This is my family with our daughter-in-law’s family during a Christmas week vacation together in Santa Barbara during a prior year. We were only missing one sister, Maggie, who was at grad school at Cambridge.
I’m sharing wonderful news. My son and daughter-in-law called on their way home from the oncologist. Buff had her first scan since her six-months of chemo ended without major problems and side effects.
Buff has a clean bill of health and feels terrific!
She will receive scans every three months for the next two years, then every six months for the following three years.
It’s been a worrisome, stressful time since Buff’s initial diagnosis of Stage 3C colon cancer, surgery and chemo. I feel relief like our entire family has turned the corner — because our daughter-in-law Buff is doing so well. Hopefully, the newlyweds will have clear sailing from now on throughout their future. I wrote about the day of her surgery HERE.
I’d like to hear more good news! What good news do you have to share?
Ave Maria was played Christmas night by two of Buff’s sisters, Allie and Christy, during the vacation in the photo above. They’re both professional musicians. I’m so grateful to have enjoyed their private concerts and I hope there are many more to come!
The Oceanview Diner’s outdoor seating where we had breakfast our last morning in Berkeley. It used to be known as Bette’s and is an iconic and delicious restaurant. Here’s an article about the reopening of the restaurant and name change.
“I am a happy person internally,” our Lyft driver said on our ride back to the hotel after meeting our kids and DIL for breakfast on Fourth Street in Berkeley. “If things external are out of my control, I don’t let them unhappy myself.”
Our driver was from Nepal and I felt like I was listening to an ancient philosopher.
He talked about how family was the most important part of his life. How he wanted to raise his children to be respectful and good people. He was concerned about the cost of living in the Bay area and the schools. We told him about Arizona and he was filled with questions.
We told him it was an affordable place to raise a family. He’d have to look closely at schools because depending on the town and neighborhood, the schools can vary.
Then my husband added, “It gets really hot there in the summer.”
“Look at your five fingers,” the driver said. “They are not all the same, but you accept them as they are.”
Wow. That hit me. Not everything is all good or all bad. Nothing is the same.
Another driver we had from the airport to our hotel was from Nigeria. He explained that they lived on $5 a day there and didn’t have running water.
“It’s a third world country. You have to haul your water into the house each day. People here don’t realize how fortunate they are,” he said.
Have you learned valuable lessons from people of other cultures? If so, what have you learned?
View of the hotel. The door below tower is the carriage entrance. I never got a photo of the main entrance!
Sunday, I was getting the house ready for guests. As I was cleaning out my paperwork and assorted crap I squirreled away in drawers and cupboards in the Casita, I thought about what fun things we could do with our guests without leaving home.
Our guests asked us to quarantine starting today before their arrival. Would you quarantine for upcoming guests?
You would if it was our guests — my son and his bride. Also, our daughter and Buff’s brother, to help with the drive (who are in the quarantine pod.) They will be here between chemo infusions, if they get the okay from her doctor after a blood test to determine her immunity level.
In case you missed the story of their wedding and cancer diagnosis, you can read it HERE.
I looked outside and glanced at the fireplace. Now that the weather is a bit cooler at night, I envisioned us sitting around the fireplace. Then my mind raced to marshmallows and s’mores!
Whatever happened to the telescopic marshmallow roasting sticks we bought 20 years ago? Did they make the move from California to Arizona?
The last time I remembered seeing them was in photos camping at Carpinteria State Beach when the kids were young. AND on our RV.
I had a light-blue, rectangular plastic storage box with camping kitchen necessities, including matches, that I pictured in my mind. That’s where they were. I’d bet on it. That box made it from tent days to RV days, to somewhere in our garage, unless it got thrown out when we moved.
If you want to read about our lack of RV skills, please read my story about our mishaps HERE. We were NOT happy campers.
In the garage I found a cardboard bankers box that said RV on the side. I unpacked it and found plastic plates, bowls and glasses that will be perfect poolside in our backyard. Next, I found the plastic storage box with more goodies like the matches, spices, knives, a can and wine opener and our red-and-white checked tablecloth.
No marshmallow roasters.
Before I turned to Amazon for help, I got the brilliant idea to look in my kitchen drawers. Voila! I have two out of the four. I must have given my kids the other two because they both loved camping during college and the shut down.
I found two out of four marshmallow roasters I bought 20 years ago. We will be s’more ready and can enjoy evenings in the backyard, without leaving the house.
What are your thoughts about camping? Are you a tent person or an RVer and why?
Do you think my quest for 20-year-marshmallow roasters is quest for memories past and easier times?
Talking with friends on the phone or chatting with neighbors, one thing comes up in conversation — inflation. I decided to start cooking more meals without protein and I’ve concocted a few delicious dishes with beans and rice. I figured it would be healthier and less expensive.
I ran out of rice and was shocked to pay $11 for a small bag of rice! Occasionally, I like to have cream cheese on toast for breakfast. I didn’t look at the price when I threw it in the cart. I almost passed out when the cashier rang up my 12-ounce tub of cream cheese for $8.50! Don’t get me started on gas, but when we moved to Arizona at the end of 2020, gas was $2.10 a gallon. Now it’s over $5.
We are headed south to Mexico for a few days. I’m excited because we are taking my son’s girlfriend with us. My son procrastinated on getting a passport, so he’s not joining us. However, once he found out his girlfriend was going, he did get the renewal going. Guess how much it cost to get a new passport expedited? $250.
I’m looking forward to beach walks, a dip in the gulf of California, hot jacuzzis followed by a cold plunge pool. Sitting on the patio reading, while listening to birds singing.
Plus eating out where a prime rib dinner complete with chowder or salad, baked potato and veggies cost $15!
What items have you seen with prices that surprise you?
How has inflation changed your normal routine?
Do you think we’ll go back to paying lower prices for food or gas?
Prime rib dinner in Mexico for $15. I also will be having lots of seafood.
We’ve vacationed in the summer for six years in this cottage a few blocks from the beach near Santa Barbara. I can’t wait for our time there this summer!
When we get away, we like to stay in VRBOs or Airbnbs — most of the time.
Since the time my son was one year’s old, we rented a house in Laguna Beach in the summer with another family from our hot desert. We rented directly from the homeowners (pre-VRBO era). The owners were school teachers who left for Alaska once the school year was over. We’d split the summer in two and overlap with the other family for a fun weekend.
My husband would commute back and forth for long beach weekends, while I’d stay with the kids the entire time. Not a bad deal, but with toddlers I remember I was tired. Still, much better than being in the desert with temperatures 100 to 126 degrees!
At Christmas the past two years, we’ve rented a house for a week — big enough for our Christmas Crew that varies from 10 to 14 people. We love being together under one roof and cooking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day feasts.
For the past 10 years, since my son was in college at UC Santa Barbara, we traded Laguna Beach for Santa Barbara. We stay at least a week and sometimes almost a month. My husband works remotely, so he sets up shop there.
When don’t we stay in Airbnb’s or VRBOs?
When we are going away for a quick trip, like a weekend, we stay in hotels. First of all, there are usually cleaning deposits and other charges that make a VRBO expensive for two nights. If you’re staying for a week or more, it can be more affordable to rent a house or condo and cook most meals.
When our kids were swimmers, we’d stay in hotels. We’d have to get to the pool early for warm-ups, get back to the hotel so they could rest between prelims and finals. The hectic schedule made the hotel much easier. I didn’t have to prepare meals, grocery shop or do dishes. I could order from the hotel restaurant or drive for takeout.
The holiday light display, previously staged at Kenny Irwin’s home on Granvia Valmonte in Palm Springs, had been open to the public for more than 30 years. But it became the subject of litigation regarding neighbor complaints about trash, crowds and traffic.
We used to go to Robolights a few blocks from our house as a Christmas tradition. Once we took the senior group from our swim team. The last time we went, we took our current Christmas Crew. It’s a very different type of Christmas display made with recycled goods to aliens, microwaved microwaves and a carousal of toilets. The highlight in my opinion is touring the one-acre lot with millions of white lights dazzling above.
Someone moved across the street from Robolights and complained to the city. I heard they even stole some of the million lights that were in storage bins. The city decided it was a fire hazard and shut down Robolights.
This year we walked during the daylight to Robolights and I took photos of the sculptures around the perimeter of the estate.
Irwin and the City of Palm Springs reached an agreement in November 2018, ending a two-year legal fight. Irwin agreed to move the exhibit to a commercial location, and the city agreed to provide $125,000 to help cover the move.
In 2019, Irwin purchased two parcels of land— one 7.5 acres and another 2.5 acres — in Desert Hot Springs behind Cabot’s Pueblo Museum off Miracle Hill Road for $350,000 and hoped to begin developing the site. At present, the land is home to an abandoned structure and the road leading up to it is blocked to the public.
The cost to begin development is estimated at $1.5 million, including $300,000 for the first phase of planning and there is no projected opening date.
This photo is from last year’s Christmas in Santa Barbara.
This afternoon we check into our Palm Springs VRBO to celebrate Christmas with our two kids and our son’s girlfriend’s family. Also, my dad who is turning 91 in a few weeks lives close by. We’re going to be a smaller group this year due to two sisters in Europe and the mother not well enough to make the trip from the Bay Area. One daughter is staying home with her. All in all, with those not coming, we’re down five people. So our party of 12 is now seven.
Merry Christmas!
Who are you spending Christmas or Hanukkah with this year?
