spryng | (no subject)

I swear I'll stop disappearing from here some day. The sad thing is, I really do need this kind of journal more than I have before. I self-censor so much everywhere else now that I just need one place I can put my thoughts and let them be - or watch them fight it out.

But somehow I'll make it a few days and then I can't seem to come back. I think it's because DW is not LJ and never will be and I really miss LJ. I miss Google Reader. I miss having all of my peeps in one spot, talking at length about their lives. Not just the shiny bits, like on FB, and not just trying to be clever all the time, like on Twitter. It looks like there are ways to use the DW reader as a RSS feed, but every time I try to add something it doesn't work.

I should try again, though. It is worth keeping up with you all.

We got out of town for Mothers' Day, which was great. Lansing is growing on me, just a little, and broader Michigan ain't that bad once the leaves return. We went to the lakeshore (I will never call it a beach, sorry) and it was actually quite pleasant. We originally headed to Holland for their tulip festival, but there was just too many people to shove through with a napless baby. Quieter parks with room for her to walk/run are preferable.

Mom and dad came with us. They drove all the way from MD to visit us for a few days, which would be nice if it wasn't for dad's new, very expensive, giant-ass truck. He loves that it only gets 18mpg and I just... that man. I will never understand him. x.x

But it was still nice to see them - well, Lady Jr to see them. My worries that they'd treat her any differently/less than their other granddaughter have proven unfounded, for which I'm grateful.

I don't know where we're going to move when we have to in a year (or two?), but I would like to be closer. I still remember how I wanted to get as far away as possible from my family when I was younger, moved all the way to WA from FL, and now I'm like "same state would be fine." LOL. How things change.

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I totally think having kids does this to us, too. Nicole's mother moved here when the boys were three... and while there ARE some challenges to her living a block away, overall it's been wonderful. The kids love that they have her nearby. We also try to go to my family reunion in Texas each year because the bonds between cousins are special, too. As the boys get older, they ask more and more about their cousins and when we'll all be together again. Maryland is nice! That's where my wife is from!

It really really does. In the fact the house next to us has gone up for sale and I keep looking at it like "that's perfect for mom." And my 18-year-old self just keeps wondering what the heck happened to me, hah.

I don't mind MD - my parents live in the very very south, so they're hard to visit since it's a plane ride and then a three hour drive no matter what. I keep bugging them to move, though (nothing against MD, they're just getting old and they're too far from family/hospitals), so we'll see what they do in the coming years.

I still think if we make enough of an effort, DW can be a Thing. But I'm dumb and optimistic about hopeless things.

18 mpg is just horrific. Does he not want the planet to last long enough for his grandchildren to enjoy life? Because that is what that does.

Move to Oregon instead! It's the best state and there's a large array of academic institutions in the Portland metro area or on the I-5 corridor.

I'll keep trying to put my effort in. I feel like we have to circle back to the long form eventually, right? So much trouble has already come from out-of-context one sentence tweets. :/

Omg yes I have no idea how he can be so proud of it. He just refuses to acknowledge climate change. It makes me so angry. I've tried to cut him out of my life as much as I can, but my mother refuses to divorce him, so...

Oh god yes I'd love to live in Oregon. I want to return to the PW, but never Seattle because fuck Amazon.