Baby Steps

The small incremental movements you make, not to be confused with steps taken by infants, are what begin this chapter in my life.

Unfortunately none of us are immortal, and my dad was the first in our immediate family to prove that. He had been sick for more than a few years, but this winter was the hardest one he, or we, had ever faced. He was in the ICU for a week right before Christmas, and then again for about a week in the middle of January. He died on the 21st. Before he died, he realized what was happening and he handed over all the essential information my mom needed to run the household. This is how my mom discovered that she could not continue to afford the house they had lived in together on her own.

Rather than force her out of her own home, or force her to invite strangers into the house, I stepped up and volunteered to move myself and my husband into the woods. I am very lucky to have a husband who was willing to do this for me and for my mother, but that does not mean it was easy for him, or for me, to pack up everything we own and leave. The first thing we had to do wasn't pack up our own things, it was packing up my dad's. You would be surprised how much one man can accumulate; I am tempted to use the word "hoarder" but it feels too harsh.

It took about 6 weeks to really clean out his half of the house. A lot of it went straight into the trash, but there were so many computers. He had at least six computer towers, two monitors, three laptops, so many external hard drives I lost count (literally), at least 15 USB drives, and three mice. Like, dang Dad. I know you love computers but there is no way you need that many! Along the same line of excess were the guitars. There were at least 15 of them, not including the ones he had already dispersed amongst his children and friends. Guitars, amps, teaching dvds, printed out tab sheets, strings, picks, cases, straps... so many accessories. We took it all down to Guitar Showcase in Campbell. Shout out to those guys for being really helpful throughout the whole process. they gave us 50% retail value for most of it, and for whatever I wanted considered more closely, they set up for consignment, where we'd get 75% of the sale price. Sweet deal, really quick and easy to work with them for everything.

As we finally cleared everything out, we started moving things in. Small things, like our extra clothes, things we'd already set up in neat containers (like paperwork, and extra electronics), and dishware. Then we moved onto larger things, like a desk, and my precious ottoman. Everything else must wait now until we get a moving van this coming friday.

Tony and I have lived in this little apartment for nearly six years now, and just in time for our one year wedding anniversary we are moving out. I'm not going to miss quite a lot. For instance, the upstairs neighbors who seem to have sex that is inhumanly loud, the parking that disappears after 3 pm, or the lack of any outdoor space. It's been a long time since I've lived anywhere as isolated as Mom's house, even longer for Tony, and it's going to be a huge adjustment, so for now we're just taking baby steps.

Food

Tony and I ate out for dinner almost every night last week. It was so much easier than trying to cook food without buying more than exactly what we needed, and without using dishes we no longer had access to. While more expensive than preferred, it was also nice because we got to enjoy one last round of food from the great variety of restaurants that are in the immediate vicinity. 

It's not that Boulder Creek doesn't have much, actually for such a small town they've got quite a lot: they've got one taqueria, one Chinese place, a Brewery (which burned down Saturday night! So much for that! Such a shame), a deli (in a liquor store), a sushi joint,  a small pizza place, and two grocery stores!  Anything else is literally out of town; You have to drive through at least one city to reach it! The nearest McDonalds or Starbucks is in Scott's Valley... That's a 20 minute drive away, but Scott's Valley is pretty well developed and worth the drive. They've got a movie theater, a goodwill, a KMart (yeah those still exist), Safeway,  and a Nob Hill. We're not living as isolated as it feels, but we're going to have to work a little harder for everything now. 

Luckily, my mom is pretty good at cooking, and I am willing to get creative in the kitchen if Tony will deign to eat it. We no longer need to buy eggs since Mom got chickens last year (they are right outside the closet window) and they produce way more eggs than the three of us can eat for breakfast. She donates a lot to a local food bank when they build up, and gives away a lot to friends and other family members. I may not like the chickens but I do love home grown eggs. Mom also loves making bread, so we get the extreme pleasure of homemade fresh bread on the regular!

Something my dad used to say a lot was a paraphrased Jacque Pepín quote: "I will not skip butter so that I can be healthy when I die" and he really lived that that way. He let his health become very poor and suffered for it in his final months, so I think this is an excellent opportunity for me to reevaluate how I  consume. I'm not a skinny woman, and I have a feeling getting healthy is only going to get harder. Cooking food at home, and doing yard work, will hopefully help me burn off some of the excess and the pastries that someone always brings to work.

We've already had a few delicious meals at home with my mom and I am glad to say they are significantly healthier than what we usually resort to. I'm excited to start doing meal plans for the week with mom, and to get everything in the rooms together!! This weekend was incredibly stressful, but things are really looking up!

Hello & good morning from the new home!