Back from Chicago

I spent the last week in Chicago taking care of my sister and her family. She started to feel better by the 4th day of my visit and every day after that she improved. I realize how spoiled we are living where we live. The biggest factors are the weather and the bugs. Chicago weather was actually pretty kind to me with 3 of the 8 days being in the 70s and 80s but the other 5 days were in the 90s and I experienced thunderstorms for the first time in a long time. Of course when it was in the 90s it was also very humid so the mosquitoes were ravenous. We had tickets to an open rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Their new conductor is a stitch - very Italian and a great personality and sense of humor. I was able to visit with K three times during the week - a real treat. She introduced me to a new Chinese restaurant in the northside Chinatown - delicious crispy duck and beef with Chinese broccoli and rice noodles. It was so good, my sister, nephew and niece and I went back for lunch on another day! Then K and I went to a new restaurant called Uncommon Ground - a green restaurant. They grow some of their food on the roof of the restaurant and everything is from sustainable sources. Food was organic with a varied menu.

Another great day

Brother and his wife, M&O went to church with me and then we made a visit to the ocean. The ocean was pretty wild yesterday around noon with huge wave activity. In the afternoon we went to the Festival Mozaic's WinterMezzo Series concert held in a newly rebuilt United Methodist Church. They played four pieces. The first two were for violin and piano and the second two were for a string quartet. The program consisted of:Ludwig Van Beethoven - Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F major, Op. 50 (violin and piano arrangement)
Beethoven - Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G major, Op. 40 (violin and piano arrangement)
Alexander Borodin – String Quartet No. 2 in D major
Robert Schumann - String Quartet in F, op. 41/2

We went to cousin's home for dinner after the show and 3 of the 4 musicians joined us for dinner. It was a terrific day. M&O left this morning heading to cousins K&C's home in Carmel Valley.

M&O's visit

Brother M and his wife O, are here visiting from Florida. They flew into San Diego and did sight seeing there before heading up here for the weekend. They arrived Friday afternoon. Cousin P&S came over for dinner. We had moo shu pork and fresh garden salad from S's garden. We had a variety of appetizers - buffalo chicken wings, pot stickers and Jamaican meat pies. For dessert we had a chocolate raspberry tart. Then it was off to the Clark Center for a Peter Yarrow concert - that's Peter from Peter, Paul and Mary. He sang many of the old songs and a couple of newer ones. He peppered his performance with soliloquies about his political point of view steeped in the traditions of the 60s of peace, love, justice, fairness, equality etc. If you weren't a peace loving liberal minded person, you might not have liked the sidebar conversations. He entertained for nearly 3 hours and had the audience participating throughout.

Saturday we went to the gym and had a workout then we went to the village and did some browsing around the shops and the farmers' market. We took in the two museums in the village - one old farm and ranch antiques (at least west coast aged) and a one room school house. We had lunch in the village at a really busy deli. All the while we dodged the rain drops. Had dinner at the Sea Venture in Pismo and the pictures here are from a delightful dinner overlooking the ocean. The menu was a prix fixes menu with and without wine pairings for each course. Very good dinner.

Thirty five years ago

Thirty five years ago today our baby girl was born. It was at 1:37 in the morning and she's never really stopped being a night owl! I had quite an eventful pregnancy with perpetual morning sickness, weightloss instead of weight gain which required a short hospitalization. Then there was the gestational diabetes towards the end. This baby was due on November 16 and every week after that date I went in for an OCT test and every week they said "well, I guess the baby is not ready" and come back in a week. I had contractions for a couple of weeks and the night before I was at a play that T was directing. Nowadays they would have induced or done a C-section long before it got to be this late. The labor lasted over 2 days and the delivery room nurses said they had never seen such long, high peaks of contractions! Right up til the end they said she was a boy since her heartbeat was fast! If you think she really wasn't all that late and that it was a miscalculation, I'd buy into it a little but she came out with a full head of hair, long finger nails and she was able to turn her head! She was a beautiful baby with strawberry red hair like her nana. We were so happy she finally arrived on the winter soltice that year. I so didn't want a scorpio baby so she must have known and skipped right over Scorpio and Sagittarius and into Capricorn. She was born in the year of the dragon and has been one ever since. She was a delight and a treasure and loved from the minute we saw her!

On top of Bishop's Peak

On a beautiful warm and sunny day cousins P and S and their kids, S's brother and sister-in-law, and good friends of the family and T and I hiked back up Bishop's Peak to spread the ashes of P's parents and S's parents. P wanted to spread the ashes at 10AM on 10/10/10 which we accomplished. Cousin K remained behind and she prepared a wonderful brunch feast for us complete with Chinese roasted chicken and duck and char siu and 2 Chinese vegetables, sticky rice and moon cakes. It was a great tribute to her mom.

Father's day

For years now T and I have not "celebrated" what I call Hallmark card days. On occasion we will look at cards in a store together and point to cards we might get if we were so inclined. This year cousins P and S invited us to their place for Father's day brunch. Both their children were home. It was wonderful of them to share their kids. It was a great brunch with delicious food of strata of eggs, bacon, spinach, mushrooms and bread; sausage, sticky rice with Chinese sausage, fruit bowl and apple galette. The "kids" are doing well and we enjoyed hearing about their lives.

Shopping done?

Since last year our family has not exchanged gifts at Christmas. Most of the family has stopped exchanging birthday gifts as well. I like to remember birthdays as my way of remembering the person on their special day. This year we received a package from my sister. She claims it's just a small gift to let us know she's thinking of us - hmmmm. Then I received a gift from my brother in Florida who says it's a belated birthday present - hmmmm. So I am in a quandary what to do. We adopted a family in Appalachia and bought things from their list. We also adopted a hospice for babies and children and gave them things on their wish list. I went out yesterday to finish off the Christmas shopping with little items for some of my new girlfriends. It seems to be a tradition around here. I hope that I'm done with the shopping at this point. We have a Christmas open house to attend today and we are hosting the cousin's family tomorrow for pre-Christmas. Their kids are home and their house is being renovated so we are doing entertaining here - yay!

So what happened this past week

I can't believe how fast this week went. The addition of the two new activities to the schedule, plus doctor's appointments and many other fun things really filled up the week. The third week of guitar emphasized more picking and it's actually beginning to sound better - not great, but better. Chords are cleaner and picking is more rhythmical. The t'ai chi class has 10 students - the largest one so far. There are a couple of high maintenance students - isn't that always the way. I think they are insecure and it comes out in funny ways. They are actually all doing well. I have added a second day for a practice session between the lessons. I think it is helping. Cousin P and S held a pot-sticker party - he did 2 of them. The guests each paid $150 to learn how to make them. I was brought in to help with the coaching. I made a few batches of dough for the party. I tried out a new recipe for a fudge pecan torte from a Paula Dean recipe. It was really good.

During the week I had a physical, got a pneumonia shot and the shingles shot. Both arms were sore and swollen. Tweaked my back carrying boxes - you'd think I'd learn. It's finally feeling better after a great massage. Then there were bags, bags, bags. I've raised nearly $1,000 for Womenade! Yay!

It's amazing how

Birthday

Cousin P and S had a trial run of their pot sticker party on Sunday. We also celebrated my birthday. We each made a batch of dough and S made the stuffing. While the dough was resting, we all went for a great walk around their neighborhood. They are giving 2 parties each for 8 people. Each person paid $150 for the pleasure of spending the evening learning to cook for their supper! Imagine, when I did my potsticker party, it was free! What was I thinking??? Anyway, we successfully made many dozens of potstickers, cooked them and ate them along with some delicious vegetables including Chinese eggplant and green beans from S's garden. For dessert I made a carrot cake (my favorite.

Today my new friends here arranged a luncheon for me at the restaurant at the pro shop. There were about a dozen of us. I had made an extra carrot cake and brought that along to the luncheon. We all thought it was pretty funny that I brought my own cake but no one complained and it all disappeared!

Cousin K's birthday

T and I joined cousins P and K and their spouses for dinner at McPhee's Grill at the Avila Bay Club. We had a great dinner. I made one of cousin K's favorite cakes - a mocha, sour cream, chocolate cake for her birthday. Actually anything with chocolate would do. This cake was a favorite back in CT at the St. James's, especially in the tea room, when we had that, and at the periodic auctions. Because cousin P is lactose intolerant I have figured out how to make this without dairy. It's still pretty good complete with chocolate curls from an entire special dark chocolate bar on the top. We took the cake to the restaurant and asked them to plate it for us. They usually charge $4 a person to plate a cake but if you buy 2 of their desserts, they waive the charge. We ordered the equivalent of 2 desserts worth of vanilla ice cream to go with the cake. They put candles on the cake and presented it to the table complete with "Happy Birthday" singing. A good time was had by all.

Family dinner

Aunt L's family (the ones left in the area) came over for dinner last night. They have made great progress. They brought over a few bags of things to be given to the Thrift Store. I donated the items of clothing we collected the day before. We had a wonderful evening together and gave us all some time to remember Aunt L and for the family to get out of the house.

On losing a loved one

Since Sunday we have been sitting vigil at my aunt's bedside. She suffered a stroke and became unconscious. She was cared for at home by her loving family and companion/caregiver. Both her children were with her and all the grandchildren were able to fly in from all over the country. They were all together for at least 24 hours and after a big gathering which my aunt would have loved, she slowly stopped breathing last night. She was a terrific woman, a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother. She always bragged about her family and then went on to brag about any of her extended family and friends to anyone who would listen!

A great father's day

T and I don't celebrate what I call Hallmark days. That being said, we take any opportunity to have people over. On Sunday, we had a very quiet family dinner with cousin P and S and Aunt L and caretaker, W. P,S,T and I went for a walk before dinner. It was a perfect late afternoon and the sun stayed bright and sunny. We feasted on cheese and sausage stuffed crispy wonton cups, spinach and feta stuffed chicken, asparagus with bacon, mixed salad, potato salad, jalepeno and cheese bread and ended with coffee and blueberry cobbler.

Mother's Day

T and I stopped celebrating "hallmark" days many years ago. I find that many of these days create lots of tension and too much anticipation which become increasingly difficult to satisfy. My cousins invited us for brunch today, and P and C did the cooking. It was a wonderful treat. C made what he was calling egg mccroissants. They were croissants with an omelet on one side and smoked salmon, avocado and capers on the other and dressed up with a beautiful strawberry. P made bananas foster and even made a batch without the alcohol for me. Everything was so delicious. Aunt L and caretaker joined us once she awoke from a nap. K and C's son surprised K by showing up for the day. He was in Las Vegas for a bachelor party for a friend and thought that since he was so close he might as well come for a visit. We took a walk around the neighborhood after brunch and visited on the front porch. Beautiful company, food and weather.

Cousins

Last Friday, P,S and their son, K came here for dinner. We celebrated K's match at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He had hoped for Santa Barbara for a placement. They were giving 5 year placements. Mayo and the other hospital he interviewed at, Mt. Sinai in NYC have one year placements. When K interviewed at Mayo, they told him that they work very closely with all the docs and that once the year is up if he doesn't get offered a 5 year they work to help the docs get placed in other programs. So he starts on July 1 or thereabouts. He'll have to get ready for the COLD! Yikes.

We had a great dinner starting with shiu mai, bacon wrapped scallops, then onto a yummy salad from P&S, slow cooked pot roast, garlic mashed potatoes, carrot souffle and a "Better than >>> cake". K&C did not come down until Saturday and P,S and K were already busy on Saturday. Still trying to get the whole group here for dinner one day.

Aunt L has recovered slightly but she still isn't able to speak more than 3 words in a row. She has great care from her care givers. P and S visit every day, and K and C come down almost every weekend. She is well loved.

A great dinner with the cousins

T and I went to another dinner with the cousins. This time K and C hosted the dinner at P&S's and Aunt L came with her companion, W. Dr. Y who organizes all the caregivers came as well as did two other friends, who are American, but speak Chinese fluently. It is always interesting to have Aunt L, her companion and Dr. Y at a dinner and they speak Chinese with each other. I understand more than I speak as do K and C. P claims not to speak or understand much. When K&K come it is amusing to listen to 2 Americans speaking fluent Mandarin with Aunt L, W and Dr. Y and the rest of us all speak in English but we are Chinese! The dinner was a early birthday celebration for C and a thank you to the caregivers. BTW, Aunt L was much improved although her speech is still very limited as are the bladder control and difficulty getting her legs to work properly.

Aunt L and The cousins

T and I went to dinner at P&S's on Wednesday. It was a wonderful dinner and we met a couple of their friends. I went to visit Aunt L across the street. Over the weekend she had a cerebral vascular accident (stroke) and has some pronounced verbal aphasia and has become totally incontinent. She did recognize me but it was so sad to be with her and watch her frustration and sadness that she couldn't say what was in her mind. It brought back many memories of caring for my dad when he had his many strokes. He was not as easy going as his sister and his frustration was extremely evident. In time one learns to ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no. We are going to dinner again tomorrow night and I will visit her again then. Her daughter K and C are here for the weekend, and they are hosting a dinner at P&S's. Cousins P and K are doing the best for their mom but it is difficult watching the impact on them as well.

Happy Birthday Aunt L!

Today was my Aunt L's 92nd birthday. P&S had a luncheon party to celebrate. The Chinese doctor/acupuncturist and her husband, an ex-CalPoly professor were also there. Everyone brought something and we had quite the feast. Of course, Chinese noodles for long-life (obviously it's working), pork tenderloin, a tofu salad, steamed ground turkey with salted eggs, tofu with hundred day old eggs, cabbage with Chinese mushrooms, baby bak choi and a pumpkin chocolate chip cake. We also had lots of fresh fruits picked right off P&S's trees - the end of this year's crop of persimmons and the newest batch of satsuma oranges.

Aunt L received many presents plus a dozen long stem red roses from one of the neighbors. She was pretty alert today and even remembered that I am the eldest daughter of her older brother.

Christmas Eve

The younger cousins (children of P and K) made yesterday's dinner with contributions from the parents. M organized the team to make potstickers. She made the fillings (pork and shrimp) and the dough. Then she and cousin P rolled the dough and K stuffed the potstickers. They were excellent. K also contributed 2 Chinese vegetable dishes. She picked up the vegetables in San Jose at the 99 grocery store when they drove up to pick up #2 daughter,L, when she was diverted there (instead of Monterey) the other night. San Jose has the closest real Chinese restaurants and grocery stores on the coast. Unfortunately the deli section was closed so they couldn't pick up any roast duck, roast pork or chickens. They did pick up some cha-siu bao which were yummy! We contributed a caramel frosted chocolate chip cake for dessert.

D and I played guitar for a wonderful evening of Christmas carols. I made up booklets with a couple of dozen carols. I had emailed D the guitar music a few months ago. She had forgotten her guitar but C had brought down his old guitar so we had a spare. S has wanted to sing carols for years and she got her wish. Aunt L was in better shape than I had seen her in many weeks. She got into the singing. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves. A great time was had by all!

Making a list and checking it twice

Yesterday we had a movable feast! We had invited the cousins and families to our house for dinner - prime rib and all the trimmings. As the day progressed the travel plans got messier. We had one coming from Rotterdam whose flight was delayed for 4 hours in Amsterdam due to weather in Chicago. She missed her connection and wasn't sure when she would be on the west coast. One was coming from Rochester, MN and coming through Chicago and he missed his flight connection in Chicago. There were two coming from Washington DC and United was trying to change their flight from a direct to LA to a stop in Chicago so we weren't sure when they would arrive. With all the anxiety and unknown arrival times it made sense to move the dinner to SLO so folks wouldn't be trying to play flight controller away from home base and the arrivals wouldn't have to trek another 35 minutes south after getting to SLO. So I cooked the beast to just below rare, fixed the mashed potatoes, prepped the green beans, fixed the appetizers - sausage bread (a big hit) and veggies with curry dip (copied from daughter K but all soy product)plus a cookies and cream cake and we bundled it all up and drove it to SLO.

Thank goodness everything worked out well and everyone made it home. The prime rib held up very well and the extra cooking of the sausage bread was just what it needed to turn out great!