This was a weird Christmas for us: the first when our trio wasn’t together and our first as a duo in Southern California. So we did something new and different. I’m lucky enough to have my sister live just down the street, so on Christmas Eve, we went to her (bigger and nicer) home and […]
Christmas in SoCal Read More »
With three days to make it from Portland, Oregon to Los Angeles, California, I decided to take the long route. All the guys, friend and family alike, thought I should take I-5 all the way to L.A., but the girls all agreed: take the pretty route. The daughter and I headed west from my parents’
Getting to Cali Day #1 Read More »
Sometimes you just need a day where you are free to be and do whatever makes you happy. With the daughter out of town (in Hawai’i, to be specific), I had a child-free weekend, a rarity indeed, and I wanted to make the most of it. I’d planned to spend Friday night and all day
The quilt show in Sisters, Oregon is one of those events I have long planned on attending, yet never managed to make happen. This year would have likely been another missed opportunity if it hadn’t fallen on my mom’s birthday. I’d promised we would go, but the month’s spending money was already gone. My dad
Mother-Daughter Time in Sisters Read More »
My first grown-up vacation, spent without herding kids or worrying about them at all. Just me and the GuyFriend walking, driving, and biking our way around Belize for two weeks. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer vacation, especially amid the months of unemployment gloom. I’d paid for my flight months before and the Guy
What I Did On Summer Break: Belize Read More »
I’d had brilliant plans to return to Vietnam this year–go with a group of girlfriends, show off my favorite cities, visit with my beloved orphan friends (oh, how I still miss Lan and Tu!)–but one job loss after another thwarted those plans. It was too much money, too much time away from my kids. I
Finding Peace and Quiet Read More »
If you know me at all, you know that I’ve been sharing housing for years now. Literally. Our trio had our own place until 2006 when I decided that having exchange students staying with us would be a nice introduction to both Asian culture and house-sharing. That summer we shared our place with five students,
And now in book form: Sharing Housing Read More »
Odometer Reading: 1025 I’d hoped to take the Pacific Coast Highway down to my sister’s, but after talking to Uncle Dennis and my brother-in-law Will, they convinced me that it was foolhardy to think we could make it down there in one day. It would slow-going and expensive, two things I didn’t really want. So,
Day Eight: Los Angeles or Bust Read More »
Odometer Reading: 878 Moving everything up a day, we decided that we’d visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium while staying in Gilroy since it was close enough and besides, then we wouldn’t have to pull out all that camping gear yet again. So, for an hour I bugged the kids to get up and at ’em,
Day Seven: Sardines and San Juan Bautista Read More »
After not getting to bed until after 11 p.m. and having spent the entire day either walking or screaming, we were all exhausted. I couldn’t even bear to wake the kids and let them rouse on their own schedules. By 11 a.m. everyone was awake again. It was also nearly 100°F outside. Somehow we’ve landed
Day Five: Day of Rest Read More »
