Series: 11 - May 2022

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

So as you know, I (and my sister and brother) are homeschooled right now.  I’m not sure I understand exactly why.  All I know is that one day we were doing one of those zoom calls, and Sabby was listening in.  The teacher said something about race, and Sabby, well, went off.  We were pulled out very quickly.  Honestly, I don’t feel like we missed anything from that experience, because it was just zoom calls.

But apparently some politicians in Texas have been doing their politicianey stuff, and because of that, Dave and Sabby are considering putting us into private school next year.  If that pans out, of course.  They sat us down this evening and asked us what we thought of that idea.

David didn’t like it.  Of course he didn’t.

Beth was kind of hesitant, but I think it might be good for her, to meet some girls her age that aren’t her old friends.

I… I don’t know what to think.  It might be fun!  I’ve wanted to get into sports and there aren’t really any sports worth speaking of for me to get involve in right now!  So I don’t know.  Would it be fun?  Maybe.  It’d be better than public school, or so Sabby tells us.  The schools here are pretty good, but she does not trust them.  I asked her why, and she tried to explain it to me, but I just don’t get it.

Oh well.

So we won’t enroll until next year if we do that.  I’ve just got a year to go before I graduate anyway, so it’s not too big a deal for me.  Beth’s got a few more years.  But we’ll see how it turns out.  Maybe it’ll help me get into college?  Do I even want to?  I don’t know.  At least I know I can afford it.

Anyway, another curve ball, but this one will take a while to become anything.

Oh oh oh.  Remember how I said that Sabby thought David needed something to drill some lessons into him that she hasn’t been able to?  Well…  David’s going to summer camp.  I looked it up – it seems fun, but there’s an emphasis on discipline.  And computer and phone use is heavily regulated.  He’s not a happy camper.  Pardon the pun.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I wonder sometimes if you all open your browser and go to my diary and say to yourself “I wonder what Lily’s up to today!”  Even though I’m just a boring sixteen year old girl with memory issues.  I mean, isn’t my life boring sometimes?  Boringly boring?  I mean, some days all I do is go to school and play with the dog and eat dinner… but I always find something to talk about!

We talked more about private school today, and we’re not actually sure how that’s going to work out.  But it sounds like fun!  I hope I get to experience actual school before I graduate!  I mean, if I go to college, not going to school might make things a little difficult, right?  But we’ll see.  I know Dave and Sabby have a bit of money, but they can’t afford that.  Ummm…  I wonder how much tuition is.  Maybe that’s the kind of thing that I can use the trust for.  I should ask Sabby.  But if the state takes care of it, well, so much the better, right?

David’s sulking around a bit.  He doesn’t really want to go to camp.  But Sabby’s kind of had it with his attitude lately.  He’s getting better, but he can’t seem to get it through his head that his actions actually affect other people.  And you know…  I don’t hate the kid, but it’ll be nice to have a little time, just us girls.  I did ask Sabby if she’d be springing camp on me too, and she said no, she has other plans for me.  She’s wise, though.  She dangled a carrot, too.  She told him that if he gets through the camp successfully, next year she’ll send him to a gaming camp where he’ll learn how to write video games and stuff.  He perked up just a bit at that.

I don’t know if I should be scared or excited about her plans for me.

Anyway…  Marie needs walked and I needs bed.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

I’m not writing much tonight.  It’s David’s birthday AND some of the girls are over tonight and, well, there’s lots going on.  So I’ll catch y’all tomorrow!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me!  Lily!!!

And we have BIRTHDAYS!!!!

Yesterday was David’s birthday.  It was on a Friday too, how does that work?  Remember that boy that he met when Little Miss Priss came over, when Sabby was running the friend dating service for Beth?   They still hang out, so he came over, and he brought some friends, and we had pizza and ice cream.  Little Miss Priss came over too, unfortunately, because she came with the package, and, well, she’s still Little Miss Priss.  But, oh well.  Liz came over too, and we all did girl stuff after the party was over.

David did like his presents.  Dave and Sabby got him a fancy microscope, Beth got him a book on programming, and I got him a men’s fragrance set.  Wasn’t trying to tell him to shower more, not at all…  But he still liked it all.  And he smells better than axe, at least.  Ewww.

After we had dinner, as I mentioned, we girls went up to do girl stuff (even Little Miss Priss) and David and his friends went out to play football in the back yard.  It’s sooo hot out, I don’t know how boys do it.

But better… ALLISON’S BDAY IS TOMORROW!!! SHE TURNS NINE!!!

After work she’s going to come over and all the girls are coming and we’re going to have FUN!!!  We’ll make her her favorite grilled cheese sandwiches and have a cake for dessert!!!  I guess she doesn’t drink soda, so… maybe chocolate milk?  YAY CHOCOLATE!!  And she gets to play with Marie too!  I mean, ,she has her own dog, but friend dogs are cool too!!!

I don’t know if Mika and Aika are coming, but they’re invited, and Allison gets along pretty well with them… so we’ll see.  They do like coming to the waterpark.

What a busy and nice weekend!!!  Everyone’s having fun!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

We had a birthday party today!!!  ALLISON!  WOOO!!!!

So Aika and Mika did show up.  I was actually surprised, it’s a long trip for a girl they don’t even know.  I asked, and Emiko just shrugged, and said “Well, they do like a party, and Sabby wasn’t lying about how good her cookies are.”  Oh great, Sabby’ll get a big head.  haha!  Besides, apparently they went to the waterpark yesterday, so…

I want to go to the waterpark!!!  Awww.

Anyway, after I got home from work, everyone showed up, and OMG was it a party! David had a nice party, but this one was off the hook!  Everyone showed up!!!  Aika and Mika and Emiko and Bill, and Liz and Crystal and Diana, and Beth of course, and some of Allison’s friends from school!!!  SO MANY GIRLS!!!!  David actually looked a bit uncomfortable, but hey, there was grilled cheese and cake and cookies…  he dealt with it.  After dinner we basically took over the house and played games and had all sorts of fun!!!  We watched a movie too, (Allison chose Encanto because she’s seen it a million times and of course she did!) but Allison had to go a little early because she’s still nine, and things calmed down towards the evening.  Marie was having sooo much fun too!  All sorts of people to pet her!!!

Someone had the idea to play “pin the tail on the Sabby”, but that one didn’t last very long, haha!!!

Anyway, no girl piles tonight because most of them have school tomorrow, but still, we had lots of fun!!!  Time to walk Marie and go to bed.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

Last night my net was out!!! It didn’t come back until after I went to bed!!! So I just went to bed.  You had to go a night without your Lily!  But now I’m here!!!  You don’t have to be sad anymore!!!

Your willy nilly silly billy yilly hilly pilly Lily!!!  Well…  I’m not pilly.  But I’m Yilly!!! I don’t know what that means, but that’s me!!! Yilly Lily!!!

hahaha!!!!

School’s almost out!!! Yay!!! And my recital’s next week!  I’ve been practicing!!!  I’m playing several pieces!!!  And I have a gown too!!! Maybe I’ll post a picture!!!

Sabby is giving us final exams, but they’re more practical than anything.  She can’t speak japanese, so she’s having my sensei give me one.  She can’t play piano, so the recital is my final exam.  And I built a flashy light thing.  It… has lights!  And it flashes!!!  YAYYYY!!!  The three of us have different final exams.  I’m going to take a week to have fun after school ends and then it’s working a lot!! I’ll make a lot of money!!!

But, most importantly, I’M GOING TO GO TO THE WATERPARK!!!!  YAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!! I so love the waterpark!!!  Splashing and sliding and whooping and whooshing and spraying and getting wet and… um….  losing my top.  Oh well.  That was only once.  But it’s sooooo much fun!  Especially on a hot day!!!  And I’m going to take an afternoon and go to the chocolatier and get some of the good stuff!!!

Sabby made something delicious for dinner tonight!!! I ate too much!!! I’m sleepy now!!! Time to go walk Marie and do bedtime stuff!!!

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!

And I had another dream last night.

I was in a large field.  Bluebonnets as far as the eye could see. but they looked a little larger and more vivid than usual.  The sky was a perfect blue with puffy clouds floating through the sky.  I looked down and… oh.  That’s why the bluebonnets are so big.  I’ was little.  I was wearing a little overall dress with a striped shirt and Mary Jane shoes.

The grass in the distance was waving around, and something was approaching me.  I was a little scared, but a little dog burst out and pounced on me!  It was Marie!  Not my Marie, but the one from my dream, before!  She licked me all over and I rolled around in the bluebonnets with her, giggling hysterically.  So much fun!!!  She bounded off and came back with a red spider lily!  She dropped it at my feet and sat down, panting.

I heard my name in the distance, and looked over to see two people.  One of them was the woman I’d met in my last dream, and the other was a slightly taller man with a kindly but stern face.  “Yuriko!  We have to go now!”

Suddenly a powerful sadness washed through me, so powerful that it took me by surprise, and I just burst into tears.  I fell down into the grass and Marie started licking me.  That’s when I woke up.

Marie was licking me.  I guess Sabby’d let her out of her cage while I was asleep.

The sadness hadn’t left yet, and I just started to cry.

I don’t know why I was so sad.  It was a beautiful dream, in a way.  I was sad when they told me I had to go.  Why?

I was lost in thought all day.  Sigh.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

At least I didn’t dream much last night.  But I’ve been sad.  And I’m not even sure why.

I should be happy, right?  School lets out in a couple of days!!!  I have a recital next week and I get to wear a pretty gown!!!  And I even get to go to the waterpark!!!  Why should I be sad?

But I’m sad.

And to make it worse, when I was walking Marie this morning, she brought me a flower.  It wasn’t a red spider lily like in my dream, but particularly because red spider lilies don’t really grow here, but she brought me a flower anyway.  Then she sat down and waited for me to pick it up.  I did, and she licked my hand.  Something about that…  something about that.

Why was I so sad in my dream?

Oh well.  Tomorrow is the last day of school for all three of us.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

And we went to the waterpark!!! YAAAAYYYYY!!!!!

Sabby told us that that was our end of the year treat!!!  So we all got our swimsuits and packed into the car and went!!!

We went on the slides and in the wave pool and on the slides again and in the river with the little boats,  and then after that we had lunch, and we went down the slide again!!! And I kept my top!!! OMG so much fun!!! I love the waterpark!!!

And then Sabby took us for burgers!!! What a great day!!!!

After we got home, all waterparked and burgered, I went over to Liz’s house this time, and we had some quiet time by ourselves.  Liz is doing a little better now, but she’s still hurt.  She thought he might be the one.  I told her she’s sixteen, the one rarely is.  She said “well, what about Jack?”  I said “Well, he might be, but I won’t know for sure until we’re married, and even then, these days, who knows…”

She sighed.  “why does everything have to be so complicated?”

I shrugged.  I don’t know the answer to that either.

To be clear, Jack very well might be the one.  I do love that boy.  He gives me chocolates and… well…  other things, and I trust him.  But life is life, right?

Anyway, I’m on my tablet, and I’m sleeping over at Liz’s tonight.  We’ll make a pile if she wants.  She’s not cuddly, but she’s still hurting.  We’ll see.  Crystal and Diana are over with Beth, I bet they’re having lots of fun.

Love you all!!! ❤

Hi! It’s me! Lily!!!

So tonight kind of… went off the rails.

Last night was nice.  Liz was, indeed, a bit more cuddly than usual, and she just wanted to be held.  So, I did.  I know some of you silly billies out there are thinking naughty things, but it truly is just how it sounds.  She wanted to be held, so I did.  She…  she’s a sad and lonely girl sometimes.  I mean, she’s really smart!  Wicked smart!  She knows about things I don’t, she plays a mean violin (I mean, yes, I play a mean piano, but I still don’t really know how I learned it), and she could excel at anything she wanted to.  But, at the end of the day, she’s a sad little girl who wants to be hugged.  She likes boys like I do, but…  sometimes we girls have to stick together, y’know?  Especially when a boy hurts one of us.

But “sad and lonely” seem to be the words of the day.  Diana’s staying over this weekend, her mother wanted to spend some time with her boyfriend.  I noticed she seemed to be hanging around Dave a lot.  He was putting around in the garage, and she was in there asking him all sorts of questions and trying to help.  He went out to pressure wash, and she kind of followed him around like a lost little puppy.  Dave wasn’t really getting annoyed but I could tell he was really confused.  Did she have some kind of a schoolgirl crush?  That’d be kinda dumb, Sabby’s right there.

I asked Sabby about it, and she sighed.  We went to my room so we could talk freely.

“Lily,” she said softly, “Diana doesn’t talk to her father.  He left when she was very little.  Her mother is raising her by herself.  Her mother’s boyfriend doesn’t really have a whole lot to do with her right now – her mother wants to know if he’s the right one for her before she introduces Diana.  And, well…  it’s just her and her mother.  Dave is…  attractive to her.  Not in a bad way, just…   she desperately needs a father, and, well… Dave’s a good man.”

I sighed.  “That poor girl…”

She nodded her head.  “Dave’s not her father, but I don’t have the heart to put a stop to it.”

“Maybe we should talk to her mother…”

“And say what?”, Sabby half-snapped.  “Maria, your daughter is taking an interest in my husband because she doesn’t have a father, and it’s all your fault.  Go find her a father, chop-chop!  Well?  What’s taking you so long?”

I looked down at my lap.  When you put it that way…

“Well, maybe Dave can be like her uncle then.”

Sabby was quiet for a bit.  “I don’t like it,” she said finally.  “She’s fourteen.  Dave has three kids already.  He doesn’t need a fourth.  We don’t need a fourth.”

“You know how this is going to turn out,” I said finally.

Sabby grumbled.  “Dave’s going to end up being like her uncle whether I like it or not.”

“Could be worse,” I said.  “She’s a nice kid.  And she makes mean tacos.”

“There’s that,” she said, and walked out of my room.

Well… I guess this one really isn’t my business.  I’ve got enough to deal with.  Liz, and Jack, and…  and a recital coming up next week that I have to keep practicing for… and…  and you can never have enough little sisters.  Right?  Maybe you can never have enough daughters either.  Or faux-nieces.

I left my room and looked outside.  Dave and Beth and David and Diana were throwing a football around.  She looked happy.  Who am I to judge?

I’m not much of a football girl, though, so I just sat down at the piano and started practicing.

If I ever have a child, I hope we’re a family.  Me, my husband, and a child.  A kid needs a daddy.

Diana and her mother are still living in a hotel, but their house is almost repaired.  That’s good.

Love you all!!! ❤