bird by bird

I'm really not bitter about Valentine's Day. I'm really not. Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love, and I LOVE love. I'm not in love, but I love a lot. I just remembered this Valentine's Day story as I was driving back to Vermillion this afternoon in the treachery that is the SD interstate in February. When I thought of it, I literally laughed out loud at the thought /realization that maybe I really am under some sort of Valentine's Day curse. (See post on 2/12) ________________________ In my Valentine's Day experience, the worst possible place for a single, 21 year old woman to be on the day of love is, without a doubt, a sorority house. On this day, florists seem to make direct routes from floral shops to sorority houses bringing bouquets and balloons from boyfriends to girlfriends. I experienced this phenomenon for the three years that I lived in Theta, answering the door, greeting the deliverer, reading the card, and placing someone else...

When they were little girls with skinned knees and pure hearts, they shared a bedroom and a cherry wood set of bunk beds. Barbies and their plastic accessories covered the floor like shrapnel after a sisterly feud. The Barbies and their accessories went into hiding when her 5th grade friends came over. She was too old for Barbies. They had glow in the dark stars covering their ceiling and every now and then one would fall and get tangled up in the blankets they had with kittens and colored pencils screen printed on them. One morning she found one in her hair. The older one slept on the top bunk because her legs were long enough to hoist herself up without a latter. And she was the oldest. And the bravest. (There was no guard rail). Sometimes after they had been tucked in by their parents, the younger one would ask the older one to sing to her. So she sang Mariah Carey, naturally. Then, the little one would tell the big one that she loved her, in her sweet, little sister voice. Though t...

My mom keeps saying she needs to go outside and weed eat. It's December. She means snow blow. I stopped correcting her after the 4th time.

I am 23 years old. I've had 22 Christmases with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, cats, and dogs and 21 Christmases with my dad. 22 Christmases with turkey and mashed potatoes, pie and lefsa. I've gone to bed 8 Christmas Eve nights anticipating Santa Claus and 23 Christmas Eve nights knowing my stocking would be filled in the morning. I have had 6 Christmases in my old house in Waubay, 16 Christmases in our old house in Watertown, and today, our first Christmas in our new house in Watertown. Thanks to snow/life, this year was different: no grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no dogs, no turkey dinner, no dad. This year, things were very different. But it was good. Appetizers instead of turkey and stuffing. 3 of us instead of 30 of us. Snow, snow, snow. Ho, Ho, Ho. Merry Christmas!!

This is a photo from my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary party that my mom and her siblings threw over Thanksgiving weekend. 50 years is a lot of years, after all. I wish everyone could make it to 50. I love this picture so much because my grandma is trying to kiss my grandpa and he looks absolutely repulsed. I envision my own (supposed) marriage to be something like this.

Last Thanksgiving was the first major holiday without my dad, and even though we still had a lot to be thankful for, my mom, sister, and I weren't feeling particularly festive. My mom was less affected mainly due to her preoccupation with preparing the entire meal: turkey, potatoes, pies, salads, etc. My sister and I, however, were acutely aware that something big was missing, and we weren't quite sure how we were going to get through it. Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while peeling potatoes just wasn't the same without him. Carrying up folding chairs from the basement wasn't the same without him. Moving all our cars to make room for our relatives wasn't the same without him. Regardless, it had to be done. Allison hopped in my jeep with me so we could move it to the garage in the back, and when I turned on the radio, "Gonna Get Through This" came on the radio. We looked at each other, cranked the stereo, and drove around the block 11 times...

Mom: “That’s a very good idea Amanda, I just don’t think it’s a very good idea” _______________________________________________________ Mom: “Your sister wants to go to Salon Dion in Omaha” Me: (to self: “Why does she need to go to a Salon in Omaha?”) “Oh, you mean Celine Dion!” Mom: “Yeah, that’s what I said.” _______________________________________________________ When talking about getting a new computer… Me: “I really just want an apple!” Mom: “Well you can look in the fridge but I think we just have oranges.” _______________________________________________________ Mom: “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you know what happened to our computer keyboard. I needed to type something but it’s missing!” Me: “How could our keyboard be gone??...... Did you pull the drawer out?” Mom: “Oh.” _______________________________________________________ The first time my mom texted me: Hi+its+mom+are+you+safe+ (She couldn’t figure out how to make spaces) __________________________________________...