(I know. My family's got it rough.)
I've decided to treat the week as a mini-vacation, though I'll still be working. I'm taking a break from all TV, except workout videos, and trying to keep other screen-time to a minimum. I haven't opened my laptop since Friday morning. So far it's been pretty nice.
Of course, suburban life has its downsides too. I have a car at my disposal, which is not so much a bonus utility for moving/IKEA trips like in the city as it is a necessity for getting anywhere in under 45 mins (if I'm lucky). Even a fancy "planned community" like my hometown can only do so much with bike trails and carefully placed shopping centers. On the other hand, the places I CAN get to on foot are pretty uniformly gorgeous - quiet creeks and swaying poplars and serene lakes. And thanks to the dogface, I am obliged to frequent these locations, albeit usually with a little plastic-bagged excretory "present" in hand.
The quiet of the empty house has also provided me ample opportunity for contemplation, which is a blessing and a curse. I've used some of my reflection time to go through the detritus left in my old bedroom. Last night, after a rousing internal debate about exactly how many pages of ten-year-old notes about James Baldwin I really need to keep around Just In Case,* I found myself in this remarkably cliched situation: sitting on the floor holding open a sweetly painted white jewelry/music box with my name on it, listening to the tune as a little ballerina spun in the pink sateen interior. So much for tough-minded room cleaning; hello pointless sentimentality. I brought the box to the guest room, where I'm staying this week, and stored my wedding ring inside for overnight safekeeping.
Just so as not to leave this post on such a maudlin note, I'll end with this other intriguing window into my young mind:
Why, yes, that IS 12 naked Barbies, several decapitated or dismembered, and one lucky lady** wearing ALL of their clothes. Why do you ask?
*Two? Let's go with two.
**The lucky lady happens to be my Brooke Shields doll, the only Barbie I owned who mysteriously came with painted-on underwear. She really was clothed thoroughly.
ohmygoodness that face!! what an adorable dog.
ReplyDeleteI definitely had that conversation with myself when I was cleaning out my old room at my dad's, about how many old notes you wrote in high school you Really need to keep..? I made a lot of hard choices that day.. SIGH.
have fun in the burbs!!
Well, that makes me feel better - I am going to have to make hard decisions too. Hanging with Mr. Dog does ease the pain of throwing away perfectly good geology problem sets that I will never ever look at again no matter how awesome that class was.
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