here i go again...July 1989

Right now, I'm outside in Tina's front yard, trying desperately to get a tan. I actually hate laying out. I get all sweaty and red and lightheaded and it's uncomfortable to read because I'm not on my tummy in a big comfy bed and I'm not in a huge soft chair. I'm on a lawn chair that puts waffle patterns on my butt . All for a stupid tan that I won't get anyway because I just burn and go white again. sigh.

Yakima isn't a bad place at all - kinda fun. I guess any place besides Lacey is fun. For the last few days we've been fixing up these duplexes that Arnold (Tina's step dad) owns. Saturday me and Tina went shopping and then worked on the duplex.

Sunday we went to church, of course. I got up really early and took three hours to get ready just in case Russ was there and he wasn't. But Tina kept complaining that these guys were looking at me. RIGHT. Guys will check out anyone new. But my hair was really high that day, so maybe.

That's the first time I've been to church in three months. ON Friday there was a mother daughter outing up at this cool lodge in the mountains. I got to know a lot of the girls. Russ's sister, Heather, was there. She seemed kind of shy so me and Tina drew her out. She's totally sweet. She's only 13 but she acts much older, like us.

Anyway, we talked about a lot of things, including Russ, but SHE totally brought him up. We stayed up til about 2am, but they weren't in church.

Now for the big stuff!!!!!

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Yesterday was TOTALLY GREAT! We all got up in the morning and worked on the duplex. We came home around four and I slept until about 5:30pm. I got into the shower right after that, and I didn't know it but Tina called Russ. They were still on the phone when I got out of the shower.

It turned out that he found out our parents (actually Tina's) weren't home so he said he was coming to babysit us. Tina told him that was cold. I hope he was kidding! After all, I'm 15 and he's only 16 and I've dated guys 7 years older than him. Well, at least I've LIKED guys 7 years older than him. I guess that isn't actually dating... But he doesn't know that.

Anyway, when he finally got here me and Tina were ready to go. We all talked for a while. He didn't really seem to notice I was there. So he invited me and Tina to go swimming with him. We all took off in his truck, music up full blast, windows down, lots of laughter.

When we got to Russ's friends house, his friend was gone, so we waited for about 45 minutes. During that time, I think I had one of the most interesting conversations of my life. We were all sitting there, Russ at the wheel, Tina in the middle and me on the other end. Mostly we listened to music. VERY interesting music. Russ finally opened up and sang for us.

HE HAS THE

BEST VOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm totally in love. I swear by all that's holy. He can SING and he DRIVES and he SKIIS. And he hates moguls TOO. The only thing I can find wrong with him is he doesn't like Depeche Mode and Alphaville, the booger. But, what can I say. He is PERFECT for me.

I've never been so infatuated. He plays about 20 instruments. He's FUNNY. He's SWEET. And he loves music as much or more than I do. He's in a band and he believes in democracy. (That's a joke). His favorite song is "Who do you give your love to?" I LOVE that song!!!!

And, he goes to our church. He's a good member but he's not all church and Molly Mormon or Peter Priesthood type.

He's everything I ever dreamed of. I bet he's taken.

After we waited for a while, we went to the reservation and he bought fireworks. He's so cool.

Ok, I'm burning. I'll write more later. Ciao!