Monday, October 16, 2006
Unpacking
I'm home and Palm Springs (really, more like Palm Desert but they're all pretty much the same sprawling place, one town blending into the next in a series of housing developments/golf courses and strip malls), and even though I'm tired today, I'm feeling refreshed from having been on vacation. Not travelling with kids = more restful vacations. I feel like I don't need a vacation from my vacation, which is how I usually feel after travelling with kids.
So anyway, I'm back.
Not tanned, but relaxed. The house we stayed in belonged to my friend Caroline's in-laws. They winter there. (Yes, I know people - sort of - who own expensive and luxurious homes in which to live depending on the season. A different league of living than me completely). Anyway, the house was gorgeous. Stunning. But very comfortable. It was a 1-level home right on the golf course with 15-ft ceilings and top-of-the-line everything. The mother-in-law used to own an antique shop and has excellent taste, so the place was decorated beautifully in an old European style that reminded me of Tuscany. (Not that I've ever been to Tuscany, but I've seen pictures in magazines. I'm cool like that.) And as great as the house was, the patio was even better. Picture-perfect is how I would describe it. A lovely covered patio with a fan turning lazily overhead overlooking a gorgeous pool with a shallow sundeck at one end with holes stragetically placed on the pool floor for sun umbrellas. It was a very curvy pool that wasn't very wide, but long. Not for laps but for pure fun and cooling off in the desert sun. At the other end from the sundeck was a raised spa that had rocks surrounding it, over which water gently cascaded down into the pool. So as you were outside overlooking the lush green of the golf course with the stunning moutains in the background you could hear the soft tinkling of the water into the pool. It couldn't have been nicer. Also? Just to complete it's perfection? There was a cool little outdoor firepit for the coolish winter evenings. It was straight out of Architectural Digest, I swear.
Our activities were mellow but fun. Shopping consummed the majority of our first full day in Palm Desert. And wouldn't you know that just when there wasn't something specific I was looking for, I found a ton of stuff I really liked?? Of course, I didn't so much like the prices... yikes! Plus sales tax. Oregon doesn't have a sales tax, for those of you who didn't know. So I find it really hard to buy stuff in other states when it's something I could get at home and not pay sales tax. But it was fun to window shop and just chat while we wandered in and out of high end stores and boutiques. The one thing I was keeping an eye out for was some cute red shoes. Of course, I didn't find one pair of cute red shoes, but still - it was fun to look.
Dining was a treat because we didn't have to cook at all the entire time we were there. We went out for most of our meals, only keeping snacky sorts of foods at the house. THAT'S a big treat for me - eating out. We don't do that very much in our everyday life, so I was really looking forward to that. Pathetic, yes? The 2nd full day we ended up taking a 2-hr drive into the mountains to a small, cute town called Julian. We were meeting up with a friend of Caroline's who lives in San Diego, so Julian was as close to the middle as we could manage. Too bad it was miserable, cold rainy weather in Julian that day - just like it is today in Oregon. Drats! And, it was "Apple Days", so it was uber crowded with people from San Diego and LA who come to this little place each year. So we had to wait a little over a HOUR for a table for lunch, not getting seated until after 3pm. FOR LUNCH. Terrible. So we were famished and ate not only our lunches but also indulged in some tasty pies, for which Julian is especially known. We bought one to take back as a gift to the in-laws as a thank you.
We lounged, we hottubbed, we went to a movie. We went out for a cocktail after dinner. We talked and talked and talked some more. We tried to sleep in, but our mom-inner-clocks wouldn't let us. We didn't go out and party it up because there were just two of us and somebody had to drive. No fun to drink alone. So we bought stuff and drank together at the house. We sang (badly) to music not having anything to do with kids while in the car. We just stepped out of our daily lives and got a change of scenery. Exactly the point of the trip and exactly what we needed.
But the funniest part, at least for me, was randomly stumbling across the nightclub where I first met Mr. Chick 14.5 yrs ago. We both thought it was long gone, but we were mistaken. It was still there in all it's neon glory and thumpin' house music. It nice to know it's still around. The security guys at the door asked us if we were coming in and we laughed and said no, not tonight. Then I told them that I'd met my husband here 14 yrs prior, and the guy quipped, "well, maybe you'll meet your next husband in there tonight!". Ha!
So that was the good part. The bad part? While I was gone Lauren came down with croup. She had a really rough night which freaked Mr. Chick out and he ended up taking her into the pediatic urgent care. There is no medication for croup since it's viral - it just has to run it's course. They gave her a nebulizer treatment and a shot of steroids to help her. She's better, and Mr. Chick handled everything really, really well. But when he told me (really casually, which was strange) it was hard for me to be so far away and not there when one of the kids was sick. Other than that, things on the homefront went smoothly and it was like Disneyland here for the kids. Their Opa came to stay for most of the weekend to be with the kids while Mr. Chick went to work, and Opa took the kids to the zoo AND Chuck E. Cheese. Mr. Chick took them to a movie. They went out for pizza. It was kid heaven for them.
I guess we all got a vacation.
So now I need to unpack, my least favorite thing to do. I've been known not to unpack for over a week. I abhor unpacking. Packing I like. Packing is full of excited anticipation of the fun getaway ahead. Unpacking represents the opposite. It says "laundry" to me. Yuck. Even though I actually washed my dirty stuff in Palm Desert before I left, I don't like unpacking. But I kind of want to blow Mr. Chick's mind and actually be unpacked and have the suitcase stashed away when he comes home, so that's my plan: Costco for dogfood and unpacking.
Yep, vacation's over.
So anyway, I'm back.
Not tanned, but relaxed. The house we stayed in belonged to my friend Caroline's in-laws. They winter there. (Yes, I know people - sort of - who own expensive and luxurious homes in which to live depending on the season. A different league of living than me completely). Anyway, the house was gorgeous. Stunning. But very comfortable. It was a 1-level home right on the golf course with 15-ft ceilings and top-of-the-line everything. The mother-in-law used to own an antique shop and has excellent taste, so the place was decorated beautifully in an old European style that reminded me of Tuscany. (Not that I've ever been to Tuscany, but I've seen pictures in magazines. I'm cool like that.) And as great as the house was, the patio was even better. Picture-perfect is how I would describe it. A lovely covered patio with a fan turning lazily overhead overlooking a gorgeous pool with a shallow sundeck at one end with holes stragetically placed on the pool floor for sun umbrellas. It was a very curvy pool that wasn't very wide, but long. Not for laps but for pure fun and cooling off in the desert sun. At the other end from the sundeck was a raised spa that had rocks surrounding it, over which water gently cascaded down into the pool. So as you were outside overlooking the lush green of the golf course with the stunning moutains in the background you could hear the soft tinkling of the water into the pool. It couldn't have been nicer. Also? Just to complete it's perfection? There was a cool little outdoor firepit for the coolish winter evenings. It was straight out of Architectural Digest, I swear.
Our activities were mellow but fun. Shopping consummed the majority of our first full day in Palm Desert. And wouldn't you know that just when there wasn't something specific I was looking for, I found a ton of stuff I really liked?? Of course, I didn't so much like the prices... yikes! Plus sales tax. Oregon doesn't have a sales tax, for those of you who didn't know. So I find it really hard to buy stuff in other states when it's something I could get at home and not pay sales tax. But it was fun to window shop and just chat while we wandered in and out of high end stores and boutiques. The one thing I was keeping an eye out for was some cute red shoes. Of course, I didn't find one pair of cute red shoes, but still - it was fun to look.
Dining was a treat because we didn't have to cook at all the entire time we were there. We went out for most of our meals, only keeping snacky sorts of foods at the house. THAT'S a big treat for me - eating out. We don't do that very much in our everyday life, so I was really looking forward to that. Pathetic, yes? The 2nd full day we ended up taking a 2-hr drive into the mountains to a small, cute town called Julian. We were meeting up with a friend of Caroline's who lives in San Diego, so Julian was as close to the middle as we could manage. Too bad it was miserable, cold rainy weather in Julian that day - just like it is today in Oregon. Drats! And, it was "Apple Days", so it was uber crowded with people from San Diego and LA who come to this little place each year. So we had to wait a little over a HOUR for a table for lunch, not getting seated until after 3pm. FOR LUNCH. Terrible. So we were famished and ate not only our lunches but also indulged in some tasty pies, for which Julian is especially known. We bought one to take back as a gift to the in-laws as a thank you.
We lounged, we hottubbed, we went to a movie. We went out for a cocktail after dinner. We talked and talked and talked some more. We tried to sleep in, but our mom-inner-clocks wouldn't let us. We didn't go out and party it up because there were just two of us and somebody had to drive. No fun to drink alone. So we bought stuff and drank together at the house. We sang (badly) to music not having anything to do with kids while in the car. We just stepped out of our daily lives and got a change of scenery. Exactly the point of the trip and exactly what we needed.
But the funniest part, at least for me, was randomly stumbling across the nightclub where I first met Mr. Chick 14.5 yrs ago. We both thought it was long gone, but we were mistaken. It was still there in all it's neon glory and thumpin' house music. It nice to know it's still around. The security guys at the door asked us if we were coming in and we laughed and said no, not tonight. Then I told them that I'd met my husband here 14 yrs prior, and the guy quipped, "well, maybe you'll meet your next husband in there tonight!". Ha!
So that was the good part. The bad part? While I was gone Lauren came down with croup. She had a really rough night which freaked Mr. Chick out and he ended up taking her into the pediatic urgent care. There is no medication for croup since it's viral - it just has to run it's course. They gave her a nebulizer treatment and a shot of steroids to help her. She's better, and Mr. Chick handled everything really, really well. But when he told me (really casually, which was strange) it was hard for me to be so far away and not there when one of the kids was sick. Other than that, things on the homefront went smoothly and it was like Disneyland here for the kids. Their Opa came to stay for most of the weekend to be with the kids while Mr. Chick went to work, and Opa took the kids to the zoo AND Chuck E. Cheese. Mr. Chick took them to a movie. They went out for pizza. It was kid heaven for them.
I guess we all got a vacation.
So now I need to unpack, my least favorite thing to do. I've been known not to unpack for over a week. I abhor unpacking. Packing I like. Packing is full of excited anticipation of the fun getaway ahead. Unpacking represents the opposite. It says "laundry" to me. Yuck. Even though I actually washed my dirty stuff in Palm Desert before I left, I don't like unpacking. But I kind of want to blow Mr. Chick's mind and actually be unpacked and have the suitcase stashed away when he comes home, so that's my plan: Costco for dogfood and unpacking.
Yep, vacation's over.
// posted by MP @ 1:15 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
I have been reading for awhile but wanted to post and say "Hello!" I am a fellow SAHM that also lives here in the NW on the Oregon Coast. Keep on blogging-I enjoy reading!
Glad to hear you got a vacation!!! I had the whole weekend off to just sit and sleep in.
It can really do miracles.
Post a Comment
It can really do miracles.
<< Home
Hit Counters
