random thoughts – Day 1,323 – (Tuesday) – Oct 31

Once upon a time before "the move."

It’s possible that the most impactful Halloween of my life happened when I was 10 years old and in the fifth grade. I had been attending the newest elementary school in the city since kindergarten, where we had lockers, a gymnasium, and a cafetorium where we ate lunch and saw performances. The boys and girls had gym class together and I was usually one of the last or next to last picked for any team including, and probably especially, the brutally cruel game of dodgeball where we were expected to pelt each other with balls. At least it was a good way to burn off the energy and frustrations of being a kid. 

My family and I were living in a brick house on a dead-end street. My sister and I shared a room, and my brother, as the only boy, had his own room. A cousin and our grandfather lived downstairs. There were kids on our street, but the girls were either five years older or five years younger than I was, and I spent most of my time reading books in my room or at the public library. 

On October 31 of the year I was ten, we moved across town. On Friday, October 30, there was an event at school and volunteers were needed to direct visitors and I volunteered for a shift at a desk in the hall. During my shift, while staring down a quiet hallway with polished tile floors, I imagined that upon my return to the classroom, my teacher and classmates would surprise me with a going away party. This did not happen. Later, I wasn’t sure that anybody even knew we were moving.

The house when it was less scary.

The house my parents bought had been built in 1900 and sported faded gray paint and hedges that were about eight feet tall. The place looked like it came from central casting in response to a call for a haunted house. Thankfully, once the hedges were cut, there was an immediate improvement and it looked less scary. It was painted green, and years later, blue, and later still, there was new siding and trim and the place looked even better. 

That Halloween day, as we moved our things into the house where each of us kids would have our own room, my brother, sister and I met some neighborhood kids. There were kids the same ages as each of us, and they invited us to go out to Trick or Treat with them. My brother met his childhood best friend. My sister met her childhood best friend and lifelong friend. The sisters across the street who were close to my age attended parochial school and became my neighborhood friends. 

The house had weird noises. The radiator pipes rattled regularly. A kitchen cabinet door sounded like it was opening and closing on its own. Items disappeared and reappeared elsewhere. Dad felt someone touch his shoulder one night. I had scary dreams about the lady who used to live there. Mom saw a ghostly silhouette in the bedroom window and one night, after she told it to go away because it didn’t live there anymore, the ghostly sightings stopped.

The site of fifth and sixth
 grade torment.

That Monday after Halloween, Mom took the three of us to our new school, around the corner from our new old house. It was old and brick with wide, creaky, wooden staircases and handrails. Instead of a locker, we each had a coat hook with our name written on a paper label. Boys and girls had separate gym classes where the girls had to move the classroom furniture against the walls and square dance and the boys went outside for baseball or to the basement for pushups.

With no cafeteria, students walked home for lunch unless they took a bus or had parents who worked. We had to stay in the classroom with our sack lunches. It was positively prehistoric. It was a culture shock.

Some of the girls were mean and by sixth grade, the ringleader and her minions had graduated to full-time bullies. One lucky girl was chosen and the bullies would be horrible to her with name calling and even physical aggression. Then they would move on to another girl about a week or two later. There were two or three of us who were the lucky regular recipients of the cycle of torture. It made dodgeball feel like a party, because at least phys ed was only one class period a week. Classmate torture was every day.

I was made fun of for being Protestant (the “Holy Protest-Ant”) and for having a flat chest and being skinny (“flat as a board, skinny as a nail” and “a pirate’s dream, a sunken chest”). Orange peels were shoved down my shirt (“adding to the cause!”). I was called a traitor for being friends with the girls from Laurel Street School, our volleyball rivals, but it was worth the label, because at least those girls were nice to me.

I never told my parents about the bullying, because I didn’t need them thinking I was the loser the girls at school said I was. Instead, I took it out on my sister. 

As an adult, I wonder what was going on at the home of the chief tormentor and what life would have been like if we hadn’t moved or had moved somewhere else. But we did move there, and life changed. Some of it was better, not all of it was worse, and here I am, older and wiser, and slightly less insecure. 

random thoughts – Day 1,322 – (Monday) – replay

Last Monday was spent in glorious greater Las Vegas, Nevada. The countdown to the end of vacation was in full force and the day was spent sitting poolside under sunny skies, eating wedding dinner leftovers, loafing about the house (known in some circles as “relaxing”), and later, a visit with the recently met extended family. It was another event where we neglected to take photos. There were good byes as the newlyweds headed back to their own home with the car rented for their honeymoon trip, set to begin the next morning.

My niece’s in-laws are really nice and now that we’ve all met, we have more people to care for and worry about. Since meeting the expanded family, I’ve been paying attention to news of the Las Vegas Culinary Union workers strike which will affect them. Dang.

It all already feels like a million years ago instead of just last week. It’s not even that so many things happened since then, it just feels like time is different now. For the past few years, it usually feels faster, rarely slower, and mostly just different.

Waterlogged.

Today’s Lowell weather was significantly different than the Nevada weather of a week ago or even the Massachusetts weather of this past Saturday. Sadly, it wasn’t that different from much of the weather of this past summer and now fall. It was gray. It was raining. Puddles formed at the foot of the driveway and filled the flowerpot that used to hold an impatiens on the front step. The flowerpot has been waterlogged far too many times this summer and it's a miracle the flower lasted as long as it did.

Fortunately, the basement was spared puddles today and was thanked for the good work. Yes, I talk to the house. It seems to be a side effect of plentiful solitude. Sometimes I need to speak aloud to confirm to myself  that I still exist. 

The grayness made the house bedtime dark at 5:00 and lights were flipped on as I made my way to the living room for some low-key weeknight "living." Despite wearing a fleece and cozy socks, I felt cold. The darkness and the chill led to the second night of hot cocoa season, which launched last night. It was served with oyster crackers and was quite tasty, even if it was only instant hot cocoa. It feels like a dress rehearsal for winter. Or maybe a historical reenactment of last winter or the one before that. It all kind of feels the same.

random thoughts – Day 1,321 – (Sunday) – fighting inertia

Vacation was quite restful, but that hasn't stopped me from feeling exhausted since returning. Sundays are the day I usually get to sleep late, getting up at 7:00 instead of 6:00, but today it was 40 minutes of the snooze alarm before I could drag myself from bed. That allowed for less time to sit around reading news and drinking coffee before leaving for dance class.

I almost let myself slip into the inertia of not going to class. I even imagined the message I would send to say I wasn’t attending, but I couldn't find a way to make "I'm not coming because I'm a lazy slug" seem less pathetic.

Like with traveling, it wasn’t being at class that was the problem, it was the getting to class that was. In the end, I knew I’d be happier at class than home feeling guilty for not going, changed into studio clothes, got into the car, and drove to class. The drive featured some colorful leaves interspersed with evergreens and bare trees and was quite pretty. 

New books for writing
 in and reading.

After class and performance group, there was a quick visit with my sister, a stop at the gas station, and a visit to Ocean State Job Lot. The 2024 journal books arrived there a few weeks ago, and I didn’t have time to get one before leaving for vacation. It was lucky I got there today, because there were only four left in the style I like. 

After Ocean State, it was a trip across the parking lot to Barnes & Noble. I wanted the new book written by local author Mark Bodanza about Johnny Appleseed, inhabitant of my own family tree and ancestry. 

It seems like no Sunday is complete without a stop at Market Basket. Thankfully. Today’s trip was quick and inexpensive – five items and $17. When I finally arrived home at nearly 3:00 it finally dawned on me that I hadn’t eaten all day. No granola bar before dance class, no snack in the car after dance class, no racing home for lunch.

Surprisingly, I didn’t feel especially hungry while in the grocery store, but it didn’t last long. Within a few minutes of arriving home, I was boiling water for rice and chopping onions and mushrooms. By 4:00, I had cooked and eaten sautéed salmon chunks on a bed of rice with sautéed onions and mushrooms. By 5:00, it felt like bedtime. By 6:00 it felt like midnight.

The only thing keeping me still up and going was the marathon of Season 1 of The Gilded Age on HBO2 in preparation for the start of Season 2 tonight.  It’s a costume drama focused on the rich society folks of 1880s New York, and the cultural shift and rivalries of the old money and the new. It’s certainly glamourous with the costumes and homes. 

It’s looking less and less likely that I’ll last long enough to even see the new episode at 9:00, but that is what the modern marvel of On Demand is for. It feels so primitive when I think back to college when I would arrange social plans for after specific TV shows. They aired once and if you missed them, well, too bad. Times have changed. Thank goodness. 

random thoughts – Day 1,320 – (Saturday) – yellow sprawl

The fall weather sure is summery the past few days, and the clothes packed for Vegas that came back clean have been perfect for the weather since the return. The rest of the vacation packing was finally laundered, with the step counter becoming a laundry casualty, illustrating the danger of not checking the pockets, which I am usually diligent about. Luckily, the work wellness plan’s annual fall steps challenge ended on Monday and I won’t need to track steps again until the spring. Or maybe I’ll win the quarterly wellness raffle for the Fit Bit and won’t need to worry about a pedometer at all.

Sprawling mum.

The mums began to bloom while I was away, and now there are perky yellow flowers on leggy stems sprawled in the front flower bed. I don’t remember having so many yellow plants and would have sworn one plant was light purple and another was white, but now the returning plants are yellow. The once red-orange coneflower bloomed yellow this year and it’s feeling like the yard is telling me what it wants and that happens to be yellow. Is it too late to buy the yard some more pretty plants? Maybe in some non-yellow colors?

According to the weather forecast, the recent 80s are returning to a more normal temperature level and will be in the high 40s and low 50s beginning Sunday and through the week. Sweater, sweater dress, and bootie season can resume and maybe the short sleeves can be packed away until real spring-summer.

The leaves are finally beginning to turn colors in the neighborhood, several weeks later than usual. It’s possible that the leaves falling into the yard from the neighbor’s tree will coincide with the final mow of the year and both can be done in one effort. Such are the whimsical, autumnal daydreams of a solo homeowner with an eye towards efficiency. 

random thoughts – Day 1,319 – (Friday) – real life

 A two-day work week is pretty sweet. I could get used to it. Same for eight-day vacations.

There was the usual easy Friday wardrobe – jeans are allowed with a bank logo shirt, and it takes about three minutes to dress in the current "favorite jeans (Vera Wang) and one of three logo polo shirts in the drawer. There is a lot to be said for the time- and stress-saving properties of uniforms. There is great comfort in knowing what to wear to work and it's one big reason why I like being in the office on Fridays.

It was quiet in the office, but at least I wasn’t the only one there. There is comfort in knowing others are nearby, even if we aren’t interacting with each other. One admirably even-keeled  colleague said I seemed vacation refreshed and now I’m totally paranoid about how I usually seem because I didn’t really feel any different. All the usual work bull-crap is still weighing on my shoulders and another  promotion list came out that my name wasn't on, so yeah, all is normal.

The weather seemed nice, and my weather thingy on my computer toolbar read 78 degrees when I remembered to look at it. Despite my best intentions, by 4:00 I realized I had neglected to take a walk outside and by then it was too late, so clearly everything is back to so-called normal.

Get to work wine
and "relax" candle.

Further evidence of life being back to its stellar level of mediocrity was thrust in my face after work. The TV received channels because the cable box was just reset (again) on Wednesday upon my return, but Netflix wouldn’t load from the apps module. This is a situation that occurs every 14 days or so and today was the day (again).

As I sat in the living room, a hot slice of pineapple olive pizza was beginning to cool on a glass plate and a crystal wineglass of cabernet sat on the side table not far from the quietly flickering “relax” two-wick jar candle. And the latest television entertainment reckoning arrived. 

The TV worked but the show I am currently addicted to is on Netflix, which claimed to be loading, but reverted back to the guide channel. Three, four times, until I finally consulted the app for troubleshooting.

System refresh taking forever.

The system refresh initiated through the app started. A text arrived that it was complete, but several minutes later, the TV screen still said otherwise. The app message was responded to with “no, problem not solved.” 

A call was received from an xfinity rep who thanked me for my six years of loyalty (except it’s seven), checked some things, and rebooted the box again. After a lengthy process, she declared it a hardware situation, said the box needed replacement, and transferred me to the hardware group.

After a few minutes, the hardware rep was on the line, thanked me for my six years of customer loyalty (except it's seven), and after a few questions already answered with the first rep (so much for a warm transfer), wanted to transfer me to yet another group. I had hit the wall by then, having already spent 26 minutes on the line. The wine glass was empty. I was annoyed, and said I’d call back the next time the TV won’t come on, likely in a couple days. 

If I was any manner of calm, collected, and vacation refreshed at 10:00 am, it is gone now. That “relax” candle and glass of wine had better get busy. They’ve got some work to do. Real life is back on stage, large and in charge. 

random thoughts – Day 1,318 – (Thursday) – all around pleasant

Despite going to bed on Wednesday night at 7:30 pm and sleeping until 6:15 am on Thursday, I woke up tired. Travel and time zone changes fatigue are no joke. Luckily, a pot of slightly stronger than my usual coffee helped. A lot.

There were 459 work emails awaiting my attention, which is about 50% fewer than expected. That was a massive relief. The usual punishing volume has been closer to 100 (sometimes  more) emails per day while out of the office and makes me dread taking a day off. 

The weather was nice enough to have the windows open. In late October. It was amazing, and I wouldn’t feel bad if the weather was this warm most of the year. The week in greater Las Vegas gave us eight days of weather that was in the mid- to high-80s and said to be warmer than the October usual temperatures, and the sun felt hot under the cloudless skies. And dry. It was so dry I felt like I would crumble into a pile of dust, so the bit of humidity in the air yesterday and today was welcomed.

Pizza heaven.

There was a post-workday mental exercise concerning supper – to eat, or not to eat? At the time, I wasn’t feeling very hungry, but when the $5 off loyalty rewards at the preferred pizza purveyor was remembered and verified as expiring after today, the decision was swiftly made. A pizza with pineapple and Kalamata olives was ordered and suddenly I was ravenous and pacing like a lion.

During the wait for the pizza delivery, the suitcase that had been schlepped upstairs before work and raided for the clean underwear and socks was finally emptied. The remaining clothes in it were hung, refolded and put into drawers, or tossed into the hamper. 

The empty suitcase was nested with a smaller suitcase inside it and returned to the spare room closet with the other luggage and weekend bags that are waiting for their chances to come out and play like they used to. I imagine them swapping travel stories of the glory days of yore spent on the road, in the air, and on the seas. Those were good times. 

And then it was time to chill. Just me, a large glass of ice water, the oft-mocked favorite pizza choice which was eaten in blessed peace and quiet free from ridicule, and Super Pumped – The Battle for Uber on Netflix. 

It was a pretty good, all around pleasant day. There was strong coffee, nice weather, a surprisingly low number of emails. fish sticks for lunch, and pizza for supper. I'm really not that hard to please. 

random thoughts – Day 1,317 – (Wednesday) – home again

Sky-blue-pink and palm trees.

At 6:00 on Tuesday in Nevada, as I loaded Mon’s and my bags into the rental car, the sky was the soft muted shades of sky-blue-pink against the palm trees. The trip to the airport car rental return was quick and uneventful and the rental car return was easy. After a brief walk to the shuttle pickup, we were on the bus traveling to the terminal at 6:45, enjoying the smooth journey. 

 At the JetBlue check-in kiosks/baggage drop off, a line had formed and we joined it at 6:54. And we stood there. And stood there. So much for that smooth and uneventful journey. My sister, brother-in-law, and two nieces weren’t far behind us from their own rental car drop-off, and soon we were all in the line. The woman behind me in line did some reconnaissance work and reported back to our section of the line that the service area would open at 7:45. 

I was only one of my group checking a bag, and therefore the only one who needed to be in the line thanks to online boarding passes. The rest of the crew moved to the gate area and I remained in line with plenty of time to quietly mull my packing decision for the trip, made in the absence of information shared by the others. It’s a common life theme lately.

The line had grown behind me.

The kiosks opened as promised at 7:45. The line, which had quadrupled in length behind me, finally began to move, and by 8:00 I was walking past the still-growing line on the way to security. TSA Pre-Check had no line and I was through to the other side and on the shuttle to the terminal by 8:10. After standing in line for an hour, the progress was refreshing.

There was time to browse the souvenir shops in the gate area before the plane boarded. Soon we were in the air and fewer than five hours later, back in Boston. With goodbyes and hugs it was a few minutes before arriving at baggage claim where my bag was the only one left on the carousel. Mom and I decided to have a coffee from Dunkin Donuts which was so nuclear hot we couldn’t drink it.

Jiggly Vegas area lights.

The flight was mostly uneventful. I had switched up my carry-on bag and ended up having my jacket in the bag in the overhead, blocked by two passengers to my left who fell asleep immediately upon sitting in their seats. I had my sweatshirt on and a shawl, froze all night, and slept little. There was an attempt at photos of the millions of lights of Vegas from the plane window at take-off, but it was dark and any level of clarity was nearly impossible. I finally gave up on focus and jiggled the phone on purpose. The result felt like the blur of a week we'd just had.

After waiting for the coffee to cool and still burning our mouths, we were soon on the Logan Express shuttle bus in the midst of Boston morning traffic. After collecting my car, Mom and I were traversing routes 93 and 495 during the morning commute.

Back at The BungaLowell, after a couple quiet hours, there was some yelling outside, two police cruisers were parked in the street, and officers were talking to the guy across the street. A third cruiser arrived and between the conversation I could hear and what another neighbor filled me in on later, there has been an especially assertive parking enforcer lurking on the street ready to pounce on any vehicle lacking a resident sticker that so much as pauses to check navigation. It seems the parking dude is also known downtown for provoking people and then calling for police backup after they are wound up.

There’s no place like home. Or something like that. And tomorrow, it's back to work.

random thoughts – Day 1,316 – (Tuesday) – departure day

It’s a late flight home, departing at 10:00 PM and not arriving in Boston until 6:00 AM Wednesday. Of course, when booking my vacation days from work, I was thinking, “we go home on Tuesday and I can sleep late on Wednesday and take the day to unwind.” That, of course, completely overlooked the critical detail where we leave on Tuesday, but don’t arrive until Wednesday morning. Such a rookie mistake. You’d think I've never traveled before. Or learned how to read and process information.

Packing it in.

There were loose ends to tend to early in the day. Like packing. Ugh. At least packing to return home from a trip doesn’t have the stress of guessing and choosing what to bring on a vacation. It’s an exercise in rolling, folding, and fitting things back into the traveling clothes box with slightly less concern about wrinkling. No worry about packing the “right” clothes because that is already water under the bridge. Yes, I brought a lot of “wrong” clothes including three pairs of jeans and two swim suits for a pool I doubted I'd enter (and didn't). 

Predicting mood, weather, and activities have never been my forte, but overpacking the wrong stuff definitely is in my wheel house. The comfort of returning to the main closet and the full selection of clothing is a relief. The laundry room in the house meant fewer dirty clothes to pack, but spending the morning on laundry wasn’t appealing enough to transform all the worn items into laundry fresh. 

The day of the wedding outfit was a satiny top and sequin pants. Of course, the morning of the day of the wedding, I was second-guessing everything, hating what I'd packed (along with everything I own), and wishing I'd packed a totally different outfit. The top and pants were rolled and packed. The top, bought new and worn for one day, has a pull in the front that happened during the wedding ceremony from a tiny snag in my nail, and a section of pulls and stupid little balls on the inside, probably from the sequins on the pants. Those will be reflected in the item review. “Nice fabric, nice drape, suffers pulls and pills at the slightest touch. Don’t plan to wear this top more than once.” The top was a straight cut, and to give it more interest, I tried a thing I saw in a video where you use something round like a hoop earring and a hair elastic to create soft folds and shaping. It's possible my effort with a smashed penny and a hair elastic looked like a giant navel, but I have no photos by which to asses this. Those all exist on other people's cameras.

The vintage store jacket bought in Boulder City was laid flat in the suitcase in an effort to keep it smooth. It made its debut for the dinner after the wedding, with dark wash jeans because I neglected to pack my black dress pants, and pinkish sparkly boots that were bought to go with the sequin pants but felt like too much bling for a daytime event. They might be too much for any event in my regular life. There is currently no photographic evidence by which to evaluate the ensemble, which might be a good thing.

Despite not really buying much, the suitcase feels more full than before. The sweatshirt is in the carry-on, the curling iron and short-sleeved short are in the suitcase. The only other purchases, two smashed pennies, are in the wallet. Yet, it seems like a truckload of stuff has been added.

Another loose end was filling the gas tank on the rental car. Enterprise Rental offered my brother-in-law gas options on his rental car and the clerk told him to return it as close to empty as possible, but the clerk at Budget told me to gas up and bring the receipt when I return the car. Luckily, I scoped out a gas station during the earlier shopping trips and could take care of it before heading to the airport.

The forecast for Wednesday is a low of 58 degrees and high of 72, but that has nothing to do with the comfort level on the flight, creating a layered wardrobe / carry-on dilemma for the one who is always cold. Sweatshirt? Sweater? Denim jacket? All of the above? Wear them onto the plane all at once and peel off as needed, or gradually layer? I’m in a window seat, adding and subtracting layers in the seat  won’t be so easy to do in the sardine can with wings.

There are still a few hours before the rental car return, shuttle to the airport, wait at the gate, and journey through the air are reckoned with. Arriving at 6:00 AM puts us on the road with morning traffic which feels like another source of potential delight to contend with. Soon enough we’ll be back to real life and all its regular responsibilities. Hooray?

random thoughts – Day 1,315 – (Monday) – relax

After a couple hectic days, it was time to relax. I slept until nearly 9:00, and I was surprised by the late hour. There was coffee, because no day begins without it. None worth being awake for, anyway.

Cake!

There was a mini wedding Bundt cake for breakfast, time spent on the deck, Scrabble with Mom and Shannon. It’s Mom’s birthday and the rest of the Bundt tiers were re-fashioned into a birthday cake with the addition of candles. There was the singing of the birthday song. After all these years, we still sound horrible, more like nails on a chalkboard. We are not The von Trapp Family singers. 

The enthusiastic winds of Sunday died down and the air was calm under the blue sky. The temperature was a bit cooler, and my sweatshirt was needed outdoors as well as inside, but that is mostly just me. The layers for the flight attire are in the active planning stage. 

At 5:00, we were able to fetch the vehicles. The street was paved today and there had been notices taped to the door a few days ago that the street was closed from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Last night when we returned from dinner we parked around the corner on an unaffected street so we didn't have to think about it this morning. We didn't know if we would be going out today, but just in case, we didn't want to be trapped in the garage or driveway. In the end, most of us never left the house.

Evening light in the palms.

Later in the day, the elder Garcias and their adorable grandson came over for a final visit and goodbyes. They are a lot of fun and many laughs were enjoyed. That has been the situation each time we’ve all been together. It would be great if we all lived closer together, we could have a great time more often. I got to play with the youngest of the family, who is four, and we had a blast. We bonded over the Converse sneakers we were each wearing and I feel like a big hit with the pre-school set.

After another quick visit and more goodbyes, we bade the newlyweds goodbye as they prepare to head west on their honeymoon trip. 

random thoughts -- Day 1314 (Sunday) wedding day

The wedding day in a nutshell ... Most of the household was up at around 7:00 or so to get things going. There was coffee and soon after, a shriek from the room where the bride-to-be had spent the night.

Safe from a leak.

There was a splat of water on her head and she stepped in water on the floor as she crossed from the bathroom into the bedroom. The ceiling was leaking. 

Luckily, the wedding gown, which was very nearly hung in the area of the leak, had been hung across the room instead. 

The best guess about the source of the water was the master suite bathroom, where the bride was scheduled to meet with the hair stylist and the makeup artist. 

There were photos at the house near the arch that was decorated on Saturday. After hundreds of photos of the bridal couple and various family members, it was time to head to the ceremony venue. 

Groom and Bride.

As people filtered out to the cars, it was noticed the door to the master suite was locked and nobody could get back in the space. Another thing to be dealt with later. 

The wedding venue featured a Pepto-pink Cadillac out front. The ceremony room was lovely, as was the ceremony. The vows, written by the couple, brought tears to everyone's eyes. It was beautiful. On our way out, Elvis, decked out in a white jumpsuit, unloaded himself and his things from a Hyundai Santa Fe and sauntered down the sidewalk. 

Later, there was dinner at Al Solito Posto in Tivoli . "Dinner" was an amazing multicourse meal with courses featuring Caesar salad, meatballs, bruschetta, chicken parmigiana, steak, various pastas, mashed potato, broccolini, and other things I'm sure I've missed. The dessert course was tiramisu, apple crostata, and vanilla gelato. 

Tivoli Village

Back at the house, there was cake. Bundt cake tiers in white chocolate raspberry and chocolate, with mini Bundt cakes in two other flavors. Beautiful and delicious. 

The ceiling leak and locked suite were tiny hiccups and overall, it was a beautiful day. Best wishes to Shannon and Britt for many more beautiful days.

random thoughts – Day 1,313 – (Saturday) – countdown

It’s crunch time on the countdown clock. The wedding of the eldest niece is Sunday, and Saturday was dedicated to errands and some details. 

Mom, middle niece, and I made an excursion to Burlington and TJ Maxx for a small, dressy purse, fancy bobby pins, body lotion, and a curling iron, all casualties of now regretted packing decisions. Mom made the reckless packing choice to skip a small, black purse, and I made the same decision against having an extra small purse, otherwise I would have had the spare she could borrow.

My skin is turning to dust in the dry air with the help of the forgotten lotion, and the unpacked curling iron was another major blunder. These were items remembered during the brief nap before leaving for the airport, and not remembered upon awakening at 2:00 AM.

Other blunders on my part include forgetting my earbuds, of which there are easily a half dozen in the kitchen drawer, and a sweatshirt. A new set of earbuds was bought on the flight from Boston and the sweatshirt faux pas was corrected at Goodwill several days ago.

Day five – distant clouds.

A short while after the first shopping excursion there was a lunch of leftover pizza and chicken wings from Friday’s “meet the parents” night. It was followed by my daring solo escape to Dollar Tree for a couple table cloths, napkins, plastic cups, some centerpiece elements, hair elastics, and a lip balm. A stop at The Salvation Army store was even snuck in, but once inside it turned out I wasn’t really in the mood.

During the bold solo trip, I saw something I hadn't seen here yet. On day five of the Vegas adventure,  there was a band of clouds in the distance and the occasional puffy cloud hovering over a hill. I'm told this is rare, unlike at home where I understand it is raining. Again. The Sunday forecast in Henderson includes wind. Ugh. 

Assembly operation calmly underway.

There was an afternoon project involving a wedding arch. The bridal couple assembled the structure, added greenery, added flowers. Then it was time for 15 yards of tulle and that’s where I came in. There was draping and fluffing and securing and even a step ladder that sent me back to the days of Kohl’s and climbing ladders. There may have been a tiny twinge of nostalgia for having a job that kept me in shape. 

During the assembly operation, there was not one cross word or loss of patience or stressed outburst, even when it was taking much longer than anticipated and I am impressed. The elders in my family are not always this calm and collected and we could learn a thing or two.

random thoughts – Day 1,312 – (Friday) – hot tub blue sky

Hot tub spa.

The day began with hot coffee and cold feet. The hot tub spa was plenty hot and my chilled feet went in. The water swirled like a tiny tornado in the center, and tiny bubbles erupted periodically from a side jet. Ripples on the surface of the water reflected the light.  

It was nice sitting under another clear blue sky in the morning sunshine. Every day we’ve been here the sky has been a brilliant blue and the weather has been warm. It almost makes up for the wretched weather of most of our recent New England summer. 

It was a leisurely morning. Lists were made for more things needed for the wedding day. The kids, aka the bride and groom to be, worked until noon and came over for lunch. There was the grilling of marinated chicken which was added to chopped lettuce and peppers and adorned with croutons and dressing. Delicious!

Another blue sky.

Later in the day, it was the first meeting of the two families. We went to the groom’s parents’ home for supper and spent a couple hours together. It was fun meeting the family and the pets, Maya (dog) and Stella (cat). 

After supper and a house tour, the movie "Meet the Parents" was started, but by then it was feeling late and we had to head back to the house. The guys have an early date with the barber shop and the bride and her mother have some morning shopping plans. 

random thoughts – Day 1,311 – (Thursday) – dam

Hot damn. Thursday already, and the week is flying by. 

The dam from the bridge.

Today was road trip day with a visit to Hoover Dam and the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. I had been to Hoover Dam many, many moons ago and very little about the surrounding area felt familiar. All I remembered from that visit was that we walked across the dam, I took a ton of film photos, and we ate at some really cool little diner.

This trip included four of us walking over the Memorial Bridge from the Nevada side, past the apex and onto the Arizona side. Two stayed back at the car in air-conditioned comfort. After the bridge, we drove to the dam, and my middle niece and I walked down to the dam and crossed from the Arizona side back to Nevada. We didn’t get very far into Arizona either time, but we’re counting it as a state visited. 

After the dam, we stopped at the Lake Mead Visitor Center where I was able to get my favorite travel souvenir – a commemorative smashed penny. Two, actually, because the first one didn’t come out so great. I love smashed pennies because it is fun to crank the handle and unlike other souvenirs, they take up next to no room. I also am amazed by the business concept of making the customer provide the raw material (a penny), pay for the production (fifty cents) AND provide the physical labor. And I fall for it every time I see one. It's brilliant, and if I could plant penny smashers all over the place, I would.

Beside the penny smasher, the gift shop was really good, and the worker at the counter was a friendly local who provided several tips for lunch in Boulder City, our next stop.

Now mine.

We ate lunch at The Dillinger in Boulder City, one of the spots mentioned by the park service person. We walked in hungry and each of us ate happy and felt revived. Then it was off to several great antique and gift shops where several of us found treasures. I got a pink Asian jacket that the store operator told me was from the estate of a local woman who had a modest home and a massive wardrobe. She traveled extensively including many trips to Hong Kong, where many of her wardrobe items were made. I was prepared to pay the full ticket price, but the shop owner knocked it down by $13 without my even asking. Sweet! The planned wedding outfit for the weekend might be switched up to accommodate the latest acquisition.

There were several other gorgeous jackets from the same estate and I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t also tempted by the purple one, the green one, and the gold one. If not for the cost of getting them all and the slim chance there will actually be places to wear them, I would have. There was a time and place in life that I wouldn’t have thought twice about it and would likely have had (or created) dozens of opportunities to wear them all, but that was a different phase in life when things were social and exciting and before moving an extensive wardrobe halfway across the country and then back again.

I tried to convince my sister and Mom that we (meaning they) needed one of the very elegant hats displayed on a back wall and especially a gold lame one that looked almost like a sunrise or a crown, but they were not biting. If not for the cost and the practical aspects of transport home, I might have bought it. As one shop operator pointed out, there was a post office nearby. This attempt at being a financially responsible adult is not always that much fun, but I’m sure I’ll thank myself when, over time, there is incrementally more travel money available.

random thoughts – Day 1,310 – (Wednesday) – vacation adventures

So far Vegas has felt a lot more like regular life than a vacation. Well, maybe someone else’s regular life. The morning featured sitting around drinking morning coffee poolside, and maybe someday that will be my life. It was 11:00-ish before there was mobilization to leave the house. Three of us went to a Goodwill near the house, which makes my second Goodwill in 24 hours. I wanted a zip front sweatshirt due to my state of freezing in the house, my sister wanted lighter colored short sleeve shirts. The mission was successful. 

After Goodwill, we couldn’t figure out where to go for lunch so we went back to the house where there wasn’t much food yet, pending a trip to Costco planned for the afternoon. Lunch became an apple at 2:30 when I felt like there was imminent danger of my keeling over. It was a desperate move, I don't really like apples unless they are cooked in a crisp or sauteed for tossing into something else.

Remy Martin Louis XIII 8699.00

We visited the niece and saw her and her soon to be husband’s home after they got home from work. they live just a few miles from the rental house and then we all had a family trip to Costco. The place was full of Christmas trees and holiday cookies and candies, but our task was beverages and other things for the wedding after-party and food for the house. 

Some discoveries were made – like the cranberry and jalapeno dip and the new-to-the Yankees Coca-Cola from Mexico. Oh, and a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII French Cognac for $8,699. We did not by that. Maybe next time.

There were eight of us, and we probably looked like a clown parade moving through Costco. We realized we had become the people we are most annoyed by in stores – you know, pausing to talk, blocking the stuff, talking too long to the soup sample lady. The soup was very tasty. My sincere apologies to the Costco shoppers.

Back at the house, my brother-in-law prepped and cooked dinner and some of us helped by staying out of the way. The young’uns played pool and some of the rest of us sat outside enjoying beverages, testing the cranberry and jalapeno dip (it's delicious!), and talking. Later, the younger folks hit the pool. There was a nighttime photo shoot involving an inflatable duck float and a plastic owl. We sure know how to have a ball. Maybe we'll go back for the Remy Martin. 

random thoughts – Day 1,309 – (Tuesday) – wiped out

Travel day for the Vegas vacation was exhausting. 

Destination: Vegas.

Departure day was preceded by a few nights of insufficient sleep. The wakeup call on departure day was 2:00 am, and it arrived after three hours of trying to sleep followed by two hours of actual sleep. One of the in-flight movies was so boring it inspired a few minutes of sleep, so that was good.

There was a car ride, a shuttle to the airport, a five-hour plane ride, a shuttle ride to baggage claim, a shuttle ride to the car rental, and then some white knuckle driving in search of food. The shuttle rides were often preceded by lengthy lines and waits.

The check-in to the rental house was at 4:00, but the flight arrived at 9:30 am. A good chunk of time was consumed with standing in line and riding a shuttle, then standing in line for the car rental. When the clock read noon, we were very hungry because our stomachs were on east coast time (3:00), and some of us hadn’t eaten since 7:00 pm ET Monday night. 

Even after finding sustenance, there was time to occupy, but we were too tired to do anything. A couple of us dragged ourselves through a Goodwill Store with the interesting placement at the far end of a parking near the Premium Outlets. We were not feeling like high rollers. Not that anyone would ever mistake us for such, ever.

We got lucky with an earlier check-in available which helped with the “what do we do next and will it look weird if we nap in a parking lot?”

There was time to relax at the house and poolside under a bright blue, cloud-free sky. The young'uns enjoyed the hot tub and the pool while the elders fought the urge to nod off at the deck table.

By 7:00pm Las Vegas time, nearly all the occupants of the rental home were crashing and heading to bed. It was a long day. At least we have several days to rest up before the main event -- my niece's wedding on the weekend.

random thoughts – Day 1,308 – (Monday) – hither and yon

It was a vacation day and the morning was free to go to the gym. It was the usual hasty exit – grab the keys, the wallet, and the phone with the app to check-in at the gym and dash out the door. After the gym there was a quick detour to the gas station. Inside the wallet there was a surprise – no license, debit card, credit card, or cash. Consequently, no gas.

That’s when I remembered those necessary items were all on the kitchen table because I used a small purse over the weekend that can’t accommodate the big wallet. I had emptied the purse, but not out the items into the wallet. Sure enough, when I got home, they were all neatly stacked right near where I had grabbed the keys from. Duh.

After a shower and breakfast there was another trip out to the wild for gas and a visit to Chowder Factory. The Chowder Factory was the furthest point and I went there first. I’d seen the sign for the place dozens of times, and never turned down the street. Recently, there was a Facebook post about the soups sometimes being half-off and today was one of those days. I got some seafood chowder and oyster crackers and if the freezer had any room, I may have bought more.

Clouds to the left.

While driving to the gas station, imagining eating the chowder for supper, I remembered the swordfish chunks bought from Market Basket in the past and wanted some. Or fish sticks. 

Exiting the gas station, the volume of traffic (or maybe my lack of patience) prevented taking the left turn onto Aiken Street to head to Market Basket. I ended taking a right and going back down Lakeview for what felt like forever to finally take the right onto VFW and towards MB. Along the detour, I thought maybe I’d go to Hannaford for the last day of a $10 off a $25 order coupon but talked myself out of it because that would turn into a big grocery shop.

Clouds to the right.

The weather was what has become the usual lately – clouds, sun, clouds and sun, showers, and sun showers. Crossing the University Ave Bridge, there were low, heavy, gray clouds to the left and blue sky and more cheerful clouds to the right. The red lights are so long that there is plenty of time take photos to entertain myself.

Over at Market Basket, it was lucky I had the fish sticks back-up plan because there were only large swordfish steaks. Fish sticks were bought but they weren’t needed, because the chowder was plenty filing for supper. I made myself run around like a nut for nothing. Certainly not the first time. Or the last. But now I have fish sticks and tater tots. 

random thoughts – Day 1,307 – (Sunday) – potentially perfect day

This was not the usual Sunday. The annual Bay State Marathon was this morning, with a route perilously close to The BungaLowell and the already limited access out of the ‘hood. Having seen the signs posted along Route 113 (my regular Sunday route to dance class) and encountered the traffic in previous years, I sent my regrets to dance class and made no attempt to leave during the event. That eliminated a lot of stress and opened the morning for coffee, relaxation, and falling into the magical rabbit hole of a troll post on a town discussion group that generated hundreds of responses spanning hours of timestamps. It was the most captivating cyber soap opera I’ve seen in ages. Positively riveting.

I managed to eventually tear myself away from the manufactured drama long enough to visit the gym for a quickie with the treadmill and the massage chair. There was a stop at Family Dollar for birthday cards, a frozen pizza, and a box of the super tasty and convenient BiBiGo Korean steamed dumplings. The marathon signs had disappeared and it felt safe to cross a bridge and move around the city.

After the stunning accomplishment of leaving the house for 90 minutes, there was a hearty brunch of eggs with onions and the remainder of the roasted potatoes and onions. During the lunching I remembered the thing that kept me up very late on Saturday night. Much time had been spent until my eyes balls watered and ached from reading on the tiny phone screen about National Park locations and NPS access passes. As I finally drifted off to sleep, I decided to visit the NPS Visitor Center in Lowell to buy a pass for the upcoming vacation and the potential of visiting some National Parks.

After the eggs, I traded the gym pants for jeans, slapped on some makeup in an attempt to look like I give a crap about appearance and not frightening innocent bystanders, and headed downtown. The police department temporary no parking signs were gone and the only visible remnant of the morning’s marathon was someone on the street wearing a marathon volunteer tee shirt talking to someone in civilian clothes.

National Parks pass.

At the NPS Visitor Center, I was greeted by friendly team members and helped immediately. I was chided for saying I wanted the “old people” pass and told I’m not old. But ummm, let’s be real young NPS Visitor Center staffer, it’s for age 62+ and numbers don’t lie. Finally accepting the reality of my advanced age got me the “Senior Pass” for only $20 for a year and it can later be applied towards a Lifetime Pass that costs $80.

After all the strenuous accomplishments it was time to settle down and watch The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix. Each episode is titled after an Edgar Allan  Poe story and it’s a pretty good mind bender of a series. Plus, the classical piano music woven into the soundtrack is great, but I like classical music and may be completely biased on that particular point.

A wee bit charred.

A slice of pizza was warmed in the toaster oven. It tasted like more and a second was heated. After being tossed in olive oil and resting in the refrigerator for a couple days, the acorn squash seeds were finally salted and roasted. After only 10 minutes in the same toaster oven that often requires two cycles to produce toast that is actually toasted and not just stale bread, half the seeds were charred. This may have been because instead of hovering over the toaster oven, I went back to the living room and the creepy show and forgot they were in the oven. They still taste pretty good, charcoal is supposed to be good for digestion, and the house is still standing, so it's all good. 

It was a reasonably productive day interrupted with spells of delightful leisure, laziness, and leftover pizza. A perfect Sunday, really.

random thoughts – Day 1,306 – (Saturday) – day and night

Earlier this week, there was a listing for a yoga or stretching or some sort of movement class scheduled for this morning at Boarding House Park. It sounded good when reading about it on a 60 degree afternoon, but this morning was too chilly for me to be doing any sort of outdoor on the ground class. It was a visit to the magical Planet of Fitness to walk on the treadmill while staring at the many TV screens and lay on the heated hydro massage table instead.

Back in the days of the beloved 
 Canine Overlords.

While eating lunch, I remembered the drive-up medication and sharps drop-off was at the Senior Center until 2:00. Five boxes crammed with Winston’s used insulin syringes were dropped off. It was a LOT of sharp stabby things to be liberated of. 

Since August when Win passed away, I really haven’t dealt with the doggy things. The half bag of prescription dog food is still in the bathroom closet and the beds, leashes, dishes, sweaters, and so on are all still around. Someday I’ll deal with it. Or have another set of Canine Overlords and need it all again. Who can say. 

After the drop-off, the car successfully navigated past Market Basket without pulling in. Instead, it autopiloted to the nearby St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop. It worked out, because it’s going to be hot on the upcoming vacation, like in the 90s hot, and I don’t have any shorts. None that fit or are suitable to wear in public, anyway.

There was a full rack of shorts at St. Vincent's, but none that met the rigorous criteria (not too short, not too tight in the legs but also not too loose, the fabric should have some body and not be so soft and drapey, the waist should be at least mid-rise) and also fit. Between all the rain and spending most of the summer inside often freezing in air conditioning, shorts weren’t needed this summer. Not by me, anyway. Normal body temperature people probably wore them.

The haul was a pair of capri-length jeans that seemed brand new, two pairs of dressier pants for work, a flowered necktie, and a lightweight jacket that seems great for spring and early fall hiking. Everything had either red 50% off tags or yellow 99-cent tags, so it was budget friendly.

The pants were laundered this afternoon, which resulted in a minor mishap. Some light-colored tee shirts were tossed into the washer with the jeans and it seems those jeans were brand new and the “wash before wearing” instructions have a very valid reason. Now the pale pink tee shirt has a light purple tint and the white baseball shirt with pink sleeves looks grayish, gross, and dingy. Luckily, those are both worn as pajamas and nobody will ever see them. Like, never.

Fuzzy sun.

I remembered to look for the eclipse, but New England wasn’t in the best range for it. The sun was a white, fuzzy ball in the cloudy sky. No nibble from the moon. No ring of fire. 

The rest of the afternoon is a blur and suddenly it was nighttime, which is a lot longer now that sun sets around 6:00 and it’s pitch dark by 6:30. There is something really cozy about the long nights. Or maybe that’s just the blanket, the candle, and the wine talking.

random thoughts – Day 1,305 – (Friday) – sign and relax

The advertised as velvet but actually velour jacket and the advertised as silk but actually polyester blouse arrived today. The product titles and actual fiber content were not a surprise. It's the same thing as when eBay items are listed as "vintage" when they were made last week in a style remotely similar to an actual vintage style. 

When ordered, the delivery was shown as October 13, but a day later, it was showing as the 14^th. On the 12^th, while checking emails after getting home from the after-work event, the delivery date showed as the 13^th between 2:00 and 5:00, with a signature required. Wait, what? A signature required for a generic blouse and jacket bought for chump change? For real? That feels a lot like overkill. And the earlier delivery date put it on a day I’m at the office-office and not at home to sign for it.

The UPS notification had an option to change the delivery, including to a nearby UPS pickup spot, but the link kept giving an error. It was decided to deal with it in the morning. I wasn’t sure if I was annoyed with Amazon or UPS, but I was definitely annoyed when I went to bed.

The morning delivery status update from Amazon continued to show Friday the 13^th.  Amazon’s update mentioned nothing about needing a signature. Another update from UPS again contained the signature note. Luckily, the option to sign online was available, which came with about 1,200 words of disclaimer and legalese. The delivery "instructions" were verified. Options included “Porch,” which is defined as "a covered shelter protecting the front of the entrance of a building," (yes, I looked it up) and “Deck,” which is an open, uncovered attachment. Porch, as in, the covered thing running across the entire front of the house, was confirmed as the delivery option.

Compelling proof
of delivery.

Late in the afternoon, a text arrived that the package had been delivered. It included  a photo intended to provide proof of the delivery. The compelling "proof" was a photo of the lower portion of the recycle bin and part of the steps to the open deck. Was it on top of the recycle bin? Behind it? Deliveries have found in both locations. It was anyone's guess.

Curses against UPS were uttered. Of all the delivery services that bring things to The BungaLowell, UPS is the most lackadaisical. Prime, FedEx, and US Postal are pretty mindful of protecting deliveries against weather and visibility from the street, but it seems like UPS could not possibly care less.

After the usual commute home with the usual dumb bunny drivers blocking the intersections, I pulled up to the house where there was no package in sight. It was questionable as to whether that was a good thing or not. 

Relax.

The package had been left on the open deck that runs along the side of the house. The deck, which was very deliberately not chosen as a delivery location. But it was safely delivered, and that is what was important. Later, I’ll get around to seeing if the items fit.

It was time to unwind. Supper was eaten – a sensible, comforting bowl of vegetable soup with a slice of buttered bread. The “Relax” jar candle, a gift from last Christmas, or maybe a birthday or some other event in the past five years was lit (finally). A glass of wine was poured.  Then another. The large bag of Utz chips from last week’s pizza delivery was opened. And eaten. 

The stress of the week is melting off and things are improving. Well, except for the nagging shame of demolishing an entire bag of chips and yet another night of not going to the gym. 

random thoughts – Day 1,304 – (Thursday) – repeat business

It was another day of receiving someone else's DoorDash notifications. It had stopped for a few weeks, and before that, the deliveries were on Fridays in the 2:00 to 3:00 timeframe, so Thursday at 5:00 was a slight shift in their repeat business. 

I wish I knew who "CSB" is, and even more, I wish CSB hadn't messed up the phone number in their own DoorDash account. Each delivery is accompanied by four text messages. One has the expected delivery time, the next when it is picked up, one when the driver is approaching, and finally, when the order is delivered, accompanied by a photo of the bag on the doorstep of a cute blue house. 

In other repeat events, it was another night and another event at Lenzi’s. Being out two weeknights in a row, and three, if we count Tuesday’s board meeting, feels a bit like being a socialite. Or at least, significantly less hermitlike than usual.

Table at Lenzi's.

Several of us at the Bank-sponsored table at tonight’s event had been at the same venue on Wednesday night for the Bank’s dinner. We wondered if the menu would be the same, but luckily, it was not. Tonight’s dinner was ham with beans, roasted turkey breast with stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and amazing crisped, caramelized sweet potato cubes tossed with peas. The dessert was warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. So yummy! 

Tonight’s event was The Bridge Club of Greater Lowell’s Person of the Year dinner. I wasn’t familiar with this organization, but I learned that The Bridge Club’s mission is to stem the tide of alcoholism and addiction in the Greater Lowell Area and beyond, is dedicated to providing a safe place for those in recovery to meet.

The speakers included an owner of my favorite pizza delivery place. She spoke about her family’s experience with a loved one’s addiction, and I gotta say, my eyes got kinda wet.

Tonight’s event ran a bit longer than last night’s and I arrived home perilously close to the time I am usually winding down and beginning to prepare for bedtime. Oy.