Home again

I got back from California last night and it was a trip of such varied experiences that I find it hard to report on. A definite stand-out was the amazing first edition bookstore that was so hot inside it felt like a sauna (but a magical sauna) in Los Angeles, where I learned that I had to read the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Lace Reader, and Child 44. But I also learned that I would not be buying copies there, as Child 44 (the signed edition) was selling for the bargain price of $300. So I went elsewhere and have already finished The Golden Compass (the first in the series; loved it, it made me feel like a kid, and not in the way that spending several days with my family makes me feel like a kid) and I am beginning The Subtle Knife (the second book) this evening.

Rob is still in San Francisco and will be there all week, so I am looking forward to doing all of the things that typically horrify him, including waiting several days before unpacking, eating lentils and/or cereal for dinner, and watching romantic comedies I have seen before on (gasp!) non-HD TV.

And because I am still missing him, I would like to take this opportunity to marvel at the numerous facets of Rob’s personality that I was able to enjoy during our weekend in San Francisco. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary Thursday night, which involved me traveling from Berkeley to meet him at a restaurant and him texting me every 30 seconds with messages like “Where are you?” “I’m hungry” “Hungry” and “Jesus.”

Can you feel the love?

But ok, since Rob frequently accuses me of taking his statements out of context for use on the blog, I will admit that he had just flown in from New York, it was 8:30pm in California, and he was on his way to getting fairly drunk while waiting for me at the bar. When I got there (basically exactly when I had promised to arrive), it was wonderful to see him and we had a very fun dinner. But is that an entertaining story? Noooo.

On Friday, I met him at our hotel after spending some quality time with a close friend in the East Bay. Upon greeting Rob, I told him that Krista and I had been hanging out, talking about relationships. He smiled wickedly and said “Good. So you’ve got that out of your system.”

But then just when I had decided that I was going to kick him in the head, I walked out of the bathroom to catch him prancing around the hotel room opening all the shades while singing like a soprano in the girls’ choir, “ah AH! Ahhhhh AHHHHHH ahhhhh!” And I felt very lucky to have had this weird person in my life for three years who challenges and amuses me, and makes me happy. And who can also pull off prancing.