Let the Laziness Commence

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We finally made it to Arizona. I love this place. Even though the weather is similar to Texas (they are the same temperature at this exact moment), Arizona–especially where my in-laws are–looks so different. People here take great pains to make it look all lush and gorgeous: palm trees and flowers everywhere and grass that is so obnoxiously green. In Texas we treat winter like it’s winter. Nobody overseeds their lawns because that would mean watering and mowing all winter long. Flowers are relegated to the spring when wildflower season starts (in a week or two. It’s so gorgeous!)

The drive was actually pretty great. Even though I had seven kids with me there was pretty much no fighting. When I was young my parents would give us five or ten dollars at the start of every drive. Each time we fought or sassed my parents we’d get 25¢ taken away. We sure tried to stay in line, although I’d usually lose half of my money. I told my kids we’d be doing this and they moaned and groaned. But I only ended up taking a quarter from three of them. So now I have to pay $70 for nothing. York told me yesterday that I didn’t need to pay him anything because he already has enough money. What a sweetheart!  (In case you didn’t know, raising kids when money is tight and letting them know that money is tight is actually very beneficial. They are so grateful for anything they are given and are completely missing that spoiled sense of entitlement that many of their friends have.)

In case you’re wondering there are about five gas stations in all of west Texas. It took me a while to learn the law of the frontier: if you see a gas station, fill up! I’m glad I brought lots of snacks because restaurants were even fewer and far betweener. We stopped at a Taco Bell at one point that was closed on a Saturday night because they ran out of food. Yikes! Especially because you know what that means: McDonalds. Now that the kids aren’t in extra-curricular activities we rarely eat on the go. I can’t say that I have missed eating there.

But we didn’t starve to death or run out of gas. We made it OK, despite a two hour traffic jam in El Paso. I spent most of the day yesterday shopping and settling in. So today is my first genuinely lazy day. Here it is 9:30 am and I’ve only gotten out of bed once (and that was just to turn on the pool heater and get a yogurt).  And, gloriously enough, there is cable TV. I’ve watched about a jillion episodes of Pawn Stars and Duck Dynasty. It’s been pretty fantastic.

I don’t know why I wasn’t born as a 18th century aristocrat. This kind of do-nothing life really suits me.

 

7 thoughts on “Let the Laziness Commence

  1. Sounds like the perfect vacation to me! I’m impressed with your road trippin’ but you have older kids now so it should be quite doable. We are headed to So Cal for sring break and to say I’m excited would be quite the understatement. I haven’t
    seen the sun for 6 months!

  2. What a great trip! And surely that photo must be an imaginary illustration! Noplace could look that glorious, lush, green and turquoise outside of the Celestial Kingdom!

  3. Pawn Stars! Hahaha. We watch that every once in a while just to remind me how glad I am that I don’t live in Detroit anymore. That show is the worst side of everything bad about that town!

  4. Pawn Stars! Hahaha. We watch that every once in a while just to remind me how glad I am that I don’t live in Detroit anymore. That show is the worst side of everything bad about that town!

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