(written on the 13th from notes taken previously)
Tish was working today, as it was Monday, and Craig as well, though he was working from home.
Thanks to both of them for letting us do our laundry! 🙏
A big thanks also for shower. That’s actually The first hot water shower I’ve had in months. 🙃
With Craig and Tish working, I spent a decent amount of time working as well, trying to reach those goals of answering 15 questions a day.
I worked until I had drained Rover’s battery down, and then I fired up the engine and kept working while the engine charged the battery, so I could keep Starlink running.
Craig invited me to go with him to pick up Simon from school, so I went with him. We picked him up, stopped off at A fast food place really quickly because Simon wanted to grab some food really quickly, and then we headed over to get his haircut.
There was going to be a little bit of a wait, so we made the appointment, and then headed over to the parking lot of a larger church to give Simon some practice driving. He just got his learner’s permit, so he practiced parking lot parking, as well as just generally driving through to get a feel for things.
From there, we went over to a place where he could practice driving on a road that wouldn’t have a whole ton of traffic on it. Certainly there were other cars, but it was a little quieter, and there was a roundabout to be able to easily turn around to go back to the business parking lot where we had started.
Simon wasn’t very excited about it to start. I think he was actually really nervous. It’s a bit scary, I think, to go out on the road for the first time.
As the hair cutting appointment time got closer, Craig left Simon driving and guided him back around that little part of town into the parking lot where the hair cutting place was one of several businesses all in the same building.
Craig and I chatted, I forget about what, while at the hair cutting appointment, with me snacking on the free HiChews they had on the waiting area coffee table.
The experience being there with Simon learning how to drive evoked some challenging thoughts and feelings.
I always wanted to have kids.
I was more deeply reminded the ways I’ve missed out on so many of the things that mattered most to me. And these days, not only have I lost most of my hope that I’ll ever have kids, I’ve been losing my desire to even have kids because… at this point in my life, I’m pretty much running on empty. 😞
I’ve lost most of my self-confidence, among other things, so it’s pretty much a moot point anyway. I feel like I’m just about completely undesirable from a partner standpoint–a fellow human standpoint, really. I might be getting close to just making the decision to never have a partner because I want a relationship where everything is out on the table, and I don’t think there’s much likelihood of finding someone who will still want me when everything is out on the table.
And though I’ve wanted this to be a transparent blog, I’m not gonna say why I feel that way.
I’m sorry. 😞
Anyway, did more work for JustAnswer.
Then went out to eat with Tish and Craig and Mom To a big food truck center. It was pretty cool, actually. It’s Big food court kind of thing, with a central building, and gazillions of different food trucks in very nice rows parked next to each other and across from each other, with their menus and everything out front. It’s a super cool idea and extremely well executed, in my opinion.
It’s not just cool because there are a ton of different food options: it’s great because they’ve got tables set up And an indoors area that’s huge if you want to be out of the weather, and there’s a little area for kids to play around.
It’s just super cool.
After getting back, we packed up, said our goodbyes, and unfortunately, managed to leave without taking any pictures at all.
Ugh.
I remember to take pictures of the beautiful things along the journey. Why don’t I remember to take pictures with the people in my life?
We headed up toward Mount St Helens, similar to the way we did last year, though we took a different route this time.
It was after dark, but we were able to find an out of the way spot next to an old gravel pit, and that worked out just fine.
Found out that Pete Rose died either today or yesterday. I don’t remember which day at this point.
I wish they would have let him into the Hall of Fame. He should have died a Hall of Famer, in my opinion. …Just seems so crappy to have one of the most amazing careers of all time be shut out because he bet on his teams to win.
Too bad. RIP, Pete.
Lift the world.
~ stephen
Lift the World 