1. Started watching an episode of Neighbours. Things aren't going well for Erin (Adrienne Pickering) She was supposed to have a sleepover with her daughter (Maleeka Gasbarri); but instead she stole Mark's wallet, laptop, and phone, and ran away. Since, IMDb shows Pickering not appearing in many episodes, I have a feeling her purpose was to introduce Gasbarri to the show. Maybe Gasbarri will become a regular? Perhaps Sonya (Eve Morey) and Toadie (Ryan Moloney) will take her in to replace Callum? I mean not literally, as in replacing their son but more in the line of the show replacing a character.
2. Looked at IMDb and saw I'm wrong. Maleeka Gasbarri is listed as appearing in only six episodes of Neighbours.
I don't get it. Why? Why didn't they make the storyline longer?
I wanted to see a long struggle of recovery and then a happy ending.
3. Thought of my dad when I saw Lou (Tom Oliver) wearing a turquoise shirt. Because my dad finally starting wearing a rash guard at the pool, and it's that color. I actually wasn't fond of the color, for him, at first. So I was going to buy my dad a new rash guard for Father's Day. But then I realized that was rude. Gifts that are given for the purpose of changing someone are not very nice. Since my dad bought the shirt, it's likely he's happy with the color. And maybe I'm happy with it too now, because when I saw Lou wearing the color, it gave me happy warm feelings about seeing my dad hanging out in the pool with the kids.
4. Related to Eric Thompson when he said this in his blog, I hate talking on/fear the phone in Australia, so I was super scared to be doing it in Japanese!
I get really nervous talking on the phone too. And I've heard other people say the same thing. What's the deal? I think it's probably a new thing. We've become unused to talking on the phone. We so often text now. Or email. I think before all this, I was nervous about some phone calls, but mostly I was okay. Now I pretty much dread them all. The other day, we wanted to order Thai food. I thought we could order online and was dismayed to see I'd have to call. Although it turns out I couldn't, because my phone wouldn't work. Tim had to do it.
2. Looked at IMDb and saw I'm wrong. Maleeka Gasbarri is listed as appearing in only six episodes of Neighbours.
I don't get it. Why? Why didn't they make the storyline longer?
I wanted to see a long struggle of recovery and then a happy ending.
3. Thought of my dad when I saw Lou (Tom Oliver) wearing a turquoise shirt. Because my dad finally starting wearing a rash guard at the pool, and it's that color. I actually wasn't fond of the color, for him, at first. So I was going to buy my dad a new rash guard for Father's Day. But then I realized that was rude. Gifts that are given for the purpose of changing someone are not very nice. Since my dad bought the shirt, it's likely he's happy with the color. And maybe I'm happy with it too now, because when I saw Lou wearing the color, it gave me happy warm feelings about seeing my dad hanging out in the pool with the kids.
4. Related to Eric Thompson when he said this in his blog, I hate talking on/fear the phone in Australia, so I was super scared to be doing it in Japanese!
I get really nervous talking on the phone too. And I've heard other people say the same thing. What's the deal? I think it's probably a new thing. We've become unused to talking on the phone. We so often text now. Or email. I think before all this, I was nervous about some phone calls, but mostly I was okay. Now I pretty much dread them all. The other day, we wanted to order Thai food. I thought we could order online and was dismayed to see I'd have to call. Although it turns out I couldn't, because my phone wouldn't work. Tim had to do it.
How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-departed to talk to us via the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
5. Read about Nikki's struggle to make friends in South Africa. It makes me glad that I no longer long for friendship. It's such a pain...for the most part.
I read something from my sister Melissa recently. It was something along the lines of, all you need to be happy is one or two solid friends. I disagree with that. I have no solid friends, and I'm quite happy.
But I liked the term she used. Solid friends. It kind of solidified (pun actually not intended) things in my brain. Sometimes I say I have no friends, but that's not really true. I do have people in my life that are kind of friend-like. But I don't have any solid friends. Melissa didn't define what she meant by solid friend. So I have my own definition. It's someone you interact with on a frequent basis, and you know you can count on them when you need someone to talk to. If you have a problem, you don't have to feel alone. You know your friend will listen. Or at least most of the time. I don't imagine there are any solid friendships that are 100% solid.
I have people with whom I talk to on a regular basis, but I don't usually feel comfortable talking to them about my problems, because they seem to prefer talking about themselves.
If I had a serious problem and needed to talk to someone, I know there are several people who would read my email and respond in a nice way. But these are people I don't talk to on a frequent basis, so I wouldn't usually feel comfortable doing it. I would need to be very desperate, and that's rarely the case.
6. Figured that Tim could maybe qualify as a solid friend. I talk to him on a regular basis, and if I have a problem, he's willing to listen. But sometimes what I want to talk about is him and our relationship issues. Plus, there are other things I don't feel comfortable discussing with him.
So...if I want to talk about things, why not find a friend?
Well, because I've gone down that path and there have always been more cons than pros. To me, finding and having friends has been about rejection, feeling used, feeling abandoned, people who think their problems are more important than mine, and people who think their lives are more interesting than mine. So I'd rather keep the time that would be lost with all that and use it for watching my TV shows, spending time with my child, exercising, daydreaming, playing Minecraft, blogging, listening to music, being with my family, surfing the Internet, etc.
7. Wanted to say that I DO have a few very lovely people in my life that I see and/or talk to occasionally. They're good listeners, and they're very kind. I think of them as friends or maybe treasured acquaintances. But since we don't talk often, I don't see them as solid friends. That's fine, though. I'm not sure if I'd want them as solid friends, because I've become very used to not having solid friends. I'm used to having the time for myself. I guess I've become a bit selfish with my time, and you know what...I don't feel any shame about that.
8. Wanted to also say that I also have a few people I talk to on a regular basis, and they're not bad listeners. But...like the case with Tim, there are many things I wouldn't want to discuss with them.
10. Felt that maybe solid friendship is not as important as we've been led to believe. But I do think we need other people around...at least some of the time. We need them for conversation, shared laughter, and shared experiences. But it doesn't have to be a close friend or family member that provides this. It can be a fellow blogger that sometimes comments or a person we end up talking to in the line at Disney World.
Although who knows. Maybe that's not even needed for happiness. Someone might be reading this post who hasn't interacted with another human being in months. And maybe they manage to still be happy. I don't think I could do that. But we're all different, and that doesn't mean one of us is better than the other.
11. Annoyed by conversation I'm seeing on Neighbours between Chris (James Mason) and Lucy (Melissa Bell). They're talking about their not-even-yet conceived child and making all these plans. They want the kid to go to a coed school, take guitar lessons, do swimming, tennis. And Chris wants AFL as well.
Uh...how about waiting to see what child is interested in? What if he wants to do archery and golf? What if he wants to play the recorder and not the guitar. Or what if she prefers to sing? What if she doesn't like sports and would rather get her exercise by dancing or playing Wii Fit?
I'm hoping Nate (Meyne Wyatt) will talk some sense into them. I kind of get the feeling that he, the one in the picture who doesn't want children, will be the one who ends up being the best parent to the child.
12. Imagined if I was going to have a crush on anyone on Neighbours it would be Meyne Wyatt.
13. Felt like one of those cougar-woman, because Lord Wiki just told me Meyne Wyatt is twenty-six. Well, at least he's not a teenager or in his EARLY twenties. I'm old enough to be Wyatt's mother, but it would have been a teen pregnancy. So...the situation wouldn't be incredibly cougarish.
14. Disappointed, because Nate didn't defend the child's potential individuality.
15. Wondered if I had any rigid plans about Jack before he was born. I don't think I did, but I may be blocking things from my memory.
16. I liked Gillian's teapot collection on the Tessie Girl blog. What's cute is, she says she doesn't like to drink tea. Maybe it's better that way, though. Because if she did drink tea, she'd have to go through the stress of deciding what teapot to use whenever she made tea. Or she might always choose one particular teapot and the other teapots would be resentful and jealous.
17. Figured I could be wrong, and maybe teapots don't like being used for tea. In that case, the one teapot being used might be the one feeling resentful. The other teapots might tease her about that.
18. Perplexed that I find sad, rejected, and desperate Daniel (Tim Phillips) more attractive than happy, secure, and in-a-relationship Daniel.
19. Realized I've forgotten to mention that I've started watching new episodes of Neighbours. I might have made it sound like I've been watching the same episode most of the day. But I've actually watched three so far.
I might watch another later. There's not much else going on. Every so often, I take a walk outside. But it's really hot, so that's not very enjoyable.
20. Went outside for a walk and then did a tiny bit of kitchen cleaning. Now I'm going to watch my fourth episode of Neighbours.
21. Took a break from the fourth episode of Neighbours to go out to dinner, shop at Walmart, and have an adventure with Jack, my sister, my nieces, and a neighborhood dog.