If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I had an absolutely lovely long weekend at my grandparent’s house down in their small town in Iowa. My mom, brother, and I left on Saturday morning; we had a lovely day with Grandma, going into town and visiting all the small shops on Main Street, a ritual we have whenever we go down to visit. On Sunday, my mom and brother left; given that I currently don’t have a job and wanted a few extra days visiting, I stayed. Part of the reasons for our visit (besides spending quality time with family) was to get my car, which my grandpa–a retired pilot–stored in his airplane hanger while I was abroad. With my car, I could stay in Iowa as long as I pleased and didn’t need to go back with my mom and brother. So, I spent the next couple days mostly hanging out with Grandma, exploring some places that were new to me while also visiting old favorites in the area. It was wonderful. If you haven’t noticed, Grandpa is glaringly absent from any tales of visiting my grandparent’s. That’s because my grandpa prefers to spend most of his time in his hanger or the garage doing whatever retired pilots do in their free time. He’s a tried and true introvert, if there ever was one.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that nothing productive in terms of job searching happened while at Grandma’s. The most productive thing I accomplished while there was collaboratively finishing a crossword puzzle with Grandma. I’ve gotten back into the swing of applications since being back, though, and am confident that something will come along in time. I really don’t give a hoot about what kind of job I get–I’m applying to all different sorts of things. I just want to move to Washington D.C. and have an income. The income part will certainly be nice, given that I haven’t received a paycheck since the beginning of March. If nothing comes up, I intend to just get up and move to D.C. and continue my job search there–it’ll undoubtedly be easier to find a job as a local candidate.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my grandfather on my dad’s side passed away this last weekend (the Iowa grandparents are my mom’s parents). It’s very strange. I was never particularly close to my dad’s dad and don’t particularly feel like I ever had a relationship with him, so I wouldn’t say I’m grieving…but it’s still strange when this person whom you’ve known for your entire life is all the sudden not there anymore. I’m sad for my dad and his siblings more than I’m sad for myself. That said, it came as no surprise. My grandfather was 95 and in very poor health. He was living in a hospice for the past month or so, and everyone knew the end was near. The funeral is on Monday, which I’m sure will be an emotional experience, regardless–he was my grandfather after all and I’ve been known in the past for crying profusely at funerals.
On a brighter note, if we were having coffee, I’d tell you that Amelia and I are meeting up this afternoon for our own coffee share. I’m really excited. We’ve met in person countless times before, given that we went to the same university, shared a major (English), and graduated in the same class. That said, we’ve never actually taken the time to meet up or put any effort into spending time together, despite the fact that we communicate often in the blogosphere. Given that we both have recently returned from exciting times abroad, we though it might be fun to get together and share stories.
If we were having coffee, I’d be ready to pass it off to you–and I’d ask if you have anything to share over coffee.
This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share link up at Part Time Monster
It's a Britta Bottle! 
I’m sorry about your grandfather.
I’m glad you had a good visit with your grandmother. I have relatives in Iowa but haven’t been there in many,many years.
Although I know Monday will be sad, I hope you have a great week ahead!
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Thank you, Trent. Minnesotans make fun of Iowa all the time because…what’s in Iowa besides fields? I’ve been going to Iowa since I was small, though, to visit my grandparents…so it’ll always be a special place to me.
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How lovely that you had a great time visiting in Iowa and bonus points for being able to pick up your car as well. Hope a fabulous job offer comes through soon, and in the meantime, wishing you a wonderful weekend.
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Thanks so much, Deborah. Living at home has been lovely for the past month or so, but I’m looking forward to going out into the world, getting a job, and having a place to call my own soon, too.
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Sounds like you had a great time in Iowa. While I don’t have any family there, I am strangely drawn to visiting Iowa someday, especially Des Moines (there is the #1 MFA Creative Writing program over there, too!).
Good luck with the job search; I admit, I am in a similar boat with you, especially after teaching abroad. It’s that post-grad life, anyway… *sigh
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Yes, the Iowa Writer’s Workshop is in Iowa City. Definitely a place to check out if you’re thinking about a higher degree in writing. I’ve never actually been to Des Moines–I’ve spent most of my time in Northern Iowa, since that’s where my grandparents live. I’d love to get to Des Moines someday, though!
Iowa gets a lot of flack from (super snooty) Minnesotans. We have our lakes and the Boundary Waters, and a thriving and cool metropolitan area (MSP), and Iowa just has fields. According to Minnesotans we have never actually spent an extensive amount of time in Iowa. There is mostly agricultural land along the major interstates in Iowa and Iowa is largely agricultural…but there are a lot of hidden gems if you get off the interstate and actually go exploring.
It is, indeed, the post grad life. Good luck to you as you figure you post-teaching abroad life, too.
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Condolences on the lost of your grandfather. The Iwoa trip was nice and that you could spend more time with your grandmother. Hope you get a job you like in the near future.
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Thank you, Betty Louise. It was lovely to spend time with my Grandparents. Hope I get a job, too!
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Your grandparents sound like my mom and dad. He preferred to stay home and tinker in the garage while she like to go and go. I’m glad you had such a nice visit. I’m sure they love having their granddaughter around.
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Yup, that’s definitely my grandparents! It’s also partly because my grandpa spent his life traveling as a pilot and my grandma spent her life staying home and taking care of five children. Grandpa prefers to stay in these days to make up for the time he wasn’t able to be at home and Grandma prefers to get out to places, to make up for the time she spent always at home.
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I’m glad you have a good relationship with your grandparents; they are so important in our lives. Sorry about your grandfather, though. Good luck with the job search and I like your idea of just going to DC and starting there. Can’t wait to hear about the new adventures!
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Thanks so much, Terri!
It’s wonderful to have a good relationships with grandparents. They are important and wise and know things about life that younger people haven’t quite figured out yet. 🙂
Thank you for your condolences. As I said in the post, I didn’t really have a relationship with this grandfather and we all knew the time was near given his age and his poor health, but it was still an emotional day on Monday.
Ah, I’m so excited to see what the future holds for me. Hoping to get out to D.C. soon!
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Sorry to hear about your Grandfather. My grandfather died when he was 95 too. He had Alzheimers for a few years beforehand and he just seemed to peter out in the end.
Great that you could go our to your other grandparents and catch up before the reality of work sets in and you can pick up your car.
I live in Australia just North of Sydney and we drove up to Queensland last weekend and caught up with family. It was great.
Take care and good luck with the job hunting. I have a job interview next Thursday. A one day a week job popped up at my daughter’s school as Community Liaison Officer. I have my hair cut and “enhanced” today and my eyebrow forest deforested. The things we do. Hope that makes me look smarter and more orgnanised!
xx Rowena
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Thank you, Rowena. As I said in the post, I wasn’t very close to this grandfather, but going to the funeral was still a very emotional experience.
It was also very nice to see my other grandparents.
Thanks, I’m hoping to make my move soon as it will be easier to find a job when I get there.
Glad to hear you’ve been productive and had a nice weekend with family. 🙂
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