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“It’s something I started doing with them on this trip,” he says. “Every park we go to, there are always activities to do, and the booklet leads them through the park. And they get a ranger badge and sticker. Eventually, there will be a wall of these for them to remember.”
I’m not convinced, but the kids are reading every sign they can find to get the answers. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won’t. But they’re having fun and that’s all that matters. They went from boring to full out curiosity mode. Maybe the hats did it.
One of the activities is to go for a hike, so we start the descent into the canyon. It’s nice and cool, so it’s a perfect day for a hike. The sun is out, not a cloud in the sky. So we zig zag our way down to the first point, the aptly named Ooh Aah Point. I wonder if this was an awful transaction from one of the local Native American dialects, but the oldest quickly points out that it’s named because of the common reaction people have to reaching it. It says so right in her booklet, and she’s quite smug about it. Was I like that at her age?
We sit and take in the views. It’s awe-inspiring. Drink some water, and we’re ready to go. The kids are ready to go further into the canyon, but David just looks at them and says, “You realize it’s a lot harder to go up than it is to go down, right? We only went down 600 feet or so, but we walked almost 2 miles.” They are not convinced, but we turn around anyways.
Sure enough, 10 minutes later, we’re all huffing and puffing on our way up. Well, me and the kids, anyway. David paced himself, but he doesn’t poke fun at us. He helps us rest, stretch, and go another 10 minutes. When he sees us starting to tire out, we stop for pictures. Then repeat and continue this way until we get back to the trailhead. The kids turn in their completed workbooks, get their badges, and we get into a nice cool car. I don’t remember the ride back. Neither do the kids. David had one of those energy drinks and drove straight through while the rest of us slept like rocks.
* * *
March 18, 11:00am
Today is a lake day.Well, more accurately, this afternoon is a lake afternoon. Everyone slept in after our meeting with the Grand Canyon. Eventually we all get read, pack up a picnic, pack up the car and head out to Lake Mead. We drive all the way close to the water on a rocky beach and use the car as our picnic base. There’s no sand here, just rocks. Fortunately, all three kids are happy to inspect every interesting rock they find. We play games, do puzzles, and watch the sunset over the inlets.This is nice.The kids are again worn out when we get back to my place and fall asleep almost immediately. We were planning to hike in Zion tomorrow, but I don’t think that’s happening. Too bad, Zion is my favorite hiking spot.
Next morning, as expected, nobody wants to go anywhere. We make pancakes for breakfast (twins’ favorite, chocolate chip!), and hang out at the pool, with a splash of hot tub to warm up as necessary. Throw in a movie night, and the kids are having a great time. Which is drawing to a close because tomorrow is a workday and the next day they need to drive back to Chicago. They’ll make a couple more stops along the way and rack up a couple more ranger badges to commemorate a memorable trip.
* * *
March 20, 1:00pm
Davidand I have a meeting to attend. I ask my mom if she can watch the kids while we’re gone. She does, but she forgets, or maybe I’m not clear. But she has to rush over and we have to rush out and I have no time to give her any instructions.
Our presentation goes smoothly and I don’t think there are any hitches. By the end, I’m flushed. I think we’ve secured a great partnership and earned their business. Which was the whole point. They’ve got an angel network at the college and I’m hoping they will use it to fund our internship program out here. Hopefully.
I call my mom. She wasn’t sure what to do for dinner, so she just gave them what I had. Chicken strips, fries, and apple juice. They ate chicken? All of them? Yeah. The oldestnevereats chicken. She hates it. But I guess when she’s starving she’d rather have food than spite herself and eat nothing. Good to know. I’m pleased at her maturity.
I’m super psyched at how the meeting went and want to celebrate, but David has to go back to relieve my mother from babysitting duty and he has a ton of calls to make. And I need to get away. So I call Tom and say I need to celebrate and can he join? He says sure.
About half-way through my second drink I realize that may not have been the best idea and make up a lame excuse to bolt home. I find David and the kids playing Uno on the balcony eating the remains of my mom’s chicken strips.They are a close family. Are they my family?
* * *
18
Kitten Goes in Disguise
August 12, 3:00pm
Goodbye Vegas. Goodbye balcony. Good-bye watching the moon from the balcony. And from a hot tub. I’m moving back to Chicago. Business didn’t take root. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be. David gave me the same year that he gave Leslie, and I couldn’t make it work any more than Leslie did in Chicago.Sometimes you can do everything right and everything well, and it still doesn’t work out.
But this time, I didn’t sink into a funk.I’ve gone through this before.It helped that David picked up another big project on the East Coast, so there was no financial hardship attached. However, traveling back and forth to Vegas wasn’t going to work anymore. Fortunately my old apartment was open, and this time, I can rent it without a roomie.I am so grown up.
Good thing Dee has a lot of free time to fly out and visit. Her case is over and she is enthusiastic about spending as much time with me as her winery allows. Then again, summer in Chicago is amazing. Winter not so much. It’s the reverse of Vegas. And I can rekindle my on again off again friendship with Rachel.
* * *
Haveyou ever been to a convention? I’m a not so secret geek. I’m not that geeky, but I speak fluent geek and have played games my whole life. I’m just not very good at them. I’ve completed two games in my whole life— and one of them took years. I gave up for a two year period and went back. It was called The NeverHood. I’m, what do you call it? Geek lite? I’ve only watched the Tribbles episode of Star Trek, but I know about the red shirts. I know enough to follow conversations, even if I can’t contribute much. I did get rather addicted to my human affliction warlock that I customized to look like me (oh, what girl doesn’t do that?). I don’t know what the heck most people here are dressed at, but I do recognize the more famous costumes.
Normally, I mill about the floor as I indulge in the fabulous people watching. The commitment some people make to their craft is beyond the imagination. But today is different. Today, for the first time, I am a part of it. I blame Dee. This was her idea.
What I love about all of this, what I love themost, is how minimally little effort we all put into the whole shebang. The love that pours over us is overwhelming. But, no, we literally just threw together a few items we had at home and paired them with three cheap dresses from Target (red, blue, and green.)
Two of my friends and I have planned this simple, but effective plan to take over the convention. I met them both through….honestly I don’t remember. Someone I met at one of the Chicago munches? Or the couch surfing gaming group?
They, like me, are nerdy but covertly nerdy. They’ve never done this before, either. For some reason, I inspire people to do things they’ve never done before. It’s like my superpower. I’m not sure how useful it that is, now that I think about it. That’s the trouble with superpowers. You don’t get to actually pick them.
* * *
