When I see you smile

A memory from childhood – I am doing that old-school thing where I hang out next to the radio with my tape recorder, waiting to tape songs that I like. In my memory, which may be flawed, it is the late 80’s or very early 90’s. It’s a sunny afternoon; I am laying on my stomach on a bed, hanging half-off. The radio is on the floor, and the tape recorder (almost as big as a hardcover Stephen King book) is in my hands, ready to go. A song comes on that I absolutely love, “When I see you smile, I can face the world, Oh-oh, you know I can do anything,” and I start taping. I get about three-quarters of the way through the song when my brother and sister appear, being all loud and rowdy. Instead of screaming at them or having a meltdown, as I often did back then, I somehow include them in what I’m doing. By the end of the song, we are all singing along into the tape recorder, “Baby when I see you smile, smile… at… me!”

I wish I still had that tape. I probably threw it out as soon as I got my CD player.

Anyway – present day. Today I went to lunch at Café 59. I don’t agree with their hours, but I love their BLT and their horseradish potato salad. I was sitting at a table, alternately people-watching out the huge front windows and reading one of my groovy new books, “Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters,” when a couple came in and sat at a table near me.

And they made me happy for several reasons.

She looked like a schoolteacher and he looked like a biker, and they gave off the appearance of being happily married for years and years – they have a daughter who’s a junior in high school. Maybe I’m just assuming that he’s the father, but since I don’t know for sure, I can assume whatever makes me happiest. The straight-laced woman who wins the heart of a bad boy, the tough biker-dude who is also sensitive and likes to read. More assumptions on my part, certainly. I just love seeing people who look like they might have nothing in common, yet seem like they’re really happy together… so delightful! They asked me about my book, and they were both really knowledgeable about Jane Austen and really interested in the mash-up of Jane Austen and monsters (I also told them about “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”). It was a good time.

Tomorrow, after work, I'm heading down to Familyland for FOUR WHOLE DAYS of fun with the kiddies. Mom will be babysitting Kailyne and Lyra on Friday, so we are going to have a party, just us girls (and my brother, I guess). Kailyne is really excited about Floyd coming down, and so we can play with him and eat a yummy lunch and watch Spongebob… it sounds just amazing. And the rest of the weekend will be filled with yet more childish antics, with my nephews and Floyd playing together (those kids love cats), and video games, and running around the house screaming, and junk food… the usual. A nice little mid-February break.

In other news, I did my taxes, and I’m getting a nice chunk of change from the government. Apparently it pays to be broke as a joke for an entire year, though I wasn’t happy about it at the time… anyway, last year I got my awesome little netbook with my refund. This year my big purchase will be TIRES! All four tires on my car are getting replaced. And, seriously, I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!

Of course, I will also take some trips to Sephora and Shoefly, but a large chunk will be put into my savings.

I’m excited about new tires and I’m planning to save? I must be an adult or something.