Photos from home

Being back "home" at my beach is nice, for a few days anyway. Then it's just lonely without someone else to share it with. I tried to make up for it by taking pictures. These are from a new home store:

These grafitti lamps I actually saw months ago on the web.

This is a cork lamp. It looks cool and weird in this shot

I love beach decor, so I liked this coral box

Glass sailboat votive holders. Much prettier than my camera captured them

This is a margarita and chips from my favorite Mexican place. I go every time I'm home.

They give you a little plastic animal with each drink. The server went to hs with me and I told her about my dad, so she brought my second drink out with one of every animal they had in it. I laughed and was very appreciative, since I collect them for my plastic menagerie. I thought it was a sweet, simple gesture.

I went out one night for happy hour to get out of my house and went to a local bar with a friendly bartender I met last time I was home and a chill atmosphere. He was great-- very Irish, named Chester, and we talked about my dad, family, our town, etc. Then 2 ladies sat next to me at the bar, around my mother's age, and we started up conversation. We ended up talking the whole night, and really bonded. They were both very sweet and even ended up paying my tab, which they totally didn't have to do, and was very nice. Then my old driver's ed teacher and his wife sat down at the other side of me, and we all chatted for awhile. (It really is a small town). I had managed to get a parking ticket (was 5 minutes late putting more $ in the stupid meter), and they took it from me and insisted on paying. I was truly overwhelmed with all the support from mere strangers, and it definitely made my night.

The ladies and I then went next door to a new place to get some food. We had garlic and parmesean fries and a BLT flatbread pizza. They tasted like heaven, probably because I was drunk.

We met Stephanie the bartender there, a friendly and pretty gal who'd recently moved to the East Coast from SoCal. This is a photo of her with Cindy, one of the women.

I had a grand time, and it was exactly what I needed. Thank you ladies, for that night.

"Home"

I was "home" last week for a family emergency. Well, not so much an emergency, as an end. My father unexpectedly died. It's hard to explain to most people, because up until last December, I hadn't seen my father in 15 years. So it's not like I lost a parent. No, I lost my parent when I was 13. I grieved him back then, when my mother and I left.

He was troubled, unstable, and a loner, and so it's sad, because his life was sad, and it's sad because my grandmother (his mother) who helped raise me, outlived everyone--her son, her husband, her sister/best friend.

He died in his home due to heart problems, died alone, and no one found him for days. Take a moment to imagine the mark that leaves on the house, the imagery, the smell, the horror. I didn't dare go into the room, but the smell permeates everything: my clothes from that day, the things I put in my car, my car seats, my grandmother's bills, his laptop, which I later hacked into and was on the bed next to him when he died. I found he had a myspace (which was locked) and a Twitter (which was not). He wrote mostly mundane things on Twitter, including trips for coffee, listening to music, and his dreams of the beach. But he did make one post about seeing me for the first time in many years, and it was all I could do not to cry and be weirded out by the whole thing.

There's tons of issues regarding my grandmother's estate and guardianship that I have to deal with now, and I'm overwhelmed. One day at a time, is all I can do. In my next post, I'll show you some of the good stuff that came out of the trip, including my favorite tacky Mexican place, and sparkly jewelry.

lounge

You know, I was going to go to a local festival (and i love my street festivals) but I'm actually rather content to stay in my apt in my pjs, eating bread and olive oil, reading blogs, and uploading pictures. A post about my trip back home to deal with family stuff will come later.