California Days

I haven’t posted since Monday for a couple of reasons. The first reason is the fact that I’m in California, and that always tends to mess up my posting schedule. The other is the Internet access here in my hotel, has been flaky all week and kicking people off at regular intervals. Therefore, I’m writing this all out before I try and connect again and post. (You’d never notice if I didn’t tell you, but I told you and now you know.)
My trip out here Tuesday was fairly uneventful. I had a slight delay in both Allentown and Atlanta. Nothing major, just a few minutes because the planes were running about 10 minutes behind schedule. My friend Ed is the one who took me to the airport, since Gak has to open and close all this week because his boss in on vacation. We went out for breakfast first and he had the kids with him. It’s always great to see those two. Nik is getting so big! And Katie is fun.
Yesterday was a decent training day. There were a few bumps though. The guy who set it up, didn’t think about who was going to be in the class and only told me 5 people, there were about 12 or 15. There was another big, potentially cranky, part is that remember this time last year, my trip to Kansas City? Well, the guy who was making my entire week miserable left his old company and is now working for this one. I had no clue and let me tell you, it was not a pleasant surprise! He managed to not be too much of a pain this week, but I think if I had to deal with him any more, I would have lost it.
Overall the training didn’t go too badly. The biggest problem being that the people who were in today’s class (and for about half of yesterday’s) really didn’t need to be there. They were techs and operators, not administrators or reporters. They got some good out of it, but way more information than they needed. Oh well, I can only do so much when the guy setting it up and deciding who is supposed to be there doesn’t listen or have a clue. Good people though, other than Mr. Pain.
Last night was a very good, very late night. I’m in the Huntington Beach area. My aunt and uncle live in Upland and my brother works in Cabrillo. Well, in LA terms, that’s relatively close to each other. This doesn’t happen very often and is cause to gather. We met at around the halfway point for everyone in Pasadena. (I swear, I can’t tell where one “city” ends and the next begins.) I do believe I told you about where we were going to gather for dinner on Monday. It was a very yummy time. There were five of us. My Aunt and Uncle, my Brother and his new Girlfriend.
Yes, that’s right, my brother has a girlfriend that he was actually brave enough to introduce to us.
I like her. She seems very nice, has a great sense of humor (or at least one compatible with the family’s sense of humor), smart and pretty. I think Uncle Richard really likes her after her comment about loving the pizza in Italy, but hating the pasta, because he thought the same thing. I’m not sure how old she is, but she’s about Jon’s or my age. She’s an actual actuary. I’m not sure I’ve ever met one of those before. But this makes her fit in just fine, she’s geeky in her own right and just obsessive enough about stuff to fit in well.
I’m also jealous.
Huh?
I had a hard time figuring it out, but I’m jealous of her.
Why? Because she’s another girl who’s taken supreme spot in my brother’s life who’s not Mom.
I know this is silly, but I actually feel a little jealous. I don’t know why. I’ve met some of his other girlfriends before, but none of them made me feel that way. I guess it just brought home exactly how far apart we really are now. I miss him very much. We used to be very close, but have drifted apart the last several years, thanks in part to living on opposite coasts.
Thinking about this makes me wonder if he’s ever been jealous of any of my boyfriends in the past or my husband now. (They were trying to describe Gak and Jon referred to him as a ‘gentile giant’; so I know my brother likes Gak, which is good.)
Oh well, I guess I’m just a little sad that I don’t have my brother close and that we’ve drifted apart. I truly do like this girlfriend. I hope he brings her to my cousin’s wedding in August; I’d like to see her again.
In other family news, my Gram’s MRI yesterday went very well and I think she was supposed to get final clearance from her regular doctor for her surgery today. Mom will be going down on Sunday to do the last minute organizing of stuff and deciding what to take with her and things like that on Monday. So, as far as I know, her surgery is still set for Tuesday. It’ll be a very tense day for me, but there are a lot of people praying for my Gram and she’s in extraordinary health otherwise for an 84-year-old lady. I’m sure she’ll do just fine. I have all the faith in the world in this new doctor. From what my mom says, he’s the best on the East Coast at this and is a very nice and good person on top of it, so I know he’ll take great care of my Gram. All will be well, even if I am a little scared.Well, I guess I should finish wrapping this up. I should see if I can’t reconnect and send out the emails and post this. I’ll deal with catching up on my friend’s postings and other stuff later, Saturday at the latest. Peace to all and may you have easy weeks and good family moments.