considered.

I'm sure that my fanbase is extensive, and I wouldn't want to be the reason that so many people leave their computer each day feeling a deep sense of disappointment...

And so, I will update for you today.

Of course, since my last update, life has been a whirlwind. I drove to Cleveland, flew to Seattle (via Detroit), cruised to and around Alaska, cruised back to Seattle, flew back to Cleveland (via Minneapolis/St. Paul), and drove back to Pittsburgh. And worked. And went to both a burial and a memorial service. And saw Nacho Libre.

So, there you have it...in a nutshell, anyway.

My cruise with the family was delightful. I got the opportunity to read books for fun (I read The Things They Carried and In Her Shoes), to take naps, to see a new film (The Producers), to play cards, to play penny slots...and, oh yeah, to spend time with my family in Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka (and while we had a 'scenic tour' of Glacier Bay National Park).

Two highlights of the trip, of course, were kayaking in Sitka and going on a 7-part zipline (the longest of which was @ 765 feet, plus there were 3 suspension bridges) course through a part of the Tongass National Forest in Ketchikan. Beautiful scenery (The Forest of Endor and E.T. both came to mind), bald eagles, sealions, humpback whales, dolphins...they all were a part of my Alaska Experience.

Plus, my family's just awesome. And I get to see them all again a week from Friday! We're all going to Mom and Dad's for Independence Day, and, this time, I will be bringing Joe...(Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn). J, Mat, and Rach haven't met Joe yet. Well, technically, J has, but it was last October when even I hadn't talked to him yet, so that doesn't really count. He and I will be driving up sometime that afternoon and staying through Sunday evening. We both work that Monday, and will be able to then spend the 4th with his family--we're going to have a barbeque at the house.

Which brings me to my second major event in the past two weeks (and the reason why it was tough to discuss Father's Day yesterday): Joe's dad died on June 9. That was the day I was flying back, so I didn't get to say goodbye, but I was able to get back to their house in Pittsburgh by early Saturday afternoon to help take care of things. I guess the thing about it is, it was a real blessing that he died in several ways. First, it took him out of his own pain--years worth--and it also was something that was a long time coming...so the family at least expected it, though that, of course, didn't make it easy by any stretch. But, his brothers and their families all came into town, and through everything, there was a lot of reconciliation that was able to take place.

Joe and I talked for a long time--several times--about how he is doing. And we both know that some days are going to be better than others, and that, at weird times, he'll think about something that will trigger a whole bunch of memories for no particular reason. And sometimes, he might be angry--it would be hard to know that your dad won't be at your wedding, won't meet his grandkids, etc. I am just glad that Joe has someone to talk to...and, of course, I'm also glad that someone happens to be me.

In light of all that, then, he and I have also sort of discussed "us." We talked about how dealing with this sort of thing only a couple of months into the relationship would likely end a lot of people. After all, this isn't about the giddiness and the butterfly-filled stomachs and all the other stuff that seems to exist early on. This is real pain. And real life. You can't sugarcoat this stuff. And it absolutely has required us to be open with each other in a way that would make some people uncomfortable with their newer girl- or boyfriend. For us, it seems that this event has propelled us rather than hindered us. And, for the first time, we'll be able to be "us" without having such an important "other-than-us" thing to worry about. Obviously, I'm not trying to say that I'm happy that Joe's dad died, and I hope the preceeding sentence doesn't sound horribly selfish, but Joe and I talked about it a couple of days ago, and it's just the truth of the matter.

On a sort of related note, both Joe and I were forced to come up with witty answers in response to the dozens of people (mostly his relatives) who made comments like, "Well, will the next time we see you be your wedding?" or "You two better hold onto each other," or "I'm glad Joe has finally found a special girl like you because he's a special, special, special boy and you had better take care of him."

We compared notes and realized that some people were trying to get information out of both of us at seperate times.

Anyway, today, I need to begin the hunt for another job. And I need to clean my apartment (which might even mean cleaning out lots of excess papers, a job I do annually, but really ought to do more than once a year). And the maintenance people are coming to do final window measurements, as they're putting new windows in all of the apartments in my building this summer. While it's nice that they're doing that, I'm super bummed that my air conditioner will no longer fit...but, apparently, there's some sort of compensation headed towards those of us in such a predicament.

So, admiring fans (all 4 or 5 of you), I leave you now to pursue all sorts of fun activities.

Bye. :0)