I felt 2 hops on my bed and then a blazing stare and I opened my eyes and raised my head to look around. I was a drowsy slugabed, still unconscious of my surroundings, and so you can imagine my shock to find Ace seated on my pillow, looking right back into my own eyes. I laughed and he started to purr. Reluctantly, I dragged myself out of bed and stumbled to the kitchen to feed him. A few licks around my ankles expressed his gratitude, made me smile, and got me thinking.
Watching my brother and his friend struggle to make themselves bagel bites also contributed to the mood. The house was filled with the thick odor of burnt cheese and the fans circulated the heavy mephitic smoke above me. It prolonged my smile.
I tried to make a mental list of even every minor detail that has inspired happiness in myself this past weekend. As the list grew longer I lost track and plopped myself onto my living room couch in a haze of bliss. I closed my eyes and I tried to remember my entire Saturday. It was the best I've had in a while, after all...
I woke up around six in the morning to my father turning on my bedroom light. His voice echoed throughout my room as he encouraged me to wake up, and at first all I wanted was to throw the blankets over my head and return to my dreams. My eyes adjusted to the light quickly, however, allowing me to check the time. It was enough to have me remember the day's scheduled events and jump out of bed, eager to begin the day.
Seven in the morning found me on I75, singing to 'Dude Looks Like A Lady' with my dad. We were on our way to pick Justin up from Estero. The car ride there, which I imagined to be quiet and uninteresting, was actually spent singing at the top of our lungs and then laughing at our own stupidity. (My grandma just walked over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was unexpected but it was cute.)We spent a while looking for Justin in Miromar Lakes after we were given the wrong directions. I think we may have even forgotten him for a few minutes because we rode around in circles admiring the houses, the lakefront, the cabanas...the all around opulence of the community. A call from an anxious Justin returned us to our search for him, and we found him awaiting our arrival from his front yard. He jumped in the car, and after a quick stop at a double drive-thru laned Micky D's, we got back on the interstate. The car ride was fun, but my favorite part had to have been trying to guess the artists of various songs my dad played for us. It helped not only to pass the time by, but also to distract us from the miserable weather which threatened our chances of riding any coasters.
The weather cleared up once we arrived, which brightened my day...literally ;)
okay, that was retarded...
Anyways... It meant that we were positive we'd have the chance to ride rollarcoasters until we were sick. (I did just that too, but you'll hear more about that later.)
At about ten, we entered the park gates with enthusiasm and ran to the Kwazi first of all. The wait lines were 10 minutes or less and so as quickly as we got off the rollar-coaster, we ran around and got back in line to ride again. In fact, we rode just about all of the rollar coasters multiple times within our first hour of arrival: the Kwazi, Sheikra, Kumba, and Montu. We then proceeded to ride them all yet again, as well as to ride the Sky Lift, Rhino Rally (where I was Navigator, as well as the butt of all the drivers jokes, unfortunately), and Cheetah Chase.
Chrissy and Josh even met up with us in the park, and together we rode a few rollar coasters and the Congo River Rapids. ( WHICH LEFT ME UNHAPPY ABOUT WALKING AROUND WITH WET JEANS RUBBING ON THE INSIDES OF MY LEGS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY. =P I'm just kidding. It was a lot of fun.) I was especially glad that Chrissy and Josh came along and made a point of mentioning more than a few times to Justin how much I liked them together. A few other highlights of the day include: watching Justin giving a man in a hippo costume an awkward hug, losing my shoes on the Sheikra and having to buy new ones simply because I refused to take them off before the ride, watching an adorable fat little boy scooping up mustard on his finger and licking it off,LOOKING for my itzakadoodlepop popsicle (I looked at every stand we passed, but I never saw them being sold,)a pirates 4D show, listening to Josh and Chrissy's hilarious stories, determining whether or not some lady was a skank outside of work, carnival games and being given a ninja turtle stuffed animal, being given a flower when i got dehydrated and didn't even want to walk, finding belly dancers in the bathroom, watching the cutest old couple I've ever seen dancing to a song playing through the park's speakers, lazy tigers, dancing geckos, and watching geeky kids top J's basketball score.
Around four, I started feeling sick, and although I urged Justin to continue riding roller coasters without me, I still feel bad that he had to miss out on his last hour of fun for my sake. It turns out that I had gotten dehydrated and after 6 hours of the park, I was just getting tired. We gathered up our stuff, and headed to the car after a day very well spent. The walk through the park and to the exit was laconic. Neither of us could focus on much more than returning to the car to sleep on the long ride home.
Thank God for mothers because without her reminder, I wouldn't have even thought to bring extra clothes and I would have spent my ride home wet, cold, and without the comfort of my favorite sweats.
We stopped down the street so I could change, and again an hour later at Sonic.
Oh, and just for the record, Cherry Limeades are disgusting. Do not encourage anybody that attempts to persuade you to try one.
The ride home seemed a lot shorter than the ride there. We didn't get much sleep in either. Instead, we sang the whole ride home too. My dad got started on some oldies, and I watched him intently as he cheefully sang along. Discretely at first, my eyes teared up as I realized why I couldn't take my eyes off him. He seemed like my old, dorky father. The guy that would sing oldies and Disney favorites to me daily. I was so happy that I couldn't hold back any more tears and they rolled down my cheeks for I had little control and could not stop them from doing so.
Afterwards, we dropped Justin off at his house, and the moment I walked into my own house, I took a shower, blow dryed my hair, threw on some clothes and left again for Walgreens. Justin and I met back up in the parking lot and headed out to Felda for his sister's Halloween party.
I don't remember everything about the party because it was late, and I had already been up for so long, but I do remember that it was fun.
I laughed at Justin when he fell in a hole, I made friends with an old drunken man whom was also a Gators fan, I encouraged a man to have another beer so he was able to dance, I sang, I laughed at Justin's sister trying to put on her motorcycle helmet while wasted and dancing, and I invited both his mom and sister to dance on the bars of Sports Page with me this Friday night.
I also laid in a hammock under a couple of tall trees. The sound of coutry music reminded me of home as it whirled through the crisp night air and settled into my pores, sinking to my bones and making even my bone marrow happy. I closed my eyes and I listened to the combination of laughter, cheerful voices, and music pouring from the back porch. I absorbed it all before I opened my eyes and glanced up at the trees. I felt the hammock below me, Justin's beating heart beside me, his hand running through my hair, the breeze on my cheeks, and a smile on my face.Thoughts started racing through my head faster than I could keep up as truths were spilled and floated through the air, off the chests of those it had previously clung to. As confused as I was at the time...as confused as I remain... lying there in that hammock made me forget my worries.
I don't think I could pick out a damn thing about that night that I haven't always wanted for my future in Tennessee. I guess life surprises you everyday. I never thought I'd find it tucked away in Naples, Florida. I'm positive that it was a night like the one I experienced that led to the quote, "There's no place like home."
A night like that gives you the feeling of home, and the feeling that there is no place quite as comforting as it.
This just might be the cheesiest comparison I've ever made, but the night felt like my own version of Sweet Home Alabama. (I love that movie, by the way.)
I could have laid in that hammock for the rest of my life, and that would have been okay with me.
The night ended in driving home from the middle of no where in the pitch black. I made Justin stop in the middle of a pitch black intersection, allowing myself an extra few seconds to take in the desolation. Then we went to my house for a while and played with my new kittens before Justin went home and I completely passed out.
Today, I can not think of even one thing I want to do that could be any better than this past weekend has been. Katie is over now and I'm helping her write her essay on partial birth abortion, as I write this blog and cheat traffic school. The family's home, and things are the way it should be. Dad's watching football. Jeff's playing video games. My mom's watching a movie and making dinner.
Oh, and she's making her famous macaroni and cheese, which makes the day even better.
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