Today was the last day of our vacation. In the morning, daughter and I called on our neighbor S and her daughters to exchange gifts. They live in the house across the street from us and we've been friends since I moved into this house and our children have been friends since childhood. They had prepared an early lunch for us - something we call Armenian pizza (a type of pita with a tomato and onion topping) and pasta. We had to cut the visit short, because we needed to leave by 12:15 p.m. to take daughter to the airport on time. According to daughter, the airport check in line was very long, but she arrived at her departure gate in good time.
After I dropped her off, on my way home from the airport, I put gas to the car and topped off the tank so that I would have a full tank of gas for the work week. I put just under $19 worth of gas.
When I came home, I picked several stems of paperwhites (narcissus) flowers from the garden for the altar and turned on the altar lights - I keep them lit until I hear from daughter saying she has reached her apartment, safely.
There was a message on my answering machine from my neighbor T - I had missed her Sunday morning call! I called her back and we chatted for a bit. Then, my aunt C called to check if daughter had left and we spoke for awhile. I had to end the call at one point because my daughter was calling to say she was boarding the plane, but then, I called aunt back to finish our conversation.
Daughter had a safe flight back, although she said it was a bit turbulent. After she got to the apartment, she went out again, to do her grocery shopping, since she needed milk and some fruits and veggies for the week.
Aunt C called in the evening to ask if daughter had reached safely and I said, yes. Then I mentioned that she had gone to do her grocery shopping and aunt was worried, again. So, when daughter texted me to say she was back from her grocery shopping, I called my aunt to tell her that daughter was back home, safe and sound.
In the evening, I did another load of laundry, browned the ground beef and cooked the shrimp curry.
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| Shrimp Curry |
Dinner was some of the angel hair pasta that daughter had cooked, earlier, with some of the shrimp curry:
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| Pasta and Shrimp Curry for Dinner |
I froze the browned ground beef and half the shrimp curry; the rest of the shrimp curry is in the fridge for a couple of lunches or dinners during the week. After dinner, I washed the dishes and tidied the kitchen, a bit. I also started cleaning the fridge; I will finish it, tomorrow. Later, I emailed a friend and chatted online with daughter.
We are expecting the first big storm of the season, tomorrow, just in time for back to work! I didn't water the front garden, in anticipation of the rain.
Today's declutterings included 3 items to make up for yesterday, when I didn't declutter:
3 gift bags from the stash
2 books
1 dead anthurium plant
Today, I am grateful for:
- Daughter had a safe flight back
- A pleasant visit with neighbor S who gave us lunch
- Phone call from neighbor T
- Calls from aunt who called to check on daughter
- Video chatting with daughter
Sunday's To Do List:
- Visit neighbor S in the morning - DONE
- Take daughter to the airport by 12:30 p.m. - DONE
- Put gas to the car - DONE
- Clean the fridge - STARTED
- Freezer inventory - DONE
- Water the front garden - RAIN in the forecast for tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday
- Cook the shrimp curry - DONE
- Cook the ground beef and freeze - DONE
- Do dishes - DONE
- Do a load of laundry - DONE
Monday's To Do List:
- Go to the office
- Go to the post office to mail daughter's package to her friend
- Finish cleaning the fridge
- Empty the waste baskets/kitchen trash
- Take the trash cans to the curb
- Put away the dried laundry
- Do another load of laundry - family room chair covers
- Clean the bathrooms
- Chat online with daughter
How was your Sunday? Did you have a pleasant day? Anyone else returning to work, tomorrow?
Glad daughter made it back okay. I bet it will be quiet around the house for a while. It always seems that way until I get back into the groove again.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Yes, I'll miss having her home. But, returning to work helps, as it keeps me busy! Then, when I come home, I speak with her on the phone for a few minutes, and later, talk with her online. :)
DeleteIt is lovely that your aunt is concerned for your daughter. Airport lines are a real challenge. Occasionally you go right thru and other times it is a nightmare. We always allow "plenty"of time, better to be on the safe side than miss your flight.
ReplyDeleteSuch a good feeling to have lots of cooked food ready to eat, especially since you are returning to work. Hopefully everyone will drive carefully with the expected rain. Son always says many in San Diego don't know how to drive in rain!
We finally broke above the freezing mark and we had mostly rain instead of the forecast freezing rain, although some of the roads are slippery. Best to stay in if possible. Another arctic blast coming the end of the week.
Yes, it's lovely that aunt is concerned and I really appreciate it. She's just how my mother would have been. :)
DeleteYour son is right - a lot of Southern Californians don't know how to drive in the rain! Our roads become very slippery, especially with the first rains, as a summer's worth of spilled oil rises and everyone drives too fast for the road conditions. Also, it seems that our roads get flooded so easily!
Stay warm and dry! Hope the next cold spell won't be too bad.
You had a lovely last day of holidays. You had a great lunch with a good friend and neighbour. You saw your daughter off safely. You worked on some more of your goals and you sound well prepared for going back to work. That shrimp curry looks so-o-o good. Good luck on your first day back.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan! Yes, it was a good last day of holidays! I even went to bed at a relatively decent time (for me) - and, although I stayed up for a bit, doing a crossword puzzle, I managed to turn off the light and fall asleep before 1:00 a.m.! The shrimp curry came out very well and was quite tasty. :)
DeleteIt always makes me smile when I read about DD catching a flight home - jumping on a plane seems to be as normal as us jumping on a train. Glad to hear that DD arrived home safely - how long is her flight? Just wondering if you pay per flight or because air travel is common are you able to buy some sort of annual travel ticket? I hope it does rain for your garden but no more than is needed lol :) xx
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, for someone who doesn't like flying, daughter seems to fly a lot, doesn't she? The flight, itself, is approximately 1 hour 10 minutes. Then, there is the 1 hour subway ride from the airport (in Oakland) to Berkeley and either a bus ride or a walk from the subway station to her apartment. She prefers to walk (15-20 minutes) to waiting for the bus, as she often has to wait for 15-20 minutes for the bus! So, with the getting to the airport 1 hr. prior to boarding, boarding 30 minutes before departure time, and all the travel time, it takes her about 3 hours to get back to her apartment. However, driving would take about 7 hours (it is 400 miles and she doesn't have a car), the train would take longer (and it is more expensive than flying), riding a coach bus would be cheaper, but would also take about 8 hours and she'll need to travel to and from the coach pick up/drop off point, etc. So flying seems to be the easiest.
DeleteWe pay per flight. Sometimes, there are good sales and she can get a flight for under $100 (one way), if she knows the dates ahead of time and can book in advance. But, when she needs to come down on fairly short notice (for example, she wants to come down when I am scheduled for my surgery, but we don't know when that will be, yet), we just pay whatever it costs. Actually, I pay for her plane tickets because it is an extra that she can't really afford.
It has been raining all day, here, and the intersections in my area are flooded! More rain is expected tomorrow and on Wednesday, too. People in the burn areas, where we had the brush fires, earlier, are being told to be ready to evacuate in case there are mudslides (with the vegetation all burned, there is nothing to hold the soil in place when it rains so much).
I've been back at work for a week now, but today a new manager started so it's not going to be routine for a while. Glad your daughter made it home safe and sound and it sounds like Aunt C was too.
ReplyDeleteA new manager can be a good thing, but I agree that it will take a little time to adjust. Hope there won't be too many changes at once, as that can be very stressful.
DeleteAunt C is very caring and worried about me because, according to her, I am all alone (i.e., no mother, no husband) and worried about my daughter because she is "a young girl by herself up there". :) She is actually the widow of my father's first cousin. According to our culture, that makes her my aunt and her daughter, who I guess is my second cousin (?), addresses me as "older sister", as I am all of 3 months older to her. :)
I'm glad your daughter had a safe flight home and got home safely too :) Your aunt is a hoot! But that's a lot of phone calls for you. As someone who doesn't like talking on the phone, it amazes me to see how much time you spend on the phone with your relatives, every day!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nathalie. :) As I mentioned in my response to Live and Learn's comment, above, aunt worries about me because I am "all alone" and worries about my daughter because she is "a young girl by herself, walking home in the dark". :) As for talking on the phone with the relatives, we are a close knit bunch, when we get along; when we don't get along, then we don't talk for years! :D
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