A Houseful of Good Wishes

On the Road
Bakersfield to San Francisco

My New Zealand cousin Jenny Jeffares tells me my blog is getting moldy, and I can see how that could be true. First of all, after almost three years, not so much is new about this RV living. Wake up, make coffee, see who emailed me, shower, dress, wash the dishes, make the bed, get going on the day. Gee, sounds like a house, doesn’t it.

Speaking of which, we slapped our retirement account in the face by buying a sweet house in Florida, somewhere we could go and have down time in. With everything I had hoped for, including a beautiful pool. I have visions of a dinner party with the pool lighted and candles all around. Oh it will be lovely.

But when will it happen? Now that’s a good question. Right now, we’re in California for Christmas with Jeff, then we’ll head to Palm Springs, then Quartzsite Arizona for a rally of Beaver Coach owners, even though we’ve sold ours. We’re still FOB – Friends of Beavers. And besides, Quartzsite is near friends Irwin and Randy, and has wonderful Southwestern beads straight from China at amazing prices. Then in February we’ll go back to LA and fly to Cabo for a Mexican month. We won’t even be back to our little house until mid-March.

My book has been stalled since we bought this house and I am feeling guilty about losing momentum, especially since there has been some interest in it from a couple of publishers. But the thrill of making a home and furnishing it has been all-consuming. It’s just not something you want to do online, although you can buy just about anything online, including a couch.

Tomorrow is Jonathan’s birthday; he would have turned 40. It’s been seventeen years since he joined the angels in heaven, but it still feels new, especially around this time of year. He was the best Christmas present I ever got, and Jeff was the best Birthday present. And you wonder why I love the holidays so much.

JONATHAN

JEFFREY

We’ll go out to dinner with Jeff and Hannah to celebrate his life and toast him in heaven. It will be a happy-sad time, but it is our tradition and we wouldn’t miss it.

Then there are all the gifts to wrap, a more modest selection than in years past, but there’s that house to furnish, remember. And besides, as we grow more and more golden, as in golden years, stuff just doesn’t do it so much anymore. We’re really about experiences, as evidenced by this peripatetic lifestyle. Look it up; it’s a great word.

So maybe for Jeff’s birthday, we’ll give him an experience – like a week at our new house in Florida, did I mention we bought a house?

I’d like to bake some cookies, but probably won’t get around to it. My oven works, but the tray is so small it takes hours just to make a couple of dozen. Besides, I always eat up half of what I’ve baked before they’ve even cooled. And I’m boring. There aren’t any cookies worth baking except chocolate chip. I made them with macadamia nuts from one of those frozen mixes last week and man, my eyes crossed with the pleasure of each bite.

So here I travel, currently cookie-less but salivating as I write this, and the California rains keep acomin’. Lordy, it’s wet. It’s been pouring here all up and down the state for a week or more. There are mudslides everywhere, road closings and collapses, and it’s neither warm enough or dry enough. I’m wearing socks for the first time in two years and I’m still cold to the bone.

Zeus is under his blanket and John’s wearing a sweater. Boy is he ever going to love his Christmas sweater. It’s perfect for this weather. Jeff will love his too. It’ll probably be his eleventh grey sweater; that boy is in a rut. Christmas sweaters is another tradition I just can’t break with, house or no house. I’ll just have to forego that guest room headboard. You won’t care, will you?

Merry Christmas everyone.
Love
Betty