We are back from what feels like weeks and weeks on the road…probably because we’ve been on the road for weeks and weeks.
I left nearly three weeks ago to get Jason and our car and drive from South Carolina to Nevada. It was long and mostly fun except for the part where we ran out of gas in the New Mexico wilderness and didn’t speak to each other for an hour while we waited for the tow truck to hike out and put us back on the road. In hindsight we missed a really good opportunity to make out, stupid stubborn pride. Luckily we made up for it in Arizona.
Halfway through the trip we spent a few days in Texas with Jason’s sisters and their families and I discovered that I am not, in fact, on a diet. Big shocker. That was an extremely fun little stop over, seeing his family after over three years away was amazing. We must return with the children.
We finally blew into our Nevada cement suburb after five days on the road, packed up the kids and some fresh clothes, and headed to San Francisco for Thanksgiving with our dear friends from Germany, the Prices.
Coast to coast in seven days. I’m so done with cars right now.
After Thanksgiving we took the kids down to the Welk Resort in Escondido for a week of beaches and Disney fun and rained out birthdays. June turned seven while we were there.
We made three and a half trips to Disneyland. The half was another unfortunate (and unsurprising) encounter with an empty gas tank because someone in the family has an obsession with finding the cheapest diesel prices in America and not filling up until we can hunt them down. That was a very long two and a half hours with no Splash Mountain at the end of the line. We turned around and had to spend the rest of the day swimming and going to the beach. Lame.
And finally, FINALLY, we are back home in our little house. I have liked this house here in Vegas, it’s not big by any means, it’s not particularly nice and the kitchen is commonly described as “terrible.” It’s half the size of our last place (our garage is packed floor to ceiling with storage) but the kids and I have done just fine here.
So why is it that Jason and his very presence makes it feel like we’re living in a sardine can? I swear four people just moved in. And I’m not talking about stuff, he doesn’t make messes and most of his things were already here, I’m talking about people space. This is not a six person house. Five smallish people maybe. Six? Standing room only.
Frankly, we’re just not comfortable in Las Vegas.
Part of this is due to the fact that I need a constant attitude adjustment. I want to be home in Washington like yesterday, my dad’s health hasn’t been so great and I’m convinced that his life would significantly improve with a regular dose of Us. Also I really want to live by him. And my mother. She’s kind of wonderful. Plus I hate all this blasted sunshine every single day of the year. Have they not heard of overcast? My favorite cloud formation.
For crying out loud, I just wanna go home.
And so our goal right now is to pray really hard that Heavenly Father will please help us do and learn whatever it is we’ve come to this barren place to do and learn so we can move on. Please.
End of rant.
And hey, Merry Christmas! I’m up to my earlobes in holiday tricks and treats, more to come on that later this week…serious mileage on my sewing machine this year.