Did God Make Farts?

It's the difference of night and day, visiting the girls at home vs. seeing them at a big party.  While I did talk with Lacie for a bit at the beach yesterday, if I had not gotten a 49er cake for Tom, I probably would not have talked with Bri at all.  She is so excited to be with her friends and with all the men in her life (Grandpa, Uncle Joe, Uncle Norm, Uncle Tim, etc.) that grandmas just don't have a place in it (nor aunts either!).

But going to visit them tonight was a whole new ballgame. Bri greeted me with taking me to see the popsicles in their freezer and telling me about making popsicles, and then showing me other things.  Within seconds, Lacie was climbing into my lap with a book.  We just had a wonderful evening with them.

It had been a quiet morning.  I decided the night before that I was suffering "Pork Belly revenge," as I was definitely not feeling well.  Not sick exactly, but just "Not well."  At one point I thought I might lose my dinner.  The whole thing seemed strange because I usually have much too much to eat at Tom's BBQs, but I ate much less than usual, and didn't even finish either my dinner or the birthday cake.  I thought I had been much more "normal" that day, and the only thing I could figure out that might have been different was eating the pork belly.

In the morning, I still wasn't good, but better.  I didn't really feel like eating.

Then Alice Nan got up and said she had been having stomach discomfort all night too.  And later, while Tom was at the golf course with Joe, he got a call from Laurel saying Lacie had just thrown up.  And then last night she said that one of Bri's friends who had been at the picnic had been sick.

There wasn't any widespread  thing that would indicate food poisoning, and it's entirely possible that it was just a coincidence that all of us, who all had vaguely different symptoms had difficulties.

Still, it was a quiet day for me.  Walt and Alice went to watch Joe come in at the 18th hole on the golf course.  While they were out, I showered and napped.  Then we all napped in the afternoon.  Walt and Alice went out to shop for Aloha shirts at Costco and I napped again.  Tom didn't call until about 4 and then invited us to come over for dinner when Walt returned.

I loved it that Lacie immediately thinks of books when she sees me at their house.  She climbed into my lap and brought me book after book.  To say the subjects were diverse would be an understatement.

The Bible book was quite an experience. I was reading about Moses, his bull rush bed, and the escape out of Egypt.  Bri had a zillion questions, none of which I could give a satisfactory answer to.   I was raised Catholic.  We knew nothing about reading the Bible!  However, I did find the picture of what Zipporah (who knew what Moses' wife's name was!) brought on the famous journey.

I especially liked the "travel tips," Egypt map, and Moses' own monogrammed t-shirt.

Needless to say, I was much more comfortable with the Fart book!

Dinner was leftover BBQ.  We had sausage and then corn and salad.  Lacie asked for a soy hot dog and then proceeded to use it as make up, carefully applying it to her lips, cheeks, and behind her ears.  Laurel, returning from the kitchen, wondered why Lacie's face was so shiny.

She did like the corn on the cob, though.

To help Bri burn off some steam, Tom challenged her to see how many laps around their very large concrete back yard she could do.  She had to take a break after 12, but continued on, on foot, on bike, on scooter and on any other wheeled vehicle she could find.

Later, Tom asked if she wanted to play golf and he set her up with a tee on a rubber mat and her own golf club.  Lacie decided to be caddie, and would replace the balls after one had been hit.  She neatly arranged chairs next to the rubber mat where she would sit until Bri hit the ball.

When the girls were getting ready for their baths, we knew it was time to leave.  Enough excitement for one day and everybody needed rest and structure...and besides, we were tired.  

We came home and I was sitting, listening more than talking to Walt and Alice Nan when I realized I was exhausted, and lay down on the couch.  Next thing I knew it was 1 a.m. and the house was dark.  I got up briefly to check the time, but went back to sleep until 5.  About 7 hours of sleep in all, which is unusual for me.

We are headed home, having had a lovely couple of days here.  I just wish we didn't live so far from the girls, but nothing to be done about that.

Day 6:  Happiness is reading to the grandkids