#but then i also forgot to move it to the dryer the second time till it was night. thank someone else did it for me

[trekkerac]

gotta hit that daily streak of do i have adhd moments

[writerightthings]

Sudden Farewell

[Charlie]

The last time I saw my mother was the day she left us. First thing I recall from that day is how bright the sun was when I woke. I remember this because I barely take notice of the weather, but that day it was like the sun waking me up with that bright and blazing temperature. As usual, I went to wake my sister up so she could get ready for school. Waking Sarah up became my daily routine since I moved my work close to her school. It is always very frustrating to wake a 17 years old teenager, because they are never really nice to you in the morning. After being on a morning call for about six months, I realized that playing her favorite music on the speaker to the maximum volume is the best way to wake her up without facing her morning temper.

Right after I checked Sarah going into her bathroom to get ready, I went down to the kitchen to get my breakfast. Now that I look back on that day, it was odd that I didn’t drink my daily orange juice. Usually my mother prepared freshly squeezed orange juice every night and put it in the refrigerator for us to drink every morning. However, I missed it. Maybe I was running out of time because Sarah got up late or I just forgot to open the refrigerator. I should probably ask Sarah if she had orange juice that day.

After getting ready to go to work, I picked my car keys and yelled at Sarah to wait outside. As I stood in front of the stairs, I checked my parents room to say goodbye. Unlike usual, it seemed like they were asleep so I skipped saying goodbye and texted my mother instead in the car that I had dropped Sarah off to her school safely.

As I was entering my company’s parking lot, that is when I received a phone call from my father. I remember this clearly, because my phone rang so loud as if it was about to explode. I picked up my phone rapidly and heard my father crying for the first time in my life. I became anxious right away. I am the person who gets fretful when my daily routine is interrupted or changed due to any reason. I just can’t stand it. I was very worried about my father crying, but at the same time, I was sweating and my hands on the steering wheel were shaking. However, all this stopped immediately after hearing my father’s voice: “Where is your mother? Is she with you?”  I had to stop my car on the side. She was missing again. I literally saw her sleeping this morning, but apparently she went missing the next second. I got scared. I checked my text and saw that she hasn’t replied to my earlier text as well. I told my father to calm down and call her friends or my aunts to see if they are with her. From my father’s deep voice, I could tell that he was extremely worried. I then called the police.

[Sarah]

The last time I saw my mother was the night before she went missing. We had a small talk in the kitchen till late at night. I think it was around 12:20 P.M when we went to bed. We talked about my soccer game that was planned for next week. As I became a captain of the team, I felt very pressured in winning so my mom came to cheer me up. But that was all. She seemed very fine and normal that night. My only guess is that she went to my aunts’ house to see grandma.

On the day she went missing, I remember waking up to my favorite morning song, Viva La Vida by Coldplay. It was tough to get up from the bed since I slept late that night. However, I knew that Charlie would soon yell at me to wake up so I had to wake my body up and move to the bathroom. After getting ready for school, I started packing for soccer training. I remember asking my mom about my soccer uniform, but since she didn’t reply I went down to check the dryer and found them there. One thing that I missed that day was my orange juice. Usually I grab my orange juice on the way out and drink it in the car, but strangely I had milk instead. Maybe I should have doubted that moment and asked Charlie about it. Maybe if I did something differently about that missing orange juice, my mom will be here with us today.

I heard the news that afternoon from my soccer coach. He came up to me and told me to my dad. So I did. I called my dad and he was on the phone with someone. I had to call Charlie again and he told me that I should finish my training and come back home early as soon as possible. The last thing he said was that I don’t have to worry about anything, because it will all be “fine”. Although I was preparing for the soccer game, my mind was full of worries. I wanted to know what was going on, because Charlie and dad never tell me things straightforward since they think I am too young to handle things like an adult.

I’m trying to stay calm this time. There were a couple of times that my mother has gone missing. Most of the time, she was at her friends or my aunt's house and she forgot to bring her phone. I just want to believe that she is somewhere enjoying her time with her friends.

[Steve]

The last time I saw my wife was in the dawn of the day she had gone missing. I remember waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and she was asleep next to me. I used to fall asleep really deep before everything happened, but now I unconsciously wake up in the middle of the night to check on my wife. Checking my wife asleep and using the bathroom became my habit ever since last summer.

When I came back from the bathroom, she woke up and said hi. Then my wife also used the bathroom and we fell asleep again. When I woke up in the morning to get ready for the day, she was already gone. My wife is usually a morning person and she tries to greet kids when they head out. However, that day she was missing.

I have never told this story to my kids, but there are some things that I wish I had done differently. Last summer, when my wife came back from her sister’s place, it felt like I was facing a different person. I have dated my wife for 7 years and we were married for 21 years, so I can proudly say that I know her better than anyone. However, that day she was different. My wife is usually a very quiet, shy, and caring person and that day she was extremely talkative. She seemed very excited about something and she asked me for a conversation. When I sat down to have a conversation with her, she looked straight into my eyes and asked if she could get two weeks vacation. Ever since we got married, we have never been apart for more than a week. It was very sudden for me, so I asked her to give me some time to think about it. Of Course I wanted her to get her own time, but I guess I was just not ready to happily tell her to go. Nonetheless, she was gone the next day without any notice. For two weeks, we couldn’t get hold of her and the only way we could check if she was okay was from her sister. Two weeks later, she gave us a phone call and told us that she was fine. She finally came back home after three weeks. My wife never really told us the exact reason why she left in such a hurry, where and what she was doing for three weeks. Everything remains a mystery for me. I thought I knew everything about her. When she came back from her long vacation, she was just the same woman I knew.

It feels different this time. I told Charlie to call the police, because I just couldn’t do it by myself. If I do call the police, it feels like I am admitting that something terrible has happened to her. I just cannot believe that she went missing again. I wish I could talk to her and ask her. Maybe I was too ignorant about her happiness so she left to be more herself. I don’t want to believe in anything bad. I wish I can go back to that night when we had our first talk. Wherever she is, I pray that she is safe and happy. I miss her very much.

[pbandjesse]

I had a really hard time sleeping last night. And I migraine got really really bad after I did my post. And James came over and I could barely talk I was so nauseous and in so much pain. It was awful. Eventually subsided enough that I could talk. And we hung out for a bit. Watch videos and I tried just to feel better. But my back still really hurt and it made Sleeping really difficult. I actually don't remember falling asleep. James must have turned off the light. I was just too much of a mess.

It woke up in the middle of the night because I was having really crazy dreams again. And I stretched for a bit and that helped let me sleep a little bit better. But then I just had wild dreams. So I woke up pretty tired.

Me and James woke up around 9 and stayed in bed for a while. Eventually though we got up and I went to get dressed. And James made the bed and then went to start breakfast. He made us hash browns and attempted to make me an omelette. Which was pretty good. He's getting better at it.

He stayed for a while. But he left to go home and have a bigger brunch and get coffee. And I decided I wanted to lay down. I sort of half napped for an hour. But I woke up feeling super disoriented and dizzy. I just wanted to go back to bed so badly but I had to go to work. I enticed myself to leave with the promise of donuts at 7-Eleven.

I also stretched. That always helps.

I got myself and Chelsi a donut. We both had hard days yesterday. And I just thought it would be a nice surprise. And she was very excited so that felt good.

I forgot my charger again. I was really mad at myself this time because I have a second backup battery and I just didn't grab it. I didn't think about it. So my phone was dead by the time I got to the bus on the way home. And I barely used it. I mean I watched a bunch of Judge Judy in my supplies hour in the beginning but still!

Today was actually a lot of fun. There's a lot of craziness in the hallway when I went to pick up the kids. But I got everyone upstairs and they finish up their mother's day cards. I feel like the worst child because I haven't put in as much effort as I wish I could have. I just love my mom so much and I want her to feel appreciated. Everything is just been a lot lately and I'm going to spend my day off tomorrow working on art stuff. And some of that art stuff will hopefully be Mother's Day related.

We went out for recess and I was very tired. So I mostly just watch the kids. And dinner was fine. Nothing that exciting. Our time was really fun though.

I had all seven of the boys today. And we went out to the field and we did the rock paper scissor thing again to decide who would start first. And Michael's team got to go first. And his movie is easier to film so that was great. Having the two other boys in it definitely made it more rough-and-tumble. They don't understand the concept of movie fights being fake fights. Andre tried to convince me that movie fights were real because sometimes they bleed. And I had to break the news to him that that was not real. They were full-on running and jumping on each other. Knocking each other over. I felt like I was filming a WorldStar video or like bum fights. Nobody got hurt but still.

The second one was harder to fill them because it's basically fortnite fanfiction. And I don't know or care enough about fortnite. I was able to follow long enough but they kept saying like we're at the volcano and I'm like okay but what are we doing. And eventually I just had to say okay now everyone's dad. Or at least the bad guys are dead and I never wanted to be like no I killed this other guy and I'm like no you're the bad guy we're not having the bad guys win. It wasn't even his film. He was an extra. So he started pouting and went and sat in the field. But we got a lot done and I'm very happy with them.

We finished up and met the other group and went inside. And some of the girls worked on their cards while the other half of the girls played a game in the hallway. And the boys worked on some dialogue for chelsi to put on the screen since the movies are going to be mostly silent. It was very very productive and that felt really cool.

We finished up in the kids got picked up quickly. But I miss the 5:30 bus and the next bus didn't come until almost 6:10. And my phone was completely dead. I was just very tired and having trouble keeping my eyes open sitting at the bus. But eventually it came and I got home around 6:30.

Sabrina came down from upstairs to return my Swiffer she borrowed. And I made dinner. And really I've just been hanging out. Just sent me a letter in the mail that had a whole bunch of cool patches in it. And I took all the patches off my backpack and put the new ones on and rearrange the old ones. I've been doing laundry. I just did all my towels because I have no clean ones. I'll do my clothes on Sunday. Wait till I have a bigger load I suppose. I have to go get my towels out of the dryer now. And then I'm going to get ready for bed.

I have most of the day off tomorrow. I have my last Science Center shift of the season at 6. But for the rest of the day I plan on cleaning my apartment and making art. I may also start bringing some stuff upstairs since me and James are going to be moving things to his apartment and his parents house on Sunday. But really I just wanted to be a nice art day. I want to take at least one nap. And I just want to feel rested by the end of it. I'm looking forward to the Science Center though. And I hope you all have a great night tonight. Sleep well everyone.