Had a quiet, but very pleasant day yesterday. After saying goodbye to Ellen, I walked (2.5 mi.) with Joan and her Australian hound, who's part dingo, and we got acquainted. I guess Joan is about 55, intelligent and fun to be with. She's a retired teacher and is now married to Ken, a transportation engineer of Chinese descent; they live in Orange County. We showed each other around our daughters' homes and agreed to walk again today--she'll stop for me at 7:30.
The weather is much warmer, thank heavens. I took a shower, and dressed in Bermudas and a light top before turning my attention to an activity for the day.
There are no malls or store within walking distance of Ellen's, and I wouldn't dream of paying for a cab, so I called the bus company. Was told buses don't run on Bristol Road, the nearest cross street, but they do on Telephone Street, about a mile from here. I walked there and saw bus stops on either side of the busy road. Which one--and which direction--to choose? Had no idea where I would end up or in which direction I was going, but figured I could always get back, so hopped on a bus.
As it turned out, I was able to get off at a bustling mall and spent an enjoyable time at Kohl's. They were having a two-for-one sale on linens and I got Ellen some nice towels and washcloths. Arrived home without incident, had a late lunch, and took a nap (unheard of for me) for an hour or so until El got in.
After dinner, Ellen suggested we put on our bathing suits and go to one of the three spas in the complex where she lives. What?! At that hour?! When the sun was going down?! (It was 7 pm and about 65 degrees.) Sure, okay, I'm game, so we went to the closest one, only a short distance away. Did NOT go in the pool, which was chilly, but luxuriated in the hot tub until we were boiled in our skins. Went home to put on our jammies, then watched LPBW (Ellen has a DVR) with wine and popcorn until I conked out. Slept like a log and got up feeling like a million.

Fabulous, wonderful day yesterday. Robyn, with adorable almost-one-old Dexter, picked me up about noon. After a tour of Ellen's house (Robyn loves it), we drove to my twin, Betty's, in Santa Barbara. Her daughter, Carolyn, and almost-two-year old Claire came in shortly and we all went to lunch at a small restaurant nearby. It's really just a little hole in the wall, but the food was west coast wonderful: all natural, organic, unprocessed, and made to order. I had good old Caesar salad with chicken, about the best I've ever had with actual fresh chicken cut off a roasted chicken, then grilled.
Carolyn left to pick up 7-year-old Finn at school and the rest of us walked the few blocks to Mike and Paula's cottage. Mike and not-quite-four-year-old Vivian met us outside and V. yelled, "Follow me!" to lead us into the cottage. It's lovely: two bedrooms, kitchen, nice living room with fireplace, and a hot tub on the deck.
Carolyn, with Finn, rejoined us shortly and we all sat and chatted for a half hour or so, then piled into two cars and went to a great children's park. Vivian loved it, and loved chasing her cousin around. We stayed about two hours, then discussed dinner; we decided to go to Carolyn's and call out for pizza. I went with Mike and Paula back to the cottage. (Vivian was supposed to "take a little nap"--but hah! that'll be the day--and she was soon up and running again.)
After I called Pat and Alison and heard about the big storm, we all reassembled at Carolyn's and Dana's. Vivian and Finn had a ball jumping, sliding, and chasing each other around the big backyard. Carolyn and Dana have two orange trees, a grapefruit tree, tomatoes, peppers, and other veggies growing, plus wonderful flowering trees and plants.
Dana went out for the pizza, pasta, and salad and we set up chairs and trays in the living room to eat, the house being very small. The food was good, the company better, and we were all entertained by the chatter and antics of the four kids. Carolyn said we could have as many oranges as we wanted and Mike and I went out in the dark with two bags to get them. I was delighted to arrange with Carolyn to have her come over on Thursday with Claire to see Ellen's place and spend part of the day with me.
We stayed until about 8:30, then all kissed and hugged and said goodbye, and Robyn dropped me off on her way back to Pasadena. Betty's off to Chicago today, Mike and Paula leave for Vegas tomorrow (Paula has a trade show there), and I, lucky duck, will be here until Sunday.
Later: Met a woman named Joan, who's visiting her daughter next door. She came over during the garage sale on Saturday and we got acquainted. I was happy to find she's a walker, too; she stopped for me at 7:30 this morning and we went about two miles. We'll do the same tomorrow, so I can easily keep to my fitness goals.

Dinner last night turned out great, although a bit odd. Ellen had made reservations for 6:00 by phone at the Pierpoint (or Pierpont) Inn and Raquet Club, a historic site established in 1903. The Arts and Crafts building was opened in 1928, had a view of the ocean, and was properly what might be called "rustic elegant."
The odd part was that they called this a "Mother's Day Champagne Brunch," although the serving hours were 2 to 6 pm. (Ellen said they should have called it "linner.") Mike and Paula didn't leave Ellen's until after 4:00 and they had to go back to Santa Barbara, shower and change, and meet us at the place at 6:00. When he asked Ellen to change our arrival time to 6:30, she was told they close at 6:00 and orders had to be placed no later than 6:15!
Well, we hustled over there and placed M. and P.'s orders, too, worried that they wouldn't appear until late. No problem, though, as they somehow got there 20 minutes or so after we did.
The food was great: M. and P. got prime rib, Ellen chicken Saltibocca (or something), and I had my good old salmon with a luscious sauce. Champagne was complimentary (at those prices, you would hope so), and I had two glasses, Ellen one. M. and P. had sparkling apple juice (ugh!) because M. doesn't like alcohol and P. avoids it during her pregnancy.
Got lovely cards and gifts: a robe, plus the dinner, from M. and P., "dinner and a movie" (a favorite gift of mine) from Alison, and the promise of kitchen knives from Ellen. Of course, we toasted Paula and me and had a wonderful, convivial time. With the beautiful, handmade card from the Tokyo Two, it was a wonderful Mother's Day--the best part, it goes without saying, my incredible good fortune in having four such treasures in my life.

Spent most of the day with Ellen setting up for the garage sale. Mike and entourage got here about 4:00. Had a ball with precious Vivian. Got Mexican for dinner and they didn't leave until about 10:00. We have reservations for dinner tonight. Will try to update later, as it's garage sale time!
Later: We haven't exactly had to beat off customers with a stick, but we did have several who bought a fair number of things. Also met several of Ellen's neighbors, all very nice. Must go out there again; hope we can drum up some business.
Still Later: The sale turned out quite a success after all. Mike and company blew in from Santa Barbara about noon and we actually had a number of customers after that. A lot of their stuff was sold, notably most of Paula's art supplies (from ten years ago), including a mat cutter, a blueprint table, portfolios, and so on. The big sale was Ellen's: her dining room table and chair set went for $75--she would have taken $50, but they didn't ask.
I made a quick vegetarian lunch of salad, spaghetti squash, and broccoli and we all ate that along with left over guacamole from last night. Betty called early and, with her daughter, DIL, and grandchildren, we'll all converge on Mike and Paula at The Cheshire Cat tomorrow.
Alison called to wish me Happy Mother's Day and I did the same. Talked to Pat and all seems okay in Little Egg.
Mike had to go through an enormous amount of stuff to see what Ellen or I wanted, and what should be saved or thrown away. He, of course, wanted to dump everything, Paula wanted the opposite, but they finally got it sorted. He'll pack up and ship back to Singapore an enormous amount of stuff. I took a sweater made in Peru that I want to wear to show Genny when I see her in Conversational English, plus oil and vinegar container, and a few other things. The ones I like most are self-portraits in charcoal Paula did as an undergraduate. I took two, plus a nice study of a model (clothed).
While Mike got the mountain of trash contained and Paula took a nap, Ellen, Nanny Vickie, and I took the little live-wire to a nearby playground (actually just slides). She's very athletic and slid, swung, jumped, and went hand-over-hand with great pleasure.
M., P., V., and V. left about 4:00 and I jumped in the shower. Got dressed and now we're about to meet M. and P. (just the four of us) at the Pierpoint for dinner, courtesy of Moneybags Mike.
Having the time of my life.

Well, thank heavens for D.D. Ellen. She got me into the blog--must see how she did it and try tomorrow, too. Will now pick up where I left off:
I had s. and s. shrimp and a beer for dinner, and Ellen curried something at the Peking Palace, then we went home to watch about half of "What Not To Wear." Slept okay, but woke up at 4:30, a little earlier than I like, but not too bad. Got up, read the NYTimes on-line, then AC Press, then my e-mail. I'm determined not to slack off my health concerns, so went for a walk about 7:15. Walked briskly until 8:00, and I figure the 45 minutes amounted to about 2 miles.
Moved more of Mike and Paula's stuff into the garage for the sale, then Ellen got up. I asked her to take me to the 9:00 Weight Watchers meeting, where I was pleased to find I've lost another eight-tenths of a pound for a total of 67.6 off and a current weight of 132.
Mike e-mailed Ellen to the effect that they may not get here to Ellen's today. They're driving the 500 miles from San Francisco, so no wonder. Also, they're stopping in Thousand Oaks to see cousin Jim (the older of my brother, Frank's, doctor sons--ob/gyn) and said they'd come tomorrow about noon and we'd start the garage sale then. Is he kidding? As Ellen wrote back, nobody goes to sales at noon--we'd start it at 8:00 and will just have to try to judge what they might want to keep. Paula is 7 months pregnant and I think will be exhausted. I'm going to e-mail Mike and, if he comes today, ask if he'll bring Vivian. Busy, hectic, even frantic? Yes, and I'm loving every minute of it!

Yahoo, I finally got into my blog here in California! Got into LAX about 7 last night, Ellen was right there and we got to her place about 9:30. Love the townhouse, although it still needs work. Slept like a log, Ellen went to work today, and Betty came over before noon. El was kind enough to fill my grocery list requests and I had broccoli and yams, Betty the same with a sandwich. Later, we put out some of Mike's and Paula's stuff in the garage, then went to the 99 cent store--a great place!--and got lots of stuff. Betty left about 4:00, Mike called/web cammed from San Francisco and I talked to precious Vivian; they were on their way to cousin Maureen's and others of Uncle Frank's family. I then called Pat and web cammed later, seeing Alison. Just now, am waiting for Ellen to get home, then we're going out for Chinese. Love California!

Spent most of the day packing and doing last-minute things. Got a welcome call from Betty and we made plans to have her drive down to Ventura tomorrow after a 10:30 doctor's appointment.
Dragged my humongous suitcase to the bathroom scale because they charge for luggage over 50 pounds. It was 40, but that was without cosmetics; hope they don't weigh over 10.
Alison called. She also has a doctor's appointment this morning, but she should get here about 11:00 and we'll leave at noon for my 4:00 flight.
Flight--aagh! Am I really going to do this? I always have this jittery reaction when it gets down to the wire.
I assume I'll be able to use Ellen's computer and blog while I'm in Cal. I like the idea because one of my reasons for this thing is to keep a diary or journal for myself. I often refer back to it if I don't remember when I did something or how long it's been since something else.
Now I'll confess: I have the horrible habit, every time I fly, of imagining the headlines and my survivors' shock and sadness if the plane should go down: "U.S. Air Flight 1421 Crashes In Iowa Cornfield"; ..."She always dreaded air travel."; "Poor thing, she had a premonition."; "And she just lost all that weight..." Oh, no, no, I can't get on that plane!
But wait. Number 1421 consists of 14 and 21, both divisible by 7 and 7 is a lucky number, everybody knows that, so how could I think twice about it? Okay, much, much better--I'll not only get on the damn plane, I'll ride on the wing.
(And how I jeer at the superstitious!)