Driving to Colorado

I met Mom & Dad at their house when Bobby went to drop Emma off. They packed and we chatted. Bobby came by to hang out for awhile before we left. He couldn't come because of the Saturday class he's taking (the instructor said at the beginning of the semester that if you miss three classes, he drops you; the semester is almost over and he's missed two classes). Dad was telling us that my sister Shannon had been over recently and said something about how she's been stressed out and moody lately, and Dad very non-chalantly replied "Yeah, women get like that when they are pregnant," and went about his business. Two days later, Shannon called and said that Charlie would appreciate if he wouldn't joke about things like that. Shannon had already taken a test and made a doctor appointment. I thought that was funny.

Mom, Dad and I left at 9:30pm. Mom wanted to take the first shift driving, so she drove until 11:30 when we reached Baker. Then I took the wheel and drove until 3:30am. Dad stayed up the entire time. "Dad, why don't you try to get some sleep?"
"I can't sleep."

Finally at 3:30 I decided that although I was fine to drive longer, I wanted Dad to get his turn before he was up way too long and was falling asleep. He looked tired, but I trusted that if he was too sleepy to drive, he would stop and let one of us take over, or even just pull over and get some sleep. I laid down in the back seat and tried to get some rest. About an hour later, I woke up and asked Dad how he was.
"I'm struggling."
"Well, I got some rest and feel pretty wide awake right now, why don't you let me take over?"
"I want to get to the 70."

I could see him drifting a bit, so I tried to make conversation to keep him awake; he was complaining about how since his surgery he had trouble with depth perception at night. The lights make it tough for him to see how far away the next car is, so he follows farther behind than usual. I mentioned that on the way back he should probably take the last shift, after the sun had come up. When we got to the 70 Mom had just woken up and we were both adamant he pull over and let me drive. Once we were back on the road again, he was sitting upright in the back seat, trying to stay awake. He eventually passed out for a little while, but when we would hit a bump, he would sit back up and fight the sleep.

I drove until around 7:30am when we stopped for breakfast at this little cafe in Green River, and on the table was a box with some books from Apricot Press. The titles of these books were things like "How to Make People Think You Are Normal," "The Fine Art of Worrying" and "GeezerHood." As tired as we were, flipping through these books we were soon laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. It was a nice wakeup.

Back on the road, Mom started driving, but from Green River to Grand Junction is a long straight highway surrounded by nothing... very boring. Soon after, Mom was looking sleepy eyed, even though she'd slept most of the night. So then instead of getting some much needed rest, I struck up a conversation with her and put on some music that wouldn't put her to sleep. We made good time and even let Dad drive again. Our trip took a total of 14 hours, and we arrived in Cedaredge, CO at 10:30am (Mountain).

When we arrived, all I wanted to do was take a shower and brush my teeth. We checked into the hotel and did just that, took about an hour nap.

What to Wear?

I went shopping for a dress because all the dresses I own are black. Jessica had told me it had been warm lately, but I checked the weather forecast which indicated either rainstorms or snow. "Oh yeah, it does that for part of the day."

Hmmm... That's not sunny and warm. When I was looking for a dress all I could find were warm weather dresses. This is California - in May - no warm clothes... you couldn't even find heavy socks if you needed them.

I called Jessica to see what the other girl in the wedding was wearing (color? pattern?) but she had no idea. Great. I picture myself wearing some brown & cream pattern and the other girl wearing a floral pink and purple or something.

"Just wear whatever you want." She is no help whatsoever.

I found a couple dresses I felt lukewarm about, and then came across one I actually really liked. $280. Hmm...

Crazy Day

Yesterday around 10am, my boyfriend sends me an instant message that says his gramps is dying. His gramps is actually his great grandpa, who is 96 years old. He's got what they call a "death rattle" in his lungs, which usually means that's it.

My boyfriend and his dad were trying to book flights up to Seattle in order to see him before he died. Turns out same day flights are $240, so I sent my mom an email. My parents have a lot of frequent flyer miles, and they pretty much only use them to fly people to funerals or to visit dying family members. So thanks to my mom, he got a 4pm flight out of John Wayne. He's going to meet me at work, and we're going to leave a car there until he gets back. So at 12:54 he calls me - he just remembered he took the train, and needs to know when the next train out of Union Station is. 2:50pm (he just missed the 12:45). Uh, that's not going to work.

So I leave immediately to go pick him up, but as I'm getting off the freeway he calls back. He's going to take the metro line to the Norwalk station and I should meet him there. I swear we had just enough time to get home, pack up some clothes, and drive to the airport.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but this will be the longest we've been away from each other since we started dating.

After I'd ran a bunch of errands, picked up something to eat, and switched my car for his at the train station, I was pooped and decided to take a bath. But my bath was interrupted by his older half sister. Her mom died a few years back, and her relationship with their dad and the rest of the family became strained at the time.

So Rhonda calls the house, and my Gma tells me through the bathroom door: she's called his cell twice and he didn't answer and wants to know where he is. (Apparently she can't just leave a message or trust that he'll see she called and will call back). So I tell her, he has both his phones, he's in Seattle visiting their Gramps (cause he's her's too) because he's dying. She responds with "Oh my god!" and I begin to tell her I just talked to him on his personal cell, and I can give her the number... The line is totally dead, no one is there. I don't know if her cell dropped the call or if she hung up. So I call Bobby to tell him about the conversation and encourage him to call her. As far as I'm concerned it's her own fault that she didn't see their gramps when he was out for a month last summer, but she probably feels bad now. Bobby calls back later - if Rhonda calls back, tell her he tried to call her twice but it said her phone was out of service. I'm guessing she didn't pay her bill again and they cut her service in the middle of our phone call.

It's really weird sleeping alone now - I'm so accustom to him being there. But not hearing the alarm go off every 10 minutes starting at 4:30am is nice. I talked to Bobby a couple times today, and his gramps is actually doing better, and they were thinking of releasing him. I'm glad he made the trip - this way if something happens next week or so, he'll be glad he spent some time with his gramps beforehand. I'm looking forward to him coming home tomorrow, even though it means I have to give him back his car...

To Blog or Not To Blog?

I've been wondering if creating this blog is a good idea. Is anyone really going to care to read all these stories about my life. My close friends might enjoy it, but that's all I really expect.

Last night I was reading Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun and it occured to me - I could be reading my sister-in-law's blog. The novel is not your standard story with a plot and climax and resolution; it is a journal of someone who has done something many of us wish we could do. Much of the story is about Mayes and her husband working on the property, entertaining guests, enjoying Christmas with her daughter... life.

You Are What You Grow

I came across this article, You Are What You Grow, in the New York Times and found it very interesting. I've realized for awhile now that healthy foods seem to be much more expensive than junk food, but I don't remember stopping to wonder why. This is a great analysis tracing the roots of this country's obesity epidemic to a well meaning government that has failed to re-evaluate the long term effects of it's policies.

3-Day Breast Cancer Walk

A friend of mine is walking in a Susan G. Komen 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk in San Diego to raise money for breast cancer research. If you would like to contribute, or know anyone that would, you can make donations here - anything from $1 on up. Or if you feel like walking 60 miles in 3 days yourself, you could sign up here. If you felt the need to forward this on, I wouldn't mind a bit. I'm seriously considering participating next year, so I may be hitting you up again.

For the Love of the Game

Yesterday, Bobby and I went to hook our PS2 up to the projector. Three trips to Target, one to Radio Shack, one to Game Stop, and 4 hours later, I was able to play. We tore the whole back room of the house apart, and then had to put it back together. First we had to get an extender for the audio because it didn't reach far enough; then when we got home, realized we'd bought the wrong cable, went back out, then we could get sound but no video. Why, because the receiver (basically the thing that controls which audio and video to put out) wouldn't choose to display composite (the type of cable used) over component (another type) input (I don't understant that either). Then we were out of composite inputs on the reciever, so we had to use the switch, and hook that up to the receiver instead, and find a composite cable for a PS2. Now I have to go back to Target and Radio Shack to return cables and adaptors we bought but wound up not even needing. I even found a cable in our miscellaneous wires and cables box that is the same as one we bought and never needed. But now I can play my game on this massive screen. :)

But while we were at Target I convinced Bobby to buy me Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. I have the first one, and no, I haven't finished it yet, but I love it - so I need the next one. I think I love it so much because of it's similarity to Super Mario, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which was probably my favorite), Zelda, Mega Man, and all the other Nintendo games I played as a kid. No super complex key strokes, or touchy controls; when I move the controls my character doesn't run off faster than I can control it. You just cruise around, defeating bad guys, picking up stuff along the way. A game for old people like me. But I am more fond of the original trilogy movies than the new ones, so I had to have it. I think I'll have to bring it with me to Colorado so Nathan and I can play, since he shares my love of the first game.

Walking

Sunday evening Bobby and I went for a three mile walk around the neighborhood; decided we should take walks a few times a week. We can't everyday, because he has class late on Mondays, and Emma Thursdays, etc., but he should be out of class early enough today so I'd like to go again. When we get our Disneyland passes, we are going to plan a route we like through the park and take walks there - better scenery. And we are going to look for more places to eat within walking distance and try not to drive. We both sit too much. I'd also like to try to spend as much time as possible outside again this summer. Sometimes I feel like I don't see the sun enough...

The PTO Deficit

I have to try to be good now and save my vacation. I'm looking at using some this year in either late August or early September so I can take a long weekend and visit Jessica & Nathan. I've been watching flight prices, and they seem to stay pretty static at $345 for round trip... so it looks like we'll be driving.

I'm also planning a European vacation for next September. Going to Oktoberfest again, Cortona, and then Madrid or Portugal. I'd like to make a 2 week trip, and I'd like to have 3 weeks of vacation saved by the time I go. As it is right now, if I use 2 days to go to Colorado, take 2 weeks in Europe, and want to have a week left over at that time, I need restrict myself to 5 other vacation days between now and September 2008. Ugh.

The Planner and the Free Spirit

So I spent the weekend helping my baby sister and her boyfriend move to Cedaredge, Colorado.
I promised them that I would help them move. I worry about her being so far away. Between us I have always been the responsible planner; she the free spirited artist. Will she be okay so far from her family? At least they will be near to his parents, so some family will be close. I wanted to make sure she got there safe, and I wanted to spend some time with my baby sis before she was too far away for me to kidnap for a sushi dinner.

They hadn't found a place yet, so they were going to stay with his parents until they did. When she called me last week, I told her I wanted his parents' address and phone number. "Oh, we're just going to carpool, and we'll have walkie talkies."
"I want the address and phone number."
"Oh, it's really easy to get there, just 3 freeways."
"I want the address and phone number."
"....oh-kaaay. Wow, you really like to micro-manage don't you."
I had to hold back a little. With as stressed out as I've been, I really wanted to snap at her, but I had to remember that this would be the last time I see her for awhile. I very politely told her that micro managing would be wanting to know timetables and pit stops, etc., this was just being responsible. (Again, the planner and the free spirit).

Luckily for all our sakes, I'd had some time to unwind before we left Thursday night. I'd spent dinner with my boyfriend's family so by the time I met them at my parents' house I was not strung so tight, and around 9:30pm we finally got on the road.

I actually like driving very much when traffic is light. And being in the car by myself that night made the trip unexpectedly meditative. I had something mindless to focus on, and I was able to not dwell on all my stresses. I'm glad I helped them move - for my own sanity as much as for their sake.

The trip out there took 24 hours. Ridiculous, since Google Maps clocked the trip at 11 hours 46 minutes. But she had to pee often, and we stopped in Primm at just after 1pm to get something to eat, but everything had just closed save the a cafe inside one of the hotels. Getting a tuna melt turned into 2 hours. We finally made it to our designated hotel in Mesquite just before 5am. For some reason I can't sleep late when I am up late (my sleep patterns seem to be more related to the sun), so I went to bed at 5am and woke up at 7am. He slept until 9:30 though.

Once we were all reassembled and gassed up, we realized the walkie talkies were dead. Go to replace the batteries, and they still won't work... These particular walkie talkies take these special rechargable AAAs only. So we drove about an hour down the freeway to St. George, UT. First we completely unpacked the trailer and repacked it - she had not distributed the weight evenly when she packed it, so once he hit 65 it got really squirelly. Once that was done, we had to find a Wal-Mart and bought new walkie talkies, since we couldn't find the special ones the first set needed. We didn't get out of St. George until 2pm.

After that we made pretty good time... only stopped once for food, so little time was lost. Finally made it in to Cedaredge, CO at around 10pm Mountain time - almost exactly 24 hours after we left.

His parents are nice; a little quirky. They were both very inviting, and thankful that I'd helped out. My sister passed out early, but her boyfriend and I stayed up with his parents until nearly 1pm (Mountain time) talking and drinking wine.

The next day we unpacked and took a drive around the Grand Mesa, which is nearby. This is the largest mesa (large elevated area with a flat top) in the world. It was really beautiful. It had snowed the night before, and the roads had been freshly plowed, so the snow outside was piled as tall as the Expedition, but there wasn't any snow or ice on the road below us.

We chose not to do much else, aside from a farewell dinner right before Her boyfriend and I took off. We had to drive back (he had to return his grandparents' Expedition, and they wouldn't hear of him letting a young girl - that's me - drive all that way back alone) and decided that it would be best to leave for our return trip Saturday evening... the goal being to just drive straight through and see if we could beat the Vegas traffic. I did not want to leave Sunday morning, and join all the Southern Californians on their trek home... it makes the drive almost unbearable - and I commute. I slept a good portion of the way while he drove, and then we switched and he slept. I felt a little bad, because I had gone to sleep pretty soon after we left... I kinda wanted to make conversation, but I was not interested in driving tired when it was time to trade off. We made a total of 3 stops - all for gas - and were back in Norco at 6:30am. 12 hours total for the return trip.

I was excited. I planned to go home and surprise Bobby when I crawled into bed. I was sure he wasn't expecting me. But when I got home he wasn't there.

I should have known. He had Emma, so it would make sense that if I wasn't there, why go home? I figured he'd just stayed the night at either his parents' or his brother's, so I took a shower and headed back out to Norco. (Yes, back in the car again, cause on the road is where I wanted to be at that point.) It was my own fault, I should have driven by there to check when I left my parents' house... 5 minutes from his parents, instead of driving the 40 minutes home.

Sure enough, when I pulled up to his parents', his car was in the driveway. I came in, and Emma went to cheerfully announce to her dad, who had just awoken, that I was here. "No she's not."
"Yes she is."

Yes I was. He was sure I was not only not going to make it by midday as I was hoping, but that I was probably going to have to call out from work Monday. It was a happy homecoming, and I have to admit it felt a little good when Bobby admitted he'd been a little mopey the day before because I was gone.