In Summation: This is Contentment

I could spend a paragraph telling you about how sorry I am that I haven’t written a blog post sooner---but you already know that I’m really sorry. So this will do :)

I LOVE ENGLAND. My favorite part would have to be being with my Daddy. He and I are like best friends that don’t see each other for years, but pick up right where they left off every time they meet. He took me to a job agency to get my national insurance number, and we were making fun of each other as the lady who was helping us filled out some paperwork. She asked me to sign somewhere and then said, “You two are great friends, aren’t you? You don’t see that much these days.” And that’s exactly how it is, Dad and I. We take each other as we are, see humor in everything. He teaches me every day that nothing is impossible. Lifting heavy filing cabinets up attic stairways. Adamantly voicing an unpopular opinion to a strong opposition. Scavenging town in search of a cucumber for salad. We talk to each other about life. He tells me stupid things he’s done, why and if he stopped doing them. He’s interested in the life I’ve lived without him for so long, and I’m willing to talk to him—if only because I want him to know exactly who I’ve become over so many years.

Keeping up appearances is too tiring for a real relationship. As my favorite quote states, “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of Wisdom.” I trust Mr. Jefferson on this one. Lying is ridiculous. Personal peace is a result of accepting every facet of who you are and not being afraid of other people seeing you exposed like that. Understanding that you will live in the way you feel is correct regardless of judgment from the outside world. I can tell you for a fact that I have felt far more stability from living true to myself than from making myself sick trying to please other people and doing the things I ‘should’ be doing.

Moving on from that particular soapbox, I have an announcement to make. IT’S ALMOST MY BIRTHDAY!!! I’d say that most people know how much I love birthdays. Those same people also know that I usually don’t do an awful lot on my own birthday (which happens to be on June 10th. *cough*). But this year is different, my friends! Something has happened!

MAH DADDY GOTS ME A PIANO! My very own piano! Ebay is a beautiful place, my friends. So we went and got the piano a couple of days ago. It was so unbelievably dirty and dusty. We decided that we just needed to make my baby gleam. And that’s what I’ve been working on for the past two days—my beautiful piano. The inside of it was basically composed of cobwebs and decaying spiders and dust. The dust on the bottom was literally an inch thick. So we took a hoover to it, and we took a dustpan and brush to it, and we found a bottle brush and got in all the cracks and crevices until not a speck of dirt remained. Then we washed the outside with three different cleaners. Today I found a wood correction pen and filled in all of the scratches, and then we started waxing it. I’ll have it finished tomorrow. Waxing a piano takes a hell of a long time. But it is so radiant. The only problem is how to get it up the rather skinny, steep stairs of ours. I have no clue. It will happen, though.

I have been keeping busy in recent weeks by reading. In the past two and a half weeks I’ve read Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Burns, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, Every Touch Leaves a Trace by…somebody, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hossini, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, and The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. I’m about to start The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I haven’t read this much since I was in 10th grade. It is wonderful.

Miraculously, England has decided to finally settle into summer weather. I was working on the piano out in the garden and purposely wore a skirt so my white legs could get some sun on them. I think I only successfully managed to burn my shoulders, but let’s hope something came of it. I am so white that people stare. It’s slightly embarrassing to be stared at for my whiteness, particularly in Europe. I’ve been told that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but I’m fairly positive I’m not getting stares of admiration on the high street.

Enough about my skin. I have not had any luck in the job department yet, but my CV is basically finished, so I can send that in to a few places and see what happens. It will be when it is meant to be. For now all I can do it try.

I’ve been pondering recently about love. You don’t really get taught about love, do you? No one explains it properly. They get poetic. Really all I want to know is how to tell if you’ve fallen in it, and what’s a good indication that staying in it is a wise decision. I’ve been in love before, but it felt different each time. Is there one kind of love? If not, is one kind true than another? Is your ‘true love’ the person that you feel a particular shade of love for? It’s so damn confusing. I’m rather happy where I am with it right now, but answers are always nice.

My dear sister Hannah graduated from high school on Friday. That was crazy sauce. She is a fantastic person. She will be a fantastic college student. She will be a fantastic artist. She will be a fantastic roommate to whoever is lucky enough to be there with her. She is the most wonderful sister in the entire world, out of anyone that has ever been a sister to a sibling. And I’m sure most of you would agree with that. I can sing her praises because I genuinely think this about her. There’s no pretending over here. I love you, banana :)

This entry is verging on two pages in a word document, so it’s past time to wrap up my thoughts. They are long and scattered. I think they’re interesting. In saying that, they are my thoughts. I might be a little partial to them.

Goodnight, world…

P.S. I would absolutely love to post pictures here, but my camera’s battery is drained and my charger is an American charger and I don’t have a converter. If anyone happens to have a spare American-to-British electric converter that I could have, I would love you forever. Then I’ll post pictures.

P.P.S. I rode on the back of my Dad's motorbike today. Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. If any of you were curious, his bike is a lime green Kawakai Ninja (at least I'm fairly sure it's Kawakai. It's Kawa-something). And I look fabulous in my leathers. Just for the record.