Home, of sorts

Odd to have a photo that's not from my travels, but this is one of my favorite hometown landmarks. Once the sign for the White Stag clothing company, this neon relic sits at the west end of the Burnside Bridge here in Portland. Starting around Thanksgiving, the stag is adorned with a bright red light on its nose. I'll try to get a photo of that, too.

I'm in Portland for now. I spent much of this past week in San Jose, celebrating a beloved friend's 40th birthday and attending church with him and his husband the next day. I had all sorts of plans to see folks down there this week, but realized that with everything around my mom's illness and death and the aftermath and then ramping back up at work, exhaustion was setting in bigtime. So although I did head into the office while I was there, the rest of the time I spent lounging around my friends' place doing, well, nothing.

Bliss.

Today was my mom's memorial service and reception. It was held at the chapel where I'd attended college and where she worked for many years. It was a really beautiful and touching ceremony. The reception was great, although by the end of it I was ready for a nap. Too many interfaces, too many people to be "on stage" with. It's why I work in a little cubicle and try to deal with people one on one. The kid managed fine; he grabbed food and found a corner.

Tomorrow really starts "what happens next" - life without my mom around, and with no mom-related things to deal with, other than some estate settling. Tonight I'm paying bills, doing laundry, and getting ready for the week ahead. Some of that has to involve getting my bike tuned up; not riding has given me about 15 new pounds that I don't really think I want to keep, thanks. Ugh.

In about a week I'll update status on next year. It's still simmering, just was on the back burner while we dealt with everything with Mom.

Is this thing on?

Oh, so much time, so many things.

My mom passed peacefully on October 17, with friends and family by her side. She is at peace now, and that alone has made the past couple of weeks truly grace-filled. After so many years of pain, she's free. Her memorial service is this coming Sunday afternoon, and family & friends are traveling to be in town for the occasion.

Meanwhile - my trips to California have picked up again. I'm here now, heading back to Puddletown in the morning. Will probably come back in ~3 weeks, bringing the kid along for a couple of days. I miss him; don't like being away from him for this long, even though "this long" is only five days.

Still amazed by the Obama election - and saddened by the vote on Prop 8 in California. As I posted on Facebook, though, it's a speedbump, not a wall.

Mexico? At one point last week it looked like I'd be heading down in January for a week, but schedule-wise and logistics-wise, it made little sense. Still don't know about next year either; to some extent that's resting on a few other variables, most of which aren't in my hands.

Anyway - hope to be back blogging again soon, prob'ly after I get through this weekend's events and fully catch up at work again. Wrote a bit at StreetProphets as part of the "Write to Marry" effort on 10/29, but otherwise have been just trying to keep the relevant balls in the air.