Lessons Learned

I know not to brag about an 'easy and quiet week'.  I should have known better.  What was I thinking?  After writing about my quiet and simple week, I ended up with two whirlwind weeks.  It wasn't anything in particular.  No, I wasn't ill.  Yes, all was well.  It was just busier than I expected.  We knew that the crazy last week of play rehearsals for The Professor would be followed by the insane performance week, and we had mentally prepared for it.  I had even prepared some easy fix and carry meals ahead of time.  What we did not expect was a car situation.  Sadly, his little green commuter Ford Focus car had an engine owie which necessitated a prolonged stay at the mechanic hospital.  It's still there.  That one little change in the schedule meant that we were sharing a car during The Professor's busiest two weeks of the semester.  As you can imagine, the result was not an easy and quiet week (or two of them-in a row).

Happily, this week has been quite special in spite of the busyness.  It's my birthday!  Yes, I really was a St. Patrick's Day baby.  Often, I'm asked why my parents did not name me Patricia.  They thought about it.  In fact, I had an Uncle Patrick, born on March 17th, who was quite incensed that I wasn't named after him.  But in the end, another name was chosen and even my middle name doesn't reflect any of my (small amount of) Irish ancestry.  Even so, I love having been born on St. Partick's Day.  Wonderful legacy.  Green beer.  Shamrocks.

Before The Professor and I embark on a quest to try the green beer in the new Irish pub in town*, I want to share my Fave Five which obviously will center around my birthday. *Update on that-- already at 4pm there was a dastardly long line of people waiting to gain entrance.  It was loud.  It was chilly.  We didn't feel like waiting, so we opted for a very quiet (oh, I think I needed that) and delicious meal at our favorite Thai restaurant.  Sadly, there was no green beer, but the Thai iced tea was totally tasty as was the pad thai.

1.  My birthday week began on Saturday with a day long hang out time with a special friend who drove up from one of LA's beach cities.  After a yummy lunch at a locally famous fish and chips place, we strolled around the Ventura Harbor from one end to the other and back again.  I love that place.  Boats. Water. Seagulls. Pelicans. Herons.

2.  Celebrations continued on Tuesday at a lunch in Culver City with my beautiful and wonderful daughter-in-law.  She, her sister, their friend, and I met at Royal T Cafe, a very hip sort of tea cafe.  Culver City is home to Sony Pictures Studios and other buildings belonging to various film and TV studios, and the shops and clientele reflect that.  My usual route to and from the main city in LaLaLand is Highway 1, or Pacific Coast Highway, which I mention often as you know.  On Tuesday, the tide was low, the pelicans were abundantly flying and diving for fish, the movie sets were camped in the beaches' parking lots, and the sun was peeking in and out between the rolling fog banks.  It was a perfect cruisin' day.

3.  Birthday greetings make me so happy!  I've received phone calls from sons in far away places and daughters, too, and a certain precious grandson.  Real cards have arrived in my real mail box, delivered by real postmen.  Oh joy!  I love receiving real mail!  Emails and facebook posts have brightened my day!  Starbuck's even sent me a coupon for a free drink.  Presents are fun, but personal messages remind me that I'm loved and appreciated.

4.  Pressies from my students are always so precious.  One young boy brought me a small bouquet of jasmine blooms which he picked himself, placed in a little plastic juice bottle, and decorated with a green ribbon.  How sweet is that?  My assistant presented me with a lovely personalized card and a real shamrock plant.  I had been considering purchasing one at Trader Joe's the other day.  Don't you think that a St. Paddy's Day girl should always own a shamrock plant?

5.  I've spent some time between lesson prep, chauffeuring, and paper correcting, sitting on my sofa and reading (and knitting of course) because I've decided this year that it's OK to do some things I want to do, just because. I devoured a short volume titled Becoming Orthodox in just two days.  Also on my reading pile are four books by Madeleine L'Engle, her Crosswicks Journal quadrilogy.  I've begun reading the first in the series.  Another book I'm reading is Low Cost High Impact Photography which is an e-book by Steve Johnson.  In a couple of days, I'll be posting a review of the e-book, but I'll just say here that this book is completely revolutionizing how I think about and do photography!  For me, a day with even a few minutes spent taking pictures, reading, or knitting is a happy day indeed.
 
So there it is, a recap of two hyper-weeks.  Writing it down makes it seem so mundane, but really it wasn't.  It was perfectly incredible.  Perfect and incredible.

How about you?  I'd love to hear how your time has been while I was holed up here in Willow's Cottage not communicating much with the world at large.  I've linked this up with the Fave Fives at Susanne's blog. Thanks, as always, Susanne, for hosting Friday Fave Five.