Friends and Fish

So, during my travels the past two weeks, one thing that remains steadfast and true is the old saying that visitors are like fish - and you should throw them out after 3 days.  They just might stink up the joint.

I suppose I am fortunate in that the friends I have are not the type of fish mongers that will cast me into some chum shark bucket, even after just 1 day.  I'd like to believe that I contribute enough to earn my keep.  I do their laundry, prepare dinners, clean houses and generally attempt to be more of a positive guest than a pebble in  a already tight fitting shoe.

Truth be told, it is my personality to give rather than take, so helping out around a friends' house seems like the very least I can do.  So far the two families I have stayed with have received tacos, burritos, dinner dishes done, floors, and even sheets changed on beds.  I only wish I could get more people to come visit my husband & I, so we could entertain at our house and allow people the luxury of feeling special.

Southern California has given me 13 days of decent weather, some gloriously sunny days, a surfing contest, a movie, some great food, not much traffic and some late nights of chattering away with friends.  What a joy!  But, even with all the wonderful aspects of this trip, I can help but miss my husband, and the peace & quiet that seems to go hand in hand with Steamboat Springs (but for noisy neighbors).  I have managed to compliment my tan, and even got a pretty decent blister on my heel from hiking out on the Channel Islands. (Ssh, please do not tell my orthopod, Dr. Sisk) The Pacific Ocean even offered up some great pictures of dolphins leaping out of the water, trailing our boat to and from Santa Cruz island.

So, in the next few days, I will begin the journey back to the "Boat...and predictions of snow.  However, I will be able to see my husband John, my other dog and cat, get back to work, and even sleep in my own bed.  I do plan to swing through Arizona, Phoenix in particular, and see my birth mother and GMA. 

No grand son yet, as of this typing.  I have a feeling that he will make a grand experience soon, and then my daughter will begin the ride of a lifetime; the circle will make yet another revolution, and I can pray that in 20 years or so, my daughter will come to the epiphany that I was not Joan Crawford in disguise after all.