Awww. Sorry to hear about your grandfather. :(
Drama is never any fun for sure. But glad, despite everything. It wasn't to bad.

Hey guys. What's shaking?

*huggles Ava* Sorry for your loss. I'm sure the drama only makes the whole situation worse!

Makes me want to not complain about my grandmother and the ridiculous things she does with food now. At least she's here, driving me to drink in person.

I miss my grandfather - the only one I knew passed away back in 2008. He was the one who I called for everything - he knew so much. I never met my dad's father, who passed away when dad was 11.

And I don't get to see either of my grandmother's often. Unfortunately.

I live with the only grandfather I've ever known. My dad's father was a super deadbeat. We never met him and he died when I was about the same age, around 11. That was the first and only time I met some of his side of the family when they had a party to celebrate his...life I guess. To me it was a "Thank got the bastard's dead" party.

I live with both of my maternal grandparents. My grandmother drives me up the wall. I love her, but oh man, up the wall! My other grandmother lives across town and we get together for lunch every now and then. Probably not as much as she'd like, but I'm not really a social person. Sorry Nana!

That's great though that you get to see them often. One of my grandmother's lives mmm like 3ish hours from my parent's and I only see her a few times a year and the other one lives in New Mexico and I rarely get to see her. But I do love taking pictures there whenever I do go and visit. :)

Thank you, both. :)
Yeah, the drama made it really hard for me to go to support my mom, but thankfully the other family members kept their drama to themselves for the actual funeral. After that we just left.

I think living with my grandparents could drive me up the wall also! My grandfather that just died was the only grandparent I had left, and I do regret not getting the chance to get to know him a little better. Just before he died, I told him I'd come see him again and he could tell me about his life in Germany before he came back to the U.S. He was very fun to talk to, and he knew about seemingly everything and he loved talking so much that if he didn't know what you were talking about, he'd find out any information he could on what you wear saying and he'd see you again and tell you all the things he found out.

I wish I had gotten to hear more from him, but it was hard living in another state. I could always call him but I get very anxious on the phone, it's much easier talking in person for me.

That's good that the drama was kept to themselves, and they didn't bring it there... that makes a hard event a little bit easier - if that can be easy.

It does make it hard living in another state from a grandparent, for sure!!

Yes, I am so very glad it wasn't dramatic. I was really not looking forward to going, but at the end of the day, I'm glad I went. It was sad, but at least I got to pay my grandfather some final respects. And I really shouldn't have been surprised that there'd be drama with his death, that side of my family is always dramatic. Lol. I am glad that I don't live in the same state because they're pretty toxic people and I'd hate to be surrounded by that all the time.

Yes, definitely. But it's getting easier to stay in contact with people out of state now, what with Skype and Facebook and FaceTime and stuff like that, :)

Being around toxic people is never good. So that's good that you don't have to be around them often. Stay away from the toxic-ness.

Oh, yeah!! the internets really does help with keeping in touch with people far away, that's for sure!

Yes, definitely! :)

The Internet can be so awesome! Sometimes it can be so weird, though, lol. I'm glad there is ways to make it easier to contact people far away. Makes the world feel a little smaller.

Yeah - it's made it possible for me to make my 12+ year friendship with my best friend, who's become like a sister to me, in Australia work. ^_^

That is so awesome! :D 12 years is a long time! Have you gone to visit her in Australia, or her come to visit you?

I've gone down there once, back in summer of 2011 (Well summer for me, winter for them - it was the end of May, beginning few weeks of June), but she's never come up here. It's just way too expensive for either of us to go do it often. But it was amazing, despite the INSANITY of the flight! That flight, but there and back, was so crazy long! But omg, so so so so worth it!! ^_^

But despite the fact that we don't talk on the phone much (calling cards are pricey) and she doesn't have Skype or any of those video chat places, and we just mainly talk on FB (wall posts and private messages) and the occasional hand written letter, or parcel to the other one, we've made it work. ^_^ So no complaints, other than I'm not happy with the fact that she's half way around the world and I rarely get to see her, or talk to her (like actually talk talk, not just type) but we make do with what we have been given. ^_^

Wow! That sounds like fun! ^_^

It's awesome to hear about long lasting friendships like that. I have a friend in Hungary that I've talked to for about three years now, but it's definitely hard to talk often because of the time zones.

How did you like Australia? I've always wanted to go!

It was fun!!

Time zones are killer! How far ahead is your friend in Hungry from you? Phoenix (one of my nicknames for my friend) and I are 17 to 19 hours apart depending on what time of the year it is. We find ways to make it work - we must be doing something right! :P

Omg, I loved it!! I really just went down there to visit with her -I was down there for almost three weeks, but it was so worth it! Thing is, because Australia is such a huge continent, I really didn't see any of the desert in the middle like most people seem to think of Australia. It was just like home - hilly, and beautiful! ^_^

I believe that me and my friend in Hungary are 7 hours apart. So, not a huge difference, but still can be a pain in the butt sometimes haha.

Wow, that sounds so beautiful. :) Did you see many mountains there, like the ones in California?

If I never said it, I should. This thread makes me think of that manga The Wallflower.

Originally Posted by Ava The Vampire

I believe that me and my friend in Hungary are 7 hours apart. So, not a huge difference, but still can be a pain in the butt sometimes haha.

Wow, that sounds so beautiful. :) Did you see many mountains there, like the ones in California?

Oh, any time difference can be stupidly annoying!! And it just makes it that much harder to get on at the same time.

It was gorgeous!! ^_^ Not really as many mountains as people seem to think are in California... I don't live where there are mountains, just lots of hills. That's what it was like where I was at down in Australia. Some mountain-ish things, but nothing really major.

*pokes everyone* Hiiiii. How re chu guys?

Originally Posted by CloudDreamer

Oh, any time difference can be stupidly annoying!! And it just makes it that much harder to get on at the same time.

It was gorgeous!! ^_^ Not really as many mountains as people seem to think are in California... I don't live where there are mountains, just lots of hills. That's what it was like where I was at down in Australia. Some mountain-ish things, but nothing really major.

That sounds absolutely beautiful. :) Would you go to Australia again?
Do you do a lot of traveling? Sorry I'm asking so many questions! LOL. I just think it's so awesome to be able to leave the country and experience a new place entirely! What part of California are you from? I've only ever been to the LA area and the valley-ish area, so I'm so used to there being a lot of mountains off in the distance.

@Nola
Hi! :D I am doing okay. I was feeling pretty sick yesterday, but I'm feeling much better now.

Nola: Hey there! How're you?

Ava: Oh, I definitely would! It is a stupidly long flight - but omg, so so so so worth it! I want to go back, I just don't have the money right now.
As for what part of California I'm from, that's where things get slightly confusing - if you're to ask me that my initial response is I'm a Northern California country girl through and through, who's stuck in The Valley down south, and hates it. As soon as I can... I'm moving as far from Southern California as I possibly can... The two parts of California are DRASTICALLY different and I prefer where I'm from SO much more... Northern California is SO SO SO SO much prettier.

Dolls with gorgeous mad bad rad long hair.

@CloudDreamer
That is understandable. It's probably very expensive to travel. ;( I've never left the country, but just traveling from Minnesota to California is expensive, so I can only imagine how much it's cost to go to Australia!

I've never been to northern California but I would definitely love to go! I'm moving to Southern California this year and everyone from California tells me that it's not that beautiful there lol. It gets pretty hot in the Valley too, doesn't it? Not looking forward to that! I'm used to freezing temperatures and to me, anything about 70 degrees is too hot!

@Amane
Dolls? :) I think dolls are fun! I never liked them when I was little, though.

Ava: Currently it's 2000$ round trip (and that's economy). I wish I had that money though, I miss her so much! :(

Oh, it's not beautiful down here... it's stupidly hot year round... I miss seasons! D: Oh, here... people BITCH and moan if it hits below 70... 70 is COLD to most people. -.- I'm used to REAL seasons!! Like Northern California ACTUALLY has seasons, and RAIN and real weather... Southern California is basically summer... YEAR round. I hate it. I'm only down here for school... as soon as I'm done... I'm SO out of here.

I've always had a strong love for dolls. Several rooms of this house are full of dolls, and I haven't even seen them all.