How I spent my 24th.

So I went on this date on the 24th... I don't think I like dating that much. Such a frustrating process to put one's self through, even necessary as it is. But we went hiking, or attempted to. I don't think he had a particular trail in mind. Well, I know he didn't, but people from Oregon shouldn't go hiking unless they know what they're doing. It didn't help that I generally have no idea what I'm doing. But yeah, I don't think he knew what he was doing the whole time. I've noticed this about this boy, that he's very into spur of the moment ventures and not planning ahead. It's nice to have and be comfortable with that kind of deviative system, especially since things in life rarely turn out how you expect, but it's also good to start out with a plan in the first place that you can deviate from. And I hate having an executive say in matters, as to what we're doing and where we're going, when I'm on a date that I didn't ask the other person out on. Stupid guy. The hiking was fun (because outside is pretty), but I'm surprised we didn't end up getting trapped in an avalanche or something, with all of the thought that went into following trails that I don't believe were meant to be followed. We ended up going to eat after, then played Sorry--of all the random things, then went to a movie. It was fun I guess, after sorts, and I do consider him a friend, but I can guarantee you that I'm one who's way too easily frustrated to end up with someone so indecisive. Too much like myself. And yeah, it was pretty frustrating. If he wasn't so many feet taller than me, I would have seriously considered shaking him. Which can't help but remind me of a certain friend on a date telling the guy that 'if he touched her again, she'd rip off the appendage he touched her with and beat him with it.' Just thinking of that story makes me smile:)

I didn't so much do the whole fireworks thing. Duckling and I went to the store to develop pictures, as we often do together, and I totally scammed the system. I guess you're not supposed to make picture copies of photographs taken in professional studios. I had three pictures of my parents from when they first got married that I totally loved and wanted copies of, and of a better quality than my printer can provide. My mom told me the guy with the studio had been dead for at least 20 years, so it's not like I could get his permission or anything, but I found out only after making them that I wasn't supposed to. I'll admit, I never read those disclosure statements they have at the beginning of things. So I basically just put them amidst all my other photos, and all was well. Anyway, they totally don't have a way to make copies of 3x5 photos, except for one that's about $1 a pop. I was not going to pay a buck for every picture, those of which I was just going to cut up and make smaller anyway. So with all my 3x5's I ended up going to my older sister's house, scanning them in, and saving them to file to print at my parent's house. It would be easier if my dad would have just figured out how to install the scanner we already have, but though he has no intentions of doing so, he won't give it to me to do either. Anyway, as I was leaving I noticed that my sister and brother-in-law had these stupid grins on their faces. Also, they were looking out the window through the curtains. A bit of side information here might help to clarify. So my sister wants me to marry into this family, of which a friend of hers belongs, for the selfish reason of her wanting to be in-laws with her. I don't think it even works out that way. But this friend's younger brother was sitting out on the lawn with her husband or something on camping chairs, no doubt anticipating the firework show they were about to watch (only it wasn't dark, and they were in their own yard, so it's not like they needed to get good seats in advance), which is what my sibling and her spouse were spying on out the window. So then my sister says to me, "That's the boy we want to set you up with," to which my brother-in-law avidly agrees, and then she says, "Just a warning, so you don't do something to make yourself look stupid. Like falling flat on your face." HAH! Like I have any control over the things I do to make myself look stupid. But yeah, I didn't fall on my face, and I got home in one piece. I then fell asleep to the sound, and more importantly--the feel, of fireworks going off outside my window. I'm thinking the selection chosen by my neighbors could not have been legal, because you don't feel fireworks like that everyday. You know they're good if you can feel them go off. But I absolutely love watching firework shows right up next to where they're setting them off, because you can feel them and I love it.