Trip Report - Sans Photos

I have been putting off posting anything until I can get our Christmas trip pictures posted, and no matter how many times Jim runs through the process of exporting multiple photos out of Lightroom, or whatever the software is called, I can never seem to make it work on my own. So, sometime in February, you will be able to enjoy the pictures of our trip to Arizona...

In the meantime, I will summarize: it was a good trip, for a lot of reasons. First, my parents were excellent hosts. They were wonderfully available for baby holding, no questions asked car-lending (nevermind that my dad ALWAYS handed the keys to Jim, and not to me, ha), outright babysitting (enabling an actual dinner date, which I am still savoring in my memory), and activity planning. Second, we had a lot of good family fun, including a retirement party for my dad, a portrait session (and actually, that part wasn't that fun), various other get-togethers, and a big Christmas celebration. 

Third, it was a good trip for reconnecting with old friends. At a brunch party at my parents' house (during which my parents went for a drive), I saw four old high school friends and their kids. I love a bagel with smoked salmon, and I love coffee, but what I really loved was how fun and easy it was to be with these old friends, all of whom were doing different and interesting things with their lives, and all of whom were as funny and thoughtful and delightful as I remember them being. Which is either a compliment to them or to the accuracy of my memory. Hee. And naturally, their kids were a whole new crop of interesting little individuals, great to see. 

I also had a phone call with a friend from college whom I hadn't spoken to in...TEN YEARS. These are the kinds of time spans that make me feel a bit elderly. Although I am sure he is different in a lot of ways, he too sounded the same to me. But when I think about who I was ten years ago...would I even know myself? Would I be someone I would like to talk to? The answer to these questions depend on how charitable I am feeling toward myself when I think about them. Also, it doesn't really matter. I am who I am now, and where I am now, thanks to that person ten years ago, and all the other mes before and since.

Apparently, going back to Arizona is like going back in time, for me. But with all the passengers from my present along for the ride. And oh, the beautiful sunshine! Of course there were some things in Arizona that didn't agree with me (mostly, the water, which not only tastes bad, but also makes my hair and skin go back in time to an extremely homely year), but overall, a very satisfactory trip.

Since we've been back? The year ended, a new one began, I finished up work for three more months, Jim had his wisdom teeth removed, Muriel turned six months old and had her first "solid" food, I took down the Christmas tree, and Naomi learned how to shoot digital photos (I included that for your parents, C.W.!). Maybe I should post some of those. If only I could figure out how!