Day 3 LA

Woke up early again and while Joel slept I showered, had my quiet time, blogged, then cooked up his breakfast/lunch and packed our picnic lunch.  When Joel got up we headed out to the beach.

So we got on the 101 near his house and then the 405 ( sounds so California cool to say that) 

then drove through the Palisaides area which was super cool to get to Ventura beach.  We stayed three hours!  We ate our picnic lunch and read and listened to all the great parenting going on around us (it really was).  The beaches here are crowded and the surf was so strong that me being a chicken, I didn't go far enough out and the rocks in the surf pounded my feet and left little bruises.  Joel swam way out past the crests.  I roasted like a brown rotisserie chicken and Joel went for the lobster look.  

Then we came back to the apartment and showered and headed back to Echo Park to shop at a cool thrift store.  I tried on a bunch of cool thing and bought a lacy top.  Joel bought a nice shirt and two pairs of sunglasses.

Then we went down Los Feliz and went to the same cool vintage movie theater and watched Baby Driver.  I liked it ok, liked the characters and thought it was well done but too violent for me.  Joel liked it.  The movie theaters here stay dark until the entire,credits run on the screen.  Joel said that Los Angeles people like to watch the credits.

We decided to stay and eat at the nearby vintage cafe, Fred 62.  I had a burger and cheese fries and Joel had a steak and veggies. We ate outside.

Random LA street:

Also while near Los Feliz, there was a block that had dozens of short semis, mostly open, with security guards in law chairs sitting nearby.  Joel,said it was a film shoot.

We came home and chilled and watched an episode of Glow then walked to BR and got me and ice cream cone then walked home and watched another episode.

I like hanging out with the Joelster.  

Day 2 LA

Day 2 I got up and showered and cleaned as a good mom should and did my quiet time outside on Joel's beautiful patio.  When Joel was ready, we walked the half block down to his favorite coffee shop for breakfast.  I ordered strawberry yogurt with granola and Mexican mocha latte but ended up eating Joel's delicious whole grain bread that came with his breakfast plate and saved the yogurt.

After breakfast, we returned to the apartment and napped.  Morning naps rock.  Then we walked.  We went all the way up Hollywood blvd to the tourist part where the stars are on the sidewalk.  As a true Los Angeles citizen now, Joel hates that part. There were people of all languages gawking and taking photos and tour busses trying to get you to ride along.  Not sure exactly what they were looking at.  

I saw some sparkly chucks in a shoe store window and went in and almost bought my dream shoes, pink sparkly, but they were about 70 bucks and maybe just a little much (style).  So I settled on some hot pink unique ones that were on sale.  Scott wanted a picture so I texted him one and his response was, "good lord" which continues to make me giggle every time I see the shoes.

We then started the "where should we eat" conversation which takes about an hour because Joel doesn't eat anything I eat and I don't eat anything he eats basically.  Except meat.  So we chose a chicken place that had rotisserie chicken and sides.

 Joel's side was veggies and mine was Mac and cheese.  We were both quite happy.  Then we went to Joel's favorite bookstore and bought used paperbacks then returned to Joel's apartment to rearrange his books.  I love Joel.  

Next, we went the other direction to a very nice area (not that Joel's area isn't nice) and went to a tiny quaint movie theater and watched "The Big Sick".  We both thought it was fabulous.  I love movies and books where the characters are well developed and give bonus points if they are likeable.  I truly liked every character in this movie.  After, we stopped next door at another bookstore.  

We returned to the apartment for round two of "where shall we eat" which frustrated Joel enough that he decided to break his diet and we headed to his old neighborhood, echo park to eat at Masa which is a chicago pizza place.  While waiting for a table, we went to Echo Park lake and listened to some music for a bit then popped by a bookstore cafe that I realized I've been to before with Joel.  

Dinner was fab, it was late and loud and it was the biggest pizza I ever saw.  The leftover box weighed like ten pounds.  Joel got a stomachache so looks like I'll be tackling the leftovers alone.

We returned exhausted and full to the aprtment and watched episode two of Glow then went to sleep. Day two awesome.

Day 1 LA

I love coming to see Joel!

Travel was uneventful except for Joel being stuck in traffic picking me up.  LAX feels like an airport in a foreign country with all the hustle and bustle and the variety of people.  It reminds me so much of the airport in Guatemala City.  

So we were facing traffic to get to Disneyland right off the bat after Joel had driven in horrible stop and go traffic from work, so we slowly made the decision not to go and to workon other options to get to Disneyland this weekend. Later we were glad we did.

So,first Joel shared that he is eating his version of the paleo diet.  Ha!  This is quite unique for my very non health conscious son.  So he talked me into a vegan Cuban restaurant.  What?  I ate fake chicken with potatoes and carrots and peas with rice and fried plantains.  Joel shared his delicious black beans.  It was all surprisingly edible!  

Then we drove through a whole bunch more traffic across familiar street names (from movies), Ventura, melrose, sunset, Holywood blvd.... Joel's apartment is a block off Hollywood blvd. on a cute wide street with palm trees and unique apartment buildings and converted homes.  Joel's house is very craftsmancottage style.  His apartment is in the back on the ground floor. It seemed small but very homey right off the bat but seems plenty big now because it is arranged perfectly with all he needs-- a decent sized kitchen and bathroom and closets, a sitting area, work area, and full size bed.  

So we went walking right off the bat down Hollywood blvd to get some things Joel was out of.  Hollywood blvd has coffee shops and restaurants and familiar places like petco and Marshall's. All with palm trees and lots of people, mostly normal looking and some quite unique, of all races and ages and socioecominc groups.  We went to a basic pharmacy place to get the supplies and saw these cool planters on the way back.

After settling in to Joel's apartment, we walked down to his favorite coffee shop, less than a block, and got some coffee (Joel isn't drinking coffee now!). It was open mic night.  I am telling you it was more entertaining than anything you'd see on tv.  First there was a comedian who read his jokes off his phone who wasn't funny at all.  The audience was so small that he kept reading and commenting on my facial expression!  There was a poetry reader and some not so great musicians then this big lady dressed in black with sunglasses and a hat, had them crank the volume and with guitar accompaniment she sang a ballad about growing up in Tuscan at top volume with lots of vibrato, not on key and complete with all the animal sounds, coyotes, rattle snakes, etc.  It was a trip.  Extreme entertainment.  Then there were rappers who were very energetic and very into it.  They reminded me so much of my students that I must have looked very encouraging because they commented on me liking it.  They were not very good but made up for it with their enthusiastic hopping around and gestures and style.  And how much fun they were having.

We returns to the apartment and watched glow on netflix and got a good night sleep.  Here is my quiet time place right in front of Joel's aprtment and we are about to embark on day 2.

More Emmett

I know that most of my posts are about Emmett lately, but I want to capture these special memories.

I went to spend the day with Leah and Emmett on Wednesday.  I arrived while Leah was still at work at Prairie Harvest and Dave was home with Emmett.  Emmett was cruising around barefooted in a big t shirt, diaper and no shoes.  He was curious when he saw me but shy.  He stood and moved his hands all over his head and wouldn't come to me.  I sat down on his little bench and just watched him and eventually put out my arms to him.  He ran to me with his arms up and cuddled up close, laying his head on my chest and letting me hold him for a bit.  So sweet.  

Emmett and I played for a bit then Dave left for work.  Emmett fussed a bit when his dad left but then got busy with his stacking toy standing at the coffee table.  Leah got home shortly after.

We dressed Emmett in a cute romper with no,sleeves that showed off his adorable little muscle arms. And little blue chucks.  We loaded him up in the stoller and walked over to Mojos for lunch.  Emmett ate his entire breakfast burrito sitting quietly in his high chair and looking around at everyone.  When someone new came in, he tilted his head so he could see who they were.  Leah knows quite a few people who all came over to,say hi.

Then I took the adorable video,of Emmett playing with his light up soccer ball, tossing it, waddling around, stooping to pick it up, then throwing it again, sometimes babbling.  

We loaded up again and walked home and he played some more then went down for a nap.  Leah pit me to work in her shop.  I printed off and cut labels and put the labels and stickers on blankets.  It is satisfying work.  

When Emmett woke up, we took him downtown.  We stopped at Etc. Shop and he enjoyed looking at the books and toys.  He picked up a stuffed animal and touched it's eyes then hugged it over and over and rocked it.  Then he looked at a book and carefully paged though it again and again gently.  We stopped at my favorite store Mainstreet and Company and I didn't buy anything!  Then we filled up my Kombucha jug and Leah got groceries at Prairie Harvest.  

I love going to Newton to see Leah which I did many many times before Emmett came along.  Now I get to see my precious grandbaby boy too.  

It's Emmett Time

I got to spend Sunday afternoon with Leah and Emmett!  I love his little toothy grin when he sees me even though he still is a little shy right at first but doesn't balk at coming to me.  First he showed off his new skills, standing for a long time with out holding on or wobbling.  And he takes a couple steps into his mama's lap!  He likes to walk around with me holding his little fingers and would even do it with me only holding one hand.  He will be walking independently very very soon.

We mostly played with all the toys he sprawls out all over the floor.  He will walk pushing a stand up toy, turn a couple pages of books, look at toys, bang toys, taste toys.  His favorite toy is a small remote that runs the moon on his wall.  He puts it in his mouth and keeps it there a long time pushing the button with his tongue.  He likes crawling with a toy over to a piece of furniture, climbing up, puts the toy on top.  He did it with a kitchen chair and then pushed the chair across the room.  

Emmett is a happy kid.  The only time he fusses at all is when he is hungry or sleepy and those are easy fixes.  When Leah was busy, I gave him a couple of snacks in his high chair.  She told me he isn't allowed to stand up so a couple times he got up on his knees.  When I told him to sit down, he didn't stand up, but he'd get really quiet and serious like he was thinking hard.  He knew what the rule is and followed it but he really wanted to stand up.

At one point, Leah had me take Emmet to their bedroom to see if he would rest with me. Not happening.  He climbed all over and tried to slide off the bed head first onto Moose.  I kept asking him, "What time is it?" Then pulled up my wrist so my iwatch with his picture lot up and I'd say, "It's Emmett time!"  He loved it and giggled hard.  

Emmett did take a short nap and while he did, I got to help Leah with her Lavendar and Clover!  I cut labels and put on stickers and even assembled  some teething toys.  

Emmett says a couple of words very clearly, mama and dada, hi mama, and a few words not so clearly, Moose, I love you, and banana.  

I love Emmett's giggle.  I love his two little teeth.  I love how tiny yet chunky he is at the same time.  

I made a video of Emmett saying shaking his head no.  I asked him to do it and he looked at me and grinned really big then shook his head no, wagging it back and forth.  

Rex's Health

What a roller coaster of a year!  

The day after Emmett was born, Rex had a stroke that made his back legs unusable.  I went home and took him to the vet in tears, sure I was saying goodbye.  The vet said, "you go take care of the grandbaby and let me take care of Rex."  When I returned, Rex came running out of the back only dragging one leg.  It took him about 3 days to regain the use of his leg, then he was fine!

A month or so later, shortly after I got home from work, Rex passed out then quickly came too.  I took him to the vet the next day and she said it was a heart murmur.    She said it then explained the stroke as related to heart disease.  

Rex has had many other episodes where he falls over, loses consciousness, sometimes twitches, sometimes screams, and almost always pees. It's pretty horrible to watch but it doesn't ever last long and within 15 minutes, he's his normal happy go lucky self.  At one point, the vet had us put him on low salt food and he almost starved to death!  There was another time he was pretty sick that I took him to the vet prepared to do whatever and he recovered yet again.  At that point, they said he has congestive heart failure.  

The last episode was a doozy.  I took him to the vet and she said his heart murmur is bad.  She said don't take him for walks, and try not to let him get excited. 

Last week Rex got pretty sick.  He was panting hard and coughing and didn't want anything to do with me.  So we had conversations and let everyone who cares about Rex know, and made two appointments for euthanasia, one with the vet, and then one with a vet who will come to your home.  I prepared myself and the kids as best I could but when I got home from work, Rex had regained his health!  He was breathing easier and followed me around happy as could be!  

This dog has more lives than a cat.  He currently has a cold, but I guarantee he will get over it soon.

Easter Weekend

No kids home this year but I was busy!  Saturday our church helped the Lions Club put on their annual giant egg hunt by providing additional volunteers.  They added bouncy houses, a pancake feed, and a bunch of other activities.  Adelle and I volunteered.  She got inside the bouncy house and wiped down all the surfaces after it rained.  Then she ran and got me pancakes about halfway through for energy!  For three solid hours, I helped kids get into and out of a bouncy house.  And tried to figure out Joe long they'd been in there and how to convince them their times was up!  There was a huge line the entire day.  Most kids were very polite and it was fun, even though it was also exhausting!

Then in the afternoon, we had rehearsal for the TRU choir!  I got my dream of singing on the worship team!  Sort of.  We had 7 people on the bleachers on the stage to back up the guest worship leader.  We had a very full worship band with two guitars, a bass and mom on keyboards.  Scott said he could hear the choir at all!  It was harder than I thought, too.  But fun!