Once again I must look myself in the mirror and admit I have become a very bad blogger. Sorry. To myself, that is. For getting too busy to write down everything that’s going on that makes me so darn busy at the risk that I will not be able to remember it all in ten years, or ten minutes for that matter.
So, at the risk of not providing enough back story, here’s all the stuff that’s been going on lately that has prevented me from feeling like anything really blogworthy is going on.
1. I bought a house. And then I returned it. This was a big deal for me, who struggles to return anything to a store. Seriously, I will keep a mispurchased item for years, knowing I will never use it, perhaps move it across a state line or two, and then give it to D.I., Goodwill, Salvation Army—whatever’s closest, rather than take it back and ask for a refund. But yeah, in March I bought a new construction townhouse in Chula Vista, a lovely master-planned suburb of both San Diego and Tijuana. (I swear it’s nice--they have an Anthropologie!) I picked out the flooring (high-end laminate/tile/loop pile carpet combo), cabinets (dark java), countertops (white quartz, cuz I’m green like that) awesome appliances and everything else. It was supposed to be finished in early September, but got pushed to late fall. I enlisted the help of a super headhunter because there’s nothing I hate more in this world than job-searching. And then the whole economy fell apart and I just couldn’t find a decent job there. So I pulled out of the deal and, miraculously, got every cent of my deposit back. Hooray for Shea Homes, they couldn’t have been nicer to a reluctant house returner such as myself. In retrospect, I feel really lucky to have had the chance to do a trial-run at the whole house-buying thing.
2. I got really good at riding my Vespa. Now that the weather is warm, it sees a lot more use and I have gone from sort of fearing the thing to absolutely adoring it. It gets ridden to church almost every single Sunday despite the riding-in-skirt debacle. Also, the Roommate recently volunteered to be my first passenger, which I think takes faith (in a higher power), guts and trust (in me). We went on busy streets down to the beach and everything, and the whole time she was respectful of my above-average personal space issues by only placing the occasional finger on my right shoulder and otherwise holding onto the rear rack.
3. I turned into a semi-experienced lawyer despite all efforts to the contrary. Unfortunately, what I have gained in confidence has been balanced out by a stressful schedule full of court appearances and depositions. When I think back on my esteemed law school classmates, I definitely wouldn’t have picked myself as most likely future litigator, but the future is often funny that way.
4. I went to Arizona for Fourth of July and hung out with my parents Dave and Mary for a weekend chock full o’ fun. Seriously, they wore me out. For those of you who haven’t heard or haven’t figured it out from reading the more frequently-updated blogs of my family members, Dave has been sick with all sorts of things lately. When I got there on the third, he had just completed months of chemo and a week-long hospital stay due to blood and lung issues that may or may not have been related to the Big C, but were dangerous enough on their own. So I was kind of expecting we’d all have to take it easy for the weekend, but noooo, Dave had drummed up a tight itinerary of fireworks watching (complete with local hotel room in which to sit-out post-event traffic--nice!), Diamondbacks game attending, ample walking in 110+ heat and lots of local foodstuffs-eating. It’s the first time I can remember telling my parents “I think it’s past my bedtime.” Repeatedly. Also, my lil’ bro and his wife visited the weekend before and lil’ bro arrived with a shaved head in a show of solidarity with the now-bald Dave. But I did not shave my head or really do anything except offer Dave and Mary a can of Olestra Light Pringles that I had snacked on during my 400-mile drive from Los Angeles, which they consistently declined. Apparently it didn’t compare to shaving one’s head. I suppose I could have offered to get a 3/4-inch trim, which I think would approximate the amount of hair lil’ bro sacrificed for his much-lauded effort, but it didn’t occur to me until after the trip. Oh well, we still had tons of fun, despite my full head of hair and the fact that it’s hotter than Hades in Arizona and everything.
(Oh, and incidentally, Blogger, which lets you label posts, has these permanent suggestions for labels: "scooters, vacation, fall." Yet how many bloggers have actually had a post, like the one above, for which these were all appropriate? All I'm saying is, I'm thinking it's time I earned another medal...)
14 comments:
Did we make too big a deal about the shaved head thing?? I'm sorry. It was just the biggest news prior to your monumental visit. When Mrs. Dub arrives next week, ALL she will hear about is how you selflessly offered to share your Pringles. I promise to make her feel really, really bad.
I was particularly proud of #3. You don't often admit such things. Now it's ALL I talk about.
I'm so sorry Chula didn't work out; or do the locals call it C.V.? When you DO move there some day I know you'll tell us. The house sounds like it was great. A wonderful update; it's so nice to hear from you.
Southern California no more. Its a sign. Come to the south, for real. Very bad scooter rides, but you can live in a mansion!
Okay, Mom, you're forcing me to lay my sarcastic cards on the table. For the record, I just wanted to brag about lil' bro's shaved head without sounding too sappy. You didn't make too big of a deal about it. Even your mentioning the fact that lil' bro shaved his head and I did not to all 93 people we saw at church on Sunday was not too big of a deal, because it was funny and because lil' bro deserves the credit.
Also, don't you hate it when you post something and then wish you could redo it later? If I did, I would have emphasized that I'm not too sad about the C.V. dream dying; it was a long process that caused a lot of stress and I was actually relieved when it was over and grateful, in my eternally noncommital way, that the entire world was, once again, my oyster. But thanks, Sara, for the vote of confidence that I'll end up there some day.
Also, don't you hate it when people leave gigantic comments on their own blogs? Me too.
Sorry we weren't more geriatric or convalescent, and apologies for keeping you up. But we figured since we were hosting someone who lives so much on the edge (rides a scooter, flips houses without ever owning them, litigates for fun, etc.), we'd better have a real active schedule planned.
Like attending a family fireworks show (well, except for that couple on the blanket in front of us), trying to stay awake while watching one pathetic baseball team score even fewer runs than another pathetic baseball team (sorry D-Backs and Padres), living on the culinary edge by eating hot dogs at the Tempe location of Buffalo's answer to Pink's, etc.
Short of a shuffleboard game in Sun City, I can't think of what would have been more hyperkenetic. But we really, really loved having you here and are so glad we contributed in a small way to giving you material for a new blog post.
But, if you don't think 3/4 of inch is a big deal, then next time I'll be real disappointed if your legs don't have as much hair as mine--you know, in honor of the body hair even chemo couldn't defeat.
Just to prove it's even worse when people's parents leave gigantic posts on their children's blogs.
What an exciting life you lead Miss Ess!! I can't even handle it. As my friend Ethan would say, "Good on you" for all of the exciting things going on. Almost-house owning, taking another person's life into your ever capable vespa driving hands, litigating in a real life court, and visiting family who obviously misses you terribly...very exciting indeed. The only thing missing is a trip to the Great Northwest to enjoy the best summer on the planet...I'm just sayin'.
i'm not going to shave my head or eat your pringles. sorry. i will, however, scout out housing for la dolce herself and me. (or should we do raleigh, nc? the world is such a confusing place.)
by the way, i'm really proud that you are a fancy lawyer and vespa driver.
You always are full of exciting adventures. I agree with Ryan; there are great KB homes just around the corner from us. I promise we wont try to hug you (at the same time).
i don't know... i think the pringles-offering may trump the shaved head.
I just want to say that I love reading your posts, Gin... even when they are few and far between. And then it's just icing on the cake to read all of the fun comments from all of your lovely family members.
Amen to Kate's post. Your blog is gut-busting hilarious. And I love your tech-savvy family. Boy, it would be cool if my parents would blog. Perhaps I will send them a nice snail mail invitation...
I too, have an above average amount of personal space needed to be comfortable! sorry about your house deal, things always work out for the best, but only in hind-site which is way too far into the furture and that doesn't heal disapointments that easily. and I bet that you are a pistol as a lawyer girl!!!!!
Here's hoping Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium was good for a post. If you were in the front row behind the Dodger's dugout, we saw you on TV. If not, we made a lot of mean comments about some unsuspecting girl or woman in that seat. I have typically mixed emotions about the D-Backs winning, having been a Dodger fan for 50 years and a D-Backs fan for only 10, but, as a faithful homer, rooting for the D-Backs first and the Dodgers over every other team. Typical that you'd feel sorry for Andrew Jones getting booed. Just looking forward, as always, to the next installment.
So ... I'm beginning to hate Betsy Ross.
And I'm a sewer.
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