When In Doubt....

A girl learns her most important life lessons from her father.
Dads are the wisest people around; they just know things.
In my family, Dad is the answer to every question, the comfort to every tear, and the source of all vital information necessary for the survival of this whirling spectacle we call life.
In my family, the answers that Dad gives to every question in order of importance are "1. Love and serve God with all that you are, 2. Do what you think is right- you can never be wrong if you do that, and 3. When in doubt, watch The Godfather."
These are the sort of core values that I want to teach to my own children someday- of course, with my own additions, which will probably sound something like this, "4. When in doubt and you can't get to a tv, listen to The Beatles." :)
So, here I am, blogging my thoughts away to a candlelit room as Michael and Kay arrive at Connie's wedding. The young Al Pacino looks so sharp in his military uniform.
............
"Don Corleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your home on the wedding day of your daughter. And may their first child be a masculine child."

There's nothing incredibly pressing on my mind at the moment, nothing huge or life-altering, just some thoughts that are muddled that I need to sort out. Some temporary advice that I need to hear.... And at the kind reminder of a dear family friend who is informed exclusively of all the family's secrets, I smiled humbly knowing I had forgotten the number three rule, and ran downstairs to grab the Godfather.
It's amazing how much you learn from this movie everytime you watch it. I've probably seen it half-a-dozen times, and here I sit, twenty minutes into it, and I've already learned something new. It's a beautiful thing.
Like I said, dads really know their stuff. I love my dad.
He's currently doing this Bible Study thing, and he blogs now. He's just one of those people that you only meet once in your life.
He makes you laugh so hard, that you become adjusted to various sorts of liquids spurting out of your nose. He's raised 3 daughters successfully and very unusually. I only have my dad to thank for my limited but surprising knowledge of La Cosa Nostra, or the fact that I know more about sheatrocking than I do about sewing. It's because of him that I'm so appreciative of good humor, and can sit back and enjoy watching baseball, basketball and golf on ESPN.
We have the same brain. Sometimes, that scares me rather than makes me proud, but, you know, you can't have everything. ;)
He's the greatest guy I know. Sometimes I think that when I move away, missing him will be the hardest part.
I don't usually think that living in Ireland will invoke much sadness in me, but the one thing I do know that will make me cry without fail is watching Father of the Bride, or the Godfather, or Braveheart, and listening to Johnny Mathis.... And I know I'll do those things often because I can't live my life without them. :)
I get my love of reading from him, too. I can't count the times that we've sat together in the living room, each lost in a book.
Speaking of books, I have completed my greatest accomplishment so far!
.....That's not true.
But, I am pretty proud of myself for finishing Anna Karenina.
I meant to blog about it the very day I finished, but life, as it almost always does, got in the way. :)
The last paragraph was rather hard to read because I didn't want it to end.
It was so sad! That book has been my companion for the past four months.... I didn't want to say goodbye! But at the same time, I'm overjoyed to be done with it. I'm now reading The Picture of Dorian Grey...and I'm liking the way Oscar Wilde writes.
...Well, I'm not tired yet. Amazingly. I'm off to finish the Godfather in the comfort of my warm bed and hopefully fall asleep to the sound of the good ole' Italian advice I need.
....And, also hopefully, I won't forget to blow out my candles.

Fried Egg Sandwiches, Overcast Mornings and A Writer's Heart

Have you heard Christina Aguilera's new song, "You Lost Me" ?
It's fantastic.. and appropriate, which is unusual.

I'm sitting in an armchair downstairs in my pajamas with my favorite mug filled with my favorite tea. There's a plate of donuts inbetween my cousin Kelsey and I and Kailey is flitting around, making breakfasts and monitoring the rate of our donut intake. (We're trying to get rid of them, so she's force-feeding them to Kelsey and I who are getting quite sick of Maple Bars). We went to the beach yesterday and are going downtown later this afternoon to shop for books, vintage clothes and, believe it or not, more donuts. This is the only time I've had in the past three weeks to sit down and write for a moment, and it feels absolutely wonderful.
Two of my dearest friends got married last Saturday. I was a bridesmaid, and I was also in charge of catering the event. My mom, aunt and two cousins saved the day on that one- I couldn't have done it without them. I was also, last minute, in charge of getting together the reception music for the wedding, so, needless to say, that day was a mission. It was one of the most beautiful days in remembrance, though, and I'm so blessed to have been a part of it.
The wedding took over my life since my last blog post, and coupled with working and having family in town, it's been an absolutely crazy time. But, it's so exciting when there's a wedding going on in your life. The whole two weeks before the big day are just full of nostalgia, and daydreams, tears and vivid memories, but everything is happy. It's wonderful. :)

Aside from the wedding, I've been able to get my room completely back in order, and it's beautiful. New bedding and curtains were acquired a few days ago, and a set of three huge, oak bookshelves are now resting majestically on one of my walls. They look so beautiful with all my books and photo albums in them. Speaking of books, I found some time this week to stop by Borders and make use of that gift card my sister sent me for Graduation. Newly added to my collection are The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and a complete collection of Beatles lyrics with photographs and full discography. About a month ago, I also added my own copy of Anna Karenina to my collection and I am proud to say I've only got 120 more pages to get through until I finish it.
I'm going to Powell's today and I have a list of things I want to find there for cheap- among them are the script to Tennessee William's A Streetcar Named Desire, J.D. Salinger's Nine Stories and a copy of The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The greatest book that has been added to my collection recently, however, is one that I got as a present for being in Nat and Ben's wedding. It's a book of Irish Fairy Tales, and it's completely stolen all that was left of my heart......

I've also written another new song, and I'll post the lyrics later. I don't have them with me at the moment, but I must say I do love them and I'm excited for people to hear the song. :)
I bought a new notebook a few days ago, which, to be honest, I don't need at all, but if there's another thing that I collect besides books, it's writing notebooks, and I couldn't pass this one up. It's grey and has an anonymous quote on it, "You don't write because you want to say something. You write because you've got something to say." I really liked that. It's something I've realized over the past couple of years as I've grown in my writing.... And to have a solid reminder always around me is going to be very helpful. :)
My blog posts should be more frequent from now on, I've got nothing major coming up on the calendar, so they shouldn't be so random and choppy anymore.
I need to get off my lazy butt and go brush my teeth, now. The fair is in town, and there is a possibility that it is awaiting my presence as we speak.
So, ta-ta for now.
Enjoy the day!