My second full day in the US began early, 5:45 am, when I agreed to get up with my Mom in order to go with her to drop my Dad off at work, as her car was still in the shop and we needed a vehicle for errands that day. It was just as well for me, because I wanted to see the changes in the city in the two years since I had been there.
In truth, there were not all that many changes, but still enough for me to notice -- some of the changes could be attributed to Hurricane Isaac, but more are just down to progress and neglect that happens as cities age, grow and shrink. The only thing I really noticed on that early morning run was the new building at the D-Day Museum. (I guess I should call it the National WWII Museum, as the focus is far more than just D-Day now -- but like most New Orleanians, I am loathe to change the names that anything is called, and I knew that site as the D-Day Museum, so that is how I think of it. Along the same lines, I think of Southern Cross Station as Spencer Street Station, because that is what my dearest called it when he introduced me to the location; even though it has not been called Spencer Street Station in the time I have known it, I still think of it that way. I suppose it's just one more way I will always be a New Orleanian at heart. But I digress.) The huge new buildings are hard to miss, as is the clean-up of the city for the Super Bowl. I am so glad I will not be around to have to deal with the mess that the Super Bowl will bring to the city and the people who live and work there and only want to get to work and home again. I love that huge events bring much-needed money into the city, but I hate dealing with the trouble that they cause for locals. It's a trade-off, and one I am so glad I do not have to contemplate.
After dropping off Dad with promises not to forget to pick him up at the end of the work-day, Mom and I decided to indulge in a breakfast from McDonald's. Once again, I know that many people would be appalled at the idea of fast-food, but when anything is unavailable, it becomes an unquenchable desire. While there is a McDonald's within walking distance from my house, it's not an American McDonald's and the menu is different, especially the breakfast menu. Specifically, the breakfast menu is lacking biscuits. Biscuits are not available in Australia, and I keenly miss breakfast sandwiches made with biscuits. So I was happy to get a McDonald's Southern-Style chicken biscuit for my indulgence.
We got the order to go and took it home to enjoy with the paper and silly morning television, including The Match Game and re-runs of Jeopardy! I have missed Jeopardy! and got in as many episodes as possible while I was home. When I lived at home, Mom and I would play along with the game as it aired, keeping score. I missed the competition as much as I missed spending time with my parents. I always find it interesting what people miss when they are taken from their family units. I know my brothers and I miss the trips our family would make together to Wal-Mart or the grocery store; lively dinners -- especially ones at places like Taco Bell and McDonald's, when my Dad would explain concepts with diagrams on the paper napkins. It's not the big things we miss, but the everyday things. Even after two years, I still miss things like planning menus with my Mom and shopping for all the ingredients to make those dinners. I am convinced the real quality time is not in scheduled activities, but in the little everyday things that families do together.
Full of breakfast, and lulled by silly television, I succumbed to the last bits of jet-lag and had a lovely two-hour nap, before we got up and about. I had some laundry to get done, so I got that started and work up my younger brother for his doctor's appointment. We went with him, and then to the drugstore where I picked up some needed things, including some things on my list of things to bring back with me -- why, oh why does Australia dislike solid deodorant???
Errands done, we headed across the river to pick up my Dad. Traffic has gotten truly horrendous in two years! A trip that took 15 to 20 minutes in the morning, took over 45 in the evening. We decided on a quiet night at home, sharing another episode of Jeopardy! and some fluff tv, more of InkMaster and a few other things that had been recorded. I fell asleep to The Big Bang Theory.
The more I review my adventures to share them here, the more I am convinced I lead a boring, plodding existence. Butt the more I think about that, the more I am sure I am perfectly happy with that kind of existence. I like routine; I like knowing what should happen, where I will be, who I'll be with. I like boring predictability. I have never needed or wanted excitement. And while it seems that moving to Australia is exciting, the excitement wears off fairly quickly and life settles down to a routine. I like that. I'm perfectly happy with the plodding of day-to-day sameness. There may not be a huge story to tell each and every day, but every day is my story and I'm happy with it.
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