Visitors from the North!

I know I've not been here very often. I am out leading a very full life. And by full life I mean keeping up with my recorded tv shows on Tivo and sleeping. I'm kidding. I've been busy working and after work, I just can't seem to sit down and write more on the computer. Maybe I need a new chair?

Well, a few weeks ago I did manage to stop working and have some fun. Lyle and I were honored to host five women with whom he went to high school, at our little castle in Los Angeles. I call it a little castle because though we were able to handle all five plus ourselves, I did have to break down and place one person on a pull out bed in the living room.

This group of friends gets together often and it is such a pleasure to see them all together. Like a general massing troops across the border, a well thought out plan of attack was hatched. One woman would fly in from Eastern BC via Spokane, arriving at 2:30 in terminal 2 at LAX. Three women from Alberta would converge in Calgary and fly together to LAX arriving at 3:00. I would drive to LAX and collect them all to bring them home. (One more would arrive the next day due to work constraints). It was all so simple. What could go wrong?

Well, It could snow in Alberta.

Suddenly all the plans flew out the door and everyone was sent scrambling to make new connections from old missed connections. One of our dear friends left her house at 7 am and didn't arrive at our until 10 pm.

But that was soon all smoothed over with cocktails and plenty of chatter. And the next day we woke up to sunny skies and big plans! We were going shopping! In the afternoon, we pretended to have culture and went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

At the entrance to the Museum in front of Chris Burden's "Urban Light" sculpture.

Everyone gets into the spirit of contemporary art.

As we wandered through the museum I was commenting on how I find Picasso's art to be very disturbing. I fell back to the "gut level" reaction to art. I just don't like Picasso's paintings in my gut. I don't think they're bad, they just make me feel icky. Then I turned and saw a painting a really liked. I snapped a photo of it and then went up to see who the painter is.

Of course it is a Matisse.

That night we headed out to Marix a local West Hollywood restaurant that serves Tex/Mex food and strong margaritas. As a bonus, the roof over Marix is retractable and on a nice night you are basically sitting outside. When you think about where these women just left (remember, it was SNOWING) sitting outside would be quite a treat.

We are just beginning margarita madness.

Lyle and his bevy of beauties.

Our friend Dan joined us and brought his brother, Kees, who was visiting from Holland.

The queso fundido was stringy and delicious.

Post dinner, post margarita madness, and we were all headed home to sleep for tomorrow's festivities.

The next morning.
Who wakes up looking this good?

And we were off to Santa Monica for more shopping!

After a grueling day, some are happy shoppers...

... some are just tired.

Saturday night arrived and we were ready to get our groove on. We got all dolled up and headed out to Cherry Pop in West Hollywood.

I know you won't believe it, but we were all in the mood to have a good time.

Note the "reserved" sign for our table. Lyle said it was the only way to get him out.

Our friend Tony joined us for the evening.

He likes to be entertaining as well.

The ladies on the dance floor.

And this is my FAVORITE picture of Angie!

All too soon the weekend was over. Three ladies packed up and left in shifts the next day. The following day our final two guests left. It was a let down. My house was TOO QUIET. But I reminded myself that one weekend with 5 gorgeous women is better than no weekend with 5 gorgeous women.

Lyle and I were talking that night after everyone had left, "You have such nice friends," I said to him. "WE have such nice friends," Lyle corrected me. And I felt all cozy inside.

Backyard update

On the left, new curtains for the backyard arbor. On the right, the old faded curtains on the arbor. A definite improvement!

Secret Seattle Side Trip

Two weekends ago, Lyle and I took a secret trip to Seattle. "Secret" because I didn't tell anyone about it much in advance, and I didn't write about it here for all the world to see.

I also had a hidden agenda. It's been a year since my uncle passed away. I know that grief comes in cycles and "a year" was going to be a hard weekend to go through, for me, for my family and especially for my dad. I thought I would be so clever and change the weekend from being a down and funky feeling to a fabulous and fun feeling, just by showing up in town. So we all made plans.

As the trip approached and I started to pack, I did not realize that I was "on edge". The night before we were to leave for Seattle I snapped at Lyle and he very kindly returned the favor and we stomped off in opposite directions. Then he came back and very quietly said, "I think I know what's going on. I think you are little stressed because it's been a year since your uncle passed away." Since I still had my angry face on I responded, "Well if you're so smart and know that, why don't you just give me a WIDE PATH and stay the hell OUT OF MY WAY!" I can be a joy to live with. But I did finally calm down.

We made it Seattle and I the last time I was in Seattle was in the summer. And the reason I was there was to go to Yakima in Eastern Washington to place my uncle's ashes in a cemetery. Grief, death, mourning... I was kind of a wreck.

Lyle and I had decided to treat this visit like a mini-vacation and we did manage to see friends and dine out at restaurants we wanted to. We stayed in a hotel downtown and slept in. Lyle was more relaxed than I was. I walked around while he napped. He suggested I have a glass of champagne at lunch and I obliged. It took some of the edge off.

A year of grief. It's been a hard last year. After my uncle passed away, I've had friends who have lost parents, and our little baby Dalmatian Lola last November. I would say that I am doing well. I am happy often. I make the most of my day. But in the back of my head I feel tired. I appreciate staying home with our remaining dog Cooper and just being quiet. So unlike me. But then that is also a part of grief.

On Saturday night the whole family descended on my brother Gary's house and we had one of those consummate family nights where everyone was too loud, everything was hilarious, and stories were shared and created.

The next morning we all went to breakfast and were surprised to find my cousins who were in the middle of moving to Seattle had arrived two days early. They said when they heard we were all going to be in the same place at once the had to be there too. They drove 26 hours non-stop to make it to breakfast Sunday morning.

In the end my clever plan worked. I still had to move through the grief that demanded my attention, but we turned what could have been a maudlin anniversary into a joyful memory. When my uncle was sick he would say over and over again, "Be good to your family. Everything else comes and goes, but in the end family is all you got." Through a clever plan, once again, he brought us all together again.

Massive and Mammoth

And now for the big photo wrap up of our weekend outdoors at Mammoth mountain.I sent the snow bunnies off to ski Friday morning. I noted that the forecast called for snow to begin falling starting at 7 that night and continuing until after we left. This would be my only shot at driving around the town and seeing any sights. So I did.

These are the gayest figure skating bears I have ever seen.

The snow was not just up to the front door, it was up past the patio door. On the deck. On the second floor. (this was before another 4 feet of snow fell.)
On the right the sign reads "Road Narrows"... uh, in front of me there is a wall of snow 8 feet high. That's not narrow, that's CLOSED.

I hopped out and took a quick picture of myself in front of the frozen lake. When I grabbed my camera to see if the picture worked, the camera wouldn't display the photo and wouldn't retract the lens. I had to get back into the warm car to make it work. I was outside for maybe, uh, 5 minutes. Oh, I think I should have worn a warmer outfit as well. (But I did look good!)

There is a tunnel you can ski through down to the lake.

And then promptly at 7 pm, the snow began to fall.

Look out for angry bears!

The snow bunnies bravely went back out on Saturday. By lunch, they were down to two out of three. I rode the gondola up to the main lodge to meet Lyle and Todd for lunch. The gondola ride was better than Disneyland. It was windy and we were SWINGING!

About an hour after lunch, Todd and Lyle packed it in. Too cold. Too windy. Luckily, Todd still had lip protection.

Unfortunately, Lyle did not have bunny ear protection (from me).

You can see there was a fair bit more snow around the houses day two.

We met up with friends for Aprés ski. There will be no photos of this event.

Day three arrived and it was STILL SNOWING. Compare the next two pictures:Saturday Gondola ride.

Sunday Gondola ride.

The bear was cold and grizzly and none of my snow bunnies went up the hill.

We found the perfect accessory to go with Dan's highlighter yellow jacket.

A few final pics to seal the memories in.

There was no escaping the snow.

We even looked at getting some warmer hats!

(Oh, and if you look up at the photo header at the top, that's a panorama photo I took on Friday of the valley below.)

Farewell to Mammoth

While were in Mammoth they hit about 4 feet of new snow.

I think the t-shirt "Text Moose-aging" is funny!

Drove home today in terrible weather. But home safe and sound.

Mammoth Mountain

While my snowbunnies hit the slopes yesterday I took a drive around town. Well, I had planned to drive "around" the town but the road that circles it was closed. As in 10 feet high of unplowed snow across it. But I wanted to certain to get out and about on Friday as snow is forecast for the rest of our stay. I won't be driving in that.

I lifted the chair lift picture from Lyle.

It did start to snow last night about 7 pm. And snowed all night. Forecast called for about 4 inches overnight. Another 5-6 inches forecast for Saturday. We leave on Sunday when the forecast is calling for SEVENTEEN inches of snow.

This morning the heated pool has icicles hanging on the edge.

Road trip to snow

Drove 5 hours to Mammoth yesterday. Beautiful sunset, fabulous dinner, the view from our hotel and my three snowbunnies heading out for the day.

Me? I've got some banking and shopping to do, a book and a fireplace. I'm good.

My mother will be proud!

I rearranged my cupboards! For years now I have complained on how difficult it is to get the empty Tupperware out of the lower cupboard. So I moved it up top!

Which meant the food from up top moved over next to the stove, that cookware went low where the empty Tupperware used to live.

Yes, this is how we live.

My one complaint about growing up with my mother, the Tupperware Overlord, is that I am ill equipped as an adult to function in any ziplock capacity. So that's Lyle's department.

Happy-Sad-Missing

I saw Lola in the hallway Friday night.

I was sending Cooper out for final potty and then to bed. I glanced down the hallway from the back of the house, and there she was, standing up by the dining room. She was perky, wagging her tail and gave me that come hither, “Wanna give me a treat?” look. It was not a ghost. It was her. I didn't freak out. I smiled, raised my eyebrows to greet her and gave he the "1 minute" hold sign with my finger.

I tucked Cooper in and then went back to see her, but she was gone. Oh my god, she was gone. It felt so natural to see her there I forgot she is no longer with us. If I'd thought she would leave so quickly I would have made Cooper wait and ran to hold her in the hallway. She was so real I did have to walk to where she had been to prove she was really gone, again. Then I cried for half an hour before I could go to bed.

I wrote an email to Lyle for him to read in the morning. And he cried before he could even get in the shower.

I told my mom and she said Lola just stopped by to let me know she was okay. I told her that was pretty mean because I feel as if I am going through the whole grief process all over again. And I have been. Very low key, very sad, a lot of crying. I thought I was doing really well moving through my grief for her, but now I think I was just pushing my feeling down until Lyle was better and suddenly it’s my turn.

In telling a few people I notice I have never said, “I thought I saw Lola” or “I had a dream with Lola” it was always “I SAW” her. And I did. And I was so happy to see her, it's made me feel as though I have lost her all over again.

Tried and tested

A friend of Facebook wrote the other day that she hates change. An earlier version of me wold have heartily agreed. But I have changed my opinion on change. Change is the essence of life. If you stay still, the world around you still moves and when you don't move with it, by default, you still change. "He used to be so hip and current, but on day he just stopped. Still wearing those clothes from the 80's. Still listening to the same music. He's really changed."

I don't go out and seek change. But I know I can't avoid it. I am good with rearranging furniture. I can move homes with more ease than most. I like new restaurants. I don't like the unknown. I get nervous at new jobs. I don't like when they make up new rules at security at the airport.

I've discovered the most horrible trying times in my life, are now the moments that define me. I am strong enough to handle this future task because I have already been tested in my past.

So many things around me I can not control. But I can control my response to the elements. That is what I strive for (and fall short of, often).

A few years ago my mom told me that she didn't think people under 40 really understood what it meant to be happy. She explained that before that you just hadn't had enough "bad stuff" happen to realize what the "good stuff" is.

I told her I was glad she hadn't told me that when I was in my thirties because I would have been very annoyed. "Bad stuff" really does give you a whole new perspective of appreciation for "good stuff". I'm not wishing for crappy times, but I sure appreciate simple things in comparison.