Ups and Downs

So the fambly is in Arizona. All their stuff, on the other hand, is now in the lovely semi-arid clime of San Diego county.

It took the awesome fellers who did the move about four hours to get it all off the truck and in the house. Not the most pleasant four hours of my life, I must say. Certainly, far far far from the worst, but trying to figure out where the ever so flexible Top Management would like This Thing or That Thing was difficult. Trying to fit the stuff from a house twice the size into one half the size? That was…stressful. Yes it was.

And for some reason, rather than filling me with anticipation and joy, the sight of The Baby’s bouncy chair or The Boy’s highchair just made me so melancholy. They’ve been so far away for so long and while they were, at that moment, no longer more than a thousand miles away, still, I was just hit by this wave of loss, the knowledge that I’d been away from The Baby for fully half her life now, that I'll be no more than just another smiling face the next time she sees me.

I know, I know, I know. It could be worse. I could be off fighting a pointless war, and I know she’ll learn to recognize me soon enough. But the difference between a three-month-old and a six-month-old is huge—and if you're a parent, you can't deny that. So just because it could be so much worse doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.

Waah. Poor, poor pitiful me.

The fact that I can’t find a hotel room in Yuma, Arizona or even El Centro, California is really freaking me out too. I’m flying to Phoenix tomorrow and the troop’ll pick me up in the early afternoon and we figured we’d get a couple hours further west before breaking for the night. And then Wednesday’d be an easy trip into the Golden State and that’d be that. A grand and glorious and romantic plan. But there doesn’t seem to be a single hotel room between Phoenix and San Diego. And if you think that’s an exaggeration, I highly encourage you to prove me wrong.

Hey! [It's now an hour after I wrote the above.] I just found a room in El Centro—in marked contrast to the very perky girls who turned me down so regretfully in Yuma, however, this guy…uh…hmm. I’m not filled with confidence in this hotel. I think he may actually have just wandered by and noticed the phone ringing.

A-ha. [He said, another forty minutes later.] After calling literally fourteen hotels in Yuma I found a suite there. I also found a suite in Gila Bend, the Ramada Inn Space Age. Gila Bend totally doesn't fit our travel plans but, come on. It's called Gila Bend! It's the Ramada Inn Space Age! It's going to be mighty hard to pass that puppy up.

Okay. I feel slightly better now. So home I go to unpack the kitchen and then try to find some sheets for the bed. Those tasks’ll knock the joy right outta me. On the upside, it’s the first time I've left before 9 pm in weeks. Half-full, baby! I’m back!

Comments

[Jennifer]

I felt so badly for you every time I saw a photo of your daughter. I'm so glad you are all back together.