A Bed of Roses

Everyone remembers their wedding day, but how many can say they remember the days following? The days leading to The Big Day are BIG. But the days following shrink in comparison. I don't remember too much about the days immediately following our wedding, and before our honeymoon. I remember falling asleep a lot. I was so tired, and our honeymoon was still days away. But I remember one late July afternoon just days after we were married. My mom invited my new groom and me to a furniture store. She had a surprise for me. She paraded us through the store and led us right to a cherry bedroom set. I love cherry wood, and I grew up with a cherry bedroom set. My parents still use it in their guest bedroom. But for some (not too logical) reason, I did not have a Va Va Voom! reaction to the cherry bedroom set. My mother quickly spoke up. I could apply the money from this set to any set I wanted in the store. Now, the next time you see the Hubs in person, ask him to show you just how I reacted. He will nearly skip out of his skin and squeal in delight all starry eyed, just like I had twelve years before. I scoured the store for a very long time, until I finally picked a bedroom set I loved. I picked a California King oak set, with a sleigh bed, with detailed rose carvings. I had no idea it was the most expensive set in the showroom. Let's just say it was practically the cost of a family vacation for four to Hawaii, including food and hotel stay.
But furniture fashionistas, tell me I am right. Supposedly, bedroom sets are a thing of the past. I read that it is all about the bed frame these days, and other non-matching pieces to outfit a room. Tell me that is the truth. That is the Farmer master bedroom furniture plan in a year. So since we are cleaning house these days, we wanted to let the set go, and acquire something new.

Needless to say bedroom sets lose their value. We posted our whole set for 15% of what we paid for it on Craigslist, and we additionally included the fancy shmacy pillow top mattress. And, since I am telling you all of our secrets these days, I will even tell you a juicy secret. Hubs and I bought that mattress off an old man who had just lost his wife. I am NOT kidding. They had other vacation homes and had only slept on the mattress in their California home a handful of times before she became ill, and no longer had a use for it. YES, we bought a dead woman's mattress. It was nearly brand spanking new and we were strapped and newly married.

I was practically giving away the cedar lined bedroom set and mattress. So when the Hubs wanted to post it on Craigslist, I just groaned. Ugh. I did not want to field phone calls from wheeling and dealing bargain hunters. But then I got a phone call from Wynn. I just wanted to jump through the phone and hug her. She was just the sweetest lady, the kind you instantly know would be a great neighbor or a great friend. She told me about her kids, about where she lived, and she was so flexible with my time. I never tell Craigslist people anything, but somehow we got to chatting about my kids and husband. I know! Totally unnecessary.

She arrived and the Hubs did the talking. You know where I was? I was seriously sitting outside watching my kids swim in the pool. I was almost afraid to meet her because I did not want to hurt her feelings if she tried to wheel and deal with me. You know, our friendship was on the line. But Hubs came out to find me and tell me that she was taking the bedroom set, for our asking price. They needed to return in an hour with a couple of trucks.

She returned, and I came out to meet her. We talked for a long, long time while the men loaded the trucks. This retired lady and I had so much in common! Our lives were similar in many ways! And then my friend Wynn confessed that when she saw the set on Craigslist she nearly cried. She could not believe it. She had eyed the set years ago at the very same furniture store, and could not afford it. She has always wanted this very set and could not believe I had "her" set for sale. My heart just leapt. I am so thrilled that our "old" set has found a new home.

This Freeway Leads Somewhere

Leaving San Diego is very hard. I love this city. I love the weather. I love good Mexican food. I love the familiarity, the beauty, and the freeways. Is it strange to have your favorite freeway? I have two. I love the 163 and the 5. A stretch of the 163 wraps through Balboa Park with large archways covered by gargantuan trees and climbing vines, under the Cabrillo Bridge. I love where the 5 sweeps along the water, particularly the San Diego Bay near the airport, and up along Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Oceanside. I never noticed until Rachel pointed out that in Southern Cal, you refer to the freeways preceded by the article "THE". SO TRUE.

When we first moved here everyone wanted to know how hard it was to move from Hawaii. It was hard. Very, very, hard. I missed the very same things I will miss about San Diego. I missed the tropical climate. I missed plate lunches, Ted's Bakery on the North Shore, and the Grass Skirt Grill. My favorite freeway on Oahu was the H3, right through the lush and breathtaking Ko'olau Mountains. I know you are thinking about your favorite freeway now. So what makes it special for you?

This city is special. It is my home. My parents taught me to love miles and miles of endless coastline, to adore the Spanish architecture of Balboa Park, and to love the diversity of downtown San Diego. The same little train I rode in Balboa Park as a child my parents rode as children. It is the same little train my children love. The San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, and Sea World are all places I went as a child, and now I share with my children. And in a few days we will not just jump in the minivan and zip down the 5 freeway to downtown.

My third beautiful son was born at the same hospital where I was born. He is nine months and not crawling. He scoots and rolls from one end of the room to the other, squealing like he has climbed a mountain. I am convinced he isn't crawling because he is held A LOT. He is so precious. This time we are all too aware that time with these babies is so brief. I have enjoyed his entire infancy. And soon he will be a toddler. And just like our time in San Diego, his infancy will end.

Not too long ago the Hubs asked me to start blogging again. He is getting sentimental on me now. He wants our kids to know our Family Journey. Shortly after he told me this, he was on a business trip. Son1 fell fast asleep on our couch. I tried to scoop my Kindergartner in my arms. He is only 12 or 13 inches shorter than me. I laid his head on my shoulder, and his toes dragged across our tile floor. His nearly 60 pound body was so awkward for my short frame to carry. I am only 5'1" on a good day. I started up our 17 vertical steps to his room and realized he could bowl me over with his dead weight. So I gently placed him on the steps, shook him a little, and asked him to walk. The second I said it, tears burned in my eyes. I was shocked. I did not expect the grief I felt for an instant. I could no longer scoop up my eldest son without planning how to carry him without dropping him. Or killing me. Granted, he is in the 98% for height and weight and I am smurf sized. Well, not really. I would love my waistline to be smurf sized. What would life be without goals?

I knew as I watched my Kindergartner trudge up our stairs I needed to start blogging again. I knew when I stumbled upon pictures, let out a gasp, and covered my mouth I needed to write again. I was overwhelmed by a preschooler and a toddler that were no more. The little boy that came to California a preschooler will soon start First Grade on the other side of the country, and Lord willing, that toddler will soon be a preschooler, bundled in snow boots and jackets this year.

Is it wrong to miss this house? I already know the answer to that. NO. I will miss this house. I sat in the back yard on the flagstone love seat the Hubs and I designed and cried and told him I will miss this house. Most of all, I will miss the memories I have shared here with so many, that my children have shared with other children. We placed an offer on this home sight unseen. What a transformation this once stripped foreclosure has undergone. Our backyard was designed completely for our children. They have loved every inch of this house, inside and out.

Time in San Diego has about run out, but our Family Journey has not. So I am back to blogging, back to sharing our stories, back to sharing our lives. But tell me something. What is your favorite freeway? Where does it lead? Have you ever left somewhere special?