Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 -- Mattie died 283 weeks ago today.

Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2007. Mattie LOVED Legoland. Which is NO surprise considering that Mattie was obsessed with Legos. But Legoland has all sorts of rides within it, such as roller coasters. This was where Mattie and I differed tremendously! Mattie LOVED motion and LOVED roller coasters. Fortunately this was something he could do with Peter. They had a ball doing this together in the park. Of course the beauty of the Park is there is something for everyone in there and we all had a memorable time together. Mattie also got a Legoland driver's license while there, which included an adorable photo! The license still hangs on his closet door in his bedroom. His only driver's license. 


Quote of the day: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. ~ Maya Angelou

Today my mom and I went to Lakeside Country Club in Toluca Lake to attend one of her women association luncheons. I am quite familiar with this Country Club since it was just down the block from where I lived when I was growing up and attending high school. Though we were not members of the Club, our neighbor was and she invited us to the Club often. Lakeside is over 90 years old and was made famous by the two Hollywood legends, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby! 

The beauty of this Club is it is surrounded by foothills and behind it is Toluca Lake. A man made lake, but none the less, quite lovely and peaceful. This Club holds a special place in my heart because after I had Mattie, our neighbor (Betty) would invite Mattie to the Club as well. She truly enjoyed interacting with him and especially loved the fact that he appreciated the Lake and feeding the ducks! I remember venturing to this spot many times in this photo with Mattie to feed the ducks. 

A close up of Toluca Lake!

The highlight of my day today was seeing Diane. Diane is the secretary of the Women's Association. However, that is NOT why I took a photo with her. Diane is my friend and biggest West Coast fan. She is a daily blog reader and has been reading the blog since its inception. I learned today that even when Diane wasn't feeling well over the December Holiday season and had to be hospitalized, she still did not miss ONE DAY of blog reading! I am beyond honored. Though we are on different time zones, Diane always ends her day with me. 

So in essence we met and got to know each other through Mattie and his blog. I think that is a powerful statement in and of itself. A seven year old boy connected two women together and he keeps us together. We have a mutual appreciation for each other and I admire Diane's creativity, sensitivity, warmth, and deep understanding. 

The Club was beautifully decorated today with flowers! I am a flower lover and clearly the florist the Club uses also appreciates design and color! This was the arrangement in the ladies room! It was too stunning not to photograph!!!!

This was another glorious arrangement greeting guests in the foyer! Many Clubs have issues with people taking photographs. But Lakeside managed my snapping of pictures today quite well. No one gave me looks or gave me a talking to. In fact, when we arrived at the Club my mom was on her cell phone. The valet person came over to her and I thought he was going to give her a lecture since again that is another rule at Clubs...... no cell phone usage. However, the valet recognized my mom from the days she used to come to the Club with Betty. Toward the end Betty was much older and needed great assistance. My parents always helped Betty and the valet remembered and observed all of this. The valet literally came running over today NOT to yell at my mom for being on the phone, but to give her a hug. I found this very touching. 

As today is my last day in Los Angeles, it seems fitting to highlight some of the wonderful fruit trees that surround me! Check out these glorious lemons!

Not to mention these amazing oranges! All I know is if I had such a tree, I wouldn't just let the fruit hang there not being used! But I think when you have sun every day, you get used to it and don't realize how lucky you are. 

I end tonight's blog with a photo of myself outside my parent's home wearing a tam O'shanter! Why? Well today Diane gave me several wonderful gifts. She had read my most recent blog posting of our visit to the restaurant, Tam O'Shanter. In honor of that visit and also learning that a Tam O'Shanter is a tartan hat with a pom pom on top of it, Diane decided I needed my own hat to commemorate the occasion. I'm ready for Scotland!!! Thank you so much Diane for this clever gift and for being a lovingly loyal reader. You are most appreciated.