9:29 a.m. - 2003-10-30
Lucy, I'm Home!!
For some reason I have the urge to just scream out a big Ricky Ricardo "Luuuuuuuucy!! I'm home!!!"
Well, I am home. It's fabulous to be home. Did you know I have the world's most fabulous husband? I bet ya'll loved his guest lectures!! How many other husbands would update their wives diaries?!! Not to mention we have the world's most fabulous cats! And most fabulous house! And definately the most fabulous yet terribly stinky and horribly demanding rabbits!!
Yup, I'm happy to be home.
It's not that I had a bad time in New Hampshire. But, to be honest, it was a very sad time. It was difficult to see my parents with an objective eye, and realise that they have truly become elderly. Another generation in my family is winding down, and there is nothing I can do about it except try to be there for them in any way I can, and try to record the experiences of their lives as much as possible so that after they are gone some record remains.
I sound like they're going to kick off any minute, don't I? Actually, they will probably be around for years. My mother does have rheumatoid arthritis/lupus, though, and it was definately a struggle for her to get around. And my Dad gets more and more confused and forgetful. Sigh.
And if I go on in this vein much more I'm going to be sitting here crying, so let's talk about the happy part of the trip, shall we? Yeah, you know, the SOUVENIRS!!!!
Yup, I had to mail my clothes back because I stuffed my travel bags with so much junk. Here's a list:
1. 20 English Bluebell bulbs my mom got for me. I am so crazy about English Bluebells. I'm not sure they'll like Alabama summers, though.
2. Candy. Oh Gawd, the candy. New Hampshire is known for its candy houses, storefront candy shops that make candy right on the premises. I'm drooling as I think of them. And they were in full Halloween mode - I mean, Holy Chocolate Bats, Batman!!We went to two, the Granite State Candy House in Concord, and, my favorite, Nelson's Candies in Wilton. Yeah, go to their web site! Get their orange slices!! Oh man...slurp....drool....
3. Five Halloween dish towels and two groovy orange glasses, a gift from my sister.
4. A children's book about Robbie the bunny, from my mom. Robbie sadly lives in a hutch outside, but his cute little owner seems to take really excellent care of him, and Robbie is fabulously adorable, so I liked the story anyway.
5. Kirk's Castile soap. Made with no animal ingredients. Not tested on animals, either. And you just can't find it here in 'Bama.
6. Rose hand lotion, so thick it might as well be butter. I need the serious stuff. When you work with fiber all day, your hands resemble elephant skin.
7. "Bouncy Cream"!! It's stuff for my hair. My sister and her hairdresser decided my hair resembled elephant skin as well.
8. A bag of Balsam Fir needles. The smell is pure, unmitigated New Hampshire. I can't sleep without some in my pillow.
9. A whole section of the Manchester Union Leader devoted to the passing of the Old Man of the Mountain. Some of the ads in this section are hilarious, with slogans like "New Hampshire still ROCKS" but some are pretty sad. Like the ad from Bretton Woods that says "10,000 BC - May 3, 2003: In Loving Memory of Our Oldest and Dearest Neighbor".
10. A pair of white Chinese Shoes.
11. A pair of YELLOW GARDEN CLOGS!!! YEAH!!
12. A book on the history of Wilton, Temple and Lyndeborough, NH. It has lots of pictures and some of them are of my ancestors.
13. A big bag of beads from the bead store in Wilton. Donna, you must go there when you are in New Hampshire!! They have great beads cheap, and part of their profits go to a feral cat rescue program!! I think they are on the internet - The Big Little Bead Store in Wilton, NH.
12. A minty wool sweater from the Gap Outlet store, and a minty cotton shirt from the J. Jill outlet store. One of the lovely highlights of the trip was being taken out shopping by my niece. I had never been to the outlet stores in Tilton, an overwhelming shopping experience. Fortunately my niece was there to guide my purchases.
At one point I fell in love with a rather bizarre pair of pants, only to have Felicia point at them and say, in the voice of authority, that they were "just NOT COOL". And you know, she was right. They really were, um, not cool.
Afterwards we went to a very cool and lovely place called Two Moon Traders in Concord and I bought a fabulous little dress. And as if that wasn't enough, we proceeded straight on to Portsmouth and had dinner at the Portsmouth Brewery. I had Black Cat Stout, which is very close to Guinness and just fabulous, and Felicia got to see her aunt in something close to a drunken stupour, which I'm sure just thrilled her no end. Yeah, you know you've really become an adult when you're helping your aunt sloshingly maneuver down the sidewalk after too much beer.
****************************
Ok, I really gotta' go now. The bunnies are so stinky I just hafta' clean their litter box, and I want to catch up on everybody else's diary, not to mention that my birthday's tomorrow (not that I'm like fishing for happy birthday sorts of stuff or anything) and I have a whole bunch of birthday rituals that I have to get ready for. Thanks to everybody who left notes and stuff - maybe I should have Dr. Bruce write more often!!
0 comments
