I’m hanging out at Paddy’s apartment in the city, wishing that I could be here more often. The wedding we went to on Saturday was very tasteful, like a waspy garden party. I had one of those “this-is-how-the-other-half-lives” moments when caterers were circling with platters of jumbo shrimp and I read on the back of my place card that a donation to Bono’s charity had been made in my name. To end poverty in Africa, I think. I couldn’t believe they had money left over to make a donation for everyone at the wedding. Anyway, it was fun enough, they were happy and I was drunk, so the whole thing ended up pulling on my heartstrings.

This afternoon I am going to a fancy salon downtown to get my hair cut. Yesterday when we were walking around the neighborhood, a girl came up to me and asked if I would be willing to be a hair model for her class. I figured I wasn’t doing anything, so I may as well, although I only had my hair cut two weeks ago. She had nice hair, so I figured she might make me look good too. Then I spent the rest of the afternoon wondering if my haircut was so bad that strangers thought that I needed an intervention. If it ends up really bad, it’s an excuse to cut it short again, which I prefer anyway.

I’m back in town, trying to get all of my things together before I leave again.  Some of Paddy’s old roommates from Menlo Park are getting married this weekend.  We don’t hang out with them all that much; they’re what we call Very Nice People.  The guy’s bachelor party is tomorrow, but instead of getting drunk and looking at strippers, he is going to a baseball game in the afternoon.   I think his dad and brothers are the only ones that can make it.  When he realized that most people couldn’t take the afternoon off, a couple of days ago he sent an email saying that he would like people to meet up for dinner that evening, but in an out of the way place.  He also has some half-baked idea of going surfing at midnight afterwards.  Anyways, the wedding will probably be an extravagant but dull affair.  It is at a winery in the mountains, which always seems like a pretty idea, but it means that half the people can’t have anything to drink and there is a strong possibility that several guests will get lost on the way.  They didn’t hire a bus, because they are teetotalers and don’t realize that it is an inconvenience.  They said the attire was “wedding casual” in their invitations, whatever that means.  I bought a hat to wear.  I wonder if you can even have a fun wedding.

It hardly seems worth it to come all the way back to College Town after the weekend, when I would just have to go back on Tuesday to catch our flight to Hawaii the next morning, so I’m not going to be home again for another two weeks.  I only got back here yesterday, but I’m not complaining.  It was nice to be able to spend time with my family.  Paddy visited me in San Diego last weekend; nothing too embarrassing happened.  We went to the zoo on Saturday, to the beach on Sunday and had a fine time.  I talked to my grandma on Sunday and the first thing she said was that she heard I had a boyfriend and that she hoped that he was a kind-hearted person because that was the most important quality in a man, even more important that having millions of dollars.  That, apparently, is second.  My grandma is weird, so I was pretty glad that she didn’t ask to talk to him herself.

family time

I tried to update the other day and it didn’t work.  I figured, why bother redoing it when I just wrote some boring thing about how I was back at my mother’s house in San Diego? I moved to college town.  All went according to plan.  I didn’t want to rent a truck to move my uncomfortable mattress, but I didn’t have the time to get a new one (well, new to me, at least).  So I’m back to sleeping on an air mattress.  My last year of college, I slept on one on top of an old futon for most of the year.  It was worse than I remember, although they are surprisingly fun to have sex on (unless they pop, which hopefully we will not have to experience again).  I plan to get a new mattress as soon as I return, because I am no longer 22.  It was a bit weird to be in the same town with the same boyfriend on a freakin’ air mattress again.  I’m not going to dwell on it.

Nothing exciting is happening here in SD.  I went shopping with my mom. I’ve been helping her take care of my handicapped brother and playing with my niece.  I’m supposed to take my youngest brother out driving sometime.  We’re going to the beach tomorrow.  I had to wait out the sunburn that I got sitting in the backyard for twenty minutes the other day.  I figured I should try to get up my tolerance a bit before actually going to the beach (or Hawaii, for that matter).  Speaking of that, my mom has been telling anyone who will listen that Paddy is taking me to Hawaii and the hotel has an ocean view! She asked me to tell her about it, so I caved and showed her where we were staying.  I should have known better, because not two minutes later I heard her gossiping about it.  He’s bravely coming here next weekend.  One of my brothers is planning on taking him to his favorite taqueria for lunch, where they make tacos “just like in Tijuana.”  I can only imagine.