Thursday, May 29, 2008

Homecoming: Without the Big Hair and Poofy Dress

I'm sleeping in a single bed. A really SMALL single bed. In a room that looks like a key lime pie exploded all over the walls. In a two-story brown house, with really ancient wrought iron railing for the staircase handrails. The brown marble carpet is about a quarter of a century old, but it still feels soft under my feet. Without fail, every time I'm in this house I feel like I'm 15 again, needing permission for anything.

I love it.

I'm actually in my baby brother's old room, which should relieve at least a couple of you who might have been concerned about the color of the walls. My old room was converted into a storage area. The teeny, tiny bed actually was my mom's when she was a young girl. Well, not the mattress! (Although I will admit that I do truly miss my own mattress....this one just doesn't feel right!) I'll try to get some pictures while I'm here, but there's no guarantee that they'll make it to the blog. My mom made me promise that if I blogged about my stay here, I had to NOT write anything that might make her look bad. Quite frankly, I'm not sure the color of these walls would put her in the best light, so there's the very real possibility that she'll sneak my camera away and delete them from the memory card before I get a chance to post them.

I've been here about 26 hours, and I've already been taken around and shown off like a prize puppy or something. Its really been kinda cute. Each time my mom introduces me to someone, I keep expecting her to start listing all of my accomplishments. So far, the only ones she's trotted out are the fact that I have the distinction of having provided the oldest and the youngest grandchildren for her. I feel a little bad about taking credit for that, though, since it wasn't just me involved in that.

Can I go off on a small tangent here? Its somewhat related. Really. Has anyone besides me ever noticed how stinkin' COLD it is on airplanes??? WTH??? By the time the plane landed my fingers were so stiff and frozen I could hardly use them to call my dad and tell him I was finally here! My toes were purple!! I couldn't figure out how to turn the stupid air flow off, or even direct it away from my seat. And I was scared to ask for a blanket. With all the new charges airlines are doing these days, I was afraid a blanket would cost as much as the ticket itself had! Seriously.... $3.00 for a can of Diet Pepsi? I also feared discovering that the bathroom might have been converted into a "pay-per-use", coin operated closet. I'm still not sure on that one, as I didn't get up until we landed. I don't think my legs could have thawed enough to move, anyway.

For all of that, though, there was one great thing about that airplane. It brought me back to the one place where I've always known I was loved. Always known someone didn't expect something from every minute of my day. The one place where I don't have to be responsible for someone else. Heck, often I don't have to be responsible for myself. And I really needed that this week.

Even if the walls looked like they belonged in the bedroom belonging to a Rainbow Brite character!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

A) I LOVED Rainbow Bright and her magical horse!

B) Sleeping in my old room at home always makes me feel different. I spent the weekend before my daughter was born at my parents house because it was close to the hospital and we were having a snow storm and it was just so comforting to be there!

C) $3.00 for a can of Pepsi!?!?!?!?

suchsimplepleasures said...

rainbow bright came out when i got older...so i missed that.
my parents, the minute i moved out, changed my bedroom into a work-out room...and they even repainted it from the hideous mustard color walls..to a lovely antique white. the nerve of them!!
enjoy your stay at your home!!

Moooooog35 said...

Airplanes are cold?

I never noticed.

I'm too busy shaking in fear while cowering underneath my seat (safely stowed under the one in front of me...per regulations).

The Creeper said...

I always dress in layers on planes. Always. See I usually travel in winter and if I "fly from nearby" (local slogan used to get people to not drive all the way to Green Bay to catch a plane), I have to walk out to the plane... via the tarmac... with the wind whipping through my hair and chilling me to the bone. Then I get on a TURBO PROP and take off for my destination. An unheated turbo prop. I think I've felt the wind inside the cabin. Then it's land in Milwaukee and again, walk the tarmac to the terminal. Hello?!

So yeah. Layers. Lots of them.

Enjoy your stay w/Mom.

Cecily R said...

I love that you feel so good and loved when you go back home. Its so nice to hear. I'm sure your mom is loving every minute of your visit.

Rainbow Brite!! The tried to bring her back you know. Gracie was too busy with her My Little Ponies, Carebears and Strawberry Shortcake characters to be bothered.

I'm embarrassed to tell you how long its been since I was on a plane...I had no idea they were cold. Sigh. Maybe Jon better take me on a vacation so I can relate to the rest of you...

Amy said...

You are there!! I'm so happy you went. (If I hadn't been so absent in the blogging world I would probably know that you were going to see your mom before this very moment). Enjoy your time. I will pray that it will go by slowly. I'm so happy you are there.

Flea said...

The last couple of times I flew, the plane was warm. Maybe it's because you're coming out of Arizona?

Enjoy your time with your family. Away from your family. :) My childhood home has been bulldozed, but I don't think I ever would have slept in my old room again anyway.

Cinnamom said...

I am so glad my little girl is here. I miss her so much. If you don't like the color of the walls I will gladly have open arms for you to come back home and paint them.

Shellie said...

How exciting. To not even be responsible for yourself! I'm sure it's great to be with your mom.Relax and have a blast!