Tuesday, May 29, 2007

First Impressions

The Rev. has emailed me twice from Puebla. His first email commented that "the first night I slept like a bird in a room full of cats." A comment I do not understand given that we own three cats and he sleeps like the dead, even when they decide to jump on our heads while we are asleep. Or meow incessantly to be let outside. Or meow incessantly to be let back inside the house. Or meow incessantly to be fed, and then let outside again.

He loves the Institute, and he is staying with an older couple. He has not commented at all on them, except to say that his home life would be the most challenging part of his stay. I am assuming he means that they don't speak any English, which is exactly why he is living with them in the first place.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

LAX

The Rev. and I drove up to L.A. last night, and as I type this, he is somewhere over the state of New Mexico or Texas. He will be in Puebla by early evening.

We took our time leaving yesterday afternoon, and instead of willingly subjecting ourselves to the head-banging frustration that is the I-5, we opted to drive up Highway 1 last night. The Pacific was on our left and funky beach towns were on our right. We also wondered what people did for a living to own a 4,000 square foot house on the beach. Being that we are unimaginative people, we could not get past doctors or lawyers. And given the fair amount of medical offices touting plastic surgery we saw en route, I could probably tell you the doctor's specialty.

We stayed at the LAX Hilton last night and if I had not been so tired, I would have stayed up for people watching in the lobby. There was a sorority party, a Bar Mitzvah, and some sort of conference where everyone was casualy dressed and carrying around laptops. It was an interesting mix, especially the drunken sorority girls trying to maintain a semblance of sobriety as they staggered through the lobby, either on the arm of a sister or the arm of a date. I was in a sorority in college, and there were strict rules about drinking in public, so I guess times have changed or the girls thought they were doing a good job of faking it. "If I stare straight ahead, walk really slowly, and speak slowly, maybe I will fool everybody." Right, that works every time.

The next morning we heard Italian, German, and Japanese in the hotel lobby and it was more people watching. I did not take The Rev. to the airport, because he could catch the hotel shuttle and get there faster. He also did not want to subject me to the traffic snarls that tend to encircle one of the largest international airports in the country. Bless him. I won't lie to you, it was hard to say good-bye, and it really has not sunk in that he will be gone until August 18th. We just stood there in the lobby looking at each other and what do you say to someone who is leaving you, but isn't leaving you? Well, you put on your big girl panties and you say good-bye and you don't let him see the two big tears that are in the corners of your eyes because you know that if you cry, he will cry, and you don't want to embarass a man wearing cowboy boots in L.A.

So, he is gone and the house is empty and the dog is morose. She knows something is not quite right, and I estimate that it will take her about a week to figure out that she can quit sleeping by the door, because he isn't coming home for another 84 days.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Viva Mexico

The Rev. leaves one week from today for a 12 week stay in Puebla, Mexico. The past few days have been a flurry of activity getting him ready to spend 3 months in a foreign country. It has not sunk into my gray matter yet that he is leaving on Saturday and will be gone for three months, and I have a feeling it will either sink in on Saturday when I say goodbye to him at LAX or three weeks down the road when I forget to pay the gas and electric bill. Either way, I am sure there will be tears involved.



We purchased a digital camera last night, and as he sends me photos, I will post them here so we can all vicariously experience the street vendors, the colonial architecture, and the mole that is in many Pueblan dishes. People have asked me if I will be traveling to see him, and for now, the answer is no. There have been some developments here that require my attention, and we decided that it is in the best interests of the family that I stay here. You know, to experience the excitement of paying the mortgage, which I can only liken to throwing teaspoons of mud against a wall that is 72 feet long and 72 feet high. You throw the mud, but you know that it will take a good, long time for you to cover it.



I do have visitors coming to see me in June and July, and as The Rev. will not be back until August, I have about 10 weeks free for anyone who wants to experience lovely Southern California. I promise I will not make you work on my house.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Don't Scare Me Like That

Today I was sitting at my desk when my cell phone rang. I normally don't answer my phone when I am work, call it a semblance of professionalism, but it was 4:00 in the afternoon and the caller i.d. said, "dad cell." My heart always skips a beat when my father calls me from his cell phone in the middle of the day and I have a running list going through my head of who has been hit by a Mack truck or who has cancer. Instead, he called and shouted that I gave him a holiday themed gift card for his birthday that occurs in the spring. I just laughed as my heart rate returned to pumping blood at a normal rate.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Naming the Cat

Naming the cat has been the easiest thing going this week. I realized today that I better get Mother's Day cards in the mail and include a card for my father, whose birthday was before Easter. I bought him a gift card from Sears, because they carry Land's End and he can buy a pair pants or if the mood strikes, some tools. Perhaps he will put it towards buying a tire.

The gift card had very Land's Endish looking lighthouse on it, so I chose it along with a different one for my father-in-law. When I got home, I wrote a little note in the belated birthday card and then I noticed that the gift card said, "Happy Holidays from Land's End." Upon closer inspection, the beach that framed that framed the forefront of the lighthouse was covered in snow. It was 90 degrees in Escondido today, I don't see snow in the forecast anytime soon. The gift card for my father-in-law came with four stickers that said, "thanks," "congrats," "best wishes," and then something else I can't remember. I stuck the one said that "thanks" on my dad's gift card, that way I figured I covered all of my bases, belated birthday, a holiday greeting, and a thank you for everything.

The cat's name is Boudreaux.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

No Reasonable Explanation...

So much has been happening around here, that as of late I feel that all I can do is strap on the seatbelt and hold on as I careen through the next few weeks. The Rev. and I witnessed the shortest wedding ever (14 minutes with 2 minutes of "I do," but it was lovely), and we decided that life wasn't interesting enough so I brought home a kitten who has been with us nearly a week and is still "no name kitty." The Rev. was not particularly thrilled with the last event, but has since taken to the little critter to the point where he intervened when I was about to lock it in the bathroom last night. The rest of the night was spent with my head, hands and feet being attacked by a 1 pound Geronimo.

"We need to name this cat."

"How about Target?"

"Like the store?"

"No, because he has a bulls-eye on his side."

"How about Tar-jey? Like the French?"

"No."

"How about Tigger? Bandit? Leo?"

"What about J.D.?

"J.D.?"

"Yeah, Jack Daniels."

"Nice."

"He has marks around his eyes, what about War Paint?"

"How about seatbelt or chin strap? He has those markings too."

So no name kitty has been keeping us entertained with his antics involving the dog's tail, the shirts hanging in The Rev.'s closet, and his ability to turn on the charm when I am ready to lock him in the bathroom. The Rev. is disapppointed that he won't stay small and cute forever, because when he returns from Mexico in August, we will have another beast, just like the other two.