Drivin' 55

There's no place like home! Being home to see family and friends is just great! I'm particularly enchanted with her growing belly which is home to Baby Jack. This is a photo from the shower held on Saturday. I will post more photos over the next few days.

Things have changed a bit since I flew last, which was last year sometime. Not only do you not get anything to eat for free on Delta when you fly coast to coast, but they scare the heck out of you when attempting to land the aircraft. On Wednesday, March 26th, I flew home from Los Angeles to Atlanta. All was well with the trip until we were 40 minutes from landing. Lots of turbulence, but I've been through worse. We were cleared for landing, always a good thing...the pilot was still fighting the winds and we were bouncing a good bit. I looked out the window to my right and see the familiar landmarks, such as Stone Mountain and the Atlanta skyline. Fellow Atlantan's know that the next landmark one would see is the Ford plant, however, that did not enter my sight because about 2,000 feet above the ground, the pilot hits the engines and we abort our landing. 20 minutes later, we were safely on the ground,. What a relief! Our pilot comes on the air to tell us the real events behind...

Life will suddenly throw you a curve ball when you least expect it. Yesterday, as we were enjoying a delicious dinner with my niece at Duke's in Malibu, my sister phoned to tell me she just sent an ambulance to my mom's house. Mom was sick for about 4-5 days with flu like symptoms and now had incredible dizziness. My son just left for vacation to Florida and my daughter had to make an emergency trip to Panama City because her husband's grandmother passed away. No one left in town but my dear friend, Becky. Now I know this is not her responsibility, but when you have no one else to turn to, who do you turn to other than your best friend. It got me thinking. What is a Good Friend? Well, it all of this and so much more. What is a Good Friend? •Someone who will support you no matter what. •Someone you can trust and who won't judge you, even when you make lots of bad choices in life. •Someone who when finding out you just lost your job of 22 years, brings you a new uniform....

What a perfect day! Ocean breezes...warm sunshine...cloudless sky. Just beautiful. One of my favorite restaurant chains is Duke's. They are in several locations in California and also in Hawaii. Along time ago, in another life, a colleague of mine suggested we visit his brother-in-laws restaurant, Dukes, in Honolulu. I took him up on that suggestion and wasn't at all disappointed by the service, food or atmosphere. How could one be disappointed sitting at a table sipping Mai Tai's and gazing at Waikiki beach? Walking the pier was the typical California experience. People playing volleyball. Families having picnics. Surfers on their boards waiting for the perfect one. Street entertainment fetching a few dollars. Life is Good.

26 years ago, my sister gave birth to a baby girl, Stephanie Honore. Although, not a little girl any longer, today, she is a lovely, hard working, caring, insightful, sweet young woman who lives on her own 3,000 miles from home. She is studying Chinese medicine and acupuncture at a wonderful school in Venice, California. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Honestly, I do not know how the people in California tolerate driving on the freeways. And why is it called a freeway anyway? They are not free of traffic...or free of stress... We drove down from Pleasanton, Ca and planned to arrive at Anaheim at around 1:15 according to the GPS we refer to as Gabby. Driving south on the "5" was fairly smooth until we reached the Los Angeles city limits. Bam! Traffic came to a standstill, followed by stop and go traffic for the next 20 miles. Fred repeatedly said the brake on my side of the car does not offer any advantage while driving, but it acts as a stress relief for me. As my eyes continued to watch the ETA on Gabby, the time kept increasing. With a mere 17 miles left, Gabby now estimated a new ETA of 2:17. She still didn't have it right! We pulled into Harbor RV Resort at 2:35. Our plans for the next several days include renting a car and seeing the sights. Yes, we may pay a visit to Disneyland but more importantly, we plan on spe...