Back on the chain gang
Woke up this morning to my cell going off at 6:36am.... "Hi, Rebecca? This is Officer Mitchell." First reaction: I didn't do it! Apparently he thoguht I was BACK in washingtong and D.C. at that.... apparently when I left him a detailed not about WHY I was contacting him he didn't READ it. I am really getting tired of busting ym ass and people not listening. but we'll save that for another post. Bottom line- he's in; and he's head chairman for Amberly's Place so that will expedite the hearing back from them process. Now i just need to get ahold of the SafeHouse people (who are annoyed with my constant calls) and Geoff and I should be okay.
Work aside, I am back from S.V... To quote a dirty hippie, "what a long strange trip." I'll try to keep it short since I'm sure no one is dying of interest.
First, cast of characters:
Pat and Jim- my firends, aka The Parents
Justin- the oldest son
Jessica-the duaghter
Jerry- jess' husband
Wesley- the youngest son
Left Yuma at 8:46am, was running late and afraid I wouldn't make it there by 2 (Mapquest said 5:16 w/o traffic) So I take off, lots of caffeine and as I realized later, no water. that was smart. lol I decided to be really nice to myself and drive with the a/c on the whole way. I felt kinda lazy running it but only because I assume 110 degree heat should be subdued by a rolled down window. Anyway, I started sweatign and realized "Oh right. I have this air thingy.." It was so driving out past Wellton. It's not some place one goes very often and I remembered every single thing that happened the last time I went out that way. It was ... interesting. I digress.
Jumped the 8 to the 10 and found nothingville USA for about 200 miles. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life. I ust be crazy. I never relized how many saguaros are in maricopa county. I really regretted nto bringing my tape recorder to capture poetic inspiration. So anyway, I'm about 58 miles outside Casa Grabde my cell rings... it's lexann! (I met her and Pat up in Vancouver about 2 months before I left Joe. We hung out for hte day, ate shopped, it was a blast. anyway haven't seen Lexann since) So she says "I got a flat tire and Pat said you might be able to give me a ride. Have you passed Gila Bend yet? (I love how that shithole town is still the focal point of all driving directions in the state) lol
So roughly an hour later I pick her up (right about the time I was starting to get white line fever. btw thanks Lilo for talking to me and Jon for the silly frog joke. With the heat and nothign to look at I was starting to get sleepy) So we ride the rest of the way to SV (for those who don't know, Tucson is roughly 4 hours East of Yuma and Sierra Vista, about 1.5 hours East of Tucson, right near the state border) We arrive at 1:27 and are more than half an hour early. Jim immediately starts giving me crap asking how fast I was going because there's NO WAY we did 75. I had to call three different peopel to let them know I made it safely (made me feel liek I was 13... lol) thenPat took me into the bedrooma nd gave me TONS of presents! I love them. every time I see those guys it's liek Christmas.... beckie style. She got me a magnetic ribbon for my car that says "Cultivate Peace" and a matching Blue bracelet (liek teh livestrong ones) for thehungersite.com and a white tank top with a purple dove and the word Peace witten underneath in purple (also from the site) So that rocked. and then there was this blanket... oh my. I think it's replaced the super awesome hippe flowe rone Jon's folks bought me for christmas (which is now threadbare in some spots)... it's fleece.... tye dyed how freaking awesome is that? And it's about a foot longer than my flower blanket so it covers me perfectly.
So then pat come up to me and says "Just to warn you Justin is here" All details will be saved for another post.
The shower was SO MUCH FUN! Aunt Irma and Uncle Murray and Grandma Lil (pat's mom) were there. Grandma came up to me and said "I know you. where have I seen you before?" and I said "it's been about five years." Pat said "Mom, this is Becky, you remember becky" and she did the HOLY CRAP double take and grabbed me and sqqueezed me and kissed me and so on. She's a cool lady.
After the shower and the cleanup everyoen just sort of sat around, oh and Jessica LOVED the blanket I made. it didnt' come out NEARLY as nice as I wanted it to but if she loved it that much in the state it was given that means a lot because you could see all the mistakes. I'm still pretty impressed considering how quickly I was able to make it. The damn fabric just stretches so easily and fuzz gets caught in the bobbin case and no one cares about my sewing machine.
So Justin comes ina dn wants to talk, we go outside, an hour later Jim comes out to tell us everyone is going ot dinner if we'd like to join. Went to Delio's, the famous local italian restaurant. I went there the last tiem I was in town. They introdeuced me to Jerry, the owner (not to be confused with Jessica's husband though) and he put his arm around me like family and said to order the pasta florence and if I didn't like it he'd give me anythign I wanted. So when the waitress showed up to take our order I said "I was told if I didnt' liek the pasta florence i could have a pony" everyone at the table cracked up.
Jim and I sort of isolated ourselves at the table and talke dmusic the whole meal. It was a blast. Justin got mad when I took his elbows off the table. Pat laughed. Wesley was at work so he couldn't join us. The food was amazing and Jerry gave me a Delio's mug. Oh, and when I ordered a chammomile tea hte waitress stared at me and said "uh... what's that?" it was hilarious.
After dinner I offered to drive Justin back to Bisbee (an hour drive round trip) Pat and Jim both pulle dme aside (separately and together!) several times to ask if I was sure it was a good idea and if I was sure I was okay with that etc.
Came home from Bisbee around 11 and talked with Pat and Jim until 1am. They said wesley had wanted to talk with me the next morning so (on the drive home) i told him he could wake me up when he got up.... which happened to be 7am! ugh. We talked music until Pat and Jim woke up and were ready to go to breakfast (thsi family lives and breathes music and ballet and the 60's. I love it) The four of us went out for bagels (I had a whole wheat w/veggie cream cheese AND hot lemon spice tea then we all split som fresh peach pie) talked MORE music then we went bakc to the house(Pat and Jim told me to take my car and Wes to ride with me. I suspect to give us time alone) He's such a sweet kid (and cute!) I can't believe he's 18 already.
So I packed my stuff into the car, Jim gave me MORE presents... a giant honky ton belt buckle from, SV (inside joke) Pat gave me some tye dye candles ( brought her cinnamon incense and she loved it) :D Then Jim gave me the Holy Grail... FORTY FOUR albums (inlcuding Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock) I won't list them all her ebut it's enough to send me to hippie heaven. I could literally make it all the way back to bellingham JUST on his bag of goodies.. and apparently that was the plan. lol :D Then he gave me thsi book... I swear it's gotta be older than me. it's called "Hippie" and basicaly chronicle shte entire counter culture from '65-'71 with pictures and stories and so much awesomeness i can't even describe it! I told Pat I was going to go back to bellingham smelling like so much incense and blasting hippie music covered in so much tye dye that Jon wasn't gonna want me back. lol
I came back an hour ahead of schedule "doing the limit"... *ahem* and realized life is far too boring without those guys. I'm so serious I think I was born to the wrong parents. You put us side beside and we just look liek we belong. It's awesome. Esp because none of their kids are hippies either. I've been tempted to move out there so many time sit's not even funny. I was so sad the leave their house. I think we did the whoel hugging and "I'm REALLY leavign now" thing about 7 times. :(
anyway, gotta go get dressed. some dork is knocking on my front door...
I leave 13 days. That is so utterly devastating. I have to start packing THAT, is terrifying. *gulp*
Dont' get me wrong, I'm excited to see all my friends in bellingham and all but for the first time in a lot of years, I found place where I belong. I'm goign to miss Arizona so much. (despite the incessant heat! I think I've had my fill of the 110+ temperature. The mid 80's is now "cold") *sigh* a part of me aches inside for many reasons.
Work aside, I am back from S.V... To quote a dirty hippie, "what a long strange trip." I'll try to keep it short since I'm sure no one is dying of interest.
First, cast of characters:
Pat and Jim- my firends, aka The Parents
Justin- the oldest son
Jessica-the duaghter
Jerry- jess' husband
Wesley- the youngest son
Left Yuma at 8:46am, was running late and afraid I wouldn't make it there by 2 (Mapquest said 5:16 w/o traffic) So I take off, lots of caffeine and as I realized later, no water. that was smart. lol I decided to be really nice to myself and drive with the a/c on the whole way. I felt kinda lazy running it but only because I assume 110 degree heat should be subdued by a rolled down window. Anyway, I started sweatign and realized "Oh right. I have this air thingy.." It was so driving out past Wellton. It's not some place one goes very often and I remembered every single thing that happened the last time I went out that way. It was ... interesting. I digress.
Jumped the 8 to the 10 and found nothingville USA for about 200 miles. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life. I ust be crazy. I never relized how many saguaros are in maricopa county. I really regretted nto bringing my tape recorder to capture poetic inspiration. So anyway, I'm about 58 miles outside Casa Grabde my cell rings... it's lexann! (I met her and Pat up in Vancouver about 2 months before I left Joe. We hung out for hte day, ate shopped, it was a blast. anyway haven't seen Lexann since) So she says "I got a flat tire and Pat said you might be able to give me a ride. Have you passed Gila Bend yet? (I love how that shithole town is still the focal point of all driving directions in the state) lol
So roughly an hour later I pick her up (right about the time I was starting to get white line fever. btw thanks Lilo for talking to me and Jon for the silly frog joke. With the heat and nothign to look at I was starting to get sleepy) So we ride the rest of the way to SV (for those who don't know, Tucson is roughly 4 hours East of Yuma and Sierra Vista, about 1.5 hours East of Tucson, right near the state border) We arrive at 1:27 and are more than half an hour early. Jim immediately starts giving me crap asking how fast I was going because there's NO WAY we did 75. I had to call three different peopel to let them know I made it safely (made me feel liek I was 13... lol) thenPat took me into the bedrooma nd gave me TONS of presents! I love them. every time I see those guys it's liek Christmas.... beckie style. She got me a magnetic ribbon for my car that says "Cultivate Peace" and a matching Blue bracelet (liek teh livestrong ones) for thehungersite.com and a white tank top with a purple dove and the word Peace witten underneath in purple (also from the site) So that rocked. and then there was this blanket... oh my. I think it's replaced the super awesome hippe flowe rone Jon's folks bought me for christmas (which is now threadbare in some spots)... it's fleece.... tye dyed how freaking awesome is that? And it's about a foot longer than my flower blanket so it covers me perfectly.
So then pat come up to me and says "Just to warn you Justin is here" All details will be saved for another post.
The shower was SO MUCH FUN! Aunt Irma and Uncle Murray and Grandma Lil (pat's mom) were there. Grandma came up to me and said "I know you. where have I seen you before?" and I said "it's been about five years." Pat said "Mom, this is Becky, you remember becky" and she did the HOLY CRAP double take and grabbed me and sqqueezed me and kissed me and so on. She's a cool lady.
After the shower and the cleanup everyoen just sort of sat around, oh and Jessica LOVED the blanket I made. it didnt' come out NEARLY as nice as I wanted it to but if she loved it that much in the state it was given that means a lot because you could see all the mistakes. I'm still pretty impressed considering how quickly I was able to make it. The damn fabric just stretches so easily and fuzz gets caught in the bobbin case and no one cares about my sewing machine.
So Justin comes ina dn wants to talk, we go outside, an hour later Jim comes out to tell us everyone is going ot dinner if we'd like to join. Went to Delio's, the famous local italian restaurant. I went there the last tiem I was in town. They introdeuced me to Jerry, the owner (not to be confused with Jessica's husband though) and he put his arm around me like family and said to order the pasta florence and if I didn't like it he'd give me anythign I wanted. So when the waitress showed up to take our order I said "I was told if I didnt' liek the pasta florence i could have a pony" everyone at the table cracked up.
Jim and I sort of isolated ourselves at the table and talke dmusic the whole meal. It was a blast. Justin got mad when I took his elbows off the table. Pat laughed. Wesley was at work so he couldn't join us. The food was amazing and Jerry gave me a Delio's mug. Oh, and when I ordered a chammomile tea hte waitress stared at me and said "uh... what's that?" it was hilarious.
After dinner I offered to drive Justin back to Bisbee (an hour drive round trip) Pat and Jim both pulle dme aside (separately and together!) several times to ask if I was sure it was a good idea and if I was sure I was okay with that etc.
Came home from Bisbee around 11 and talked with Pat and Jim until 1am. They said wesley had wanted to talk with me the next morning so (on the drive home) i told him he could wake me up when he got up.... which happened to be 7am! ugh. We talked music until Pat and Jim woke up and were ready to go to breakfast (thsi family lives and breathes music and ballet and the 60's. I love it) The four of us went out for bagels (I had a whole wheat w/veggie cream cheese AND hot lemon spice tea then we all split som fresh peach pie) talked MORE music then we went bakc to the house(Pat and Jim told me to take my car and Wes to ride with me. I suspect to give us time alone) He's such a sweet kid (and cute!) I can't believe he's 18 already.
So I packed my stuff into the car, Jim gave me MORE presents... a giant honky ton belt buckle from, SV (inside joke) Pat gave me some tye dye candles ( brought her cinnamon incense and she loved it) :D Then Jim gave me the Holy Grail... FORTY FOUR albums (inlcuding Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock) I won't list them all her ebut it's enough to send me to hippie heaven. I could literally make it all the way back to bellingham JUST on his bag of goodies.. and apparently that was the plan. lol :D Then he gave me thsi book... I swear it's gotta be older than me. it's called "Hippie" and basicaly chronicle shte entire counter culture from '65-'71 with pictures and stories and so much awesomeness i can't even describe it! I told Pat I was going to go back to bellingham smelling like so much incense and blasting hippie music covered in so much tye dye that Jon wasn't gonna want me back. lol
I came back an hour ahead of schedule "doing the limit"... *ahem* and realized life is far too boring without those guys. I'm so serious I think I was born to the wrong parents. You put us side beside and we just look liek we belong. It's awesome. Esp because none of their kids are hippies either. I've been tempted to move out there so many time sit's not even funny. I was so sad the leave their house. I think we did the whoel hugging and "I'm REALLY leavign now" thing about 7 times. :(
anyway, gotta go get dressed. some dork is knocking on my front door...
I leave 13 days. That is so utterly devastating. I have to start packing THAT, is terrifying. *gulp*
Dont' get me wrong, I'm excited to see all my friends in bellingham and all but for the first time in a lot of years, I found place where I belong. I'm goign to miss Arizona so much. (despite the incessant heat! I think I've had my fill of the 110+ temperature. The mid 80's is now "cold") *sigh* a part of me aches inside for many reasons.