When I awoke from my nap I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and grabbed one of the newest scrap books I've been working on. There aren't that many pictures though, I seem to have been slacking. I have hundreds of my New York trip and that's what this book is filled with. The memories of that trip are probably some of the best of my life so having so many captured in a photo is amazing. I especially love that so few are posed for. I hate the fake memories that people try and create. No one ever just happens to be in a perfect row with pearly white boring smiles plastered on their faces. I much prefer to take a picture when my friends don't even realize I've got my camera. Like the photo I got of my aunt while she was serving one of her frequent customers and she had on her famous smile that just makes the room sparkle, it's something that can never be captured when she poses. She looks happy and everything when she poses, but she never gets that smile. Or the one I took of Jen while she was trying to flirt with this guy at the record shop, it's just priceless.

As I flipped through the pages I notices that I had begun to cry, but they're not tears of sadness, they're just the opposite. They're the tears that fall when you've having happiness overload and just don't know how to release all that energy so it comes in tears. I quickly wiped my eyes and flipped to the next empty page. I pulled out my box of pictures and scrapbook supplies and went to work. It maybe takes me about an hour to finish one page. It's just something I want to be perfect. I'm keeping it for the rest of my life and I don't want to flip to a page and regret a sticker or something, that would kill me just a little bit inside.

After I finished one page and was about half way through with another my mum entered my room. "Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling pretty well mum, thanks. I am feeling a bit sore though, would you mind bringing me some pain killers?" I asked.

"Of course not." she smiled and left the room, returning almost immediately with a short glass of water and two small pills in her hand. She walked over and handed them to me. I placed the pills in my mouth and took a swig from the cup to help ease them down to my stomach. I coughed a couple of times like I always do after taking a pill and ten took another sip of water before setting it onto the nightstand beside my bed.

"So what are you working on?" she looked down at my lap.

"Just a scrap book of my trip to New York. I've been slacking on my picture taking so these are pretty much the only ones I've got. I'll have to start taking some new everyday pictures once I get back to school."

"Oh, I see. You know, I don't think you ever showed me the photos from New York. I've maybe only seen a few of them." she frowned.

"I'm sorry mum... I'll show you the rest of them once I've finished this book." I assured.

"Alright, that sounds good. So how would you like to join me in the kitchen tonight for dinner, rather than having to eat in here all by your lonesome? And Hatori brought by some crutches for you so that you can go out again, you'll also be needing them for a while when you start school back up again. So you'll be needing to get some practice in. I was thinking that maybe you and Momiji could go to the park tomorrow. It should be fun for the two of you to hang out outside of the house I think."

My face lit up with a smile so wide it almost hurt, "Of course! I'd love to get out of this drab room. And go to the park with Momiji tomorrow just sounds absolutely brilliant! I can take my sketch pad and work on some art work." Since I've been hurt I've actually taken up drawing. I used to really suck, but I'm actually getting the hang of it and have gotten quite good. Though lately I've been lacking a certain inspiration. Being outside in the open air of the park sounds like the perfect cure. Especially if I'm with my Momiji-kun.

"Good, I'm glad you're excited." She smiled as she helped me up out of the bed. She acted as my support as I limped into the kitchen area and sat down at the table. Wow, she's done some redecorating. It's been so long since I've been past the hallway I've almost forgotten what the rest of this house looks like. The walls of the kitchen/dining area have changed from drab beige to a warm and rustic deep orange color, there were new stainless steal appliances, and the wood floors were replaced with tile.

"Well it looks like you've been busy." I pointed out.

"Yeah." she laughed, "Since you're father left I've decided that it's time for a change. A fresh start. The renovations actually started with my bedroom, I've just finished the kitchen, next will be the living room, and I think that once you've made a full recovery we'll fix up your room. Those white walls really do nothing for you. You need something that will allow your personality to shine through. Your room should inspire you."

I was grinning yet again. I've been wanting to personalize my room for years now, but my parents never seemed to have the time. Maybe...Maybe dad leaving wasn't such a bad thing after all. It's not as if he was around much anyways. "Thank you mum...That sounds amazing. I can't wait to get better!"

"I can't wait either." she set a bowl of matzo ball soup in front of me. The rising steam that smelled delicious made my mouth water, and as soon as she sat down with her bowl I dug in.

Today turned out to be a pretty good one. I got to see Momiji, he brought me my favorite ice cream, mum's gonna let me redecorate my room, dinner is one of my favorites, and tomorrow I get to go to the park with my most favorite person in the whole wide world. Lets hope things keep moving up, I'm not sure if I can handle them getting any worse.