Summer Dreamin'

Where has the summer gone? I am dreading the end of it. No, let it stay forever! This has been this best summer in such a long time.

First, of course, there was the trip to Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey and Croatia. I've already written about that extensively.

Second, there was the trip to Southern California where I got to hang out with my very best friends in the whole entire world. On that trip, I also got to reconnect with a very special California friend, which I will leave private (for now). I got to feel surrounded by love and happiness. On the trip, I took lots of power walks with Julie, slept a lot, read a fascinating book, Zealot, which is a fresh take on Jesus, the historical Jesus, not the religious Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth. Wow, what an eye opener.

We also met up with my rockin' awesome former step daughter, Kalie. The girls loved seeing their sister. They love her and miss her. Me, too! After lunch, Kalie and I hung out for a good hour catching up. To think that we had a rough go of it initially is just unfathonable to me because, despite the fact that I'm old enough to be her mom, I find her incredibly smart, wise, and intuitive. I wish I had been that smart at her age. Instead, I was stupid and worried more about partying than anything else. What a waste of time.



We went to Knotts Berry Farm because we have annual passes.

We went swimming a lot. And Morgan's friend, Kiley, who was once our next door neighbor, stayed with us for four days.

We went to Venice Beach. Always entertaining!

My friend, Katherine, and her two daughters came to California, too.


And we went to Big Bear. And Vegas. When we left Vegas, it was 115 degrees outside. Scorcher! While In Vegas, I went to Hell (aka the M&M Store) at Siena's insistence.

Interestingly enough, while in California, my sore eyes weren't sore anymore. My spine, which oddly enough experiences two stabbing pains per day, and has been that way for two solid years, disappeared. Was it the sun? Love? Peace? Good karma? What? So the Big Question is... Do we move after I'm done with my two years of maintenance therapy? Because we can do anything I want to. And that is exciting.

I met up with my old college roomies, Jen and Susan. I saw Susan last year for the first time in about 25 years. The last time I saw Jen was when Morgan and I flew to San Francisco for less than 24 hours so I could get Morgan's Russian passport renewed at the Russian consolate. With her Russian passport in hand, Morgan was able to travel with me and Rob's mom, Peggy, to Moscow to pick up Siena from the orphanage. Hanging out with Susan and Jen was awesome. Despite all these years, it's like no time has past. I love them forever. We have strong ties that bind us. (Side note: I colored my hair really blond. I think I like it.)

But the summer isn't over. Julie and Shane will be here in a few days. Emmy will be here a week later and we'll meet up with Susan again. We're heading up to Jackson Hole. And who knows? I think there may be at least one more surprise visitor.

Because we have no structure these days, Morgan and I have gotten in the habit of watching NCI Miami reruns until 1AM. Sometimes we fall asleep on the couch. Siena doesn't get out of the water. She's become really good friends with Katherine's son, Gavynn. They stay very busy. Tomorrow while Katherine and I meet up for lunch with another friend, we're dropping off the kids at the Discovery Museum at Thanksgiving Point. That'll give us time to go shopping after lunch. Retail therapy with the girlfriends is always fun.

Soon enough, we will have to get back to school and structure and deadlines, bedtimes, and homeword. I AM NOT READY FOR IT. Until then, I will continue reveling in the warmth of summer.