whaaa happened?

what a fun but busy extended weekend i had. drove to monterey thursday night, helped my folks get ready and then we were off friday morning. well, after a bit of a delay. my poor mom had her eyes checked last week and had some weird allergic reaction to the eye drops she was given - her eyes were all red and puffy and very itchy. poor mom. so we stopped at the optometrist's office on friday morning to make sure it was *just* an allergy, which it was.

we ended up getting on the road around 10 and stopped at the santa maria in 'n out for lunch. cruised on down to santa barbara for a quick stop to see my grandma. i haven't seen her in years so it was great to see her, even if it was just a short visit. she's amazing - 97 and still going relatively strong. it took her a while to remember our exact relation to her but i think that was mostly because she saw my dad without his beard for the first time ever! my aunt drove up from burbank to visit, too, and it was good to see her.

LA traffic helped remind me why i can't stand it down there. we tried to let some of it die down by eating dinner at El Cholo, which was very cute because my parents used to eat there all the time when they lived in LA way back in the '60s. they'd eat there every friday night and my dad had no problem finding it. they thought the food tasted a little different, but it was my first time eating there and i left saying how much i heart El Cholo.

finally made it to oceanside around 10 and crashed pretty early. i woke up on saturday so excited because i knew i was going to see Todd, Amy, and Mr. Ollie. we had breakfast and then drove down to their house where Ollie actually went nuts when he saw me. i was so afraid that he wouldn't remember me but he pranced, jumped, twirled, and smiled. yes, smiled. i almost cried because i was so happy to see him. oh, and it was great to see the humans, too! :-) Todd and Amy looked great - they were both glowing. John and Diane were staying with them and it was nice to see them - go figure: i have to go all the way down to carlsbad to see them when we both live in the same town! John, Diane, and i took Ollie to the lagoon nearby while the caterers were setting up and oh boy, did Rawls swim a lot! he was so tired when we left that he just zonked out in the back seat.

my parents went off to Legoland while i helped set up for the party. i can't even remember what i did but it was so awesome hanging out with my friends again. it was just like we were all living together again, preparing for a party. those really were 4 of the best years of my life.

the reception was awesome. Todd and Amy have so many wonderful friends and it was lots of fun seeing the ones i had met over the years. the house looked awesome - the yard was really cleaned up nicely and their house inside looked great. the food was really tasty, the company was wonderful, and the best part was seeing Todd and Amy so happy. they are two of the best people i know and deserve nothing but happiness in their lives.

we stopped by their house on sunday morning to say goodbye and the only reason i didn't cry was because they are coming up this way (with the Rawls) in a few weeks. Jon and Erich gave me a cd with photos from the wedding and i cried when i was looking at them last night! i am such a sap!

anyhow, we drove from carlsbad to san juan capistrano and stayed with my cousin Mark and his family sunday night. it was really good to see them and i know it was important for my mom to see her nephew (Mark). we left on monday and arrived back in monterey around 7 and i drove back to santa cruz that night. i was going to stay overnight in monterey but didn't want to have to drive in the morning.

back at work yesterday with plenty to catch up on. actually, i'm still catching up today in addition to regular stuff to do...ack!

but i'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things here - public skate tomorrow with Liz, Andrea, and VivO...anyone else? then hockey on sunday evening and the rest of the weekend cleaning up around the house and shopping for furniture!