Tag Archives: wedding

Travel Tired

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This was the wedding venue in a Redwood Forest. Absolutely beautiful!

But I had to walk WAY over there to the far distance from the parking lot, over the bridge and far away. My husband asked if he could drop me off at the venue but was told “No.” He parked down a hill even further away but dropped me off at the top of the hill by the bridge.

We stayed in a nearby town called Los Gatos. It was 20 minutes from the wedding venue. I discovered a week ago that I messed up on our hotel reservations. I had originally booked an upscale hotel in Saratoga, five minutes from the venue. That was for a different wedding for another friend’s daughter. My daughter was a bridesmaid. Unfortunately, I had surgery the day before the wedding. So I cancelled the airfare, hotel and car rental and rebooked for this wedding. But I forgot about the hotel. Last week I called and they said they were full.

Thank goodness for the wedding website where the bride listed five hotels. The first three had no room at the inns. I booked number four. On the website the top billing for rooms was “each room has a window and a flat screen TV.” Uh oh.

Fortunately, it turned out to be okay. Not perfect, but better than expected. Also, it was on the main street which was filled with restaurants, galleries and shops. I got lots of walking in wearing my ankle brace.

I found a new hat for myself. It made me laugh, but I didn’t buy it. Just took the photo instead.

The town was very cute, lots of trees, no homeless and very clean. It was a treat to be there and I had some amazing Chinese food and clam chowder, too!

We’re back home after a two-night trip and I’m beyond exhausted! I’m looking forward to a busy week ahead with PT, doctor’s appointment and a newsletter to write. I need to get my energy recharged!

What’s happening this week in your life?

Travel Time

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This quail poppa was standing guard over his wife and young ones.

I’ve been nervous about traveling to a wedding this week. It’s in Northern California and the venue is in a Redwood Forest. I was supposed to go to a wedding in the same venue for a good friend’s daughter. My daughter was a bridesmaid. But, I ended up having surgery the day before after I fell and broke my ankle.

I’m cleared to travel by my doctor. But I didn’t feel up to it and I stressed all week. Right now I’m sitting at the airport. I went through security fine and was excited that we no longer have to take off our shoes. However, they made me take off my ankle brace because it had metal in it. That meant my shoes and brace had to come off. It’s a complicated brace with three layers of laces and velcro straps.

Next, our flight was delayed two times. I feel like this trip wasn’t meant to be. But it’s for our Palm Springs friends who moved one mile from us in Arizona. They have three daughters and one son. This is their fourth wedding in two years!

Hopefully, we’ll get on the plane and headed to our destination!

Happy August First! My mom and I played a game that one the first day of the month, we’d call and try to be the first to wish each other “Happy First Day of the Month.”

What are your plans for this weekend?

Happy Anniversary!

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My husband has been fighting this bunny because it eats our plants. But every afternoon bunny crawls under the chicken wire into the pot and munches away.

Yesterday was our 39th wedding anniversary. Really! I must have gotten married as a 10 year old.

For our outings together, we’ve been hanging out at doctors offices. I guess that’s to be expected after decades of marriage. It’s no longer spur-of-the-moment camping trips at the beach, or heading up to the mountains for a day of skiing.

Nope. My husband had cataract surgeries and the last few weeks I’ve been driving him to appointments and sitting in waiting rooms with a book. He did the same for me a few years ago when it was my turn for cataract surgery.

We had eight years of marriage before kids. Some of my earliest memories of life together were searching the sofa and our pockets for spare change. When we’d find a dollar, we’d buy three-for-one tacos at Jack in the Box. I ate Top Ramen every day for lunch. But those were fun days.

Then there were the busy days of raising kids. My husband was a super involved dad because he grew up without one. I’m not sure if our kids appreciated that or not. Then the kids grew up and started their adult lives. I’m grateful for how close we are with them. I love getting calls for no reason, but to chat while they’re out for walks.

These past years, our main activity together is our early morning hour-long walk (He’s been going alone because of my broken toes.) I can’t wait to get back to walking with him every day. It’s a quieter time in our marriage, but I love my husband as much or more than day one.

wedding photo
Thirty-nine years ago.

Here’s to 39 more years and happy memories!

What changes do you see in your marriage or relationship through the years?

The Wedding

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After ten years of being with the love of his life, our son made the big step called commitment.

The risk of losing Buff was right before his eyes. She was diagnosed with colon cancer and was facing surgery. They decided to get married before surgery.

We were on vacation in Santa Barbara. They had originally taken time off work to spend a week with us.

The wedding was scheduled in Berkeley at the courthouse. No way were we going to miss it. We booked flights from Santa Barbara to Oakland. The day before their wedding we got one of many calls.

“We both tested positive for COVID,” our son said.

Surgery was scheduled 10 days out, so thankfully Buff’s surgery wasn’t delayed. In the meantime, our son ended up in ER with COVID.

Surgery turned out much better than we anticipated. Big sigh of relief. I wrote about those days HERE and HERE. They said the longer the surgery took, the better the outcome. I was literally praying hour by hour. It was more than six hours, which was the best outcome possible.

Post surgery, they waited one week for pathology reports. We were sure everything was fine because surgery went so well.

My son called us — trying not to break down — that pathology was not good. Stage 3 C, which is a step up or down from Stage 4 (depending on how you look at it.) She has a 40% chance of being cured. Don’t want to talk about the 60%.

They had a window between surgery and chemo to get married. They kept the wedding small outside the Mendocino County Courthouse with their “pod.” We stayed home and I was weepy during their marriage. The next day I was filled with love and hope for them.

They got married with some of Buff’s family, our daughter and a few of their closest friends.

California-style, they had their wedding dinner outside at In-N-Out.

They spent their wedding night in Medocino County in a gorgeous VRBO on a river.

Here’s one more photo of love:

Vacation with a twist

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My son and his girlfriend last summer at the beach near Santa Barbara where we”ll be on vacation soon.

What a whirlwind week or two.

We had two health scares in one week. One was my daughter who had a reaction to general anesthesia and almost stopped breathing. The other was my son’s girlfriend — who I don’t know the outcome of a biopsy yet, but needless to say we’re all scared.

My son was so shaken up they decided to move up their wedding date from August 2024 to next week! If she needs surgery, he wants to be officially married and by her side.

I’m experiencing intense joy mixed with fear and praying that everything will be okay. They’ve been together for ten years, so we believed marriage would someday be in their future — just not in a couple days. They are devoted to each other and there’s an abundance of love between them.

We’ll be leaving our vacation for our first child’s wedding to celebrate their day.

A shout out to The World’s Common Tater for his post earlier this week called You Take the Good, You Take the Bad. He gave me the courage to write this post.

When have you experienced the good and bad at the same time?

One of my favorite photos of my son taken years ago by his girlfriend and soon to be wife!

Below: Palm Springs at the entrance of our home during Spring Break while they were in college.

Looking back

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We spotted a rainbow yesterday afternoon. It looks like the pot of gold is in our backyard.

My blog is a living record of my life because I often post about what is going on in my daily life. I looked back on this date for the past three years. Last year, I wrote a post called “No more drama for the momma.” That’s a title I could have used this week!

But the story was about me worrying about my daughter who had COVID and her pug Waffles who got into a trash can and ate chicken bones.

Waffles is incorrigible and was back to the vet this week. They haven’t figured out what he ate, and hopefully this too shall pass. Literally.

In 2021, we had a snow day. I posted a video of snow flurries. I think it’s a possibility this year, too. Flagstaff and Sedona are getting tons of snow. My kids in Berkeley said they may get snow as well.

We weren’t on shutdown mode yet in February 2020. We had no idea what was about to hit us. I was writing about sports parenting.

We went to a wedding in Colorado that year the second week of February. There were people attending from all over the world. After we were back home, living in Palm Springs, I got a call that the father of the groom was on a ventilator with COVID. He was a physician who worked in a hospital and most likely got COVID at work. He survived thankfully.

I remember getting sick a week later, but didn’t think it was COVID. Who knows? That was before testing.

It wasn’t until mid March that my kids were told a mandatory stay-in-place (or shutdown) was coming. They had 24 hours to prepare. My daughter decided to drive home and the three of us all worked from home — my husband in the master bedroom, me in my son’s former room and my daughter in her room. Waffles of course ate things he shouldn’t in our backyard and ended up in the ER.

What were you doing around this date during the past three years?

Kitty is done with us

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Olive the cat in the suitcase.
Every time I pack, this happens. Olive is done with our vacations.

We had a tiring but fun weekend. I’ve decided that a six-hour drive on Friday, followed by six-hours on Sunday to get home, is too much for me.

I don’t mind the long drives like we took to Santa Barbara in August. That’s because we stayed for awhile. My body had time to relax and recover.

We arrived in San Diego Friday with one hour to rest and get read for a 30-minute drive to the wedding venue. What saved us on the drive was listening to “The Rooster Bar” by John Grisham. It’s amazing how books on tape — or Audible — make the drives fly by.

I made the mistake of booking our hotel room in Santee, SC — instead of Santee, CA. Oops.

Who knew there was more than one Santee and they’d have hotels with the exact same name?

The highlight of our trip happened Saturday. We visited my husband’s aunt and uncle who live in Santee (hence the reason I booked a hotel there — or thought I did. Right town, wrong state.) His cousin surprised us and came too with her son from an hour away.

My husband’s uncle is 93 years old. The last time we saw him was August three years ago to celebrate his 90th birthday. Because of COVID and then moving we haven’t visited. I have to say he looks amazing. He’s full of energy. He drives, he shops, he cooks, he waits on his wife — my husband’s aunt. He makes the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten. Luciano (the uncle) came to the US from Italy when he was 30 years old after marrying my husband’s aunt. She met Luciano while she was the city planner of Rome.

After she graduated with a degree from Berkeley in the 1960s, she couldn’t get hired in the U.S. in her field because she was a woman. However, she did get hired in Italy, so she learned Italian and moved.

She’s a dynamo that I’ve always looked up to. Not only has she had an amazing career, she’s written and published at least 15 books. She’s a world traveler and had a series based on a travel agent/murder solver. If you’re interested, here’s a link to R. Ann Siracusa on Goodreads. My favorite book of hers is “Family Secrets: A Vengeance of Tears.”

If that’s not enough, she’s a grandmother who actively takes care of her grandchildren. And she quilts. She taught my daughter and I how to quilt.

Whew, I’m exhausted thinking about these inspiring relatives.

What relatives have motivated and inspired you? What’s your limit for drives on trips?