IT'S ALL PART OF THE ADVENTURE

You know how some times things just all come together for a great day? Things aren’t necessarily all easy or perfect but at the end of the day, you have a warm fuzzy feeling. Yesterday was one of those for me.

It began with me in at my dad’s. We had plans to bring him up to Sacramento for a family pool party at our house. He hadn’t seen Darrin, Allison or Charley in several months due to all his medical issues with the partial foot amputation. This was his first big social outing & his new caregiver, Nancy, rode along with us since it is not easy to maneuver him around.

This was also the first time most of the family would meet Darrin & Allison’s exchange student, Eva, here from Spain. And of course, the star of the show, our adorable little Charley Ellen, would be there. Charley has some new “floaties” that allow her to go all over the pool by herself. She has turned into a real little swimmer!

Lou had kept the cover on which made the pool a wonderfully warm 87 degrees & the weather was in the low 90s – perfect for swimming! My dad sat in the shade with a beer & watched while visiting with a couple of the non-swimmers. We had a hard time getting Charley out of the pool for lunch but she finally complied.

Awhile ago I had made brownies for dessert when Charley & family were over here. She loves her sweets, especially chocolate which made them a big hit. The next time they were over she finished her meal & looked at me exclaiming, “Brownie!” I had to explain that I didn’t make brownies this time & placated her with some ice cream. This time when she asked I had brownies for dessert!

Our sliding glass door to the backyard hasn’t worked properly for years but Lou & I know to only slide it to about ½” from fully closed since his family had been locked outside once a long time ago while we were on vacation. It is hard to move & when you slide it shut hard, the latch can move forward. Well, my sister didn’t know that & came back outside muscling the door closed. I’m sure you all know what is coming next – I went to go in the house & couldn’t budge the door. Uh, oh, locked out – & we were all outside.

Lou, Steve & Darrin tried to lift the heavy door out of the track to no avail. They all tried various ideas but nothing worked. Finally Darrin made an announcement, “The real problem here is that the beer is inside & we are all outside.” Leave it to my son to properly analyze the situation!

My father says, “We’re not really locked out, are we?” My sister replied, “Yes. We are.”

Fortunately, Lou had the lock off the gate so we could get to the front door BUT we had diligently locked it after everyone arrived. We had our backup plan to call his dad who has an opener for our garage. I did have my phone outside with his number in it since neither Lou nor I have it memorized. Finally, Lou was able to get the side window out of its track & climb in through that. Nova, our cat, was sleeping below the window & looked up at him like, “What the hell?” We now had access to the beer, bathrooms & a cool house for those tired of the heat.  It’s all part of the adventure! J

Meanwhile Charley was back in the pool with her mom but everyone was heading inside. I said, “Let’s go inside, Sweetie,” she replied, “Not right now.” Finally, I tried a new tactic, saying, “Charley, will you come in & play with me? I really want to play with the toys.” She immediately said, “Okay,” & started for the pool steps.

I drove my dad back to his house arriving about 5 PM. He was tired but had a wonderful day. I’m guessing that he thanked me at least five times for taking him up to Sacramento. I had driven him 100 miles up here, 100 miles back & decided to rest for 20 minutes then hop in my car & drive home – 100 miles, again! Fortunately, the Sunday traffic was all going the opposite way back to the Bay Area. After a stop at Mickey D’s, I was back home, yet again, by 7:30 PM.

These types of days are ones that just soothe my soul. Everyone had a great visit. I slept better than I’ve slept in ages. We have a fun story to tell about being locked out of the house. Plus I get to see my Charley two more times this week! It doesn’t get much better.