I have admittedly become very bad at blogging. I’m over two months behind! But I realized, with amusement, that it’s not because I’ve lost interest, or have nothing to say. It’s because this trip no longer feels like a trip. It just feels like our lives! And why should I be writing about our boring, normal lives. This revelation definitely gave me a chuckle. And a litte bit of pride.

Anyway, let’s go back to Orlando!

We stayed with my oldest brother, Ilan, and his family for a fun-filled four weeks. They have three kids, ranging in age from 9-13. Before this leg of the trip, one of my sadnesses in life was how little time I’ve been able to spend with my nephews. We get to see each other only a handful of days per year, and when we do, it’s always a big family gathering where you never feel like you get enough time with any person, let alone enough time to feel like you’ve gotten to bond and play with any of the kids, so it always bummed me out that I just didn’t know them very well. So, what an awesome opportunity to really get to know them and see who they are as people!

By the end of the month together, we knew things like what each person would order at each restaurant, what each person’s favorite dessert was, what everyone’s favorite movies are, every kid’s favorite game, and even everyone’s fashion tastes.

We learned which days the kids came home early or late from school. We heard them practicing their musical instruments, and heard about what they were working on in school. We learned about their teachers and their friends. They taught me how to play chess, and Bears vs Babies. We watched Freaks and Geeks. We rooted for our knight together at Medieval Times. And we successfully completed an escape room with zero hints!

This leg of the trip drove home to me that really knowing someone includes knowing those little things that you can only know by spending hours and days and weeks with people. Now, no matter how much time goes by, it’ll feel normal to call and wish happy birthdays or happy hannukahs and not always feel like I’m some far away auntie they don’t really know.

You can learn a lot about someone by talking. In fact, that’s usually the main way I feel bonded with someone. But this leg of the trip made me realize that another kind of intimacy comes from observing, instead. Just, being around, experiencing the day to day, seeing people in situations, and seeing what they do. This is a part of intimacy that really seems to require time. It makes me realize how little time we usually do have to learn these things. Even with friends we see often, you see them in little bits at a time, in certain situations, in certain places. But it’s the little things that make up a life, and the nature of time means we all have to miss a lot of the little things in each other’s.

So I feel privileged that we have the time. And grateful that we made the time. And determined to create more time in the future.

Nice place to set up an office

Amir playing chess with Mike

Mike photoshopping our engagement ring

St Patrick's Day at the school

Shakespeare play with the kids

Medieval Times!

Perfect example: Yoav ate his cake from the inside out

Another example: Amir genuinely likes fruit more than ice cream

Harry Potter World!

The rest of the family came in for Amir's bar mitzvah

We lived out in the RV for a week, and came inside to shower!

Taking the boys for an RV ride

Mike and I discovered our feet are the same size

Dressed up for Purim

The only ones in the Imax theater!

Symphony orchestra show

Mike passed a kidney stone!

Conveyor belt hot pot

We’ve been in San Diego just over three weeks now. It simultaneously feels like the time has flown by, and also like we’ve been here forever. It’s really comfortable here, in every way. We have a great time with my parents, and so far, it’s exactly how we hoped -- just living lives alongside each other, doing our thing but sharing time and knowledge and interests, just generally being ourselves. Even having a shared TV show that you can watch together feels special. (Who thought Mike and I would like Nashville so much?)

We’re still weirdly busy. One project we hadn’t thought of was updating our addresses everywhere. What do you put as an address when you don’t really have an address? We have a Traveling Mailbox based out of San Francisco, and Mike has a PO box there, too, but are you allowed to use those things for car registration? DMV address? Voter registration? Should we try changing states, for taxes? Or for voting? We could use my parents’ address, but they might be moving while we’re on our trip, so then what? Definitely didn’t think about all that ahead of time. Another unanticipated question: how do you get car insurance if you don't have a car? All things to figure out.

The Lilac fire was pretty close to our house. By now it’s fully contained and it isn’t affecting us directly anymore. But the first day or so was a little uncertain. When it first started, the winds were blowing so hard that the mandatory evacuation zone was growing bigger and bigger, and they couldn’t really get in close enough to start containing it. The evacuation zone got scarily close to the house, and on that Thursday night, we packed up our stuff before bed just in case an evacuation order came in in the middle of the night. Having lived in places that have fires or hurricanes for much of my life, I wasn’t too worried at this point, but Mike was a little nervous. I said, “We’re on our trip! This is an adventure!” He said, “This isn’t the kind of adventure I had hoped for!” Luckily, the winds started dying down the next day, and it’s been calmer since then. No evacuation required!

The following day we went to Disney’s California Adventure with my parents. None of the four of us had been before, and we had a blast! Mike convinced me to go on some of the scary rides that I probably wouldn’t have done on my own. This picture sums up our attitudes quite nicely:

We’re about to drop 10 stories down and Mike looks like he’s sitting for a corporate photo

Our RV has been in the shop since we came back from Arizona, so we haven’t been able to work on it, which is a bummer. Plus we just sort of miss it! But... not blowing up in a propane tank accident is a pro, so, worth it.

I put on two business workshops last weekend, which went well. They were the first workshops I’ve done outside the Bay Area, so I was a little nervous. One was about starting a business after you’ve retired, and the other, aimed at the same audience, was about tools to protect your online privacy. I hope they were helpful! Because I’m going to take both of them on the road, and turn them into webinars.

Mom bought some jacks and a cat’s cradle book. We’ve been playing here and there every day. It’s been really fun, and both will be good games to take on the road. Definitely a great gift, and fun family time.

We were able to light the Hanukkah candles with my parents last Tuesday, which made me happy. We made latkes, and I took the opportunity to try frying some papadams for the first time. Indian Hanukkah is delicious. It might just have to be a new holiday tradition.

I took a whirlwind trip to Orlando last week to attend a business workshop which rocked my world, and one of my closest friends and favorite people, Heather, was also there with me, and that was a blast. I also got to see my other brother, Ilan, and his family, which was a special treat. My nephew Yoav destroyed us all at dreidel:

My brother, Eyal, and his family are visiting now, and we’re so happy to be able to spend time with them. We gave them the guest room which means we're now sleeping in the RV in the driveway. I kind of love it.

Next up, Mike just flew to Ohio for Christmas, and I'll be joining him in two days. (Sappy as it is, Mike and I have gotten really accustomed to basically never being more than five yards away from each other at all times. I know it’s kind of pathetic, but we definitely miss each other when we're apart!) A few days after we return, we'll be leaving California!

I’m going to miss San Diego, and I will really miss my parents. And I cannot believe we’ll be in New Orleans in just over two weeks! Onward we go…

Orlando: It's the Little Things

San Diego, continued