The trip to Mexico was "fast" and easy. Got to the airport around midnight for a direct flight to Seattle, and after a few hours got a direct flight to Puerto Vallarta, arriving at 5:30 PM (2:30 Alaska time). All other legs of the journey were awful.
In Mexico, one of the things I did to fill my time while my teeth weren't working right was to work on unfinished projects. When I fly I work on self contained projects like beaded crochet, but I had other projects, requiring more tools and more room to spread things around, that I also brought.
The flight from Puerto Vallarta was a pain. I was scheduled to leave at
7:30 PM Vallarta time, and missed my flight because I relied on my friends to get me there on time. I'm really not sure why it didn't work out. But...It was important for me to get that flight too. I was supposed to leave Fri night, spend the night in the LA terminal, and arrive in Sacramento, Sat a little before noon, get a good night's sleep, then meet my future son-in-law on Sun at 3 PM in the Bay Area. The Alaska terminal was closed (earlier than scheduled for the day) when I got there. Then I was told the new ticket would cost an extra $500 and get me to Sac at 4 PM. Fortunately, the ticket change was only $85, and once I got to LA I changed it again for another $75 to get in to Sac at 1 PM.
The plane came in late, but at least I got to my mother's at 4 PM, only an hour late. My future son-in-law is GREAT! As I told him, Susie is more her natural, and happy, self than I've seen her since she was a kid. Jeff is great for her. He also has a Norwegian last name and a Mexican restaurant. My three sisters were there with various kids and grandkids, as well as my younger brother's ex and kids, and my best friend from high school. Not all the family by any means, but there were still 30 of us at my mother's one bedroom place in Rossmoor retirement community (30,000 retirees, 2 golf courses, pools, etc!!).
My oldest sister does a lot for my mother, who is 84 and partially paralyzed. Bea also drove me anywhere I needed to go and is an absolute sweetheart. Kani, my crazy sister, works on fighting the forest service; big time ecologist. Kani's daughter and her daughter's life partner (who couldn't make the party) recently got a foster-daughter who is 14 and taller than either of her new moms, and whom they hope to adopt. My sister Heather had just gotten back from France with a woman who stayed with Heather while giving private lesson in French cooking. I was really impressed with how well Jeff handled being introduced to all these new in-laws!
The next day Susie and Jeff and I finally had a little time without all the other relatives, and for the tree days after that Susie dragged me around shopping. I had come down to Mexico and Calif without Pete because we were going to have to come down again in Sept for the wedding, and I did not have a shopping budget. Fortunately, Susie had been given money by Jeff and told to get pretty things. (Again, I like him). Susie is 38 and teaches yoga and is one of the few women of any age who looks good in those jeans that come just above the pubic bone. What a fun thing it was to watch her try on clothes. The maturity of a woman and the body of a teen-ager.
In whatever quite moments I had, I continued to take refuge in my beadwork. I had finished 4 pieces in Mexico and another 3 in Calif, plus I made another 2 for my sister with two sets of lampwork I'd gotten for her. She bought 4 necklaces and I had $550 to spend on the last bit of my trip, in Sacramento with my son and granddaughter and my dear ex-DIL.
I had tried to get together with Becki and Sooz. As it turned out, Becki was in the middle of a move and I missed her again. Darn. And Sooz was inundated with obligatory social stuff until the day I was supposed to arrive in Sac. So I stayed an extra day in the Bay Area to have a few hours with Sooz. I sure do love that woman. I feel so privileged to have her friendship. Next time Becki, I might have to track you down at work so I can at least meet you in person! Before I left my mother's place she gave me some odds and ends, including some broken old filigree costume pieces. Actually there was really only one good part, which I gave to Sooz, knowing she's use it better than I would. I kept a double string of large beads which were my grandmothers. I'm pretty sure they're MOP. Also some ivory harpoon parts, a few nuggets, my grandmother's old broken watch.
And then my sister drove me to Sacramento. My granddaughter had been having a hard time with school. After Montessori preschool and kindergarten, she was way ahead of her class, as well as being almost old enough to be in the next grade. She was just a few months younger than the Second Grade kids and she was doing multiplication, and reading at a third grade level, but they wouldn't let her go ahead inspite of how far ahead she was (though they would say so at first; so she could get into another school). It got to a point where the teacher was being unreasonably critical of Victoria to justify not putting her ahead. Thank goodness, in Jan my granddaughter won a spot at the Montessori grade school. She now refers to her previous school (the best public school in Sac) as "pre-school". So now she's happy, she's enthusiastic and she's learning again. I still think going to a higher grade would have been the easiest best solution. Maybe the biggest lesson I learned about the school that was supposed to be so good is that the school was too rigid to be any where near as good as its reputation was. I have such a wonderful granddaughter. And my son was so good to me and so glad to help me. My XDIL (son's ex wife) is great too. I just wish those two weren't so unable to get along, even divorced.
I also went to one of my favourite bead stores in Sacramento. U Bead It. The price on stone beads is as good as anything I've seen on line, except that I get to pick and choose.
And then I got to go home to my dear husband!
Life is full of adventures.
Tina