Wow! It just took me half an hour of repeatedly failed attempts to sign on for a new post! a lesser woman would have given up but not yours truly...by god, when i set my mind to something i'll push myself around the bend to get it done!
Now then, in review, I see that May 16th was my last post. I am so sorry.....I can't possibly cover all that has happened since then so i'll give a condensed version and get us current
Most of you already know that we went back to Portland for our daughters wedding. We left here June 1 and returned July 2nd. On our return, we got stuck on the tarmack (sp?) while a thunder storm passed over us. A little disconcerting to be sitting directly under lightning in an airplane. As a result, we arrived late to Merida but patient friends were there to pick us up nonetheless
When we first arrived in Portland, our son picked us up and we spent the next two nights at his house. It was a mad dash to get the planning together for emily's wedding shower. I was the freaked out mother of the bride who showed up in stressed out bitch mode but it turned out to be great once I knew everything was in place( I of course profusely apologized later..).My friend vanessa was kind enough to loan us her car for almost 3 weeks or I never could have pulled it all off ( She is also responsible for the brides lovely hair at the wedding and my subsequent shearing before I returned to mexico). Emily's friend , and maid of honor, Kathleen had taken her out the night before for a really wonderful evening( aside from one flaky friend) downtown including an overnight stay at The Nines.
The next day we switched our "residence' to the west hills...that's right- Council Crest. What can i say...we stayed in an amazing home with an incredible view. It was really special to be invited there for the whole month. The lady of the house was away in Spain and on the 18th her husband left us to join her leaving us alone to bask in the ambiance ( and poor bus service) of the west hills. I guess folks who live up there don't need/use public transportation. It was an idylic setting, quiet and grren with a lovely view. the home was furnished with great artwork and a beautiful collection of rugs plus a great music selection! Other then mine, it was one of the most varied Ive been around in a while. Johns job was to water the many potted plants- flowering and vegetable, and he did a great job. There were no fatalities.
Preperations for the wedding occupied my time. All the little last minute details that need to be taken care of. In the meantime, Emily was in the process of applying for a much sought after position with the company she's been at for around 5 years, Fred Meyer. She was going for an assistant buyer's postition. They called her in for a final interview the DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING!! no stress there.....
june 11th:
The wedding was beautiful in so many ways. Of course the bride was STUNNING! Radiant, really, glowing...all the adjectives one could use to describe her would fit. She was exuding happiness. The food, prepared by her brother and his friend, was superb. The cake and flowers, also prepared by someone we know, were perfect as well. The guys in their tuxes, including my grandson, looked so handsome. The ladies were all stunning and the weather was perfect! The white tent, tables and chairs against the green backdrop of the grass looked like something out of a magazine and sooo many beautiful flowers, white pearlescent balloons, tulle and tissue paper flowers added to the dreamlike scene. The vows were touching, funny, serious but not too heavy. just the right combination.
There were friends and family who had driven up from california ( one of which was bitten by a brown recluse during her stay and became extremely ill) and many other familiar faces that hadn't been gathered together since john and Jill renewd their vows on their 20th wedding anniversary at the very same park. it was a great mix of old and new as Emily and her new husband and all of their friends mingled with the "old timers". Lots of folks there have known Emily since she was just a baby.
The couple had asked for any gifts to be given as a contribution to their honeymoon fund and i am happy to report that they amassed $1800.00 and will be going on a Caribbean cruise in September. Part of this money was given to them by Tyler, Emily's brother. He handed them a gift wrapped box containing 500 one dollar bills.
After the wedding, the couple- the Bowers-(still hard for me to get used to) left for the Benson Hotel and the next day went to the coast for a few evenings.
Once the wedding was over, I relaxed for a day or two. After that, it was on to dinners, coffee dates, lunches, shopping trips. I took a few friends to Bonneville Hot springs to show my appreciation for all the help they have been to us since we've been gone. They helped with our mail, our banking, our taxes, creating invitations, running countless errands and conveying countless messages. Basically doing our bidding for the last 8 months. My "girls" and i all went to dinner at Tad's Chicken and Dumplings. Other friends took us out to Marrakesh ( the restaraunt, not the city...) for my birthday, we were invited to dinner at the home of our friends Jane and Lee, lunch with people at nicholas's and Mexican dinners at El Tapatio twice ( there is no Mexican food in the yucatan, only mayan. We had to go to Portland to eat mexican!). Getting the picture? it was a food orgy!
The last night we went back to our sons house. We went to dinner with the whole family, new son in law, grandson and friends Ron and Quinton. I stayed up till 1:30 watching Benicio del toro turn back and forth from man to werewolf and finally went to sleep. Tyler and tyson took us to the airport and 20 min later i had to call and ask him to bring the laptop. Luckily i realized it had been left behind BEFORE we got on the plane...
So, here i am, back in our little house in Santa Clara. The yard looked like an abandoned home when we pulled in yesterday. The rains finally came about a week ago. The dead, brown, burning landscape has rapidly transformed into a lush, green almost boglike terrain. The yard looks like it has a lawn from all the weeds that are sprouting, the manglar is so high we had a crab running around our backyard this mornin,. the swimming pool is full to the absolute brim and the lagoons across the street will spill over and flood the road if it rains anytime soon. Everything can change so rapidly. we picked up Lucky from marcie. He has grown an incredible amount in a month. She said he got very excited when he heard the truck pull up. His laying out on the front porch now, right at home.
We were both so overwhelmed by all the love we were shown in portland. The car, the great house, the meals, the calls, the meetings. It was hard to leave. But change is good right? I now have a son in law and we are about to start work on a little guest house. Ron will be down on Aug. 1st, Maggi will be here in Oct., the dog will continue to grow and life goes on...
Thanks for participating with me.....:)
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