The Grand Tour: Saturday, 3/28

File it under "You Makes Your Choices, You Takes Your Chances". It was a day free of kids...for GMK, Trish, and Grandma Mary. It was a day of maximum kids for the humbled Crab Queen.

Rick showed up and I took off with the J-crabs and LLGA. First Jack to his game in Clairemont Mesa. Then a quick forced-march-shop in Target (with Jamie complaining that he'd be late to his game with every step). Then Jamie to his game in Pacific Beach -- WITH SIX MINUTES TO SPARE, thank you very much O Whining One.

Then home to discover that Rick had MOPPED. (Not Moped, but mopped as in tried to improve the cleanliness of the linoleum). I love this guy. Except for the part when Rick informed me that my mop was not up to snuff. Something I'd already suspected, but since I avoid the task, I can pretend I don't need a new mop.

Off to Jamie's game with LLGA, who was awake/alert/active/VOCAL the entire time. Jamie pitched the first inning, giving up only one run. He had a tough time covering 2nd and 3rd steals (when catchers' throws bounced in to him) and got on base 1 of 2 times I saw him bat. It was a crushing loss, as they'd come from behind only to lose in the last inning. Jamie received a game ball, to my surprise. (Such a critic, I know!)

Jack came home and reported that they'd beat the "best team". He played well. He was selling a story from his coach that he wasn't playing 2nd "because the scouting from this team says the second baseman isn't going to touch the ball -- they are "jacking" the ball into and past the outfield". Plus, "I HIT THE CUT-OFF, Mom!" Think he got a hit or two.

Home again, tried to nap but LLGA's cough interfered. And then Rick had to leave, Charlie's therapy ended, and five kids were underfoot for the afternoon. So we had a Get Ready for the Wild Animal Park 2-Hour Work Party. Laundry, dishes, bed-making, and lots of sandy yelling. Clothes were laid out, jackets and hats located, and the van tidied. Go, Crab Queen.

We all work for fast-food. So we piled into the van at 5 and battled crazy beach traffic to Carl's Junior. Another respite provider arrived at 6 p.m. so the gritty demeanor of the CQ mellowed a little for a couple of hours. But that break ended all too soon at 8 p.m.

I set up the Aerobed and got people settled down. At 9:30 p.m., APC called en route home from her work just as GMK arrived home from her day of the mall, Mass, dinner at Peggy & Brian's and Hot-Tub.

She came bearing an awesome pink Coach handbag for APC and an equally-awesome in a more functional and less expensive form: a Calaphon frying pan. Not sure whether she intends it to replace the one that sticks from 1993 or whether it will be launched airborne in my direction!

The Grand Tour: Friday, 3/27

CQ Note: Remember, it is Lent.

My morning started with a little panic. Our respite worker for Friday evening and Saturday morning telephoned, asking for "Dawn" before realizing he had called me instead of the agency. He's been moving and apparently pulled his back, took a muscle relaxant, missed his 5 a.m. client, and med-dialed his 5 p.m. client. Within the hour, his two shifts were filled with our new favorite guy, Rick. (whew!)

Patty Xena, of the Grandma Mary Fan Club-San Diego Chapter, and the "Maloney Girls" convoyed to La Jolla Cove for a taste of Brockton Villa. Some chose to ride in the back of the bus.To my abject HORROR, there was a street light replacement project underway nearby, rendering traffic slower than my tummy tolerates and, worsening a usually-challenging parking situation. I ended up making several passes before forking over $10 in order to schlep 4 blocks. (Naturally, as I trudged along in quest of Coast Toast & Egg Steamers, 4 free proximate spots became available...grrr).

Other than Grandma's bitter OJ and lifeless blueberry pancakes, the food was amazing as usual. In celebration of Lent, we compared notes about Saint Anthony's powers to find (and suspicions at the teleporting of items, as several said, I swear I looked in the place I found it). I noted that St. Anthony could be one of the Papal Conversion Team's best marketing tools. Those who could hear looked slightly aghast, but had to admit, it did give Catholicism a fighting chance when competing with Kabala.

Of course, everything tastes great (er, except the aforementioned pancakes) when you have a $5-million-plus view of La Jolla Cove:






Once fortified, we set off to drive by University City to take in the "out-of-range" housing options. Then, as Grandma wished to enjoy the out-of-doors, we drove to Mount Soledad and took in the panoramic scenery.




GMK was like a little mountain goat, trip-trapping up to the top and leaving the rest of us looking for her. ("Yoo-hoo", she called).



Then, en route downhill to the much-awaited Rubio's for lunch, Grandma announced that she'd like ice cream. So we tooled through the DER (really) and grabbed a root beer float ("with mostly ice cream"). GMK and her sister went in to order and await our meals while I nursed LLGA and chatted with Grandma.

But I forgot to mention the down-Soledad-Mountain-Road subject of discussion: Lenten rules governing meat as applied to the Nursing One. I claimed I was okay to eat meat. GMK and Trish claimed that it was okay to change the day from Friday, but that I couldn't go backwards to apply an accidentally-meat-free day. See, the Crab Queen fancied her favorite seafood item -- namely, gourmet garlic and herb shrimp tacos with avocado, grilled cheese, and bacon. Really, I must say that I think a NURSING mother should be allowed incidental meat when it arises in her diet in CONDIMENT form. So rather than ruin a Perfect Taste Sensation by omitting a key ingredient and rather than ruin a Lovely Familial Moment with the agonizing intonations of Catholics Passing Judgment, I substituted plain shrimp tacos. While perfectly acceptable, not the same. Not the same AT ALL.

Home to inhale food. Spite and Malice was played by GMK, Grandma, and Jamie. Trish and I played a few shake-shake-shake rounds of Boggle, made slightly more time-consuming per-round by the Scholastic (TM) Children's Dictionary not including the first questionable word: cleat/cleet. So we had to resort to the iBook G4 to govern the scoring of our mostly made-up words.

Meanwhile, GMK spited/maliced/sand-slapped Jamie and he roundly quit, mid-hand. There were various versions of why he quit...one involving his eye problem & desire to rub his eyes in peace (I could appreciate that possibility given my bacon issues) and the other involving GMK's trouncing his position as competent Spite & Malice player. I found him in his room, playing Monopoly (TM) with our respite provider, who has the good sense to let him stay competitive.

Grandma snoozed ... awakening in time to compare (not contrast) my feeding LLGA cereal with the process of feeding a goose for pate. Ahhh, Family.

Later, off to the Fishery for dinner. GMK was in her Ahi Nirvana, Grandma enjoyed her meal and beer, Trish was one with some scampi and chardonnay and I overwrote the shrimp taco memory with the perfectly delightful and intact without imposition of Lenten revisions of "Mr. Brown's swordfish tacos". LLGA again awoke with a coughing fit and spent much of the meal on GMK's lap. Yummy. So yummy that we all resisted dessert.

Home again in the Odyssey to LLGA's wailing. "Jingle Bells" this trip was a non-starter.

No meal would be complete without a toast (or a bit of Slovenian Jibberish)

Tribute to Great-Uncle Straw

The Grand Tour: Thursday, 3/26

The day started (well, after all the get-the-boys-out-the-door-to-school and get-LLGA-fit-for-public-consumption routines) with a journey to the Picture People for a generational portrait and so much more.

Lucy in her pre-photo dress before the Great Portrait Session of 2009. See portraits in previous post (from March 30th).


Close-up of our sneaky way of having Aunt Awesome (aka, "APC) there with us. Longtime blog followers will recall that this was the photo of APT and APC at Christmas with LLGA/M-ELA's holiday photo card festooning the tree.


Another illicit photo from within the photography studio. I was chastised by an employee and put away my camera (well, after one more snapshot).


Great-Grandma with Great-Grand-Sumobaby

Being dismissed for a few minutes before portraits would be ready for viewing, we started to wander to the Food Court ... wander actually being a more direct, purposeful word than the reality of our pace. And then we happened upon Ruby's Diner. "Why not have lunch?" say the Maloney trio. Crab Queen was mentally deducting the time to select photos, travel time, etc., from her sitter's must-depart-the-Castle time of 12:30. Oh, well, lunch is always a lure. Inside we went.

Yummy Kobe sliders awaited us. As did GARLIC fries. Combat Crab, we will have to take the crablets here when you return. So very yummy.


No surprise, the clean plate is MINE!

Of course, I got ner-fuss about the time. Just a little Time Anxiety so I set off to preview the photos, knowing that the trio could remain behind and finalize the deal. In my haste to move along, I remembered LLGA but left behind my Coach(TM) handbag. (The handbag far more valuable than its contents!) Luckily, the trio was still finishing up.

As evidenced by the portraits already posted, we were pleased with the pictures. I wasn't so pleased to realize that it was 12:18 when I skedaddled to the underground garage and sped for home, arriving 5 minutes later than I had promised.

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The next several hours are a mystery as the Northwestern Alumna Tour Guide did not plan or participate. There was a mall. There were Maloney women. And GMK was eager to view the hotel accommodations (La Pensione in Little Italy). I did what I do everyday...dishes, laundry, nurse, prepare food, and play dress-up-doll with M-ELA:

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The trio returned in time for us to exchange whimsies:

CQ's gift of a Valentine Owl wash-mitt.


Great-Uncle Mike had dispatched APT with construction vehicle articles, photos, and DVDs. Charlie, from this point on, only had eyes for "I Love Dirt". :-)


Then GMK produced her QVC purchase in living color. Check out the pink-chic animal print lining!


And of course, more photos with "da boys":




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We proceeded to Del Mar to dine with Peggy, Brian, and Michael, Sr. at Double Happiness.


Mary and Michael


Peggy, Trish, and GMK

Delicious! Always tasty Garlic Shrimp, Cashew Chicken, Crispy Beef, Pot-stickers, and Michael, Sr. selected a brand-new winner: Honey Walnut Chicken. And they even had A&W root beer so the Crab Queen was not only stuffed but well-hydrated.



M-ELA/LLGA, unfortunately, awakened just long enough to think she would be entertained (or nursed). She howled all the way home, inducing Grandma Mary to sing "Jingle Bells" (worked once -- the "surprise effect"). Then back to howling. Ah, the joys of the Odyssey Taxi Service.

The Grand Tour: Background Notes & "The Arrival" on Wednesday, 3/25

Little-known factoid: Crustaceans operate in a Matriarch Family!

APC had called Tuesday afternoon to update GMK with fit-for-POTUS code:
"The Feather is With the Eagle".
I'm not going to further define who is the eagle, who is the feather -- only say that APC was beat to Litchfield by Aunt Patty Trish because, and I'm quoting APC, "I was using my safe-driving" who then quoted Grandma as calling APC out on her slow (speed not to exceed 70) driving as "driving with Granny in the car".

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APT (nice, huh!) called Tuesday LATE evening to review some details. GMK insisted on reinventing the entire fields of Logistics, Efficiency, and Logic with regards to the Airport Shuffle. That was pure Castle Joy.

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Finally it was Wednesday noon:

GMK departed with perfectly-curled hair to meet APT and Grandma at "BAGGAGE CLAIM ONE". I stayed put with Charlie in therapy and LLGA and Jamie home (as Wednesday is Minimum Day).

GMK and Grandma arrived and LLGA was not a little taken aback at Grandma. I suspect she sensed the excitement and wasn't sure. But Grandma does wear shoes and carry a handbag, so LLGA's curiosity and fashionista tendencies did overwhelm the fear of new people -- but not before she gave Grandma many a stare-down.


Even Great-Grandma enjoyed "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".

Meanwhile, we -- mainly GMK -- pondered the various menu offerings fr om Cafe Athena. Finally, settling on the order, I was informed that it would be another 20 minutes. No biggie to us familiar to Pacific Time, but rather late for our Midwestern arrivals. By this point, APT had already fetched the rental car from a Texas landmark.

GMK was anxious to point out Lucy's dimpled features (not her cheeks) and Grandma announced, "She needs a s-l-d diet and she'll slim down."
Solid foods? I asked.
Nope, was the reply: Grandma meant S-A-L-A-D.

We enjoyed lunch and then settled in for an instructional game of Spite & Malice. APT and Jamie (and me) VS. GMK (very tentative so I helped) VS. Grandma. Everyone won one (say that 5 times quickly) and GMK won a second time, to everyone's -- most of all, GMK's -- astonishment.







Charlie emerged from his therapy session, ran up to the table, and excitedly announced, "It's UNO!"






Grandma doing her "Victory" wave.

Later Grandma brought in Easter gear for LLGA (to be pictured at the holiday) and homemade frosted&sprinkled sugar cookies for all.

Then, in preparation for Thursday's big glamour shots outing, Grandma lobbied for a little pre-dinner IRONING.

Lamont Street Grill was yummy as ever, although LLGA apparently is so over the sleeping through restaurant outings and insisted on being at the table and chomping her lips as others ate. Oh, and when she wasn't doing that she was "vocalizing". Charming. Thankfully, it was quiet and we were a-ways away from other diners. Oh , and the nearest table had a particularly LOUD preschooler. Everyone esp. raved about the Fallbrook (Monterey, CA) Chardonnay, too.

Catching up from the past week...Monday 3/23 & Tuesday 3/24 & part of Wednesday 3/25

But before I engage in solipsistic meanderings, here are some Official, Random GMK/LLGA pix:



Playing "Peek-a-boo" w/ baby.


Monday:

This afternoon, LLGA discovered the World Beyond the Leather Furniture. She crawled to the piano and then made a right turn and reached the beginning of the hallway. She then sat up and looked down the longish hallway with a look of utter awe. Clearly, we've been holding out on the Princess of Roundinia. Perhaps she shan't be so rotund once she gets to traverse more than a 6x8 ft zone!

That evening Jamie received his Webelo badge at the Cub Scout pack meeting whilst Jack attended a troop meeting. (All meaning lots of driving for me AND GMK).


Tuesday:

Charlie went to school.
GMK and I (and LLGA) schlepped two gi-normous boxes (1 huge and 1 HUMONGOUS, to be specific) full of toddler boys' clothing to nephew Hal. (Nephew Jimmy had already received a big box of clothing and a little box of Star Wars costumes a few weeks ago). The shipping total was $66.06, leading me to observe that is "the sign of the Devil with a halo inserted -- almost an apt description of the Crab Queen at times!" Most of all, the totes in the front patio of our castle have been emptied. In advance of APC's visit. We shall now pause while APC picks her body off of the floor whereupon she's been shaking in a weird mixture of disbelief and relief.

GMK and LLGA and I, after a brief operational pause to meet Charlie's bus and give him lunch, went to the Post Office. I again stood for a ridiculous number of minutes -- pardon me while I protest the new "business customers head-of-line privilege" -- to ship with customs paperwork the Sand Crab's Easter care package. Yes, Patty SW, Love and Actual Candy. :-)

Then, because we were on a roll, GMK headed to the kitchen armed with a box of non-permanent hair color. I joined her with my sarcastic wit engaged. The fact that she admitted to not being able to distinguish whether or not the cold, gooey sensation I was experiencing on various parts of my face, ears, and neck was actual hair dye was not a confidence-inspiring feature of the Kitchen Beautician. However, she was fairly speedy and only pulled out a dozen clumps [because she couldn't "see", allegedly, the giant hair clips within my locks holding already-colored segments off the aforementioned pale (and meant to be that way) parts]. Despite the much-commented-upon visual impairments, she covered the gray temples.

It should be noted that LLGA was quite alarmed upon awakening to see me cowering under the gloved hands and crazy-colorist-eyes of GMK.


Wednesday:

I rocked an Easter week appointment with GMK's internist in Bloomington-Normal. In addition, I extracted an order from her physician (via the nurse, separate call) in order to allow her to schedule a mammogram that same week. This process did involve a rant, invoking my friend Shellie and praising the military medicine model, where they encourage women to get pancaked while waiting for Rx at the Main Pharmacy.

Meanwhile, GMK stocked up on Von's super-sale and went on a massive cleaning frenzy. (I'd already concluded that the Castle could not be "staged" to fool visitors. It's a mess and I was reciting the Serenity Prayer over and over).

Jamie participated, after much angst and agony, in his school's Jog-A-Thon. He ran 18 laps, which is far from a record, but is satisfactory in 45 minutes.


And here's a shot of Jamie entertaining She Who Must Be Contained: