Busy bullet points – The Reluctant Grownup

Shortly after my last post, I billed almost 50 hours in 3.5 days and then flew to North Carolina for a quick trip to see the sis, see the niece, and play a reunion show with the old band. It was a 48 hour trip – I left NOLA at 5am Thursday and hopped a plane in North Carolina at about the same time Saturday. A few snapshots:
- The sis and the beab picked me up in their brand new minivan, and then we grabbed Jason’s Deli for lunch. I chased Hannah around the restaurant some, and she was much more willing to be separated from her mom than last time I saw her. There were even smiles while she was in my arms!
- Cold cut sandwiches packed snugly in our paper sack o’ goodness, we headed home to their sprawling suburban palace, where the sis and I worked remotely the rest of that afternoon from our perch on the screened in back porch, while Hannah toddled and her daddy worked on website designs. It’s chillier by far in NC than in LA, with warm days but brisker nights and weekends, and it was incredibly pleasant to wrap up in a sweater and write briefs with a glass of iced tea on the porch.
- That evening, we headed to Target where they bought some Halloween decorations for their new house and I bought Hannah her first birthday present (sparkly purple shoes!). Then we ordered the entire menu at an Indian place and had a leisurely meal, feeding Hannah bits of the less-spicy curry, which she loudly demanded whenever her mouth was empty. We closed the place down, and then went home and immediately fell asleep on the couch.
- The next morning, the sis had to work in her office, and I had to work some as well. I wrote briefs from my bed, again enjoying the novelty of billing hours in a new place at least (ideally I’d have taken the whole day off, but deadlines loomed . . .) I turned in my stuff, took a shower, hailed an uber, and headed out to a band friend’s to practice for the evening. We queued up our old band recordings, and he fiddled along while I tried to recall all the words – some I know cold, some I needed reminding. Then I put on my cowboy boots and he, his wife, and I headed downtown for sound check.
- We sound checked at the small venue, then had a BBQ meal at the train-car shaped restaurant next door. The sis, her hub, and Hannah joined us for dinner, and Hannah crawled all over everyone and charmed the whole restaurant with her prodigal walking (she started walking pretty early, 10 months or so, and so people always coo to see her walking since she’s so small). Then they said their good-byes and took the peanut home for bed, and I went in to do the show.
- The show was great. These guys are all still playing, mostly together, though on different instruments in different bands. They’d played together as this band, however, for ten years, and so the performance was a mix of strong musical chops and instincts, muscle memory for the old songs, and very little practice. It made it all loose and fun, in my opinion, and I beat the hell out of my leg with the tambourine and sang the mostly-right lyrics and had a blast. We had some old “groupies” come and make requests, which we more or less were able to bust out, and I caught up with old friends. I didn’t even mind my 4 am wakeup the next day to catch an early flight.
I was in a rush to get home for a couple of reasons – first, the big boys had a campout with the Cub Scouts and I had to get home and watch the littlest boy. Second, rarely like being gone long, because it puts me so behind in life. My weekends are not resting time – I have to do the laundry and the toilets and the shopping and all of this. It just really sets me on a road to panic for the rest of the week if I lose much of my “domestic chore” time – I feel better if I can be here.
The boys had a great campout with their dad – slept just fine. Meanwhile, Craig and I hung out together. I remember him doing so many cute things that I meant to write down because I knew I’d lose them, but I didn’t write them down . . . and of course they’re gone now. This is why I still write on this blog – so many of these memories would be lost forever if I didn’t write them down, and while I know I can’t hold it all, I do like holding onto the special stuff.
The next week was a blur of work as usual, though it’s finally somewhat slowing down. On Friday evening, we celebrated our tenth anniversary. We had delicious French food at a local place, and the Prof gave me my gift – he’d arranged for a trip to the place we honeymooned on St. John! We don’t normally do gifts, just a fancy dinner, but for double digits . . . it seemed time for something special. I, on the other hand, bought him a handmade artwork off etsy – you tell the artist 10-12 cities important to you, and she snips them out of old maps and shapes them into a heart. It looks really good. He loved it. (For context, just know that the Prof is kind of weirdly obsessed with maps. I say that with affection.)
Saturday, the Prof and our neighbor built most of our backyard shed. At last I was able to get the weedeater out of my living room, where it has been sitting all this time. That evening, we went across the street to carve pumpkins in the neighbor’s driveway. It’s fenced, so the kids and dogs ran free, and we had a great time. Sunday morning, we packed the shed tight and cleaned the living room, then headed to another friend’s place for Po-Boy Fest. One fried chicken thigh and pepper jelly po-boy and one catfish meuniere po-boy later, we walked down the street from the friend’s house to the boys’ school, which was smack in the middle of po-boy fest. The kids danced to music on the basketball court, we chatted with friends and drank cheap beer, and everyone had a great time. Then we headed home for more food and friends – dear friends of ours came over for grilled burgers and pasta salad, and oohed and aahed over our freshly de-weed-eatered living room. (We still have a surplus table, as we had a kitchen and dining room eating area in our last house but have lost one of those in this house – so it’s still a bit odd and crammed in here, but we’re almost there.

Now it’s Thursday already. We’ve all got colds and I had to go get a sick kid from school today – hence the ability to post! – but it’s been a less hectic work week all around. My parents will be here this weekend to celebrate Halloween with us, which I’m looking forward to. It’s been a good week. Here’s hoping our colds stay mild, our Halloween stays awesome, and my parents’ travels here are safe.