What do you covet? (updated)

Got tagged by Rodger Jacobs for an interesting meme-birthday-list this morning. He urged that we not focus on general concepts like world peace and the like. Practical things, he said. Funny, on my birthday, I thought and thought what I'd like to have and couldn't come up with anything. What I wanted was the impossible. No practical thing could satisfy me.

But certainly, there must be something?

1. A large, obcene amount of money in my checking account. Not that interested in small monthly deposits. No, there's nothing as satisfying as seeing a 5 or 6 digit balance for those on the lower economic end of things. The thrill of potential, the rush of the immediate future. All those things we've been wanting to do!

2. A new computer. I'm virus infected but don't have the time to wipe the drive right now so I'm living with that same ridiculous bug I've had since January. JANUARY? Yes. Damn Windows and Microsoft.

3. A vacation house either on a beach bluff or in the mountains. I have visions of taking weeks off to write, to recoup. A place to watch the kids search for pretty rocks on shore or pine cones in a stretch of forest. A place to study the stars at night because here in the city that is an impossibility.

4. Two extra rooms in our house so J can have his coveted own room, and another to house a library full of books.

5. A housekeeper-gourmet cook. Someone to clean up on a constant basis and cook all our dinners. I'll handle lunch, but how satisfying to have healthy, whipped-up meals without my having to get started at four in the afternoon for such a thing. How wonderful to sit down each night to something delicious. I have images of smiling faces and beautiful china and candlelight. All without my having to work at it.

Who do I tag? Lori at Lori's Place, Hurricane Shirley at Excellent Fodder, Diana at Diaphanous, Patrick at Full Blue Moon Dementia, and Carolyn at the Ginger Quill.

***

Today, I'm unsociable. As I write, the family is at a community dinner, the kids hanging out with neighbor kids, the husband listening to speakers talking about our…community. The idea of it just grated on me. So at the last minute, I decided to stay in and grade papers. I managed to get in a nap. The papers still sit. The husband is irritated at me. He called and asked, “Come over and serve the kids their food, please.” I gritted my teeth and said, “No.” I’m certain to hear about it later. I’ll let you know how it all goes down.

Last night, however, I wasn't feeling unsociable. I had the pleasure of meeting Hurricane Shirley of Excellent Fodder, and excellent she was! We enjoyed ribbing Rodger Jacobs about his mild grumpiness while surrounded by a noisy crowd at the Acapulco. The waitresses were passing out beads a la Mardi Gras or St. Patrick’s day. The three of us nodded kindly and passed on the green baubles which evoked a flash of horror on the waitress’s face.

“What do you mean you don’t want the beads?”

“No, no beads.”

“But they’re happy beads. Take the beads.”

“No beads.”

“TAKE THE BEADS YOU VILE, UNSOCIABLE CUSTOMERS!!” At which point she flung like ten strings at us, the strings breaking apart and mixing into our Fiesta Plate. A beautiful sight really.

That didn’t happen. Completely made up. Total, utter fiction. About the beads, that is. The waitress wanted that to happen though, I could tell. When we rejected her offer of plastic jewelry, she blinked, her mouth stiffened, her blond hair shook with simmering tension. She turned and left to bother others about the beads.

Our afternoon dwindled as we drank our margaritas and over all enjoyed the company of one another. The 210 freeway was amazingly open as I drove home near seven beneath a darkening sky, zipping through Eagle Rock and Pasadena, and onto home, Nelly Furtado accompanying my drive.

I’ve decided what I covet most is unscheduled free time.

***

Update: You can find Diana's thoughtful list here.