Home

There's nothing like a good road trip to make you realize how great home is, and more than that, what home is. The whole time I was planning to go, I kept telling people I was going home. The closer the trip got, the more I felt like I did not really want to go. I wanted to see everyone and collect some much longed for hugs, but I did not want to go to LA. I knew I would go and focused on feeling into the source of my discomfort in order to understand it. Clarity never really materialized before I left Reno nor while I was gone, despite my best efforts to be open. But I am clear now.

I got back from LA/San Jose/Oakland Wednesday night around midnight. Was going to blog yesterday, but found out that my landlord, Vanessa, was coming over for a visit, so cleaned my house instead. It was tidy, but the kitchen floor needed some work and the bathroom. Plus, I was in the middle of doing laundry and unpacking the truck. After she left, I took a nap that lasted till three in the morning. Now after a few Windows errors and computer restarts, I am getting down to it.

It had been a long drive, after work and with very little sleep, and while I gave it my best shot upon arrival, my afternoon nap refused to happen. It was ridicuosly hot in Raym's apartment, and I was too wound up from the road. I did lay down and rest, mostly to be in front of the fan and stop the sweating.

Josh and I met Raym at Mom's around 4:30 and headed to the beach to have dinner and watch the fireworks celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Santa Monica Pier. Mom and Ginny had parked the car at the beach earlier in the day to insure good parking and taken the bus home. We all took the Blue Bus down to Pico and Main, which was actually really fun for me.

Dinner at Shutter's was lovely, and afterwards we strolled to the car to get the chairs and jackets and such. The weather was perfect, and it's hard to beat a magnificant sunset at the beach when I am thinking about how to enjoy myself. Being with Josh, Raym, Mom and Ginny was icing on the cake.



Mom took this one.

And this may become my new favorite picture of my sons.

Ginny was only at the beginning of dressing for a blizzard as I took this one.

Mom was good to go with her cute little hat and jacket.

Greta came by later, just before the fireworks started. The fireworks show was just great and we swooped out of the parking lot with the greatest of ease. I hated to unbury my feet from the sand slippers I had created and go, but alas, it had to be done.

Raym and I sat and talked until almost midnight before we went to bed, which is really no surprise, but we were both beat and had to force ourselves to stop yakking and go to bed.

Thursday, I did not do much. I had started my period at the beach the night before, and I will spare you for now my menopausal details, but I woke up Thursday morning feeling less than great. I laid back down and watched a movie. That was my plan for the rest of the day. I did go to the grocery store around 3:30 to get some stuff to make stroganoff. Raym is the one person I can count on to be happy about stroganoff and I had been looking forward to making it while I was at his house. We had dinner and looked through a box of photos I brought. It was the perfect relaxing evening to go with my perfectly relaxed day.

Dustin stopped by after his HVAC class, and the three of us laughed pretty hard while we looked through that box.


Friday, I was busy. I spent the morning with Josh and we walked in Venice Beach and ate lunch at Rae's, still as cheap and satisfying as ever. I went by Mom's in the afternoon and hung out till it was time to meet Raym after work at Ah Young's house to see Emma. I left my camera in the car, duh. After indulging in the cuteness of a trying to crawl baby, I met Greta for dinner at our usual place, The Soup Plantation. Greta had a buy one, get one free coupon, which made it even better for me! I was exhausted when I got home. I fell asleep watching a movie, Raym was still at a birthday celebration for Shareef.

Saturday I really did not feel well. Raym and I had planned to go to Costco in the morning, but that never happened, I slept until noon, I think Raym was up before me. A plan was hatched to hook up the Direct TV and watch the USC/Ohio State game. Raym instantly went into cruise director mode, and the preparations for company began. His house was in pretty good order, so it was really just tidying up the place.

Here is the whole crew after the game.

It was a good game with lots of whooping and hollering, plenty of beer and snacks. The group had a good mix of fans for both sides, so there was plenty of banter back and forth as the game progressed. Afterwards, everyone was worn out.


Except Raym, of course, who was going out later.

It seemed like they hooked up the satellite dish with a minimal amount of problems, but apparently, it is not always that easy to find a signal with this portable contraption. They asked me to take a picture of it. I thought they were kidding, but as I would find out Sunday, finding the exact position could be a challenge.

This is a kid Raym met in Waltham at the Regal Players gig. I am pretty sure his name is Tim and he was quite adorable. goofy, but adorable.

I was longing for the quiet of my little house and at the same time pleased to be in the company of such fun. This kind of describes my feeling the whole trip. Happy to see people I hold so dear to my heart, but really wanting to be in my own space. Home. The realization that LA was not home spread over me slowly.

Sunday was another day similar to Friday. Raym and I spent the morning with Dustin and Frances eating breakfast at Farmer's Market and discussing baby names and health care. Then we went to see Jeremy and Maryke. They have a nice place, good space and location in the building. I am so pleased that they are settling in and happy. Josh and Raym see them fairly often and that warms my heart. When we got home Sunday night there was a long session of trying to find the connection to satellite and eventually more football. Josh came over. I played video games on my phone while they watched football. I was leaving in the morning.

OK, I am tired of sitting here. I will share more later about my departure form LA, San Jose and Oakland. Have a great day!