diary entry four

hi, spacehey! long time no post. 

a lot has happened since my last blog post. 

we held my dad's memorial on march 5. i can't believe it's been a little over a month since he passed away. it still doesn't feel real. it was a wonderful "service." my dad's best friend played his guitar at the end and spoke a little about their friendship and his music. it was lovely and made everyone cry. i also got to meet some of my dad's coworkers and his pastor. when i was chatting with his pastor, his best friend, and a coworker, there was a moment when they all paused and one of them said he was taken aback by how much i look like my dad =') i really appreciated that, and i told them one of my favorite stories: 

my mom is an elementary school teacher, and my sister and i went to her school growing up. her coworkers would always say "you girls look so much like your mother!" until my dad attended a school function and those same people would realize "wait...you (me) look like your daddy and you (my sister) look like your mom." idk why i like that story so much but i was happy to share it at my dad's memorial. 

i designed the memorial cards and poster, wrote my dad's obituary, and put together the slideshow we played. everyone was very impressed and thought i did a great job, which made me feel good. i still need to make some tweaks to the slideshow and burn it to a dvd for my dad's mom. 

after the memorial, we had some people over for a dinner of my dad's favorites: popeyes chicken, jambalaya, and red beans and rice! i also got to catch up with my childhood best friend and her siblings. we used to do everything together when we were little, and it was really nice to see them again. 

the week after his memorial, my family and my partner and i left for vacation in southern california. my partner and i drove down on our own so we didn't have to be dependent on my family for transportation. we stopped for lunch at one of my partner's favorite restaurants. i got a fried fish sandwich and added some pico de gallo and roasted chipotle salsa to it. my partner got a wet burrito. we walked around the mall for a little bit before getting back on the road. i saw a lady step in a giant pile of (hopefully) dog shit. it was really gross skfhdkjgh 

my partner and i slept on the pull-out couch, which was surprisingly comfortable. there was mouse poop on our sheets though so we washed them before we went to bed. we also had a small balcony on our side of the unit, and we spent time out there after saying goodnight to everyone. i smoked a joint for the first time, but i don't think i did it correctly bc i didn't feel high at all =/ my partner smoked with me, but their lungs are more sensitive and they got a really bad cough that turned into a sore throat and sniffles. 

it was so refreshing to spend time on the beach and have dinner with some friends. my partner and i went on a couple of hikes on our own, and it was nice to have some time to ourselves. we saw a lot of pretty flowers and a snake on our hike!! we ate at a few of my grandparents' favorite restaurants and the food was so so SO good. my partner and i got matching t-shirts from a stand on the pier where the last restaurant was. we wore them on our drive home =) 

we got home on friday, and not much has happened since. i have closing shifts at work for most of the week and my partner has opening shifts at their job, so we'll barely see each other during the day. in better news, i might be getting a car! my grandparents have a friend who has a friend who's selling their car. it's a sedan from 2007 but they've maintained it well. it even has those wood accents on the dash that used to be super popular. i'm so excited! it's a different model of the car my sister has, so i'm sure i'll be comfortable driving it. my grandparents were going to give me their old car, but my grandma totaled it X_X so they'll use the money from insurance to pay for my new-to-me car! i'm so excited. i wish my dad was here to test drive it with me and check out the engine. i'm sure if he doesn't think getting the car is a good idea, he'll send a sign. so we'll see! 

i think that's all i have to say. i'll try not to let so much time pass between diary entries again. 

love,
bee