Stocking Up

My mouth has a bad flavor and my hands are cold. It's too cold in my room at home. It's usually too cold anywhere I go.

I feel like everything I write in here should be related to travel. Right now I can only relate what I write to leaving. Saying goodbye to people is probably going to get annoying, quite honestly. I can recognize that "saying goodbye" is socially necessary at least. I usually comply. I just feel like I've had to say so many long goodbyes in my life...I'm tired of them. I want to say goodbye and walk away. I rarely look back after long goodbyes because I feel more optimistic that way.

Yesterday I got out the cell phone I'm supposed to use in Spain. I got a text message from someone/thing unknown. I could mostly understand it...something about phone calls. I assumed it was Spanish spam. I chose my new ring tone, which is called "Lounge". It's pretty jazzy. I started thinking of how it would be weird to get used to a new ringtone. But probably no one's ever going to call me anyway. I'll be glad to be free of phone calls (for the most part) while abroad. My favorite ways to contact people are: 1. in person 2. text msg/chat 3. phone calls

Phone calls are too in between. But sometimes it's the best we can do.

I was going to get up to brush my teeth of this rancid flavor, but just decided to start eating the saltwater taffies my grandpa brought me. The box is sitting right next to my computer on the ground. Cinnamon is still the best, but damn, I'm out of those.

My toothpaste was probably the most popular thing about me this weekend. I went to a friend's beach house in Galveston. I brought my Mint+Green Tea Extract toothpaste. It was a hit with drunk people. Lauren and I had a mini tooth brushing party in the bathroom. It was fun to experience such a rickety house while being in party mode. Less than an hour after my arrival I was up on a deck when a loose board was knocked off, hit the propeller of the boat and drifted out toward the bay. We spent time on the roof, on the deck, peeking our faces through the mini blinds, playing games, attempting to cook food, eventually driving toward civilization for meals and doing lots of talking. Some conversations less coherent than others. We tried going to the beach. I mean, we did. It was pretty gross. I stayed out of the water at first, but was coaxed in. I experienced many little sea nasties that made their way into my bathing suit. Black bits of rubbish, some sand, I'm sure some alive things. After about ten minutes of complaining I had to get out. The waves weren't even that good. My greatest accomplishment was not burning at all. It'll be awhile before I go back to the Galveston beaches.

Today I spent with my grandpa since it was my last chance to see him before he left. My sister and I took him to the IMAX (in 3D!) to see a movie about the "Five Great" in South Africa. Lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape Buffalo. Sometimes I think my hair makes me look like a Cape Buffalo. It was pretty interesting until about halfway through I got distracted and started thinking about other things. On the way home we stopped at a candy store. Request by my grandpa. (This is where I get my mad candy genes.) He wanted to buy some chocolate to bring back to people. We were actually in The Chocolate Bar and my sister noticed that next door Candylicious was hiring. She wants a new job. My grandpa is frustrating the guy at Choc Bar because he wants solid chocolate in a fancy box. Apparently they don't sell it like that. At one point the salesman gave me a look of desperation. My sister and I waited in the background amused by our persistent grandpa. :) My sister turned to me and said, "This is enough to make me not want to work at Candylicious." Then we were both handed $100 cash. He said it was better than buying us chocolate.

We all ate dinner at my dad's house. Red beans and rice with mustard greens. My dad's a good cook, but it seems tonight he picked things that would give us all sufficient gas. Thankfully I haven't been affected. We all watched The Three Stooges together and some more Mythbusters. I wanted to take a walk instead but my grandpa and sister were too tired. I said goodbye to him quickly and drove back to my mom's.

Now I smell like my dad's house.

I'm stocking up on new music.

I'm stocking up on the people I love.

I'm leaving so soon.