In the past two weeks I have been to the beach twice! Aprll 24th we met Maynell and her kiddos at Laguna Beach. Her mom brought us CHICK FIL A for lunch! I enjoyed the Chick Fil A but I have to admit, I was a tiny bit jealous of her ability to meet her mom at the beach on a weekday. Soon Mom, so soon, I will be able to call you and say, George and I are on our way, pick up Smithfield's BBQ sandwiches or Bojangle's Cajun Filet Biscuit or Robert's Grocery Chicken Salad and meet us at WB. Or better yet get an assortment of all three and tell Dad to put the boat on and we'll all go over to Masonboro for the day. Dad sent these pics to me from his view of Masonboro. Not sure if it helped the homesick situation or made it worse :)
But listen to me! Can you believe me? I haven't told you about Laguna because I am too busy feeling sorry for myself. Dang, I am in the most gorgeous place ever, and my days consist of slathering sunscreen on my precious, funny, smart and sweet three year old. Who am I kidding, I've got it good.
The Crew at Laguna
That night George got home early and we took advantage. The angel in purple above convinced me to bring little George over to her house to play while big George and I went on a date. It was fabulous. We had burgers and a flight of beer at a local Gastropub and finished off our meal at a great Gelato place. We were back by 7:45- quick night out and so worth it!
"…but those who seek the Lord, will lack no good thing" Thank you Lord for this glorious day of "babies", beaches, burgers, and beer with the hubs.
On Friday April 25th we had another red-letter day. First, I should mention that April 25th is a special day. Its the day that I celebrate one of the biggest and best blessings God has ever given me. Twenty eight years ago on April 25th, the Lord chose to send me a sister. Any sister would have been great, but he sent Lauren. Wow, what a blessing that was! If you know her, I need not type another word! You know how she is wise beyond her years, how thoughtful she is, how beautiful she is INSIDE and OUT, how much compassion she has for others, how much she loves her Lord and how she is so eager to share that with others and how she urges her friends and family to be the best that they can be. If you don't know her, I hope you have someone in your life like her. She is truly a blessing to our family and I would not be the same person without her influence in my life. She lifts me up, encourages me, loves me, listens to me, sharpens me, and helps talk me through any difficult situation I may face. Thanks be to God for this girl, especially on her special day!! Happy Birthday Lauren!
OK, what was I about to write?……
Right, our red-letter day! So, it started out with a great run for me (my fave way to start the day-after my coffee of course). Then we piled in the car and headed downtown to check out the flower market. I am so sad to report we forgot to take pictures. It was amazing. More flowers than you've ever seen in one place before. Warehouse after warehouse of flowers. We bought one measly orchid (which dazzles in my house but paled in comparison to the hundreds and thousands of blooms, blossoms, and buds in downtown LA on Flower Street. We also saw a lot of homelessness and the dichotomy was striking. So much life, color and fragrance and on the very next block was filth, hopelessness and stench. There is probably a good sermon in there somewhere. I hated to see so many who struggle day to day and spent a lot of time in thought about what had brought them to this place, this situation, this circumstance. I do not try to come up with answers for there are no easy ones. Lord, bless those that roam the streets with no roof over their heads and no promised next meal.
After we left downtown we drove to Long Beach (in a CAR this time) and it took…drumroll please……. all of 30 minutes to get there. You really should read about our last attempt. We parked and bought our tickets to the aquarium. We spent the rest of the afternoon there and slowly made our way around the whole place. We saw a seal show and touched sharks and sting rays. First time for everything I guess. I touched a shark. They are soft and it was a very strange experience. Peer pressure is an amazing thing if you think about it. If there had been a tank with sharks in it and no one else around, do you think I would even have walked next to the tank? Um, no thank you. But because so many people- men, women and children had their arms plunged into the water, my silly brain is like, "Yeah! Why not! Lets pet some sharks, bring it on. I'm not skeered".
George climbed a huge anchor at Long Beach.
We had somehow skipped lunch so all three of us were pretty famished when we happened upon a Japanese steakhouse. Well, yes please, I do believe so! I have not eaten at a Hibachi Grill since my freshman year of college. I think seven of us piled into one Volkswagon Bug and went to the one in 15-501. Another story, another time….
George loved it but the fire was a little much for him. I need to learn to prep him better for things like this. He said he did not like the fire but he did like the steam. Other things he liked included the miso soup (minus the mushrooms), steamed rice, the dips and hibachi chicken. He was so cute and good. We headed home and thought he would pass out in the car, but nope- he made it all the way home. Once we got him down, George and I watched the last three episodes of How I Met Your Mother. If I never included that in this blog it would be a crime. That television show has been our activity in the evenings this whole year. Sad but true, we watched eight years worth of Ted, Lily, Marshall, Robin, and Doogie Howser aka Barney. So we finished it and still haven't met Ted's kids' mother. Waiting for that last season. Ok, y'all don't care about that….
Saturday George worked since he played with us on Friday. But then we went to the Dodgers game that evening. It was a highlight of my year and I did remember to take pics this time! We had hotdogs and beer, bought a Dodgers shirt and a foam "#1" hand to wave and just had a generally good 'ol American time. We left after the 7th inning because Georgie was tired but the parts we did see were exciting and lots of memories were made. Good times!
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