It's My Life - Melody Carlson [69]
Jenny said that Trent asked her out, and she told him she didn't want to date right now! Well, that kind of surprised me. I mean, it's not like I'm trying to get everyone to follow my lead and give up dating (not that that's such a bad idea). But I asked her what was up with that, and she said she just felt like she needed time on her own (without a guy) to get healthy. Then she told me a bunch of stuff about Josh (and what went on with those two last year), and it almost made me want to quit writing to him forever and just punch him in the nose the next time I see him. But now I realize that's wrong (it's not like I wasn't aware of a lot of that stuff), so I just need to forgive him all over again. But just the same, it still irks me.
What is it with guys anyway? Okay, I know they're not all just looking for a “good time,” and I know Josh has changed (at least, I HOPE he has), but I still sometimes think it's a dangerous dating world out there for teens. And I literally thank God for sparing me from it.
The good thing about Jenny turning Trent down is that we can all hang together as just friends now. And I think Trent actually likes that. I guess he's never really had a real girlfriend before. And he just has brothers, so this is the first chance he's had to get to know a girl–and most of the time he has three of us (Jenny, Beanie, and me) so he's pretty glad about that. As far as his atheist thing, he's still holding out. But we act like we don't care, and like we think it's just a matter of time until he comes around. It's become a bit of a joke with us. But I think he appreciates that we don't pressure him too much but just love him for who he is. And isn't that what Jesus would do anyway?
Well, I know I've probably missed a few things, but it's late and we have a full day of cleaning, cooking, and decorating tomorrow (getting everything ready for Aunt Steph's bridal shower) so I'm going to hit the hay.
Saturday, November 17 (shower surprises)
Well, we slaved all day until Grandma's house was totally spotless. I think even she would be impressed. We polished the silver and got out the good china (I called first to see if it was okay). My mom bought flowers (all in fall colors to go with the other decorations). And Jenny had this crazy idea of making these little cakes called petit fours that her mom makes sometimes, so she actually called her mom for the recipe, which she thinks impressed her mom (no small feat), and we spent most of the day mixing, baking, and decorating these teeny, tiny little cakes. But let me tell you, it was worth it! Everyone just loved them.
But okay, let's back up the truck now and start at the beginning of the shower. You see, it was supposed to start at seven-thirty, but at seven o'clock, someone knocks on the door (we're still frantically trying to clean up our last mess in the kitchen), so I run out hoping it's not some church lady showing up early (I mean, we haven't even had a chance to change out of our dirty clothes yet) and I open the door to see Grandma standing there with a big, beautifully wrapped box in her hands!
“Grandma!” I screamed, throwing my arms around her. “We didn't expect to see you until next week for the wedding.”
She handed me the box and laughed. “Well, I had no problem exchanging my ticket since Thanksgiving weekend is always so booked. And I thought I sure don't want to miss that shower. I would've let myself in, but my hands were full and I wanted to surprise you.”
So the next thing, we had Grandma helping to clean in her own kitchen; the whole while she just oooed and ahhed over everything. It made us feel so good. Then we ran upstairs to change. And I went into Beanie's room.
“Uh, Cate,” she said a little uncertainly. “I need to tell you something.”
“What?” I asked as I pulled a sweaterdress over my head.
“Well, at the time, it seemed a good idea, but now I'm getting a little worried.”
“What?” I asked again, getting impatient since it was almost seven-thirty.
Then I realized she looked like she was about to start