Bye-bye, LA!

   I got hugs from Mom and Kelley, and a smile from Aaron, but Sean refused to come over and say good-bye to me. We were all in the driveway as I prepared to jump into Dave's car and head to the airport. It's just as well, if he had given me a hug or a "good-bye Aunt Jen" one of us probably would have ended up crying... And probably not the two-year-old one of us. Not sure when I'll see them all again, since I'll be in Portland with Kristin for Christmas, but I already can't wait till the next time. That kid is ridonkulously cute.

   I'm frankly amazed by my sister's strength in dealing with a challenging day-to-day situation, by seeing my mom perform as an incredible, caring grandma, and by little Aaron's evolution in just the 5 days I was there--not to mention the smart and funny things coming out of Sean's mouth. It made me very happy and proud of my family. Wish we could be together more often, but at least we can relish the moments we do have.

   Thank goodness for distractions like LA traffic, and stupid-long baggage check & security lines (nearly missed my flight). But more so for surprises like being greeted at the airport by... friends,  having my bags carried and a hot, homemade dinner waiting for me in the car, and a surprise movie: Almost Time. The movie, like the guys, was indescribably sweet... And it's funny how their actions tonight mirrored the moral of the film. (Even if while I was gone, not so much).

What a mostly-awesome few days.

   Also, my suitcase is purring. Must be glad to be home sweet home.

Travel Town

   It was SO FUN for Mom and I to experience Travel Town through the eyes of a two year old! Located in Griffith Park, it's a wonder for little train enthusiasts--and it's free. 

   We walked among the big trains, climbed aboard a few, and took a ride on the little replica train, twice around the track encircling the park. 

   Two would for comfortably in the seat, with a kid on a lap. Our kid insisted on sitting between us, and took great delight in waving his arms, thrashing his head side to side (into my boob. Umm... Ouch) and giggling. 

   These photos are the best present any Auntie could ask for.

Spoilage

   The tiny bag contains everything I need for the next 5 days in LA. The ginormo bag is FULL of presents. Two spoiled-rotten nephews, coming right up!!!

Mom's Visit

   I finally posted a few photos from Mom's visit (okay, and some bragging about all the work she did to help me while she was here!!!). To see all posts, go to the "blog archive" pulldown menu on the right, select 3/11-3/18, and then 3/18-3/25, or...

Saturday

Sunday
Kit's visit

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday & Saturday

Kitsune!!!

   I finally posted a few photos (and a video!) from Mary Jane & Kit's visit to our house. A good time was had by all...

Friday & Saturday

   On Friday, I went to work, came home, and Mom helped me load up & drop off a carload of donations at Catholic Charities. Round 1 (of probably 20) of housecleaning complete! To celebrate, we raced south to beat the rain to Heritage Park to give the dogs a run. We laughed at Taylor the idiot as he chased cars up and down the fence line. This boy had some pent-up energy, and rightfully so! No walks when it's raining (I'm lazy).
   No sooner did we get to the far end of the lake, than the ominous clouds finally betrayed us, and we had to beat it out of there. We stopped at Bo Ling's on the way home and walked out with a veritable Chinese buffet. We loaded up our plates & sat on the couch—staying up way too late again watching Mad Men, in a desperate attempt to catch up before Sunday's season premiere... a good effort, but I'd have had to take the whole week off to get there!

   On Saturday we had to be up by 4:30 (yes, that's am. @#%*!!) to get Mom to the airport on time. The dogs rode along quietly, and I stopped at Panera on the way home for my favorite soufflé, then settled in for a long morning of Mad Men season 2, disc 4...

   I wish I had been able to take more time off to spend with Mom, but we (okay, SHE) got so much done in the house, and we had fun hanging out in the evenings. It has been years since everyone has come to KC to visit (we've spent the last few holidays in Ohio or Los Angeles), so it was nice to have a guest for a change.

THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, MOM!!!   :D

Thursday: We Must be Mad

   Mom and I got through seasons 1 & 2 of Mad Men during her visit. (I'll DVR the season premiere on Sunday night and watch it when I'm fully caught up.) I'm finding season 2 to be completely depressing... Don Draper is an unrepentant SOB and it sickens me to watch it. I'm not finding him to be a sympathetic character anymore. Hoping that season 3 picks up with the madcap, boys-will-be-boys fun again or I'm going to need to be on medication to keep watching this show.
   That being said, we are hopelessly addicted to the show. So we stayed in tonight and watched it while we ate our leftover barbecue. Low-key, but oh-so-good!

Wednesday: Feast Your Eyes

   On Wednesday the wet weather continued, so Mom stayed indoors while I was at work—and cleaned all the windows, the kitchen, the floors. WOW!!! (Pretty sure I've never cleaned the windows—inside or out—since I had them installed in 2005. Yikes! Extra props to Mom for tackling the biggest job in the house!)
   She worked up an appetite for sure. And so, Wednesday night, we ventured to Oklahoma Joe's. Kelly joined us because, well, I can't imagine Kelly NOT joining for barbecue! OK Joe's wasn't on Fieri's "dives" list, but I'm pretty sure it's the best barbecue out there! We enjoyed a feast of ribs, chicken, burnt ends, BBQ baked beans (which contained almost more meat than the meat did!), seasoned fries, Texas toast, and a pile of pickles. FOOD COMA.
   We came home and watched more Mad Men... getting there...

Tuesday: High & Low Brow

   On Tuesday we hit another restaurant from the "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show: Grinder's! We both had sandwiches and split another cider: Ace pear; it was nearly as delicious as the Crispin! We then hurried off to the Kauffman Center to catch National Geographic's 2011 Explorer of the Year, Kenny Broad: diver and environmental anthropologist. He studies blue holes in the Bahamas, their fresh water, and the human impact on the environment. The underwater caves are so deep and narrow that he wears up to five specially-designs tanks while diving—and in tight spots, detaches them and pushes them ahead of him. He uses a line to ensure he'll be able to find his way back out. Terrifying, if you ask me! Here's an excerpt from the program: "Exploring submerged caves and blue holes, one mistake can equal death. Kenny and his team must take every precaution to avoid such dangers as stirring up sediments that can wipe out visibility, succumbing to nausea as they pass through a toxic layer of hydrogen sulfide, or getting lost in maze-like passageways with a limited supply of diving gasses. The need to study blue holes is urgent, as they are among the least studied and most threatened habitats on Earth."

   Not to be outdone, just being inside the Kauffman is a show in itself—a true landmark in Kansas City.

Monday: Spin & Glace

   Again Mom worked outside, while I worked inside (cleaning out & rearranging the closets in my master bedroom, making the donation pile even bigger). She finished the flower beds and mulched them while I ran out to drop clothes off for tailoring, went grocery-shopping, and went to the hardware store for another go at replacing that blasted hose.
   I got home just as Mom was finishing up outside, and it wasn't a moment too soon: the ominous clouds started to gather, and soon after dark, the sky opened up—and it rained for the rest of the week! It's ironic that this was Mom's vacation week, timed with the poor weather, because the weather all year has been surprisingly good. What a bummer.

   While the rain damped everything else, it didn't dampen our mood. We headed out for a huge dinner at Spin: a pizza feast, since it was 3-for-the-price-of-2 night! We tried the goat cheese & roasted chicken with caramelized onions; BBQ chicken sausage; and my usual: salsicca con mela. The best pizza on Earth, seriously. Followed by: the best ice cream on Earth!

 

Salted pretzel and fleur de sel caramel. (Insert coma here.)

Sunday: Before the Rain

   Mom worked outside, while I worked inside (cleaning out & rearranging closets, and making a heaping donation pile). Then I ran to Home Depot for a bunch of odd and ends, including a new hose for the deck reel, and a load of mulch to help Mom finish the job. When all was said and done, she did a really amazing job, and I'm so thankful to have yard work crossed off my list!

Taylor, as always, enjoyed the extra company

   Mary Jane stopped by for a while with her new Shiba puppy, Kit. He and Aki and Taylor romped around the yard together—as if they were all goofy puppies.

   We worked up quite an appetite! Fortunately, Mom had brought a list of restaurants from one of her favorite shows, "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" by Guy Fieri on the Food Network. We went to Swagger for dinner. It is a hole-in-the-wall bar on Wornall in Kansas City, MO. (And never mind that a person was stabbed just a block from there, two days later.) The ambiance was about what you'd expect for a little bar in KCMO, but the food was fantastic!

A little bit of Maine and Alaska, right here in KC!

Mom had a pulled pork sandwich and a Boulevard wheat:

   I tried the Suribachi burger and a Crispin cider. (Suribachi is a tempura-battered hamburger with pepper jack cheese and Sriarcha sauce—I had them hold the mustard and creamy wasabi coleslaw. It was AWESOME!). But then, what part of "Japanesey deep-fried hamburger" DOESN'T sound good?!

   We were in a food coma by the time we arrived at home (but fortunately THIS didn't happen!), and the dogs never fail to join in for a lazy evening of TV watching (Mad Men seasons 1 & 2!) on the couch:

Meet Kit

   My friend & fellow MSIR volunteer (Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue) Mary Jane came over this afternoon to show off her new puppy. Kitsune ("Kit", for short) came into rescue and is what's affectionately known as a "failed foster"... MJ couldn't let him go! She got a real gem: he is friendly and confident, but not dominant, and plays very well with others, as these images can attest. My mom and I, and my dogs, had a blast getting to see him!

Back it up, there, Kit... beep beep beep

That's better, but hold still, willya?!

Stalking Aki

The chase is on!

Aki's in the lead...

Kit is catching up...

And meanwhile, Mr. Tay puts the moves on MJ...

Kit: Let's PLAY!!!
Aki: Sorry, kid. We're pooped!
Taylor: Zzzzzzzzz

Saturday: Mom Arrives in KC

   Mom flew in from Ohio this morning to spend her spring break with me. I decided to surprise her by taking the mutts to the airport with me. I knew they'd enjoy the ride in the car, and I was curious to see how they'd handle the situation. Not surprisingly, they behaved very well, and we heard the usual oohs and aahs over their extreme cuteness.

   Taylor was especially curious about the escalator when we walked by. I think he would have jumped right on it if I had let him! Aki didn't seem to notice that, but she was enthralled with the sliding doors. This one squeaked a little like a rodent. So she paced back & forth, staring up at it, and even stood up on it. She wasn't afraid at all, just very, very curious and on high-alert.

   After we found Mom and retrieved her bags, we headed toward home, with a detour at Antioch Park. Spring had sprung a few weeks early, and I wanted her to see one of my favorite parks in town. The daffodils, hyacinths, magnolias, redbuds, dogwood, and cherry blossoms didn't disappoint! She quickly learned that it isn't easy to walk two excited Shibas:

   The rest of the afternoon, Mom worked outside in my yard, weeding and cleaning up the flower beds, picking up sticks, and trimming the shrubs. I was amazed at how much she finished so quickly! Partly because she was racing to beat the rain, and partly because she's had years of practice. What a relief to have that work done for the season! It's like having my own park in my backyard!