A lovely visit with family and friends

Last Thursday we drove to Oroville to have a visit with my parents and make sure we get to see my sister Alise, who is in Sacramento for training with her school down in Orange County, where she lives. Ali's in training until August and she goes up to my parents' place in Oroville on the weekends. Since she lives so far away, we all decided to meet at Mom and Dad's last weekend so we could see her, esp. for Aidan's sake since he hadn't seen her since Christmas last year.

Little did I know that Alise had a surprise up her sleeve: with the help of my husband, she pulled together a surprise party for me by inviting some of my friends and Mel and Daryll showed up in their brand spankin' new VW Eos convertible! The fact that they had to drive over a mile and a half down a windy dirt road in their brand new car was testament to their dedication!

We all had a blast - Alise, Anna and her husband Jim, Daryll and Mellie. We sat around all afternoon and evening and drank bottles and bottles of wine and later watched the sun set and all the stars come out. Boy when there is very little moon and no city lights there are BILLIONS and BILLIONS! Unfortunately since I'm not much of a drinker, I began feeling blah by 10:30 PM and I had to go to bed. The good news is that Mel and Daryll decided to stay the night and Alise, Anna and Jim didn't leave til later that afternoon. I haven't had that much fun in a long time.

I miss Alise since she lives so far away and I feel lucky if I can see her twice a year. Once a year either at Christmas or Thanksgiving is more usual. Hopefully by summer next year we'll be able to fly down there to see her and her husband Bill and their new home. Those feelings started a flood of nostalgic sentiments from childhood, missing my sisters, Mom and Dad, living together as a family. I was fortunate and had a very good childhood and sometimes I miss it. Golf and Mom tell me it's normal, and if anything, it's made me more happy to ensure that Aidan has the same sorts of wonderful memories for when he's grown up. In that regard, I played with him even more today and I think he could tell I was feeling a little bit sad and he gave me so many hugs and sqeezes. I love that boy so much!

The people I have in my life - devoted husband, cherished son, wonderful sisters, fantastic friends and loving parents - I'm blessed and grateful every day. Thank you. :)