Limeade

I made limeade today with the limes I bought from the farmer's market!  It is delicious and contains the perfect blend of sweet and sour.  I hesitate to use the word "bittersweet," since it's not really bitter, but I added fresh mint leaves to mine, so the word works in this circumstance.

Tonight I just had to escape from the house.  It's hard not to feel trapped at times, when my parents are constantly breathing down my neck whenever I'm in their presence.  I decided to walk to the library.  This turned into quite the trip.  I encountered a dead bunny (Hurray!  One less demon in the world!), walked past my great-grandparents former house which smelled unmistakably like weed, looked around the high school my grandma and grandpa attended, and finally arrived at the Rice Street Library, only to find out the website's hours were wrong and it had closed 15 minutes before my arrival.  Even though I was greatly disappointed, I took the time while I was walking back home to think about how many memories I have of this neighborhood itself.

Before I lived in my parents' house, the house belonged to my grandparents.  As a young girl of only nine, I was terrified to leave the only house I truly remembered and the only one I have ever loved: the Andover house.  I had good friends, there was a park nearby, and I knew how to walk to Bill's, a local gas station, and to the library!  I didn't want to leave behind the tree house I had spent weeks building with my dad.  Where would I run away to when I didn't want to be with my mom and dad?  When my family first moved into the St. Paul house, my grandparents were still living with us.  Perhaps, it was us boarding with them.  I'm not sure.  My family of four stayed in what is my room now, while my grandparents ruled the entire upstairs and we had to live by their rules.  When they finally moved out, it was as if a strange finality had come over my parents.  The house was ours.  My parents began construction on the basement.  They changed everything they could about the house: the paint colors, the floors, the placement of the walls, the duct work, the makeup of the ceiling.  After a few years, it looked completely different than when we had first moved in.

During these years in St. Paul, I have made wonderful friends.  Anna, Derrick, Liz, KP, Dinnah, Ashly, Emma, and everyone else that's been in the gang over the years.  I remember meeting Ashly and teaming up with her to "rebel" against our summer camp leaders by acting crazy.  She then introduced me to Dinnah and Kaila O. at VBS, and Amber on my first day at my new school, CLS.  Ashly was the catalyst for me and the friends I have now and I have her to thank for helping shape the crazy me today.

I started to visit Dave and Jamie in Winona in the summers.  I would stay for a few weeks at a time, and they would teach me how to cook, clean, and water plants (ha!  There is a story behind this, but I'm not going to tell it!).  More importantly, they taught me how to be a good parent, while still being able to be their friend.  I have always admired their willingness to listen to me and their openness and honesty upon telling me how wrong I was (am!).  After my weeks with them, it became increasingly hard to return home, even though my friends were there.

I went through high school at CA.  I was a good student, involved and eager, but ready to make a name for myself.  I left for Gustavus and loved it.  Unfortunately, my parents didn't.  The next year, Concordia it was, and I was miserable, to say the least.  And now I am here, back in the place I was 10 years ago.  Not knowing where I'm going to, who I'm going to meet, or what new memories I will have.  I am still scared of leaving the things I am familiar with behind - the park that I have spent so many days in (and kissed boys in!), the market a few blocks away, Connie's Creamy Cone.  There are a few differences, though.  I know that I'll be able to easily keep in touch with my friends.  I'm not changing schools, or, in this case, jobs (yet).  Finally, I'm moving into a place that I'm hoping I will be able to call my own.

That's all I have for now.  I hope this post wasn't too boring for you.  :)