A Great Visit

Amy and Julia flew in yesterday from Los Angeles where Julia is still on her winter break so they are having a mother daughter trip to the Bay Area. They brought the Southern California sunshine with them and were able to avoid the rain for their drive up here from Oakland airport and, as it turns out, their entire visit. Joined by Jim and Dana we went to dinner last night at the Spinster Sisters and got caught up on the lives of the 'Bigs' (Jim and Dana's two boys and Matt and Amy's two girls) over an excellent meal....our conversation centered on talk of colleges past, present and future, empty nests, and how much Julia is loving her experience at Connecticut College.

This morning after delivering my car to Hammond Autowerks to get its new shoes, the four of us set off for Sonoma where we intended to have lunch at The Girl and the Fig, but it was closed. We ended up across the street at a place called the El Dorado Kitchen which was excellent. Best Truffle fries ever...

The sun continued to shine while we wandered around the square and Julia showed me her new cochlear implants which can be worn entirely behind her ears. Since she had the first one when she was sixteen months old, she has always carried the processor in a little fanny pack around her waist. She loves the freedom from cords and belts, although the batteries only last about four hours. They took their leave to spend the weekend in San Francisco and we headed back through the beautiful Valley of the Moon to pick up my car.

While I was catching up on comments, Barrioboy and I realized that we were both 'live'. You can see the ensuing exchange here. As it was spontaneous and impromptu, we weren't as technically well set up as we could have been, but it was great fun, and we promised to be more organized about it when we try again. When technology works, it is amazing what can happen. In fact, the thing that interfered most was the fact that he was in a noisy outdoor restaurant, and I lost his face when I unsuccessfully tried to take a screen shot. The world of Blipfoto is a wonderful place.