Things I learned on my trip to LA

Last weekend I found some cheap plane tickets and decided to pay a visit to Trevor (sans Anna), since I hadn't seen my spouse in WAY too long—like, more than a month! That's not okay. And since we still have a couple more weeks to go before the big move, I thought a little quality time together would help us make it through the last lap of this, our Being Apart Marathon.

Anyway, it was SO good to see Trevor, it was good to check out the new apartment and measure a few things so I know how much of our stuff to bring down, and plus, I even learned a few things:

1. Traveling without a child can be a peaceful, relaxing experience. I actually took a book on the plane. And I took a nap — a NAP! — on the flight home.
2. I don't need to carry snacks with me everywhere I go. Although I discovered some leftover fruit snacks in my purse that would have helped tide me over if I did get a little irritable, I didn't even need them.
3. I'm still not used to the California landscape. I've been there a few times, and I was only there for 4 days this trip, but still. It looks weird to me, no matter how much I've seen it on TV. The palm trees are tall and they stick straight up out of nothing, there are a few green areas, but basically it looks kind of dry and deserty. At least LA did. But don't get me wrong. Read on.
4. I'm excited to live there. I'm excited to explore new places, find fun places to eat, and discover great places to shop. And since I know they've got to be there, I'm also excited to set out on adventures to find greener areas (this is starting to sound laughable coming from a Utahan). But it's going to be a great adventure and I can't wait.
5. However, I am not excited to drive there. When Trevor asked if I wanted to drive one night, I told him no because it had been a while since I had driven a stick (remember how we lived in another country last year?) and I didn't want to jog my memory on crazy streets I didn't know. So that's going to take some getting used to.
6. Since so much of the business of flying is done online these days (reservations, e-tickets, checking in, etc.), sometimes I feel like the prep I've done for the trip is fake. At times I feel like I'm going to get up to the gate and hand them my flimsy boarding pass and then they'll laugh at me and tell me that it's not even a real ticket. It sort of seems like it shouldn't be this easy to travel several hundred miles.
7. Before the trip, I couldn't wait for some alone time. Being a single mom is rough, although our families have been super supportive while Trevor has been in LA. But with that said, I missed Anna terribly, of course. We all knew it would happen.

Anyway, that's all. It was a great trip, but it's good to be back to my baby. And it's even better knowing that we're going to be done moving soon (since I feel like we've been perpetually moving for two months now) and we'll all be reunited with Trevor again soon. Very soon.