Amber's friend Erica (from Michigan) visited us this weekend. It was really cool because I think for the first time ever we really connected as friends too. We didn't used to get along very well, and have long since reconciled, but I think that mostly meant that we started getting along. This was different. There was nothing forced about it. There didn't seem to be any mediation through Amber. I think thats a rare thing too, as I think it's hard for people to become friends with their spouse's / sig. other's friends without the weird mediation. Mediation makes them an acquaintance. I really felt comfortable around Erica and I enjoyed her presence. I think she probably noticed the difference in our interaction too and had a good time hanging out with me.
It makes me really happy to be able to say all of this, because I know how important Erica is to Amber. They have a special sister-like connection that I've always admired.
We had a pretty cool weekend. We hung out and I worked on my collage and organized my photographs while they made clothes and jewelry. We also walked through the short north and showed Erica around a bit. She walked quite a ways too- and she's 6 months pregnant!
Lori and Robert called us spontaneously and let us know that they would be in town from West Virginia, but unfortunately they got delayed by some circumstances and were not able to make it here before Erica had to leave. We are supposed to meet them for a bit tomorrow afternoon before they had back.
My parents also visited today while Amber was at work. It was nice to chat, but I think they just don't quite understand what exactly it is Amber and I are trying to do. They seem to have a steady stream of reservations about all the stuff that we're exited about. I just don't think I should really have to justify all of my actions to them. Sometimes I think they wish I would just kind of fall in line and settle for some modern version of what they have. My mother kinda swooped in today and started making plans to get a U-Haul and to get all this stuff loaded into it that I don't even want to keep. She tried to convince me to at least get a more sensible camper than the 71 VW we are trying to get. She even kind of assigned me to look into a storage facility in West Virginia, because I told her we were going to store a select few items like winter clothes, 1 of our tvs, our bookshelves, computer chairs, and a bare minimum set of dishes and cookware. We wanted to just load up that stuff in the back of my pickup truck and take it down. If we can't fit it all in the back of the truck then we probably need to get rid of some more stuff. I think she thinks that we are not really getting rid of anything, but instead that we are taking it all. Weird, because I keep telling her we are getting rid of all of our stuff. In fact, I've emphasized the fact that we are only keeping stuff that's really important to us. It's also hard to not keep them in the loop about things because they ask alot of questions and follow up... often. I guess spontaneity is okay with them... just only if you plan for it immensely before hand. Anyways I think it will all work out. We'll probably just end up getting the van and moving our stuff one day and giving away the rest and then we'll say "oh yeah- we did that all yesterday- no need for all the special arrangements-etc"
I called my grandma today to wish her a happy birthday. I don't talk much with her anymore. I also don't talk much with my aunt Flo. I haven't seen her in years, it seems, and I love her dearly. She has a pure, kind heart. I've been thinking of her for a while now and wanting to send her pictures of this apartment and columbus with a nice long letter telling her all the things we have been doing. Maybe I still will do so before we move away. I found a picture today that she gave me. It's of her and my mother and my grandma. The more I looked at the picture the more I thought about how nobody treats her the way that Amber and I do. It made me kinda sad actually, and I think perhaps the photograph may make me realize my idea of sending her a letter from us both.
