Uncle Jerry's not even on shift. I suppose it's somewhat Ash's fault.
Speaking of, she was delighted when I told her I'd actually started this... and promptly told me she wouldn't read it? I'm not sure if I trust that. Why make a public journal if only complete strangers are going to read it? Of course she's weird like that sometimes.
Maybe she's just trying to respect my privacy.
Anyway, Saturday and Sunday Ash convinced me to check out our town's parks. She can actually drive, so she picked me up. One of the places is more of a memorial than a park. Just a big grassy field with one lonely playground set thing in the middle. I think there's only a park there because the school that used to be there burned down a few decades back. There's another one on the south side of town that looks more like a vacant lot with swingsets and a seesaw in it; it's tiny.
And then there's Knupple Park. (that's kuh-nup-uhl if you're wondering). It's actually in a fairly nice residential area, big, lots of trees, and a jogging trail. A nice big pond too. The only downside is it's right next to a steep drainage ditch, but you can't win them all I guess. Well it also got a bit of a bad reputation because of some child abductions/disappearances a few years back that kind of keeps the neighborhood paranoid, but nothing like that's happened since then.
Of course, the reason we're doing this is exercise! She's convinced my sleeping issues are because I don't get tired enough during the day, so I can't go to sleep, which makes me tired (???). I didn't quite get the logic either. Then again, physical exertion and sleep deprivation are two very different things I guess. I dunno.
It did work, a little, I guess. We did some jogging on Saturday and tried some tennis Sunday morning. I slept pretty well Saturday but I was still kinda tired. Sunday... Well, I guess that's that leads into the uncomfortable part of this update.
We got back from our little outing (with more than a few ball-induced bruises; I suck at tennis) right about when mom and Jerry got back from picking up Melanie. Now Ashleigh loves kids and she did that whole 'D'AAAAAAAAAW' cooing thing the minute she saw Mel. I don't know if she's just a dumbass or didn't understand how Mel is and just what she'd been through, but basically I wound up with a shy eleven year old painfully clutching my leg and convinced Ashleigh is basically her scary overly handsy aunt.
Lunch was slightly awkward as we tried to get to know a little about Melanie and she kept clamming up whenever Ash asked a question. Eventually she got the idea and excused herself. Mel never did open up all the way but we did learn she likes reading, her favorite color is still baby blue (thank God, that's the color i had to paint her room), and that she's used to a diet with a lot fewer greasy foods than we typically have. (The fried chicken lunch didn't go over well).
But overall she seemed like an OK kid. She reminds me a little of me at that age - quiet, bookish. Well that's still true now. Of course trouble did start up when she tried to go to sleep last night. She absolutely needed a night light and when one of mom's dogs saw the light on he figured that was a good place to scratch on the window and beg to be let in. Mel basically flipped her shit, woke up the house, and wound up sleeping in mom's bed. I hate to brag about being right (especially to myself), but if that kind of thing keeps up these first few weeks are going to be as bad as I thought.
I never did quite get back to deep sleep after that and finally gave up about an hour ago. Damn, this entry got long. Sorry if I bored you, Internet.
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