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I have a job interview tomorrow.
A. Job. Interview.
Let me paint the scenario here…
I am a stay at home mother.
I have not worked for almost 4 years.
My brain has been severely damaged by two little boys.
I do not live in Phoenix… yet.
I am only here for an extended vacation.
So what in the samhell am I doing?
I honestly have no clue what I’m doing. I simply contacted my old my boss a couple of weeks ago, whom I stay in touch with via email once in awhile, and I asked about my chances of being hired back IF I happened to move back to town. He mentioned a job fair coming up and that I would probably have a good chance of being hired back. Then, on Monday, he emailed me about a job fair THIS WEEK and said I should get my resume to him a.s.a.p if I wanted to attend the job fair, because it’s by invitation only.
So I compiled a simple and quick resume… and sent it.
I got a call from the recruiter today as I was playing with my boys in the park under the 80 degree sunshine. She gave me her typical recruiter speech about being excited to meet me and scheduled my interview for tomorrow. I was very clear with her about how I don’t live here and have no immediate plans to move here and that this interview will give me good experience since I have not worked in 4 years.
I did my part today, I do the little dance tomorrow and then I see what happens…
The rest, to be honest, falls on hub’s shoulders. He has to decide whether he wants to move here or not. He has to find a job here as well so we can stay afloat. We couldn’t make it on just my salary, if I were hired. I wish we could because then the decision to move would be easy… I would go to work and he would be a stay-at-home dad and be able to take his time finding a job. But that is a pipe dream. I could never make enough to support our whole family… not until I get a full BA degree anyway.
In other news, I may have a chance to meet a local Arizona blogger. WOOT! I always get nervous when meeting people like this because I feel like I’m so far over the top that they will hate me. Or they will think I’m just a complete and total nerd and that I’m not worth their time. Sure, they’ll put on the phoney smile, but they will go home thinking, ‘oh my gawd I hope that girl doesn’t expect us to be friends now!’
That is just a small glimpse inside my head…
More later.
The Phoenix area is notorious for changing by way of over-expansion virtually overnight. Sometimes you can go to sleep and wake up the next morning to find a new freeway in your backyard. New subdivisions and new malls pop up every hour of every day, or so it seems. For awhile there, Maricopa county was the fastest growing county in the nation and the road and building construction was a daily reminder of the rapid rate of growth.
I lived in Maricopa county for 10 years from 1992 to 2002. In those 10 years a lake was “made” in Tempe, new high schools were added to my district, new malls shot up from the sand, 2 new freeways were started and partially completed and my views down Power Road in the east valley changed with the seasons.
Today I found something that hasn’t changed. I left my mom’s house, in her too-small-and-too-close-to-the-ground car, on a mission to find something that hadn’t changed, wondering if it was possible. I did have to make a pit stop first before embarking on my mission… Jamba Juice. It’s an old favorite stopping ground for me. I ordered my 32oz citrus squeeze smoothie and set out on my journey.
For those of you who don’t live in the Phoenix area, then what I’m about to describe will mean nothing. For those who do live here and actually read this rag, then you may know exactly what I’m talking about.
My mother lives in East Mesa. To the people of the Phoenix area, Mesa has usually been the more, um, hillbilly side of the tracks (or valley). People from Scottsdale or Tempe in particular found the Mesa citizens a little less cool, at least in my experiences. That may have changed since I left though. Anyway, I grew up in East Mesa and graduated high school from here. After high school I lived in Mesa, Tempe and back to Mesa. I worked in Tempe, Phoenix and Mesa. So basically I’m an East Valley girl. But, the East Valley is not the same as it was when I moved here nor what I left 6 years ago.
I have come back to see my family here every year since I moved to Chicago and every year the East Valley gets more and more unrecognizable to me. During my trips here I have enjoyed my family but couldn’t wait to get back home to the Chicago area. I missed my new home. I had made the Chicago area my home over those 6 years. I made friends, set roots, had kids and created a life of my own, outside of my family. I came here to visit my family, but it was as if I had never been here before.
This trip is different though. This time I want to stay. This time I want to find those things that I had come to love so much before I left because I want to know that I can come back home, to the place I’m most familiar with. I want to smell those orange blossoms in the cool February and March evenings that were almost euphoric to my senses. I want to venture out to the hiking trails I had come to love. I want to drive out to the desert and stare at the mountains and marvel at the beauty that I never got tired of seeing. The only thing is, why? Why does that matter? I packed up and moved to a completely different part of the country and did just fine not knowing anything or anyone. So, why does it matter that I reconnect with a place I already know?
I don’t have the answer to that… other than, maybe Arizona is part of me as much as I was a part of it and this is where I belong. This is where I want to belong. Even though I was not born here, I feel like this is home more than any other place.
So, as I drove away from my mom’s house, leaving my little boys behind with grandma, I drove to find something that would make me feel nostalgic and like I had never left, just because I could. I had some freedom again and I had to seize the opportunity.
I found it… at Saguaro Lake.
I can almost guarantee that most people who live here, especially the natives, would look at me like I was insane. “What the hell is the big deal about Saguaro Lake? Lake Powell is better!” or something similar to that statement.
But, Saguaro Lake is something that is a part of my history; a big part of my memories of living here. I never took a boat out on the lake. I have never dipped my toes in the water. But, those aren’t the reasons I ever went out there to begin with. Saguaro Lake just happens to be close to where I grew up and the place I used to breathe, think and decompress.
I never cared for lakes. I could never swim in lakes because the water freaked me out. Lakes were just something nice to take a boat on or to look at from the shore. But, for me, Saguaro Lake was a lake that I had free access to anytime I wanted to take a quiet drive. It made me feel special because I could drive a short distance to see something so beautiful that most people would never see. It was just a beautiful and close destination that made me feel like I was hundreds of miles away from everything. The drive to the lake was as rewarding as actually sitting near the lake staring at the mountains around it.
The lake was a place to go, at night, when the only light on the road was your headlights and every turn made you hold your breath for a second because you weren’t quite sure what was over the hill or around the corner, even though you knew the road well. There are reflectors down the middle of the road along the yellow dashes so that you can tell where your lane is at night, because it’s that dark in the desert. I used to drive down that road at night and turn my lights off so that only my yellow parking lights were on and I would guide myself down the road using just the reflectors. It was fun and scary and free and it made me giggle with apprehensive excitement.
Once I reached the lake I would park and just stare out into the pitch black night trying to find the silhouettes of the mountains all around me. Then, I would look up. That is when I found the most beautiful sight in the entire world. Stars. But, not just a few scattered stars. No, from this lake you could see every star in the universe. There is no light in the mountains. No homes in the area. No city lights within miles. So, the stars were completely visible. I would see two or three shooting stars within minutes because of the amount of stars I could see. I have yet to find anything as amazing as that.
Today, I decided to take another drive out to Saguaro Lake, only in the daylight. I wanted to see if it was as I remember. I wanted to see if I could feel the same way I had felt years before when I was out there. I wanted to see if development had touched it and ruined it like it seems to have done to so much of the valley. Thank goodness the area around the lake is all protected land.
Well, I found it. Just as I had left it. I found that peace and that beauty and the hot sun in February. It was all the same. I still want to see it at night again, and I will. Just not yet. Seeing it today, in the daylight, in the setting sun was enough to appease me for now. I took my pictures, listened to the gentle laps of water against the rocky shore line and heard boats racing out in the distance. I saw the green of the surrounding mountains that are usually brown but all the rain this year has added color. I saw big, blackish birds circling the mountain top directly behind me probably looking for dinner. I saw my past. I saw a friend.
I couldn’t exactly clear my head because I was busy taking pictures and reliving some old stuff. Plus, I was being neurotic and thinking to myself, ‘I never told my mom where I was going. The only person who knows is my hubs because I just texted him and shared a pic of the lake with him. I am being stupid being out there all alone except for the few recreation boaters and scattered sight-seers passing through. I could easily be abducted and murdered and no one would know where to look for me. Who is that guy driving through on a motorcycle with a side car and a rifle sticking out the top of it? What am I doing!? Shut up, you are being stoopid. Just enjoy the view and the serenity. Ok, there is that creepy guy on the creepy motorcycle with that HUGE rifle again… time to go!’ See. Even when I try to escape, I can never escape myself. Never.
And I left. But my mission had been fulfilled. I found a place of my own that was the same as before. I saw the beauty I was looking for. I took my pictures and I guzzled down my 32oz Jamba Juice and had to pee really, really bad as I got back on the road to head for home. But my full bladder didn’t diminish the beautiful scenery and quiet drive that I was enjoying so much.
I don’t know why driving alone is so serene to me. It just is. And finding a place like Saguaro Lake that is practically in your own back yard makes a quiet drive alone just that more fun.
Here are some pics from today…
This is about 50 feet behind where I parked. You get out of your car and immediately look up to see this.
A view from the sidewalk flanking the parking lot and desert, rocky shore line that goes right down to the water. No beach.
My tootsies, and the shore.
The little tree right next to me, filtering the bright setting sunlight.
Another view from my line of sight.
A shot of the view from above the lake from the road I have to take to get out of the recreation area.
Another view from the same spot above the lake. This is a shot of where I was when I parked took the other pictures. If you look really hard you’ll see 3 docks/piers. I was parked directly between the middle and farthest pier.
These pictures don’t do the lake justice. If I had a better camera I might actually have been able to capture a small bit of what it really looks like.
I had planned on writing in this blog almost everyday while I was in Arizona. I figured I would have interesting things to say and wonderful, insightful things to share. I mean, I’m spending a month… in Arizona… with my kids… to just relax! There would have to be great tales to come from that, right?
Wrong.
Things just don’t always work out the way you plan. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy here and my kids are having a great time. But, we didn’t anticipate the sickies, which by the way, are STILL lingering. It’s insane. None of us are back to 100%. It’s like it comes and goes but the runny noses never stop.
So, I have been preoccupied with keeping the kids’ noses clean, managing fevers, cleaning up vomit, saying “cover your mouth!” over and over and then trying to fight off my own flu bug, twice. Then, let us not forget that I am still in school and have to complete my multiple assignments every week.
At the end of the day, while not having full access to a car, there just isn’t much time left in the day to do the things I came here really wanting to do, one of which was mesmerizing all of you with wit, insight and great stories from all the great adventures.
I’m sure you have noticed my lack of adventuresome tales.
This trip was mainly a chance for my kids to bond with my family and for me to spend good quality time with my mom and sister. Those things have happened and for that I’m greatful. Truly greatful. This is the first time I have come down here to visit my family and have zero desire to go back home, other than to pack up the house and high-tail it back here, forever. But I guess I expected more time alone, to think, to dream, to clear my head. Instead, I found myself enjoying my family immensely and missing my husband intensely. If I don’t get that time alone then I am sure as hell greatful to be spending it with family that I rarely see.
On the few occasions that I have had my mom’s or my sister’s car to myself I have loved driving, alone, and thinking, ‘oh yeah… I’m back home.’ The drivers are fast and impatient just like me so it’s a pleasure to drive here! It is like I finally fit in again! I still don’t recognize the areas much but there are some spots that are just the same now as they were 10 years ago. Then I dream about what it would be like to be living here, full time, and picking my kids up from the same school that my nephew goes to. And going to work every day and taking weekends to go camping in the mountains with my family.
When I go places I think, ‘I wonder if I will ever run into everyone I know?’ as if I have come back to a small town that I grew up in. Yeah, right. This is not exactly small town America. It’s like I’m looking for something but I’m not sure what it is. It has been so long since I lived here that I’m expecting someone to notice that I’m back. But that is so stupid. No one is going to notice a thing. People come in and out of the city every second. Right now the city is over run with the snowbirds from all the cold-weather states. They come here to escape the snow and cold, because they can. I am a snowbird. Temporarily. Except, I want to change that word “temporary” into “permanent”.
This self-centeredness is so exhausting. I wish I could just stop, breathe and think about just enjoying the sunshine and my family. Instead I’m constantly plotting and thinking how I am going to move my family here and who I might run into that I can show my kids off to. And I’m also thinking about my next meal… because I love food. A lot. And this is the land of my favorite fast food places.
I am not even sure that my thoughts are translating out of my head very well. My whole point is that I have already been here almost 3 weeks and have yet to do much of anything I wanted to do. My husband will be here Saturday and then we spend a week with him and doing some more touristy stuff. Then, its back home. To the tundra. I cannot wait to see hubs, but dammit, I want him to want to stay here, forever.
I want my husband to absorb my sense of adventure and just let it all go; quit his job, pack up the house and just move here and we will figure out the rest as we go. But, that’s my dream, not his. I am the pick-up-and-go girl. He is the think-it-through, full-of-pride man who won’t take just any job to get by until we get on our feet.
On top of all those things running through my head, I am still here to figure some things out about myself. Does soul-searching and self-evaluation ever end? Does anyone ever get to a point where they just are who they are and they can stop trying to figure themselves out and just be? Is that even possible? Is it possible to ever really forgive yourself for your mistakes? Because, I can’t. And what’s worse is that I keep making the same mistakes.
I think what I’m searching for is yet another clean slate. I see moving to Arizona as a chance to start over, again, as if moving here will erase all my mistakes and turn me into a better mother and wife. That is just insane and unrealistic. However, I also see moving here as a chance for a new life with an opportunity to be more successful and help provide for my family while I watch my kids grow up in the sunshine and play with cousins around their age.
I am enjoying my time here immensely and I miss my husband even more than that. He misses all of us like mad and is just miserable in the cold and snow, while we enjoy the sunshine. Soon, we will all be back under the same roof and living our normal lives. We have made a life back there, together. We have wonderful friends and all of his family back there. It is where our kids were born and it’s all they know, well, until now. We have so much invested in our lives back there, so how could we just pick up stakes and leave it all behind? Leave family and friends as if they don’t matter?
Well, they do matter. They matter a great deal. This is the first time in my life I have settled into someplace and grown roots and don’t want to tear them up. But my family’s happiness also matters a great deal and, I am my father’s daughter. I have nomadic tendencies running through my veins. I have an unsettled spirit that is still not broken and the only constant in my whole life.
Where do we belong? Where would my kids grow up the happiest? Where would my husband be the happiest? What is the answer to all of these questions? I want to walk out into the middle of the mountains and just find my answer written on a big boulder. It’s like I expect it to be there as soon as I walk out there.
But, I know myself well enough to know that it still won’t be the right answer, because my nostalgia for the desert and mountains, my emotions for the scenery and my own desires will cloud my judgment and I still won’t get the right answer.
Maybe the key is to go out there, to the peace and quiet and beautiful scenery, but go with hubs. That way, our thoughts will balance us out. And, if he gets nostalgic and overcome and his emotions make him want to move here too, then we will find our answer.
Never underestimate the power of premeditated manipulation.
The children are better, finally. It was a rough start but things are looking up. Except for some behavior issues out of DramaBoy. He is just one of those kids that is never going to be easy. I’m too exhausted to even get into that.
The only thing I want now is some peace and quiet. Alone. Completely alone. I want to drive out to the mountains alone and just sit there with my thoughts. So I will be, as soon as I can. I wonder if my favorite trail on South Mountain is still there? Word has it that it’s paved now and if that is the case I will crumble into a million little pieces from sadness.
I used to get off work at 6am and go hike that 6 mile trail a few times a week. It was in the middle of the city but when you were on the trail, deep into those mountains you felt like you were the only one on earth. I miss that. My sister thinks part if not all of that trail is now paved to make it easier. Well, that defeats the purpose of HIKING! Walking in the mountains is not about leisurely strolling! It’s about getting away from the city and pavement and exercising and clearing your head! GAH!
I swear to God, I LOVE Arizona and the entire valley but dammit they are fucking it up with all this development. I hate it. Well, most of it. I do love that new outdoor Santan Village Mall. HOLY CRAP THAT PLACE IS FREAKING AWESOME!
Aside from the sickness and behavior issues I am really having a great time here and so are the boys. They love the weather and are really getting to know my family which they have never quite had a chance to do. Hubs leaves Chicago with his sister on 2/28 to drive down here. Then they’ll be here with us for about a week and then we drive home… well SIL flies home a few days before us. She couldn’t handle being in a car with her brother, me and the two beasts for over 30 hours.
As soon as I upload some decent pictures I’ll post them, if there are any worth sharing of course. I haven’t been doing much snapping because I’m too busy doing other things. Hopefully if I get some time alone soon I can take some good pictures. At the moment, I am going to get some piece and quiet as I go pick up my nephew from school. Driving alone is a great way for me to chill out… aaaahhhhhhh, off I go.
Everyone is sick.
My boys got sick on the third or fourth day we were here. Fevers, vomiting, snot, coughing, sneezing. I’m fighting it off and feel fine for the most part, but the pangs of it are lingering around me. It’s been 4 days of sickies and snot.
In-freaking-credible. The only saving grace is that I am here for a long time and don’t have to travel back home with them like this and that I have all my family around to help me.
Needless to say, I have nothing remotely interesting to share other than I am pretty damn convinced that I want to move back here. I’m looking for houses, in fun. Hopefully in the next year we can manage a move out here.
As soon as the boys feel better, I’m getting my party on. Cuz I’z gotz me some great baby sittahz!!
Mama needs a break! (even though she is technically getting a nice break while being here for a long month while her husband is up to his ass in snow and bitter cold and lonliness back home)
We are here, in the land of sunshine, smog, fast drivers and Jack in the Box. I’m a happy lady.
We arrived Thursday night after a good and relatively uneventful flight… unless you count changing a toddler’s diaper in a shoebox airplane lavatory and hitting a massive amount of turbulence eventful. That was fun.
Yesterday, I walked out of the house in the morning to bright sunshine, warm temperatures and a short sleeved shirt. All the while, hubs was driving around town on sheets of ice and actually spun out in Mr. SUV. Oh the unfairness is thick around here.
Thursday night after we arrived DramaBoy decided he wanted to go outside with Uncle J and his croonies and hand out in the garage. All the guys had jackets on and AJ walked outside in his short sleeved pajamas. The guys asked him if he was cold and he proudly announced.. “NO! It’s warm in Arizoooona”
Then yesterday the boys played outside all day. They would not come in. It was bliss for them and me!
Today, they are once again outside enjoying the weather and all the new toys to play with.
My niece is a peanut and so sweet that I cannot get enough of her. I’ll post pictures later. The boys are enjoying their cousins immensely and it is so wonderful to see them so happy and playing with family… family they really don’t know that well. Some family they don’t even know at all and just met.
Anyway, we are settling in and trying to find some rhythms and just enjoy our time here.
More later.
If you are not aware of where I live by now, then you are a new reader or a non-attentive one… either way, I forgive you.
If you were watching the news at all, where ever you are, you probably saw the stories of the crazy February tornadoes in Tennessee (God bless all those people) and the massive snow storm in the Midwest.
Well, needless to say, I knew yesterday morning that my 4pm flight to Phoenix was not going to happen. So I preemptively called the airline and asked if I could be rebooked as I was not about to drag my two small children to an airport only to wait for hours and hours and face a possible and highly-likely cancellation. The airline obliged me…. no fees.
So, we leave today. However, both O’hare and Midway are still recovering from the 1000+ cancellations yesterday and my flight tonight will probably STILL be delayed. But at least I know it will get to Phoenix, tonight, eventually. God help me and those cranky boys I’m flying with.
In all this, though, I know things happen for a reason. Of course my first thought was, ‘great, I canceled yesterday’s flight and I’m going to take the flight today and it will crash.’
Then after I kicked my own ass for being so morbid and stoopid I realized exactly why the fates kept us in this tundra for one extra day.
I received a phone call yesterday morning regarding something that had happened to my father-in-law. So, my husband came home from work early and we spent a good deal of time at the police station discussing the incident with the officers. It’s a long story but the gist of it is that my FIL was ‘allegedly’ (have to be fair and legal and all that shit) punched by the manager or owner of some lock store that my FIL was doing business with. My FIL is 77 years old and I tower over him. He is a small man. The man who allegedly punched him is 6′3 and 250lbs.
Needless to say, we were livid, upset, worried and all other emotions you can think of. This case is not over, like the police thought it would be and probably wanted it to be. It is just beginning.
Read hub’s synopsis over here…
Other than that, we are off, today. So, it’s time to get ready and close up those full suitcases… a grand total of 4 suitcases, 2 little backpacks for each kid, 1 large purse, 1 laptop case full of school work, movies, ipod and portable dvd player and 1 carseat. The skycap is going to make a mint off of me.
God I hope Midway has skycaps. Now I can’t remember! GAH!!!!
More from warm AZ (can’t say sunny because, lately, it hasn’t been)….
Two and a half more days before I leave for Arizona.
Weather permitting, of course.
We got more snow last night, on top of the 8 inches we got a few days ago. And, there is more snow coming tomorrow night. The way it is going I will be lucky to get a flight out of here. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
There is a lot I have to do before we leave so this will be my last post until I get settled in AZ and get some free time.
I leave you with a quote for the day…
DramaBoy said while peeing this morning:
“My fart stopped my pee mama!”
Awesome.
I just got home and one of my children is still passed out in the livingroom (going on 3 hours now) and the other child is happy, mellow and watching cartoons right next to me. Hubs went up to take a nap and I figured I would take this quiet time and do something productive like homework.
But I got distracted, by this.
See, I just got home from putting gas into Mr. SUV. The gas station I go to is in the vicinity of that shooting from the above article (it’s the nearest station to me that sells E-85 gas). I figured since I was on that side of town I would hit the new Best Buy just up the street from the gas station to look for a certain Speed Racer video for the boys to watch on the airplane next week. Hubs didn’t have any luck finding it earlier today so I thought I would combine a trip to get gas and video hunting at Best Buy.
Well, after filling my tank with $32.63 worth of gas I hopped back into Mr. SUV and drove up the road to find the elusive Speed Racer video. This particular Best Buy is part of one of those large outdoor shopping areas that are generally littered with a TGIFridays, Chili’s, a few other fast food joints, one giant shopping supercenter (in this case, Super Target) and a few other stores strewn about the small-town sized parking lot.
The Best Buy happens to be right next to the Lane Bryant from the article. As I pulled into the parking lot on the side of the SuperTarget I planned to just follow the access road around to the Best Buy. But several hundred (ok, maybe a dozen) police cars and several thousand yards of police tape blocked my path. It was obvious something big had happened but I wasn’t sure what. I couldn’t even tell if I would be able to get to the Best Buy. After winding through the maze of cars I saw every news van from Chicago parked with their large towers raised.
OK, what the hell happened? I sort of cared, but really, my mission to find Speed Racer was more important. I looked over my shoulder in my back seat and saw a beautiful sleeping little boy back there and just smiled and continued on with visions of a Speed Racer DVD dancing through my head. I finally got around to Best Buy and the parking lot seemed oddly empty for a Saturday but the officer said it was open and ok to go to. He couldn’t say anything else, of course.
As I pulled up in front of Best Buy I see a couple of people standing out front and it was obvious that they were not open for business. They could only tell me that there was an incident at Lane Bryant and that they were closed for the day.
Goshdammit. I need that Speed Racer video! I could have gone to the Best Buy 1 mile from my house for goodness sakes but I chose that one because it was near my gas station! Whatever.
I wound back through the maze and start heading back to the OTHER Best Buy. But, I decided to call them first, just to make sure they carried the video.
They didn’t carry it. So at least I saved myself a trip inside. It is extra wasteful when you have to drag a sleeping boy out of your car, through the cold and slush only to get into the store and find your mission incomplete. So, I’m glad I called them first.
However, none of this is what matters. If you read the article, you know why.
It wasn’t until I got home and realized what I had just driven by that my heart sank. After I sat down at my computer to start my homework but I decided to look up one of the local news websites instead. There, immediately on the front page, were the words “5 people confirmed dead in shooting”. I think I shivered and felt the pangs of tears coming, but they never did. I was more stunned than anything.
5 people shot to death in a town like Tinley Park? At the shopping center that is only a couple of years old in an affluent part of town? 5 people dead, really? These people woke up to go to work or to go shopping for some new clothes, on a Saturday morning, only to wind up dead?
This stuff happens everywhere, and when it happens in your own back yard it just brings everything closer to your heart. Omaha saw a tragedy similar to this right before Christmas. There are shootings in stores everywhere, everyday it seems. It doesn’t seem to matter where the stores are anymore.
All I wanted to do was find a Speed Racer video for my boys and instead I stumbled upon a major crime scene. A scene like out of some movie or something. All the while, DramaBoy was sound asleep, so innocently in the back seat.
Sadly, this is not the first major incident to occur at this “nice” shopping center. It just happens to be the first mass murder. 5 innocent women are gone…. and their killer is out there right now.
Fucking crazy.
I keep a secret about as well as colander holds water.
But that is not the worst part. The worst part is that this is only with my OWN secrets! If someone entrusted me with something private I would hold it and never let it out. But, if I have a secret of my own, like, say a surprise for someone, then forget it.
When I buy Christmas gifts for someone, I can’t stand waiting to give them to that person. So, it is usually best if I buy them last minute so I don’t have to wait.
When I am planning a trip to Arizona and, say, I want to surprise my sister, well, let’s just say it took two long days before I gave up and spilled the beans. That is two whole days I waited!
The gig is up. Or is it jig? The jig is up? Yeah, that sounds better. The jig is up. My sister called me this morning to see how I was doing.
“I’m buried under snow, but good. You?” I replied to her.
“We are good. I’m just feeding Peyton.” She said.
Peyton is the newest addition to our family. I have only seen pictures of her so far and it has been killing me, to say the least. I just cannot wait to get my hands on her!
So, we continued with some sisterly small talk and then I said, “I am going to explode!!”
“What, is it the boys?” She asked.
<laughing> “No. It’s not the boys this time. I just have something to tell you that I can’t keep in any more!” I said excitedly.
“What?” She asked puzzled.
“Well, I’m going to be there next Wednesday.” I said waiting to hear her excitement.
Up until this point she had been expecting me at the end of February and thought I would stay only a few days. I told her I hadn’t gotten the plane tickets yet but would buy them next week and let her know my exact dates. The plan was to surprise her with my arrival in person much earlier and then tell her how long I’ll be there.
“WHAT!!!!!!!” She screamed.
“Yep. I was going to surprise you but I can’t wait! But, that isn’t the best part.” I told her.
“There’s more?” She asked again, puzzled.
“Yep. Um, I’m going to be staying for a month!” I shouted.
“WHAT!?” She screamed again.
“I’ll be there from February 6th until the first or second week of March!” I said.
So, there you have it. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I can share it here. I am going to Arizona for ONE LONG MONTH!!
I cannot wait. Normally my visits with my family are a few days here and there. Sometimes with and without the boys. But, this time, it will be me, both boys and 30+ days of bonding!
Hubs is staying here, with the dog, and plans to drive down to pick us up around March 2nd. Then he will stay a week for his vacation and then we all drive home together.
By this time next week I will be in the warmer (not too warm) sunshine, not bundling my kids up just to walk out the door and trudging through snow and ice, not slipping on ice or wading through slush, not wearing hats, scarves or gloves along with big heavy coats. Nope. None of that.
What I will be doing in the coming month involves walking freely outside without having to hurry in out of the cold. I will be buckling my kids into their carseats with ease instead of struggling to push down their poofy coats to get the belts set right. I will be hiking, alone, in the mountains that I miss so much. I will find one of the last remaining orange groves in the area and drive through it to smell the greatest smell in the world, the orange blossoms. I will be cuddling and adoring my new niece and watching my sweet nephew play with my boys without thinking it is going to end so soon. I will be eating my mother’s yummy lasagna and pot roast and anything else that I request she make for me. I will be playfully arguing with my brother-in-law. I might even get to take in a Cubs spring training game with my husband once he arrives….
To Be Continued…
