What an interesting and full week. Conner has had a cold that he got from everyone else in the house. My grandson Billy is still sick. I really do not want to be around him when he is sick, because then I would get sick. Hopefully he is better soon. I want Billy, Meaghan and Conner to come over for lunch when everyone is well. I hope they will be able to do that. I have many pictures to give them of Billy's family that I hope when Conner is an adult and has his own children, he will have some of his history. It is nice to see where you came from. This gives him half the picture. I also have pictures from my camera that I want to give them. I have had problems with my printer and ended up getting a new one. I want to actually make a disk of these pictures to use as they would like and also I'd like to make a slide show of the pictures I have accumulated. If they send me other pictures, I would include them. I used to do this all the time and got quite good at putting together these disks. I haven't done it in years, but would enjoy doing it again. Conner is looking good though.
On Monday my friend Barbara Long and I went to see The Perfect Gentlemen at the Rabobank Theater. It was Cinco de Mayo and we didn't want to get caught up in the crowds ahead of time, so we went to The Garden Spot. Food was so refreshing, reasonably priced and offers more than salads, though I could just settle for a salad. We both commented that we each have always liked the food here and that it was odd that it rarely occurs to us to come here. We are going to make a point of considering it in the future. The show was great. Very talented. Much more than a barber shop quartet. Lots of humor and the music was more than just barber shop quartet style. One piece was taking one song and singing most of the styles done in the 20th century. Very creative and funny. There was a preshow in the lobby of an elementary school Mariachi band. They were from College Heights Elementary School. They got rave reviews from all of us. It was very hard to think that they were so young. Their leader Nick Olmos has been noted for being a fantastic teacher. I can see this. I don't see children at this age usually doing this well. Bravo! Last show for the season Need to get my season ticket. It is worth the price of $80 for the quality of all eight shows that are booked each year. Check out the Bakersfield Community Concert Association to get your season ticket. Way cheaper than buying them at the door even if you miss two or three of them. For details, visit www.bakersfieldcaa.org
Spent quite a bit of time at the Bakersfield Art and Spirituality Center, for sessions and to work on my art. One of the sessions led by Norma Neal was drawing something in the Healing Garden at Mercy Hospital. So peaceful. I really could sit there for hours. I think all hospitals should have something like this. Considering the stress that people are under with medical problems, this is a place to let go and let peace wash over you. The first picture is of a fountain with plant in the garden. The second picture was my attempt at drawing pine trees and pine cones.
On Saturday I went to a session "A Time to Write" led by Annis Cassells. What a wonderful person! She made it very comfortable to write by using playful techniques to help draw out our creativity and to silence the critic going off in our head telling us we don't have what it takes. Very thoughtful and worth the investment of time to go. In addition, she invited us the the Kern County Writers group which will meet this Saturday. We don't have to be a published writer to go. They do an educational part at these meetings and they are also very supportive of each other. I put it on my calendar and hope to go. While there, a fellow participant recommended a book being sold at Barnes and Noble, letting us know the author was there signing her books. I enjoyed meeting her. I picked up two copies, one for my daughter Shelley and one for me. It is titled The Sheep Walker's Daughter by Sydney Avey. I look forward to reading it. Briefly, it is about a mother's deathbed confession to family that what they knew about their family heritage was not true. So the daughter checks into what she finds out which leads to even more questions. Shelley and I are going to make a trip to the Sacramento area for her to look at where she lived as a young girl. It is an adventure examining your roots and I hope that time will be good for us both.
Had my art class with Carol Bradshaw. I worked on a lighthouse. It has a lot of problems with it, but it is coming along. I'll work on drawing it again. We are also drawing a pine cone for next class. I also asked about drawing pine trees. You can see above my work on that. Carol is going to take a week off each month, so we will have a little more time to work on our assignments. This next one will be a week from this coming Thursday. See below my lighthouse (I found out from my fellow student that the light comes from the glass room at the top, not a beacon light - will work on this) and my redo of the birdhouse and nest. It is coming along. We have another student, Deb. Her skills are quite a bit beyond us. She is drawing her Doberman and I thought it was excellent. Anyway, we enjoy the interactions with others so this is fine if she can tolerate us.
We had our Red Hat Dinner at The Red Pepper since this was the week of Cinco de Mayo. Great food and ALWAYS great camaraderie with my fellow Red Hatters. One thing they asked was what happened with the plumber two blogs back. Well, I didn't call the plumber, but I should have. I used a wrench to tighten it each day, but I stopped after the third day because at least it wasn't squirting out of the shower. My niece Shannon McDonnell will be passing through town on the way north to visit her mother Kerri Buttler in Washington in the near future. She will have six kids with her, several who are older among them; I think someone can help me.
It also dawned on my that I showed my husband Paul and me in a costume telling you it was our wedding picture. It was done at a photo studio. I just didn't tell you where we married. We married while on vacation in Thailand in 2004 in a town named Ayuthaya, the first capital of Siam. In the United States, we generally wouldn't wear an outfit like this.
I also had a chemo session, but there really is nothing to talk about in regard to this. I just do it every three weeks. If something ever stands out, I'll share it.
And finally, Mothers Day today was at my home. Shelley and Jennifer with their children came. There were also guests of the children which was just fine. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We ate on the back patio. With my fountain, the sound of running water and some lovely chimes, it made it all idyllic. Food came out well, the weather was perfect in the mid 70's.
Okay, I'm done. I think I may have done a little too much because my back is aching. I'm off to lie down and contemplate how fortunate I am to have the family I have. I hope everyone else had a lovely Mothers Day. See you next week. Rachel
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