8-8-2001 | 10:43 p.m.

I tried to post an entry before I left for vacation, but Diaryland must have been down. But before I discuss that....

My brother answered the door today and carried in a huge box addressed to me, from Amazon.com. I didn't want to open it at first. I didn't order anything from them in the past few months. Unless I blacked out some night and went crazy with the credit card. I figured it was a mistake or something. So I open it and there's a bunch of goodies inside! Still I was clueless. Then I found the card. A package from the Survivors!

I started crying of course. I'm still reeling. Thank you sweeties! That was way too much. I'll be emailing everyone later. And Pischina you are so sneaky! That Wish List was supposed to be un-searchable. I originally started it at a family members' request. grrrrr. I told you not to send anything. Okay...I'm crying again. Really, that was crazy and not deserved.

So, I spent a week in Rhode Island with the family. The state beach, near Providence, is amazing.

I had sunblock 30 on and still got burnt a bit. The waves were crazy. My sister and I spent hours letting the waves push us back to shore. I was so at peace. I need to move out there. New York sucks in the Summer.

Biker Phil and the rest of Step-Dad's biker buddies were here Saturday. Phil is an annoying drunk and couldn't take the hint that I don't want to be involved with him. He's a loud drunk. I can't deal with that crap. So, I took some time to reflect once he was gone. Am I being overly picky? Or maybe I'm too screwed up and can't handle relationships. It feels crappy. Wish I could change.

I can't really focus right now. I'm still feeling so overwhelmed by the package. And...where's the love for Noodles? I thought a huge discussion would break out on the board. If you don't know Noodles I will try to educate on the board later. So, I'll leave you with the story I meant to tell before I took off for vacation:

I thought I'd tell you about a new pool game I was taught the other day. It was near 90 degrees here and I really didn't want to sit outside, but my sister wanted to go in the pool. I just sat in the shade and kept an eye on her for a while. Then she kept bugging me so I jumped in.

She's sitting on a float and says, "Can we play Castaway?"

I was like, "Huh?"

"You know the movie..." We had rented the movie last week. You know, the one with Tom Hanks stranded on an island after surviving a plane crash.

"How do we play?" Cause, yeah what kind of game is that.

She floated over to me. "Well...I'm the guy. And you're Wilson." You know, Wilson, the volleyball Tom Hanks paints a face on (with his own blood) and talks to through most of the movie.

"I'm playing a volleyball!" Yay for me imitating an inanimate object. "What do I do?"

She floated to the other side of the pool. "Just float around in the water. I lost you and I'm trying to get you back."

I was cracking up. Where does she get this stuff from? So, yes, I agreed to be Wilson. And I was saved eventually. Thankfully no one else was around to witness it.