My Trip, Volume VI
2003-11-04 at 10:34 a.m.
I can�t believe how much they�ve done on our house! The entire upstairs is drywalled! Even without carpet or lights, it still seems more like home than this apartment does. I can�t wait to move in and feel like I�m �rooted� somewhere. I have all kinds of decorating plans - depending on how much I�ll be able to afford right off the bat. We�ll have a month with no house payment, of course, but we�ll need that extra money to buy a refrigerator and new mat-tresses. I�m going to do things a room at a time, so that it gets done correctly. If anything happens to stand in the way of this... I don�t know what I�ll do.
Anyway, I really need to wrap up the details of this trip. Before I know it, it�ll be time for my next trip and I won�t have finished writing about this past one.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 21st:
I had difficulty falling asleep last night. I was worried about Lar-ry. He seldom gets sick and even more seldom sees a doctor, so if he felt the need to schedule an appointment, I know it must be serious. I guess I feared the worst and worked myself into a panic that would later prove to be unwarranted.
Last night at dinner (Lar-ry had the pot roast and I had the southwest chicken wrap), I could tell Lar-ry was preoccupied. After we ate, he said he was tired and wanted to go home. This is totally uncharacteristic. Normally, we�d go close down a Starbucks or Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, drinking mocha valencias. So as requested, I dropped him off at home, kissed him good night and came back to the condo to watch TV with mom for awhile.
Today mom and I went to Do-rothy�s for breakfast. Do-rothy�s is the greatest restaurant on earth. It�s a grubby little hole in the wall with bad decorating and the best salsa north of Mexico. Supposedly, the most integral ingredient of this salsa is V-8, but beyond that, the recipe is top secret.
After we ate, mom and I walked down the block to discover that they�re building townhouses behind the restaurant . I can�t remember what was there prior to this development. Shops, maybe? It�s in the older part of town in an area that�s undergoing revitalization. These places are so small, I can't see how you'd ever fit furniture in them. And for the bargain price of $400,000!! Since we were within blocks of my old house, naturally we drove past.
Oh.
My.
God.
The house looks like utter and complete SHIT!! Since we sold the place in 1993, it�s gone progressively downhill. Today, it was at its worst. I bet the neighbors would love to have us back. We kept the place clean, neat and in good repair. It�s sickening what they�ve done to it.
We walked through Big Lots and Michael�s, then Lar-ry called and said it was time for his appointment. I dropped mom off at home and waited for Lar-ry to arrive.
He was driving his 1964 Valiant that he bought from his dad and restored. We drove with the top down. Alot of people gave him the �thumbs up� as we drove past. I guess people appreciate older vehicles. Makes me wish my Chevelle was still on the road. Now, that�s a bitchin� car.
The doctor�s office was packed with people. It wasn�t until I got there that I realized the possibility of catching something just in time to get on an airplane and fly home. Oh well... this was for Lar-ry. We sat and waited and I reassured him that everything was fine. I shared my own experience with one of the problems from which he�s been suffering. I hope he knows I�d do anything for him.
For as busy as it was in there, people were at least getting in and out quickly. Lar-ry was called in and came out within 15 minutes or so. The pain in his hip was his sacroiliac and is a common ailment for people who walk alot, as he does. The doctor pointed him in the right direction for his other issues, too.
We went to Long�s to fill Lar-ry�s prescription for Ibuprofen to take as needed for his hip pain. I won�t go into the details (aren�t you glad) of "The Filling of the Prescript" novel. Suffice it to say, it was frustrating and I was majorly pissed. While we waited, we walked over to Starbuck�s and had coffee. I paid using my gift card from M and S. I got a mocha coconut and it was so sweet, I couldn�t finish it. It was nice to sit with Lar-ry like old times. I wish I could do that every day.
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After this day, I stopped keeping my journal. The rest of the week went much the same. Mom and I shopped and ate like lumberjacks. One night, we went to Baker�s Square and had the artichoke chicken. It was written on the board as a special, but someone erased the �arti�, leaving only �choke chicken� remaining. Mom and I laughed like pre-teens at that one. And no, we weren�t the ones who erased it. I swore that if I ever opened a restaurant, I would have a dish called, �Artichoke Your Chicken�. I so emma-cher!
On Wednesday, we had originally planned that Dj and Heat-her were going to come up and see me. Tuesday, Heat-her called to say they wouldn�t be able to come, but that they wanted me to go there. Well, normally I love to go into the valley. I used to live there and I enjoy going there. Well, the fires had started and driving was grueling. There were road closures and the traffic was unbearable. It was over 100 degrees that day in the valley and I didn�t like the thought of leaving my mom alone in the condo while I took her car for the day. (Although, knowing my mom she would have encouraged me to go - she just wanted me to have a good time. I didn�t feel right about it, though.) So I told Heat-her I would have to see them next time. The shit hit the fan and Heat-her hasn�t spoken to me since. Oh well. Funny how Dj was the excuse Heat-her used for not coming up (she said Dj didn�t want to take all three of her kids that far), but Dj was the one who understood about my not going to them. I feel like I�ve spent so much of my life worrying about what others think and trying to make everyone happy. I think I need to start being more selfish. I think I�ll start by not telling anyone about my next trip to CA.
Gotta run - we�re choosing our flooring for the house after I drop J off at school! Yay!
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I�m wearing: peach stretchy top, denim shortalls
I�m listening to: �Stacy�s Mom� by Fountains of Wayne
I�m eating/drinking: carrot sticks with dill dip
Current weather conditions in St. Charles, MO: cloudy and 70 degrees, with spot showers