"Goodbye House, I'm going to . . . "

Our niece Abigail arrived this morning from Missouri! It's great to have her here. So of course the first place we had to take her, straight from the airport, was - Twohey's! I think it was a pretty selfish decision, actually. Other than the fact that my family grew up going to Twohey's for lunch almost every Sunday after church, and it's one of my favorite greasy spoon eateries, the restaurant itself is pretty unremarkable. (Except for their pancakes, hot fudge sundaes, onion rings and the Number 2 Hamburger with cheese, that is.) One gastronomical landmark down, many to go!

If we're not careful, this trip will turn into a week-long foodfest. We had In-N-Out burgers for dinner. Having a relative in town is lovely!!

The Cat in my Hat

Today I wore my pink Dodger cap to Disneyland and came home and tossed it on my bed instead of hanging it up. Rex the Cat decided it would make a good pillow.

How can this be comfy?

If only this hat was bigger . . .

Ride 'Til Your Hat Floats

Last week Don took a week off for vacation, and I've been home for a couple of weeks on summer break. We had a great time going (local) places and doing (cheap) stuff together. Last Saturday we spent the day with our friends Doug and Claudia and rode the Metro to Long Beach. We took the Gold Line to Union Station, got off and walked to Felippe's and had lunch. Then we took the Red Line to the Blue Line all the way to the end, and got off and spent the day walking around beautiful downtown Long Beach. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

Here's Don and Doug and the Queen Mary



Here's Doug and Claudia and the Queen Mary



Here's me and Don and . . .



It took about an hour from start to finish to ride the Metro all the way to Long Beach. The end of the line was walking distance to tons of restaurants and shops and the Long Beach Aquarium. Parking is free at the Metro station in Pasadena and no traffic there and back - it was a great way to go!

Cat on a Hot Couch

Temperatures have been over 100 the past three days here. Our little cat, Spot, found a way to cool her whiskers.

Today my car's digital temperature display read 108 degrees as I was driving home from work, and at 10:30 p.m. the temperature widget on my computer as I was uploading this video read 96. The indoor temperature was 85. Too hot for kitties!

It made for a nice evening walk, tho'. Don and I walked to Old Town and had dinner at a teriyaki place. Summer is definitely here!

Happy Mother's Day

I've had a Happy Mother's Day today. Amanda baked me an awesome cake.

Minnie was delicious.

For about a nanosecond, it occured to me that it might be disrespectful to eat Minnie. But I got over that notion quickly.

Children are a gift from God. And then they grow up and bake you cakes! It just gets better and better.

Happy Mother's Day to Sarah, Steph, Jenny, Mona, Ruth and Eleanor!

Strange Laundry

Last night I watched as my cat Rex strolled leisurely across the top of my dresser. Then, suddenly, he disappeared from sight. Here's where he went:

Don had just finished sorting the laundry and the bag was empty. Then it became full of cat.

Rex is four years old and weighs about 17 lbs. He has three black dots on his nose in the shape of Mickey Mouse. He likes to hang out in my room, and this is the first time he has attempted a foray into the laundry bag.

After several attempts, he managed to work his way out.

Next we will teach him to sort the delicates from the permanent press.

ADLA

First of all - happy 22nd birthday, Tiffany!

Spencer's final competition with Full Force Percussion was last Sunday, April 27 at the ADLA competition in Corona. ADLA stands for American Drum Line Association. Full Force placed third out of seven other drumlines in the Independent World class.

Nice job, Spencer! Now, on to VK!