We got into town around 2pm yesterday after a long 5 days in Denver.
Walking to Sidetrack for some tiny burgers, J says,"it was more like a working vacation."
"Yeah." I reply, "Except for the vacation part."
J's dad opened a
bookstore in Golden, which is lovely. He lives in a condo in BelMar which is also lovely, but a little like living in an art gallery. Nothing at all wrong with that... unless you're three! or - more to the point - the Mama of someone who's three. I felt like I spent the whole trip alternating between keeping S from killing himself in traffic on the shimmering streets of the
desert of BelMar (the manufactured nightmare of what may eventually be an uber-hip planned community jammed with yuppies on the rise and second homers on vaca, but is now just a little bit too pricey and a little bit too empty and a little bit too cement-y for the likes of me and my little three. Perhaps the park are on their way, but we sure couldn't find any) and keeping him from destroying the lovely glass pieces or 1st editions around grandpa's house.
In order to avoid the guilt the comes from both paying for, and NOT paying for dinner out, I hit the ho foo (of course the only grocery in walking distance, and the size of my entire block!) and cooked great food all week. Yeah. all week. I also cleaned up, did laundry, and read books to little buddy. I went three days without talking to any women. That will fuck you up. I had no idea it was getting to me until we finally went to see a friend who's studying at Naropa. She was great and saw right away what needed to happen, and took us up to Boulder falls where we climbed and played in the cold cold water. It was stunningly beautiful and SO sanity-restoring. What was I thinking to not plan to get into the mountins everyday? Oh! I was thinking about renovating my kitchen. I put the last coat of tung oil on the counter at 5 am on Tuesday morning, right before we left to get on the plane. I swear by all that is holy, I will never NEVER go on another trip without asking myself, "what do YOU want to do do while your there?" I had prepared clean clothes for everyone, and 3oz bottles of everything, and a shopping list, and cash, and the phone charger, and plane snacks, and diapers, and books, and J's work stuff and S's play stuff and had not given one thought to what I would do or want to do beyond taking care of everyone else. Therefore I take complete blame for the fact that I was pretty miserable by day 2. I also plan nver to let it happen again!
After the falls, we spent the afternoon in a cute coffee shop with TOYS! Real puzzles, animals, trains and a kitchen set! I have never been so happy to see Fischer Price anything in my life! Stu couldn't believe his luck. The evening we hung out at the store enjoying the company of many lovely townies who are elated to have the bookstore; listening to live, acoustic, and completely charming bluegrass played by 5 old dudes who you know spend hours and hours practicing but are afraid to get gigs. The "crowd" loved them and they just about broke their faces smiling listening to everyone gush at the end of the night. Craig was so proud of himself - as he should be - and clearly very happy to show off his precocious grandson. To bad we had to wait till the last day to be social and adventurous, but 1 for 4 beats 0 for 4!
So - to wrap things up NPR style with a witty quip and a lesson learned... nothing's coming. I guess I'm just really happy to be back in my crazy house in my dusty kitchen with a saw in my hand and a mile long to-do list, within walking distance of a cluttered little food co-op and tiny sidetrack burgers and lots and lots of girls; and to be armed with the determination to - as my Mom says - "ask for what you want!"
