Skip to main content

Once Upon A Time...

I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear. ~Joan Didion

The hours are slipping away before we head out for our next adventure. I will go to sleep tomorrow night somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, waking in Madrid, Spain with a blank page before me. The suitcases are mostly packed; the electronics are charging. We are almost ready.

Meanwhile Nic is recovering from the very expensive suitcase I bought yesterday, and then promptly dropped down the stairs, scuffing it beyond return. I am pleased to announce I have a very expensive, very scratched suitcase. Forever. 

It is purple.

And I think I love it. I put a gay fish on it. He is very cute. He is a 'rainbow' trout. 

Don't tell Nic, but I am glad I dropped it down the stairs because now I get to keep it. Forever. With my sticker.

As always it is hard to go. I have big and small worries. I know I will miss my kids and my dogs. I always wonder what will happen while I am gone. I worry they will need me. I hope they are ok. But adventure is in my blood, and I must go - at least now and then. I woke up a few weeks ago and did some quick math. (Dangerous, I know. Math almost never means good news. It means budgets. It means reality in hard cold facts. I prefer the alternate reality of my mind which is not based on math and only requires the facts I accept). Anyway, I did math and I realized that if Nic lives twenty more years (and he better), and we take one trip a year, I only have 20 trips left. I immediately was consumed with stress. I told Nic my worries. I told him we needed to get serious about this Bucket List thing. He told me he has a Bucket List and I am not the only feature on it. 

I was shocked.

I was hurt.

Jamie and I had to go to the park and walk the dogs and talk it through. We made our own Bucket List. Nic is not the only feature on ours either. So there. (We still love you, Nic. We can revise). Anyway, here we are on the trip #1 of the last 20 trips of our lives. 

As Nic and I began our final preparations the first of our last trips OF OUR LIVES,  a few things became clear. First, It is a good thing I got the international phone plan because Nic lost his phone sometime on Saturday. It was only really lost today. He decided to really worry today. He has turned off his location on his phone because he is afraid I will stalk him. He wants everyone to know that he is a strong, independent man who will not reveal his location. That sort of backfired on him today. For the record, I have neither the time, nor the interest to stalk him. I generally have a good idea where he is. When he finally found his phone he moved on to trying on every single piece of clothing he considered taking on this trip. Every. Single. One. I piled items into my suitcase arbitrarily. Who knows what one might need during a whole month in Spain? Nic reassured me multiple times that there is running water in Spain, and stores, and electricity. I should be ok. I was hoarding; Nic was carefully discerning. We will see who made the best choice in the end. Stay tuned.

While Nic ransacked the house and the HOA for his phone, I realized my first rookie mistake of the trip. I booked a hotel for the 4th, forgetting that while we leave on the morning of the fourth, we LAND on the fifth. I need a hotel for the night of the fifth. However, it turns out that if you miss the first night of a reservation, you often lose the whole reservation. I emailed some nice man named, Antonio Banderas, to see if he will let us check in on day 2, if we pay for Day 1. He seems to think this is ok. Google Translate seems to have sorted us out - I think. So we probably have a hotel. If not, I am sure I will tell you all about it. Hopefully, I sorted this out...Again, stay tuned. 

Unlike the trip to the UK, or Costa Rica, I really have no idea what to expect from this trip. I do not have hopes, or dreams, or unresolved things to sort out. I have Nic. I have a month with him to have new experiences. Neither of us have been to Spain, Portugal, or Morocco. It is an unwritten story. A new chapter in our lives.

Welcome to the first page.


Once upon a time...


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Fab Days in Florida - Tampa

Let me preface this post/trip with this disclaimer: We are not Florida people. (Nothing against Florida people. I know some Florida people and I love them. I just have a complicated relationship with Florida). We are, however, Scottish people. When we learned the Scots would be in Florida this spring, we made the decision to go to Florida. I had never been, and Nic had not been for years and years. So, another adventure was in store for us. Nic and I awoke early (WAY early) on Wednesday morning to catch a flight to Tampa, where we planned to meet up with our Scottish family for five fab days of Florida.  Things at work have been hard for both of us, so we came to this holiday so ready to relax, and very thankful that Paddy is an excellent trip planner. We travelled from Tampa to Kissimmee, where their daughter was playing tennis. Our afternoon was spent lying by the pool, soaking up the sun, and quickly catching up. We planned to pop down to Cocoa Beach to see the launches. Paddy h...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Blind Leading the Blind Tour ~ June 2026 ~ Coming Soon

  Who : This gang (minus my dad, who has informed us he is never leaving the country again).  Only my sister does not have r etinitis pigmentosa , and my dad, who is not going.  Not to disparage my in-laws, Jennie, Sharon, Scott, Mae, and my husband, Nic, are all coming, too. They can all see, too. It just sounds more dramatic to tell you the blind people are going. It seems anti-climatic to include people who can see. Still, the blind are almost the majority. When : June 2026 Where : Paris, France Why : Because we have to go while we can still see. This is the first official post of The Blind Leading the Blind Tour because although we have been dreaming about this,   WE ARE OFFICIALLY GOING. Consider this the official announcement of The Blind Leading The Blind Tour. Included in this trip are seven full days with this cast of characters (minus Dad) and their better halves. Nic and I will have a Side Quest. Each of my siblings will have their own side quests, bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

2026 ~ Word of the Year

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.” –Desmond Tutu In my annual tradition of choosing a word for the year, I found myself this morning reflecting on last year's word: Well . Unfortunately, last year (yesterday and the 364 yesterdays before that) was a bit of a train wreck.  In a brief review and update of some of the goals and ambitions I put forth last January: We did not go to Vietnam or Alaska. Neither of those were real goals, more manifestations for the future.  We did focus on the house. We updated my office, installed new HVAC for the house, painted the living room, and we are in the process of redoing the downstairs bathroom to practice for the upstairs bathroom. When I say, 'we,' I mean Nic. I have stood by and nodded throughout these projects and consulted on colors. Nic has done all of the work. I worked hard on getting back to running my usual mileage. I improved my overall health. I am proud of the work I have done physicall...
Post a Comment
Read more