Reunited, Part One

So this conversation happened a few weeks ago.

So I bought my plane tickets two days later and went.

Roanoke --> Atlanta --> San Jose.

Snow over the Rockies near the New Mexico/Colorado border. I took this one for my kids. Need to mention here that I also bought more Sea Bands just for this trip, which again were complete lifesavers. Can't say how much difference they make for me and my motion sickness. They look funny, but it's certainly better looking than puking into a bag.  ::shudder::

Debbie picked me up at the airport, and after grabbing Starbucks to ease my caffeine habit, we swung by her dad's house to pick up her dad and Aunt Mary. John has lung cancer. Debbie's staying at his house during the week, helping out with doctor appointments, cooking, just being close by. Mary was visiting from Martha's Vineyard. I'd never met Mary, but I've heard about her for so long that I think she was surprised at how much I knew/remembered.

We drove over the mountain in the rain to Santa Cruz, where Jimmy's memorial is. It's a special place for them to go, and Deb wanted to share it with me.

For some reason, Jimmy's name isn't showing on the wood on the left where the flowers are, but it looked fine in real life.

It was blustery, evidenced by my inside out umbrella and Debbie's broken umbrella!

It was damp and drizzly and cold too!

Just past the fence behind us, there are rocks and then the ocean.  Looking past the fence, you can see the "Toilet Bowl" where Jimmy was trapped. So tragic, but the ocean and surfing here was special and loved by him, and he did it every chance he got, and by extension, it's special to his family.

Because of the weather, we didn't stick around long, but grabbed pastries for the car ride home. Stayed in for dinner, and John went to bed to the sound of Deb, Mary, and me playing rummy--pretty much like he often did 40 years ago (at least with me and Deb playing).

Writing about art

One of the reasons we chose to go to the National Gallery of Art for Holly's birthday was that Trevor needed to see, in person, a painting of his choosing about which he would then write a four paged paper for his art history class.

He had a few in mind and ended up choosing View of Medinet El-Fayoum.

Part of the class requirements were to take the paper to the school's writing center to be reviewed by a writing tutor. This was the text conversation between me and Trevor afterwards.

These were her written comments on Trevor's paper.

I know Nancy, as we had the same boss when I worked at the college. (Miss that job!!) She didn't make the connection that Trevor was my kid. And I knew she'd want to know that.

"I think his paper is the best one I have ever read from from a student in my 25 years in the Writing Center."

I really can't add anything more to this!

Happy birthday to Holly!

We went up to celebrate Holly's birthday. I look at the car and wonder HOW IN THE WORLD are we going to get all of this stuff actually moved out in May???!!

We had plans to visit the National Gallery of Art on the Mall in DC. It was a bit chaotic when we arrived; it was drizzly outside, and several nearby streets for closed for Taste of DC. But thanks to the encouragement of the kids, I was able to keep it together :), park in an unexpected location, and we met up with Robert where we dropped him off by the museum.

We took our time in the museum, Robert's first visit. I love seeing the familiar pieces that we learned about when the kids were little. I knew nothing about art, but it was a fun way to tie in something cultural with the way we studied history.

Artist: Rafael. Not just a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

 Artist: El Greco. The Greek.

The fountain in the middle of the museum. On our first visit, Trevor instantly recognized who this was because of his love for Greek mythology. (However, I can't remember!)

I think this Manet was part of the Renaissance Art Game we used to play when they were little.

Monet.

And Degas.

After the museum, we went to Chili's for an early dinner, then our usual Walmart run. Back at Holly's, we dug into her birthday cake while she opened her presents.

The cake was actually one of her presents! She's wanted a bakery cake for awhile, and I wanted something different than a regular grocery store cake. This was quite incredible, a white chocolate and chocolate layer cake. Fantastic deliciousness! I've decided we'll have to get one to bring home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Quite a wonderful little bakery, and I'm not sure if it's good or bad that it took us so long to find this in downtown Fairfax!

I appreciated that they even took care to make it special for her birthday. I should have gotten a picture of a cut piece!

It was a really late night, something we've not done in the past three years since she's been there. Well worth it, nice to celebrate as a family, and the rain had cleared out for our drive home, getting in around 11:30!

Happy birthday to my sweet baby, 22 years ago, made me a mom, made us a family. <3 br="">

Falling

I am never ready for this. We've had hot, hot weather, and POOF!, once fall was officially here, that changed dramatically.

 

On the plus side, we kicked off Oktoberfest at work with apple cider mimosas, assorted beers and faux German snacks.

I finally feel like I'm settling in to the new job, catching up on the chaos from when there was no secretary for quite a while, and learning how things work. I like the work, the medical information is quite interesting to me. The people are pleasant, no drama. All is good.

This conversation happened between me and Debbie late Tuesday night.

That part about me considering going? That was a flat out lie. I only said that because I thought I had the perfect out. 

So I bought a plane ticket to San Jose. I haven't seen Debbie in 20 years, Robyn in 33. Georgia is gone. Debbie's dad is really ill. This is a welcome opportunity to visit, and I'm looking forward to it (although I'm reluctant on the reunion event part, that's just a couple of hours of the trip). Most of the people I would want to see I already see on Facebook. I feel very little pressure about finding the "perfect" outfit or doing anything drastic to be sure I look good. And that's a really nice, comfortable feeling. San Jose, here I come!  (Gulp.)