Wednesday, July 29, 2009

"Shoop, Shoop, Shoop..."

Whew-w-w! Man, oh Man! I've been waiting to exhale since I left D.C. on Wednesday, the 22nd!!

Finally, finally I get a brief moment to do just that - before it all begins again (waiting on furniture, staying in a hotel).

I have to say though - I'm feelin' a whole lot like Voltron right now! He's the big guy in the photo.
For you younguns out there, let me just be clear. Before the slick "Transformers" of today (as well as their predecessors from the mid-to-late 80s), there was "Voltron Force," a team of five pilots who commanded five robot lions which combined to form the evil-fighting, big guy - "Voltron: Defender of the Universe" (What can I say? I have two boys - born in 1981 and 1984. And yes, Voltron absolutely lived in our home! Those babies loved that thing!!! As a matter of fact, I think we still have it in those plastic tubs of toys I've been saving for their kids (or a serious toy collector - if the kid thing doesn't work out).

First, I drove to South Carolina for my annual trip to clean my mother's grave and put in some new flowers on July 24th - the 13th anniversary of her death (oddly, I miss my Mama more now, than I ever have). I only stayed long enough to visit a dear friend, some family and get that accomplished. As I left the church yard, I couldn't shake the sense of urgency I felt. I needed to get where I was going! As I told my friend "ea" in a comment on another post, "My family - the one that my husband and I had created - needed a hug!"

Apart, we were like the five robot lions of the Voltron Force - strong, and on some level, basically effective, but not - a "Unit." I'm tellin' you, as I drove through the evening and into the night to meet my husband at the previously agreed upon rest stop in Tallahassee (the movers came for our house in Florida on Thursday, he left on Friday), all I could think about was that damn toy!!!

It was getting late. I was tired. I was cranky (less than eight hours sleep over a 48-hour period will do that to the best of us!).

I called him and said, "Let's just get a hotel in Tallahassee instead of driving on to New Orleans like we planned."

Since I'd left later than I'd planned, he'd reach Exit 194 a couple of hours before I did.

I said, "Instead of just sitting there waiting, look around the exit for a place we can crash and start fresh in the morning."

He said, "That's a great idea! I'll call you back and tell you where we're staying."

After about an hour, I'd not heard from him, so I called again. "Where the hell are you?? I'm about 30 miles from Exit 194 and I don't know where I'm going!"

Flustered, he said, "Man, I've been driving around looking for a hotel, there's nothin' around here for miles! I'm at Exit 112 right now."

I lost my damn mind - he was driving away from me!!!

"Why in the hell are you driving away from me if we're supposed to be meeting??!! Turn around!!" Sometimes, Adult ADD is a hair-puller for those of us on the other side of the fence. We agreed to meet at Exit 120.

When I pulled up beside him and saw him - with my little white dog, Blanca (so I'm not original - shoot me) just spinning her tail in recognition - all I could think was, "Okay, sleep, get up, get on the road - only two more robot lions to go!"

After again leaving later than planned, we drove all the next day - arriving in Texas around 1 a.m. As I walked to the hotel door, my oldest son just appeared - with open arms (Dad must have called ahead to say we were pulling in). That urgency thing just melted clean away. I silently thanked God for getting us there safely - and with no tickets!

When I got to the suite, I didn't see my youngest. I turned to the oldest with raised eyebrow and he said, "He went out. You know he hates to just sit around."

I did know, but I was still disappointed - no Voltron tonight.

Somewhere between sleep and wake though, I heard the door open. He'd obviously had a good time. As he slowly undressed and crawled under the covers on the the sleeper-sofa, I never moved. But deep in my heart, in my bones, in my very soul, I felt the click of our five robot lions - and Voltron: Defender of the Universe was in full effect.

To my loves I say:



8 comments:

Cinie said...

Awwwww...
Glad you're plugged into your energy source at last.
Missed ya.

ea said...

1. Sleep for you, sister. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Some constitutional restoration to go with the emotional/spiritual/psychological restoration you get when you are with your loved ones.

2. So, you have consolidated two houses on the eastern seaboard (D.C. and Florida) into one house in southern Texas. Is that correct? I am glad you made it to your physical destination whole. I missed you also.

3. I have two more weeks of motel living before I get to be in my own home again.

4. I look forward to your integrated post. We have a conversation spread out over three different threads.

5. Finally (for now) a safety reminder to share because I care: please remember to pull off the road when talking on the phone.

Caroline said...

I'm so glad you are back to being a "unit". It sounds like it feels as good for you as I imagine it would. Love you so much and look forward to your next post!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DebC said...

Anonymous...As much as I believe in freedom of speech, I fail to see what your comment has to do with this post. (I didn't want to go to comment moderation, but that might be something for me to think about). I will "search for the remainder of this document" one day - but today, I'm deleting it.

DebC said...

Cinie...Thanx sister-girl, I missed you too!!! Remains to be seen how "plugged in" I am, but the helter-skelter is certainly diminished! :-) I've got to go and sit in "Cinie's World!" know you'll bring me right up-to-date on what's happening in the world since I've happily not been following what the Changeling and his crew have been up to (that whole "ignorance is bliss" thing really works!)

ea...¡Hola Chica!

1. Finally caught up on my sleep I think (does one ever catch up on sleep?)! Restoration however, will be ongoing - for awhile at least.

2. Si, correcto. I'll miss DC for as many rasons as I won't, but Florida - not so much. Economically, it was the right thing to do. Thanx for keeping me in your thoughts mi amor!

I'm glad I got here safely too!Definitely sent up a few words to "that power greater than all of us" (call it whatever you like) that made that possible! ¡Y por supuesto, tu sabes que le falté - absolutamente! :-)

3. So, you should be back home by now, no? I hope so. I think about you often when you're out-of-pocket and I don't hear from you. I don't want you to fall victim to el femicidio que está pasando en la frontera! Por favor, tenga cuidado Chica. (Is pasando the right word to use?)

4. I know right!! :-) I'll be done soon. Prometo.

5. Chile! I cannot do it!!! Driving while talking on the phone has gotten me on streets and highways I had no intention of being or going on!!! I got a GPS thingy and synced it with my phone to cut down on the distraction. Helps a little. Let me get back to it. I'll talk to you soon!

Caroline...Hey! Thanx for dropping in! Yeah, it feels good. "Units," whatever the make-up, are important to me. They allow one to: be themselves fully (good or bad), change if necesssary (supported by the group) and get nothing but better with time! That's how I see it anyway. Love you too! Got to get back into some kind of writing routine because shit just keeps on happening! :-)

ea said...

I got home this afternoon. Regresaré a la frontera en unas semanas.

("pasar" es correcto)

ea said...

Oops! I cut that last comment short. Oh well, glad you posted again and look forwar to the next thread.

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