Master of the house
This weekend I flew up to Hayward (northern California) to help my dear friend Sara celebrate her acquiring her Master's Degree in Health Care Administration. After two years, she has finally come to the end of the road and become a master. Long live the Queen! After my plane got in Friday night, Sara, her man, Jon and I met Marlene & Joseph, Sara's parents and Marlene's brother, Uncle Allen, at a restaurant called Horatio's for dinner. I had heard about Uncle Allen for 20 years, how funny and nice he is, but had never before met him, as he lives in Hawaii. So he's a crackup, as is all of Sara's family, as is Jon. A true master punster! We laughed and groaned all the way through dinner, which is what you do when you have puns with dinner.
On Saturday morning, Sara was in charge of a field trip for her Kinship group--kids from disadvantaged families are part of this group that does activities & such with them. The field trip was at a local park where there was a lake-esque body of water, so swimming would definitely be involved. Sara's a braver woman than I, being responsible for other people's children at a lake--I won't even drive with my nephew in the car yet. Jon and I went to the park before they opened and grabbed some picnic tables and the kids began to arrive, dropped off by their caregivers. They were cool and well-behaved young 'uns, which is all I care about when I have to deal with kids. I was able to relax and joke around a little as we made sandwiches for their lunch. Cool.
After the field trip, we rested, freshened up, and went to Gay Prom. Yes, Gay Prom. There's a group that sponsors a multi-school prom for gay students in the Bay Area, and Sara has volunteered for chaperone duty for a few years, and this year, she did it along with us (Jon, Uncle Allen and me). I didn't get to see a lot of the kids because I was deeply engaged in decorating the hospitality room for the volunteers, as well as arranging the food they were providing. So I had some chips, a sandwich, and a soda...I was volunteering--it was allowed...But there were the naysayer protesters, naturally, holding up their signs. Dude, leave the kids alone. Does it affect you at all that these kids choose to love someone of their own gender? Um...no. So go eat at Sizzler or watch a ball game or whatever it is that you people do normally on a Saturday night. Sheesh!
Sunday was the big party. I was menstruating, and menstruating HARD. And I had technical difficulties with my hair dryer, which decided then to blow its heater out, so my curly hair would not dry. But I moved into stage manager mode, and moved furniture, prepared tons of food and put it out on said furniture, greeted people. Kavita was there, a fellow artist/graphic designer whom I love and hadn't seen in ages, and we dubbed ourselves Official Party Photographers. I went around and asked people if I could take their pictures, declaring myself to be the documentarian, and they let me! I also talked and joked with people I had just met minutes ago, AND talked to little kids. I amazed MYSELF. It was a neat little soiree! I hadn't gotten the chance to get her a gift, or make or buy a card even (I know, I'm a horrible friend and an atrocious human being...I should be shot at dawn), so I told her my idea for a gift: I will create business letterhead for her and have it printed. She liked the idea, so that's what I'm going to do. It's something she'll love having, and I'll love doing. I'm so very proud of Sara for doing this--it's one step closer to her dream, which is to operate her own center someday, using play and laughing and art as therapy. She's a natural at it, both at the getting people to laugh and at the organization part. She's an amazing human being, and a mensch, and I love her.
Monday, Sara, her dad Joseph and I had lunch at Harry's Hofbrau. I had Thanksgiving dinner on a Monday afternoon--and it was quite good. I had said that I would give my leftover turkey to Joseph to take home, and I forgot and ate it all, which garnered me much teasing. And I pilfered some Tastykakes from them before I left, too...My plane was delayed two hours. Well, no...my flight was cancelled, and I had to wait for two hours to get on a standby. Yeah, that's more like it. But I got to help this elderly couple who only spoke Portuguese--they needed help finding their gate and checking in, so I took them over to the counter, and they were taken care of, so then I called their son and told him they were all set and knew where to go. It was kinda fun. At least it killed about 20 minutes.
When I got home, I found my computer had contracted a strange ailment. I re-booted, and it got sicker. Now it won't boot up at all. I fear death comes for it. So I'm borrowing a laptop from work (a Mac...grrrr...which is why my font is currently not Trebuchet...but now it is!) to check work e-mail...and write my blog entries, naturally! I know what's what! I was planning on getting a laptop of my own anyway, so this is just hastening the process along. Luckily, I'm somewhat smart and have my most important documents and pictures on CD--I used to work at a computer repair facility, and that lesson got drilled into me by the techs. Back up everything!! So I have.
It's a delight to get out of town and see old friends every so often. It just puts you back in perspective like nothing else. You remember who you are with them. You just remember.
Here's to you, H-Less!
On Saturday morning, Sara was in charge of a field trip for her Kinship group--kids from disadvantaged families are part of this group that does activities & such with them. The field trip was at a local park where there was a lake-esque body of water, so swimming would definitely be involved. Sara's a braver woman than I, being responsible for other people's children at a lake--I won't even drive with my nephew in the car yet. Jon and I went to the park before they opened and grabbed some picnic tables and the kids began to arrive, dropped off by their caregivers. They were cool and well-behaved young 'uns, which is all I care about when I have to deal with kids. I was able to relax and joke around a little as we made sandwiches for their lunch. Cool.
After the field trip, we rested, freshened up, and went to Gay Prom. Yes, Gay Prom. There's a group that sponsors a multi-school prom for gay students in the Bay Area, and Sara has volunteered for chaperone duty for a few years, and this year, she did it along with us (Jon, Uncle Allen and me). I didn't get to see a lot of the kids because I was deeply engaged in decorating the hospitality room for the volunteers, as well as arranging the food they were providing. So I had some chips, a sandwich, and a soda...I was volunteering--it was allowed...But there were the naysayer protesters, naturally, holding up their signs. Dude, leave the kids alone. Does it affect you at all that these kids choose to love someone of their own gender? Um...no. So go eat at Sizzler or watch a ball game or whatever it is that you people do normally on a Saturday night. Sheesh!
Sunday was the big party. I was menstruating, and menstruating HARD. And I had technical difficulties with my hair dryer, which decided then to blow its heater out, so my curly hair would not dry. But I moved into stage manager mode, and moved furniture, prepared tons of food and put it out on said furniture, greeted people. Kavita was there, a fellow artist/graphic designer whom I love and hadn't seen in ages, and we dubbed ourselves Official Party Photographers. I went around and asked people if I could take their pictures, declaring myself to be the documentarian, and they let me! I also talked and joked with people I had just met minutes ago, AND talked to little kids. I amazed MYSELF. It was a neat little soiree! I hadn't gotten the chance to get her a gift, or make or buy a card even (I know, I'm a horrible friend and an atrocious human being...I should be shot at dawn), so I told her my idea for a gift: I will create business letterhead for her and have it printed. She liked the idea, so that's what I'm going to do. It's something she'll love having, and I'll love doing. I'm so very proud of Sara for doing this--it's one step closer to her dream, which is to operate her own center someday, using play and laughing and art as therapy. She's a natural at it, both at the getting people to laugh and at the organization part. She's an amazing human being, and a mensch, and I love her.
Monday, Sara, her dad Joseph and I had lunch at Harry's Hofbrau. I had Thanksgiving dinner on a Monday afternoon--and it was quite good. I had said that I would give my leftover turkey to Joseph to take home, and I forgot and ate it all, which garnered me much teasing. And I pilfered some Tastykakes from them before I left, too...My plane was delayed two hours. Well, no...my flight was cancelled, and I had to wait for two hours to get on a standby. Yeah, that's more like it. But I got to help this elderly couple who only spoke Portuguese--they needed help finding their gate and checking in, so I took them over to the counter, and they were taken care of, so then I called their son and told him they were all set and knew where to go. It was kinda fun. At least it killed about 20 minutes.
When I got home, I found my computer had contracted a strange ailment. I re-booted, and it got sicker. Now it won't boot up at all. I fear death comes for it. So I'm borrowing a laptop from work (a Mac...grrrr...which is why my font is currently not Trebuchet...but now it is!) to check work e-mail...and write my blog entries, naturally! I know what's what! I was planning on getting a laptop of my own anyway, so this is just hastening the process along. Luckily, I'm somewhat smart and have my most important documents and pictures on CD--I used to work at a computer repair facility, and that lesson got drilled into me by the techs. Back up everything!! So I have.
It's a delight to get out of town and see old friends every so often. It just puts you back in perspective like nothing else. You remember who you are with them. You just remember.
Here's to you, H-Less!
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