catchup!
the last ten days have been full of many, many things!
we'll begin on Friday, November 7. I flew to Houston. Aunt Pam met me at Hobby airport, and soon I was playing proxy phone answerer while trying to navigate the most ridiculously laid out set of wannabe highways and tollroads I've ever seen. we made it to a neighborhood in southwest Houston in her hearse-like rental car and she escorted me inside a simple, single story house.
to recap, this house belonged to my great aunt Joyce and her husband Stan, and their son (my cousin once removed I think?) Craig. it's a long story, but suffice it to say they all died earlier this year, and I never had the chance to meet any of them. my Aunt Pam, who is my mom's sister, was Joyce's niece and Craig's cousin, and she is the executor of all their wills. as such, she has a house to deal with, so I joined her for a long weekend to help out.
the house was, for lack of a better descriptor, shmutzy and rather full of stuff but not nightmareishly so. for one thing, there was framed artwork everywhere. it turns out that both Joyce and Craig were artists. Joyce's brother Miner, my grandfather who died when my mom was in college, was also an artist, as well as an Episcopal priest later in life. no real sciencey-ness from that side of the family as far as I can tell, so this whole experience was very interesting in a "put my life in perspective" sense.
anyway, that first night we went to pick up a 17-foot U-haul truck. I really don't understand Houston's streets. there are these weird roads that parallel the highways, at least sometimes, and they're referred to as "feeders," but they're also roads in their own right, and often instead of names they get numbers that are prefixed with "FM." bzzzzt, I'm sorry, FM is a radio station, not a wannabe road. pffft. let's just say that we never really got lost, but trying to follow Aunt Pam through nighttime, unfamiliar Houston streets in a U-haul I haven't gotten used to yet was not the most fun experience of my life.
by now it was way past dinnertime, but this is how Aunt Pam and I operate. we have "Linwood time," which is anywhere from 15-45ish minutes later than "real time," and we forget to eat meals until it's no longer traditional meal-eating times and we say we're going to get up in the morning and be productive and then we putter around instead. it's good to know I'm not alone, even if I am crazy. :) we ate dinner on Friday at Pappadeaux, which is pronounced "papa-do," but it's all cajun and snazzy so they need extra letters. it was good.
Saturday was load the truck with furniture day. one perk of this weird situation is I'm getting a few more pieces of "free" furniture. we soon learned that we didn't really need the full 17 foot truck, but it made loading it a lot easier and less stressful than if we'd had to tetris everything into a smaller space. we learned that we both suck at tying knots, which is why we had other helpful people come over to help us load things. I wrapped lots of stuff with magic green cellophane U-haul wrap. everyone who helped was so kind and friendly, but in a very Texan way that I never had really experienced before. I guess I always assumed that people from Texas were like people from Mississippi in their southern-ness, only more obnoxious. but that's really not it at all. they're genuinely hospitable, just with a very all-encompassing "let me bring you a chicken dinner" kind of way. I realize that sounds blatantly stereotypical, and for what it's worth I explained it much better to Aunt Pam a week ago.
Sunday was finish loading the truck FOR REALS day. we certainly didn't clean out the house - there will be an estate sale for that. the whole process was odd, really, because there we were walking through someone else's house, looking around with an eye toward "do I want to own this item?" from tables to a TV to silverware to CDs (and hundreds of records!) to Christmas ornaments to receipts dating back to the 1950s, they had everything. imagine if *you* died and your closest family member had to deal with all your stuff. it's a weird thing, death is a weird thing, but really life going on for the rest of us is the weirdest thing of all.
anyway. we were going to leave midday Sunday, so of course we managed to get out by 4pm or thereabouts. and then we had to (a) get lost trying to get on the damn tollway, (b) return Pam's rental car at the airport, (c) meet up with a friend of mine I hadn't seen since high school at a McDonald's - this was fantastic!, (d) make it to Denton, north of Dallas, to a hotel we had a reservation at. then I learned after the fact that another high school friend was in Denton at the very same time. it is a damn small world.
on Sunday night, we accidentally stayed up until 2am, and then we didn't check out until the last minute at 11am on Monday morning, and then we had to rearrange a couple of things in the back of the truck that had slid around due to our atrocious knot tying skills. I am happy to report that we drove out on Monday morning - it was 11:59am. :)
we made it into Kansas City (Missouri, actually, not Kansas - technically it's in both states but my Aunt lives in the Missouri part) that night. I did most of the driving, which wasn't half bad once you got over the lack of cruise control. we went through Oklahoma, of course, which was OK. (sorry, I had to do it.) ate a late lunch at Braum's, which is Oklahoma's version of Dairy Queen, only with real ice cream and therefore yummier! we hit pretty serious rain and wind in the evening, but the wipers worked fine and the truck didn't handle much differently than the Previa in wind gusts, so it really wasn't a big deal. pulling into Aunt Pam's 100-year-old neighborhood on a one way street late at night was a slightly bigger deal.
Tuesday morning, after becoming well acquainted with Aunt Pam's fantastic kitties and my not so fantastic newfound cat allergies (see my facebook note for details if you're interested), we unloaded the truck with help from two of Aunt Pam's ex-boyfriends. my future belongings went into a special area of her creepy-cricket-infested basement, and everything else went wherever it kind of fit. we collapsed for a while. we ate lunch in the restaurant district that is literally a block from her house - there are at least a dozen delicious, varied, and cute restaurants within walking distance from her house. we went to a newly opened Thai place - it was no Thai Tom but it was tasty. we lounged around her house for a while. we returned the truck, which wasn't too painful. (total U- and 3+ point- turns executed during the entire trip: at least 4.) and we had dinner at Pam's friend's Beth's house which was both delightful and delicious.
Wednesday morning I got up at 4:30am Pacific time, flew back to San Diego, did some homework, went to orchestra rehearsal, came home and crashed. on Thursday I did more work and went to class, and on Friday I was only semi productive but Mike and I went to see the new Bond movie which was a fun date night but I definitely liked Casino Royale better. (though it was more than worth it to see the preview for the Star Trek Movie!! May 8 2009!!)
the last two days, Saturday and Sunday, Mike and I spent largely up at Camp Stevens, the Episcopal camp owned by the Dioceses of LA and San Diego. I have a lot to say about this, too, and it has filled me with ideas for Camp Cross, but I think I've rambled on plenty for now.
OH!! and I almost forgot. back in the real world of things going on that everyone cares about, I could not be HAPPIER that Obama won the election! what a memorable, historic moment. I feel truly proud to be an American for probably the first time ever. I tend to roll my eyes at patriotism, but this is the stuff that our country, our nation, hell, that humanity needs. but the fantastic largely pro-Obama election party I attended was marred somewhat by the apparent passage of Proposition 8. I am amazed how difficult it is for people to simply love one another, and to listen and accept one another, and to have open minds and open hearts. but, Obama's election is a huge stride in the right direction.
on that note, to bed. more later.
we'll begin on Friday, November 7. I flew to Houston. Aunt Pam met me at Hobby airport, and soon I was playing proxy phone answerer while trying to navigate the most ridiculously laid out set of wannabe highways and tollroads I've ever seen. we made it to a neighborhood in southwest Houston in her hearse-like rental car and she escorted me inside a simple, single story house.
to recap, this house belonged to my great aunt Joyce and her husband Stan, and their son (my cousin once removed I think?) Craig. it's a long story, but suffice it to say they all died earlier this year, and I never had the chance to meet any of them. my Aunt Pam, who is my mom's sister, was Joyce's niece and Craig's cousin, and she is the executor of all their wills. as such, she has a house to deal with, so I joined her for a long weekend to help out.
the house was, for lack of a better descriptor, shmutzy and rather full of stuff but not nightmareishly so. for one thing, there was framed artwork everywhere. it turns out that both Joyce and Craig were artists. Joyce's brother Miner, my grandfather who died when my mom was in college, was also an artist, as well as an Episcopal priest later in life. no real sciencey-ness from that side of the family as far as I can tell, so this whole experience was very interesting in a "put my life in perspective" sense.
anyway, that first night we went to pick up a 17-foot U-haul truck. I really don't understand Houston's streets. there are these weird roads that parallel the highways, at least sometimes, and they're referred to as "feeders," but they're also roads in their own right, and often instead of names they get numbers that are prefixed with "FM." bzzzzt, I'm sorry, FM is a radio station, not a wannabe road. pffft. let's just say that we never really got lost, but trying to follow Aunt Pam through nighttime, unfamiliar Houston streets in a U-haul I haven't gotten used to yet was not the most fun experience of my life.
by now it was way past dinnertime, but this is how Aunt Pam and I operate. we have "Linwood time," which is anywhere from 15-45ish minutes later than "real time," and we forget to eat meals until it's no longer traditional meal-eating times and we say we're going to get up in the morning and be productive and then we putter around instead. it's good to know I'm not alone, even if I am crazy. :) we ate dinner on Friday at Pappadeaux, which is pronounced "papa-do," but it's all cajun and snazzy so they need extra letters. it was good.
Saturday was load the truck with furniture day. one perk of this weird situation is I'm getting a few more pieces of "free" furniture. we soon learned that we didn't really need the full 17 foot truck, but it made loading it a lot easier and less stressful than if we'd had to tetris everything into a smaller space. we learned that we both suck at tying knots, which is why we had other helpful people come over to help us load things. I wrapped lots of stuff with magic green cellophane U-haul wrap. everyone who helped was so kind and friendly, but in a very Texan way that I never had really experienced before. I guess I always assumed that people from Texas were like people from Mississippi in their southern-ness, only more obnoxious. but that's really not it at all. they're genuinely hospitable, just with a very all-encompassing "let me bring you a chicken dinner" kind of way. I realize that sounds blatantly stereotypical, and for what it's worth I explained it much better to Aunt Pam a week ago.
Sunday was finish loading the truck FOR REALS day. we certainly didn't clean out the house - there will be an estate sale for that. the whole process was odd, really, because there we were walking through someone else's house, looking around with an eye toward "do I want to own this item?" from tables to a TV to silverware to CDs (and hundreds of records!) to Christmas ornaments to receipts dating back to the 1950s, they had everything. imagine if *you* died and your closest family member had to deal with all your stuff. it's a weird thing, death is a weird thing, but really life going on for the rest of us is the weirdest thing of all.
anyway. we were going to leave midday Sunday, so of course we managed to get out by 4pm or thereabouts. and then we had to (a) get lost trying to get on the damn tollway, (b) return Pam's rental car at the airport, (c) meet up with a friend of mine I hadn't seen since high school at a McDonald's - this was fantastic!, (d) make it to Denton, north of Dallas, to a hotel we had a reservation at. then I learned after the fact that another high school friend was in Denton at the very same time. it is a damn small world.
on Sunday night, we accidentally stayed up until 2am, and then we didn't check out until the last minute at 11am on Monday morning, and then we had to rearrange a couple of things in the back of the truck that had slid around due to our atrocious knot tying skills. I am happy to report that we drove out on Monday morning - it was 11:59am. :)
we made it into Kansas City (Missouri, actually, not Kansas - technically it's in both states but my Aunt lives in the Missouri part) that night. I did most of the driving, which wasn't half bad once you got over the lack of cruise control. we went through Oklahoma, of course, which was OK. (sorry, I had to do it.) ate a late lunch at Braum's, which is Oklahoma's version of Dairy Queen, only with real ice cream and therefore yummier! we hit pretty serious rain and wind in the evening, but the wipers worked fine and the truck didn't handle much differently than the Previa in wind gusts, so it really wasn't a big deal. pulling into Aunt Pam's 100-year-old neighborhood on a one way street late at night was a slightly bigger deal.
Tuesday morning, after becoming well acquainted with Aunt Pam's fantastic kitties and my not so fantastic newfound cat allergies (see my facebook note for details if you're interested), we unloaded the truck with help from two of Aunt Pam's ex-boyfriends. my future belongings went into a special area of her creepy-cricket-infested basement, and everything else went wherever it kind of fit. we collapsed for a while. we ate lunch in the restaurant district that is literally a block from her house - there are at least a dozen delicious, varied, and cute restaurants within walking distance from her house. we went to a newly opened Thai place - it was no Thai Tom but it was tasty. we lounged around her house for a while. we returned the truck, which wasn't too painful. (total U- and 3+ point- turns executed during the entire trip: at least 4.) and we had dinner at Pam's friend's Beth's house which was both delightful and delicious.
Wednesday morning I got up at 4:30am Pacific time, flew back to San Diego, did some homework, went to orchestra rehearsal, came home and crashed. on Thursday I did more work and went to class, and on Friday I was only semi productive but Mike and I went to see the new Bond movie which was a fun date night but I definitely liked Casino Royale better. (though it was more than worth it to see the preview for the Star Trek Movie!! May 8 2009!!)
the last two days, Saturday and Sunday, Mike and I spent largely up at Camp Stevens, the Episcopal camp owned by the Dioceses of LA and San Diego. I have a lot to say about this, too, and it has filled me with ideas for Camp Cross, but I think I've rambled on plenty for now.
OH!! and I almost forgot. back in the real world of things going on that everyone cares about, I could not be HAPPIER that Obama won the election! what a memorable, historic moment. I feel truly proud to be an American for probably the first time ever. I tend to roll my eyes at patriotism, but this is the stuff that our country, our nation, hell, that humanity needs. but the fantastic largely pro-Obama election party I attended was marred somewhat by the apparent passage of Proposition 8. I am amazed how difficult it is for people to simply love one another, and to listen and accept one another, and to have open minds and open hearts. but, Obama's election is a huge stride in the right direction.
on that note, to bed. more later.