7.2.99

    My parent's have been in town for the last three days. It's been very taxing. I'm glad to see them since it's been nearly a year since I have but it's hard to entertain and get ready for a big trip at the same time.

    They drove from Montana to Oregon on Tuesday with a U-Haul. I expected some castoffs, knew the bookcases and entertainment center were coming and a bunch of stuffed animals. The three other tons of random household goods and "childhood things" were a bit of a surprise. The apartment is an absolute disaster area. There is so much to sort through. I'm really not happy about it all. Especially the "childhood things."

    Just what am I supposed to do with my old Cabbage Patch dolls or my Miss Alexander dolls and all their assorted clothing? What am I supposed to do with twenty pounds of Tupperware? Where am I supposed to put snow tires?! I live in an apartment which is French for "shoe box." Actually, our last apartment was a shoe box this one is more like a hat box. However, my parent's have a big, gigantic house. Couldn't they have put my dollies on a shelf?

    Now I have to either sell them or throw them away. We have no storage. Even if I wanted to keep some of this stuff I have no room for it and have no plans for more room for at least a year. Ergh.

    On Wednesday, I took a half day at work and took them sight-seeing. Basically, we were hunting down their old haunts. First we went into downtown which was such a bad idea. We were looking for some deli which either isn't around or has moved. It was incredibly stressful but not because of all the traffic. What was stressful was being in the back seat as my father darted this way and that in his big truck. He'd probably argue with me but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

    After I got them out of downtown we went up on OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University) hill and wandered around on foot. This is where my parent's met. My mother was a nurse and I think my father had his residency here. I lived up here during my stint at Oregon Live. The craziest thing was that my old apartment was right behind my mom's first apartment. So, she showed me her door and we walked over and I showed her mine.

    My dad wanted to see some of his old places so we hiked around a bit more. This after he complained that he wasn't interested in the past and "why are we wandering around these old places?" and grumpy this and harrumphy that.

    Both of my parent's lived all over that hill. I don't know why you'd want to move so much. I even got to see their first love nest together. It was pretty fun to watch their faces as they remembered different things and tried to overlay their vision of the past with what was new. I was doing the same thing but it's been much more recent for me. It was my one and only place that I lived by myself. Parts of it I loved and parts of it I didn't. I was, however, truly independent.

    Last night, they took us all to dinner at Outback Steak House. It was a favorite of my little brother's when they lived in Texass. They don't have an Outback in Montana so he was especially jazzed to go.

    Eric is such a big kid now. He'll be 16 in November and he's at least 6' tall now. He's got them deep voice that I hardly recognize. I have a hard time figuring out how to treat him. I've decided that I'm really not the mothering type as I'm rarely sure what to do with kids. When I was in high school I used to baby-sit and seemed to know better then what to say and play. Maybe because I was closer to their age.

    He's turning into a pretty good guy, though. He's much more helpful and considerate than I remembered him being. Plus, he's getting into music and movies in a way that we can bond a little over that. On the downside, he's in that surly teen stage that makes it hard to form a connection. That's okay -- I'll wait.

    After dinner, Eric and I went to see South Park. I was surprised that they let him in but they did. There were many parts about the movie that were funny. I quoted a bunch of them to T. later so they must have been good. However, there was a big chunk that had to be the most tasteless stuff I've ever seen. The whole 'Satan loves Sadam' thing was the least tasteful and only mildly amusing. I don't even know why it was in there. Eric thought it was all hilarious so that's a good thing.

    Then I had to throw myself into packing for The Big Trip. The Big Trip is a family reunion for various arms of T's family. I'm alternately nervous and apathetic. How's that for mixed emotions?

    I imagine a big chunk of it will be acting very, very polite and mannered while people look me over. I don't mind that so much I'm just wondering how much it will be. I'm hoping that at some point I can just kick back and be easy.

    We're flying into Little Rock, Arkansas, in which T's parents are going to pick us up at take us to Jonesboro. Then we'll drive down to Gulf Shores, Alabama, where we'll spend the rest of our trip on the beach lounging and eating shrimp. Did I mention that we had to get up at 3:30 a.m. in order to make our 6 a.m. flight? It worked out well that my parents came by this morning and took us on their way out of town. They weren't expecting to get up that early but they did it.

    We have someone coming by to watch Oz. I hope he'll be okay. We're going to be gone for twelve days. It's probably better to have someone come by then put him in the kennel. I think the kennel might be too traumatic after his Humane Society experience.

    Time to get some sleep before we land in Dallas. I need to be able to socialize when I get to Arkansas.