Mom's Taxi Service...is out of business? (Gulp...)

Once upon a time there was a little tyke who loved playing with toy cars…and trucks…and trains…basically anything with wheels, that he could push around the living room, over the furniture, into his brother, or what have you. I’d have to say his attention to all things vehicle-related peaked with his Thomas the Tank Engine obsession, which lasted for several intense years during which his loyalty was apparent all over our house, in product form (books, clothing, sheets, sippy cups…etc.) and of course best represented by the model train layout that occupied a place of honor in the boys’ play space.

Now, for many kids, this early childhood fascination matures and develops into an interest in the mechanics of stuff, or just an overall passion for automobiles. But for Riley—except for a continued fondness for locomotives—it just kind of stayed behind, like a part of his younger self. Which is a long-winded way of saying that (like his older sibling before him) when it came time to actually, you know, learn to operate a car, he reacted with…let’s call it a lukewarm reception.

I mean, sure, he got his Learner’s Permit and started logging the required practice sessions. But for him, it’s always seemed like more of a chore than an enjoyable goal. In fact, there were stretches in the beginning when he (or one of his parents) would realize that weeks had somehow slipped by without him getting behind the wheel for some training, and we’d hustle to schedule…a tune-up, if you will.

Eventually, Riley recognized the problem: he got bored seeing the same roads over and over again…and there are only so many fake errands you can make up, in order to get out of the house. (Imagine, he wanted to have an actual reason to GO SOMEWHERE, rather than the journey being the purpose…or whatever. The nerve of him…) Add to that the demands of his Junior year, and it created a recipe for…well, not making a whole lot of progress towards those elusive 60 hours.

So, his 16th birthday came and went, and we found ourselves nowhere close to being ready for the next step…which kind of acted as a catalyst to kick us all into a higher gear. (Ha! I am ON FIRE with the car puns today, y’all…) We started grinding out the trips—scraping up 30 minutes around town by taking winding routes rather than the most efficient path from Point A to Point B; working in the Costco run, which adds up to an hour there and back; and finally allowing him to take a shift on the December Maryland excursion, since he felt ready to conquer the interstates (and we agreed).

Honestly, though, if you left Husband in charge Riley probably would have reached the target much sooner, because I swear, the number of times I had to vehemently veto his questionable Dad Advice to…ahem…”fudge the numbers”…was significant. For example: “Whew, that was a long one--just write down 2 hours, I’m sure that’s close!”…for a quick jaunt to the nearest grocery store. Okay, okay, I may be exaggerating a smidge…but I did catch him recommending the old “rounding method” on more than one occasion, and had to nip it in the bud. He was…mostly kidding…but that stuff’s not gonna fly if you try to slip it past a rigid rule-follower such as moi. (So yeah, you see what I’m dealing with here, right? I’m telling ya, managing Team WestEnders is a full time job, folks…)

Finally, of course, the magic number was reached…and then it became a super-fun game of “Ugh, now we have to brave the cursed DMV to take the test.” Unfortunately, the planets didn’t align for us to make the attempt during Riley’s holiday break from school, which added the extra wrinkle of “how do I convince this young man, who’s generally 100% opposed to missing even a minute of class, to commit a weekday morning to this task”? Surprisingly, he was immediately on-board, however. I suppose by this point he was motivated enough to want to get it done, so he deemed it an acceptable trade-off for a few hours (hopefully) of postponed academic activities.

I even tried to reach the department ahead of time to set up an appointment, which is something they (theoretically) allow you to do. But when I finally got someone to answer the phone (on the 7^th call), they informed me that their next available slot was in…late April. Um…no thanks? I guess we’ll take our chances with the %$#@ line…siiiighhh. So Riley and I settled on a mutually acceptable, parentally approved “skip day” to get this done. As fate would have it, a friend happened to take her daughter earlier in the week for the same thing, so she had valuable insight to share, which mostly consisted of “get there waaaay before they open, to snag a good spot in the queue.” Noted!

Really, though, it turns out that I got off easy, because Husband—the notorious “morning person” in this dynamic—offered to take the first stint. (Assuming the worst, that this would wind up being a multi-hour ordeal. Meanwhile, I pledged to be totes supportive in spirit…while sitting in my pjs in the warm house drinking coffee. Go get ‘em, guys!)

Therefore, I was still asleep when they headed over to the local branch—where they reportedly hung around outside for 40 minutes or so before even breaching the front door to take a number and begin the REAL wait. And I held down the home fort, with bated breath, sending good luck vibes out into the universe, and hoping for cheerful news…or at least updates on the proceedings.

It was around 9:30 when Husband texted to let me know that Riley and the examiner had just gone out to the car. This meant that he’d already successfully completed the written portion, so that was a big YAY, not to mention half the battle won. And then…at 9:45 we could all exhale in relief, as the message came in, simply stating “Passed”. Whoo hoo! What does that mean? A fully licensed Team WestEnders, my friends!

Of course I sent him electronic congratulations immediately, since he was continuing on to school for the rest of the day. When he arrived back home I was able to get the rest of the pertinent details, which can mostly be summed up by 1) he was reeaaally nervous (expected and understandable); 2) the DMV dude actually inspected the turn signals and rear lights to ensure they were in proper working order (notable because…well…I might have…scoffed a bit at Husband for being paranoid and whisking the car to a repair shop yesterday to replace a burned out bulb that had him worried. Yeeeaaaah, I expect to take a lot of flack for that. Anyway, my bad…but on the plus side, dodged a bullet, right?)

And finally, there was really only one more thing I needed to know: “Where are you thinking about going, on your first solo ride?” He laughed and replied, “I’m not sure!” But if you’re wondering how excited he was to achieve this new status and independence…he was in the house approximately a half-hour before he announced that he’d decided to go for a drive. He selected the library and grocery store for his inaugural destinations (which honestly could NOT be more on-brand for this guy)…and off he went.

Whoa whoa whoa…now hold on just a second…WHAT just HAPPENED? Ohhhh, right…my baby took the car out for a spin. And I didn’t contemplate it before (because Mom Denial is sometimes a necessary and precious thing) but this might be even harder than when Derek did it. Because at that time, it was just ONE of them reaching this momentous rite of passage, but now…the younger one is suddenly also just too dang grown up for my comfort.

What I’m saying is, there are many feelings that will need to be sorted through and handled…and I’m gonna need a whole lot of time…and chocolate, and I appreciate you respecting my fragility at this difficult juncture. Ha! Just kidding—oh, never about the chocolate, though, so feel free to send a bit of the dark stuff my way. Or…heeeey…I can now ask the beloved son to Go. Get. Me. Some. Okay, I’m remembering the silver lining in all of this, everything’s going to be fine! (However, with a brand new navigator in the fam, please join me in keeping your fingers crossed for safety and serendipity, thankyouverymuch!)

A (future) Southwest Saga

During the time that Team WestEnders was all together for the holidays, we opened the discussion we like to call “where in the world should we go for our Summer vacation?” And lemme tell ya, it’s always…ahem…a spirited conversation, to say the least. Mostly because Husband and Derek tend to amuse themselves by throwing out random places chosen strictly based on how 1) inappropriate (“we’d NEVER go there”); 2) undesirable (“why the heck would we even WANT to go there?”); or 3) sheer ridiculousness (“seriously, guys, NO ONE EVER goes there, for good reason). So yeah, it’s…a process.

Frankly, the only member of our merry little band to express, you know, reasonable and valid sentiments about the destination was (not surprisingly) Riley. But rather than brave the onslaught of nonsense being perpetrated by his father and sibling, he pulled me aside privately later to share his thoughts. His first point made a great deal of sense, when considering things logically: he noted that our successful recent forays have involved a combination of nature appreciation and urban exploring. In other words, he wanted to make sure we didn’t just go on a hiking expedition, but also had a city to wander around as well.

His second idea sprang from a more personal preference, however; he lobbied that we NOT stay at any more AirBnB properties. When asked for a reason, he shook his head ruefully and admitted, “It’s just…not my thing.” Further gentle prompting elicited, “We’ve just had some…weird experiences.” Why, whatever could he mean? Well…I suppose he might be referencing the condo in Boulder, where the owner evidently stockpiled every partially-used shampoo bottle ever left by guests…and provided a pantry chock full or expired Power Bars, presumably for her renters’ culinary delight.

Or for that matter, the chic, upscale townhome in Vancouver last year, which lacked a couple of modern conveniences we (admittedly spoiled Americans) take for granted… such as central AC and a cable subscription…but nevertheless boasted skylights in the bedrooms that graciously allowed the 5 a.m. sunrise to beam directly onto the less-than-grateful faces of its slumberers.

Oh….kaaaay…I’m gonna go ahead and give him this one. “So what you want,” I clarified, “is a name-brand hotel chain where all the locations are designed to be exactly the same, and you therefore know what to expect ahead of time?” “YESSS!” he enthusiastically replied. Alrighty, then…Marriott, here we come!

After that minor detour to the planning journey, we could get back to the business of actually nailing down someplace we’d all like to visit. Since I’ve mentioned that my people weren’t inclined to be what you might call “helpful”, I wracked my own brain and came up with…Arizona…as a potential answer. After all, it automatically fulfilled one requirement, in that I’m the only one of the fam who’s been there before (just once, to the Grand Canyon, a loooong time ago). Plus, I knew that the others were intrigued by the Southwest, as a region they’ve never set foot in at ALL.

So, the one assistant I could count on—that would be Riley again, of course—did some research with me on activities, environment, blah blah blah, to try and decide if it would suit our needs. And whattya know, we discovered natural wonders galore (a national forest, a U.S. park, a tourable cave), and an interesting variety of landscapes (mountains, desert, canyons)…all just outside of (drumroll, please…) Tucson (estimated population just under a million, fulfilling our demands for “civilization” to balance the “wilderness”). Ding ding ding: I think we have a winner!

The rest of the Male Contingent were mostly amenable to this suggestion—but to be honest Derek’s only comment was that we’re “continuing to live out a Chainsmokers song”, thus he was totally cool with that. (You see what I’m working with, here? Goof. Ball….although if he insists that we stick with this trend, the only choice for our next stop would have to be…Paris…so perhaps I shouldn’t shut him down just yet! TBD…) Husband, on the other hand, voiced—admittedly rational--concerns about “how HOT it’s going to be in that part of the country…in July”. While this is certainly fair…there’s also not One. Damn. Thing. we can do about it, sooo…I think we’re just gonna have to commit to some early morning jaunts to beat the worst of the blazing sun….and otherwise suck it up.

Whew! Dealing with the Getaway Committee can be so challenging at times! But once we had…Board Approval…I dutifully scouted and booked our flights. And then I was free to tackle…the accommodations conundrum. The problem here is that we are now 4 basically full-sized humans, who need space to spread out and not be on top of each other for 5 days, and especially enough beds so that we can sleep comfortably. (Hence the reason I’d moved toward private rentals, which sometimes can land you at the sweet intersection where affordability meets square footage. Buuuuut you also take your chances on the…quirky…which apparently I’ve been forbidden from doing. Siiiighhhhh….)

Fortunately, I finally figured out that what we really need from here on out is: a 2-bedroom suite (with Queen beds). Once that became clear and I knew what I was seeking, it was just one more small step until I reached…yep, one of the Marriotts! (Riley was thrilled…) And as usual, that’s all I can do ahead of time, so now…we wait… but we can dream of cacti…caverns…and cowboys to come! 

An Unlikely Tiger Tale

One could argue that I've been kind of a one-sport wonder my whole life, as an avid follower of America's Pastime...but not so much the other professional leagues. In fact, my family would take this one step further, and call me out as someone who...well, "hate" is a word I try not to use, so let's just go with "detests"...football, in particular. Now, in a house full of passionate supporters of college athletics, you can imagine this was not a popular view--even though I defended myself by explaining that while I looooove me a beautifully thrown pass, a thrilling catch, a masterful run...it's just the whole, you know, "pummeling one another" that turned me off for so long.

Naturally, this left me out of many a Male Trio dinnertime discussion during the Fall months, as they would enthusiastically rehash and analyze the most exciting or important contests of the day amongst themselves. Then Derek chose the University of South Carolina...thereby joining Gamecock Nation, and instantly becoming wholeheartedly invested in his SEC squad's fortunes on the field. (Although to be honest, he and Riley had been following them for quite some time, since Husband's parents actually live in the other Carolina, and had been buying them school-related gear for years. So it wasn't even a little bit of a stretch to become a super-fan...)

And while I of course want the best for Derek's favorite team, and--more importantly--reveled in hearing all about his experiences at Williams-Brice Stadium, attending the actual Saturday afternoon events that comprise the center of campus life from August to November...I still remained more or less an outsider to the...gridiron culture, if you will. My only concession to the...pigskin pandemonium...was that I did like to keep abreast of the headlines on the ESPN website, just so I knew basically what was going on, who some of the best players were, which contenders were doing especially well or poorly, that kind of thing. The way I figured it, at least that way I could participate in a minor way in the family chats, without sounding like a complete ignoramus.

Okay, so that's the ancient history...which brings us to the 2019 National Championship. True to form, Derek was watching with his High School buddies at one of their houses, but it was also showing on our TV as well, with Husband and Riley keeping track of the action. Obviously, at this point I'd never been one to actually sit still for even a quarter of a football game, so I wandered through periodically to check in with the fam and see what was happening on the screen for a few minutes or so. I'd been keeping track in the weeks leading up to the playoffs, enough to know who was competing, and sort of how the experts expected it to go. So, during one of my visits, I noticed by the numbers on the scoreboard that things...didn't seem to be unfolding according to the script I'd studied. And then I happened to witness one of those aforementioned exhilarating touchdown drives by the underdog...you guessed it by now...Clemson Tigers...the execution of which even a casual observer such as myself was able to appreciate.

However, it was when the offense returned triumphantly to their sidelines to be congratulated by the rest of the orange-clad crew, and the quarterback removed his helmet, that my mouth fell open. I remember sputtering, "Um, who's the really tall surfer dude throwing the ball for Clemson?" And that, my friends, is the moment I began paying attention to college football...for real. I think I was honestly mostly fascinated by that QB (aka Trevor Lawrence) because the announcers kept mentioning that he was a "true Freshman" (I'm not kidding, if this had been a drinking game, everyone would have been utterly blitzed--ha!--by halftime. Sorry...). Translated, this meant that he was...Derek's age...and also, incidentally...kind of ridiculously talented. So yeah, it was pretty easy for me to get sucked into that saga.

Clemson of course went on to seal their defeat of perennial powerhouse Alabama and capture the Natty, and then...that was it. I kind of forgot about the whole thing during the Spring and Summer, and everything went back to normal (meaning another season of Orioles suckage, but we don't have to get into that...pretty please...). But then of course August rolled around and it was time for Derek to head back to Columbia for his next semester--stoked to get back into the swing of academia, sure, but even more eager to jump back into South Carolina's tough conference schedule. Aaannnd with the subsequent return of football coverage in the media...I found myself once more...intrigued...by the defending champs. So much so that, for the first time in my life, I found myself voluntarily not only tuning in...but even rooting for the Tigers. (Confession: I did resort to DVR-ing some of the action, so I could skip commercials...and the more boring sections. What can I say? I can't fully change my... stripes--at least not overnight!)

Well, lemme tell ya, this caused quite a stir in Casa WestEnders, folks. Husband admitted bemusedly, "I'm...just not used to you being a football fan." Riley shook his head and chuckled indulgently, presumably at just another example of Mom's idiosyncrasies. But Derek...ah, Derek. At first he was simply aghast...which quickly escalated into indignation at what he deemed my betrayal of his precious Gamecocks. This made for some hilarious Sunday convos, such as the one when he mock angrily reminded me that "You do know that you pay my tuition at their RIVAL school, right?" and then followed this up by loftily informing me that "all of his friends were mad at me too" for my misplaced loyalty.

Eh, I shrugged off his...concerns...by reassuring him that it was most likely just a brief phase that would pass quickly and harmlessly. Yet...as the season marched on, I found myself instead starting to admire the skills of other standout players--and being able to recognize them by their numbers when they were scrambling around the field. (This seemed to cause Derek more distress than any of the previous occurrences, as evidenced by him snapping at me in exasperation, "Seriously, can you even NAME anyone on my team? Jeez, Mom..." Ahem...I believe we can pinpoint this as the exact second when Derek shook his head, threw up his hands, and grudgingly accepted the new reality...)

As for me, I'm not gonna lie, I found this unexpected...hobby...somewhat disconcerting, and yet...also oddly satisfying in a way I can't fully put into words. On second thought, perhaps it's not so difficult to understand--could it have something to do with the potential for bonding with my guys? Um....that's an emphatic YES. You see, around this time Derek apparently decided he'd better just go ahead and lean on into it--so he began treating this like a normal situation, and actually talking to me about it (which was awesome, since he's my undisputed favorite in-house commentator)! This meant that we ended up with texts like this, after the big cats were victorious over the fighting chickens in the fierce Palmetto Bowl, a Thanksgiving Weekend tradition, with the winner claiming SC bragging rights:

Yep, I can't even tell you how pleasing this development was for me. Not only did I now have a previously unexplored topic to toss around with Derek, I'd also gained access to his insightful thinking process and ability to answer my questions and teach me about the game. This, my dears, is the very embodiment of a Win/Win! And to his credit, once he accepted his...new responsibilities...he applied himself to his duties with grace and good humor, such as when he messaged me after the ACC Championship game between Clemson and Virginia:

But I knew we'd really turned some kind of corner when, as the holidays approached, he began proclaiming, in what I assume he meant to be a threatening tone of voice, "I'm gonna buy you a shirt for Christmas...and you'd better wear it!" I think he was laboring under the impression that I'd be, I don't know...embarrassed by this?...but on the contrary, this actually solved a dilemma I'd been having, in which I couldn't bring myself to purchase any Clemson-related swag because, well, as a very recent convert to the fan club, and a non-alumni to boot, I couldn't really claim a valid reason to do so. But if HE happened to provide me with a gift item of apparel, then I really couldn't NOT display it proudly it, right? Whoo hoo--sounds like another of those double-win outcomes, y'all!

And then, all too soon, another season came to a close. A nail-biting victory over Ohio State...a much less favorable result when up against the juggernaut embodied by Joe Burrow and LSU this year...and it was over. But that's okay, because I seem to have officially been welcomed into the Team WestEnders football huddle...and my source for all things sports is on the job keeping me up to date on breaking news:

Oh, and my "surprise" tee finally arrived, so I'll be appropriately attired for ALL THE GAMES in Fall 2020. Speaking of which, according to Clemson's social media (because of course I follow them, duh!) Spring practices start in a short 6 weeks! Hmm, you don't think I need some kind of an intervention, do you? Actually, nah--normally at this time I'd be anticipating pitchers and catchers reporting to Florida and Arizona for Spring Training, but with another futile Os campaign ahead of us, we've gotta have something to look forward to, yeah?  Suuurrrre, let's go with that...and I'll keep you posted!

Adios, 2010s!

New Subaru and BABIES, March 2010

Like many of us, I think, I'm inundated by a hodgepodge of feelings around the beginning of a new year--typically nostalgia about the uplifting parts of the previous 12 months, along with eagerness to put the less pleasing aspects firmly behind me, mixed with a healthy measure of excitement and anticipation about what I know is coming...plus the possibility of (hopefully positive, of course!) surprises during my next trip around the sun. But...2020, y'all. That has such a...momentous ring...doesn't it? And we're just going to skip right over the debate about whether the previous decade truly ends at 19 or not, blah blah blah, 'kay? For me, it seems like as good a time as any to reflect upon the past 10 years and see...well...what's happened in this little old life. So without further ado, here's a...hmm...let's call it a non-comprehensive highlight summary of The Chronicles of Me...with substantial guest appearances by the Male Trio.

--First of all, I wrote NINE HUNDRED EIGHTY blogposts. I just...I can't even...whoooaaaaa. That's a whole lotta stories, creative punctuation, made-up words, and general nonsense. Which neatly leads me to some of the reasons for said "creative license"...

--Team WestEnders was fortunate enough to be able to do some pretty epic exploring. Our wanderings kicked off with a cruise (with stops in the Bahamas and Virgin Islands), and a super-scenic road trip (encompassing Boston, Niagara Falls plus a bonus visit with Rochester friends, and Cooperstown, NY). In what's come to be known as our "Central American Phase", we visited Mexico, Costa Rica, and Belize. When I was still laboring under the impression that I could get everyone on board for relocating to the West Coast, we did a nice long look-see in the Bay area of California. Even though my diabolical scheme ultimately didn't work (more on that in a moment) it seemed to lead us to our current "Westward Ho" agenda, in which we've already touched upon Seattle, Colorado (Denver and Boulder), and Vancouver, BC.

--In the middle of all this, of course, we did pack up and move the fam...from MD to NC. This has given us a whole new state for gallivanting, which was part of the reason I was ready for a literal "change of scenery"! We've had a blast getting to know the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), as well as roaming further afield, to cool places like Asheville (the lovely mountains!), Wilmington (aaahhh, the beach!), Greensboro (minor league baseball's Grasshoppers...and a cool science museum!) and Charlotte (waaay too many delightful things to list!). On my own, I've also meandered through some other interesting towns, like Winston-Salem (Wake Forest U.), Fayetteville (charming holiday festival), New Bern (birthplace of Pepsi! You know, among other nifty stuff), Mt. Airy (Andy Griffith's childhood home, and the model for TV's Mayberry), Halifax (colonial re-enactment, for a change) and Carolina Beach (again with the sun, sand, and surf...yes, please!). And just because we happen to enjoy it so much, we've made our way down to Atlanta a couple of times for long weekends o'fun.

Mid-decade: Costa Rica 2015

--Not that all of our wandering is so large-scale: we've also taken quite a few field-trippy-type excursions, either with the full squad, or me and the boys on school-free days. If you're paying attention, you'll undoubtedly notice a couple of recurring motifs here, but I'll make it easy on you by saying that most of them involve either Civil War sites, hiking...or both. For example, I dragged--um "introduced"--the kids to Manassas/Bull Run and Winchester (VA), Antietam/Sharpsburg and Cumberland (MD), and Gettysburg and Hanover (PA). We all ventured to Harper's Ferry (WV), Valley Forge and Pittsburgh (PA), Catoctin (MD), Great Falls and Williamsburg/Jamestown (VA), and Charleston (SC). On my own, because I'm not only a history nerd, but also just a little bit inexplicably obsessed with battlefields, I added Fredericksburg, Petersburg, Chancellorsville, Monticello, Montpelier, and Richmond (all in VA), and nearby war-related locales like Bennett Place and Bentonville in NC.

--And sometimes, believe it or not, we do actual...leisurely things! Like enjoying America's pastime, to the tune of countless Orioles contests (both at Camden Yards and on the road), 14 minor league affiliates (mostly Durham Bulls), and 8 stadiums while on vacation (AT&T Stadium of the San Francisco Giants, Coors Field for the Rockies, Braves' Turner Field and SunTrust Park, Fenway, Seattle Mariners' Safeco Field, Nationals Park, the Pirates' PNC Park). Mind you, on other occasions we do somewhat less sitting around...and more, say, "running". In fact, since we took up 5K races as a hobby of sorts in 2013, our scorecard looks like this: Husband 13; Derek 18; Riley 27 and yours truly...34. (Whoo hoo! What do I win? Please tell me it's chocolate, after all that effort?)

--Since we're on the subject of, well, ME, the 2010s marked my first complete decade as a full-time, committed vegetarian. And, as I've written about in some detail over the course of this period, I switched-up my career (not voluntarily, but as an expected consequence of the transfer to NC...and I rolled with it), and held 3 (very different, but all fulfilling in their own way) jobs during that time. Who knows, maybe the current (still pretty brand new) one will hold me through the 20s...is that even possible? (Stay tuned...) Meanwhile, Husband continues rolling contentedly along in the industry he's been a part of since he graduated from college...and with the same company for the past 15 years...who incidentally allowed him to keep his position when we vacated Maryland and simply convert to a home-based model. So he basically gets up in the morning, throws on weather-appropriate athletic wear, and stumps downstairs for coffee and meetings. Yep, somebody's gotta be the stable partner in this relationship! (1-2-3, NOT IT!)

Holiday photo 2019

--And finally, as you can imagine, the sons have gone through some pretty major changes in the last 10 years of their young lives (besides the obvious GROWTH). Let's see, both of them "graduated" Elementary and Middle Schools, and Derek finished the whole enchilada when he earned his High School diploma in 2018. During the latter stages of that process there were naturally college tours (Clemson, University of South Carolina, Penn State, University of Maryland, UNC Charlotte, James Madison, Virginia Tech), on which some or all of us accompanied him. Then he selected the Other Carolina--becoming a proud member of Gamecock Nation--and I got to tag along for the Admitted Students event, Orientation, and all too soon, Move-In Day...also called "Mom Has a Breakdown" (I'm fine, it's all good, I recovered..eventually!) Now Derek is cruising through his Sophomore year...and as an 11th-grader, Riley's ramping up his own research about where he wants to end up for his collegiate experience. And the inevitable process of Growing Up continues unabated....siiiiighhhhh....

Woooow....that was...a lot. I know I said this little ramble down Memory Lane was meant focus on the joyful happenings, but as we move forward into the fresh decade, I also want to recall the special people we lost--my mom, a treasured great-aunt, and my sister-in-law...watching over us, sharing our triumphs, commiserating in our failures, and no doubt cheering on our next set of adventures. And there you have it! In the immortal (unapologetically stolen and paraphrased) words of Buzz Lightyear: To 2020...and beyond!

Final 2019 Adventures in Maryland

After Team WestEnders had once again persevered through the myriad perils of I-85/95, completed our harrowing journey, and triumphantly marched into our stronghold--er, base of operations...oh right, "hosts' house"--the two days of whirlwind social activities could commence. First up for me was meeting an old pal for coffee and catch-up chatting. This is always the payoff for gritting our teeth and fighting our way through traffic several times a year to visit the ancestral homeland, so to speak: spending special time not only with the extended clan, but also longtime friends who feel like family by this point. So there was java, and laughter, and stories, and an all-around lovely morning of touching base with an amiga muy buena.

Then it was back to the Hotel de Hillpeople, where I knew exactly what I'd encounter: a roomful of people camped out on sofas, locked into an intense day of sports viewing, with occasional breaks to wander a few yards over to the kitchen and grab a snack or refill a beverage. Hey, at least it was a group event, right? And of course it wasn't like everyone was just staring in silence--with the occasional yelling of approval...encouragement...disagreement...disgust...or confusion in the direction of the TV based on whatever play had just occurred. Oh, and let's not forget the mandatory analysis, spirited discussion, and rehashing of controversial moments in the contest. Yep, it was definitely a fully interactive football fest, folks!

As for myself, there's only so much gridiron action I can take. So I took a scheduled break in the late afternoon to get outside and run some laps around the neighborhood for a while. This proved to be absolutely delightful, since Maryland was being unusually hospitable to us in the waning days of December, and serving up near-60-degree weather. I enjoyed myself immensely, listening to a festive playlist through my headphones, wearing much less clothing than I'm accustomed to during our Winter sojourn, and admiring the holiday decorations along my route, with the twinkly outdoor lights just beginning to come on at dusk as I finished.

Aaaahhh...a much-needed exercise interlude...readying me for several--or "many", as it happened--more hours with the couch crowd, caught up in the entertaining Peach and Fiesta Bowl games. Actually...exhausting might be a more appropriate description, since the only one I truly cared about unfortunately kicked off at 8 p.m...and lasted until just past midnight. Holy adrenaline hangover, Batman...can't they finish before my bedtime? Sheesh...


Not surprisingly, the household denizens rose slowly the next morning, after all that excitement, noshing, staying up late, and whatnot. But there was no rest for the weary, as the Male Posse and I were due at my father's house for one more round of hanging out with the relatives. I also had an additional engagement on the agenda, as I was rendezvousing with a college girlfriend for our annual gabfest--and more of the blessed caffeinated elixer, because why not? Thus I slipped out for several pleasant hours of sipping warm joe and getting all the latest updates on each other's lives, which is always a highlight of the twice-yearly MD excursions.

When I made my way back to Dad's, I found a whole squadron of soaking wet, muddy boys (sons and nephews) who'd apparently been frolicking in the pouring rain in my absence. (Eh, my kids had checked the forecast ahead of time and planned for this by bringing an extra set of clothing, so no harm, no foul, really...) Once the young athletes had changed and dried off, the football-palooza plowed ahead unabated, with everyone gathering around yet another television screen to cheer on the Baltimore Ravens in their final regular season matchup before the playoffs.

After the obligatory cousin picture (Everyone sit down! Keep your hands to yourselves! Get the dog out of the way! Now smile! As you can see, it was only moderately successful...but we'll take what we can get from the goofy gang of adolescents...) it was time to bid farewell to the fam--at least for the cold season, anyway. We returned for one more night to the deluxe accommodations at our Northern Home Base, to fit in some final bonding before heading back to Chapel Hill. Saying goodbye and leaving is always bittersweet...we miss our loved ones during the months apart, for sure...but we always know we'll see them again before TOO much time passes. So for now, it's hasta luego, MD...back to NC...and welcome, 2020!