Thankfully the H has a coworker with kids who loves our hand me down toys, so a living room full of stuff went to work one day and never came back. By Wednesday I was completely exhausted so took the day to record a podcast and get ready for our desert trip.
We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at Spaghetti Western, a campy joint in the Morongo valley, which made me happy as I was able to get a nice small portion of spaghetti rather than having to suffer through heavy, rich Thanksgiving food which I can’t stand. We spent three nights and four days out at our place, finishing up the “shower corral” (getting the water tanks piped and in position will have to wait until another time). We went to a mural unveiling up in Amboy. We used our new pizza oven and made twice as much pizza as any of us could eat, but at least we have a fun dinner option out there now.
The boys played on their VRs outside, but also played in the dirt quite a bit, and we had an epic two hour game of Uno one night. It was too cold to stay out at night in hammocks, so we used the little space heater to warm up the downstairs so we could be comfortable in there after the sun went down.
We came home last night dusty and happy, my mind spinning with all the things I have to get done between now and the end of the year. My event planning is woefully behind, due to not hearing back from some instructors who may have conflicts but don’t know for sure yet. I suddenly have a backlog of podcasts I need to edit and release. And Christmas is upon us - we got home too late to do any decorating, so the tree and lights will have to wait until next weekend. Everyone needs haircuts and new shoes and winter wear for our big trip coming up at the end of the month. I’ve got two out of town gigs in the next two weeks, and no idea what to get anyone for Christmas. We’re doing updated VRs for both kids, and that’s kinda it. We’re finally at the volume of presents we should have been this whole time.
Tomorrow I’m going to make little photo displays of all the boys’ school pictures (they used to be haphazardly displayed in silver frames on their wall - I’m going to give that concept a little glow up) and hang the vintage pennants I bought. I hope they don’t hate it. But I think the room will look a lot less antiseptic with things on the walls. Bobby has really embraced using the desk, which is great.
Bobby insisted on setting up his vintage style alarm clock to actually work as an alarm, but as I predicted, the immediately hated it. Those old school alarms are no joke. I think your mother coming in and gently calling you to breakfast in a fake Polish accent (for some reason) is a lot less jarring.
I still have to find a home for all their books (I may bring them out to the desert - it’s the perfect place to read) and the giant garbage bag of stuffies that’s still in the living room. I’m hoping to maybe get them to at least pare them down. Even though I think it’s adorable that they still want them.
Like many Americans, I’m pretty terrified of what next year will bring, so I’ve distracted myself with aspirational living - let’s say we (or I) do decide to be a full time desert person in my old age. I would still want to escape during the summer. What about enjoying the equivalent but in a place like Maine or Massachusetts or upstate New York? Just a small hunter’s cabin, off grid, preferably on a water front? I spent much of my childhood summers by and in the Finger Lakes or lakes by my summer camp in Maine; what a treat it would be to get to enjoy summers in places like that, again. The older I get, the more I find my thoughts drifting east…am I really just going to stay here forever? When am I going to go home? Maybe there’s a way to have a little of both, and the best of both worlds.
