Series: 03 - September 2021

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

People seem sad today.  I was looking at some videos of what happened twenty years ago, and I can see why.  It just seems so senseless.  People dying for no reason other than some other people were jerks.  I guess Dave knew some people who died, and he’s not having a really good day.  He doesn’t have any hair to brush, sadly, so all I could do was bring him his favorite drink and asked him if he wanted to talk.  He didn’t, but he seemed to appreciate the gesture.  I did rub his shoulders, and he seemed to appreciate that too.  If Sabby wants to get upset about that we’ll have words because he’s my new father and I love him.  If I can hug her and brush her hair, I can rub his shoulders.

But that was before I was born, no matter what my actual birthday was, it was twenty years ago, there’s really no point in being sad all day.  So we had a moment of silence and then moved on.  Dave decided he wanted to grill, that seems to calm him, so he barbecued some stuff up, and it was delicious, as usual.  He just seemed… sad.  But he seemed to get a little better as the day went on.  I guess some things stay raw, even after twenty years.

Sabby mostly made herself scarce, today.  She went out with some friends and had lunch.  I think she just wanted to give Dave a little space this morning.

Liz and I spent some time together today, we played board games.  We let Beth join in too, and she seemed grateful.  The mood in the house was just too somber, and it was good to just have a little girl fun.  Well, if you call scrabble girl fun, but whatever.  I have homework to do now, so I think I’m going to do it.

For those of you who are sad, it’s okay to be sad, it’s okay to remember, but you can’t bring back the dead.  Try to make your life worth something out of respect for those who didn’t get the chance.

Oh, and my tech friend is teaching me about something called SEO.  Great, another thing to learn.

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

Dave’s doing a bit better today.  I guess some days are just harder than others.  Sabby wasn’t upset at me.  I didn’t think she would be, but I’m still a little careful.  Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I am.

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been truly angry when I’ve written here.  Hurt, yes, sad, even frustrated…  angry at the virus, maybe, but no one’s ever made me angry enough to want to vent here.  I’m just not an angry kinda girl, I guess.  What’s the point in being angry?  You hit something, or someone, or yell, or scream, and generally things are worse than when you left them.  But, I guess anger can be a good motivator.  Sometimes when Sabby’s pissed off stuff gets cleaned.  There’s no clean like rage-clean.  Dave just goes quiet and walks away.  Somehow that’s worse, because you get the feeling that he’s barely controlling himself.

But he does and that’s the important thing.  He usually snaps out of it.  But it can take a little bit.

Of course, I’ve seen Beth angry.  We won’t say any more about that.

There’s so much to be angry at, but why?  I can’t think of a single thing that will get better by getting angry at it.

Anyway, I started looking for a part time job today.  Well, that’s how the day started.  It’s an odd world out there right now, Dave tells me I’m in a really good position, I’ve got pretty much my pick of jobs, just for the taking.  There are help wanted signs everywhere.  So I decided I didn’t want to do fast food if I could avoid it, instead I went down to the convenience store down the street and applied there – you know, the one Beth hangs out at.  It’s a nice store, with a gas station, well lit, all that kinda thing.  I just basically walked in and said “I need a job, are you hiring?”

I thought the owner was going to roll the red carpet out!  His only questions were “can I depend on you?”, “what hours can you work?”, “are you legal to work?”, and “when can you start?”  He’s gonna pay a really good starting wage, and will train me up!  It’s a little scary, but I think it’ll be alright!  Dave’s happy for me.  He took me aside and gave me this advice:  “Showing up on time and working your full shift really is half the battle, the rest will just determine how well you can advance.”  I didn’t really believe him, but he said “I’ve been working for many years, trust me.  Just be dependable and willing to learn, and any good manager will bend over backwards to keep you.  And if they don’t, then they’re a bad manager and move on.”  Both he and Sabby said they’d have my back if I keep my end of the bargain and it doesn’t work out.

I really appreciate that.

So I start next weekend.  Yay!  Their lawyer tells me that being adopted by them makes me legal to work, there’s just a few hoops to go through, but should be a piece of cake.

I’m only going to work weekends for right now.  The manager wanted me to work more but school comes first, and we’ll see how it works out.  Maybe once I’m trained up I can work a few hours a week in the evenings.  I’m limited by state law how much I can work anyway.  I just got the feeling he just needed a warm body.

Plus I get to keep an eye on Beth and her friends!

Anyway, I should get some sleep.  I’m not gonna stay cute with bags under my eyes!

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi!  It’s me, Lily!

It was a boring day!  Boringly boring!  Oh, don’t get me wrong, school is usually interesting, I get to ask lots of questions and learn lots of things, but it was still boring!  Nothing interesting happened!  So that’s boring!

So what do you say on a boringly boring day?  I guess some political stuff happened.  Oh well.  I guess some people were born and some people died and some people lived and, well, that’s life, right?  People are born and live and die?

I don’t understand people though.  I don’t want to talk politics here so I won’t but I’ll talk health.  I don’t understand people who won’t get the vaccine.  It makes no sense to me.  I mean, they could get sick, and without the vaccine they won’t get sick, so why not take it?  I don’t understand.  Oh well.  People don’t make sense sometimes.  Two of Dave and Sabby’s acquaintances just died because they wouldn’t take it.  Why?

Oh well.  I hear they’re trying to make the vaccine mandatory for some people.  I don’t really understand that either.  If they don’t want it, why force it on them?  They’re the only ones who’ll get hurt.  Us vaccinated folks will just sit here and have a party.  But then some people can’t, and, well.. maybe they’re being selfish?  I don’t know.

I know I know but I’m a sixteen year old girl!  Really, what do you expect of me?  A nuanced discussion of all of the relevant data?  I brush my sister’s hair, Sabby makes breakfast most mornings, and I wear pajamas with unicorns on them.  Give me a break!  That’s about as deep as I go!

I might be kidding about the pajamas.  I told you I wasn’t gonna tell!

There’s a tropical storm around and it cooled stuff down!  Yay!  It’s a little more humid but that’s what happens when storms fling water around.  I almost wish it had tracked a bit west so we could get more rain.  I like rain!  It’s nice to run in it!  As long as there’s no lightning!

Well, I’m writing this late and need to go to bed.  Nite all!!!

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

Have you ever just woken up in a bad mood?  That kinda happened to me today.  I don’t know why.  I woke up, my hair was frizzy, my pjs were rumpled, the cat was on the foot of my bed licking its butt, and I just… couldn’t.  I dragged myself up, and I went for a run, and it didn’t really help.  I just felt cranky.

I guess a girl’s allowed a cranky day.

Sabby was all cheerful this morning for breakfast and I was just having none of it.  I just robotically ate, and then went to take a shower.  That helped a little too but, still.  I was just cranky.  All day.

Finally Sabby asked me what was going on, and I said I had no idea, I just hated the world at that particular moment.  She sighed and went for the chocolate pudding in the fridge.

“You know when I do things like this I feel like I’m playing favorites,” she said, sadly.  “But I can’t think of many things that chocolate doesn’t fix.”

I sighed and took a bite.  It actually helped!  I ate the rest of the pudding.  “Why do you feel like you’re playing favorites?”

“I never did this with Beth.”

“Beth’s a different person.  And a little younger.”

“True.  Maybe…  maybe I haven’t been fair to her and David, though.  You’re so much like me… and they’re not.”

I was quiet.  I scooped out another bowlful of pudding and ate slowly.  Chocolate really does fix almost everything.

She kissed my forehead.  “Take your time and get back to school when you’re ready.”

This evening she took Beth out for girl time, just the two of them.  I didn’t mind.  Everyone needs some girl time.  Except maybe David.  And she spends so much time with me, I can hardly complain, can I?  I just sat in a chair and read a book.  I think I see why Beth likes that so much.  Then Dave and I played a board game.  Now it’s time to brush Beth’s hair.

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

Oh no!  I wasn’t able to update for a few days!  I got a little sick late last week and Sabby insisted that I stay in bed.  She even made me some chicken soup!  Don’t worry, it wasn’t the virus (I was tested), just a little something going around.  Unfortunately, I had to put off starting the job though because the test didn’t come back until Saturday.  They let me start on Sunday though!

It’s a… job, I guess.  Not a bad job, not a really fun job, just a job.  They taught me how to use the cash register and gas pump machine, and gave me a little uniform and everything!  It’s not cute, but it’s cute on me, because I’m cute!  Modest, too!

After a couple of hours I got the hang of it and was pressing buttons along with the best of them!  I had a few problem customers but I learned that just looking innocent and not saying anything until they run out of steam, and then pretending like they didn’t say anything, works pretty well.  They get all upset again and I just do it all again.  Finally they ask for my manager, and, well, he’s standing right there and tells them to get out.  He’s a little strict, but he seems to look out for us.  He doesn’t take it from customers, and I love that!

But maybe that’s just how you get after years of owning a convenience store.

One perk is, I get to eat a sandwich or something for lunch!  The job doesn’t have many perks, but like I said, he has an attitude of “you take care of me, I take care of you”, and a free lunch is a part of that.  I have to be careful not to get fat now!

Dave is a little worried because sometimes people rob stores, but I think it’ll be okay.

Don’t worry about me!  I’m feeling better!  And I have a job!

Love you all!!!  ❤️

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

I went for a run this morning, and a cold front went through last night!  It was nice!  It’s supposed to be even nicer tomorrow, I might even have to wear a long exercise outfit instead of the shorts and tank top I usually wear!  But fall is here!  I like fall!  The trees don’t start losing their leaves until like February, but I still like it!

I’ve never been to the northeast, not that I can remember, anyway, but I saw pictures, and their trees are beautiful, especially when they change color in the fall!  Maybe someday I can go visit!

I gave my presentation on the Space Shuttle.  It was an amazing machine, with a lot of shortcomings.  I wish I could have seen a launch, it would have been amazing!  But now we’ve got all of these private companies, like SpaceX and whatever, and it’s cool, but not quite the same.  It’s like they’ve taken the mystery out of it.

Apparently some political stuff has been going on that I don’t understand, and Sabby’s been a little sad.  I gave her a hug, but I don’t think it helped.  I hope she can get past it soon.  I’m sure I could understand if I wanted to, but I don’t want to.  It’s boring and depressing.

Oh well.  I guess I have things to do.

Love you all!!!  ❤️. And Sabby tells me Allison reads this now!  Hi Allison!

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

Today was another quiet day.  Just learned stuff.  I’ve learned a few more Japanese things!  Like how to say “itadakimasu!”  and please, and thank you, and I’m sorry!  yay!  Or should I say, yatta!

Japanese is a weird language.  It’s backwards from everything!  The grammar is backward, the prepositions are postpositions, and basically, it’s just… backwards.  But it makes Spanish look easy!  So that’s good!

Liz came over tonight for dinner and we had “Chinese” food.  I know Liz doesn’t really like the food we call Chinese, well, she likes it okay, but she doesn’t like it when it’s called Chinese.  But I told her a while ago that we get it, but no one here knows what real Chinese food is, so she’ll just have to get used to it.  She offered to teach Sabby how to cook “real” Chinese food, and Sabby wants to learn someday.  But it hasn’t worked out yet.  So she made chicken and mushrooms with rice, and it was delicious.  Liz ate it all, so there’s that.  Afterwards, we had a little girl time with her and me and Beth.  She seems to be accepting Beth now, Beth hasn’t done anything to break her trust, and, well, let bygones be bygones, I guess.  Beth is actually pretty good at pronouncing her real name!  But I’m still not.

Well, I need to get some sleep.  This is how I stay cute!  I work tomorrow night, but that’s okay.  That’s how I’ll afford my license and stuffs!

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

I didn’t write yesterday because I was busy!  So busy!  I ran, and had school, and had dinner, and went to work until 10 PM, then came home, and went right to bed.  It was a busy day!

But work is good.  I met some more of my coworkers.  I think most of them like me.  I think one of the guys really likes me.  I’m sad I’m going to have to shoot him down.  But I will!  I said I don’t want a boyfriend!

I’m not sure he really wants a girlfriend either.  I caught him staring at my floppy bits.  I think it will be easy to shoot him down, even if it’s a sad thing.

Sabby told me that I should report him if he gets too bad.  I will.  But right now, well, some folks at the waterpark saw more of my floppy bits than he ever will, so I don’t think I care all that much.

I worked most of the day today, but I did get to leave at 6, so that was nice.  I’m not allowed to work too late legally, but the owner knows my age and is trying to not keep me out late, or at the times when bad things might happen.  That’s nice of him.  I hope it doesn’t have anything to do with that time I saw Sabby take a walk over there.  He does seem like an okay guy.  Very business driven and professional, but professional people do right by their employees too, and he seems to want to.

Tomorrow after work Liz and I are going to have some girl time.  I miss her.

Love you all!!! ❤️

Hi!  It’s me!  Lily!

So work was pretty good today, except I was right about that guy, he asked me out.  I told him no.  He got a little huffy, but I didn’t think too much about it.

But then I went in back to get something, and he cornered me.  He was acting really weird, and he tried to grab me.

Well, it turns out I know martial arts.  I don’t know what kind it was, but I grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back.  He had the wind knocked out of him, and tried to get up, but I put my knee on his.. well, boy bits, and told him if he moves, he gets it worse.  He started screaming bloody murder, but he had the sense to stay still.

The owner came in and yelled, demanding to know what happened.  I didn’t blame him!  I was kind of in tears, but I told him that he tried to grab me.  Of course, the guy denied it, and said I was crazy and trying to kill him.  I kind of froze.  I was sure I’d lost my job.

The owner called the police.  He explained that he had to do it, because no matter who was right, someone got assaulted, and he wasn’t going to put himself in the position of trying to figure out who.  I was really scared at the time, but looking back on it, that was really professional.

While we were waiting for the police, I called Sabby, and they all arrived at about the same time.  I clung to her, but she kind of pushed me away, gently of course, and told me that while she’ll have my back, I need to deal with it like an adult.

So the police took our statements, and thankfully, there were cameras.  The police went back to look at the cameras, and then took him out in cuffs for assault of a minor.  They advised me that he would probably be out on bail pretty quickly and that I might want to take steps to protect myself.

Sabby and I had a hushed conversation, and I told the owner that I couldn’t work there for a while, because the guy knew where to find me.  He understood, and told me I could come back when I was ready.  Sabby told me we were going to talk to our lawyer immediately and file for a restraining order.  She also cautioned me that restraining orders really don’t do a whole lot.  So we left as the police cars were pulling away.

When we got home, she demanded I tell her everything, and I did.  She was surprised that I knew martial arts, but no more surprised than I was.  But David actually was looking at me with admiration in his eyes.  He wanted to hear the story about how I beat up a boy!  So I told it again, leaving out the details, and he actually said “wow, that’s cool!”  Then he ran up to play games, but I’ll take what I can get.

Sabby is giving me the day off from school.  We need to talk to the lawyer, and she’s going to make sure I’m loaded up on chocolate.  I can’t complain about that!

What a way to start a job!

Love you all!!! ❤️

Wow, it’s the end of September already!  Can you believe it?  Holidays are coming up!

It was a boring day.  Boringly boring.  What did one of those space guys say?  90 percent boredom and 10 percent terror, or something like that?  Maybe that’s life too.

But we did hear from the police.  The guy is out on bail, but he was served the restraining order, and if he’s caught anywhere around here it’ll be curtains for him!  I hope he stays away!  I don’t want to have to beat him up again!  They told Sabby that a part of his bail conditions were that he has to get a psychiatric evaluation.  Can they even do that?  I guess so.  Anyway, I guess we’ll see how that turns out.  I have two pending court things going on, and they’re both for people attacking me!  What the heck?!

But at least nothing really bad happened either time, and I even learned something about myself!

Well, short entry today.  I need to go to bed!  I’m tired!

Love you all!!! ❤️