Wowza

Well, if I were more with it, this would be a fantastic post of weekend trip pictures and stories…but I’m not with it. In fact, I’ve probably got some mutant version of the flu, which is manifesting itself as a nasty, rib-cracking cough and a hearty game of chills vs fever. Of course, it was also the weekend I’d planned a kamikaze Friday-night field trip to Santa Clara to the Pacific International Quilt Festival to see my curated exhibit I’m Not Crazy. Friday morning at school, I put my head down during my prep and dreamed of sleep…in a bed…it was many hours before I reached that. Saturday I saw the show (more on that later) and photographed the exhibit, then had to rest and revive with a dose of hot tea, pseudo epinephrine, and Tanya (each was beneficial in its own way). Lunch was awful, and then we headed for the airport. I’m sure having sinus congestion didn’t help (I think my right ear has finally popped), plus there’s something purely nauseating about being in the back seat of a taxi.

I officially collapsed last night. Eventually I managed some tea (the universal feel-better drink) and pizza, and then back to bed. Twenty-eight throat lozenges later, my ribs feel like I gave birth to an alien, my brain is mush, and I spent probably 5 hours in bed or collapsed on a couch or chair today.

Yes, I also went to a soccer game. I sat. I did not yell. Once or twice, I put my head down. (We had dueling soccer games. I’m sure if there had been only one, I could have stayed in bed. As it was, I almost stayed in the car, but the sweltering heat made that nigh impossible.)

Oh yeah, and my camera card ate a bunch of pictures in the middle of the show and I didn’t have the energy to go back and rephotograph. The last time it did that, it finally coughed up the eaten photographs more than 6 weeks later, so maybe they will show up for Christmas. You just never know.

What I do know is that things are rarely easy…and I’m truly glad I got to see the show in real life and that I took the time to go up there, despite all the other crap. I also know that I’m going to bed early tonight and hopefully will feel more like a human tomorrow…if not, there’s always Urgent Care.

Protected: Twelve Hours and Fifteen Minutes

Protected: Things You Should Know

Protected: I’ve Never Been to Gouda, Except in My Head

Protected: Three-Day Whirlwind

Not Vacation

I am currently sitting (yay sitting!) in the fitting area at H&M in San Francisco, waiting for the girlchild to finish trying stuff on. Part of the agreement when I planned this trip meant I knew I would have to give the girlchild places where she feels happy. Unfortunately, at this point in her development, we rejoice in her cooking talent, but are tortured by her love of shopping.

Twenty-four hours later, I’m in a different kind of waiting room, the kind that eventually gets me on a plane home. I’ve weathered my driver getting seriously nauseous in the Golden Gate Bridge, enough that he warned me to grab the wheel at one point…Bridge Security was ever so nice and we eventually got back in the car and drove (nay, crept) through San Francisco on our way to a dinner party we never got to (food poisoning!)…back to Sunnyvale in time to drop sick person into a bed and feed the increasingly starving teens (I gave them chocolate, which seemed to help). The girlchild had one full-on hurricane tantrum at Stanford, but was fine at Berkeley because she finally got dim sum (this is unfortunately where our driver got whatever beast that is still troubling his belly). She’s had a few thunderstorms since, but was mollified by chocolate.

The purpose of this trip? To get both kids thinking about college types and environments, to thus winnow down the possibilities to a manageable chunk for travel purposes. I think we were successful with that. Boychild doesn’t like big city environments…but is beginning to understand the concept of backup schools. He was very impressed by the wildlife, especially at UC Santa Cruz…

We went to UCSC for the environment, thinking the girlchild might appreciate it…she was impressed by the animals and trees, but not the art studios (I chose UCI over Santa Cruz because they had working artists teaching the classes…and in retrospect, the program was the best possible for me without sending me to an art-only school). I don’t know if art is where she’ll end up…but I do suspect boychild’s interest in physics and math are not her first choices. Boychild likes big libraries, which I find ironic, considering how much reading he does electronically. I made sure he saw every library.

Next trip? I think Boston. If I can stand it. I might leave everyone else home and report back via podcast.

Tomorrow? Mine. Making art.

Sorry for the lousy photos…I am in fact posting this from my phone…while plugged in to a chair in the San Jose Airport. My luggage is not unattended and I have caffeine. Girlchild just purchased a book on her Kindle, using a Christmas gift card, boychild is reading his Nook, and our fearless driver is sleeping off the effects of food poisoning. It could be worse.