Update of June: New York!

So, June was nice! On the 6th, I went to New York with my mom and Rhett. It was a lot of fun. We spent the 7th walking around doing general touristy things, then on the 8th we went to the Jimmy Fallon show. It was so much fun! On the 9th we did a little shopping and then went to the airport. That is where the real story comes in. We got to the airport just after 2:00 p.m. and there was a really long line to check luggage. When we were waiting in line, we had the joy of being entertained by a little chubby boy (about 3 years old?) in a black wife beater. He started off by rolling around on the floor, taking off his shoes, spinning while laying on the ground etc. I was so grossed out wondering why his mom would let him touch the nasty airport ground. Then he started running! He was running through the people and the mom didn't even watch him. She just stood there talking to her mom. He was weaving in and out of the people in the line dodging legs and jumping over luggage. I thought it was hilarious. When we finally got to the front of the line, we learned that our flight had been delayed by about 4 hours I think. maybe 6.
So we went to our gate and my mom joined us affter her little run-in with Chauncey Billups. We sat and waited and tried to sleep, listened to music, played games on our phones, and wishing so badly that I had brought my guitar. Anything to kill the time. Luckily the little boy was at the same gate. He would run really far away from his dad who was sitting on the ground, turn around, scrape his feet on the ground like a bull, and run as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him. His dad would catch him and kinda toss him in the air. Then we finally got on the plane at 11 p.m. While we were waiting in line to board, we had a grumpy man behind us who looked just like this:

Anyway, he was standing behind us saying "This airline is NEVER getting my business again. Never ever ever ever ever ever ever." And this was after a few nice ladies told him off explaining that it wasn't the airlines fault.

Well after the grueling, sleepless (for me) plane ride, (too bad the chubby boy was sleeping) we arrived in AZ. Having missed our connecting flight, we had some paradise bakery for "breakfast?" is it breakfast at 3 a.m.? Anyway, while we were there, we had the joy of watching a lady taking pictures of her sleeping son and husband. She thought it was hilarious! She put a cup in her husbands hand to make it look like he was holding it when he fell asleep because he was sitting up. Afterwards, she sat down and was flipping through the pictures cracking up. She thought she was the funniest thing in the world! Then we went downstairs and waited for it to be time to get in line to check our bags. We were trying to get comfortable when I realized: "We have an inflatable mattress in our bag! Why don't we inflate it?" Rhett also saw this as a brilliant idea, but Mom wouldn't okay it. She thought it would be trashy looking or something. I personally couldn't have cared less. So instead we lied in the middle of the floor and waited for 5 a.m. to roll around. Well the rest of the story was kind of uneventful, but we got home safely and really tired.

Momma

            Loving, Funny, Honest, Patient, Smart, Giving, Loyal: These are all just a few of the words that describe Erundina Maria Dayton (sorry for using your real name Mom.) My mom is the best one out there. You guys can choose to disagree if you want, but you'd be a little wrong. She is the best mom for me. If I had another woman for a mother, she just wouldn’t cut it.

            In the past, my mom and I had a very mother-daughter relationship. She was my caregiver for whom I have always been grateful, but over the past few years, she has become my best friend. She and I spend a lot of time together doing silly things like watching Grey’s Anatomy, or Parenthood, or just hanging out. She is the first person I go to when I have a question or a complaint. A while back, my ringtone for her was Basketcase by Green Day because of the line “do you have the time to listen to me whine?” cuz that’s what she does for me. I come to her and complain and she helps me through things. Even when she thinks I’m being silly or dramatic, she stands by my side. She will ALWAYS have my back and I don’t know if I will always be able to say that about my friends my age.

At the beginning of this post, I underlined the word “patient” for a reason. She and my dad have raised 6 children. They had their struggles with each of us, but my brother Rhett, and I have given them more grief than the rest of their kids. But they still love us. The poor people still live with their two hardest kids, but they don’t let it bother them. My mom had to change her parenting style for me. I wasn’t and still am not an easy child to raise, but she hasn’t given up. She has had to do so many things differently to raise me the way Heavenly Father has directed her to, but she has not given up on me. She has learned to accept the things about me that she just can’t change, and has worked hard with me to be the person that I need. The other day, I promised I would clean my room, so I did. She said later, talking to someone else “Catalina said she would clean her room. And she did to her standard, and I just have to remind myself that she didn’t mean to leave her slippers in the middle of her floor, she probably doesn’t know they’re there.” And she was right. I had no clue, but she doesn’t let that bug her.

            My family’s favorite memory of me is Sunday dinners. I would get mad, run to my room, and scream at the top of my lungs “I HATE YOU MOM AND DAD! I’LL NEVER LOVE YOU AGAIN!!!” who does that? But they didn’t get mad at me. They knew I was just being dramatic. If my child said that to me, I’d feel hurt, but my mom knows me better than I know myself and I’m so grateful for that. Just the other day I was upset about something and I asked my mom “Mom, is something else bugging me? Cuz I’m getting more worked up about this than I would expect.” I do this with her all the time. She has always been able to give me the best answers to everything in my life and I am and always will be in debt to her. 

I love you so much Mom! Sorry for all of the pain and frustration I have caused you for the past 19 years but I just want you to know that all of your efforts and sacrifice have not gone unnoticed. I love you! Love C-A, Toad, Lovey, Bug, etc. etc.

So, I was just talking to my parents and I realized something. I noticed that I was feeling glum because I didn't get all I wanted out of the past year. Like I didn't do much with the last year of my life and my dad asked me what I expected out of this year and I didn't know what to say. Now I know what was bugging me. I'm single.  Pathetic huh? I let the fact that I am single bum me out on my birthday. that is so messed up. I have always been a little boy crazy, but I didn't know that it was going to be a problem as I get older. That's when I realized what my goal is going to be for the next year. NO it is NOT to get a boyfriend. It is to set "boys" at a lower priority level. like bottom of the list. In the past year, I put so much energy into dating, and I put so much emotion into caring about guys and whether they liked me or not. Like it sickens me to read my journals because that is all they are about. It's really dumb.
     anyway, I'm not totally going to avoid dating, (like I'm not going to say no to everyone that asks me on a date for a whole year) But I'm not going to go seeking opportunities like I used to. I have put myself out there so many times, I've asked guys on dates, I've been the one to make the first contact with a lot of people and it's just dumb. You're probably wondering why I put this on my blog. Why would I say all of this in public? mostly because I am just a very straight forward person, and because I could use support. If my close friends and family know what my goals are, they can help me out. SO, the things that I do want to do this year are as follows:
(In no particular order)
-prepare for my future (mission, family etc.) by earning and saving money. I want to have at LEAST $10,000 in my bank account before I'm 20. I know that might not seem like much, but if you knew where I was starting, you'd understand.
-I want to visit my nieces and nephews in Arizona quarterly. I haven't been down there for 5 months. I'm going down in May, and I need to go more frequently.
-Take better care of myself. Go to the gym at LEAST 3 times per week. ideally, 5 times, but we all have lives.
- Keep going with my weekly temple visits. 
- Finish the Book Of Mormon and read it again.
- Write in my journal weekly. (And not about boys)


Anyway, that's it. I would love any support anyone has to offer. Even if it is moral support, still I appreciate it. Wish me luck! :)