First America Holiday (10)
Floating was fun. I was gonna make damn sure that no matter what happened, he enjoyed himself. So I kept just about every
comment to myself, a few slipped out, but it could have been worse. We managed to tip our canoe three times! I'm not going to say
whose fault it was, we both take the blame. But the third time was not nearly as humorous as the first two! hahaha I had also made
the mistake of wearing sandals instead of tennis shoes. I've been floating every year for like 15 years, I knew better, but did it
anyway. When you are in the river in sandals, the current pulls every available stone and shoves it in between your foot and the
sandal. It's incredibly painful! Keeping this in mind, I very rarely got out of the canoe. Normally I would get out every time we
pulled over and play in the water. But this time, every time we pulled over, Marco would hop out, pull us to shore, and I would sit
my ass in the canoe until it was time to leave again. I didn't see a problem with this, however Marco kept calling me Miss Lazy
Princess. hahaha Yeah? So what! I was enjoying being a bum! hahaha
Jennifer introduced Marco to beer bongs along the way. Oh my, he did very well for a first time bonger. I sat there laughing as I
watched him dump a fourth beer in a row into the beer bong. I was remembering how he told me previously, that when we went on
the river, he would not drink. I told him that our float trips contained nothing but alcohol, but he insisted that he would drink only
water if he was thirsty. We would be in nature and shouldn't be drunk. Ummm ok, W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r! hahaha
Marco was passed out in the truck for most of the drive home. Poor little water drinking nature boy was drunk as a skunk! As we
got closer to the house I asked him once again what he wanted to do tonight. He still said he would like to go out to the Karioke bar
with Cathi and Jim. I wasn't pleased, but agreed to go. It was a Hawaiian theme, so I stopped at a store and got him a Hawaiian
shirt to wear to the party.
We unpacked everything out of the truck when we got to the house, then went to lay down for a few minutes. The few minutes
turned into a few hours. We were sound asleep until Jim called to tell us where the bar was. Well, it was almost all the way into the
city, something I didn't know. I told Marco how far away it was and that I really didn't want to go that far. I was gonna be driving
home, and there was no way I could make it through an evening with them without being drunk. So I told him that if he wanted to
go, I would call Jim and have him come pick him up. This way he could go and I would just stay home. I would probably just sleep
anyway, so it really didn't bother me. He said no though. By this time he didn't feel like going back out. Besides, we only had a few
days left together anyway, so I was glad we were staying home.
The way we had originally scheduled these last three days together would have put us in Chicago by Monday afternoon. We were
gonna leave Monday morning, stop by and visit Jennifer along the way, then continue on to Chicago. Monday we would go out and
see the Chicago nightlife. Tuesday we would do the tourist attractions during the day, and then attend a Cardinal-Cubs baseball
game that night. By now however, I was broke. So with the exception of driving to Chicago, the rest of the plans were canceled. I
barely had enough money for gas to get us to Chicago and me back home. I had missed so many days of work over the past three
weeks, and spent money without hesitation if it was something that Marco wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, he spent a ton of
money as well. This was definitely an incredibly expensive Holiday. But the good news was that we had done just about everything
that he wanted to do. So the next time he came back, we wouldn't have to do any of it again!
I already had the days off of work approved, and even though we were changing our plans, I chose not to go in anyway. We had
so much to do, that it really helped having full days free. We spent the next two days getting all of Marco's last minute shopping
done, packing, cleaning, etc. The only thing I was not looking forward to was the drive to and from Chicago on Wednesday. We
were going to have to leave my house around 6:00am for the 5-6 hour drive. Then afterwards, I was going to turn around and drive
straight back.
Our last day together was definitely bittersweet. We very much enjoyed being alone with no place to be. We spent a lot of time
just sitting, not even talking, just sitting together. We played on the computer for a while, watched some tv, took a nap, and
attempted to finish packing his bags. If I learned one thing from my Grandfather, it was how to pack a suitcase. He had a way of
making his bags look like one of those clown cars. You know, the ones where a never-ending stream of clowns climb out of a
Volkswagen. I used to sit and watch him unpack his bags when he came to visit. And was always in amazement at the amount of
things that he was able to pull from even the smallest of bags. It was clear that Marco hadn't developed this skill yet. I walked into
the room and saw his suitcase sitting on the bed. It was wide open with a mound of clothes and stuff piled three times higher than
the edge. How the hell did he plan on closing that? hahaha I told him to bring every single thing he was packing into the living
room, and I would pack for him.
I started by dumping every bag out onto the floor. As I did this, I noticed about a dozen pieces of clothing that he never even
wore. And he said that I brought too much stuff with me? HMPH! At least I wore all of my clothing! hahaha There was no way all of
this was gonna fit into his bag. He had bought so many things while he was here, to bring back for family, friends, and himself. So I
gave him one of my carry on bags to take with him. Between the two bags I was able to pack everything. Well, almost everything. I
had bought him a great big stuffed pillow shaped and designed like a fish for his birthday and never mailed it. I wanted to make
him carry in onto the plane with him. Of course the snot refused. So that would have to be mailed later on.
When everything was packed, we just sat there looking at it, knowing that once again we would have to say good-bye soon. When
we were having our talk in Universal Studios that night, we agreed we still had to talk over a few more things, but would do it at a
later time. Well now was about the only time we had left. So we sat on the floor together and talked. This good-bye was going to be
much harder than the last time, because once again we would have no idea when we were going to see each other again. I hated this
feeling of not knowing. I truly believed that we loved each other as much as possible and that it would all work out for the best. But
at the same time, I knew how hard it was to be apart, and how close I had come this last time to ending things between us. I was
really scared that with not having a definite date set for when we would get to see each other again, that this really would be the last
time we were together. Continue
comment to myself, a few slipped out, but it could have been worse. We managed to tip our canoe three times! I'm not going to say
whose fault it was, we both take the blame. But the third time was not nearly as humorous as the first two! hahaha I had also made
the mistake of wearing sandals instead of tennis shoes. I've been floating every year for like 15 years, I knew better, but did it
anyway. When you are in the river in sandals, the current pulls every available stone and shoves it in between your foot and the
sandal. It's incredibly painful! Keeping this in mind, I very rarely got out of the canoe. Normally I would get out every time we
pulled over and play in the water. But this time, every time we pulled over, Marco would hop out, pull us to shore, and I would sit
my ass in the canoe until it was time to leave again. I didn't see a problem with this, however Marco kept calling me Miss Lazy
Princess. hahaha Yeah? So what! I was enjoying being a bum! hahaha
Jennifer introduced Marco to beer bongs along the way. Oh my, he did very well for a first time bonger. I sat there laughing as I
watched him dump a fourth beer in a row into the beer bong. I was remembering how he told me previously, that when we went on
the river, he would not drink. I told him that our float trips contained nothing but alcohol, but he insisted that he would drink only
water if he was thirsty. We would be in nature and shouldn't be drunk. Ummm ok, W-h-a-t-e-v-e-r! hahaha
Marco was passed out in the truck for most of the drive home. Poor little water drinking nature boy was drunk as a skunk! As we
got closer to the house I asked him once again what he wanted to do tonight. He still said he would like to go out to the Karioke bar
with Cathi and Jim. I wasn't pleased, but agreed to go. It was a Hawaiian theme, so I stopped at a store and got him a Hawaiian
shirt to wear to the party.
We unpacked everything out of the truck when we got to the house, then went to lay down for a few minutes. The few minutes
turned into a few hours. We were sound asleep until Jim called to tell us where the bar was. Well, it was almost all the way into the
city, something I didn't know. I told Marco how far away it was and that I really didn't want to go that far. I was gonna be driving
home, and there was no way I could make it through an evening with them without being drunk. So I told him that if he wanted to
go, I would call Jim and have him come pick him up. This way he could go and I would just stay home. I would probably just sleep
anyway, so it really didn't bother me. He said no though. By this time he didn't feel like going back out. Besides, we only had a few
days left together anyway, so I was glad we were staying home.
The way we had originally scheduled these last three days together would have put us in Chicago by Monday afternoon. We were
gonna leave Monday morning, stop by and visit Jennifer along the way, then continue on to Chicago. Monday we would go out and
see the Chicago nightlife. Tuesday we would do the tourist attractions during the day, and then attend a Cardinal-Cubs baseball
game that night. By now however, I was broke. So with the exception of driving to Chicago, the rest of the plans were canceled. I
barely had enough money for gas to get us to Chicago and me back home. I had missed so many days of work over the past three
weeks, and spent money without hesitation if it was something that Marco wanted to do. Don't get me wrong, he spent a ton of
money as well. This was definitely an incredibly expensive Holiday. But the good news was that we had done just about everything
that he wanted to do. So the next time he came back, we wouldn't have to do any of it again!
I already had the days off of work approved, and even though we were changing our plans, I chose not to go in anyway. We had
so much to do, that it really helped having full days free. We spent the next two days getting all of Marco's last minute shopping
done, packing, cleaning, etc. The only thing I was not looking forward to was the drive to and from Chicago on Wednesday. We
were going to have to leave my house around 6:00am for the 5-6 hour drive. Then afterwards, I was going to turn around and drive
straight back.
Our last day together was definitely bittersweet. We very much enjoyed being alone with no place to be. We spent a lot of time
just sitting, not even talking, just sitting together. We played on the computer for a while, watched some tv, took a nap, and
attempted to finish packing his bags. If I learned one thing from my Grandfather, it was how to pack a suitcase. He had a way of
making his bags look like one of those clown cars. You know, the ones where a never-ending stream of clowns climb out of a
Volkswagen. I used to sit and watch him unpack his bags when he came to visit. And was always in amazement at the amount of
things that he was able to pull from even the smallest of bags. It was clear that Marco hadn't developed this skill yet. I walked into
the room and saw his suitcase sitting on the bed. It was wide open with a mound of clothes and stuff piled three times higher than
the edge. How the hell did he plan on closing that? hahaha I told him to bring every single thing he was packing into the living
room, and I would pack for him.
I started by dumping every bag out onto the floor. As I did this, I noticed about a dozen pieces of clothing that he never even
wore. And he said that I brought too much stuff with me? HMPH! At least I wore all of my clothing! hahaha There was no way all of
this was gonna fit into his bag. He had bought so many things while he was here, to bring back for family, friends, and himself. So I
gave him one of my carry on bags to take with him. Between the two bags I was able to pack everything. Well, almost everything. I
had bought him a great big stuffed pillow shaped and designed like a fish for his birthday and never mailed it. I wanted to make
him carry in onto the plane with him. Of course the snot refused. So that would have to be mailed later on.
When everything was packed, we just sat there looking at it, knowing that once again we would have to say good-bye soon. When
we were having our talk in Universal Studios that night, we agreed we still had to talk over a few more things, but would do it at a
later time. Well now was about the only time we had left. So we sat on the floor together and talked. This good-bye was going to be
much harder than the last time, because once again we would have no idea when we were going to see each other again. I hated this
feeling of not knowing. I truly believed that we loved each other as much as possible and that it would all work out for the best. But
at the same time, I knew how hard it was to be apart, and how close I had come this last time to ending things between us. I was
really scared that with not having a definite date set for when we would get to see each other again, that this really would be the last
time we were together. Continue
