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birthday, classic cars, college days, college stories, dear diary, driving, family, friends, grief, humour, photography, spider, squirrel, squirrels
Dear Diary – I needed caffeine Saturday morning (and a guardian angel), but since I had to drive for an hour and a half on a 6 lane highway, with only one one service center, I could not consume liquids. Instead I made tea and took it along for the ride.
We talked to Youngest Son Thursday evening and the residence still had not replied to his application to remain there for the summer. Without being able to take any courses, staying seemed like a waste of money. To us. Youngest Son was okay with not coming home.
But without approval, he was out of options. He had to be out by 11 a.m. Saturday morning.
We had limited options for getting there. Initially, I thought Hubby and I could travel together in two cars, in case we couldn’t stuff it all in one. I had already notified my group I might not be able to join them. But Hubby had an appointment on Saturday (which he didn’t put on the calendar) and it was too late to move it. And he didn’t want to cancel.
Plan A had been that I drive up and back on both Friday and Saturday. But I didn’t relish the idea of 6 hours in a car broken up by packing and hauling boxes to the car.
Plan B made more sense. I would leave early, and Hubby would join me as soon as he finished his appointment, which our amazing chiropractor kindly agreed to move earlier. The only downside to Plan B was that I would be alone, and I have never driven there…alone.
With my heart in my mouth, I set out early. Yes, I had the map on my phone. But, my phone wasn’t talking to me. I didn’t know how to make it speak. I didn’t know how to make the screen stop turning black. So essentially, I was driving by memory.
And my memory isn’t quite what it used to be.
I arrived by 9:30 and only had to call twice, 5 minutes apart, to rouse Youngest Son from his slumber to come and let me in! I was shocked at the state of his room. Everything he owned was neatly stacked or packed against the wall of his room. He had stayed up until the wee wee hours of the morning to complete the job! I could have slept in.
Like his friend, who lives in the window.
We finished packing and had just started to load the car when Eldest Son and his girlfriend arrived. They were our temporary “storage” until Hubby arrived.
We did all this in the snow. We were promised a warm and sunny weekend. Someone lied!!
I have trained my boys well. They have learned to pack a car like it a Tetris Master, shifting odd shaped items and using every available nook and cranny to maximize the space. Amazingly, all the original stuff fit, plus the office chair and assorted other stuff that trickled up through the year, with the exception of a tower fan and 1 bin of frying pans. Having watched me successfully pack 3 adults, a baby, craft crap, luggage, diapers, baby crap and a pack ‘n play crib in a Toyota Echo hatchback, Eldest Son was confident that if we had to make the extra fit, it could be done.
Lucky Hubby arrived minutes after everything was out. Youngest Son bid adieu to his room mates and the family headed to Johnny Fresco’s for Lord of the Ring Burgers. This cheeseburger also has an onion ring and a fried egg. I didn’t think I’d be able to taste the egg, but I did! And it was very, very good!
Plus…they had Pop Shoppe!
It was spitting tiny Styrofoam balls as we headed down the highway. It was a short trip…5 minutes in, Youngest Son realized he didn’t hand in his keys. He never did get a working key for his mailbox.
The rest of the trip was slow but unremarkable. Hubby went ahead to do some errands, and we headed home, where Youngest Son and I unloaded everything in the Hall, and after swapping laundry loads (yes, I threw laundry in before I left), we collapsed on the couch.
I stayed collapsed on the couch as much as possible for the next few days. I hurt my back. The couch was better than the place where it finally seized: reaching for something inside the fridge.
Youngest Son got an email Wednesday evening. His application to remain in residence for the summer was accepted!
Dear Diary – I’m actually thankful I had a doctor’s appointment last week. Her staff noticed my health card was about to expire! I checked. So was my driver’s license! Both are renewed, and since I was on a roll, I got new bank card. I’m fed up with it being “declined”, having to punch in my PIN twice because it was “wrong”, or being told I was exceeding my “spending cap”. A $2 cup of tea at Tim’s in a 48 hour period should not exceed my non-existent spending cap! I’ve been to the bank several times to complain about this wonky card and been fed ridiculous excuses. I must have been exuding confidence because it was replaced with no questions asked!
This week, Youngest Son and I also got our hair trimmed and our passport photos taken. Now we just have to make sure we do the paperwork and complete the job! Unlike last time…
Dear Diary – I have fabulous parents who have always supported my (reasonable) dreams. Or in this case, could be feeding my recent addiction to fabric. When they were on vacation, they picked me up some new fabulous fabric. Thank you!
Dear Diary – Auntie M found the perfect birthday card for me to give my friend. She’s never met my friend, but she’s heard enough “adventure” stories to know this was just like us!
Happy birthday friend!
Dear Diary – This week’s recipe was Salmon filets for Hubby. Even though my allergy test indicated I’m not allergic to fish, I still don’t like it. And I’m not sure it likes me.
I will say, it smelled amazing!
Dear Diary – There’s nothing quite like being treated like you’re invisible. Hubby did some shopping with me and I was trying to urning the cart. The motion sensor couldn’t sense me and the door wouldn’t open. I tried waving and dancing, but it wouldn’t budge. I was contemplating a little samba, aware that they were people watching me from inside their car, when Hubby came over to tell me I was “doing it wrong”. Is it possible to walk up to an automatic door the wrong way? Now I’m invisible and confused.
Dear Diary – It seems now that Youngest Son is home, all the punch buggies (aka VW Beetles) are coming out of hibernation. Good thing we don’t actually punch each other because I’d be black and blue. Youngest So’s nickname could be Eagle Eyes.
I should have known something was up when I came home from band practice years ago, and my brother and his friend were grinning like idiots! Which wasn’t much of a stretch. My brother asked me if I wanted to see his new poster. Then his friend unrolled it and my brother started smacking me furiously. It was a poster with over a dozen VW Beetles.
Well played.
Dear Diary – I think there’s a spider in my car, or maybe it was just the sunlight hit the silky strands. At first, I thought the webs were outside the car, shimmering along the bottom edge of the front window. But they didn’t disappear when I ran the wipers. So I stretched out my tiny T-Rex arms and made contact with my fingertips. Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to locate the spider.
Maybe I should ask Eagle Eyes to look for me.
Dear Diary – The weeks are passing quickly and I had every intention of visiting my friend and neighbour soon. But between appointments, family issues, holidays, and illnesses, it never quite happened. We touched base from time to time, and agreed it would happen soon. We both looked forward to sipping tea in her garden in the warmth of the sun.
Someone knocked on the door today. I usually don’t answer. I don’t want to buy whatever they are selling. But something niggled in the back of my mind and I peeked out the upstairs window. There was an unfamiliar car in the driveway and then I saw my friend’s husband. I raced down the stairs with a sinking feeling.
He was glad to see me. He didn’t know my last name or where I lived, except that it was nearby. He drove to the church where I used to work to see if they could help him. He wanted me to know my friend had passed away.
She was a lovely lady, thoughtful, generous, and always an encouragement. She rarely missed a blog post. We joked about our canes and talked about our backyard birds. We shared our love for creating art and telling stories. I’ll miss her very much.
Sometimes later becomes never. Do it now.
Unknown
Dear Diary – I understand.
Sometimes you just have to sit down in the middle of whatever you doing and just….be.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and the shadows will fall behind you.
Walt Whitman