...what the hell am I counting down to now?!!?
Normally I have something MEGA AWESOME on the horizon to count down to. Now with the super-fantastical holiday of '10 down, where am I going next!?!?
Right, so, when I left off, The Mr. was up north and looking at not getting back for another day, but that night he pushed it all the way back to G-city and crawled into bed with me at midnight precisely. So that was a winner! Only 1 night apart. Plus, I am still on my winning attitude-streak because the weather is still just freakin' amazing here and I seem to have all the energy in the world! What's up with that? I'm thinking divine intervention. So perhaps a halleluja is in order. Halleluja! I know for sure that the 9:00pm bedtimes also probably have something to do with it (call it jetlag or whatever you want, but I just can NOT keep my eyes open after 8:30 and have been literally falling asleep on the couch each night this week!!). And as a bona fide night owl, while that breaks my damn heart, I have to say there are indeed benefits on the other side.
Such as, seriously I have met work this week with a surprisingly optimistic outlook. I see what's in front of me and although I have NO desire or genuine interest to do it, I'm just bashing my way forward and trying not to think of the reasons why I don't like it. For example, I had 2 airport inspections this week. One on Wednesday up in the north, and one here. Normally I dread the up-north one because of the flights and early wakeup hour and heat and sand and all. This week I realized I had nothing to dread because these 9:00 bedtimes are having me up and at 'em at 6 (if not before) with copious amounts of energy anyway. So I just told myself, hey you'll be awake anyway, so there's nothing to get all wound up about. Plus, what I often forget about those Wednesdays up north is that it means lunch at Hillary's, this cafe I love who makes great healthy lunches and good coffee. So I did what I had to do, and instead of focussing on the sand sand sand, just concentrated on the delicous sage-smell of the Okavango Delta that is always in the air. And Hillarys. And the fact I had a new book to read for the airplane flights.
Then, rather than dreading my local airport inspection yesterday, and letting it wind me up, I just thought "hell I'll use this as an excuse to drive past Cafe D. and get myself a damn flat white on the way!" And lo and behold that (along with the friendly chat with my favorite barista) was enough to make me happy in the lead-up to having to make the big trek across town and into the always-brutal inspection. And that coffee was definitely delish, that's for sure. Plus then I just took my time with their H&S Officer as if I had all the time in the world, did everything really slow, and didn't look at the time even once. I was even inspired by the fact that it gave me an idea for a job I would like to do that I will speak with his boss about when he gets back from China, which is interesting. By the time I was done I had this relaxed buzz going on that gives me hope that this whole 4-week-holiday-rejuvenation is still working!!
And then my meeting yesterday which was destined to end in confrontation between client & contractor and me, I just didn't even let myself think about until I got there. I still kicked up the stink that I needed to in the meeting due to the beligerent, smirking asshole at the end of the table, but I just didn't let myself think about it before or after the meeting. And luckily I got the support from the Project Manager that I needed, so it all ended fine anyway. See that's the thing, if I start stressing about this stuff before it happens and then nothing happens anyway... what the hell is that? That's called WASTED STRESS AND ANXIETY. And really that's just as freakin' useful as flushing cold hard cash down the shitter.
So anyway, the week has been a pretty much 100% good week. Things are going my way and I can't help but think that my restedness and post-holiday mojo have a lot to do with it. Because really nothing NEW has happened, it's just how I'm heading into everything. I'm not sure how this early-to-bed thing is going to pan out after the weekend (where we are bound and determined to drink coffee in the evening so as to at least have some sort of potential for enjoying the night again!) but we'll see.
Plans for the weekend WERE supposed to be dumping LJJ at babysitter and going to standup comedy tonight (you HAVE to take advantage of these few-and-far-between events when they're here) but now she is sick and has a really bad fever (probably her holiday catching up with her) so we will stay home instead and cook something divine and watch something hilarious. Then Saturday we have some big shopping to do and over to Jac&Mar's for socializin' (assuming the youngling is not worse) and then Sunday is the big Hash Annual K-Hill Ascent so that will be great. I am SO annoyed at our Hash for having THE NERVE to have the most coolest biggest awesomest fantastical Carolina-style Pig Pickin' BBQ while we were gone.... roast hog, zucchini bread, grits, slaw & all. AGGHHHHH!!!! I would've given my right ass for to have been at that one. But them's the breaks. Not to mention I was definitely not short on BBQ while we were back home I guess.
OH one thing I DO have to look forward to is that I booked tickets for myself & The Mr. and Uncle Alan to go to see Gary The Toothfairy's live comedy standup in Jozi on the 21st of Aug, which means a nice weekend down in civilization so that will be AWESOME. You know how I dig the live belly laughs. And his friends Daniel & Tsholo will babysit for us while we are at the show so we are in BIDNEZ.
Speaking of Bidnez, last night we were supposed to go to this party for one of our clients who has been in bidnez for 50 years or some crap like that but because of the boiling baby we stayed home. However The Mr. heard today from someone that was there that our favorite client, MS who is also a personal friend, along with his wife, E., are down in SA right now due to her being diagnosed with serious lung cancer - OMG that is probably the most tragic thing I have heard in ages because this couple is one of these ultimate-role-model couples of happiness and tranquility and love that everyone should aspire to be like in their old age (they would be my parents' age). And yet ever since they've been here in BW, he has been working like a dog and is continually stressed and overworked and under all sorts of severe pressure because he is the Director of one of the most successful consulting engineers firms in the country. They have recently bought their "retirement cottage" in a gorgeous seaside village outside CapeTown and he's talking about maybe continuing this job for another 5 years or so here and then packing it in and heading down to paradise where they'll watch birds together and eat fish and walk the dogs along the beach. This whole 10-years-in-BW thing was just supposed to be some "hardship job" that he took because it would pay really well and even though it would be living hell for the duration of the contract... it would pay really well....?.... and..... well, it would pay really well. Well. After all the 14-hour-workdays and working weekends and not taking holidays and physical stress on him and pressure on her and nights apart due to work trips and what-what-what, it doesn't look like that dream is coming true. Anyway, it doesn't look good for her now, she is on intense chemo and most people in her condition don't make it through. And while that is devistatingly sad it just goes to show that you can't put all your eggs in one basket and say "ah sure we'll relax when we retire" because guess what - you have no right to plan LIFE. It ain't ours to control, folks.
Normally I have something MEGA AWESOME on the horizon to count down to. Now with the super-fantastical holiday of '10 down, where am I going next!?!?
Right, so, when I left off, The Mr. was up north and looking at not getting back for another day, but that night he pushed it all the way back to G-city and crawled into bed with me at midnight precisely. So that was a winner! Only 1 night apart. Plus, I am still on my winning attitude-streak because the weather is still just freakin' amazing here and I seem to have all the energy in the world! What's up with that? I'm thinking divine intervention. So perhaps a halleluja is in order. Halleluja! I know for sure that the 9:00pm bedtimes also probably have something to do with it (call it jetlag or whatever you want, but I just can NOT keep my eyes open after 8:30 and have been literally falling asleep on the couch each night this week!!). And as a bona fide night owl, while that breaks my damn heart, I have to say there are indeed benefits on the other side.
Such as, seriously I have met work this week with a surprisingly optimistic outlook. I see what's in front of me and although I have NO desire or genuine interest to do it, I'm just bashing my way forward and trying not to think of the reasons why I don't like it. For example, I had 2 airport inspections this week. One on Wednesday up in the north, and one here. Normally I dread the up-north one because of the flights and early wakeup hour and heat and sand and all. This week I realized I had nothing to dread because these 9:00 bedtimes are having me up and at 'em at 6 (if not before) with copious amounts of energy anyway. So I just told myself, hey you'll be awake anyway, so there's nothing to get all wound up about. Plus, what I often forget about those Wednesdays up north is that it means lunch at Hillary's, this cafe I love who makes great healthy lunches and good coffee. So I did what I had to do, and instead of focussing on the sand sand sand, just concentrated on the delicous sage-smell of the Okavango Delta that is always in the air. And Hillarys. And the fact I had a new book to read for the airplane flights.
Then, rather than dreading my local airport inspection yesterday, and letting it wind me up, I just thought "hell I'll use this as an excuse to drive past Cafe D. and get myself a damn flat white on the way!" And lo and behold that (along with the friendly chat with my favorite barista) was enough to make me happy in the lead-up to having to make the big trek across town and into the always-brutal inspection. And that coffee was definitely delish, that's for sure. Plus then I just took my time with their H&S Officer as if I had all the time in the world, did everything really slow, and didn't look at the time even once. I was even inspired by the fact that it gave me an idea for a job I would like to do that I will speak with his boss about when he gets back from China, which is interesting. By the time I was done I had this relaxed buzz going on that gives me hope that this whole 4-week-holiday-rejuvenation is still working!!
And then my meeting yesterday which was destined to end in confrontation between client & contractor and me, I just didn't even let myself think about until I got there. I still kicked up the stink that I needed to in the meeting due to the beligerent, smirking asshole at the end of the table, but I just didn't let myself think about it before or after the meeting. And luckily I got the support from the Project Manager that I needed, so it all ended fine anyway. See that's the thing, if I start stressing about this stuff before it happens and then nothing happens anyway... what the hell is that? That's called WASTED STRESS AND ANXIETY. And really that's just as freakin' useful as flushing cold hard cash down the shitter.
So anyway, the week has been a pretty much 100% good week. Things are going my way and I can't help but think that my restedness and post-holiday mojo have a lot to do with it. Because really nothing NEW has happened, it's just how I'm heading into everything. I'm not sure how this early-to-bed thing is going to pan out after the weekend (where we are bound and determined to drink coffee in the evening so as to at least have some sort of potential for enjoying the night again!) but we'll see.
Plans for the weekend WERE supposed to be dumping LJJ at babysitter and going to standup comedy tonight (you HAVE to take advantage of these few-and-far-between events when they're here) but now she is sick and has a really bad fever (probably her holiday catching up with her) so we will stay home instead and cook something divine and watch something hilarious. Then Saturday we have some big shopping to do and over to Jac&Mar's for socializin' (assuming the youngling is not worse) and then Sunday is the big Hash Annual K-Hill Ascent so that will be great. I am SO annoyed at our Hash for having THE NERVE to have the most coolest biggest awesomest fantastical Carolina-style Pig Pickin' BBQ while we were gone.... roast hog, zucchini bread, grits, slaw & all. AGGHHHHH!!!! I would've given my right ass for to have been at that one. But them's the breaks. Not to mention I was definitely not short on BBQ while we were back home I guess.
OH one thing I DO have to look forward to is that I booked tickets for myself & The Mr. and Uncle Alan to go to see Gary The Toothfairy's live comedy standup in Jozi on the 21st of Aug, which means a nice weekend down in civilization so that will be AWESOME. You know how I dig the live belly laughs. And his friends Daniel & Tsholo will babysit for us while we are at the show so we are in BIDNEZ.
Speaking of Bidnez, last night we were supposed to go to this party for one of our clients who has been in bidnez for 50 years or some crap like that but because of the boiling baby we stayed home. However The Mr. heard today from someone that was there that our favorite client, MS who is also a personal friend, along with his wife, E., are down in SA right now due to her being diagnosed with serious lung cancer - OMG that is probably the most tragic thing I have heard in ages because this couple is one of these ultimate-role-model couples of happiness and tranquility and love that everyone should aspire to be like in their old age (they would be my parents' age). And yet ever since they've been here in BW, he has been working like a dog and is continually stressed and overworked and under all sorts of severe pressure because he is the Director of one of the most successful consulting engineers firms in the country. They have recently bought their "retirement cottage" in a gorgeous seaside village outside CapeTown and he's talking about maybe continuing this job for another 5 years or so here and then packing it in and heading down to paradise where they'll watch birds together and eat fish and walk the dogs along the beach. This whole 10-years-in-BW thing was just supposed to be some "hardship job" that he took because it would pay really well and even though it would be living hell for the duration of the contract... it would pay really well....?.... and..... well, it would pay really well. Well. After all the 14-hour-workdays and working weekends and not taking holidays and physical stress on him and pressure on her and nights apart due to work trips and what-what-what, it doesn't look like that dream is coming true. Anyway, it doesn't look good for her now, she is on intense chemo and most people in her condition don't make it through. And while that is devistatingly sad it just goes to show that you can't put all your eggs in one basket and say "ah sure we'll relax when we retire" because guess what - you have no right to plan LIFE. It ain't ours to control, folks.
Regrouping... re-regrouping
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 26 July 2010 at 7/26/2010 01:13:00 pm.
I really can't believe I'm home now. It seems so weird to be back in the african hood - I keep catching myself wondering where all the white people went! HA!
Anyhoo, for awhile there I was worried that this "First post back" was going to be all full of doom and gloom and homesickness (or would it just be "holidaysickness"?) but the universe keeps pushing me back up on the horse of happiness and I guess thus sending me signs that I need to steer clear of the negativity and keep at it.
Like the part about how somewhere along the trail, my iPod nano (and apparently a power cord of The Mr.'s?) got stolen on the way back. I say "somewhere along the trail" but what I really mean is "somewhere in an airport behind the luggage belts", because I'm 99.9% sure that's where it happened. I am pretty confident that I remember packing it into my (carry-on) suitcase at Podgey's house, and since we personally CARRIED everything ON during the Vancouver - Salt Lake flight and then the Salt Lake - NYC flight, the only time they were actually checked in was on our NYC - Jozi flight and the Jozi - G-city flight. So somewhere in there. Some ass who pokes around in people's luggage for "security" reasons obviously got greedy. What really sucks though is that my iPod chip for my Nike running shoes was in it, meaning I can't sync my iPod with my workouts til I replace it. And what are the odds of replacing that ONE PART of the Nike+iPod set here? Low, I tell you. BUT, notwithstanding this, I just don't feel all that pissed off about it. I know I should, and if I were in worse form I DEFINITELY would, but I just don't! I think that's called rest & rejuvination after a 4-week holiday! I mean sure I was like all "aw, crap!" when I realized, but honestly that's as deep as that sentiment went.
Additionally, as soon as we landed back in G-city yesterday & got fetched at the airport by the housesitters/neighbours even though I was wrecked, sleep-deprived, and no longer on holiday, ALL I could think about/see was this magnificent weather we are having here at the moment! No one ever hears me talk about how awesome the weather is here because we only have 2 seasons and it's pretty standard fare for both... but every once in awhile you'll get a shoulder season (which lasts for a maximum of 2 weeks or so) and it's just freakin amazing. Well now we're having this sort of early spring THING which reminds me of an Ozarks autumn (my favourite kind!) and it's just nothing short of glorious.
Then, after picking up the Big Boy (who is now officially OBESE) at the kennels (yeah, thanks, kennels!!) and saying goodbye to The Mr. around 3pm (who had unjustly been ORDERED by Msrs. Mean & Nasty (aka the gov't) up to the top of the country to attend an 8a.m. meeting today, which necessitated him jumping in the car and driving 7hrs north as soon as we got home - on 2hours' sleep) the tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks and to be honest I can hardly remember the hours between 5pm and 8pm.... except I know I managed to feed the baby (from NOTHING which is what we have in the house since we properly cleaned up all the foodstuffs before we left), bathe her, put her to bed, unpack, and talk to The Mr. on the phone a few times (helping him stay awake on the road). I crashed at 8pm and had a blissful glorious uninterrupted sleep til about 5:30am. It was so great to be back in the Own Bed, and sleep soundly, even though my dearest beloved was not there. Excellent sleep FTW.
So that's probably why I felt so get-up-and get 'em this morning as I decided somewhere around 6am (when I clearly wasnt going to be doing anymore sleeping) "hell why don't i just use this as a good excuse to get up and start the day a little earlier? I mean... stranger things have happened, right?!" So I did. I did my pushups, crunches, got dressed, watched the news headlines, admired the sunrise, ordered a bunch of fruit/veg online (we have an online Mr. Veggie now!!) to restock our bare cupboards, and fed & dressed LJJ before Emelda even got here! And I didn't even feel tired!! So I left LJJ with her and went into work and had a very nice morning with The Guys, who were clearly glad to have me back and we all rendezvoused over coffee and I'll have to say the usual dreaded "first morning back" was actually quite pleasant, even though there were hiccups that would've normally driven me INSANE (Mr. Veggie delivering over an hour late, Ed losing the office camera (left on plane) while we were away, Leto misplacing his office keys, both guys being 30minutes late, etc) just sort of paled in comparison to how rested I felt and how nice the weather was. Crazy!
So I'm taking this as a sign: get up earlier during the week, until my Thesis is finished. Especially since it's this glorious time of year, I should appreciate it and just get off my ass and do shit. I came to the realization while I was away that finishing this damn MSc is going to be the magical component to making myself happier, because at the moment it's one of the biggest thorns in my side. Once removed, it opens the door to not-feeling-so-aggrivated... so I gotta get that thing DONE. And since I'm having this Monday-of-Realization-that-I'm-not-so-depressed-after all, I better use it as a springboard. Kind of a condensed version of what New Years Resolutions pumped into me 7 months ago. Because let's face it, I'm back in the real world and someone stole my iPod and I had to deal with 3 kinds of crap already AND The Mr. is gone and I still feel okay & happy... that is highly unusual and definitely a sign, right?
Anyhoo I still have all kinds of stories to tell from the holiday and bloggage to blog, but in the meantime I got work to do. And while keeping my energy up like this I gotta capitalize on it. So maybe shorter, yet more frequent blogs? I dunno. I'll look into it.
Before I go, though, I will also end with things I look forward to doing (a list originally composed by me & The Mr. on the way back, as an attempt at trying to manage the End of Holiday Blues):
- Design, Purchase & Install new soundsystem for house & veranda
- Spray Harley tank for to mount T's original artwork on
- Go shopping in PTA for a weekend (since I couldn't buy any new clothes when I was back stateside due to hand luggage constraints)
- Get tickets to see Gary the ToothFairy in Jozi & make weekend out of it with The Mr. & Uncle Alan
- Start cooking healthy again (OMG I can't wait to do this... although I will admit that I only put on 0.8kg over this holiday, which I am terribly pleased with since I had convinced myself that all the good eatin' & not-so-much exercisin' done on the Canada leg of our journey had totally nuked my fitness & weight watching).
- Invest more time in friendship maintenace for a couple of old friends who are clearly in need of special attention at the moment
- Organize all family photos
- Go camping before weather gets too hot
- Buy small motorbike so's I can get my motorcycle license before Harley is up and running
So there's some goals & aims that are all positive and non-work-related in nature which should not only help us enjoy the next 6 months before our xmas holiday to the Husband-land, but be fun in the meantime (well, the jury's out on the "funness" of that "organize family photos" one).
It's hard to believe the year is half over...
Anyhoo, for awhile there I was worried that this "First post back" was going to be all full of doom and gloom and homesickness (or would it just be "holidaysickness"?) but the universe keeps pushing me back up on the horse of happiness and I guess thus sending me signs that I need to steer clear of the negativity and keep at it.
Like the part about how somewhere along the trail, my iPod nano (and apparently a power cord of The Mr.'s?) got stolen on the way back. I say "somewhere along the trail" but what I really mean is "somewhere in an airport behind the luggage belts", because I'm 99.9% sure that's where it happened. I am pretty confident that I remember packing it into my (carry-on) suitcase at Podgey's house, and since we personally CARRIED everything ON during the Vancouver - Salt Lake flight and then the Salt Lake - NYC flight, the only time they were actually checked in was on our NYC - Jozi flight and the Jozi - G-city flight. So somewhere in there. Some ass who pokes around in people's luggage for "security" reasons obviously got greedy. What really sucks though is that my iPod chip for my Nike running shoes was in it, meaning I can't sync my iPod with my workouts til I replace it. And what are the odds of replacing that ONE PART of the Nike+iPod set here? Low, I tell you. BUT, notwithstanding this, I just don't feel all that pissed off about it. I know I should, and if I were in worse form I DEFINITELY would, but I just don't! I think that's called rest & rejuvination after a 4-week holiday! I mean sure I was like all "aw, crap!" when I realized, but honestly that's as deep as that sentiment went.
Additionally, as soon as we landed back in G-city yesterday & got fetched at the airport by the housesitters/neighbours even though I was wrecked, sleep-deprived, and no longer on holiday, ALL I could think about/see was this magnificent weather we are having here at the moment! No one ever hears me talk about how awesome the weather is here because we only have 2 seasons and it's pretty standard fare for both... but every once in awhile you'll get a shoulder season (which lasts for a maximum of 2 weeks or so) and it's just freakin amazing. Well now we're having this sort of early spring THING which reminds me of an Ozarks autumn (my favourite kind!) and it's just nothing short of glorious.
Then, after picking up the Big Boy (who is now officially OBESE) at the kennels (yeah, thanks, kennels!!) and saying goodbye to The Mr. around 3pm (who had unjustly been ORDERED by Msrs. Mean & Nasty (aka the gov't) up to the top of the country to attend an 8a.m. meeting today, which necessitated him jumping in the car and driving 7hrs north as soon as we got home - on 2hours' sleep) the tiredness hit me like a ton of bricks and to be honest I can hardly remember the hours between 5pm and 8pm.... except I know I managed to feed the baby (from NOTHING which is what we have in the house since we properly cleaned up all the foodstuffs before we left), bathe her, put her to bed, unpack, and talk to The Mr. on the phone a few times (helping him stay awake on the road). I crashed at 8pm and had a blissful glorious uninterrupted sleep til about 5:30am. It was so great to be back in the Own Bed, and sleep soundly, even though my dearest beloved was not there. Excellent sleep FTW.
So that's probably why I felt so get-up-and get 'em this morning as I decided somewhere around 6am (when I clearly wasnt going to be doing anymore sleeping) "hell why don't i just use this as a good excuse to get up and start the day a little earlier? I mean... stranger things have happened, right?!" So I did. I did my pushups, crunches, got dressed, watched the news headlines, admired the sunrise, ordered a bunch of fruit/veg online (we have an online Mr. Veggie now!!) to restock our bare cupboards, and fed & dressed LJJ before Emelda even got here! And I didn't even feel tired!! So I left LJJ with her and went into work and had a very nice morning with The Guys, who were clearly glad to have me back and we all rendezvoused over coffee and I'll have to say the usual dreaded "first morning back" was actually quite pleasant, even though there were hiccups that would've normally driven me INSANE (Mr. Veggie delivering over an hour late, Ed losing the office camera (left on plane) while we were away, Leto misplacing his office keys, both guys being 30minutes late, etc) just sort of paled in comparison to how rested I felt and how nice the weather was. Crazy!
So I'm taking this as a sign: get up earlier during the week, until my Thesis is finished. Especially since it's this glorious time of year, I should appreciate it and just get off my ass and do shit. I came to the realization while I was away that finishing this damn MSc is going to be the magical component to making myself happier, because at the moment it's one of the biggest thorns in my side. Once removed, it opens the door to not-feeling-so-aggrivated... so I gotta get that thing DONE. And since I'm having this Monday-of-Realization-that-I'm-not-so-depressed-after all, I better use it as a springboard. Kind of a condensed version of what New Years Resolutions pumped into me 7 months ago. Because let's face it, I'm back in the real world and someone stole my iPod and I had to deal with 3 kinds of crap already AND The Mr. is gone and I still feel okay & happy... that is highly unusual and definitely a sign, right?
Anyhoo I still have all kinds of stories to tell from the holiday and bloggage to blog, but in the meantime I got work to do. And while keeping my energy up like this I gotta capitalize on it. So maybe shorter, yet more frequent blogs? I dunno. I'll look into it.
Before I go, though, I will also end with things I look forward to doing (a list originally composed by me & The Mr. on the way back, as an attempt at trying to manage the End of Holiday Blues):
- Design, Purchase & Install new soundsystem for house & veranda
- Spray Harley tank for to mount T's original artwork on
- Go shopping in PTA for a weekend (since I couldn't buy any new clothes when I was back stateside due to hand luggage constraints)
- Get tickets to see Gary the ToothFairy in Jozi & make weekend out of it with The Mr. & Uncle Alan
- Start cooking healthy again (OMG I can't wait to do this... although I will admit that I only put on 0.8kg over this holiday, which I am terribly pleased with since I had convinced myself that all the good eatin' & not-so-much exercisin' done on the Canada leg of our journey had totally nuked my fitness & weight watching).
- Invest more time in friendship maintenace for a couple of old friends who are clearly in need of special attention at the moment
- Organize all family photos
- Go camping before weather gets too hot
- Buy small motorbike so's I can get my motorcycle license before Harley is up and running
So there's some goals & aims that are all positive and non-work-related in nature which should not only help us enjoy the next 6 months before our xmas holiday to the Husband-land, but be fun in the meantime (well, the jury's out on the "funness" of that "organize family photos" one).
It's hard to believe the year is half over...
Labels: holiday recap
BOoooooooooooooooo HOoooooooooooooooo!!!
I'm sitting at Podgey's house reaping the benefits of fast internet for the last time before we head off to the Vancouvey Airport and begin the nonsense journey of what, 40 hours in transit or whatever.
I guess my Happiness Management Plan needs to consist of focussing on things like sleeping in my own bed, seeing the puppies, getting back on the road to fitness (I did really well the first couple weeks but the last 3/4 of this holiday have been filled with too much delicious eatin' to be good for me), getting back to the Hash, re-stringing my banjo with these new fangled low-gauge strings I got in MO, etc etc etc. And my thesis. Gag.
The last couple days have been fun. We went out for chinese food which is what you HAVE to do here in Hongcouver, walked around a huge famous park, and had yet another mega-marathon in Alan's room thanks to the giant hard drive of tv shows that Brandon The Blessed donated to the belly laughs cause.
But now I dont even feel like doing Holiday Recap because i'm just sad about leaving. Sniff, sniff.
I'll let myself have this one little "Oh poor me" moment and then I'll try to do my best to wipe it off and get back to Project Positive and all that stuff.
- moment -
I will say one thing about the good side of going home - a 4 week holiday is definitely a long-ass holiday, so when you take a 4-week holiday, at the end of it, you really CANT justify saying things like "oh it wasnt long enough" or "oh I just can't believe it's over"... and all that stuff. I mean yeah, in all actuality i feel like it IS time for it to be over now. Not because i WANT to go home or WANT it to end, just because now everything has been done, and the journey is complete.
One thing is for sure, it was an AWESOME 4 weeks. I got to do pretty much everything that it was humanly possible to squeeze into 4 weeks.
I'm sitting at Podgey's house reaping the benefits of fast internet for the last time before we head off to the Vancouvey Airport and begin the nonsense journey of what, 40 hours in transit or whatever.
I guess my Happiness Management Plan needs to consist of focussing on things like sleeping in my own bed, seeing the puppies, getting back on the road to fitness (I did really well the first couple weeks but the last 3/4 of this holiday have been filled with too much delicious eatin' to be good for me), getting back to the Hash, re-stringing my banjo with these new fangled low-gauge strings I got in MO, etc etc etc. And my thesis. Gag.
The last couple days have been fun. We went out for chinese food which is what you HAVE to do here in Hongcouver, walked around a huge famous park, and had yet another mega-marathon in Alan's room thanks to the giant hard drive of tv shows that Brandon The Blessed donated to the belly laughs cause.
But now I dont even feel like doing Holiday Recap because i'm just sad about leaving. Sniff, sniff.
I'll let myself have this one little "Oh poor me" moment and then I'll try to do my best to wipe it off and get back to Project Positive and all that stuff.
- moment -
I will say one thing about the good side of going home - a 4 week holiday is definitely a long-ass holiday, so when you take a 4-week holiday, at the end of it, you really CANT justify saying things like "oh it wasnt long enough" or "oh I just can't believe it's over"... and all that stuff. I mean yeah, in all actuality i feel like it IS time for it to be over now. Not because i WANT to go home or WANT it to end, just because now everything has been done, and the journey is complete.
One thing is for sure, it was an AWESOME 4 weeks. I got to do pretty much everything that it was humanly possible to squeeze into 4 weeks.
Labels: holiday recap
how to keep the moping away
1 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 21 July 2010 at 7/21/2010 07:10:00 pm.
i can see it in front of me.... the last day of holidays..... oh noooooooooooooooooooooo
and along with that this sad feeling of going back to the grindstone and all the little crappy horrible things that come with it, like my thesis staring me in the face.... missing my friends.... not being able to go running at 10:30 at night.... the office.... the assholes I have to deal with because of the office.... all the grumps and grumbles related to BW, etc etc etc. Also compounded by as soon as we arrive in Jozi, The Mr. is going to have to fly off in another direction, leaving me to get myself and the LJJ back to G-city by myself due to some work emergency that he has to go off and save the day because of. Meaning another 2 nights this year apart. WTF! Angry!!
so, we have today (Weds.) and tomorrow (Thurs) and then Friday we leave again. For some dad-blasted long-ass journey across 2 hemispheres that is going to take a whole day and then some, all while on THAT HORRIBLE GOD FORSAKEN AIRLINE I REFUSE TO CALL BY NAME which will then culminate in me & The Mr. having to split up for the last leg of said journey. Poo.
So anyway The Great White North has been good to us - lovely weather, plenty of sight-seeing, good times and belly laughs with Podgey and last night a sensational evening with GF Rach's family which included the tastiest mom-dinner I have had in YEARS, a scenic flight in her pop's plane over the greater metro area and mountainous region, and lots of fun in general with logsa nice people. The first part of the day, had also been lovely as The Mr., LJJ, P and I had spent it up in the mountains at a nearby ski resort where we went for lunch at The Old Spag Factory and wandered around and weaved through the throngs of The Beautiful People With Too Much Money and lovely mountain scenery! The night before we had a blast at the local Hash, and then delicious (not-available-in-BW) Turkish food and a marathon of comedy after comedy in Alan's room (on the hard drive compliments of Brandone who stocked it full with belly laughs before we left home) and some beers. We've also enjoyed seeing Robyn and Abby (LJJ's first babysitter and wee friend from Namibia who live here) a couple times, and just trying to recoup before heading back to the real world.
Well, I have just been ordered/instructed to work on organizing my photos so i can FB them and whatever, so I should leave this pathetic attempt at a speedy trip re-cap here, and pick it up later. And I need to go check out THE MAYOR'S BLOG because I am reportedly on it now. DOH!!! It is apparently being housed on his website (google High Street Beat dot com) so I must go check.
OH, and just for posterity's sake, here is The Gramps obit:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansascity/obituary.aspx?n=robert-e-orrick&pid=144120377
and along with that this sad feeling of going back to the grindstone and all the little crappy horrible things that come with it, like my thesis staring me in the face.... missing my friends.... not being able to go running at 10:30 at night.... the office.... the assholes I have to deal with because of the office.... all the grumps and grumbles related to BW, etc etc etc. Also compounded by as soon as we arrive in Jozi, The Mr. is going to have to fly off in another direction, leaving me to get myself and the LJJ back to G-city by myself due to some work emergency that he has to go off and save the day because of. Meaning another 2 nights this year apart. WTF! Angry!!
so, we have today (Weds.) and tomorrow (Thurs) and then Friday we leave again. For some dad-blasted long-ass journey across 2 hemispheres that is going to take a whole day and then some, all while on THAT HORRIBLE GOD FORSAKEN AIRLINE I REFUSE TO CALL BY NAME which will then culminate in me & The Mr. having to split up for the last leg of said journey. Poo.
So anyway The Great White North has been good to us - lovely weather, plenty of sight-seeing, good times and belly laughs with Podgey and last night a sensational evening with GF Rach's family which included the tastiest mom-dinner I have had in YEARS, a scenic flight in her pop's plane over the greater metro area and mountainous region, and lots of fun in general with logsa nice people. The first part of the day, had also been lovely as The Mr., LJJ, P and I had spent it up in the mountains at a nearby ski resort where we went for lunch at The Old Spag Factory and wandered around and weaved through the throngs of The Beautiful People With Too Much Money and lovely mountain scenery! The night before we had a blast at the local Hash, and then delicious (not-available-in-BW) Turkish food and a marathon of comedy after comedy in Alan's room (on the hard drive compliments of Brandone who stocked it full with belly laughs before we left home) and some beers. We've also enjoyed seeing Robyn and Abby (LJJ's first babysitter and wee friend from Namibia who live here) a couple times, and just trying to recoup before heading back to the real world.
Well, I have just been ordered/instructed to work on organizing my photos so i can FB them and whatever, so I should leave this pathetic attempt at a speedy trip re-cap here, and pick it up later. And I need to go check out THE MAYOR'S BLOG because I am reportedly on it now. DOH!!! It is apparently being housed on his website (google High Street Beat dot com) so I must go check.
OH, and just for posterity's sake, here is The Gramps obit:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansascity/obituary.aspx?n=robert-e-orrick&pid=144120377
Labels: holiday recap
Blueberries, crackers & snacks.
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 18 July 2010 at 7/18/2010 10:42:00 pm.
Here I be in Vancouvey, hanging with the bestie Podgey Pie & having a grande olde tyme!
I know there's no way to do this trip recap in a sensible order and I've already skipped so many days and things but I have a few spare minutes here so I might as well throw a few items out there and make my job less tedious for when I get back.
First of all my coffee with THE MAYOR went better than I could ever have imagined, and made my last day in the home town the best day ever! He was so lovely! He was so delightful! He was so sweet! He loved me! There was a mutual admiration fest that will go down in history as being the bestest fest of M.A. on record. I love him even more than ever!
Then we took off for KC, caravaning up with The Mominator and arrived at the hospital, as that morning, Gramps had a stroke and was rushed to ICU where we went to see him. He had pneumonia too, so LJJ couldn't go into his room but me & the Mominator went in and he was lucid and somewhat coherent but clearly only hanging on by a thread.
It was only a fleeting visit, but he knew I was there and said "Hi" to me. The fleeting visit was because we had to get to TOM PETTY downtown, which will be described in another post because the awesomeness is too much to incorporate into this brief flirt with trip recap. I don't think KC can handle that much awesomeness ever again, put it that way. So it was BBQ first, beers 2nd, and then TP. ahhhh.
Arrived back at granny's house to find cousins Scott & Tina from Omaha waiting for us, who'd come in just to hang for a couple days with us before we flew out. We were late getting back from the concert but had a wee pow-wow with them before we went to bed. Then woke up the next morning and hung out with them for the whole day, including a brief "family reunion" that my mom had to literally bitchslap my grandma into attending, because she was so bound and determined not to leave the gramps' side at the hospital. So needless to say it was brief, which is just fine with me.
So the rest of that night S&T and me & The Mr. had a BLAST and during said Blast, Gramps took a turn for the worst and we all went to see him and he didn't look good at all (even worse than before) and we kind of all 4 gave each other "the look" and left him there and then went back and tried to finish up having the blast but there was kinda a cloud of something hanging over us. But nonetheless it was full of hi-larry times and ben & jerry's and a strange trip to Barnes & Noble where we combed the aisles looking for a "Scrubs" version of "Scene It" (the game) which didn't materialize but more hi-larryousness did. The night cumulated with us watching Night Swim on Cartoon Network and the Tim & Eric Awesome Show which was SO Hi-Larry that I almost burst my britches (had never seen it before) and the highest of the larry was clearly a sketch that resonated with me & The Mr. more than any of them because it was about "crackers & snacks" which smacked of Adelly & Brandone overtones (they'll understand that). Anyhoo, it was a blast and I LOVVVVE my cousin S. He is well and truly one of those people who you can have an unbelievably amazing time with SANS alcohol (he's been through rehab and doesn't do anything worse than Ben & Jerry's these days) and still feel like you're higher than a kite because everything is so fricking funny around him/them. And his Taiwanese fiancee Tina is just as big a hoot in her own way. I love them!
Anyhoo, the next day we said our goodbyes and The MOminator took us out for coffee with a couple of her mates who wanted to see LJJ, and then off to the airport. We flew off (leaving a very tearful Mominator in our wake) and The Gramps died sometime during our flight to Vancouver so it was kind of sad but hey, the timing couldn't have been more appropriate when all is said and done. I'll always be able to remember his last day as one that included us getting to see him as well as spending it with our favorite cousin (and his favorite grandson) and having a barrel full of belly laughs, which he would have appreciated. He's in a much better place (after we left him at the hospital his lungs had started filling with fluid and we all knew it was over) and my gran has well and truly now been "released", which is important for her to be able to have a good quality of life in her golden years.
So anyway, now we're up in the great white north and DAMN it's kinda chilly! For summer anyway, but I'm not complaining - I like the mountain air and the pine trees and it reminds me a lot of Wyoming, my old home which i still adore (but wouldn't want to live in).
OK Now I need to go because the guys want to use my computor to play episodes of Scrubs that Brandon so kindly donated to my cause. That cause being BELLY LAUGHS!!! so I'll check in later with more awesomeness.
Oh yeah, P.S. the "blueberries" part of this title was meant to be the part where I talk about how AWESOME it is to have unlimited blueberries in Canadia. I love them. We don't get them in BW and they are abundant here 24/7. Niiiiiiiiiiice!!! Hello yummy antioxidants.
I know there's no way to do this trip recap in a sensible order and I've already skipped so many days and things but I have a few spare minutes here so I might as well throw a few items out there and make my job less tedious for when I get back.
First of all my coffee with THE MAYOR went better than I could ever have imagined, and made my last day in the home town the best day ever! He was so lovely! He was so delightful! He was so sweet! He loved me! There was a mutual admiration fest that will go down in history as being the bestest fest of M.A. on record. I love him even more than ever!
Then we took off for KC, caravaning up with The Mominator and arrived at the hospital, as that morning, Gramps had a stroke and was rushed to ICU where we went to see him. He had pneumonia too, so LJJ couldn't go into his room but me & the Mominator went in and he was lucid and somewhat coherent but clearly only hanging on by a thread.
It was only a fleeting visit, but he knew I was there and said "Hi" to me. The fleeting visit was because we had to get to TOM PETTY downtown, which will be described in another post because the awesomeness is too much to incorporate into this brief flirt with trip recap. I don't think KC can handle that much awesomeness ever again, put it that way. So it was BBQ first, beers 2nd, and then TP. ahhhh.
Arrived back at granny's house to find cousins Scott & Tina from Omaha waiting for us, who'd come in just to hang for a couple days with us before we flew out. We were late getting back from the concert but had a wee pow-wow with them before we went to bed. Then woke up the next morning and hung out with them for the whole day, including a brief "family reunion" that my mom had to literally bitchslap my grandma into attending, because she was so bound and determined not to leave the gramps' side at the hospital. So needless to say it was brief, which is just fine with me.
So the rest of that night S&T and me & The Mr. had a BLAST and during said Blast, Gramps took a turn for the worst and we all went to see him and he didn't look good at all (even worse than before) and we kind of all 4 gave each other "the look" and left him there and then went back and tried to finish up having the blast but there was kinda a cloud of something hanging over us. But nonetheless it was full of hi-larry times and ben & jerry's and a strange trip to Barnes & Noble where we combed the aisles looking for a "Scrubs" version of "Scene It" (the game) which didn't materialize but more hi-larryousness did. The night cumulated with us watching Night Swim on Cartoon Network and the Tim & Eric Awesome Show which was SO Hi-Larry that I almost burst my britches (had never seen it before) and the highest of the larry was clearly a sketch that resonated with me & The Mr. more than any of them because it was about "crackers & snacks" which smacked of Adelly & Brandone overtones (they'll understand that). Anyhoo, it was a blast and I LOVVVVE my cousin S. He is well and truly one of those people who you can have an unbelievably amazing time with SANS alcohol (he's been through rehab and doesn't do anything worse than Ben & Jerry's these days) and still feel like you're higher than a kite because everything is so fricking funny around him/them. And his Taiwanese fiancee Tina is just as big a hoot in her own way. I love them!
Anyhoo, the next day we said our goodbyes and The MOminator took us out for coffee with a couple of her mates who wanted to see LJJ, and then off to the airport. We flew off (leaving a very tearful Mominator in our wake) and The Gramps died sometime during our flight to Vancouver so it was kind of sad but hey, the timing couldn't have been more appropriate when all is said and done. I'll always be able to remember his last day as one that included us getting to see him as well as spending it with our favorite cousin (and his favorite grandson) and having a barrel full of belly laughs, which he would have appreciated. He's in a much better place (after we left him at the hospital his lungs had started filling with fluid and we all knew it was over) and my gran has well and truly now been "released", which is important for her to be able to have a good quality of life in her golden years.
So anyway, now we're up in the great white north and DAMN it's kinda chilly! For summer anyway, but I'm not complaining - I like the mountain air and the pine trees and it reminds me a lot of Wyoming, my old home which i still adore (but wouldn't want to live in).
OK Now I need to go because the guys want to use my computor to play episodes of Scrubs that Brandon so kindly donated to my cause. That cause being BELLY LAUGHS!!! so I'll check in later with more awesomeness.
Oh yeah, P.S. the "blueberries" part of this title was meant to be the part where I talk about how AWESOME it is to have unlimited blueberries in Canadia. I love them. We don't get them in BW and they are abundant here 24/7. Niiiiiiiiiiice!!! Hello yummy antioxidants.
Labels: holiday recap
...has had enough of loud-mouthed opinionated people!!!!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 12 July 2010 at 7/12/2010 05:38:00 am.
oh wait, this is not a FB status update.
Anyhoo, that's kind of how I feel after getting back from the fambly reunion up north. It wasn't a bad weekend, actually it was full of fun and frolic and food but it was also full of family, and... well you know what that means!!! ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I would say the high point was hanging out with all my cousins, a lot of whom I haven't seen in 15 years... there were laughs and laughs and more laughs (all my extended family is a bunch of comedians, especially our dodgey Chicago boys). But then the low point would've had to have been the part where myself and the bwuddaman nearly came to blows at the dinner table in front of 30 of our kinfolk. I won't deny it, a polish sausage was thrown. It was not one of my finest moments, but he did call me a f%$#ing b*$!@ (in front of our parents and significant others) and I did threaten to give him a black eye.... I think this is a whole 'nother story altogether so maybe i will save it for later. But the point is it was one of the parts of the weekend where I came to the realization that I am WELL AND TRULY a different person than I used to be and I feel like I have (for lack of a more eloquent way of stating it) grown apart from my mouthy, outspoken, opinionated, judgemental, angry, and aggressive family.
I realized that that kind of sentiment runs way deeper than just my immediate family, I see it in the other generation of relatives just as strongly. I guess it really is an inherited trait... how glad am I that we adopted, that's all I can say!!! Maybe LJJ has a chance at being a sweetheart. Hmmm... Well, all I know is that if I learned anything from being sunk into the fambly this trip back, it's that I don't want to be like that. Sure, sure, I've got a long way to go, but at least I've got my eyes on the ball and wide open. That's at least a place to start.
Last night we went over to T&S's house to work on the artwork for our Harley tank. T (who happens to also be the godmother to LJJ) is a stellar graphic designer who is designing a MO-flag-inspired flame graphic that she's going to print off on vinyl and we are taking back to the dark continent to clear-coat onto our HD tank so that we can represent on the african roads. It looks really really awesome and she is amazing and fabulous for being able to do such a bang-up job with her wizardry. We'll have the only hog on the roads with a MO flag incorporated into the paint job, that's for sure. We talked over some ideas while we were having our family overnight at the lake on Tuesday and brainstormed up a killer idea that she has just gone and magically whipped up in less than a day. The trip to the lake was great too, we played batting cages and $0.10 skee-ball with the kids and HEY who said you can't have any fun in this recession... I'm continually bamboozled how cheap everything is here. OK the Lake area is totally dilapidated and depressing these days but it's still cheap!!! Nevermind it's all the same coats of paint that were on the roller coasters and what not since I was a kid back in the 80's!!!
OH AND I also have coffee scheduled with the mayor for tomorrow, so that is A-MAZE-ING and I'm starting to get nerrrrrrrvous!!!!
Right now I am getting ready to go out for lunch with Brandone and this will not only be a fantastical lunch but it will be my final opportunity to enjoy my favorite hotwings at Madison's downtown, which we MISSED last time we were here and which made me very angry. So I will have hot wings for lunch. It is decided. Then tomorrow we're off to gran & gramps in KC (til thursday) as well as the Tom Petty concert tomorrow night and voila! I get to see another of my heroes on this trip. His new album is KILLER and bluesy and I can not wait. What a way to finish off the USA leg of this trip - the mayor, the hotwings, and the Petty. Brilliant! Then it's on to Vancouver on Thursday to see Podgey and Rach and Robyn and Abby! Relaxation here we come!!!
Anyhoo, that's kind of how I feel after getting back from the fambly reunion up north. It wasn't a bad weekend, actually it was full of fun and frolic and food but it was also full of family, and... well you know what that means!!! ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I would say the high point was hanging out with all my cousins, a lot of whom I haven't seen in 15 years... there were laughs and laughs and more laughs (all my extended family is a bunch of comedians, especially our dodgey Chicago boys). But then the low point would've had to have been the part where myself and the bwuddaman nearly came to blows at the dinner table in front of 30 of our kinfolk. I won't deny it, a polish sausage was thrown. It was not one of my finest moments, but he did call me a f%$#ing b*$!@ (in front of our parents and significant others) and I did threaten to give him a black eye.... I think this is a whole 'nother story altogether so maybe i will save it for later. But the point is it was one of the parts of the weekend where I came to the realization that I am WELL AND TRULY a different person than I used to be and I feel like I have (for lack of a more eloquent way of stating it) grown apart from my mouthy, outspoken, opinionated, judgemental, angry, and aggressive family.
I realized that that kind of sentiment runs way deeper than just my immediate family, I see it in the other generation of relatives just as strongly. I guess it really is an inherited trait... how glad am I that we adopted, that's all I can say!!! Maybe LJJ has a chance at being a sweetheart. Hmmm... Well, all I know is that if I learned anything from being sunk into the fambly this trip back, it's that I don't want to be like that. Sure, sure, I've got a long way to go, but at least I've got my eyes on the ball and wide open. That's at least a place to start.
Last night we went over to T&S's house to work on the artwork for our Harley tank. T (who happens to also be the godmother to LJJ) is a stellar graphic designer who is designing a MO-flag-inspired flame graphic that she's going to print off on vinyl and we are taking back to the dark continent to clear-coat onto our HD tank so that we can represent on the african roads. It looks really really awesome and she is amazing and fabulous for being able to do such a bang-up job with her wizardry. We'll have the only hog on the roads with a MO flag incorporated into the paint job, that's for sure. We talked over some ideas while we were having our family overnight at the lake on Tuesday and brainstormed up a killer idea that she has just gone and magically whipped up in less than a day. The trip to the lake was great too, we played batting cages and $0.10 skee-ball with the kids and HEY who said you can't have any fun in this recession... I'm continually bamboozled how cheap everything is here. OK the Lake area is totally dilapidated and depressing these days but it's still cheap!!! Nevermind it's all the same coats of paint that were on the roller coasters and what not since I was a kid back in the 80's!!!
OH AND I also have coffee scheduled with the mayor for tomorrow, so that is A-MAZE-ING and I'm starting to get nerrrrrrrvous!!!!
Right now I am getting ready to go out for lunch with Brandone and this will not only be a fantastical lunch but it will be my final opportunity to enjoy my favorite hotwings at Madison's downtown, which we MISSED last time we were here and which made me very angry. So I will have hot wings for lunch. It is decided. Then tomorrow we're off to gran & gramps in KC (til thursday) as well as the Tom Petty concert tomorrow night and voila! I get to see another of my heroes on this trip. His new album is KILLER and bluesy and I can not wait. What a way to finish off the USA leg of this trip - the mayor, the hotwings, and the Petty. Brilliant! Then it's on to Vancouver on Thursday to see Podgey and Rach and Robyn and Abby! Relaxation here we come!!!
Hello Hometown Pt. 2
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 08 July 2010 at 7/08/2010 06:22:00 pm.
OMG OMG! I have to hurry with this... we're getting ready to leave for the fambly reunion and I'm in a rush. But I had to update my iTunes so i figured what the hey, I'll log on and do some computerizing.
So basically this trip has been the following:
exciting
hurried
rushed
awesome
fun
friend-filled
musical, and
legendary!!!!!
It's always like this, isn't it. I have so much fun when I come home and then I just BARELY get everything done that I want to by the skin of my teeth, and then realize.... oh that's right, I was supposed to do some relaxin' too. Uh oh.
But nonetheless, I can't go through every last detail because of the time crunch but for now I'll just say I'm on top of the world because last night Dave and I were able to squeeze in a jam session!!! It wasn't in Gary's basement like old times, but the only gang he could manage to shuffle together was this bluegrass band that he plays with sometimes who are just now sort of starting to form, so they're all laid back and unrehearsed and unpolished and relaxed.... just perfect for someone like me who just shows up and hasn't played other than solo-with-iPod for over a year now. IT WAS SO FREAKIN LEGENDARY I CAN'T STAND IT!!! And Gary did come over (he doesn't know these guys either) just so he could see me, so that killed that bird off the fence too, which was great.
I met Dave at Paddy'O'Whatsits for a drink first, and then we went over to "Nick's" house. Now, I was like "Nick Whoever...." because of course I didn't think I"d know this friend of Dave's. (He's one of the guys from the bluegrass trio... that's all I was told) and lo and behold what do I see in front of me when we get there??? (besides the super cute bassett hound named Roscoe) My old buddy Nick from FREAKIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!?!? and then moreover, what are the odds that the mandolin player would be one of the consultants from my dad's big client??? but it was! He knew my pops really well, and even knew that he was a banjo player. Small freakin world. We played and played and played for hours and it was so great I'm still floating on a cloud. We did some Split Lip Rayfield, some traditional bluegrass (with me playing lead), some of Dave's originals, some Wilco, some Grateful Dead, even me and Gary's old 2-part harmony standard from the old days: "You Aint Goin Nowhere". And it was so blissful I didn't want it to end. They offered me a spot in their band, and I was all "hmmm, it's very tempting but I believe the commute might kill me" (truthfully, earnestly and seriously turning down the offer broke my heart to say the least) So after all the boys packed up around 11 (It was a school night after all and they all have real jobs) Gary and I decided to go back to Paddy's and have one beer just to wind it up since I wouldn't be seeing him again til my next visit. we had such a great time. And we stuck to the 1 beer too! (it was just one beer on speed level 1, so it lasted for EVER). I bumped into an old friend from school there too, and she really wanted to talk to me but i just wanted quality gary time so i kind of cold shouldered her til she made some excuse to go away but then she came back again later which I guess was good because I could atone for my earlier distantness, even though I still was kind of -meh- about her bogarting my gary time!!! But still, humans are humans and we gotta love one another and all that rot, so I sucked it up and included her in our banter. He (Gar) and I were right in the middle of a good old deep & meaningful and the 3rd wheel was kind of a pain, but oh well, that's part of being a lover not a hater these days, so I rolled with it the best I could.
The consolation prize for having to say goodbye to music whenever we leave this place, is that now through the miracle of technology, Dave and I have vowed to write some songs for his band together, over the interwebs, as well as him sending me some tracks to fill in some banjiggity on, and send back. Blessed are my friends for they are the ass kickers.
A noteworthy aside to this story is that The Mr. turned me loose for this night because he has some serious work-related issues that he had to take care of and I have been distracting him from this the whole week, so he finally just threw his hands up in the air and said "just please go by yourself" and I said "great timing, because I doubt you want to sit around in some stranger's basement and listen to amateur music hour!!" so it all worked out like magic.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg of awesomeness!!!
Obviously Adelly's visit from Houston was a highlight as well (combined with the fact that she and Uncle Brandon are friends too which means it was an OARSOME FOURSOME!!!), and she just left on Tuesday so I have been mourning her departure for the last couple days (although the musical Cloud-9 helped a lot). You know how empty house syndrome goes. Well, not that she was in our house, but rather in Brandon's house, but still. She will surely do a much better recap than I will, but I'll give it a whirlwind go before walking out the door here... in reverse....
The Levon show on Monday was stellar, but of course with its attached sadness on my part because I always get whimsical and sad about my favourite musicians getting old and tired when I see them fading before my eyes (therein lies the bittersweetness of loving musicians of someone else's generation). I was really impressed with Justin Townes Earle although I find him a bit of a fraud because he looks like a junkie but apparently in real life he is clean and sober, plus he acts like a sly dog but in real life he is engaged and in a stable relationship. See? Damn these musicians and their fakeness and "stage personas"!!! Posers!!! Nevertheless, awesome show, awesome night in KC.... convenience store snacks and all.
Brandon was kind enough to drive our asses up to KC and the ride up was full of fun and iPod hooliganism amongst the 4 of us. The best part though was that he enjoyed the show, which the other 3 of us were concerned about since it was a long trip up there and we didn't know if he would dig it since he's never listened to LEVON before.... as he kept ensuring to remind us by calling him "Warren Zevon" all the time.
4th of July weekend was excellent because it was a combination of exercise, hanging out, fireworks, drinking, not drinking, eating, not eating, and general merriement. The best part was that I got to/had to combine brotherly/sisterly bonding time with friend bonding time and it worked out pretty well (the bwuddaman was only in town for the very same days that Adelly was in town, because of his job) and everyone got along and laughs were had in bucketloads. I even managed to keep both family AND friends happy by making all my appointments and arriving punctually to everything that had been micro-scheduled throughout the weekend. It was all good.
The LJJ saw her first ever fireworks at about 10pm on the night of the 4th, and she didn't scream or anything (I got worried about this after hearing the story from my mother that when I was a baby and taken to my first downtown fireworks display on the 4th, that i screamed bloody murder for an hour straight, including the ride all the way home!) and she fell asleep on my lap, even, during the last few blasts. This was a good thing since it was way past her bedtime.
Brandon has been a godsend this past week, being on tap for squeezing in hang-out time, whenever I have a space to fill, as well as acting as (relatively) sober chauffer and pickup artist as well as organizing the Mayor's email address for me so that I can write to him finally and confess my huge fanship. This is a silly thing but it was one of my goals to meet the mayor while i was home this time because HE IS AWESOME and i have been secretly following his blog for over 2 years now. I just now finished my email to him which took me over an hour because I didn't want to sound like a stalking freak, but at the same time wanted to tell him how I genuinely appreciated his efforts at holding my little ol' hometown together.
OK like I said, this is rushed, so I'll probably think of a million and 10 things to say in "Memories of my 2010 Holiday to USA" blog posts to come, but at least right now I have the fambly reunion, the Tom Petty concert, and Vancouver to look forward to... so no more mourning what has passed.... it's all onward and upward!!
(but then why do I feel so sad...) :'(
So basically this trip has been the following:
exciting
hurried
rushed
awesome
fun
friend-filled
musical, and
legendary!!!!!
It's always like this, isn't it. I have so much fun when I come home and then I just BARELY get everything done that I want to by the skin of my teeth, and then realize.... oh that's right, I was supposed to do some relaxin' too. Uh oh.
But nonetheless, I can't go through every last detail because of the time crunch but for now I'll just say I'm on top of the world because last night Dave and I were able to squeeze in a jam session!!! It wasn't in Gary's basement like old times, but the only gang he could manage to shuffle together was this bluegrass band that he plays with sometimes who are just now sort of starting to form, so they're all laid back and unrehearsed and unpolished and relaxed.... just perfect for someone like me who just shows up and hasn't played other than solo-with-iPod for over a year now. IT WAS SO FREAKIN LEGENDARY I CAN'T STAND IT!!! And Gary did come over (he doesn't know these guys either) just so he could see me, so that killed that bird off the fence too, which was great.
I met Dave at Paddy'O'Whatsits for a drink first, and then we went over to "Nick's" house. Now, I was like "Nick Whoever...." because of course I didn't think I"d know this friend of Dave's. (He's one of the guys from the bluegrass trio... that's all I was told) and lo and behold what do I see in front of me when we get there??? (besides the super cute bassett hound named Roscoe) My old buddy Nick from FREAKIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS?!?!? and then moreover, what are the odds that the mandolin player would be one of the consultants from my dad's big client??? but it was! He knew my pops really well, and even knew that he was a banjo player. Small freakin world. We played and played and played for hours and it was so great I'm still floating on a cloud. We did some Split Lip Rayfield, some traditional bluegrass (with me playing lead), some of Dave's originals, some Wilco, some Grateful Dead, even me and Gary's old 2-part harmony standard from the old days: "You Aint Goin Nowhere". And it was so blissful I didn't want it to end. They offered me a spot in their band, and I was all "hmmm, it's very tempting but I believe the commute might kill me" (truthfully, earnestly and seriously turning down the offer broke my heart to say the least) So after all the boys packed up around 11 (It was a school night after all and they all have real jobs) Gary and I decided to go back to Paddy's and have one beer just to wind it up since I wouldn't be seeing him again til my next visit. we had such a great time. And we stuck to the 1 beer too! (it was just one beer on speed level 1, so it lasted for EVER). I bumped into an old friend from school there too, and she really wanted to talk to me but i just wanted quality gary time so i kind of cold shouldered her til she made some excuse to go away but then she came back again later which I guess was good because I could atone for my earlier distantness, even though I still was kind of -meh- about her bogarting my gary time!!! But still, humans are humans and we gotta love one another and all that rot, so I sucked it up and included her in our banter. He (Gar) and I were right in the middle of a good old deep & meaningful and the 3rd wheel was kind of a pain, but oh well, that's part of being a lover not a hater these days, so I rolled with it the best I could.
The consolation prize for having to say goodbye to music whenever we leave this place, is that now through the miracle of technology, Dave and I have vowed to write some songs for his band together, over the interwebs, as well as him sending me some tracks to fill in some banjiggity on, and send back. Blessed are my friends for they are the ass kickers.
A noteworthy aside to this story is that The Mr. turned me loose for this night because he has some serious work-related issues that he had to take care of and I have been distracting him from this the whole week, so he finally just threw his hands up in the air and said "just please go by yourself" and I said "great timing, because I doubt you want to sit around in some stranger's basement and listen to amateur music hour!!" so it all worked out like magic.
But this is only the tip of the iceberg of awesomeness!!!
Obviously Adelly's visit from Houston was a highlight as well (combined with the fact that she and Uncle Brandon are friends too which means it was an OARSOME FOURSOME!!!), and she just left on Tuesday so I have been mourning her departure for the last couple days (although the musical Cloud-9 helped a lot). You know how empty house syndrome goes. Well, not that she was in our house, but rather in Brandon's house, but still. She will surely do a much better recap than I will, but I'll give it a whirlwind go before walking out the door here... in reverse....
The Levon show on Monday was stellar, but of course with its attached sadness on my part because I always get whimsical and sad about my favourite musicians getting old and tired when I see them fading before my eyes (therein lies the bittersweetness of loving musicians of someone else's generation). I was really impressed with Justin Townes Earle although I find him a bit of a fraud because he looks like a junkie but apparently in real life he is clean and sober, plus he acts like a sly dog but in real life he is engaged and in a stable relationship. See? Damn these musicians and their fakeness and "stage personas"!!! Posers!!! Nevertheless, awesome show, awesome night in KC.... convenience store snacks and all.
Brandon was kind enough to drive our asses up to KC and the ride up was full of fun and iPod hooliganism amongst the 4 of us. The best part though was that he enjoyed the show, which the other 3 of us were concerned about since it was a long trip up there and we didn't know if he would dig it since he's never listened to LEVON before.... as he kept ensuring to remind us by calling him "Warren Zevon" all the time.
4th of July weekend was excellent because it was a combination of exercise, hanging out, fireworks, drinking, not drinking, eating, not eating, and general merriement. The best part was that I got to/had to combine brotherly/sisterly bonding time with friend bonding time and it worked out pretty well (the bwuddaman was only in town for the very same days that Adelly was in town, because of his job) and everyone got along and laughs were had in bucketloads. I even managed to keep both family AND friends happy by making all my appointments and arriving punctually to everything that had been micro-scheduled throughout the weekend. It was all good.
The LJJ saw her first ever fireworks at about 10pm on the night of the 4th, and she didn't scream or anything (I got worried about this after hearing the story from my mother that when I was a baby and taken to my first downtown fireworks display on the 4th, that i screamed bloody murder for an hour straight, including the ride all the way home!) and she fell asleep on my lap, even, during the last few blasts. This was a good thing since it was way past her bedtime.
Brandon has been a godsend this past week, being on tap for squeezing in hang-out time, whenever I have a space to fill, as well as acting as (relatively) sober chauffer and pickup artist as well as organizing the Mayor's email address for me so that I can write to him finally and confess my huge fanship. This is a silly thing but it was one of my goals to meet the mayor while i was home this time because HE IS AWESOME and i have been secretly following his blog for over 2 years now. I just now finished my email to him which took me over an hour because I didn't want to sound like a stalking freak, but at the same time wanted to tell him how I genuinely appreciated his efforts at holding my little ol' hometown together.
OK like I said, this is rushed, so I'll probably think of a million and 10 things to say in "Memories of my 2010 Holiday to USA" blog posts to come, but at least right now I have the fambly reunion, the Tom Petty concert, and Vancouver to look forward to... so no more mourning what has passed.... it's all onward and upward!!
(but then why do I feel so sad...) :'(
Labels: holiday recap, music
Hellloooooo, Hometown!
0 Comments Published by Oh Wayward One on 01 July 2010 at 7/01/2010 02:11:00 am.
OMG! I'm home!
Craziness ensued on the way here, complete with cancelled flights, anti-airline aggro, and jetlag. But otherwise I haven't had any setbacks so far, including scheduling conflicts, which despite the cancelled flight, were nearly all but caught up with no problem whatsoever thanks to my gramps not really feeling very up to "quality time" in KC when we arrived, so a quick meal and then we were out.
WOW summer here is awesome. I haven't been back here in the summer since 2003. So I kinda forgot. 11:00pm last night saw us going for a good 3mile run in a gorgeous humid but cool nighttime complete with full moon and fragrant flowering bushes etc etc etc. Awesome. Especially after sitting so long and being cooped up in the BACK ROW... you know, the one where you cant recline your seat? on our flight from NYC, with a baby on our laps.
THe 18 hour flight from Jozi was long, but not horrible. Except for the *$&# flight attendant who told us she was "too big" or was it "too active" to have a baby cot/bassinette on the flight and that we would be obligated to hold her on our laps for 18 hours. Um, FAT CHANCE. The Mr. made a big stink and yelled a little and eventually that bought us some sass-tis-faction in the way of said asshole flight attendant finding us a seat-exchange with another passenger who had an empty seat next to him, so that we could sit there and LJJ could have an empty seat to lay down in. Which was good, because she was wrecked from being in transit during her usual nap time and basically slept the whole way to Dakar and then the whole way to NYC after that.
NYC was great! even cancelled flight and everything. spending time with KC and setting up camp in Midtown was awesome. Seeing Xena worked out great too, and despite the whole back-n - forth to JFK twice due to the flight kerfuffle, we had a great day/night. And great Afghan food. And great Belgian beer and companionship.
more later!
Craziness ensued on the way here, complete with cancelled flights, anti-airline aggro, and jetlag. But otherwise I haven't had any setbacks so far, including scheduling conflicts, which despite the cancelled flight, were nearly all but caught up with no problem whatsoever thanks to my gramps not really feeling very up to "quality time" in KC when we arrived, so a quick meal and then we were out.
WOW summer here is awesome. I haven't been back here in the summer since 2003. So I kinda forgot. 11:00pm last night saw us going for a good 3mile run in a gorgeous humid but cool nighttime complete with full moon and fragrant flowering bushes etc etc etc. Awesome. Especially after sitting so long and being cooped up in the BACK ROW... you know, the one where you cant recline your seat? on our flight from NYC, with a baby on our laps.
THe 18 hour flight from Jozi was long, but not horrible. Except for the *$&# flight attendant who told us she was "too big" or was it "too active" to have a baby cot/bassinette on the flight and that we would be obligated to hold her on our laps for 18 hours. Um, FAT CHANCE. The Mr. made a big stink and yelled a little and eventually that bought us some sass-tis-faction in the way of said asshole flight attendant finding us a seat-exchange with another passenger who had an empty seat next to him, so that we could sit there and LJJ could have an empty seat to lay down in. Which was good, because she was wrecked from being in transit during her usual nap time and basically slept the whole way to Dakar and then the whole way to NYC after that.
NYC was great! even cancelled flight and everything. spending time with KC and setting up camp in Midtown was awesome. Seeing Xena worked out great too, and despite the whole back-n - forth to JFK twice due to the flight kerfuffle, we had a great day/night. And great Afghan food. And great Belgian beer and companionship.
more later!
Labels: holiday recap
