Layne made all the arrangements for me to go last Monday. He listed me for an early stand-by flight and rented a car for me, to be picked up at the airport. We were up at 3:30 AM to get me to the airport in time for a 6 AM flight. It went perfectly and I found myself in San Francisco somewhere around 7 AM. Perfect. I took the train to the car rental by the airport. A lovely Polynesian woman named Ali told me that the reservation was for a car at another location. What? I would need to take a taxi to the other Hertz location, just up the freeway. So I took the train back to the terminal and took a taxi. The driver heard my story with some sympathy and volunteered to wait while I checked out the other location. It turned out to be a very small facility, with a very limited number of cars. My reservation was there all right...for noon. There was not a car to be had before then. I asked if the reservation could be transferred to the airport location. I asked if our prepaid reservation could be transferred as well. Hum. It's not going to be easy, I was told. I would need to called the main office to try and arrange it.
I was very happy that my taxi man waited for me. I decided that I'd get my car at the airport location no matter how it turned out. So off we went, back to the original location. Ali took a look at me, now some hour or so later, and said she'd take care of me. And so she did. She transferred the money and added a reasonable charge at this more expensive location. She smoothed it all over. What a lovely woman! I got the pick of the budget priced cars. I picked out a red one, of course, and was finally off to Brentwood.
An hour and a half later I arrived at Reed and Dorothy's new place. Its a nice place. Full of boxes and my lovely family. Dorothy and I set to work at once, packing up the old place, boxing up various belongings and cleaning as we went. Here's a shot of Dorothy and Bruce, in the old house.
Dorothy and I worked at both houses all of three days. Audrey helped out too. We managed to get just about everything out of the old house and into the new. In between I enjoyed a little bond or two with my grandsons. Bruce, 7, read to me and we laughed a lot. Perhaps that is why he invited me to his basketball practice. We made a little connection! Here he is, in the new house.
Timmy is my more elusive grandson, but we had a few sweet exchanges. Vincent is almost 16 and quite a handsome lad. He's easy going and undemanding. He's calm in every circumstance, even when his confused Grandma Linda punches him at unpredictable times. Here he is.
Grandson James, his lady Alejandra and baby Alex came over most evenings. James is wonderful with his little son. Alex is bright-eyed and responsive. Oh, and adorable. See for yourself!
I had a great visit with Reed too. In all, I felt that the trip was a very sweet one. And exhausting. I got up at 4:30 AM to come home last Thursday. But I made that flight also and got back home just after 11:00 AM. I was so happy to see Layne. When I'm on a trip and he is home, he just about always does something a little extra. This time he scrubbed down my old stove top. And a few other cleaning projects. The kids seemed to be a little sorry that I was back! Hum. It didn't take long to figure out why. Layne ran a pretty loose ship while I was gone. More treats and TV; less discipline. At first I felt kinda bad about it. But why shouldn't he spoil the kids a little. They loved it and it turned out to be a sweet bonding experience for all three of them. So, maybe I can make another trip with no worries about the home fires!
After a two hour nap, I felt almost normal. The days since my return have been filled with activities and projects. Its January. I always want to sort things out at the beginning of a new year. Then there's my birthday. I am now 75! Somehow that feels like a line has been crossed. It suddenly feels like a pretty old age to be. How could that have happened so fast? Mortal time whizzes by while we are not looking. To celebrate my older age, Layne bought me a new stovetop. His cleaning job on my old one will hopefully make it useful for someone else. Today was my first experience using the new stove top. It was great! I love it! And so here stands a 75 years old with a new cooking device. Pretty fun. Each of my children gave me a Birthday gift this year. Did they know I was going to hit this amazing age? I'm not sure. But I so enjoyed their sweet sentiments. I feel celebrated!