Into the jaws of Titan

A durian fruit. Presumably forbidden to bring on some planes as it smells so bad

coots

Last breakfast at Caffe Mezzaluna Great almond croissants

our view into the sunset

had dinner with Allie's parents yesterday. She now rolls over

We left at a good time because California is now being drenched. It drizzled while we drove to the airport after our last breakfast in a nice place. Traffic was backed up at one point. Is there an alternate route? NO!!!

But we made it to the airport in plenty of time though now Steve is no longer on the TSA approved list for the short line (I am!). Did they know it was him with the knife? Or was it just a random delisting? But we got the good plane (one with screens which we haven't had for the last 5 flights) so I could watch movies..the Gandolfino/Louis-Dreyfuss one, which I liked, and Gravity which didn't look great on the microscreen. I did enjoy my tasty margarita. Beautiful sunset on our south facing windows. Strong tail wind making up partially for our again late start, this time due to heavy airport traffic.

My fantasy was that spring would have come in our absence but no such luck. Although it did not snow while we were gone, it did yesterday causing a fatal accident near my hairdresser's: a horrible mix of white out conditions and a stupid semi driver who kept on speeding oblivious to cars slowing down due to being blinded. Hate trucks! And it is cold! Yesterday I returned to the Y to run like a gerbil around the track. No waves lapping at my feet, no beautiful flowers, no sand dunes: just a cautious drive tip-toeing over the new potholes. On the plus side, I did get a primo parking spot, not easy due to it being trash day and the snow mountains that are now ice bergs.

But things survived in our absence. On the first night we were gone, we got a tearful call from Naomi sharing some bad, frustrating news but she was mostly able to resolve this without our help. She is also getting an unexpected break from the dental school too. She came over and instantly some of my Chinese treats were gone. Still going to make some homemade bubble tea with my new bubbles.

And then to Josh's. He and Julie are on a plane right now to Austin, Texas where it will be 80 degrees, to be in a high school friend's wedding, the well traveled blogger who gave me the idea of sharing my Italian trip and then my trip into Cancerland. Lots of his high school friends will be there too so they are excited. Three days in which activities are planned every second. The other grandma has Allie duty. She has plenty of help. We will get our turn when the daycare shuts down in April. Allie was her adorable, cooing self.

Right now, all we have is bone chilling cold. I will wait a bit before running outside. Titan will come Sunday with even more snow. Titan coincidentally is the name of Maya's father's new dog. Tonight, Mom's night. I am warming eggs to room temperature to try to make French macaroons.