We're Traveling

Eric and I spent Monday through Wednesday in Pasadena. I had to pack all my clothes and a few sundries to take me through the next 8 weeks and 2 years of traveling and living. Adrian was moving things into the car and trying to adapt to future needs of other people's suitcases. Since this was pretty boring to Eric, I gave him one of my puzzles. Do I know my boy? Adrian slept at his friend's house; bless him for adjusting his life totally for the needs of my life at the moment. It's only been a few days, but I miss his sweet self, even though I am having a wonderful time.

We drove north on Thursday to spend a week at Karen and Peter's house at Albany by San Francisco. We listened to a mystery, still not finished. Eric is very clever, he read a book while I listened to the tape. That man has total concentration. It was a nice drive. If any of you ever want to drive north on I-5, please do that on Monday through Thursday.

Karen and I decided to get a massage at the Claremont Hotel and Spa next Wednesday. Karen was supposed to make reservations, but decided it was easier to go there. So we spent a lovely afternoon there having lunch and making reservations. The Claremont is at the top of a hill overlooking Berkeley and San Francisco Bay. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoy my family. It will be a lot of fun when Adrian and I finally move to Albany.

Eric went to a baseball game with his son, Mark, that night. Those Giants. They walked in the winning run and then the Padres scored 3 more runs on ridiculous plays. I'm sure Mark was devastated, but they had fabulous seats at that stadium so I think the joy was in the trip, not the results.

We had brunch with Kevin and Natalie and then watched Maggie's dance recital. OMG, can that child be cuter? She danced to the Chipmunks singing the Witch Doctor song. Perfect at home and unsure of herself in front of her adoring fans. It's all good. Fremont has an interesting dance program for all ages. We had seniors tap dancing, young adults doing Bollywood and belly dances, pre-teens with their hip-hop and kidlets tapping their hearts out. And it was short. Could anything be better? Bless the Fremont Parks and Recreation department. It was a perfect day.

Cathie and Tyler are Married

It was a beautiful weekend in San Diego. Perfect for a wedding. And the wedding was perfect. Of course, I didn't get pictures of most of the people I wanted to, but there are a few in this Photo Album. I'm hoping to steal some from other places. (note: Mark and Trina took great pictures, even of the newlyweds. Please check them out. They are now in this album.)

Cathie was absolutely gorgeous. Tyler was in long pants. This I understand is strange because he lives in shorts, even in Ohio. He looks good in long pants. Will this be a trend? They look very happy together. The ceremony was joyous and reverant, conducted by the minister at the church where Tyler is also in the ministry.

Oh, who are those people? On the left: Nese is married to my nephew Bill; then Adrian; my two brothers, Jeff and Eric; and Eric's daughter Tara. On the right are: Nese's dad, Sezgen (spelled wrong, I'm sure); her mother, Elizabeth; me; Adrian; Peter; Karen; Aidan, Nese's brother; and Katie, Aidan's friend. We met these wonderful people at Bill and Nese's wedding. What a joy and surprise to see them, AND to be sitting with them. I'm planning to visit Rhode Island to see them when I move back to VA.

We had dinner with Mark, Trina, Campbells and my car full at a Brazilian restaurant on Saturday night. The wedding was on Sunday. On Monday morning we had breakfast with Jeff and Sandi, Karen and Peter, Tara and Eric, Mark and Trina, and, of course, Adrian. It was good to see everyone in a quieter setting. Weddings are always so active. Family is always good. That makes for a memorable Memorial Day weekend.

It is a Small World After All

Faust in Copenhagen is about the physicists who changed how we view the most basic structure of all things, the atom. This was one of the finalists for The Times Book Prize this year. Because I have an interest and no talent in physics, I love this type of book that will explain the most difficult topics in a clear, layman's vocabulary. This does get a little tough at times, but it generally made sense to me.

More than the physics is the men who theoretically broke down the atom. They were very collaborative and met in many places throughout their lives. One of those places was at Niels Bohr's place near Copenhagen. Each year, young physicists would put on a skit at the end of the visit. One year, they adapted Goethe's Faust to represent the best known of the current scientists. These are a few very clever men. And one woman. Pshew.

Karen and I got to meet the author of the book, Gino Segre. I told him I was reading the book then, at the end of April. It is now the end of May and I finally finished this book. Not because it was difficult, but because it was on paper and not digital. I have brought it to the wedding to finish. Eric saw it and saw the name Segre. Eric got his PhD from Berkeley in Mechanical Engineering. One of his professors was Emilio Segre. Emilio was Gino's uncle and is mentioned in the book.

See. It is a small world after all. And now Eric will get the book to read and it should only take him a couple of days. First, he understands all this stuff much better than I do, and he prefers paper.

O ma gosh e

The weather was amazing today. I've been admiring the beautiful Jacaranda that I can see when I sit in my rocker with my laptop on my . . . lap. I love this time of year because Pasadena and South Pasadena are filled with these beautiful purple clouds.

Then, all of sudden, massive thunder ripped through the apartment. Ripped. It was so loud and sustained that the lightening must have hit close by. We had a little mini-flood pouring down the alley beyond the last apartment. Crazyness. I was so lucky to be in my rocker and not at work. The guys without window offices had no idea of the cool things happening outside.

And in seconds, the rain was gone. Or gonish enough for me to drive to a restaurant by the office to have dinner with my friends. This was a tempura Omakase. Omakase, as I understand it, means the chef cooks what he wants and what is fresh that day. And you just have to sit there and eat it. Sigh. It was wonderful. We had: sashimi of tuna, halibut and yellowtail with delicious greens; asparagus tempura; squid; oyster tempura with salmon caviar; kobacha squash; mackeral; sole with salad; soup; pickles; rice; okra tempura (yuck); broccoli; lotus root; a crab claw; non-tempura'ed grapes and cantaloupe and green tea ice cream. And lots of green tea. The chef prepares a different batter for each dish. We could use the regular tempura dipping sauce or lemon and a green tea salt. It was fantastaic to have the chef focused on just the four of us.

Here we are. Cary, Per, Peg and Alexander. It was an amazing dinner with amazing guys. They are so entertaining. Honestly, we were all talking all over each other about everything in the world. Everything. Thank you, guys. This was absolutely the best good-bye ever. The best.