Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Merry Christmas!


Christmas greetings to you from Los Angeles! We hear there is over a foot of snow where we just left with more coming. Phew, we got out of Denver just in the nick of time. Can't imagine what might have happened had we decided to go out a day later because of Jordan's sickness. Luckily, changing flights would have cost us $1000 so we decided not to but had it been cheap and easy, we might have made the mistake of the year.

It is NOT snowing in LA. It was 70 degrees today in Manhattan Beach and we had a great day.
I got to run along the beach which was fabulous and the kids got to swim in the hotel pool. Then we all went to the beach and spent most of the day there. I think the water temperature was 55 degrees but apparently when you are 5 and 7, that doesn't matter.

I had forgotten how weird Christmas in southern California is--shorts and t-shirts in December is just odd. And I'd forgotten what southern California looks like and what its people look like. The whole place is odd. Lots of plastic surgery and small dogs, many wearing sweaters. The multi-million dollar beach cottages and monolithic homes are so close to the bike/running path that I felt like I was intruding on their intimate family Christmases as I ran by.

While we were on the beach, I was talking to this dad who was playing catch with his son and Gabe. He asked me where I was from and while I said Denver, it didn't feel completely accurate at the moment. After I explained to him where we're going I told him that the truth was, I feel a bit homeless right now. I wonder when things will stop feeling surreal and start feeling real. Probably not for a while. But at the same time, this is all real, as Jordan discovered yesterday--we were all lying together in the hotel room bed and she said, "For a second, I felt like we were at home." I suppose we bring a bit of home with us wherever we go.

Right now we are the epitome of middle/upper-class homelessness: We are hanging out in the hotel lobby, our 8 suitcases are under lock and key in the hotel's storage room, the kids are watching a DVD (don't tell FRWS), Mark is reading and I am on the computer. I just got off my cell phone with my family who are all together celebrating Christmas. And we wait. We have 6 more hours until our flight leaves. When we are ready, the hotel shuttle will take us and our 8 suitcases to the airport where we will do some more waiting.

I'll let you know how many meltdowns we endure between now and when these tired kids finally fall asleep. You could maybe start a pool and see if you can make some money off our situation.

In the mean time, we are wishing you and your families a wonderful end of your Christmases and a relaxing holiday week.
Love, Nancy

1 comment:

upscope said...

Tnx for squeezing in the time to keep us up to date with all your detailed postings from right in the middle of all the time-sensitive and critical activities. The great pics help us feel so much closer, like we're almost tagging along.

Bon voyage.

Dave