Last day of vacay

The kids are as usual playing video games in their pajamas, but for the last time for a while, as school starts tomorrow. LAUSD is very determined to keep schools open, and I support this decision. There’s been some talk that closing schools for over a year really didn’t do anything - anything except disrupt kids’ education and mental health. We’ll never know for sure, but I cling to the hope that at least at this point in the pandemic we’ve learned that complete shut downs don’t actually accomplish anything. 

We haven’t heard from the new contractor as far as rates, but I have been in touch and he says he hopes to write something up this week. The F, who is determined to have ATVs at some point out there, had the idea to get a shipping container for use as both a bathroom/shower unit and storage for large things, like ATVs, solar panels, a water tank, etc. I think it’s a great idea, and the contractor confirmed that most likely it would cost about the same to buy/deliver/modify a shipping container for this purpose as it would to build a structure, and you’d have the bonus of the secure storage. So now I’m on the hunt for shipping containers - but of course there’s a shortage. Sigh. I really wanted to be signed on with the new guy and building by now…but it was not to be.

Shocker of shocks, we got an email Saturday night from our fabulous wedding venue that their permit for hosting events has been pulled by the county and they have been forced to cancel all weddings. So…as of this moment, the wedding is off. As you can imagine I’ve been in a mad, adrenaline-fueled scramble ever since. Fortunately we had already scheduled a visit out there for the long weekend next weekend to meet with our wedding planner to walk the place, so instead now we’ll be touring new venues. I had assumed everything would be booked for our weekend, but thankfully there are a few options; for some, we may just have to get creative. I’ve circled back to the Boulder Gardens, where we first fell in love with the desert; we had decided last summer that it wasn’t suitable because there weren’t really any flat areas, but I think it’s worth revisiting with our planner to see if she has any ideas beyond our capability. They have the weekend open, and as I recall from last time, the rates are good. We’ll look at a new venue she recommended that looks terrific, but would definitely be just an in-and-out one day deal, if we decide to go that route. Then there’s also project X, which would be having it on our land. My only concern there would be a) ground too rocky and full of bushes to be suitable, b) pissing off neighbors - of course, they won’t be there in June though. But it would be FREE, people can come to camp, no capacity limits, no shut down time, and did I mention FREE. It’s worth considering, even if there’s some clearing/cleaning of the property to be done first. Many of these venues require bringing in literally everything - even the Boulder gardens we’d have to bring bathrooms, all furniture, generators, etc. Then there’s also a basic performance space we’ll tour on Sunday and I’ve reached out to the neighboring wacky bohemian glamp site for housing (we almost visited in the summer, but cut our visit short. I don’t know if this place is possible but it could be pretty awesome). So, I’m not too panicked because there are options, and it looks like we can keep our date. We’ll see what happens next weekend. I’m glad I didn’t have real invites printed yet.