sights to be seen.

while my husband and my friend are driving from vegas to salt lake, taking in all the sights, i decided to show you what my view has been like these past few hours.

the kids are in the pool while my dad listens to the Red Sox game.  my mom is teaching a stampin' up class upstairs.  i made dinner.  we've already been to target, and selkie already has a new pair of shoes, courtesy of my mother.

i am walking around while asleep, but yet it makes me so aware of this place.

i found tiny cards that belonged to my great-grandmother.  my dad's handwritten sign (always in capitals) tacked to the wall.  the wall itself; an unfinished tearing down of the wallpaper.  the entryway to our house, or my mom's business.  my dad's wall of hats.

there's been a bunny who's visited my dad's garden, and selkie working out on his old-fashioned treadmill while singing herself silly.  there's been milo and his cousin johnny wrestling and playing round after round of minecrap.  there's been me at whole foods, dropping two hundred dollars on food to comfort me with, knowing that as soon as i got home my mother would freak out at how much i bought.

she did.

last night, as we were leaving logan airport, this is the verbatim conversation i had with her: (keep in mind it was about 1:45 in the morning, but know that it was very true to most of our conversations)

her: "so what's new?"

me: "barb, i really can't talk about that kind of stuff right now--"

her: "EZ PASS EZ PASS LANE!"

me: "i'm IN the ez pass lane, mom!"

her: "20 MILES AN HOUR! IT CAN'T READ IT IF YOU DON'T SLOW--"

me: (after cruising through the toll at 34 mph) "see? thank you!"

her: "how fast are you going?  oh, my poor car! (hear a mass. accent on this one)"

me: "i'm going 74, barb. i want to get home."

her: "but there are cops! SLOW DOWN!!"

(my parents share a kia.  its white, and the driver's side door has a faded stampin'-up barbara lash sticker on it.  it is embarrassing to drive it.)

me: "let's see what this baby can do..." (acceleration)

her: "HOLLY ANN FRANCES LASH!!!"

meanwhile, in the backseat, my children are laughing at this entire exchange.  they know by now that this is the way we communicate, and that it does nothing to diminish the amount of love that we feel for each other.  we just show it a little bit differently than most.

we made it home in record time, by the way.