Tuesday, April 2, 2024
We woke early on Tuesday after not sleeping well the night
before, despite being exhausted. This was our only day to finish the laundry,
put the clothes away, empty the luggage and store it, straighten the house,
open a week’s worth of mail, pay bills, visit the bank and post office, shop
for food, and prepare for the following week.
We managed to get most everything done, but by early
evening, we were worn out. To bed early.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 – Larry’s Birthday
We would be celebrating Larry’s birthday with a party on
Saturday, but his actual birthday on Wednesday was spent on trips to the
airport.
Kim had not been able to visit during the holidays, so we
flew her out for this occasion. She would be staying for two weeks. It sounded
like a long time when we made her reservations, but we had a lot planned.
She arrived at noon at John Wayne (Orange County). Since it
was lunch time, we stopped at a restaurant to eat.
We’d just placed our orders, and Kim asked, “What time will
Silvia arrive?”
OOPS!
Our Spanish daughter, Silvia, was arriving in the afternoon
to surprise Larry. She was our first foreign student, who had come to us right
after we moved into our house in Dana Point 1987. She was fourteen years old.
She arrived with a Spanish high school group, although she was actually from
Tenerife in the Canary Islands. We had stayed in contact with her through snail
mail, email, and Facebook.
Lorna, Silvia, Kim, Larry 1987
She had gone on to a career as a model, completed her
university degree in Public Relations, was named Miss International in 1990,
and worked in Spain.
A few years later, she arrived to spend the summer with us.
Lorna, Larry, Silvia in San Francisco
She had worked as an actress in Miami for a few years before
the pandemic. During that time, she had talked about coming to California for a
visit, but her work schedule never allowed for a trip. It had been nearly
twenty years since she had last been in California. However, she had some
physical problems and returned to Tenerife, just in time to be quarantined. So,
she still had not returned to Miami, although she expects to do so soon.
Kim, Silvia, and I had made plans for Kim to pick her up at
LAX at four o’clock in the afternoon while Larry and I would be picking up our
Japanese son, Toshi, at John Wayne at three. We had intended to surprise Larry
when Silvia arrived at the house.
However, the surprise came a little earlier than planned. At
least, he was surprised—and delighted
Toshi’s flight from Tokyo was on time, and we collected him.
Kim and Silvia arrived a little before six. They had picked
up food on their way home, so we all sat down and ate dinner together.
This was the first time Silvia and Toshi had met, and they
hit it off well. (They both knew about each other, as do most of our kids.)
While we had been out, the cleaners arrived. They had
finished by the time everyone arrived home.
We were all tired. Silvia and Toshi both had a bit of
jetlag, and Kim had been up early to catch her plane out of Plano, TX. We were
all in agreement to go to bed early. I think most of us went to sleep early,
although as he usually does, Toshi remained on Japanese time in order to
conduct some business meetings on Zoom while he was here. (I have no idea
when—or if—he sleeps.)
Having all three of them in our house was a terrific
birthday gift for Larry.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Silvia spent the morning enjoying the rock garden. She found
it a restful and peaceful place to unwind.
Silvia relaxing
Kim got up early and started the coffee, but she went back to
her bedroom to rest for a while longer. Toshi slept in a bit.
Once everyone emerged, Toshi suggested brunch at Bonjour Café, one of our favorite restaurants.
Toshi, Kim, Larry, Lorna, Silvia
In the afternoon, Larry’s niece, Carrie, and her family from
Utah, along with his brother and sister-in-love, and their great-granddaughter
all came to visit. Shaun’s son, Tyler, arrived with them. Shaun arrived a bit
later.
Carrie and Loren and their family had to be back in Utah by
the weekend, so they would be unable to stay for the party. They brought pie
and ice cream to celebrate Larry’s birthday. Shaun’s birthday was that day, so
we celebrated his, too. Larry was delighted!
Years ago, I had given Carrie’s older son, Eli, my electronic
keyboard. Last year, I sent him my melodeon. He has become quite a musician, as
he demonstrated for us.
The younger son, Asher, recently has been playing his dad’s
guitar.
Larry had two Ovation guitars of his own. One had not been
played for years. (He doesn’t really play either of them anymore, but he has a
favorite.)
He brought down the one he had stopped playing for the boys
to see.
Asher opened the case, removed the guitar, and started
strumming. Then he took it into another room before his brother could get it.
He never came back.
I started to laugh. It clearly was meant to be his. I told
his mom, “Well, Eli got the keyboard and melodeon, so it’s only fair that Asher
get the guitar.”
We really enjoyed seeing all of them. Larry especially
enjoyed the pie and ice cream.
During their visit, Silvia went to the backyard near the
waterfall to record her Thursday podcast. She
interviewed Larry and me at the end of her broadcast.
The afternoon went quickly, and we had another busy day ahead
on Friday with the party on Saturday.
Silvia and Toshi left for a short while to go to the beach to
see the sunset. Kim took our other car to run some errands of her own.
Silvia at the beach at sunset (San Clemente)
We all agreed on another early night, and Toshi had more
meetings scheduled.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Friday was the day to get all the pieces in place for the
party on Saturday.
Toshi borrowed our car to meet friends in San Diego. When he
is here, he tries to get together with his So. Cal. friends. Since they planned
on a late night, he said he would stay in San Diego until Saturday morning, but
he promised to be back in time.
Silvia’s friend, Stephanie, came down to pick her up, and
they spent the day in Los Angeles. They had a great time.
We loaded some of the party items in the car. Then we went
to Costco to pick up the cakes (one chocolate, and one white) for the party and
flowers for Sunday.
We enjoyed spending the day with Kim and looked forward to
the Big Event the next day!
Anxious to hear about the party.
ReplyDeleteNext Monday! With pictures and videos.
DeleteWhat a grand time. I know you enjoyed it as much as Larry did! (Marilyn)
ReplyDeleteWe did. Having the three of them here with us was really special.
DeleteJust reading your activities the past weeks has exhausted me. You are a couple of active seniors! Ganbatte!
ReplyDeleteLook who's talking! I have trouble keeping up with you and Ann. Good for you! Hope to see you in Japan in 2026!
Delete