What I DId Last Friday

Last Friday the hubby took Joe-Ash to San Pablo to visit an independent living center for the blind - called the Hatlen Center for the Blind - their motto is Teaching Independence Through Independent Living.

At the last minute I decided to go with them. And take P'Headro. So I called into work, at the last minute, in tears, because I really don't do things like that, and off we all went to the Bay Area.

P'Headro & the hubby

P'Headro & Me

We got there early and I had to go to Starbucks to go potty. There was this street sign and we got photo ops with P'Headro with the sign in the background, to prove we were really there.

Josh & P'Headro outside Starbucks

P'Headro closeup

We did the tour. It's a great program. Joe-Ash filled out an application. He may be able to get into the program by mid-May. Yay!

Rather than going home, we went into San Francisco, because I wanted to go to a beach. We found a beach, China Beach, very close to the Golden Gate Bridge. I'd never been there before.

Here we are outside the park

Joe-Ash, P'Headro & Mom

The old man

It was a very productive and beautiful day!

Forgiving my Mother

I was talking with a couple of my nephews - we had a quick and informal get together - and I asked Ben (who looks a bit like his dad in this photo)

if he had forgiven his mother (for being really mad at him for something he said) and he laughed and said, "I forgave her when I was 25."

My other nephew, Leo,

laughed and said. "Maybe I'll forgive mine when I'm 55."

We all laughed and I thought to myself it may be a measure of your parenting......the sooner your kids forgive you the better the parent you were.

Then I realized that I was about to turn 55 and I still hadn't forgiven my mother. Not really.

Sheesh~

So the morning of my 55th birthday, before I got up, I said, aloud, "I forgive you mom."

How could I not forgive such a cute little kid?

Granted there was some water under the bridge between this adorable little girl and me turning 55, but forgiveness needed to be offered nonetheless.

My mom had a massive stroke before my kids were born. We had a moment before she died, when I was sitting in her room with her. She cried; she couldn't talk very well by then, and I said, "I know Mom. it's okay." And it was.

But still, I harbored unforgive-ness.

One time Ananda Girl wrote something about really liking my mom, and I went into some sort of weirdness. Like maybe I couldn't really trust Ananda Girl (which is of course rubbish!). I was shocked at the strength of my emotional response.

Still a hot button issue after all these years.

So I am working on forgiving my mom.

I have a couple of pictures of her around the house, before she was a mother. She seemed to be happy and carefree.

Never a thought in her mind of resenting an unwanted child.......

If any of you have any suggestions to help me forgive my mother for once and for all, please feel free to share them!

Callie and P'Headro

These are the two dogs who live at Casa de Refugio. I love them both, but have also failed them both miserably.

Callie will take off and not return when called despite the fact that she is 13 years old and has bad hips.

P'Headro is not house trained or pad trained. He will go outside when I take him (mostly), and sometimes will use the potty pad, but other times uses the kitchen, dining room or hallway floor.

I watch the Dog Whisperer - but nothing improves.

Hum.

What the Heck Have I Been Doing All Week?

I said I would blog this last week, since I had it off and all. Well, that was just another in a long line of lies. Deep sigh.

In my defense however, I was quite busy.

So the week started with me deciding to paint the upstairs - minus the bedrooms.

This is what my sons and friends did while I painted away, with help from my husband, I might add.

This is my birthday dinner crew (all is forgiven for painting - and actually to be truthful two of the above actually did paint and two of the above - one of them the same person - did the installation of lighting fixtures). Dinner was oysters, heated up with garlic and Parmesan, artichokes with tasty mayonnaise dip, shrimp and tri tip. And for desert we had angel food cake, strawberries and home whipped cream.

Here is the ceiling fan Dandu installed - it's really swell (it's amazing what you can get at Home Depot with a credit card).

Here's the kitchen lighting that Hold See's friend and roommate installed in the kitchen.

That sums up what I did for Spring Break, while I was not blogging.

Just in case you wanted to know.