HAPPY Thanksgiving from Carmel

Double the Pleasure

They pushed around these boxes and sat on them for hours like it was their job. I turned around the garbage can so they couldn't pick out the trash. I had to find ways to outsmart these smarties. We read books, played and laughed together. We especially enjoyed Book of Mormon Stories and I sang to them.

Time to bundle up and go outside again. I foiled M's attempts to remove his shoes by attaching jacket gloves to his feet instead, too tight to remove. He wouldn't keep gloves on his hands though and would use his teeth to remove them.

I cared for the twins, now walking, and the dog, while parents were away on vacation. I had a ball with these two live wires, constantly on the move unless they're in their high chairs. We took walks daily, twice past all the start-ups where their father works, twice to the purple park for swings, once to Hee Haw Farms across the road, and once around the block on a brisk and windy morning. It snowed while I was there. I took the dog(s) out every several hours and fed at night. Paul and James helped me at the ward the first Sunday and came over for dinner after their ward with Landon. Then Paul, James and Marcus brought food over and cooked a feast for Mindy and me Thursday night. On Friday my long-time friend from singles ward days, Carolyn, came for a visit and lunch during nap time and got to meet the twins. Mindy stays during the school week and was a lovely housemate, my son's fiancee. Adam took us to the BYU/Fresno State game, my first in the stadium, and it was a lot of fun. First we stopped by In and Out for take-out. How about those Cougar Tail maple bars Teddy bought us? The Brick Oven was Stephanie's place of choice for her birthday celebration and I was glad Adam kept up the tradition of taking turns telling the person of honor what we liked about her. There were 18 of us. The second Sunday we went to Teddy and Christina's ward in Provo. The big surprise was on Stephanie's birthday when her best friend Tori surprised her by coming out to Utah for the week with her children. Our numbers doubled. More of the Bells are coming for Thanksgiving and though I thought about staying through the week I kept to my plans of leaving as planned after 10 days. Our last day Stephanie was in charge of three babies and three kids and took us all horseback riding at the stables where Aspen is boarded. I can't remember for sure the last time I rode and it was thrilling. Perhaps in my late 30s I may have ridden after I married Michael. First we all rode Duke, very docile. Aspen on the other hand was a frisky one. It was so fun to pick up Paul and eat at In and Out together. I flew in and out of Provo again. Unfortunately my caramel sauce was confiscated being over three ounces. It's been a great adventure.

 Carolyn thinks I look good and I think she looks good. So good to see her again.

 This is me on Duke. I rode Aspen too. So much fun! How many decades has it been?

Danville to celebrate Kathy's birthday

Eugene O'Neill Historic Site for a 2 p.m. guided tour, walking along the Iron Horse Trail, and a leisure dinner at Thai House Restaurant are the Bay Area's best-kept secrets, all in one lovely afternoon yesterday. This after a Veterans Day celebration at 11 a.m. and discovering a new veterans building in Danville as well. I started the morning picking a couple bags of hachiya persimmons. These must fully ripen to eat. The fuyu persimmon is eaten hard.

November 2

Marking my birthday is important to me. Any plans to ride my bike, hike or swim were canceled due to rain, thunder, lighting, and hail throughout the beautiful day. I got up about 6:30 and immediately set off in my pj's for a walk in the rain, discovering my new rainboots are waterproof. I saw Tyce speeding off to school and Kelley on her porch ready to wish me a happy birthday and give me an Aloha hug. She said I made her day, and she helped make mine. They brought over a card and chocolate chip cookies the night before. The garage door was open at the rose garden and I discovered it completely made over for bunny rabbits. How delightful. On around the block I decided to stop by Lucy's who I haven't seen since summer. She was so happy to see me she hugged me and about cried. Turns out she'd had a stroke and was so grateful for my visit. She's about 90% restored. She set about making pomegranate tea and offered to make breakfast of delicious scrambled cheesy egg, beans and tortillas. Delicious. I enjoyed our visit and went home wet to take a bath. I journaled, got cards ready for my children's November birthdays, did ledger/register work and by then it was time to walk to the library to get online and read the paper. I remembered to watch RTM and decided to print out a 31 Flavors gift certificate for a free cone and get a tiny burrito at Los Gallos. I ate in the lovely Todos Santos and ate my cone on the walk home, stopping a moment at the library. Strangers were saying hello and people were kind increasing my birthday experience. I'd gotten cards, FB greetings, calls and messages including talking with all my children and oldest grandson and being sung to by them. My friend Kathy of some 43 years brought me a card, purple coin purse and See's certificate and we went to The Cheesecake Factory in W.C. It's beautiful. I suggested we split the food and it took time but we decided what to eat. I definitely prefer the booths and will speak up next time. Three of the staff sang to me. Kathy stopped to shop and we made it back to watch DWTS and Law and Order. I guess with all the sugar and excitement I could not fall asleep. I got cards and two arrived on my birthday. It was a wonderful day, not complete until I heard the Greenes sing to me. Thank you all friends and family.



November 4 I paid $20 rush for the matinee of Riverdance 20 Years. What a show and I was in D4, right in front. I'm so glad I was able to get in. Walking down Market before dark seeing my favorite streetcar 1061 before and after the show  and even helping someone find Macy's along the way was exciting. I used Kathy's certificate at See's and got home at my regular time. That is something I could do in the future--see all the matinees in the city.