Packing week is always a bit frustrating, but this week has been a doozy. I don't think we've ever had to incorporate so many different venues and pack the trailer is such a crazy manner - staging everything in layers. The kick-off to this traveling season is the wedding.
The wedding. Lordy, Lordy. I'm back to wedding insomnia. I wake up at 4:15 in the morning with lists running through my head. I have to laugh because people keep saying, "Jan, you know it's not going to be perfect." Perfect? Hah. I'd be thrilled if we could just get the venue to deliver a timeline for the wedding day. It's going to be non-stop from Friday morning until Sunday night. My personal 'to do' list is five pages long and GROWING. Drake and I are hosting several events. My last word on the wedding is: If we three Type A's can't pull off this wedding, then nobody can.
We start this trip on a sad note - Tulsa. Frustration there too. My Dad is a lost soul; he doesn't recognize me - hasn't for three years, and now he's losing the ability to even respond to small talk. His body is still going strong. It's heartbreaking; it's guilt inducing; anger producing. Nobody should have to live the demented life. Now, we are on the eve of Sarah's wedding, and neither of my parents will be there. As a young child both my parents were enthralled with Sarah. I think they both felt like she was an unlooked for bonus. I guess when you wait 15 years to have a child like we did, that's understandable. It's going to be even harder to 'shake off' the Tulsa blues this time.
Next, comes Hurst. We have so many friends there. A legacy from my mother is my ability to connect with people. She was amazing. People flocked to her. As a child, I was somewhat jealous of all the people who seemed to need my mother so much. I do miss my HEB friends (that's Hurst, Euless, Bedford - the 3 towns between Dallas and Fort Worth), and never more than this year. I wish the wedding was going to be in Hurst at the church we attended for 20 years. Sarah, after eight years in Austin, wants her wedding in the town she feels is her Texas home, and I understand that. Our day and a half in Hurst includes haircuts (that God for Tere), dental appointments (the whole office is filled with friends there too), a trip to the Bedford Farmer's Market where I KNOW I can get vine ripened tomatoes for the special bridesmaid dinner, plus dropping the trailer and bikes. I'm trying to squeeze in a dutch treat dinner, so I can catch up with everyone.
Next comes Austin and the Wedding Marathon. I decided about six months ago the only way I was going to stave off being sad and depressed during the wedding events was to surround myself with my long time friends. They have all rallied around, and I know their help and support is going to be a major reason I'm going to be able to find the joy in this occasion. Sarah is marrying a wonderful man, and joining with a lovely family who has been gracious and accepting of Drake and I. I told Kit (Jay's mom) last year that making a new friend at our age was a real thrill. I've been working hard trying not to think too much about all the people who won't be at this milestone in our lives.
OK....when the wedding is over, it's time to go to Connecticut. Everybody knows that Drake and I are subleasing Sarah and Jay's New Haven apartment and keeping their humongous cat for the summer while they sublet an apartment in the East Village of NYC where they will both be working. Oh, baby, to be 28/27 years old and living in New York City with enough money to enjoy it. Now, THAT'S a honeymoon. Although, technically it's not. They don't have time to take their 'real honeymoon', so it's been postponed.
Connecticut is going to have its frustrations. Like the apartment is 546 square feet. Like the cat poops enough for three cats, and is prone to upchucking. The cat is also giant, and I'm sure the cat hair is going to be wafting through the entire apartment all summer long because, wait for it, the apartment has no air conditioning. That's a good thing and a bad thing. The bad part is obvious, but the silver lining: I'm not cooking in Connecticut. Yea! I can not tell you how deliriously happy this makes me. Plus, I figure I'll see every movie Hollywood can throw out there this summer. I also plan to avail myself of all the public library magazines in the air conditioned reading chairs. I'm going to enjoy living in a 375 year old town, yep, they are celebrating 375 - for the arithmetic challenged, that means New Haven has had inhabitants since 1638. There's going to be a lot of dead people; it's time for some cemetery tours.
First of September it's on to Virginia. I've been lobbying for this trip for two years. I love American history. (Oh, by the way, I haven't forgotten I owe you readers a tour of 19th century American women. Don't worry, I'll get around it it.) We are thinking about settling into Richmond for about 3 months. It's our first thought, so we may wind up somewhere else. Virginia history is all about the founding of the republic, and it was a major battleground of the Civil War. Going to be lots of places and lots of pictures, and the Smithsonian!!!!!!
To top off the travel portion of our year, I'm thinking beach..... We'll see. I just loved Seal Rock this past year. Oatmeal just tastes better when it comes with the ocean rolling into the beach. Lots of nice beaches in the East and the South. I've been thinking about my parents' old stomping ground: Gulf Shores. So far, it's just an idea.
Well, that's it. I feel better having voiced some of my frustration to my readers. This has been a difficult year in AZ. The allergies here are really getting to me. My first order of business next year is to hit the allergist and get tested for all these new pollens that seem to be laying me low. Finally, next stop in blogland will be my take on the big wedding.
