4/19/08 Aurora, CO "What would you attempt..."

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Dave and I are in Aurora at an urban campground in Cherry Creek State Park through Tuesday. We dropped Sarah off at the Denver airport to visit the San Francisco area with another Family-on-the-Road, traveling actors who perform at elementary schools and libraries; then she's off to Orange County to spend time with Mel and her Disneyland-loving friends.

It’s a different type of day – the weather is beautiful, we don’t have anywhere we have to be till the Seder tonight with Selma and Osi Sladek's family or any errands to run. Dave and I went to bed early and slept in – that was until began Mayim throwing up. (Why can’t she barf on the linoleum; why the carpet?)

I drank coffee while I finished James Patterson’s new Maximum Ride book “The Final Warning.” The book is more a tasty little snack than a novel, and it was very humorous. When Dave read it last night, he laughed until his sides hurt. Yes, I know that I bought the book as a present to mail to Sarah, but that doesn’t mean that Dave and I shouldn’t read it first!

Dave took Mayim for a long walk and when they came back I made breakfast. Dave enjoyed my fried rice creation using the leftovers from our dinner last night reconnecting with Selma and Osi. We were visited by some new friends...

Cherry Creek State Park Slide Show


Then I began to think about things; my mind was whirling with thoughts and emotions going 100 miles per minute:

Missing Mel, feeling grateful for his sacrifice and sad for his current frustrations about work and the boat;

Our first Passover separated, even when Mel was so badly injured in 2001, we still propped him up in the wheelchair near the table;

Sarah growing up so quickly that she can travel on her own and how lonely the RV will be while she is away for three weeks;

A longing to be outside in the green grass of the meadow next to the RV -- this is the first nice weather we’ve had in forever. Wouldn’t it be nice to play catch with Dave?;

What I’d change if I could… Magically create a way for Mel to be with us full time. Spend more time disconnected from all the technology that the kids and I enjoy so much but stops us from being outside;

What’s right about the RV trip and how much I love these days and the feeling of freedom and the call of the yet unseen states. My recent feelings of confidence and how we've adapted to life on the road has brought me immense personal satisfaction;

Two more states can be clicked off – time to put the Kansas and Colorado stickers on our US map.

Wondering if the RV freezer will be cold enough for the new ice cream machine so Dave can start making sherbets since he can’t have milk products anymore;

What I see myself doing next after we’ve seen all 50 states;

Excitement about our new program “Excellence in Writing” that will be waiting for us when we arrive at the campground in Nebraska. Dave has such a passion for learning that my only concern about his starting on-line Junior College a few years early is his weakness in writing papers. This program has been highly recommended by other homeschooling families as perfect for teenagers and it is especially clear cut for kids on the spectrum who like to learn skills as rules with plenty of examples. The coursework requires a lot of “teaching” with two days of teacher’s training on DVDs for me – the bonus is it will help me become stronger and more confident in my writing so it will be good for both of us;

Finding the MP3 speaker in the cabinet below. Time to figure out how to load music on the MP3 player because I want to enjoy listening to the kid’s music with them. While Sarah is away, Dave and I are enjoying country music.

Finding my voice to start blogging again. Dave’s daily diligence for his blog http://davesnotsoprivatejournal.blogspot.com/ has been inspiring for me. I’m playing with lots of ideas about the blog. I have many friends whose blogs have a stream of consciousness feel. Right now mine is more of a travelogue, and it lacks some of the personality of some of the other blogs I admire. I’ve got pages of notes and hundreds of pictures from the last few months to draw from. I’ll be as surprised as anyone about its future direction.

So many thoughts, ideas, possibilities, and paths to choose from. Like my coffee cup says "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"

I'm looking forward to a few weeks of down time in Western Nebraska near Lake Mcconaughy to catch up with myself. Then Mel and Sarah will fly in and we'll spend time as a family touring South Dakota enjoying Mt. Rushmore and Badlands National Park in the Black Hills.