Adventures at Home and Abroad

I’m not the only creative one in this house. John built me the most beautiful bar cabinet, walnut with a clear stain. It’s gorgeous!

It’s pretty great being a great aunt. I get to have all the fun! Reading Green Eggs and Ham, of course!

I’ve got a long way to go, but I think I captured Peanut’s personality here.  

 

The truth is, I have no writing update. I've put Elvira on the shelf. For how long, I'm not sure. It may be forever, or I may revisit her after I move past the genealogy that's been sucking the life out of me. Every time I visit Dad, I ship myself more of Memaw's files and books. I promised him I'd go through everything at my own pace, and determine what we want to keep and what I can toss. Honestly, I can sit at the computer for hours staring at Ancestry.com and trying to match their crowd-sourced records with Memaw's work. And I must say, her work is better, more exacting. I'm so impressed at her labors. That woman spent 50+ years traveling to a gazillion county courthouses to look up land records, wills, and birth/marriage/death certificates. It was always a labor of love, but it obviously kept her engaged in her world for a lot longer than most people. So far, I've learned two things: 1) don't ever trust the family trees on Ancestry...peopl

We've traveled to California for the Thanksgiving holidays every year since we've been together. Thanksgiving visits to my family, and Christmas holidays with John's. Most years, our trips include at least a few days on the Sonoma Coast. We stay at my parents' home at Bodega Bay, then spend our time wine-tasting, eating at fun places, and golfing. A few years ago, we discovered the Marshall Store, with its selection of fresh oysters (I mean, fresh from Tomales Bay, right in front of the place!). If the weather cooperated at all, we'd head down there for a perfect combination of scenic, peaceful drive plus delicious seafood. This year, we decided to make one tiny change. Well two. We made reservations at the Hog Island Oyster Company (just north of the Marshall Store) and we invited Dad to join us. He'd never eaten truly fresh oysters, only the disgusting, slimy canned ones that his mother used for her casseroles, so he was a bit skeptical. We ordered fresh,

There's nothing like starting a visit in a driving downpour, getting soaked unloading the car. Golf clubs, suitcases, and bags of groceries made it to the condo, mostly dry. Overall, we had a great visit, and spending some time with Lauren made it all worthwhile. She made us laugh and her Googling skills uncovered the absolute best lunch place in Williamsburg, off the beaten track. I think I ate the best sandwich of my life there. Our day in Jamestown was gray, but I hadn't been back in years, so the new museum complex was very impressive. I survived golfing with Dad and another man. My guess is he didn't play with women very often... My instincts said he was a Vegas mobster, but maybe I was being overly dramatic.

In a moment of weakness, I told my Dad I'd meet him at his condo in Williamsburg, VA TWO WEEKS after we got home from Ireland. What in the @#$% was I thinking? At least Lauren will be there. Family commitments are interesting. Sometimes we look forward to them, sometimes we dread them, and a lot of the time we make them out of a sense of guilt, or duty. He's flying all the way across the country to play golf for a week. I suppose I can fly half-way for four days. But as a stress management activity, I'm renting golf clubs. I refuse to lug them all the way for one round of golf. At a minimum, I'm going to Yorktown, and I'm going to blast the Hamilton soundtrack. My tiny rebellion.