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I'M TOO SLEEPY TO BE AWAKE AT THIS HOUR 23 October 2006 It is nearly midnight and I am so groggy, I am not at all responsible for whatever comes out of this entry, but there is just SO much that has happened in the past two days. At best all I can do is briefly touch on the high points. I also dono't remember when I have laughed as hard as I have in the past three hours. Let's start with yesterday, when I went shopping for a shower gift for Alice Nan, then drove to her house to meet up with Nora and her daughter-in-law Kathy, who had just arrived from Ireland. We sat and got caught up on all the family news...and I didn't take a single photo. I'll wait while you pick yourselves up after this stunning revelation. Alice Nan had to go to Los Angeles to meet the plane of her friend Rosemary and her 15 year old son (whose name I have forgotten) who were flying in from Denmark for the wedding...
...and so I took Nora and Kathy with me back to Dick & Gerry's house, where Gerry had laid out a gorgeous dinner on a beautiful table..
The Irish women were introduced to Dick's unforgettable (unless you drink too much of it) rum punch and became converts, even though they didn't really think they liked rum. Gerry in particular was thrilled to have them there and used the time to get some pointers on finding her ancestors in Ireland.
Nora and Kathy were still having jet lag problems, so I drove them back to Alice Nan's where they were staying the night. The plan was to all meet again for Alice Nan's shower the following day. You know what they say about the best laid plans... The shower was held at the place where Walt's mother lives. It would be very convenient for her to attend, and then go back to her room if she got tired. Only instead she was hospitalized a couple of weeks ago for pneumonia, acquired "hospital dementia" while there (we were afraid she'd had a stroke), but is now recovering and will definitely be at the wedding. So wedding guests are staying where she lives, but she's not there. The shower was at the clubhouse where she lives, but she not only is not there, she wasn't really able to attend at all! However, Alice Nan's soon to be mother-in-law was there. Evelyn was disappointed to learn my mother would not be coming. She is my mother's erstwhile gin rummy partner every year at Tom's beach barbecue and I'm betting that if my mother had shown up with a deck of cards in her purse, the two of them would have figured out a way to have a quick game during the shower. The shower was really lovely. The food was fabulous, and the three organizers (2 of whom were old roommates of Alice Nan's, and the third of whom was Tom's wife Laurel) just did an outstanding job. The thing I have always loved about Alice Nan is her genuine interest in and excitement about people, and it shows in her interactions with her long-time friends, and newer friends from work who came. The thing that puzzles me about bridal showers these days, though, is that I remember when for a bridal shower you got dish towels and kitchen gadgets and bath towels and maybe someone would throw you a lingerie party where people might spend a bit more to get you some sexy underthings. You saved the big ticket items for the wedding gift itself. Now it seems that many people lay out huge sums for the shower too. How do you top this for a wedding gift?
When the shower was over, we all traipsed back to Alice Nan's again to pack up Nora and Kathy's things and put them in my car so the three of us could start our trek northward (ending on Tuesday in SF, and then back down here again on Wednesday). There was a very lengthy delay while we tried to find Nora's cell phone, which was finally uncovered in her suitcase...but for a time there were about 8 people looking for the thing. We took a brief detour so Kathy could see the Danish town of Solvang (where Laurel's family is from), and then we arrived here in San Luis Obispo around 7 p.m. It took forever to find the motel, even though I was sure I knew where it was. Being a woman, and not embarrassed to do such things, I finally stopped to ask directions and that's when I found out that they had changed the name of the place from the Lamplighter Inn to the Comfort Inn. Well, no wonder I couldn't find the bloody thing! Problem is that the Comfort Inn does not provide roll-away beds, and so the bed I requested (which was confirmed on my reservation) could not be supplied, but instead they gave us a 2-room suite and we split the difference in price, which was wonderful, because that means I have my own room and don't have to worry about disturbing the sleepy Irish women! We went off to the nearby AppleFarm restaurant for dinner where we started with Cosmopolitans which loosened Nora's tongue and she told stories for an hour that had Kathy and I in stitches, none of which I would even begin to do justice to here, but I hope, before I get back to Davis, to record some of them on video.
So our first day of our short but busy adventure has begun and tomorrow we will head off to Hearst Castle and end the night in Monterey. I have a feeling this is all deadly dull, but I'm too sleepy to be sparkling and just want to post this and get to sleep. Best thing about this motel room: It has a couch so I can sleep on that, despite the fact that there is a perfectly lovely king size bed in the room with me as well. |
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