Veggie Music
This is amazing!
Flashback
I don’t know what triggered this memory. New Year’s Eve, 1989. A couple of months earlier, San Francisco had been jolted by a large earthquake, and exactly one week to the day after that, my daughter was born. We lived in Santa Ana at the time. Ever since my husband and I first met, our favorite thing to do was grab the necessities, hop in the car and head north. Preferably up Highway 101 to take in the breathtaking scenery along the way. That’s what we did, with our infant daughter in tow — pack up the necessities and hit the road. We figured hotel prices would be really cheap in San Francisco, thanks to that earthquake. We were right.
It was a calculated risk. I think we both just prayed like crazy that the earth would lie still for the time we were there. It did. We did all the typical, dorky sightseeing things — cable cars, Ghirardelli Square, Golden Gate Bridge. We found a nice motel right on Fisherman’s Wharf. Clean, cozy, warm and inviting.
Ok, here is where ’stupid’ steps in. New Year’s Eve, we decided to go out for a fancy dinner. Baby and all. We picked Alioto’s Restaurant for its proximity (walking distance), its reputation, and the fact that neither of us had been there before. We wandered in, no reservations necessary, were seated (baby in her carrier seat) and ordered a drink and looked at the menu. Our child was fed, snoozy and mellow. Until just after we ordered. As soon as the server walked away from our table, this child began to howl. And she was loud. My husband picked her up and said he would walk around with her for a bit to see if he could calm her down. I stayed behind and waited. The server returned with our meals and I continued to wait. I waited some more. He didn’t return. I began to panic, and was noticing the people at other tables looking at me with that look that said “She just got ditched.”
Just as I decided to leave, the server came to my table with the phone. Turns out my husband couldn’t calm her down, and decided to walk back to the motel to see if she would settle down. When he walked in the room, she conked out, so he put her to bed. I ended up having our dinners boxed up to go (yeah, didn’t know Alioto’s does take-out! hehe) and wandered back to the motel, feeling like an idiot and a terrible mother.
She slept through the night without waking up once. For the first time ever. I guess that was a good thing. And we ended up having a wonderful dinner in our room 
She’s all grown up now, and I don’t remember if I have ever told her this story.
Weather and elections
rain
I will be very very happy when this election is concluded, and we can once again get on with the business of living. It amazes me that people can keep up this hype for over a year and not go crazy. I’m so done with it. Either choice is pretty grim (sorry to all of you who like one or the other).
The good news is, we are about to be rained upon. In the wettest sense. Summer is finally over.
.
She’s Leaving Home
Tomorrow. After her boyfriend gets off work. She starts school on Monday, starts her new job on Monday, and is so excited she can hardly sit still. I am so proud of her, and will miss her like crazy. I want to cry. She will never see me cry about her success, though… the last thing I would ever do is squash her joy with my sadness.
I feel like a jerk for being sad. We raised her to be independent, self-sufficient and responsible. She is all that and then some! She will do so well.
I’m still gonna miss her so badly it hurts.
Hello world!
