Where does the time go?

Okay, so once again I've been a long time between posts.  I really need to figure out how to fit writing / blogging into my normal daily / weekly routine, just like the exercise.  I think it's important, a good way for me to keep my own thoughts focused and to remind me what I'm working toward, and why.  But I guess that's a subject for another day, cuz today I'm gonna get you caught up on recent news.  Luckily, it's been a relatively uneventful couple of weeks.

My last post was written via my iPad, on the rooftop patio of the hotel bar where I was staying during my visit to Glendale for work.  I always enjoy going to California for work because I can usually work in a visit with my family.  All of my immediate family lives in southern California and it's hard living so far apart.  I miss out on so much, but with work the past few years, I've had quite a few opportunities to have quick, one-day or one-afternoon visits.  This time, I was there only for Monday thru Thursday, so a trip to see my brothers and their kids wasn't an option, but my mom and dad each came to see me.

Mom and I had a little sleep-over in my hotel room.  She didn't pack much for the one-night stay, but she brought a suitcase full of treasures and memories to go through!  There were photos, letters we kids wrote when we were little, and all sorts of goodies.  The best part, though, is that she sent me home with some really wonderful pieces:  TWO Judith Campanaro originals (oil paintings, the artist is an old friend of the family, my mom's best friend and soul-sister)

I'm not sure the official name of this piece, but my mother has always called it "Madonna with Child"

This one is from a series that Judi did, memorializing various influential women in her life.  "Miss Terry" is my mom.

and this great piece... not sure if it's a painting or a print, or even who the artist is, but it's something my mother has loved all her life.  It was a gift to my mother's mother's mother, on her 18th birthday:  February 24, 1907.  It's such an honor to have been entrusted with the keeping of this piece that has been in possession of the various Matriarchs of my family for over 100 years! 

I'm afraid the resolution on these photos is not as detailed as I would hope; I took them with my phone so that I could post them as soon as I got them hung up at home, so mom could see they'd arrived safely and found their new home comfortable.

So, mom and I had a great visit (if short), and I headed to the office in the morning, leaving her at the hotel to lounge as she saw fit and head back to her grandchildren in San Diego (a visit she had interrupted to come up to LA for the night).

The following night after work, my dad came and picked me up.  We went to dinner at this great place called Damon's - a sort of tiki lounge joint known for their great steaks. Complete with a piano bar and Mai Tai's.  Dinner was terrific and we talked about everything under the sun - raising children, caring for grandparents and vets, stories from his childhood and college days, and the project closest to his heart these days, the AV Wall - a 1/3-scale model of the Vietnam War Memorial.  You can learn more about the project here, or on their Facebook page, and find out where you can go see it, or how to bring the travelling wall to YOUR community, or of course, make a donation to the cause.  It's a great service they are providing, giving vets and their families opportunities for healing and remembrance, and another means of honoring their comrades.

The fabled Mai Tai, and dad's choice for dessert:  Orange Whip - very tasty, I must admit!

A couple nights later, the night before I headed home, I had opportunity to spend the evening with MY "soul sister" (if you like), Robert.  Best of friends since we were in grade school, Robert knows where all the bodies are buried, even helped me dig the graves for some of them.  We had a wonderful meal on Sunset Strip with his partner Sam, talking shop (we're both accounting / business professionals with a long history in public accounting firms), catching up, and laughing about the bad old days.  We took some pictures with our cell phones but I don't have them handy right now, will have to try and remember to upload those another day.  All in all, it was a great week in sunny SoCal.

All that good food (and the fact I remembered to pack all my workout clothes, with the exception of the essential Workout Bras, meaning even my one opportunity for a workout was a bust, no pun intended) and the lack of excercise did not bode well for my weight that week:  2.5 lbs gained!

But right back on track once I returned home, I hit the road for some great runs with Coty and with my weekly running group, and it was workworkwork and runrunrun all week.  In truth, not much more to say about that week, except I managed to work off 1.8 of those nasty Traveling Pounds.

This post is getting a bit long... I'll continue and finish up the past week shortly.