I manage to visit the Bay Area at just the right times.
I was there for El Nino when we had 109 days straight of rain. I was there for an earthquake or two. Then this weekend I was there when the oil tanker truck caught on fire and melted the freeway. It was interesting.
But we are now home safe. It was otherwise uneventful and relaxing. It’s nice to be around family sometimes, you know the people on the planet that are required to love you whether they want to or not. It’s always nice when they do anyway and grandmas are especially good at it.
I was definitely jonesing for some unconditional grandma love. She thinks I’m brilliant, fantastic, beautiful and capable of all that is good and holy in the world. It was nice.
I also got the chance to know my cousin Sam a little better. He and I have never spent significant amounts of time together in our lives. He’s seven years younger than me and have mostly lived 3,000 miles apart. After 12 hours in the car together I can say he’s a cool guy – very witty and sarcastic. He definitely has the familial sense of humor.
All in all fantastic. Now it’s back to the grind.
Filed under: Mi Familia, Travelling
I guess I can’t complain about being overstressed since I’m off to another great weekend. This time I’m heading north to San Francisco to visit my grandma who is visiting from Indiana.
I’m actually driving up with my cousin Sam, who just moved to Southern California. I figure since he’s young, 25, he can drive and I’ll sleep. It works out well for us.
I’m taking two days off work and hoping the change of scenery will do me well. I’m sure it will.
See ya next week.
Filed under: Living in LA LA Land, Mi Familia, Travelling
My life has gotten incredibly hectic lately. I’ve become quite the joiner. I now only have two nights a week free. In the process I’ve managed to wind myself back up.
This weekend I got a chance to stop for a minute and take a different pace but of course I went into it kicking and screaming.
On Friday I spent quality time with Tina. We went to Chili’s for dinner. The wait was 45 minutes. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin. I could hardly sit still. I was getting anxious. I have a ton of things to do and I’m going to be busy for the rest of the weekend. How will I get it all done if we waste 45 minutes waiting at Chili’s.
See – wound up. But I gave into the wait and realized how nice it was to do nothing.
On Saturday I got see Erika and spend time at one of my favorite places on the planet, The Huntington Gardens. We went to their annual Shakespeare Festival. It was the Bard, on his birthday weekend, in beautiful surroundings. The actors from Shakespeare at Play company were amazing. My favorite was one named Derek. He was talented and hot, what a combo. We just wandered around from performance to performance with no agenda just enjoying the scenery.
But the real fun was just hanging out with Erika. We sat for a long time in the Japanese garden and just talked. That was the treat of the day.
Then today Debbie and I went to the Flower Fields in Carlsbad. It was a gorgeous warm day. We walked around the acres of ranunculas just enjoying the sun, the color and people watching.
On the way from the flower fields I started to fade. I was completely relaxed for the first time in a while. I came home and zonked out. It was delicious.
Filed under: Friendshipping, Living in LA LA Land, Travelling
What did you say?