m working more the owner has promised that I can have time off for things I need to do.  Like… like have a family vacation!!!  And… and maybe see Jack!!!  And in August I get my real license and maybe can drive up and see him by myself!!!  That would be fun!! and SCARY!!!

Assuming the economy doesn’t get too bad.  I mean, we’re doing okay, but you can tell things aren’t quite the way they used to be.   Even at work there are fewer karens, but the ones that do show up are somehow worse.  It’s like their karen sense is set off.

My recital is in a month too!!!  I asked my teacher about the black dress.  She said it should be okay if I’ve got nothing else, but…   and the way she said it told me she wants something a bit more formal.  Well, we’ll see.

Marie is whining.  She wants to go out for a walk.  Guess I’d better do that before bed.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

And Sabby is PISSED!!!

Not at us this time, thankfully.

So it looks like some important ruling is going to come out at some point from the Supreme Court.  I don’t really understand it, so I’m not going to go into details.  And this isn’t a political diary, so I won’t say what Sabby or Dave’s opinions are, though they’ve got some strong ones.

But the opinion LEAKED!!!

Sabby tells me that never happens, and she is angry.  She hates the fact that someone was willing to do that.  Something about integrity.  I don’t really understand it.  The way Sabby explained it, is that the courts need to be above the fray of public opinion, and this puts them squarely in the fray, and it’s wrong.

I guess I understand that.  You want judges that don’t care what people think, just about what’s right.

She’s going all Claire Huxtable on it now, and Dave’s having to calm her down.  I think we might have to pull out the big guns.  I haven’t gotten her a chocolate shake in a while.  I guess I’ll go tell Dave that we need to “shake her up”, STAT.

I understand her getting angry, but really.  I think it’s better if she gets angry with things that she can do anything about.

Well, gotta go.  We might need to pump Sabby full of chocolate.  And maybe there’s a little, umm… magic… that only Dave can do.  Hehehe.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me!  Lily!

So Sabby’s doing a bit better.  I got her a chocolate shake, and Dave worked his “magic”, and she seems a bit happier this morning.  We suggested she make some cookies.  That always helps too.

It was a weird day.  Sabby taught us about the court, and why she was so angry.  I guess I understand a bit better now.

Oh oh oh I get to meet Liz’s boy on Friday!!!  She’s going on a date with him and I’m invited to dinner anyway – I guess they’ll do other stuff after dinner.  Like kiss!  Hahaha!!!  But Liz wants me to meet him.  They had a second date over the weekend and she’s just sooo besotted!!!

It’s funny!  It would be more funny if I weren’t the same way with Jack when I met him!!!

His name is Kevin and he’s about our age.  He’s not Chinese but she doesn’t seem to mind.  He’s pretty respectful of her heritage, and as she explains it, “He, umm… likes my body type.”  Guess that’s not a big deal, as long as that’s not the only thing he likes.  She assures me it isn’t.  She says he’s really smart and plays piano.  I guess we’ll have to have a piano-off someday!!!

Speaking of piano, the recital is at the end of the month, just after school lets out!!!  I… I’m a bit nervous.  I know I can play well enough but there are so many rules!!  Stand up!  Bow!  Sit down!  Act natural!  Act unnatural!!!  Shoot people who cough! HAHAhAHA!!!  Not really.

Oh remember that space that the “Texan Tinkerer” guy has a lab in?  Sabby’s buying us memberships!!!  We get to learn how to use lasers, and do woodworking, and all that kinda stuff!!!  That should be fun!!!

Anyway, gotta go now.  Marie needs walked.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Today is Cinco De Mayo!  I have no idea what that means.  It’s some Mexican thing.  But people celebrate it by eating tacos and wearing sombreros and… and…  um.  Something.  Mexican music?  Shrug.

Dave, of course, celebrated it by putting a jar of mayonnaise in the sink.

Of course he did.

We got storms today!!!  It kind of spat rain on and off this afternoon, most of the storms went to our north.  But then we got lots of boomies and it rained pretty hard!!!  And then it stopped raining and the sky was really pretty!!!  Clouds that looked like my floppy bits!!!  Well, more like Sabby’s floppy bits!  HAHAHA!!!!

I hear that Allison was sick!  Awwww!!!  But she’s better now.

Sabby’s thinking of what to do for our final exams.  They’re not going to be like real final exams because she already knows what we’re learning and how we’re doing, but I guess we gotta do something.  So she’s going to give us projects based upon what we’re learning.  My recital is going to be a final exam, but also I’ll have to do something for Japanese, maybe write something.  And Dave wants us to build an electronic project of some kind.  Maybe involving LEDs.  I love LEDs!  They’re so bright and pretty!!!  He got us each a spool of those, what do they call it, WS2812B? and we have to make something with those and an arduino.  Seems like fun.  And I have to change the oil in my car without help.

I’m not the greatest at electronics and programming but they’ve taught me the basics of how to solder and I can write a basic arduino program, so… I guess I can do that.

David’s really getting into the electronics, but I’m not too interested, though it’s nice to understand it enough to make projects if I want to.  Like a big flashy sign that says “my top stays on!”  hahaha!!!!

I’m looking forward to meeting Liz’s boy.  I hope I like him.

Okay it’s bedtime!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

So tonight, as promised, I met Kevin.  We all went to a nearby chain restaurant and ate and talked.

I…  wasn’t impressed.  And now Liz is mad at me.

Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I can see why she likes him.  He’s really cute!  Not quite Jack cute, but cute nonetheless!  And he is smart.  He ticks all the Liz buttons, so I can see why she likes him.  But… something about him just hit me the wrong way.  It’s like… he was too polite, too nice.  He complimented me, said all the right things, was charming and engaging, and something still just felt… I dunno.  Off.

So after dinner I went home, and Liz came by a couple of hours later after, I assume, they’d eaten each others’ faces.  She asked me, excitedly, what I thought.

I hesitated.

Bad move.

She asked me why I couldn’t just be happy for her, that she’d found what I did with Jack.  She was hurt.  And I don’t blame her.  But I told her that I wasn’t going to just mindlessly approve of everyone she fell in love with just because she fell in love with them.  She said she doesn’t need my approval, and I agreed, but if she was going to ask me what I thought I was going to tell her honestly.  She stomped home and isn’t talking to me now.

Sigh.

But… but I don’t regret it.  Something still feels off.  I hope she doesn’t get hurt.  Sabby told me when it comes to boys and men to always listen to my gut, because it will listen to red flags that my heart won’t.  I truly hope I’m wrong.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me!  Lily!

Liz is still mad at me.

She even tried to talk bad about me to Jack, but Jack wasn’t hearing it.  He said, “Zhi Ruo, I know you’re my cousin, but I know Lily, and she’s pretty smart.  If she doesn’t like him, she has a reason.  Maybe you should listen to her.”  She growled, and now she’s not talking to Jack too.  She went out with him tonight just to spite the both of us.  Sigh.

She’s never been this mad before, but I guess I understand.  Boys do silly things to our hearts.  Something about being a girl – sometimes we change who we are just so that someone will love us.  I’m not that way, but some girls are.

I told Sabby what’s going on, and she said, “just wait.  It’ll blow over.  Either you’re right or she is.  If she is, admit you’re wrong.  If you are… well, be there for her, because you know what happens when boys go bad.”

I sighed.  I know of at least two in jail for just that.

Gotta go.  Liz is calling.  I wonder what she wants.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

… I was right.

So Liz went out on her fourth date with Kevin last night, and, well…  you know how some people think that you’re entitled to some things after a third date?  Well, he’s one of those guys.  He got her into a room and started putting his hands in places where they didn’t belong.  Liz told him to stop, and while he didn’t, umm…  push… he didn’t stop.  She smacked him one and ran out.  She got home and when she called me she was crying.  She thought he was the best!  And, well…  he wasn’t.

I guess that’s what felt off.  He’s one of those guys who’ll be anything you want him to be, as long as you “give up the goods”.

I let her stay over and make a mini-pile last night.  You know how I said Liz isn’t cuddly?  Well… she isn’t.  But…  I guess sometimes a girl just needs a hug, because she never let go of me all night.  Sometimes I’d wake up and feel her silently shaking.  I just squeezed her tighter and let her cry it out.

After I left for work she went back to talk to her parents about it.  And I… well, let’s just hope I don’t see him around.

Poor Liz.  At least she was able to get away.  I’m sure he thought he was being a gentleman.

Sigh.

After I got home from work I had Sabby take me and Liz to the mall, and we drowned her sorrows in pizza and ice cream.  She seemed to feel better, and hopefully she isn’t hurt too badly.  And maybe next time she’ll listen instead of thinking I’m being jealous!

Oh, and today was Mother’s Day.  Though Sabby didn’t want us to do anything special.  It’s actually one of her least favorite days because she doesn’t think a day that just makes florists money is sincere.  But I did buy her a cinnabon at the mall, and tough if she didn’t lilke it!

Sigh.  Marie’s whining.  Time for a walk!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!

Ok, umm.. wow.  That escalated quickly.

So…  Remember when Liz went home to talk to her parents?  Well…  her parents…  they’re kind of hands off.  In fact, you’d think they don’t care sometimes, that’s why there was that huge blowup months ago that led to me meeting Jack.  They aren’t great at expressing their emotions, and they drive Liz pretty hard.  I guess that’s just the Chinese way.

But…  umm… don’t do what Kevin did.

So as Liz tells it, she told them everything – what he did, how he behaved, what he tried to do…  and while she was near tears, her parents just kind of sat there.  After she was done, her father just looked at her, and said three simple words.

“Where is he?”

Liz didn’t really want to tell him, but he wasn’t having any of it.  She was sat right there until she told them where he lived.  Then they told her to stay there.

A couple of hours later they came back.  They wouldn’t tell her what they did, but they said if he ever speaks another word to her to tell them, and they’ll have to… make the lesson stick a little better.  Then they gave her a hug and told her that no boy will ever be allowed to take liberties with her.

She asked if they hurt him.  He just chuckled.  “No,” he said enigmatically.  “I didn’t have to.”

Come to think of it, he has a lot of business overseas, but has never told me specifically what he does.  Maybe I’m better off not knowing.

Liz just said he’s in the import/export business.  I’d guess he, well, knows some people.

Anyway, I’m glad they have her back.  This way I don’t have to judo flip him then smother him with my floppy bits.  hahaha!!!

… he’d like that.  Plan B time.

Anyway,  Liz apologized.  I was just happy she was talking to me again. I told her I hope next time I can like the boy she’s with.  She said I’d be lucky to meet him after this debacle.  But… then she gave me a big hug and said thank you.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I’ve been a little… ummm…  worried, and had to talk to Liz.  Honestly, the way her father acted scared me a little.  The way she talked, it made it sound like he was in the Triad or something like that.  I brought it up to Liz and she laughed.

“No,” she said, “my daddy doesn’t do anything illegal.  But…  he’s had to deal with enough people who do that… some of the ways they deal with people has rubbed off.  Would he hurt Kevin?  Well… maybe. I’m his daughter.  But…  he knows the right things to say to really intimidate people.  And…  the kinds of people he has to interact with sometimes, well…  family is very important to them.  Asking for favors from them is very, very dangerous.  But…  if you just so happen to mention that someone hurt your family to the right people, well…  bad things can happen.  He didn’t tell me what he said, but…  I bet it was something close to that.”

I won’t lie.  I was a bit relieved.  People who are into… illegal stuff…  are a little unpredictable, right?

I guess it’s good for Liz that he does know those people, though.

Kevin got permission from her father to apologize – very heavily supervised.  She thought he was sincere, he said that his father taught him some things that weren’t very nice.  He didn’t know he was wrong, he thought that was normal.  She accepted his apology, but said she couldn’t trust him anymore, so he could take it as a lesson to take to his next girlfriend, but she was done.  He understood, and while he was pretty sad (and so was she), he left without incident.

Liz told me after he left, she cried.  It will take her a little while to trust again.

But I’m sure she will.

Love you all!!! ❤