A Visit to Sam and Ava and Others
January 21-25, 2016
Dear Diary, Friends, and Families,Written January 22+ Time to make another record to remember by. The last diary was pretty simple, reflecting how the year started, but now we hope to get things going. We will start with a trip to visit grandkids and friends and then have a couple days in our local park: Yosemite. In early February, we will visit one of Marianne's school buddies in Carson City Nevada. Somewhere along the way we may use the new snow chains. (Speaking of snow, I will try to get some pictures from Geoff about the weekend snow disaster back in the DC area.) So, first, the Sam and Ava trip. (Thursday, January 21) ![]() ![]() Ava was working on a school project, cutting 100 pictures out to glue on a heart. I'm not sure of the point, but it was done well! From there, it was off to haircuts, a cute event. Sam managed, barely, to sit still enough. Ava enjoyed the whole beauty treatment. She is getting so old.
![]() Struggled to do the rest of this diary. Sometimes there aren't fun pictures or there isn't time to write or I just don't want to. However, after the fact, I do appreciate even a not-too-exciting record. Certainly that matches our life nowadays! ![]() I spent my morning shopping, one of my least favorite tasks. I need shoes and figured San Jose would have better pickings than Fresno, but still came up empty. Admittedly, I have a very specific brand and model in mind, but stores nowadays don't stock much. They just fall back on: "We can order it for you." Fine for hardware, not so for things that have to fit right. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Gabby and Mamal took the babysitting opportunity to have a night out while Marianne and I took Sam out for pizza at Willow Street, one of his favorites (and mine, to tell the truth.) For the record, and to be able to blackmail him when he is a teenager, I will note that Sam was a real pistol and a handful for his babysitters. Just testing. It's a stage. The fours. Etc. We love him anyway! ![]() ![]() ![]() We appreciate all these snow disaster pictures because it makes Fresno look so pleasant. Sure, the summers are hot, but the roads stay clear. (Actually, we are getting rain this year, and snow in the mountains, but that's as it SHOULD be.) ![]() ![]() From there it was more birthday parties for the kids, lunch and shopping for the moms, and NFL playoff tv for me. A separate day but everyone gathered back in the kitchen for the pizza Mamal brought back. Not good for the diet, but family fun nonetheless. On Monday Gabby and Marianne delivered the kids at school and then they joined me for breakfast at one of our old hangouts. It is the type of place where the waitress remembers babies from past years. Nice start of the day. From there, it was another trip across the San Joaquin Valley. Not exciting. ![]() ![]() ![]() On Tuesday, back home, we had a hand-holding session with our financial planner as we expressed concern about the 10% drop in stocks over the last couple of weeks. Not something retirees like to see, but they provided reasonable-enough stories, so we will go on with our lives by packing for a two-day stay up in Yosemite. The next story. John and Marianne |