"Barely Used" (Short Story Blog)

Amy sat at the counter of her cluttered kitchen, rolling a cigarette between her fingers. She drew it up to her lips and took a long drag. The phone rang, startling her. She reached over the clutter and picked up the receiver.
"Hello."
"Yes, I am calling about the ad in the paper" a gruff male voice replied. "How much you asking?"
Amy sighed. "I don't know, 50 bucks?"
"Is it in good condition?"
"Yeah, it's barely been used."
"Sounds fair. When can I pick it up?"
"I'm home all day. 135 Oak Drive"
"I know where that is. I will be there in about an hour."
"Sounds good. What's your name?"
"John."

An hour later a small black truck backed down Amy's winding driveway. An older gentleman with short gray hair and a bushy beard got out of the truck and approached the door. Amy, in frumpy sweats, opened the door before he even had a chance to ring the bell.
"You must be John" she said happily.
"Yeah, I sure am. Do you mind if I ask why you are selling it?"
"Not at all, come on in. We actually inherited it but have no real use for it. The one we have works quite well."
John cocked an eyebrow.
"You inherited it?"
Amy rolled her eyes and grinned.
"Odd I know. It would make more sense if you knew my in laws. I think they enjoy dumping these things on us."

Several minutes later John loaded a new white toilet onto the back of his truck.

Sometimes, life hurts

this seems like a "duh" statement. this is something that we all (probably) take as a given. Sometimes, life hurts. While speaking to a very close friend of mine yesterday he informed me of this. once again a "duh" statement, and I recognized this but something about that statement struck me in a profound way.

I have in recent times, found myself to be in a hurtful and extremely complicated situation. I have made the decision to move on but the guilt I feel is quite crippling. I know I've made mistakes and that a large part of this IS in fact my fault. Maybe it's my fault even more so for giving up. I recognize this and accept my responsibility in this situation's demise, however I have learned something quite important. Relationships, sex, marriage and love are NOT as black and white as society would have us believe, and a person's past doesn't always define their future. I used to think love and sex and etc... was black and white, I used to strongly believe the phrase "once a cheater always a cheater" but the truth of the matter is that every situation is different and every person is different. These things are NOT black and white, but have an entire gray side to them. Only by opening our minds and placing our reservations and judgements aside can we really understand that.

Yes, it is very easy to judge and place blame but the fact remains that when a relationship of any kind goes bad it is very very rarely ever entirely one person's fault. only when both parties accept their part in the demise can true healing and understanding begin. If that happens then the parties involved are fortunate to have grown as individuals. They are fortunate enough to realize that just because something ended badly doesn't mean that it was necessarily a mistake to begin with, or that it (relationship) or they failed. Sometimes what we learn and how we grow as people is the best side effect to come out of a relationship or decision.

I sound very preachy right now and I realize that. I have had some very different and interesting life experiences in the past few years. I have some very important people come into my life (along with my experiences) that have taught me the things I mentioned above. I have grown remarkably and become a much more mature and grounded person (I realize it doesn't seem that way but you will have to take my word on it!). I could go into more detail but I fear that would go on too long. I am, however, very willing to discuss this topic further in person. I just want to leave you with these words:

"Sometimes, life hurts. But it isn't a problem, it's a learning opportunity". (collaborative quote from Pearson and Lyons)

New puppy and itchy feet

So I acquired a new puppy yesterday. My friend got him then realized she couldn't care for him so she brought him to me. He's a red male husky, 6 weeks old. Obviously I am currently brushing up on my Siberian Husky facts and training. I think I may train him to pull (after all, it's in his blood). He's quite vocal so needless to say I didn't get much sleep last night. The little sleep I did get was only cuz I slept with Tonka on the couch...he sleeping NEAR my feet so I'm not sure why it happened, but I suddenly had  itchy feet. like insanely itchy feet! but I didn't want to move and wake the little monster up so I tried to deal, DIDN'T WORK! I had to move to scratch my itchy feet and woke him up! DOH! I used to always associate itchy feet with things like athlete's foot (gross) or dry skin and stuff like that. Now I think I most likely associate itchy feet with dogs. weird. he's cute though huh? maybe itchy feet is worth it.

Sohmer (I love that guy)

So the more and more that I read of Least I Could Do and the more I read Sohmer's notes and little comments throughout the strip the more I am convinced that this man is pretty much my other half. We are so so so sooooo alike. It's like we share a brain, it's actually slightly creepy. Creepy because we are so much alike, and creepy that there is another person just like me out there in the world! Him and I are SO much alike that I am beginning to wonder if I had sex with him if it would be considered a masturbatory act... I would very much like the opportunity to disprove this, however.