We've been in New Jersey for six months, and then some. I don't know how much longer I can claim being "new to NJ." But really, so many novel situations, food items, expressions and cultural peculiarities keep coming up I feel sure I'll have plenty to write about for months to come.
We flew back to California for the Christmas holidays on Wednesday. The weather had been icy for more than a week, but the morning of our departure we got a break. It was probably in the low 40s. Scary to leave your house in the winter for a couple of weeks. I keep imagining our pipes are going to burst or someone will crash into our house (more on that later). Our wonderful neighbors promised to feed the cats and our newly acquired dwarf goats, Happy, Matisse and Eloise. The Christmas lights are timed and the candles burn non-stop in the windows. I console myself that it's better we were NOT there if someone ends up plowing their car through our living room.
It's nice to have toilet seat cover dispensers in the public bathrooms again. It's nice to wake up all perky at 6 am and feel like you've slept in. It's nice to see beloved family again after so many months. I want to drive all over the place and recapture images of the places I love best--the Sonoma back roads, the Mendocino coastline, the Napa Valley, Marin. The days will fly, no doubt.
A very merry Christmas to all of you out there. East or west, home is best.
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Erika,
Suzette here. I miss you so much -- even more so having read your blog. You come to mind often these days, and not only because we have a new local newspaper that writes VERY cheesy heads and subheads -- something we both excelled at when working for NAILS.
Couldn't believe it when I heard you and Time left California. Tim's job? You'll love being self-employed. It's hard work but the freedom to work very hard for a few weeks to make time for a beach trip or camping with the kids is unbeatable. I also loved the variety of the different projects I got to work on, switching hats between consultant and writer, webmaster and PR consultant, etc.
It sounds as though you've bonded with NJ, while after 14.5 years I have yet to surrender my status as a Californian. Caty starts college in the fall and Chris is a sophomore in high school. Mike went back to his cheating and drinking ways so we've split again -- this time permanently. Also, my step-dad died this past summer and I lost my house to foreclosure after Mike was laid-off in June. I'm sure you can discern my plotting and scheming, as well as the tug-of-war between my heart (moving away from the kids when they're out of high school) and my head (why remain in Georgia, which just isn't home anymore. Four years post-accident and the doctors still don't think I'll ever work full-time again. And California's year-round warm weather now tugs at my battered body as well as my mind.
I'm also looking into taking some creative writing courses. Maybe write a non-fiction book. Chris's challenges also tempt me to get a master's degree in emotional and behavioral disorders. But living 24/7 immersed in those disorders up-close, I'm just not sure I could face dealing with others' problems all day only to come home and deal with them all afternoon and evening.
I'd love to talk to you and catch up on how your family is doing and learn more about your business. You can reach me at suzette.hill@comcast.net
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