Not too close for comfort (phew!)

Yes, despite appearances, this blog is still alive! It’s just been…resting.

I have been writing, just in other places. Most notably, I am now the monthly restaurant reviewer for a "senior" (50 and older) local newspaper. I was offered the gig while being interviewed about my book. It’s just hobby writing, but I am having a blast with the super fun gig that almost literally fell in my napkin-covered lap. An excuse to try new food AND write about it?!?  Sign me up!

I’ve also been utterly distracted helping my church remodel two ‘70s-era restrooms. And by that I mean I am an administrative maven with a color-coded spreadsheet and a pile of reimbursable receipts. I am learning about toilet repair kits, powder-coated steel partitions, the many options for dispensing toilet paper and their seat covers, and the laws surrounding safely disposing of asbestos. Rumors are swirling that I might soon learn (from a safe distance) how to hang drywall. I seriously need to find myself a Tim Taylor tool belt. Grunt grunt grunt.

The biggest change in my world over the past several months, though, is the local arrival of these two Very Important People.

Yes, once I got through adolescence,
my mom and I have often been 
mistaken for sisters

Thankfully right before winter travel over mountain passes got really dicey, my parents moved from Idaho to a town about 30 minutes from Woodhaven. Yes, for the first time since I left for college, my parents and I live in the same area code!

Truth be told (and yes, I know Mom and Dad are reading this), I was a little freaked out at first by the prospect of my parents living so close to me. While the benefits of proximity are obvious, I was a little concerned about how much life-interweaving would be expected. But all is good!  Our two households seem to have found a healthy balance of being in touch and seeing each other while also living independent lives with respectful boundaries. YAY ADULTING!

Although our houses are about a half-hour apart, we all do most of our shopping in a town in between. So I knew it was only a matter of time before I bumped into at least one of my parents while doing errands. My money was on the Walmart Pharmacy line.

Last week, while checking my mirrors before pulling out of my parking space at Albertsons, I caught a glimpse of my mom’s pretty distinctive car of the orangey variety. Confirming the twinning head of white hair in the driver’s seat, I put my car in Park and waited for Mom to get situated in a space of her own. Being careful not to be too stalkery, I slalomed around a couple of wayward shopping carts towards Mom’s car. Reflecting her character and approach to life 100%, Mom gave the stranger walking towards her a big smile that then burst even bigger when she realized the stranger was me.

We chatted for a few minutes, comparing errands and wardrobes and plans for the day. We caught up on husbands and doctor appointments and dinner menus. And we hugged. Several times. It was pretty dang awesome.

Although I’m quite used to running into people I know while out-and-abouting in my small town – and I knew it would happen eventually – I was nonetheless pretty stoked to have an impromptu breezy chat with my mom in a grocery store parking lot. We have never lived (as adults) in a manner that that was ever possible.  

Unplanned parking lot hugs from my mom? Definitely one of the benefits of proximity.