Most Remiss in Writing - Will Catch Up Soon - April 13, 2012

I've been very delinquent with my blogging.  I came up to West Sacramento on

Tuesday evening because my son, Alex, and his wife, Laura, invited me to join

them for their ultrasound on the following day ( my first grandchild is due the

21st ).  There was a great shot of the baby's face.  The little one is now occupying 

most ofLaura's uterus!  He/she ( they don't want to know the sex till delivery - I've got

fingers crossed for a girl! ).  I was heading back to San Francisco today but it

seems like Laura started having contractions during the night.  Now, they are

just seven minutes apart so I will probably know soon - granddaughter or grandson.

Either way, I'll be joyful.  

I did have a really nice rendevous with one of my nursing school classmates,

Ann Sneed Sorrells of Charity Hospital School of Nursing, Class of 9-10-65

( it is so hard to believe that we started school FIFTY YEARS ago, before

the first heart transplant was ever done and right after the Salk polio vaccine

was invented! ). She and her husband have kept their home at Lake Tahoe

and visit several times a year.  Laura and I joined Ann for a late breakfast

at Tower Cafe in Sacramento.  It was a great reunion.

Back to blogging soon!!

A Most Exciting Day, Three Weeks Away - March 31, 2013

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  Mine was spent alone, contemplating
my return to India and beginning to order medications/ necessities I will need, 
preparing my packing list - and trying not to get TOO excited about the next three 
weeks because - my FIRST grandbaby is due to make his/her debut the 21st of
April.  Since I am already 68-years-old, I think my three sons have failed me
miserably in providing me with grandchildren to spoil.  Thankfully, Alex, my 
middle son ( and the only one married ), at 30, is fulfilling this responsibility.
His beautiful wife, Laura, who is still as pretty as every in her final weeks of
pregnancy is still working but will take off the last two weeks before her due 
date.  Her baby baby shower was three weeks ago and that was so delightful,
held at her mom's house in Antelope, CA.  I'm going to post some pictures from
that special day.  I'd like to post the video I got from Alex a few days ago -
it was just hysterical - but I don't think Laura would appreciate having her gravid
belly shown to one and all.  All I can say, is I've never seen a baby move that
much in utero!!  Alex's comments were hysterical...."dude, that's freaky."  He 
told me he thought the baby was going to pop through her belly like a scene
from "Alien" - I wonder if there is anyone left who saw that movie.

Jeremy, my youngest son, drove up with me so he could visit with his brother.  We

went south to pick up Laura's grandmother and great aunt, then headed north 

for two hours to the Sacramento area.  There was still ground fog but not too 

much traffic on these older freeways ( I wanted my Indian friends to see our 

California roads ).  

The hills are still green from the winter rains.  In a couple of months, it will all

be "gold".

The yellow mustard was beautiful in bloom, along with all the flowering fruit and

nut trees.

I'm not sure what these trees are but the blossoms look like snow when they fall.

Here is the lady of the day, my lovely daughter-in-law, Laura Vukasinovic

Soon to make her or his debut is my first grand child

Presents for the baby are starting to arrive

Laura, with her great aunt, Patt

Laura and her mother, Christine Calhoun, who is also a nurse

Laura's "granny", Trudy and her friend

Wonder what the ladies are discussing?

Leah Serb

Mandy

More presents

Yummy food - we had a feast!

Enjoying lunch

Kristen Winterhalter, Lynn Hawkins, Mandy

Dawn Lockhart - who my oldest son, Shawn Smith, is lucky enough to be dating!

And here I am - soon to be "Nana" - though Alex tells me it will be "Grandma"

Laura's aunt Shirley

Lynn and Leah tied in a game and are drinking out of baby bottles for the tie breaker

Here's a better shot of Leah

Mama-to-be seems happy

I wish I could sit like that!!

What a sweet baby - and, of course, I remember no ones names!!!

The first of many presents!

Of course, being an elephant freak, this was one of my favorites!

I even wore my new elephant shoes for the first time!

So many gifts....

Ummm, can I read this writing?

Nice, a bathtub!

Here's Alex's present!

A little bit of everything...

"Let's party...my crib...2AM"

You're going to be using a lot of those!

A special blanket

Coming to an end

All smiles

Hugs

Paramedic buddies of Laura's

Forever friends

Mother, daughter, and grandbaby-to-be

It was a most wonderful day.  I will go up to visit Laura, Alex, my soon-to-arrive 

grandbaby and the granddogs for a couple of days this week.  I can hardly

wait to hold that little sweetheart in person....my shoulder is healing beautifully

and I should get the okay on April 9th when I see Dr. Belzer.

With Laura's permission:  You can post the "freaky" tummy video. I don't mind.

A Few Days With Family - December 15, 2012

I drove up to West Sacramento on Tuesday, December 11 because my sweet
daughter-in-law, Laura, had invited me to go with her and Alex to see her
ultrasound the following day.  It was a pleasant two hour drive and I enjoyed
listening to Patricia Cornwell's "Red Mist", another Kay Scarpetta crime novel
on tape,  It certainly made the time pass quiickly.

The Christmas tree was up and we had time for a few pictures before heading
out for a sushi lunch.  Since sashimi and sushi were one of the things I would
NOT eat in India, I've been really craving them since my return home. so I've
been indulging myself.

My two sweet granddogs, Bucky and Taffy

Laura and Alex before we left for the ultrasound

At the doctor's office, we were joined by Laura's lovely mom, Christine 

who is already a grandmother twice

We got into a lively discussion with Alex about what we want our grandchild to call us.

Christine has already chosen a name...I'm still working on one.  Alex told us not to 

bother, "You're both going to be grandma," he said.  That boy!!

The ultrasound technician was really nice and didn't seem to mind having an audience.  I

must admit to having a tear or two at times...and there were a lot of ooohs and aaaahs in

the room.  I know better than to post any pictures of Laura's little baby bump in my

blog - she's only gained seven pounds at five months and she is still barely showing.  She

looks terrific and, of course, she is so beautiful.  Lucky folks to have such a pretty and

sweet paramedic show up when they call an ambulance.

This was one of the baby's best shots...great face pic and I think

he/she might be sticking that tongue out at us!

Of course, I was all smiles!  Whoops, time to color my

hair - the gray is showing and I'm not ready to be a gray grandma.

The next afternoon, while poor Laura had to work, Alex and I drive down to Vacaville 

to meet my oldest son, Sahwn, and his girlfriend, Dawn, for all-you-can-eat sushi at

Hisui Japanese Restaurant, near Travis Air Force Base.  It was the first time I'd seen

Shawn in uniform since he was promoted to master sgt.  I am so proud of him.  He

celebrates his 42nd birthday on the 17th!

Shawn is 12 years older than his brother, Alex, 14 years older than Jeremy.

He had been an incredible role model for them.

Wish Jeremy could have been with us.

Strange lighting in this shot...but Dawn is still beautiful.

The sushi was great...I like saba ( mackeral ) which is too fish for some.

Hamachi pleases nearly everyone.

Just getting started!

A great selection

The sushi chef

Shawn and Dawn

US Air Force Master Sergeant Shawn Edward Smith

My son, Alex's nice West Sacramento neighborhood

Cloudy skies and some drizzling rain going over the 

Oakland Bay Bridge back into San Francisco

Stopped at Manivanh Thai, my "family" restaurant where my dish, the "Carmen's special"

now appears on the menu.  San, the fiance of Ann, the owner's daughter showed up with 

this cake for us to share.  A piece of this and scoops of rum raisin and pumpkin ice cream from Mitchell's of San Francisco were a great end to my three days away. After the New

Year, it's back to sensible eating or I'll gain back all that weight I lost in India!