Giggles

There wasn't much unusual about my visit with my mother today.   I had gone over to drop off her laundry, which I washed last night.  I settled in as usual and talked about our upcoming trip to Boston.  "You're going to Boston?" she cried, though we have discussed this every day for the last two weeks.

She followed that with her usual question when she knows I will be out of Davis for a few days.  "What should I do if I die when you're gone?"  She's very concerned that she knows what is supposed to happen when she dies and if I'm not here, obviously she can't die because she doesn't know what's supposed to happen and she wants to make sure "things" are taken care of.

It was an hour and a half discussion about her death and its aftermath, but the difference between today and other such discussions (which we have often) is that I guess my head was in the right place today because I was able to make a joke about it just about every time.

"If you feel you're going to die and I'm not here, just run down the hall waving your arms and screaming 'I'm dying! I'm dying!' and somebody will notice you," I told her.  She laughed a lot and told me that was a good one.

I usually tell her she won't have to do anything because the housekeeper will find her on house cleaning day so she wouldn't lie there all that long.

I also tell her that I've made arrangements with the head chef and he will just hang her in the meat locker in the Atria kitchen until I get home.

Then she wants to know what is going to happen with all her stuff when she dies.  I told her today we were going to throw it all in the box with her body and have it cremated with her.

I was surprised when I left Atria to discover I'd been there an hour and a half (a typical visit is an hour).  We really had talked about very little else but her death, living to hunnert, how she'd like to live to hunnert, how her husband is waiting for her, how she's the oldest one left in the family, and what will she do if she dies when I'm in Boston.  But we had gone over those topics many times and I was able to make things sound so ridiculous that we had a really good laugh for a long time.

That felt good.

---

We got a notice from Laurel that they are signing Brianna up for a theater workshop and that its winter production will be The Music Man.

 Oh my does that take me back.  Paul as Winthrop and Jeri as Amarylis in the first pre-Davis Musical Theater Company production of The Music Man.  Paul as Winthrop again when he performed at the Woodminster Amphitheater in Oakland (for which he won an award as best child performer of the year), and Paul again, this time as Tommy Djilas, the kid who "almost got perpetual motion once" with DMTC again.

I always hoped he would go on to play Harold Hill and eventually Mayor Shinn.

He never actually played Harold Hill, but did do part of "Trouble" in one of his monologue shows once. That was really fun for me.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen The Music Man over the years.  I still like it...and now maybe we'll see Brianna in it.  The torch is passed.

Now We Are Six

It's hard to believe that Bri is 6 years old already!  Today she will celebrate at home with her friends, but yesterday the family passed through Davis en route home from Yosemite, and stopped  by Atria so we could all visit and have a little birthday party.  My mother's apartment waws instantly transformed from the quiet place it usually is to a place full of laughter, conversation, and confusion.

I had been up late the night before making a cake for Bri so we had cake, balloon, presents (two--one from my mother and one from us) and party plates to bring.  I decided to make two trips and went over at 10:15 to drop off the presents.   I left the big box from us on the floor and gave my mother the bag of her gift on the kitchen counter.  "I'll sign the card in a minute," she said.   When I left I reminded her to sign the card and said "Do it now before you forget."  She got up and headed toward the bag as I went out the door.

When we returned half an hour later, dropped the cake stuff off in the dining room and went to the apartment.  The big box from us was gone and the bag was still sitting there with unsigned card.  When I asked her where the box had gone, she said she knew nothing about a box and if it was gone, someone must have come into the apartment and taken it.  Sigh.  Fortunately Ned found it sitting on her bed.   I asked her to sign the card and she only wrote "love GaGa" and I know it was because she couldn't remember Bri's name.

Tom and family arrived and I was pleased to see that this seemed to be a good day with Bri.  She talked with me and didn't seem to be as skittish with me as she sometimes is. We had a nice visit in the apartment and then went to the dining room for lunch.

When time came for cake, Laurel and I jumped up with cameras.

(this is one of my favorite Atria servers, Piyush

Ned helped blow out the candle.

Then we went back to GaGa's to open presents.  Brianna is so good about making sure she reads the card first.  Since she is learning to read, she really tries to read  the card and took a long time reading the card before opening the box.

Lacie, in the meantime, was just concentrating on charming everyone.

Most of the gifts were books.  I had found some Bobbsey Twins books that I had my mother give her, since those were books she read to me when I was a kid. Bri was very good about thanking GaGa and it was so cute watching them talking together.

Lacie LOVES books and she looked through all of them before Bri did.   Bri was busy looking at the non-book gifts.

One of the things I had picked up as an after thought when leaving Costco was a game called Pizza Math.  Since Bri likes to make pizza and is good at math, I thought it might be a fun game for her.  It was.  She and Lacie and Marta sat n the floor and played it for a long time.

 
But it was getting late and then were planning on getting home in time for dinner, so it was time to say goodbye.  Without being asked, Bri came and gave me a hug and thanked me for everything.  Our little girl is definitely growing up!

The Littlest Vader

Brianna's birthday party last year was all fairy princesses, and a beautiful cake with Disney princesses on it.  This year the Leggo company has been producing cartoons using its Leggo Star Wars characters and Darth Vader is the hero of the day at Bri's nursery school.  Thus, our sweet little Shirley-temple like Brianna had requested a Darth Vader party theme.  And that it was.  In spades.

Laurel, who had almost NO voice from a very bad cough, had been up very late making a Darth Vader cake.

 

(She has far exceeded me in cake decorating expertise!)

The party was held in a park in downtown Santa Barbara.  The kids had been invited to wear costumes, and some did.  There were two Darth Vaders hovering over the potato chip bowl, Brianna and her friend, whose name I cannot remember.

 

There was a storm trooper...

 

...and even a UPS delivery man.

 

Because the Yoda ears didn't fit, Lacie was ObiWan Kenobi instead.

 

Even Mommy got into costume.

 

For lunch there was pizza.  LOTS of pizza.

 

After which there was a Death Star pinata, which the kids hit with light sabers (of course).

 

To get their goodie bags (which were leftover fairy princess bags from last year!), the kids had to go on a hunt for a Darth Vader box (Walt called it the "hidden immunity idol).

 

Then there was cake.

(the candles and light sabers were made of Leggo)

 

When it was all over, Walt and I had an errand to run, and then met everyone back at Tom & Laurel's where we could watch Bri open her presents.

We had given her a Darth Vader wristwatch and a 49er lunch box (both on her wish list) plus some stuff I'd picked up in Monterey recently.  

 

She also got a lot of other Star Wars related stuff, like Storm Trooper mask, lots of Darth Vader paraphernalia and games and, incongruously, feather boas for dress up!

 

But ironically, the thing that got the best reaction was the card we had given her which plays a hamster dance song.  She played that over and over and over again, laughing hysterically each time.

 

As for Lacie, she had a great time and tried to get into mischief whenever she could.  This was her face when she had been writing on her arms.

 

Before we left, Laurel mentioned that Brianna was collecting the state quarters to put in a book and asked if we ever had quarters, to check them and if she needs a certain state, send them to her.  It just so happens that I carry about $12 in quarters in two 35 mm film canisters so that I can use them if I need to fill a parking meter.  I checked my quarters and found a lot that Bri was missing, so we spent some time filling in her book.

 

We brought pizza back to Alice Nan & Joe's for dinner and they watched basketball.  Not a fan, I was frustrated that I had (a) left my kindle at the hotel, (b) left the earphones for my iPod at the hotel, and (c) left my iPad at the hotel!  Nothing to read anywhere.  I realized how addicted I am!!!

But eventually we returned here.  Last night was a good sleep night in the hotel room's recliner and I am hopeful that tonight will be a repeat.

All things considered it was such a fun day and I think Brianna had a great birthday!  Tomorrow is Lacie's Christening.

Earthquakes and Pizza

I had eight hours sleep last night.  I can't remember when that last happened. Walt and I lazed around the house until Tom called, around 9:30, after which we packed up and went to Tom & Laurel's.  We watched Tom and Bri having races:

Tom fixed lunch for us all and then we packed up and went to the Santa Barbara farmers market.

Several fruit stand were selling something called "donut peaches," which looked like...well...donuts made of peaches.  I had to buy a couple to taste.  They were delicious.

After we got back from the market, Walt got busy playing with Bri and her table train set.

I decided it must be a Romney train, since the dog seemed to ride on top!

As sometimes happens with 4 year olds, Brianna got too excited with all the play and she decided to be "cute" and tore the whole complicated train set up apart...she said there had been an earthquake (actually, I think I said it first).  Daddy was not too happy about the earthquake story and decided that it was time to pack up the train set for a week and turn the table back into a drawing table.  Needless to say, this did not go over too well with Ms. Bri.

Grandpa came to the rescue and, with the help of Bri...and the complicated plans for laying out the track, order was restored.

We figured everybody needed a time out, so we came home for a couple of hours to allow peace to be restored at Tom's and the girls to get some rest.  We returned in 2-1/2 hrs to join Bri and Tom in helping to make pizzas. I am killing myself for accidentally deleting the video of Tom showing Bri how to roll out and toss pizza dough...

I found software that for a mere $40 can restore it from the card, but it wasn't THAT great of a video...just cute.  But I did get this picture of Tom teaching Bri how to sprinkle cheese on the pizza instead of just tossing it in a handful.

When it was all cooked, Ms. Bri pronounced it delicious.

Lacie had her bath while we were eating our pizza and was happy to join us afterwards, though she did not get the pizza she thought she wanted.

After watching Tom, Laurel and Bri chase the rabbit Savannah around to get her in her cage for the night (they are fostering her for the moment...probably their last rabbit foster, to hear Tom tell it), we packed up our stuff and came home. 

A very good, fun day with the grandkids.

We Almost Saw the Giraffe

Well, that's not really true. We did see the giraffes. But not much else.

Walt called Tom this morning to see what was going on. Laurel had gone back to work, Ned and Marta were headed back to Sacramento, and Lacie was going to be with the babysitter, so it was just Tom and Jeri with Bri and they suggested we go to the Santa Barbara zoo, which I have never visited (Walt has).

By the time we got ourselves up, showered and dressed and got to Tom's house, said goodbye to Ned & Marta, got Bri dressed and ready and got on the road, it was about 11 a.m.

Normally this wouldn't be a problem. The zoo doesn't open until 11 anyway. But the zoo is a 20-25 minute drive from Tom's house and we had plans to have lunch with our friends Dick and Gerry, who live near Tom, at 1 p.m.. That meant that under the best of conditions, we would have 30 minutes for the zoo (though Tom and Jeri could stay as long as they wanted, of course).

Walt dropped me off at the parking lot (which was full) and I walked to the ticket line (which was long) while he went to find a place to park. He arrived, with Tom, Jeri and Bri and we all stood in line and waited. And waited.

Finally we had tickets and entered. I mostly wanted to see the giraffes, which you can feed, for a price. They are apparently part of the grand finale, so in order to see them first, Tom set off in the opposite way to how you are supposed to go.

It's a lovely little zoo, with lots of grass and places for the kids to play. It sits overlooking the ocean. We walked up a hill...and walked and walked and walked. I finally told Tom it was a lovely park, but were there any animals there?

Shortly afterwards, we saw lions. Sort of. One female lying in the sun appearing not to breathe, until she finally took one deep breath. Near her was the paw of what they assured me was a male lion. All I saw was his paw.

But next to them was the giraffe enclosure, with one giraffe looking out to the ocean.

We saw the feeding platform and a long line of people waiting to feed the giraffes.

Obviously, there was no way we could get onto the platform and get to Dick and Gerry's in time, so we scratched that plan. We had a quick look at the one meerkat that was out...

...and then Walt and I had to to leave. He went ahead to get the car, I made my way down the hill, stopping for water and a pit stop, where I found the real zoo--five mothers, each with 3 small children, all trying to pee in the women's room. The lions, sleeping in the sun had it much better off!

We were only 10 minutes late getting to Dick and Gerry's and had a lovely lunch, catching up on news and Gerry's recent trip to Ireland. She was happy for an excuse to use her Christmas finery one more time.

We finished the day at the Tupelo Cafe in downtown Santa Barbara where we had such a fun evening with Joe, Alice Nan and Jeri. Food was reasonable, but this is a $15 crab cake.

(note the size in comparison to the lemon slice). Fortunately it was absolutely delicious and almost worth that much money!

Jeri would be so proud

I turned around and waved goodbye to Brianna, wrapped in a towel and standing in the doorway in her Dad's arms.

I had been at Tom and Laurel's for two hours, from 6 to 8 p.m. and I had not taken a single photo of Lacie!!!!

Jeri would be proud; Ned would be astonished.

This is not to say that there were no photos. I had Tom take a picture to send to Walt to let him know I had arrived safely.

But I had just enjoyed the moment, cuddled with my new granddaughter until it was time for her dinner and didn't think (much) about taking pictures. These pictures were posted on Facebook by Laurel this morning.)

It had been a long day. Oh, how I long for the invention of a transporter when I start that 8-9 hour drive from our house to Tom's. The variation in time depends on (a) traffic and (b) whether I eat lunch in a restaurant or at a drive-through.

I drive down I-5, which Walt hates because it is drab and boring--but you can go 80 mph a lot of the time and make better time. Walt prefers 101, which is not my favorite (except when they are selling cherries in the early summer!) because it seems slower, you run into traffic going thru small towns, and it seems to take forEVER to get to King City. So I drive I-5, when I am driving alone.

My first stop is about an hour out of Davis, at the first rest stop. By then I'm ready to visit the bathroom and replenish my bottle of water...and usually buy a snack from one of the machines.

The next stop is in Santa Nella, a couple of hours later, at Pea Soup Anderson's restaurant.

There are two Pea Soup Andersons, this one being the second.

Dutch settlers had begun to move into the area around Solvang and Buelton and in 1924, Anton and Juliette Anderson opened their first restaurant there. The restaurant became famous for its pea soup, which is still the favorite dish today. It comes in a generous size bowl (and you can have refills) with toppings like scallions, cheese, and ham and a nice roll. I opted for the mushroom Swiss burger today, though, and it was perhaps the best mushroom Swiss burger I've had in a very long time.

Then it was back on the road again but after that heavy burger, I was having a hard time staying awake. The last time we came down here, I fell asleep at the wheel and almost drove off the road until Walt's screams woke me up. I still had about five hours to go on the road today and I was a bit scared.

I definitely didn't feel like one of McDonald's iced mochas after the heavy lunch, but it has been my saving grace when I get sleepy, so I stopped and got a large one. Thank goodness it did the trick. The combination of sugar and caffeine woke me right up and I was fine the rest of the trip.

I stopped again in San Luis Obispo (3 hrs from Santa Barbara) to get gas, and got a text from Tom telling me to come over whenever I wanted. I decided to go directly to his house when I got to town, rather than to Alice & Joe's house first.

As I started to get close to the ocean, out of San Luis Obispo, I got socked in with delicious, heavy, wet, grey fog. If there was ever weather guaranteed to wake me up, this was it. It was so heavy, I couldn't even see the ocean, though I was driving along the shoreline part of the time. I loved it!

Also, my audio book ("The Collectors," by David Baldacci) was finally getting exciting and that helped keep me awake.

Laurel was feeding Lacie when I arrived at their house, so I gave Bri the 3 books I'd brought for her and she wanted me to read them to her right away. I had chosen books with funny words and I had made good choices, because she seemed to like them.

Laurel brought Lacie out and handed her to me, while she took Bri in to have her dinner. I sat there and cuddled the baby for a good half hour or so. So sweet. So cuddly. At this age, Bri was being swaddled because her startle reflex was so strong and it calmed her down to be wrapped tightly in a blanket. So I never really got to cuddle her because all I could touch was her face. But I played with Lacie's fingers and her incredibly tiny toes and let her body mold itself to mine when I held her over my shoulder. I got my baby fix!

When it was time for the next feeding, it was also time for Bri's popsicle treat, so we sat outside for popsicle time and I took the only photos I took all evening.

After watching Bri play in the bathtub for awhile ("I want Grandma to watch"), I finally left and came back to Alice & Joe's. It's been a long day and I'm ready to sleep...but at least I remembered to post a journal entry first!!!

Musta Been the Jet Lag

I went off to spend a couple of hours with Brianna today...and didn't bring a camera. I can only assume the jet lag was still affecting my brain.

Neither Walt nor I comes from a military background (except for Walt's uncle, who served in WWII) so our Memorial Day activities are somewhat different than those who are honoring their family and friends who have served and perhaps lost their lives in this country's wars.

This does not mean that we honor their sacrifice any less, merely that there is no "Uncle Harry's grave" in any military cemetery to go decorate.

But in 1994, Paul's best friend Kag decided to have a "Paul Picnic," a day when we would just all get together, Paul's friends and their families, and have a good time together. The first one was actually held in April, but it has evolved to a Memorial Weekend picnic.

Tom called yesterday to let me know that he and the family were in Sacramento and to ask if we were going to be going to be driving down to Berkeley to the picnic, so I could spend a little time with Bri.

It was Bri who got me there. I was still feeling like a limp dishrag, but the time for fighting this jet lag has come and I needed to get out of the house and go DO something. I dragged myself to the car and we were about 10 minutes down the road when I remembered that I had not brought a camera. Walt asked if I wanted to go back and get it, but we were already later than I anticipated and I was afraid we might miss Tom altogether.

I didn't even have my cell phone to take pictures! But I finally demanded Walt's cell phone to take a picture of Ned watching Brianna eat ribs.

Then I just started taking pictures...of the group at the lunch table...

of Ned and Jen setting up the camera for a group photo...

...and of little Charlie when he finally fell asleep on his mother's back.

We left shortly after Tom and Laurel left. I'm still feeling like a limp dishrag and slept all the way home.

But it was a nice afternoon, and a nice Memorial Day tradition. Next time I'll remember my own camera!