Artemis

I was always a bit skeptic of this phrase. How can being away from a person make you fonder? With time, you will slowly start to forget the sound of their laughter and the scent of their hair. You will forget the way they dance and the way they like their toast. Sure, when you see them again, when they laugh or dance, all those things come rushing back. Being away may make you yearn for them, but you no longer know them as well as you used to. At least that is what I used to think. I should have know this phrase was true since whenever I would see my sisters again, it was like no time had passed. I don't know what it was that made me realize all that I took for granted, maybe it is being away from home for so long or my travel mishaps or my friend's car accident or maybe just that I am getting older, something made me see how I took everything for granted in my life before I came here. It was so easy, I could go up the stairs or across the hall or get in my car and spend a day ...

"Bombing for peace is like f**king for virginity."

If you pay much attention to the news, you may have heard about the heat wave in the Northeast that caused a transformer to blow causing a power outage at LaGuardia Airport in NYC. And thanks to this unfortunate news, I was trapped in Chicago for 2 days. I will spare everyone the details because it would make this my longest entry ever, however if you would really like to here the drama, make your requests. And a drama it was; when one man heard my travel story at the airport, he called it "The Terminal 2". The whole time, all I could think of was that it was something you would see in a movie or on a soap opera, not something that happens in real life. But, finally, I am back. On the plus side of everything, I got to unexpectedly see my sister in Minneapolis, which was nice. And I got to spend time with the rest of my family, which was great. And the wedding I photographed was a breeze, the couple was great and I really enjoyed taking photos for them. And well more bad happe...

The weather around here the past couple days has been terrible. Yesterday I had to drive through flooding roads to pick up S from day-camp. If I had the option, I would have picked her up late, but that would mean paying more money. I drove 20 mph most of the way to avoid getting the car too wet from the puddles and also so I could see because the rain was coming down so hard and fast. However, I think I got some water under the hood. At least, that is my guess for what happened this morning. After dropping S off at day-camp this morning (which means I already drove the car, which started up just fine), the car wouldn't start. I had been inside for 10 minutes. I tried several times, then called P (the father). He said he was going to call someone to come help or come get us himself. He couldn't get a hold of the other person, so he said he would come, after his meeting. Two and a half hours later, he shows up. It was too late, I had already taken matters into my own hands. Try ...

I have recommended the blog of a person (I think a woman, though I am not sure) that is writing from Baghdad at least once before, but today's entry really opened my eyes, so I am recommending again. Everytime I read it, I am in awe by all that is really going on in Iraq that is hidden from the American eye. I was worried that something happened to this blogger, that they were one of the people that were killed because they hadn't written in month. I don't even know what else to say, I hope it shocks and moves you as much as it did me. Proud to be an American my ass. Not after reading this.

My sister always says, "People, they're the worst." She got it from Seinfeld. I often agree with this statement since I moved out here. Most people don't say excuse me when bumping into you, they cut you off while driving, get mad at you when you let them go first because you were wasting too much time in making that decision. They are stuck up and rude. Not the lifestyle I am used to. I often worry that I am becoming this way just from being around them. Yesterday people didn't suck. I made a trip to Target. I really enjoyed my trip because people seemed a lot friendlier than usual. First it was a cute old lady. I said excuse me to get around her and a pole in the aisle. She smiled at me and said, "It's those poles, they're always in the way." I smiled back and agreed, not even the elderly are usually friendly here. The rest of my enjoyment was from eavesdropping. There was a family sitting on the patio furniture, a mother and father and there t...

Well, it has happened, I was officially asked to stay for another year. I didn't even realize it was happening at first. The way I was asked was by the mother asking me if I thought about what I wanted to do the next year. It took me a second to understand what she meant. She told me that they would love for me to stay, but understands if I don't. She said that they would offer me another raise, but she knows its not about the money. And its not at all. She told me that she understands that I am having a hard time being away from family and she wants me to do what is best for me. Later that day, the father also let me know he wanted me to stay. He said that he wasn't trying to pressue me, but if I stayed, he would consider having another child (he has always only wanted two). He said he won't go through what he did with other nannies and he wants me to stay. I was honest with them, at least for the most part. The part I wasn't honest about was that I have already ma...