The Countdown is on

"Zappa"

 

 

 

Yes, the countdown is definitely on now! Five more days, and then I'm on the road to Baltimore to the Frank Zappa Festival, where I can honour both Frank and Rob.

The hotel and van are booked, and the travel insurance purchased.  Laura is looking after the cats while I'm away, and I've written out a list of all the things I need to be packed.  I like to be organized!  If I don't feel like I'm organized I become panicky. I even jolt awake in a cold sweat some nights, worrying about everything!

I got a phone call from the Mayor's office in Baltimore a few weeks back.  That was cool!  They had read the email I sent to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asking for advice on cheap/accessible hotels and other fun/accessible attractions to see besides the FZ Festival.  The Mayor's aid said she could get me into a fancy hotel for a reasonable price.  At first I was thrilled, but then I compared prices and the Best Western Hotel, which I had booked 3 weeks beforehand, had better rates than the one the Mayor's aid was suggesting.  So, I wrote back and said, thanks but Best Western is good enough for me.

Five more days..... Am I happy? Am I excited about it all?  Yeah... sort of.   I'm sure I'll have some fun. And, of course, I'm taking cool, great, fantastic, brilliant people with me!  People I love.

And yet, I can not seem to get over this overwhelming sadness within myself.  Rob should be here to share in the whole experience - from start to finish - the planning, the arrangements, the trip itself, and the actual FZ Festival.   I can see him now, trying to be nonchalant and yet secretly overjoyed. That was Rob's style/ He would also try to look on the pessimistic side of things in order to brace himself for disappointment. That was Rob's style too.

I miss Rob so much!  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about him and wish that he was still here. 

Nine more days until the second anniversary of his death.  Two years - how can it be?

"Love of my Life"