Memories and Misadventures

Let’s be honest… 2020 hasn’t been a good year. Sure, it’s had some moments of good but overall I think we can agree – this one has been a dumpster fire! In March, we were all locked in our houses trying to avoid a virus they said was gonna put us on a ventilator or kill us…. neither of which was too appealing. They told us “15 days to FLATTEN THE CURVE”. So, we all complied… hunkered down, rationed our supplies and tried to make the best of those weeks of uninterrupted “togetherness” .

At the beginning, it was a fun adventure. Let’s see what kind of meal we can make for dinner with the canned vegetables that have been in the pantry long enough for me to wonder if the “use by” date was merely a suggestion. The layer of dust on the cans made the exact year difficult to decipher so I admit I rolled the dice a few times. The meat shortages led to some rather heated discussions with the roommates when I informed them that once again we would be having…. CHICKEN!

Once we got past the challenge of food options we moved on to the other issues we faced. Is it ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to use 10 squares of toilet paper each and every time?? I mean… could you cut back to 7? My math skills aren’t the best, but I found myself actually doing some siphering to determine if we each saved 3 squares…. between the 4 of us…. could we get through an extra day or 2??

After the issues with the lack of “supplies” in the house… we had the NEXT BIG challenge to overcome! What the hell were we going to do while stuck together for ALL of those days and nights?? We went for walks around the neighborhood so often that our furry roommate would hide from us when she heard the jingle of her leash!

You can only watch so much Netflix and Prime. There were no sports on TV to watch unless you call SuperBowls and basketball games played 20 years ago entertaining! I gotta tell ya, the games were exciting to me because I couldn’t remember who was going to win. I found myself eager to see if Troy Aikman was going to make the touchdown pass or if Michael Jordan would make the shot.

Once the TV became a “boring” option… we moved on to games. We played Risk and had battles for world domination. We decided that Boardwalk and Park Ave are NOT properties you wanna buy because you can NEVER afford to actually put a house on them.

Then… we hit roommate #2’s favorite game. After a year away at college, the skill that he became most proficient at is POKER! I’ve never played before which was brutally obvious when I folded with pocket Kings. I think they only allowed me to play because they knew they could win my money. To say I was a “frustrating” player at the table is a kind way of describing me.

Time rolled on and as the Spring turned into Summer… #1 was able to return to work. Places were still “locked down” but at least the paychecks were flowing again. Our summer vacation was not going to be an option because where the hell could we go? Most places that we considered had a mandatory quarantine of 10 days once we arrived. If our vacation was only a week…. we would have spent it sitting inside a Hyatt staring at each other only to Uber back to the airport for our flight home. So we stayed put.

One of the things that Roommate #1 and I agreed on right after the other 2 arrived on the scene was we wanted to “show them the world” or as much as we possibly could. They’ve been good little travelers since the days of being buckled in carseats with DVD players and sippie cups. We’ve been to lots of destinations through the years. Let me tell ya… we’ve had some adventures AND misadventures along the way!

One summer we took the boys to San Antonio, TX so we could go to the world’s largest water park. The kids were super excited! Well….. no sooner did we land, rent our jeep and head to the hotel did it start to rain! Not a downpour… just a slow steady constant drizzle. It was one of those El Nino or La Nina years (I forget which) but basically it meant the jetstream was stuck in a holding pattern and the rain wasn’t moving AT ALL.

For 4 days… we wore our Dollar Tree ponchos that were only a bit more waterproof than toilet paper and set out to see SeaWorld, The Alamo and the Riverwalk. We made it to the waterpark and were finally able to wear the proper clothing to deal with the weather…. bathing suits!

We took them snow skiing in Colorado a few times. Word of advice…. never take your young roommates snow skiing until they are big enough to haul their own skis from the shuttle to the chair lift line! Lesson learned on that one!!!

We went to Yellowstone National Park. We hiked the trails and pulled off on the side of the road to watch the Elk grazing in the fields. We had an encounter with a mother Moose that could have been catastrophic because SHE was on one side of the road while her calf was on the other. You don’t want to be the family standing between them! We watched bears romping in a field and we went on a trail ride with horses and white water rafting.

One of our favorite destinations is the U.S. Virgin Islands. We went the 1st time many years ago and absolutely fell in love! Our trips there have left us with some of our most laughable moments. Our Jeep was HIT by a goat! We clearly had the right of way but Gus the Goat came barreling down the hill and smacked into the side of our car! (for all of you animal lovers… Gus was fine. Our rental car? Not so much) We snorkeled the blue water and found ourselves swimming faster than Michael Phelps when someone in the distance yelled… “Look at that shark!”

We were “unprepared” explorers when we went on a hike in search of a secluded beach. We didn’t read the sign at the trailhead that said…. it’s a treacherous trek and will take a couple of hours to reach the water. As we walked down the trail in our sandals carrying our chairs and cooler…. we came upon a nice family from Colorado wearing boots and carrying water bottles. We must have looked ridiculous to them!! They informed us we were at least an hour from the beach and the trail was going to get steeper as went along. Suddenly… we had a mutiny on our hands! The 2 youngest popped open their beach chairs and said, “We’re NOT going one step further!”

If you ever want to see all 4 of us doubled over in laughter….. ask us about the numerous “misadventures” we’ve had on our family vacations through the years! Roommate #3 got left in the “warming hut” at the top of a Colorado mountain. We loaded our Chevy sedan on a car ferry and managed to shred the undercarriage because we didn’t “CUT THE WHEEL” like the man was yelling at us to do.

There was the “hot tub incident” that resulted in my broken hoof. We went on a cruise and the best days on that trip were when we pulled into port and were able to disembark that oversized tugboat! We spent a night in the Philadelphia International Airport and every time we fly anywhere I’m hopped up on Xanax which has resulted in basically only ONE parent accompanying our children on flights. I’m sure it sounds like our travels have been cursed with bad luck but these “misadventures” have provided us with some of our favorite memories!

We’ve always been more inclined to spend money on “doing” things than “having” things. So… as we seem to be rounding the corner of this crap year, I decided we should plan a vacation to finish it off and at least go somewhere fun where we could make some good memories in 2020.

That’s when reality smacked me in the face!! I excitedly announced that we were going to Miami for Christmas. Warm sunshine… blue water… nonstop flight…..sounds wonderful! Roommate #1 chuckled and said… “good luck with that!” Huh? Why would’t we all want to go on a vacation together??

Well… .it seems that somewhere between our last and this… the younger roommates have grown up a bit. They have their friends and their hobbies and their social life and … a week on the beach with Mom & Dad isn’t quite the appealing thing it once was. Needless to say… when I asked them about going, I got… “Hmmm… how long did you say we’d be gone?” and “mmmm… nah I don’t think so”.

Apparently the fun of traveling as a foursome has hit the skids! I’m sure we will take another family vacation again… NOT this Christmas apparently…..but eventually. Roommate #1 said that once the young ones are on their own and find out HOW MUCH a vacation costs…. they’ll be more than eager to go with us if we are picking up the tab!!!

I’ve accepted the fact that things have changed for our traveling foursome over the years. In one way I want to pat myself on the back for raising 2 independent young men, but on the other… I long for the days of passing the sippie cups over the seat and popping in a new DVD for them to watch.

Time has a way of moving past us whether we want it to or not. We have to make the most of every opportunity we have to make memories together because one day you look up and find that 2 toddlers have become grown men and they are out in the world making their “own” memories.

As sad as I am to see that the years have flown by……I am proud of what they’ve become and I’m eager to see where life takes them. When #2 and #3 are old and gray… they may not remember the “things” we gave them but they most definitely will remember the memories we made with them! Enjoy the moments… make the memories… and learn from us…. LAUGH as you go!

Good Day to ya! Wash your hands & QUIT TOUCHING YOUR FACE!!!!