Rick and Tina

When I met Cullen back in 94-95, he lived in Brooklyn Center with Rick and Tina. At the time Matthew was 1 1/2 and Kalene was a few months old. Both R and T worked nights, so Cullen was on baby duty for them at night- how much does he rock?! Blew my mind when Kalene would cry and he'd have her changed and back in bed before I could even hold her.
Tina scared the HELL out of me at first. She might have that affect on people more often than not. She is one of the most direct people I have ever met. I guess I wouldn't call her brutally honest, but you are going to hear how she feels or how it is. She can be very hard headed, and when she gets mad, just get the hell out of the way. She was in the service and she doesn't take any shit. She scared me at first. Part of it is founded and the other part was Cullen trying to give me a heads up about her- as in "Don't let anything she says bother you, that's just how she is." stuff, ya know?
However, I'm missing the gene that most smart people have that would make them heed that warning. Cullen was obviously very close to his oldest brother, and he and I were inseperable right from go, so I got to know Rick and Tina very well. Since Cullen lived there, I was there all the time, and they appreciated having people to hang out with at their own house since they had 2 very young kids (with Tayler on the way soon). We were there ALL THE TIME. NON STOP. Somehow I maneuvered around Tina's moods, and we shopped til we dropped and got along just perfectly fine.
At some point when Tayler was a few months old, they moved to Burnsville. We were very close to their babies, obviously. I learned so much from them. I will never forget the first time a 3 year old Kalene was sprawled out on me with her arms over her head so I could tickle her arms and sides for an hour before she fell asleep. I was amazed at the trust of a child, how open to love they are. Rick and Tina parent differently than we do (and their kids are turning out fantastic anyway- another lesson learned by me), and Cullen and I were more of the disciplinarians in that family. Did I just spell that word correctly?! WTF. Seriously? Wow. Then we hit some of our first bumps in our love fest. When I was pg with CJ and scared out of my mind, I felt like Rick rolled his eyes alot. Alot of girls are great at being sober cab all the time, but the Hayeses are irritating, gross drunks (I am nothing but fun, of course.). I hated it. I felt left out etc. Then Tina's mom passed away and she struggled big time with that. We weren't as close for awhile, which I supose was okay in some ways. It still felt normal when we hung out, it just wasn't every single weekend anymore.
The biggest hurdle was just last year, when Kalene confided in me, and I didn't know what to do, so I didn't tell her parents what she confided, and when they found out they were both furious. Rick actually came over and yelled at me, and Rick does NOT get mad. I wouldn't do anything differently and I still think it's very, very sad that she doesn't talk to me anymore. I think it was a huge disservice to her, but I'm only basing that on what I needed and had far too late when I was her age. It could be very different for her...I'm sure that lots of 15 year old who were struggling to not have sex a year ago have lasted a whole year full of opportunities and not done it. Right? :P
The first time seeing Tina after that was a nightmare. I was sick forever beforehand, terrified. We somehow made it through that visit. I did Kalene and Tayler's hair and she did hug and kiss me goodbye like normal but she had said "Well talk about it. Next time." so I felt UGH about it all over again.
And slowly...time passed and other things took place and it faded away. I don't know how, but we're back to good and have been for awhile now. I can't remember what party it was at the townhouse last summer, she was still being so standoffish, it was so uncomfortable, and Kalene took a walk with me and she and I talked- it was the first time I'd gotten to talk to her since it all went down....Hm. Anyway- since September/October, it's been normal again. Which feels good because I have a lot of respect for her. She's different from me in just about every way (outwardly...inside we all want the same things), but it never fails. I keep learning that I can't judge, I just can't judge because it's no time at all and I'm in the shoes she was in and I can understand better how she saw things and why she said/did what she did. It's a valuable lesson and I'm lucky that I get to receive it over and over.
WAIT! Did we win the lottery? I better go find out. I love One Hit Wonders. A.D.D. ON, apparently.
Did I tell you about the brownies? They were not quite done all the way, and I threw the chocolate frosting on when they were still warm so it was all melty. We didn't have brownies, we had a pile of melted chocolate orgasm on a plate. Matt said "Did you mean to do this?" I said "I don't know what you're talking about, this is the most perfect glob that's ever existed." Only it sounded like "I bont no wot r tawkn bout, dis da mot prft gob dat er essisstd" because my mouth was full of heaven right then. They were FANTASTIC.
See? Love is all that matters. I made out hard core with a brownie tonight and couldn't be happier. I wonder if it was good for the brownie.