Mammoth Workhorse, Day 21

Friday June 5

We had a lot to do in the morning but I’m not sure why. I went jogging and then we went to Albertson's to get supplies for a taco supper. When we returned, I went ahead and cooked the meat before we left for the house, which was a good thing because we were very late coming back.

Ed had elected to put together a bed for Elyanna. It was supremely complicated. After two hours he was still only half done. But it was way past time to leave so I convinced them to put off finishing it until the next day.

I did get a nice play in the park with Ethan and Anna. She's too young still to play with as a threesome. She's at the stage where a single person with infinite patience can play with her. But in a group, no.  The rest of us spend hours waiting on her to decide what to do.

But that's over. Molly got a long walk but there were infinities of stickers on the ground and in the vacant lot. No fun.

 

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 20

Thursday June 4

Ed and I finally made a decision on when to leave. Sunday. So now my work is cut out for me (what little there is).

We headed over to the house around  noonish. This time we tried the experiment of taking Molly. It wasn’t all that hot--low 80s--and she would be okay in the backyard. But bored, of course.

All of the houses in their subdivision have 6-foot or higher stone walls around the backyards. Making for a very boring play area for kids or pets. Kind of stupid, really.

The furnishings are beginning to make a liveable space out of the house. But of course all the surfaces are getting cluttered up with crap. Not my taste, but I don’t have to live there, so I can’t complain. Ed and I found some work to do.

Ethan put together a lego car meant for a 9-year-old. Cool.

In the afternoon I took Molly for a walk in the undeveloped lots right behind their house. I got a taste of what the land used to look like--red dirt, clumps of vegetation, a few yuccas coming into bloom. I saw two Gambel’s quail. Poor things! Surrounded by development and trapped in a.little lonely patch of desert. Eking out a living until the bulldozers come.

On a brighter not, we did Chinese carryout for supper. Grill Noodles Bar. My vegan shoyu ramen was awesome, full of brightly-colored, perfectly cooked vegetables. Little cubes of tofu. Yum!
Sadly, Ed’s Mongolian Beef was flavorless.

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 19

Wednesday, June 3

Back to normal. Fixed breakfast for Ed and me; jogged; cleaned up. When we are going to leave is still undecided. Ed seems to think that there is still help he can provide. I am dubious.

After my 45-minute jog, I cleaned up dishes and stuff and ate a quick lunch. We left at noon to.stop at Walmart and a nursery, where we got a Mexican bird of paradise. And wasted money on a wind spinner for his mother. We get her a new one every year but she never throws the old ones away.

Then to the house. I took Ethan for a short soccer game but it had gotten too hot by then. It had been quite cool in the morning. So bummer.

Then we farted around with moving stuff and assembling shelving racks for a long time. And waiting on the ubox hauler for an even longer time. They came back to the motorhome to eat supper— kids had chicken nuggets and grownups had tugboat. It wasn’t good enough food to cost 80 dollars.

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 18

Tuesday, June 2

U boxes due today...but when? I'm hoping to suggest New Clock for breakfast again, but I really hate eating breakfast at 11 o'clock. I have to eat before we go and then I don't feel like paying fifteen dollars for a second breakfast.

It ended up with Ed and Edw going to meet the boxes while I cooked spam, did the chores, and then waited around while May took her two hour shower. I guess it’s worthwhile spending three or four hours in the bathroom everyday, if you want to be beautiful. Me, I’d rather have fun.

Needless to say, we didn’t get there until Ed and Edw had unloaded one whole box and started on a second one. All the help I could have provided did not happen. I helped with the last two, of course.

Then went with May to get food. She drove. I still have the nervous jitters from that experience.

Much later:

They decided to spend the night in their new house, so it's over. I won’t be fixing the kids  breakfast in the motorhome anymore. And no more soccer practice in the RV park. Or ping pong. Those were the things I liked. So I’m a little sad but hey, it had to end sometime. Regrets are a fact of life and I've had plenty of years to learn to live with them. 

But it still feels lonesome.

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 17

 Monday, June 1

Looks like another scorcher day—98 this time.

 I rushed breakfast a little bit so that I could go jogging before it got really hot. I sort of succeeded—managed to jog for 45 minutes with a few speedups here and there.

I took a quick shower and then Ed and I went to the store. Two kids ended up coming with us and that was too many. I was not very patient and it didn’t help that the store was packed with slow-ass people.

Anyway, we got the stuff that we needed.

 

After that everyone sat on their butts playing on their phones until mid-afternoon when I insisted on leaving. We stopped at the house and then went on to the splashpad where the (supposedly) grown-ups sat on their butts playing on their phones for another two hours. Gosh-- life must be awful boring for these people. No matter where they go and what they do, everything looks like the same 3 by 5-inch rectangle.

Same old cookout for supper.

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 16

Sunday, May 31

I intended to go jogging but by the time breakfast was over and cleaned up, it was after 11 and scorching hot. So no.

We went to the house and helped Edward son put up his windows hades. And that was the whole day. Horrible. I did some reading with Ethan.

Good use for the staircase

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 15

 Saturday, May 30

Our time here is becoming short and I'm beginning to feel conflicted. The kids are so precious--I want to stay with them as long as possible, but I feel a need to go home.

Breakfast was at New Clock again. Except for me. I had eaten beans, rice and eggs at the motorhome so I just had coffee and Ed's hash browns. We didn't get there until 11, so we weren't done until 12.

So the day proceeded. Laundry, vacuuming, dog walk and Lowe's. We were looking for a Mexican bird-of-paradise for Ed but they only had them in big, 90-dollar pots.

It was mid-afternoon before we got to the rental house. I had a hot and unpleasant walk with the kids to the park. And then it was pretty much time to return because Ed was going to fix barbequed chicken.