So, this was an interesting weekend.  Friday night, I thought I'd go see Deb at the Pocket.  But before I went, I checked to see if she was online, so I popped onto her MySpace page.  She wasn't, but I noticed something on her page I hadn't seen before.  A certain person was in her Friends list.  Who?  E.

Yes, E.  (You'll have to head waaaay back to the very early entries of this blog to see who I'm talking about.) 

I was a bit taken aback, honestly.  Had I looked at the comments on Deb's page, I would've seen comments from her dating back to November.  But I didn't actually see that until later in the weekend.

At the Pocket that night, I questioned Deb about it.  "Yeah, we've been talking," she said.  And in response to my look of surprise, she explained.  E had been contacting her regularly for quite a while, but it wasn't until after Deb's ex-husband died unexpectedly, and E expressed her sympathy, that Deb chose to reply.  (And hell, I don't care what bad blood is between me and another person... if he/she expresses sympathy at a loss, I'm going to reply and thank them.)

Deb says E seems to have matured a bit in the past year.  I took this in, and said I hope she was right.  Truth is, I've never had all that much against E.  I mean, she's young, and she's had a horrible example of how to behave in the form of her mother, G.  That's the one I'm really not keen on.  (You may recall her better with her later name: Thieving Whore.)

Anyway, not five minutes later, who walks into the Pocket, but E and her husband.  She walked right by our table (Steve and Sharon had joined me there).  She looked right in my face, then quickly averted her gaze.  I figured it was either (a) because she didn't want to see me or (b) because she didn't recognize me.  (She hasn't seen me since I shaved my head, and if my own co-workers didn't recognize me, it's possible she didn't, either.)

Well, feeling a bit tipsy (and, let's be honest, not being the type of person who likes to let ill feelings stand), I went over to say hello.  And the reason E averted her gaze was actually (c) she just didn't know how to react upon seeing me.

We really didn't say much.  It was idle chat.  I asked how the kids were, etc.  She asked how Lorelei was doing.  There was, though, a seeming regret lingering.  I don't recall what she said, but it was in reference to "all that stuff," and I responded with, "Well, sometimes life just sucks."

It was... somewhat surreal.  And I still don't know what to make of it.

However, when getting home late that night, she sent me a MySpace message and said we needed to chat.  She gave me her number.  (Okay, actually, she gave me the wrong number, then corrected it 45 minutes later.  I'm thinking she was probably way tipsier than I was.)

Needless to say, I haven't called her, though I did reply tonight to her message.  We'll see what she has to say.



Sunday.  TrainWreck came over for a visit before going to work.  It was nice.  I mean, it was nice seeing her with her mom ten days ago... but there were things I wanted to talk to her about that were inappropriate things to ask a teenager in front of a parent.

Get yer damn minds outta the friggin' gutter.  Geez.

A year or so ago, TrainWreck went through a bad period.  Her emails had turned a bit darker, and I was really worried about her.  Before I heard from her concerning the accident, it had been a while since she'd contacted me.

I'm relieved to say that she's through that phase... and yes, that's what she called it.  She says the past year has been a big change for her (even before her brush with death).  She's much more positive, and I was quite happy to hear that.

Oh, I also had the chance now to ask her something I'd been dying to ever since we got together:  "How does it feel knowing that you're way smarter than your mom?"  She rolled her eyes and laughed a little, but admitted that it was a bit disconcerting.  (And apparently her dad's no rocket scientist, either.)  I can well imagine how that must have been.

I can't say I ever felt that way, though.  I mean, my dad didn't go to college.  He wasn't "book smart."  But he was a thoughtful man, a man who wouldn't speak about something he knew nothing about.  And he was wise.  So, while I was more "learned" than my dad, I never felt "smarter" than him, in that sense.  My mom also didn't go to college, but she was definitely bright, and highly creative, and that's its own form of intelligence.  She was also a tad psycho, but let's not go there...