Welcome Summer!! Happy Father's Day!!

It's been a hot minute since I updated what's going on in my life and what better time than 12:34 AM on Monday morning (thank God for summers off!!)?

Let's see... since I last posted, I have:
- Listened to The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown on audio book- both were fantastic! Solid 10/10s! I loved that Barack reads his book. I love the way he speaks and his perspective on politics was so beautifully painted through the eyes of his experience. It made me love the man all the more!! Dan Brown's book was, of course, much better than the movie. The way they confangled the ending was a terrible injustice! But ah, such is Hollywood. Brown painted such the steamy scene in his final chapter that I'm completely floored that Hollywood didn't jump all over that.
- Read 171 pages of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini- which is wonderful so far! I find the Afghani culture intriguing and I'm glad to learn more about life there and how things have precipitated into today's Afghanistan.
- Went to New York and finally met the people I've heard so much about on my father's side (again, so I remember this time, since the last time was when I was "this big") my Great Aunt Connie, Great Uncle Joe( and their 3 kids and their combined 5 or so children), my Great Aunt Lena (yes, how awesome is it that I have family with my name? Completely unintentionally- I was named after my great grandmother on my mother's side!), her two sons- Philly and...?, my 3rd or so cousins Kathy (and her new husband) and Malissa (my grandpa's cousins' granddaughter...), and Jack and Susie (my grandpa's cousin).
- Spent 3 days in Ontario, Canada with Jack and Susie and intimately experienced Niagra Falls for my first time via a 4D video, going "Behind the Falls", practically touching the rapids, and reading/hearing lots of the rich history surrounding one of the greatest Wonders of the Natural World.
- Drove back home with grandma and my GPS ended up taking us on my papa's old truck routes, which was quite wonderful to experience. We also passed some places from my father's childhood. It was nice quality time with gram- even if she did need 3 bathroom/coffee breaks on a 3 hour trip- my how the tables have turned! :-)
- Taught Vacation Bible School to a wonderful group of 8 and 9-year-olds (Shasarry and Isaac were the most memorable) with Katrina and Seth. Studio Go! Go Lead, Risk, Share, Tell and Obey! The songs- "Go Tell", "I Will" and "Wherever I Go". One of the students was excited about pudding.
- De-weeded my entire back and front yard while also aerating the soil. Took me a combined 9 hours, but the yard looks great! Mom and Tracie are going to take me tomorrow to pick out some new additions to the yard. :-)
- Had a Pine Acres sleep-over with the youth after the last night of VBS- complete with a trip to the Jigger Shop.
- Spent a much-needed day with Toy seeing The Proposal (ehh.. cute, but total surprise ending that still has me unsure of the entire movie now- I'd say she gets an 7.5/10), going to TJ Rockwell for Rhino fries and soup, then ending the night with a brewsky at The Bluebird with Ed and Tim. :-) Family is great, but I need my friends tooo!!!

Yep, so that's what has kept me busy.

Today I went to church with my dad (since my parents left the UCC church nearly 10 years ago and now attend a non denominational church and he always wants me to go with them, so I figured today was a good day for that- especially since my brothers weren't around...) Their services are quite interesting. No agendas or bulletins to be found there! They are "lead by the spirit", which I believe is a pretty refreshing idea. Now, I can't tell you why exactly, but after about the 3rd song, the pastor asked who has lost a husband? My emotions went wild and I began crying. My heart hurt so much and I became overwhelmed with missing my papa. I thought of how tough today was for my dad and how gram had to have been thinking about the father of her two kids and I couldn't fight back the tears. Thankfully my family didn't notice. I felt ridiculous, but I couldn't fight them. It was an almost spiritual stirring from deep within- maybe repressed emotions resurfacing after almost 3 years? Once I finished, I felt so relieved. I'm pretty certain it went unnoticed (thankfully) because seeing others cry fuels my own tears.

After church, we went to the Timeless Cafe for brunch and I had the baked oatmeal with blueberries. I kid you not, I was still full at 6 this evening, when we went to dinner at Hoss's. Two amazing meals. Yay for fathers!!

Because it's Father's Day, perhaps I should elaborate a little about my old man. :-) I was born when my dad was 20 and unmarried. He was a pretty free spirit at the time- jobless and in love with my mother. They lived with my mother's mom right after I left the hospital for a few months and then went to my father's parent's house. We lived there for a few years. My dad got a job at Gooding's Grocery Store working the night shift. He worked the night shift for 9 years as my mother will bitterly remind anyone, but he worked hard. What I think of most, when I think of my dad, it's his dedication to work. In fact, he worked so hard, I don't really remember him much in my childhood. I remember him sleeping during the days and about the time I was heading to sleep, he was going to work. I remember his mullet haircut, his handlebar mustache, that he loved Aerosmith, he was the reason our family car was a 1970's something Charger, he dabbled in some pretty bad things for a brief time (drugs, stealing, etc.), when his job would have picnics at Wickham Park, and that I was Daddy's Little Girl. These are all really painful memories for my father now. I don't bring them up because to me, I understood, even at a young age that he had to work hard for us. He brings them up, typically accompanied with tears, at his remorse for not being there. I try to comfort him as best I can, with genuine appreciation for the many hours of his life that he spent working to provide for his family. When we moved to Pennsylvania 16 years ago, he resumed the night-time shift at Festival Foods. He worked there until the branch closed. He then went to work as a car-detailer at Frederick's Chevrolet, where he continues to bust his butt working. Oh, how we take for granted the "little people" who stock our shelves at the grocery store and clean out our used cars and make them presentable for new buyers! My father has provided a modest life for me, that I believe keeps me grounded and appreciative. Beyond a hard worker, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more spiritually alive man. He constantly gives everything he owns to his family and other teenagers who are without (as they have always had some teen living with them that has a story of abuse or is parentless), he gives Godly advice, constant encouragement and an admirable child-like faith in his heavenly Father. My dad has softened emotionally as well. I'm certain he'll be crying the loudest at my wedding next summer. :-) In my card to him today, I thanked him for always being there and that I hoped and prayed I never take that for granted. When I think of how many of my closest friends don't have a decent father-figure in their lives, I get sick to my stomach at how I sometimes take for granted the fact that my father tries very hard to be an active part of my life. The statistics out there show that it makes a huge difference when you have a constant father-figure in your life. I can't even begin to understand how important having him there has been, simply because I've never had to experience it. God forbid I have to learn that hard lesson anytime soon!

Well, it's taken me just over an hour to type this mumbo jumbo, but I feel better. Blogging is therapeutic! Jon started his new job at ASK tonight, so I head off to sleep alone, with the intent of going to the gym tomorrow morning before Toy and I venture to Harrisburg, plant-shopping with mom and Tracie and getting my mop of hair chopped off!! Oh, the days keep getting busier!