Hello from Tucson
I'm at my mother's, having come from my Grandmother's last night. Probably most of you already know this, but for those who don't, it's a big tradition in my family to spend Christmas day and at least the day before and the day after at my grandparents' home in the tiny town of Ajo, AZ. All of my extended family on my mom's side tries to spend Christmas there. It's like an annual family reunion. Some don't make it some years. My family who is currently living in Germany, for example, didn't come this year. And no arcata1 this year either. :( But I've always made it. My mom never moved me too far away as a child, and as an adult I've been living about five hundred miles away, so it's doable to visit at Christmas. This year makes 34 Christmases in that same house, with that same family. Pretty big tradition for me. Definitely the most stable thing in all of my life.
Robert, having been in my life for the last six years, has had a different idea of how to spend Christmas. Before the annual family reunion, we had to have the annual fight about it. He came for the first three years, grudgingly. Then he said, "No, I'm not going." And I said, "Well I am." So we had Christmas 2003 apart. Last year, I said I wouldn't go. I'd stay home with him as he wanted. And he was so moved that I was willing to do that, finally, that he said, "No, you don't have to stay, and I'll go there with you." That was very nice of him. So this years he said, "I really don't feel like going." And I said OK. And I bought my ticket and made my plans. I gave him some of his Christmas gifts early, so he could enjoy them while he was alone at the house. He took me to the airport on Friday and we said our goodbyes. On Friday night at my mom's house, I read LJ and found an (I thought) obnoxious post made by him about how glad he wasn't in AZ for Christmas and how much he disliked spending Christmas with my extended family in Ajo, blah blah blah. On Saturday we talked on the phone a couple of times. I called him at home and got the answering machine. Later, he called me from his cell phone. He said he had gone out for breakfast. Completely normal. So, my mom and my cousin and I finally make it to Ajo and I ran in without unloading the car at all because I had to go to the bathroom. I walked in and said hi to my cousin Shannon and her husband and boys. Shannon said something about me having an early Christmas present but I didn't ask her what she was talking about because I really just wanted to get to the bathroom. So I extracted myself from them and went toward the bathroom. And suddenly, out pops Robert.
I was so shocked. I was completely speechless, actually. That's rather unusual for me. I couldn't believe I was looking at Robert in my grandparents' hallway. I had all these questions flying through my head, and I didn't know where to start. I just stood there looking at him, I think with my mouth hanging open, and looking back at my cousin and her family who were laughing and smiling, trying to get over my shock. It was pretty funny. But I still had to go to the bathroom! So I did, and then we talked. Turns out he had been planning to surprise me for about a week, and most of my family was in on it. Those sneaks! He was tricky with his anti-AZ posts, and his mentioning how much he was looking forward to just relaxing at home by himself while I was gone, and his calls on Saturday pretending he was still in LA when he was actually on the road. He even called me from Ajo! But with the cell phone, I had no idea that's where he was calling from. Tricky tricky.
So now we are here together, just as I like, and I got to spend Christmas both with my husband and my extended family, just as I like. It was a very nice Christmas gift from him, and I love surprises. This was a really great surprise. He had to make that eight-hour drive by himself, which is really not a fun thing to do if you ask me, and he was all stressed about beating me to my grandma's because he wanted to be there when I arrived. He didn't even stop for lunch, just took six minutes to drive through a McDonalds. At first he was going to drive back home on Monday, but instead he decided to stay, and come back to Tucson with me, and then the two of us will drive back home together on Wednesday. I was originally going to fly home on Wednesday anyway. So here we are in Tucson, and I think one thing we are going to do here today is see a movie with my brother. My brother works at a movie theater, so it's free. I like free. :) Plus, my cousin from Oregon is still here, as well as my cousin who lives in Phoenix, and of course, my mom, so there will be more visiting with family as well. And then we'll go home and see the kitties.
Robert, having been in my life for the last six years, has had a different idea of how to spend Christmas. Before the annual family reunion, we had to have the annual fight about it. He came for the first three years, grudgingly. Then he said, "No, I'm not going." And I said, "Well I am." So we had Christmas 2003 apart. Last year, I said I wouldn't go. I'd stay home with him as he wanted. And he was so moved that I was willing to do that, finally, that he said, "No, you don't have to stay, and I'll go there with you." That was very nice of him. So this years he said, "I really don't feel like going." And I said OK. And I bought my ticket and made my plans. I gave him some of his Christmas gifts early, so he could enjoy them while he was alone at the house. He took me to the airport on Friday and we said our goodbyes. On Friday night at my mom's house, I read LJ and found an (I thought) obnoxious post made by him about how glad he wasn't in AZ for Christmas and how much he disliked spending Christmas with my extended family in Ajo, blah blah blah. On Saturday we talked on the phone a couple of times. I called him at home and got the answering machine. Later, he called me from his cell phone. He said he had gone out for breakfast. Completely normal. So, my mom and my cousin and I finally make it to Ajo and I ran in without unloading the car at all because I had to go to the bathroom. I walked in and said hi to my cousin Shannon and her husband and boys. Shannon said something about me having an early Christmas present but I didn't ask her what she was talking about because I really just wanted to get to the bathroom. So I extracted myself from them and went toward the bathroom. And suddenly, out pops Robert.
I was so shocked. I was completely speechless, actually. That's rather unusual for me. I couldn't believe I was looking at Robert in my grandparents' hallway. I had all these questions flying through my head, and I didn't know where to start. I just stood there looking at him, I think with my mouth hanging open, and looking back at my cousin and her family who were laughing and smiling, trying to get over my shock. It was pretty funny. But I still had to go to the bathroom! So I did, and then we talked. Turns out he had been planning to surprise me for about a week, and most of my family was in on it. Those sneaks! He was tricky with his anti-AZ posts, and his mentioning how much he was looking forward to just relaxing at home by himself while I was gone, and his calls on Saturday pretending he was still in LA when he was actually on the road. He even called me from Ajo! But with the cell phone, I had no idea that's where he was calling from. Tricky tricky.
So now we are here together, just as I like, and I got to spend Christmas both with my husband and my extended family, just as I like. It was a very nice Christmas gift from him, and I love surprises. This was a really great surprise. He had to make that eight-hour drive by himself, which is really not a fun thing to do if you ask me, and he was all stressed about beating me to my grandma's because he wanted to be there when I arrived. He didn't even stop for lunch, just took six minutes to drive through a McDonalds. At first he was going to drive back home on Monday, but instead he decided to stay, and come back to Tucson with me, and then the two of us will drive back home together on Wednesday. I was originally going to fly home on Wednesday anyway. So here we are in Tucson, and I think one thing we are going to do here today is see a movie with my brother. My brother works at a movie theater, so it's free. I like free. :) Plus, my cousin from Oregon is still here, as well as my cousin who lives in Phoenix, and of course, my mom, so there will be more visiting with family as well. And then we'll go home and see the kitties.