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.

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 14

Friday, May 29
Cloudy morning. Good! No plans for the day yet.

The kids and I ended up playing soccer in the little playground because the sprinklers stayed on in the playing field all morning.

Edward came back from work before noon, so we all went to the house to install the new blinds. Sadly, we didn’t take enough tools to finish the job. I got myself lunch at taco bell and got the others some snacks at Sonic. Yummy.

Then we went home but Ed and I (and the kids, unfortunately) stopped at Walmart first.

We had an absolutely horrible supper at Andele. Don’t ever eat there again, ever. Good thing I had lunch.

On arriving home, I noted that the motorhome is getting a little smelly. I hope to make time to do a quick cleaning.

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 13

Thursday, May 28

Partly cloudy and warmer this morning. Should be a nice day.

Despite getting a while to himself to watch TV yesterday, Ed is beginning to lose his patience for this trip. Last night he didn’t want to swap the stuff between the kids’ car and the Jeep because it was "dark". Yeah, really—like it ever actually gets dark around here. And all that needed to be swapped was two car seats, a couple of water bottles and a few grocery bags.  So I just did it myself.

I’ve been trying to find a restaurant with a good molcajete for him but no luck so far. Oh well. All I can do is avoid talking to him, don’t ask him to do anything, and hope he pulls himself out of it.

We made a quick trip to Walmart in the morning. Then fixed breakfast. I got in a 30-minute jog but it was nearly noon when I started and the sun was brutal.

In the afternoon we went to the splash pad at Sue Young Park. May was too busy yakking on her phone to put the kids' swim suits on them so we had to lather on sunscreen.  None of the other kids were wearing swimsuits, though, so it didn’t matter.

It was a blast for the kids. Kind of boring for the grownups. I wish I'd brought a book.

Then cookout on the grill and bedtime. A little early which was fine by me. Spectacular sunset but I was indoors and missed most of it.

 

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 12

Wednesday, May 27

I did a colossal stupid on Wednesday morning. My first and hopefully my last one of this trip. I decided to make fried pies for breakfast, so we went to Food Lion to get the stuff. It seemed to be an okay grocery but it had a supremely annoying price posting policy--they post their cost price and charge 10 percent more at checkout.  How can the average person make that calculation while shopping?

Aggravated, we left there and went to Albertson's instead. It was a very nice Albertson's. Seemed brand new and supremely well stocked.

Needless to say, by the time we got back and I finished cooking it was very late. And of course the kids didn’t eat a single one of my fried pies.

Edw worked all day. We did kites with the kids and then played in the family room; it was tiring and a little tiresome, but a little fun, too. Did a little soccer practice while Ed and May went to Walmart. Elyanna is getting the hang of it but still too young to enjoy.

 

 

 

Supper had issues. I found a Chinese restaurant that was highly rated and they all chose their orders. But when we arrived at the place, the nice lady said they were sold out of beef.  And of course that’s what my moron family wanted.

I found another place and it was okay but slow—we waited on the food at least fifteen minutes. And that plus the driving made supper really late. And since Ed refused to set up their beds for them while they were in the showers, because he wanted to teach them the “right” way to do it, we got to bed really late. It may have been important to teach them the setup method, but 10 o'clock at night is not the right time.

I did get to read the kids a bedtime story, which they all three enjoyed very much. I love that.