More Travels With Old People

 Hi! Still here, still coping with the phenomenon that is 2025

No, really, it's FINE that a grown child of mine who has worked every day of their adult life can no longer afford health insurance. Totally normal and sensible and definitely NOT a sign of a society on the brink of collapse, no sireebob, we're good!

And you wonder why you haven't heard from me, hmmm? I feel slightly insane

BUT life goes on, even in a fascist hellscape, so let's talk about, I dunno, my trip to the Olympic Peninsula last July. As previously reported, David was not allowed to take us up any mountains, so instead we went to the beach, which involved a mile hike through woods and over some hills, because apparently there is no such thing as a simple stroll in the Pacific Northwest. The beach had humongous rocks scattered everywhere, as if a species of giants lived out there, a species completely unlike us ordinary mortals from the East Coast, with our cute little sand dunes on our accessible shorelines.

A tad intimidating, is what I'm saying

Oh, and our first night staying in Port Angeles, we were suddenly under a tsunami warning, so I texted David (who hadn't joined us yet), saying, "Ha, ha, tsunami warning, I'm sure nothing to worry about, right?" and he texted back, "So, how high is your Airbnb above sea level?" which was not exactly the reassuring response I had expected.

We don't have tsunami warnings at home -- no giant rocks, no giant waves, everything is human-sized.

We took a ferry one day to Victoria, which was very exciting, because I had never ever been to Canada, and man, they have real bike lanes and everything up there, and also universal health care, so I spent the ensuing months trying to convince Anna and her partner to move north, but no dice

Even the crossing signal has a bike on it, SO CUTE

We visited our not-so-newly retired friends for a few days while Susie returned to Seattle with David and climbed Mt. St. Helens with him, and no, I'm not sorry we missed out on that experience. Instead, we sat on our friends' deck looking out over Puget Sound and marveled at the lack of humidity and mosquitoes, just like last year, it was lovely. 

No mosquitoes, NONE

We also went on a private tour of a submarine museum, AND we revisited the marvelous hotdog place, the one with curly fries and like 20 hotdog varieties on the menu. It was a very good time, and our friends didn't make us hike one bit.

Vacation dining at its best, IMO

I don't remember August. Like, literally, no memory whatsoever. I worked, I guess? Helped a bit with the grandbabies? I dunno.

In September, Larry and I took a trip (drum roll please) to EUROPE (the Baltic states, specifically). Larry had been to Europe many times on business, but I had never before set foot on the continent, so it was an all-new experience for me. We chose an organized tour, so if anything went wrong, we could blame Road Scholar and not each other (marriage hack!).

My takeaways:

1. Flying reminds me of surgery: I might die, but I have to do it.

2. KLM has very nice cheese snacks for breakfast, highly recommend

Unexpectedly delicious

3. The Baltic states have wonderful public bathrooms, individual little rooms, complete with real doors and their own little sinks, and maybe we should do that here and everyone can quit fussing about who is going in which bathroom, that would be nice.

4. I got to touch walls that had been standing since like the 1300s or something, which is sort of mindblowing:

These are VERY OLD

5. Seeing things in person is way more interesting than seeing them on YouTube. Maybe I should have known that, but I didn't.

6. There are people who travel A LOT, I felt like a rube compared to everyone else on the trip.

7. The Tallinn (Estonia) airport is impossibly cute:

Like landing at an IKEA, right?

8. I don't like strange (to me) food, so I subsisted on potatoes and yogurt and Magnum bars, I know, it's pathetic. Essentially, Larry was traveling with a 5-year-old.

9. We saw a beautiful church in Lithuania that had been designed and built by Italians, so essentially it was like going to Rome but cheaper (travel hack!)

Definitely NOT like an IKEA

10. Our country currently looks like a total basket case when you're sitting in Europe. The news coming from the other side of the Atlantic at that point was INSANE, to the point of embarrassing. All of us on the trip assiduously avoided talking US politics the entire time, until the last night at dinner, when the woman next to me said, "So, if you WERE going to try to claim asylum over here, which country would you pick?" and the entire table immediately chimed in with their answers, so obviously everyone had been thinking about it.

And there's a lot more to talk about, but I'm going to wrap this up, because it's late and this is long enough. Thanks for letting me talk at you and post vacation photos (I mean, if there is anyone left reading this - I know posting twice a year is not a good way to keep people engaged, but hey, 2025, you know? It's been nuts)

A Caveat, Plus MORE CHAIRS

 Oh, hi!

Really? After a 6-month absence, that's how I'm starting out?

Give me this, it's been a whopper of a 6-month period, okay? And I'll confess, part of my absence has been because it's been hard for me to balance giving cheerful little accounts of our family's day-to-day doings while also experiencing (along with everyone else) the societal/political turmoil and chaos that is affecting a lot of families, including ours. It just felt a little tone deaf, you know?

Flower box arrangement by Susie, who is glad she's in college right now and not looking for a job in this market

Still, I don't want to lose this record of our daily lives, either. I love looking back and remembering all the things I've jotted down over the past (OMG) 18 years. How do I keep that while not seeming oblivious to everything (waves vaguely) out there?

What did the 1930's Germans do about their blogs, I wonder? LOL, ROTFL, see it's just not funny, ugh

So I am back with my stupid, inconsequential stories, because skipping them isn't going to help anything or anyone. Hopefully they'll provide some respite from the horror, I dunno. 

Am I mentioning this just so readers won't think I'm totally shallow and annoying? Probably.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming!

If you recall, last time we spoke, Larry and I were suffering a deficit of dining chairs (2 tables, 6 chairs), with Thanksgiving becoming a BYOChair event. Now, if you will believe it, we are the somewhat flummoxed owners of 16 (COUNT THEM SIXTEEN) dining chairs. 

It started in February, when I took matters into my own hands to procure some used kitchen chairs that provided my long-desired pop of color:

Can't really explain the teddy bear as a centerpiece, oh well

They go well with the dilapidated chrome padded chairs and are a cheerful powder blue, which makes me happy but probably bothers Larry no end (remember, he doesn't believe in fun-colored furniture). We moved the 4 black kitchen chairs to the dining room, which really didn't look too bad with the wood table, but really, I just never wanted to think about chairs again. Ever. Larry also seemed to be happy not discussing this stupid topic anymore. 

Total number of chairs? 10, a somewhat reasonable number -- not quite enough for holiday dinners, but hey, it was only February, we had time.

Fast forward 5 months (and really, where DOES the time go?!?): I came home from work (more on that later) last Sunday to find what we can only describe as The Miracle of the Chairs in my dining room:

Free table, $30 chairs, that only took 8 months

That's right, folks - Larry finally found the long-sought-after but discontinued West Elm chairs on Marketplace at a low, low price and brought them home. He is very happy with himself, even though we now own too many chairs, and I can tell he is eyeing my pretty blue ones as the ones to go.

SIXTEEN CHAIRS, that's ridiculous

In January I started a new job:

Susie worked at our local Trader Joe's for two years before selfishly going off to college and living her own life, and I really missed that 20% discount we used to get. Also? I was sitting around all day scrolling the internet (not good) and waxing maudlin while gazing at pictures of my kids when they were little (downright pathetic, okay?). NOW, I work about 30 hours a week and get a ton more done around the house, because I have less time to do it in, and there's a psychological term for that but I've forgotten it.

Also, I get paid. I like having money, because I get to spend it on my grandkids.

Was that plural? Why, yes, yes it was - Rachel (RACHEL) gave birth in February to a very cute baby girl and OMG I had completely forgotten what a trainwreck those first few months could be. But we're finally at the point where she (the baby, not Rachel) does all the cute baby stuff, giggling and blowing raspberries and snuggling, and seriously, I have no memories of my babies before 5 months, apparently. NONE. 

  

Our empty nest has a bunch of this stuff in it again

Rachel and the baby stayed with us for a few weeks in June while her husband was away on TDY and Larry and I helped out (minimally) with the baby and were COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED. I have no idea how we did all that SIX TIMES.

This cutie joins her 21-month-old cousin, who has adorable little pigtails on top of her head (that droop in the humidity, and really, aren't we all just like those pigtails?) and I have never so badly wanted to post people photos on this blog, but Larry's rule holds firm (also, my kids wouldn't let me, either, oh well). 

Let's start calling the older grandbaby Olivia and her little cousin can be Sissy, since I can't just say "the grandbaby" anymore. Wow, I haven't had to make up blog names in a very long time, that's weird.

This isn't the beach, it's THE SHORE, because New Jersey

Earlier in June, Larry and I rented a beach house for a week on LBI and several adult children consented to join us, including Rachel and spouse and newest grandbaby, and it was actually pleasant because I wasn't responsible for anyone's happiness but my own (which, after all those years of vacationing/camping with kids, still feels quite novel and refreshing). Also, adult children on budgets naturally tend to appreciate a free vacation more than dependent children/teens do, so that's nice

Obligatory sunset-over-the-bay photo

Next week? We are flying to the Seattle area and visiting Olympic National Park. This is happening because during one of our heatwaves in June, I pretty much snapped and dropped a boatload of money on airline tickets and an Airbnb, and I'm glad I did, because it gave me something to look forward to through all the subsequent heatwaves in July. 

I cannot wait to leave this weather behind for a week, I feel as though I am living in the armpit of hell. Predicted weather for our vacation is 50s and 60s, so I guess I'll need to bring a parka or something, which is fine by me.

David is meeting us at the park, but we will NOT be doing the mountains with him, having learned our lesson last year. We're hitting the beach trails instead, and - considering the West is definitely another planet - I'm sure we'll find those challenging enough. Wish me luck!