My natural condition, indeed; 1980.
A bulleted day:
- I can’t resist asking, but do you all still wear things with giant shoulder pads? My good pants are of that vintage. So, in entries like the last one, I’m poking fun at my overt thriftiness while trying to keep myself at least half way stylish. Style matters to me. You say you like my style. I’m not trying to stay on the cusp of things like Bee or Ba, and I am unwilling to be a style slave, but I want to stay semi current for my own sense of me. 66 year old ladies who wear size 18’s, be grateful I’m down from 22, do look better when they make an effort every decade or so. Yes, I am laughing at myself. That’s how I make life work.
- I found a good packing list at One Bag that seems to suit. No random packing for me this year as I would like to be a little more comfortable in my one bag. One thing I am not doing is hand-washing underwear out in hotel sinks. The Army taught me to roll clothes, and I can get one pair of under pants packed for each day into a very small ziplock bag. Much better than washing stuff.
- Suitcases: We can carry on two bags each plus laptops and purses. The size allowed is 28x22x14. When I nervously sent G down to measure, we discovered mine was 23x10x14 and a ½ and his was 23x9x14 and that ½. Obviously we are well within the size allowed….plus the laptop bag and my leather traveling backpack….I call it my purse…..plus a bag for the pillows.
- Pillows? As a kid traveling across country by train, I used to feel so superior to the old folks I saw in coach with their own pillows. There I was the spoiled kid with her own roomette. Of course I never slept well because I couldn’t breathe right. I’d lie there with my window shade partially pulled up and my glasses wedged on my face watching a darkened world clickety clack by. Often I would wake when we would slowly pull into a lighted station….perhaps the lack of motion or noise would send me again to my window. Car lights glaring in as we slowly pulled by. The crossing bells clanging.
Today I have my own pillows. G’s flat one, and my lumpy allergy free thingy that seems to work well. Even if my sheets and covers are drenched in soap perfumes, my pillows smell like me. Heaven only knows how we will do on this trip, but we did fine on the last two tucking our faces into our own home smells and lumps. Really fine. - We’ve started packing. I haven’t printed the list out yet.
I read a bit of the One Bag list, and add to my pile. He reads his list and says, “Of course. We always take one of those.” Just cause I don’t remember it……my thinking wanders off on that one. Me: three pair of pants: dress-lined-black, levis, black cords….all stretch. Him: three pair of pants: one black dress, two levis. You can tell where the priority lies here.
No one is taking into account that I always spill food everywhere down my front which oozes onto my sides and sometimes even manages to seep under me. Will three pair of pants last eight days with my spillage factor? Sometimes laughter is the best defense. - Shoes. My most comfortable pair of shoes, above and beyond the Reeboks, are navy blue. I’m wearing black and browns this trip. Hello? Something’s missing here. I guess I need to yank all the shoes out of the closet and see if I still have that black pair I wore to Paris. Leather doesn’t leak in the rain.
- Shirts, shirts, bee-euuuu-tee-ful shirts: I sing as I dig into my closet. Ah, there’s that nice Ralphie sweater I got at Amvets….does it fit? Perfect with everything even over things and under things. Power layering out of Amvets via Ralphie and Jones. Isn’t it a shame those expensive labels fit me so well? My one aberration has been a Rose Madder, Land’s End, sweater set I got the last trip through Amvets. The truth is that Rose Madder isn’t brown or black and I shouldn’t bring the set with me. I’m just a sucker for the color. So there it hangs. Waiting.
- The Coat: I’ve shaved off a few scattered wool balls. I’ve looked diligently for labels above and beyond the large one at the collar: “Sears” it says. A little threadbare at the cuffs…I don’t mind. I’ve mended the lining where it was opened to remove just a little round bit. A mend was made somewhere. I’ve sewed on a marginal button. Replaced a stitch or two on a cuff. It fits perfectly everywhere. It even buttons. I don’t know if it is a man’s coat or a woman’s…but it fits my soul and body perfectly.
Maybe I can write a poem about packing. There’s that, you know.
Me: Monday: Still need to hose ash off newly greyed decks. Starting to pack. Write, library, and Duck today. Dinner Cherry glazed ham, Waldorf, corn bread. Simple.
Sunday: Plants watered, house picked up, new pleatless, non-wool but lined pants found at JCPennay’s at small cost on sale plus new silkie long-johns that aren’t shredded to bits……oh hurrah, visit Duck, and a careful grocery shopping done at the new Von’s…two stores in two old NTC buildings. I liked the whole thing especially the vastly bigger store and reuse of the old buildings. Some objected to the fact that they had to go through a courtyard to get to the other half of the store.
G: Cleaning out his computer. When he discovered that his giant HD was almost full, he put himself on a clean out this computer now routine. It’s been a week now, and he’s still deleting games.
Duck: He wasn’t at all functional or talkative. He sort of laid there and blinked at us. I checked, and he still has two sheets on his bed, and he did have clean clothes on.
Fires: One last fire is still burning. It’s now 85% contained. Check out the Firefighter Blog. And too see the articles in the San Diego Union/Tribune.
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