California Dreaming

Tuesday I fly out to California for a four days. This trip I am using my travel budget to stay close - as in walking distance to Meagan, the beach, the town center, all things quaint about the "artist colony" where she lives. I fly in to a little airport less than 30 minutes from her house, and my inn (no chain hotels here) is only a few blocks away on the same street as her house.

I am excited to go and see her world, it will be very different from the Baltimore world. Growing up in Baltimore, and keeping my Baltimore roots made going to visit like coming home but without the same stresses. There was a Nana room that was not my childhood bedroom with all of the accompanying ghosts and drama. It was a lovely neutral room, completely ghost free. Since she lived downtown I got to indulge my love of Indian delivered to the door, or Thai, or well if you wanted to eat it, they would bring it or worst case we could make a quick run for takeaway. It was the best of both worlds yummy food without stressing out the pre-schooler. Her house in Baltimore indulged my love of city living without any of the grittiness. She lived in a new house, lovely high ceilings, level floors, straight staircases and a view of the skyline from the roof. Because she was at the end of the road, there were no drunks living on the front porch in the morning, and no eau de human on the sidewalks walking to the water taxi. All the wonderfulness of city living without the grit.

California will be so different, there will be no comparison. It isn't like she moved to the suburbs in Annapolis. It is the other side of the country. The sun sets in California. It is probably as dramatically different as when I moved from Virginia (lush and green, with four seasons) to Lubbock Texas. Flat, brown, one season three temperatures - warm, hot, hotter. Lubbock had its own culture which included men in big hats driving pick-up trucks. I suddenly became a damn Yankee.

So I have my suitcase out and have started to think about what to bring, trying to keep in mid that I am really only there for four days, travel days have their own requirements, and it is an artist colony. She tells me that I should search my memory for wealthy, dressed down, organic, casual but meaningful attire. I am thinking Middleburg on a Wednesday. That could be jeans and expensive booties. Maybe topped with an imported from Peru hand knit sweater. I will definitely leave the heels and hairspray home. Wish me luck. I'll tell you all about it when I get home.

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Truth meter

Nothing tells you that you have been cheating on your diet and exercise routine like putting on the jeans you haven't worn since last December. I think I need to put them on every day as a painful reminder and incentive.

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Telling time

I will admit that I don't have a really accurate internal clock. It is a failing I have worked on intermittently with little success. My most accurate memories are based on what was happening around me at the time. So my mattress is as old as Ashby. On the 4th of July weekend when Meagan was oh so pregnant we went bed shopping. Hubby was sure our bed was too soft. (This is not a 3 little bears story). And I was hunting for a bed that wasn't too soft or too firm. Meagan and I went from mattress store to mattress store trying out beds. One very pregnant lady and me. Some were too firm and some were too soft, none was perfect. When we were exhausted and ready to quit we tried the last store on the list. The salesman was busy but said to lay down on this bed and he would be with us next. Then he took out the remote and made a few adjustments. My head went up slightly and my feet went up slightly and my back said ohh stay here. My predisposition to hate this bed faded away. I still love my bed. Unfortunately hubby is not so in love. I have tried many different toppers to make it softer for him but he is still not in love. But I know exactly how old my mattress is - Ashby's birthday plus two weeks. The industry says to replace your mattress every 8 - 10 years. I have five left before I have to give in and move this one to the guest room. Psst - mattress I love you and I promise to sleep with you even if you move down the hall.

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Beach weekend

October is the perfect time for a beach weekend. It isn't too hot and it isn't too cold, there are people around but not crazy crowds. This weekend treated us to glorious clear skies and warm breezes. The outside pool was a Dad would say "bracing". But I inched in freezing my legs step by step before touching bottom. Of course it is only 3 feet deep so it wasn't much of a plunge. Bruce with his vacation mastermind scored us an oceanfront three bedroom condo and friends from Charlotte joined us. The husbands did their usual but left early and were home by 2 so we had some pool time with them before nap time. Luckily the ladies are not big shoppers so after a leisurely breakfast on the porch we donned bathing suits and took to the pool. We ventured down to the ocean but it is COLD. As the day went on we chatted with other adventurous ladies who joined us in the pool. As expected they were from colder locations like Binghamton and Omaha and found the weather warm and the pool perfect. I remember my kids and the lure of beach. Like good Canadians we all thought 60 was perfect shorts and sandal weather. They would willingly venture into summer beach in Nova Scotia where the rule seemed to be if you didn't turn blue in the first five seconds it must be warm enough. So thanks hubby for a great weekend.

 

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Wish me well

Tomorrow we fly up to DC to pitch a proposal for a project that is a dream job for hubby. Previous client, wonderful to work with, great working conditions. It is the client we were working for when we were riffed for "not having the skills needed". Long story short, we know they are also bidding but we don't know if they are short listed. I have mixed feelings about winning. The project will take a year and would be the perfect end to my career. More importantly it would be a great project for hubby. So why am I ambiguous? It is a very intensive project and we will probably rent an apartment so we don't have to stay in hotels and hopefully keep off the consultant 10 pounds. But I may be away from home a lot. Last time the draw for the project was staying over to see my Mom, Meagan, my sister. A lot has changed since then. I still get to see my sister (who may be stressed by my doting presence) But the biggie is I will miss my little life here. I like my little 30 hour a week job, with no stress, and a very understanding boss. I like my friends, my routine and truth be told I was really ready to be RETIRED. So wish me good luck, it is the perfect project for us, it will feather our nest and let me postpone drawing on retirement dollars. And the rainbow at the end of the project is I will start looking for a puppy. So Mom, I will wear my lucky bracelet that you gave me, pull up my big girl panties and put on my pointy toe shoes. Benson Girls never pass up a great opportunity.

 

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