DIRTY HOUSE, TIME TO MOVE

So I returned home and what to my wondering eyes do appear, but 2 miniature dogs and some tiny reindeer...wait. Those aren't reindeer! Those are squeak toys. Destroyed squeak toys. The cushions of the couch have been manipulated and flipped over to keep the "kids" from jumping up there and...what?...what do they do up there? Lay on them? I guess that would be bad because THEY SMELL!!! No baths, no brushing...basically, I've returned to the movie "ANIMAL HOUSE". In the truest sense of the word...nice.

True, there was a huge vase of flowers in the middle of the dining room table. That was cute. The sheets had been laundered the night before...good thing. There was a piece of furniture in the living room that had previously been in the boy's room and that will be going BACK into the boy's room, now that the boy is gone...so that will change the look of the living room. Lots to throw away...lots to put away...lots to wade through...but more than anything, lots to DE-FUNK AND DE-SMELL. What the heck!!!!!

I know exactly how to solve this problem.

We're moving.

Soon.

Word.

Here's my serious look...
And then here's the "real" look I'll be using....

DEAR MR. DAVID HOROWITZ: YOU ROCKED YOUR POINT IN THIS VIDEO, MARRY ME!

FEELIN' KICKED, ON ROUTE 66

I am driving the famously historic Route 66 all by myself. So...at the end of my trip, I'll have driven through Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas (stayed in Amarillo), New Mexico, Arizona (staying in Flagstaff tonight), and then home to California. Cool! I'm wiping that off the bucket list. It wasn't intentionally ON the bucket list, but it's a cool thing to scratch off. Today I drove a little over 600 miles and feeling fine. If my gluteus minimus hadn't complained, I could have driven more, but such is life.

Also, I listened to an entire book today by James Patterson. By forensic evidence AND by paintings on the tomb wall, combined with cultural traditions, and full body CT scans, he figured out who killed King Tut. Very sad and intriguing story. I think there was a LOT of 'splaining in that after world they all ended up in.

I do NOT like this Motel 6...If I had enough nerve, I would go to my car and get the knife I bought for my hubs and sleep with it under my pillow...ick.

Last thought before I drift off to sleep at 5:30 p.m. While taking xanax, do NOT pluck any remaining eyebrows that you may have left. Just sayin'...

DAY TWO OF JOURNEY: OKLAHOMA

One my 2nd day of traveling. This is what I've come to realize. States are pretty competitive for bragging rights. Oklahoma was the first state to install a parking meter. Also, it is the home of the largest antique collection in the world. I'm going to submit my dental work. Oklahoma is proud of its famous citizens: Garth Brooks, Will Rogers & Brad Pitt and astronaut Thomas P. Stafford. I don't know how a state can take credit for the random coupling of genetic pooling, but this one did. I think they all do. Also, Oklahoma was the setting for the movie "Twister". When I crossed the border into Texas, and I am NOT making this up, there was an electric sign saying this: KEEP YOUR BUTTS...*wait for second part of sign* IN YOUR CARS. I felt warm and welcomed. I'm in Amarillo now. My butt speedily went from my car to my room. Will map out tomorrow's journey now. I know it will be through New Mexico and most of Arizona. Love to all.

THEY'RE CALLED FRECKLES!!!!!!

Ages 10-30, they're called "freckles"

Ages 31-50, they're called "age spots"

Ages 50-plus, they're back to being called "freckles" again.

THEY'RE CALLED FRECKLES!!!!!!

*cough*

Thank you.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER

I've shared this photo with lots of friends, but this is the final spot. It was taken at midnight on New Year's Eve. At about 11:45 pm, my 90 year old mother shouted out from her bedroom, "Hey! At midnight, grab your camera and jump into bed with me so we can hug at midnight." So...being obedient, I grabbed my camera and ran into her room 15 minutes later. She threw her duvet back and I climbed in. We took three great photos but this last one took on a life of its own. The lighting changed on its own and the even spirit of the photograph changed. There is a tenderness that emerged that blew me away.

This is how we brought in 2011. May it ever be so...

TOMORROW? 2010 WILL BE LEFT

This is the last day of 2010. (You're welcome.) I don't think I've ever arrived at the end of a year and said, "Meh. No big deal". Don't we all get to the end of a year and think, "Whew! Watta year!!!" We SHOULD think that. It's been a year of growth. Time has passed, and that translates to LIFE EXPERIENCE. Am I right or am I right? Who is SHOCKED at the end of the year? Seriously? Stuff happens. People are born. People die. People get betrayed. People get married. Peoples' marriages end. I'm sounding like an Old Testament passage. It doesn't mean we don't grieve or get angry. It doesn't mean we skip merrily along and not process what has happened to us. We're allowed to be angry or cry. We're also allowed to rejoice friendships that are made stronger...we're allowed to rejoice US when we are made stronger. We allowed to recognize that reality is exactly THAT...reality. We breathe through the horrible stuff. We can't change jerks. We can only breathe through their jerkiness and commit to never being a jerk, ourselves. (This is difficult for me...often, even.) We can't bring back a dearly departed. I sat in a funeral yesterday. A friend from high school lost her sweet mother on Christmas day. This same friend lost her brother in October. Rough year. She's breathing. She's putting one foot in front of the other. And she's recognized the love in her life.

I had another friend whose mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I'll never forget her reaction to the news. Many people would say, "Why me? Why? Why?". Her response? "Why not me? The statistics are what they are. Someone's going to get it, why shouldn't I be the one?" The cancer was in her right breast. She went to bed in the hospital that night knowing that in the morning, the surgeon was going to remove her right breast. She composed a poem about it...something else I'll never forget. It was this:

My right is my right. It has always been my right.
My left is my left, and tomorrow? It will be left.

Tomorrow? 2010 will be left.

God love you all. Tomorrow we move on.