Something to Think About

"Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying a wake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two. But sometimes the petals fall away and the roots have not entwined. Imagine giving up your home and your people, only to discover after six months, a year, three years, that the trees have had no roots and have fallen over. Imagine the desolation. Imagine the imprisonment."

Dr. Iannis to Pelagia, Corelli's Mandolin ~ Louis de Bernieres

Overheard

Mackenzie: "Hey Mom, look! I arranged my hoop earrings to represent the planets: Here's the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and way out here is Pluto."

"Cool! But Pluto's not a planet anymore, remember. They changed their minds. I feel pretty sorry for him; I bet it really hurt his feelings."

"Well, the good news is that he won't find out for a hundred-million-years."

Like an Out-of-the-Blue Hug

Yesterday afternoon I was in my room reading - I had, minutes before, picked up "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" when the phone rang (and if you've been paying attention at all, you know that due to an unreasonable, debilitating, and just plain stupid Phone Phobia, I cringe every time the phone rings in my direction). I heard Mom pick it up and then exclaim in delight to the caller on the other end. As I sat there, still as stone hoping to go unnoticed, I could hear her approaching my room, "How ARE you? ... Yes, it's been a long time! ... Yes, she's right here."

And then she handed me the phone, a big grin spread across her face. If there's one thing I hate more than the sound of the phone, it's a surprise person on the other end...

"Who is it," I hissed to my mom.

Still grinning, she shook her head. She wasn't talking.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Paige! How are you?"

"FINE," I exclaimed with false enthusiasm while mouthing to Mom, "WHO IS IT?"

Still grinning, she whispered, "Mich." (Short for Michele.)

At which point the room dropped out beneath me and my vision became a tunnel of swirling memories, some happy and warm, some regrettable and humiliating.

She was talking on the other end, "... we were all together this weekend and you were in all the pictures with us. We started to wonder how you were and I vowed to find you and call. So how are you?"

We talked for about 25 minutes. The unhappy circumstance to prompt her phone call was the death of one of our old friends. At the funeral last weekend, her family had memorialized her life in photos, and smiling back at all those old friends from Central Indiana, were college-era girls and boys having the time of their lives. Apparently, in many of those photos was a ghost from their past, looking very much like me (but younger and skinnier). And as they relived those times, Mich vowed to track me down.

And now here she was, on the phone, sounding exactly like she did the first time I heard her voice drift down the hallway in our Freshman dorm 22 years ago. Her room was only two down from mine, and we hit it off immediately. I started hanging out with she and her roommate which progressed to going home with her on weekends where I met her amazing group of childhood friends (who are still as close as they were back then), and shared all of the normal college experiences with her - roadtrips to IU, hangovers, all-nighters, bars & boys.

But that was a rough time in my life and while we tried to hold a friendship together through all of my personal issues and bad decisions (seriously - if I had the power to do it over again...). Anyway, our lives eventually drifted apart. The last time I talked to her, before yesterday, was 16 years ago, just before T and I got married, where we met she and her husband at a local bar for drinks. I don't remember that meeting going particularly poorly, but we didn't talk again all the same. I have thought about her often during the years, and always regretted letting her go. I even tried to find her more than once, but as both her maiden and married names are fairly common, I was sadly unsuccessful.

We talked while she was in the car, catching up on our respective broods, my multitude of husbands come and gone, where we've been and what we've been doing, with plans to email, call, and meet the next time they come down for a football game. I can't begin to tell you how great it was to hear her voice. She is my oldest college friend and I've missed her so much during these long, weird years.

Let's Get This Out of the Way First...

Before we get this party train back on track, I need to backtrack a bit:

San Diego

San Diego was wonderful. I was able to relax and read and just chill out for a bit, which was the intention in the first place. We went to a BBQ at Brain and Lisa's, and had a Cherry Girl Reunion at Angie's. I played with Sam, learned about The Backyardigans and the Wonder Pets, took walks, went to the beach, and ate in all my favorite restaurants. The only thing to dampen our spirits was the fact that Annie came down with a combo sinus infection/migraine, which TKO'ed her for 5 days. But she's ok now and we still had a great time. (Even though I missed seeing Emily. But I'll see her next time.) Oh. And I had to stay an extra day because the brakes on my plane broke and there were no other flights home. So BACK to the airport Annie came, she rescued me and we went shopping instead. Also, I have no photos to appease you with because I forgot my camera. You'll just have to use your imagination.

I got home on Tuesday, the 30th, turned 40 later that week, and...

Missouri

...remained in town until Saturday the 4th, when Mom, Dad, Alison, Sydney, Mackenzie and I all piled into Alison's van and headed to a camp near Branson, MO, where we dropped Sydney off for the week. We stopped in Rosebud, MO (Population 364) to visit dad's friend, Will and his daughter, Renee, and I was bitten by a horse. It was just a nibble, though. The bruise is almost gone now. I do have a (slightly blurry) photo of that:

School

Dillon is signed up for classes at the Comunity College and Mackenzie is registered for 7th grade. They both start on August 20th, and both seem to be looking forward to it.

Work

Dillon has found a job at the local Pizza Joint.

I have found nothing. But I'm working on it...

Play

Dillon has been hanging out with his friends Big Tony and Number 19, and bought his first car after we got here:


Mackenzie has had dive practice every weekday where she has met several brand new friends and she dove in her first meet here on the 1-meter board (placed 5th out of 19) and the 3-meter board (placed 5th out of 6) and had a great time.

When I'm not scouring the web for a job, I have been lurking around with my camera taking pictures, playing with my mom and my sister quite a bit, I saw the Harry Potter movie yesterday, and had lunch today with Joyce and Christine, 2 (I almost said "old" but we are Not Old) friends from high school.





I think that's it. Do you have any questions before we move on?

I'll post my birthday photos soon, but most of them are on Dad's computer because my camera battery was dead and I'll need to transfer them to mine.

OH! And also, Happy Second Birthday, Lauren! I just realized it was the 11th today! I love you!

Self-Portrait Saturday Returns

It's blurry. Clearly, I'm out of practice.

Birthday Thanks

Once upon a time, there was a Girl who was turning 40. While she was not especially depressed about this circumstance, she was a bit down that all of her friends were residing in Far-Away places and couldn't share her day, a few laughs and a cocktail (or so) with her.

Fortunately, one of these friends was a Super-Thinker and a Super-Planner and she concocted a strategy to execute a Super-Secret-Virtual-Birthday-Party for this lonely, displaced Girl. And on August 3rd, after her family took her out for the Traditional Chinese Dinner at Szechuan Gardens (where they should by now qualify for the Frequent Diners Discount because Girl is nothing if not predictable and she picks the Same Restaurant for her Birthday Dinner every single year), her Super-Sneaky family made a plan to distract her (ohhh, shiny!) while they piled presents from Far-Away Friends on the table so that when she moseyed into the dining room, she had to look twice at the mountain of boxes and envelopes surrounding the gorgeous flowers from Super-Thinker and a Super-Planner Girlfriend. She was thunderstruck (for she knew that her family loved her, but she didn't think they loved her quite This Much)!

With a puzzled look on her face, she moved closer to the table so she could read the return address labels: San Diego, England, Oregon, Virginia, Michigan, Maryland ... she only made it through a few before she started crying at the realization that she may not have friends in Indiana, but she has a wealth of friends circling the globe.

After she dried her eyes and the Fantastical Nature of the Situation set in, she sat down to start the Great Unwrapping. She discovered Starbucks Cards, a Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) Blender, Cherry accouterments, Flamingoes, a Tiara, Earrings, Shopping Cards, Wine, T-shirts, Martini Glasses WITH Mixers, an Ann Taylor Loft Card... a multitude of brilliant gifts! She opened them all, all the while amazed at how Incredibly Awesome her friends and family are.

At the end of the day, she had a belly full of General Tso's Chicken and cake, an abundance of great new stuff in her room, but the most valuable gift she received was the knowledge that she was the Luckiest Girl, with the Best Friends and Family, in the Whole Wide World.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, to each and every one of you exceptional and extraordinary friends, with a special thanks to Annie, Super-Thinker and a Super-Planner Girlfriend.

Hugs and Kisses, Paige

Another Rare Sighting

Really, it’s not that I don’t WANT to write, it’s just that there is no Time. First of all, since my computer is Mac’s main way of communicating with her friends, it is usually Her Turn and rarely My Turn. I’m working on that problem...

And then, there’s the Job Situation. The Job Search is on, but no bites yet.

...Which is kind of good, as I am leaving in an hour to go to San Diego for 10 days. To visit with Annie. I’ve escaped to her house before. She’s my Hero.

And then there’s the fact that I’m living at home with Mom and Dad (THANKS, BTW!), and with 5 people in the house, there is rarely any private time (we won’t even talk about how many times my phone rings during the day - Hi, Ali!). And since my favorite time to write is in the evenings, when everyone is in bed and it’s dark and quiet and since it doesn’t get dark here until almost 10 and since it’s rarely quiet... you get my point. It’s a puzzler.

Also, I’m just not exceptionally thrilled with this new blog*. There are a few inconvenient glitches in the publishing and limited (for me, anyway) control over the template, and I’m just not Super Duper Thrilled with this whole new setup. Unfortunately, I haven’t found an alternative yet. And there’s little time to research....

Catching on? Anyway, if you’re looking for me, you can find me with Annie, the Evil Queen. I’ve got to go get dressed.

*This post transferred from Old New Blog. It didn't work out.

Since We Last Talked...

• Mackenzie started swim and dive practice
• Dillon had his last day of work
• Dillon went to his senior prom with his girlfriend Sam
• both of my babies Graduated (Dillon from high school, Mac from elementary school)
• I had MY last day of work (did you hear the celebration from there?)
• Mac got Pink Eye AGAIN as did Scott, Debra, and Sam (Dillon's friends)
  
• Chris has come and gone for the last time, taking half my stuff with him ;)
• my parents visited and saw Dillon’s graduation
• and we toured Manassas Battlefield
• my sister, Alison, visited and attended Mac’s “promotion ceremony” with D and I
  
• after which Mac had a 6th grade dance (where Alison and I schooled them on the Electric Slide)
• and then I took her on my “Nazi Tour Guide Lady”™ Tour of DC - 10 miles in ONE day (My right hip STILL hurts. That was last Monday. No joke.)
• and we went to Wiley’s birthday party AND out to dinner in the same night
• on Tuesday and Wednesday I packed out and moved out (well, almost - we’re sleeping in the house on an air mattress until tomorrow, when we will go to Jeff & Lisa’s until Wednesday morning)
• I vowed NEVER to live in a 3-story house EVER again
• I have cleaned my house from top to bottom, including windows, chair rails, floor boards, and fan blades
• Mac and I had dinner with Beth and Sheila last night at the Greek Restaurant in Old Town where our bill came to $200 (!)
• Mackenzie had her first Swim Meet of the year
• AND ROCKED THE HOUSE! She swam free, back, and back in the medley relay and is now the proud owner of 3 new Blue Ribbons!!!
• Mac has her first Dive Meet tomorrow
• and I bought* (ACTUALLY purchased - it’s a Done Deal) a ticket to San Diego for 10 days to visit with Annie in July for some much-needed R&R

*Which reminds me... Mom & Dad, will you watch Mac while I’m in SD? That’s why I was calling you tonight while you were in Americus trying to eat dinner (where the magical Verizon Technology has apparently not yet been discovered). I bought the tickets anyway, so I hope you say yes.

The End.

I Do Wash Windows...

When Mac walked into my bedroom tonight and saw the ironing board, she said, “Oh, my God.” And then doubled over, trying to catch her breath.

When I mentioned that I might even pick up a needle and thread and do some mending, she started hyper-ventilating.

I don’t usually buy things that need to be ironed, I hate it so much, and I do have a plastic bin to store the things that need to be mended - not that I actually ‘mend’... (Who am I? Laura Ingalls Wilder?) I usually just store these skirts with ripped seams and shirts with missing buttons until they go out of style and I can throw them away. I have this Ralph Lauren khaki mini skirt that has needed the button sewed back on for the better part of 4 years (5 might not be an exaggeration). But since there is a drawstring on it, does it really need a button? It’s button has lived in the pocket of the skirt this whole time - except when it’s in the wash - then I rest it on the washing machine.

I have even carried this skirt (and it’s button) from Japan to Indiana, twice, with the intention of asking my mom to sew the button on for me, but then I remembered I was an adult and was too ashamed to ask. So I took it back home, sans button.

But as it’s time to pack up and move again, I am seriously considering trying this thing you call ‘mending’. So if you happen to catch on the news that Hell has frozen over, you can assume my skirt has regained it’s button.

The Break-Up Conversation

Exactly one month after my divorce was final, I had to have the Break-Up Conversation.

With someone I was not only NOT dating, but someone that I wouldn’t date in a million, zillion, kajillion years.

He is my neighbor. We’ll call him Eager Beaver. EB for short. He came over on the day that Ann-Marie and I were putting the For Sale sign out in front of my house. And like a couple of girls, we couldn’t get the job done. He muscled it into the ground for us and when he asked about the move to San Diego, I let him know about the divorce and the Indiana Plans. Before he walked off, he mentioned that he wanted to take me to lunch before I left for putting up with his extensive crap while I worked at the Association. While he was not the worst Resident, he was a pain in the butt... with some rage issues. But he was always polite to me. And not thinking much of it, as he is not the only one to make such an offer, I said yes.

But then like a date, he opened every door for me (even after I told him to cut it out). And during the course of lunch, he suggested that we:

1. go hiking
2. go hit golf balls
3. go to dinner
4. go shopping because he “needs a woman’s opinion”
5. go to the beach

All of which I politely refused. (This is also the Lunch Date that did not eat.) He did not get the picture because about a week later, he called me and asked me out. I told him, “I’m sorry, EB, I’m just not ready to date and the kids aren’t ready for me to date yet.” Somehow I got him off the phone that day, but then later, he came into my office to ‘chat’. Then I saw him driving past the back of my house several times (in 2 years I have NEVER seen him drive by - he lives in the building perpendicular to mine and doesn’t have to drive down the street behind my house, where I park, to go anywhere.) Then last week, he called to ask me out again, at which point I reminded him of my earlier “I’m-Not-Ready-To-Date” Speech, to which he responded, “It’s not a date. I just enjoy your company and you’re leaving in a month anyway, so it’s not a date.” I told him I was just not comfortable with going out no matter what he called it, and he would Not Take NO for an answer, prompting me to reach in the deep, dark, recesses of my memory and drag out what I remember of The Break-Up Conversation - I even think I threw in a, “It’s not you, it’s me” or two. I apologized, I told him I was flattered but just not ready, and it was just not going to happen. There was an awkward moment where I said, “I’ll see you around.” A stunned silence during which I said, “Bye”, and hung up in disbelief. And I thought it was over. That was last Friday.

But it was not over:

EB came into my office yesterday to pay his HOA Fee, and looked right past Beth and Julie (new girl) who were sitting there, and said to me, “You’ve got to come outside and see what I got.” I was hoping it was a bunny or maybe some cookies. I like cookies.

It wasn’t. It was a car. A sports car. A Black, Toyota Supra WITH A GIANT FIN ON THE BACK. Folks, it is physically impossible for me to get worked up over a car. And as far as cars go, while I don’t judge a person by what they drive, I do believe that what you drive says a lot about you. And a Black Toyota Supra WITH A GIANT FIN, on a 43 year old single guy says, “I may be 43, but I’ve never matured past 23.” Holy Crap.

Then, while we were standing there, he asked me out AGAIN. I said no AGAIN. He BEGGED. He said he was “smitten” with me (I swear to God, I am not lying. I couldn’t MAKE this stuff up!) and that I was “his type”. How could I possibly be His Type when he is the Antithesis of My Type?!?!?! He was literally standing in the middle of my parking lot, with his arms out, asking me what he had to do to get me to go out with him.

And because I am WEAK, I told him that I will not change my mind, but if I do, he will be the first to know. So he gave me his email address. And home number. And cell number. So that no matter what time of day it was, if I decided to go out with him, he would know immediately.

Dear God,

Why does Hell look like Northern Virginia?

Paige.

In the Pink

It will surprise no one that Mac has Pink Eye and if Dillon and I (can Taiko get Pink Eye?) manage to escape uninfected, it will be a miracle. When I called the Base Clinic this morning, I was number 19 in the hold queue. I took that to be a bad sign. I was right. No appointments for today or in the foreseeable future (assuming that June 14th is the “foreseeable future”). But the Duty Nurse “referred us to Inova Urgent Care at [DeWitt Army Hospital’s] expense”. When we got there to check in, the lady at the front desk had no idea what that could mean. We’ll see....

So after sitting in Urgent Care for 2 hours, I took her prescription to CVS where they told me it would be ready in 30 minutes. We ran errands for 55 minutes, after which we returned to CVS where we were told that it wasn’t supposed to be ready until 5pm, wasn’t even in the computer yet, and I should sit down because if I wanted it now, it would be 15 minutes. As my patience for Virginia is shot, and I had already wasted my afternoon away with some of Fairfax County’s most infectious, I didn’t take that well. And unfortunately, the Pharmacist didn’t quite understand the finer points of Customer Service (because you all know I am an Olympic Gold Medalist in Customer Service - ahem), and instead of just apologizing for the mix-up and filling my prescription ASAP by putting the damn eyedropper in a bag, she just stared at me, did not apologize, and had the nerve to tell me that it would be a while because they were just now putting it into the computer and there were CUSTOMERS AHEAD OF ME.

I did sit down, and I did wait patiently, but don’t worry, I didn’t leave before s-l-o-w-l-y and gently explaining to her why it was not acceptable for me to be told 30 minutes and then to expect me to wait longer with a sick child because someone in her department made a mistake.

I still don’t think she got it, but when I turned around to leave, the elderly gentleman behind me looked right at me and smiled and said, “Good job. I don’t blame you.”

Don’t poke the Mama Bear.

Photo Credit - Mackenzie

Weekend At Candi's

About a week ago, I started to panic when I realized that while anxiously waiting for My Time Here To End, My Time Here To End snuck right up on me. I had about 4 weekends left, and about 3200 friends with whom I wanted to hang out. I added and re-added my remaining free time, but the math wouldn’t work out - there’s no way for me to do everything and see everyone I want to see before I go. But what I could manage to work out was seeing two different friends this weekend:

For the past 7 years, I’ve had this friend, Nicole. We’ve watched each other’s kids grow up, we’ve been there through each other’s moves, we’ve (along with Bec) rooted for each other through exercising, laziness, and thick and thin (literally, thick and thin). Unfortunately, we had never met. Until yesterday. She was spending the weekend with her sister about 40 minutes away and invited Mac and I to their family BBQ so we could finally meet in real life. And exactly as I expected, as was the case when I met Bec last summer, I felt like we’ve known each other for years. There were no awkward lulls in the conversation, no personality differences, no watching the clock, waiting until I could gracefully exit. It is a fact that you can meet a True Friend on the internet. I know because I did. Twice.

When I left Nicole’s sister’s house yesterday afternoon, I headed on down Southern Maryland to Pax River to see Jes (the Candi to my Brandi) and the Babies one last time. It always amazes me, how much we can find to talk about every time we’re together. Mac was with me this time and she was very patient with the little kids - you know how intolerant she can be with the preschool set. So the kids watched “Footloose”, the moms drank Caipirinhas, and everyone was happy. Until the next morning, that is. I woke up at 4am to vomit (I only had 2 Caipirinhas - it was not the booze), after which I felt fine, Mac woke up with her eyes crusted shut - when we finally pried them open, they were bright Pink.


And despite the massive wipe-down I did with the anti-bacterial wipes, I don’t expect to be invited back soon. (And thus the reason I’m risking life and limb by posting a photo of us. Hi, Jes, Love You!)

So as I type, we’re sitting in my bed, watching Season 3 of M*A*S*H, and being generally useless.

Welcome, Summer!!!

Silenced

So. Lately, the writing has become a chore. What was once an escape for me has become tedious. What I started in 2003 to keep in touch with my friends and family while I lived overseas has recently made me feel as though my privacy has been compromised.

I used to post thoughts and stories that I would have been comfortable sharing at a dinner party or over coffee with friends, but lately I've felt a greater need to edit my thoughts and what I share with the internet and it has made my writing disengenuous.

Therefore, I am taking a hiatus from writing and will make Cartwheels At Midnight completely private by Monday.

(I will continue to make updates regarding The Journal at its Blog.)

Serendipity

While Mackenzie and I were taking our walk today, we passed a home with a picket fence, which brought to mind a long-ago picket fence I used to walk by while pregnant with her. And as we were walking, I told her the story of that picket fence (which was white, I think):

Back then, we rented a little 1920's bungalow in a little neighborhood in San Diego called Golden Hill, which resides at the southeast corner of Balboa park. The neighborhood to the south of us was a little sketchy, sprinkled with old unkempt Spanish-style houses, century-old cottages maintained with love, and what were once mansions, now made into pink stucco apartment buildings. To the north of us was a neighborhood aptly named South Park. It was a little wealthier, the homes a little bigger, the streets a little safer.

And every day, Dillon (who was still not in kindergarten) and Dakota (our Alaskan Malamute), and I would take a walk in South Park among the turn-of-the-century mansions overlooking the park and the stately craftsman-style homes. One of these homes was a big yellow house (it's yellow in my memory, with white trim), with a porch big enough for a table, on a corner lot, surrounded by a white picket fence. At 26 years old, I thought this was the perfect home and I would sometimes wave hi to the woman who lived there. There were children's toys strewn about the yard, sometimes a magazine or glass of tea left on the porch: others, there was evidence of recent gardening, and a dog that lived here who loved to play fetch. Every day, as we passed his house, he would greet us, and if there was a ball near enough to the fence that we could stick our arms through and grab it, he would play fetch for as many times as we would be willing to throw his ball.

Eventually, one day when we walked by, the mom was outside with her son, who was a toddler. Their dog came running up to us, and we stopped to say hello and play a little fetch. There were big yellow construction vehicles over at Balboa Park, which was close enough to see from where we stood, and the mom told me how ever since they had arrived, she had to stand outside several times a day with her son, who could never get enough of the "trucks." We talked a few times after that, but soon enough, my family and I moved up to a new, safer, less eclectic, but more school-friendly neighborhood called UTC. But I never forgot about that little yellow house, in the beautiful old neighborhood, with the little perfect family.

Five years, three apartments, one house, and one country later, we were living in Japan where I met a new friend who had also come from San Diego, and serendipitously, was the mother of Mackenzie's New Best Friend, Eliza. And one day while the girls were playing, she was telling me about her family, and her sister who happened to live in a little neighborhood on the southeast corner of Balboa Park. I could not believe the coincidence! I told her about how we used to live near there, and how I used to take a walk every day and how I loved this house with the mom and the boy and the toys and the dog and the white picket fence.

And while I sat and described the Home of My Dreams, a look of recognition came over her face. I was describing her sister's house. I had talked to her sister. We had to move all the way to Japan to reconnect with the family we never really knew, but loved anyway.

Happy Feet

So Jes went to Florida.

And she bought me these.

I love her.