Sunday, August 12, 2018

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Tonight's picture was taken on August 15, 2009. Mattie loved his "Speedy Red" ride-on vehicle. He would drive it at all hours of the day. Even during the night. Fortunately we lived in an area that gave us access to a wonderful driving space that was safe from cars, bicycles, and pedestrians. Though I did not fit into the car, that did not stop me from being in the passenger seat making sure that Mattie was safe and that he understood how to drive the car. Mattie intuitively understood how to use the gas and break pedals and within no time he was driving around without me. I always wonder what it would have been like to teach Mattie how to drive a real car. If Speedy Red was any indication, Mattie would have been an excellent driver. 


Quote of the day: The best things in life aren’t things. ~ Art Buchwald

How can you not love this face?? Peter sent me a photo of my puppy! What I know for certain is... Sunny is good at getting his needs met and he has many of them. As I always joke, Sunny has a huge love tank and he always starts everyday on empty. 

Last night, we went to a local dinner/theater and saw a show featuring Billy Vera. In all reality, I had no idea who this was. He is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author and music historian. He has been a singer and songwriter since the 1960's, his most successful record being "At This Moment," a US number 1 hit in 1987. He continues to perform with his group Billy Vera & The Beaters, and won a Grammy Award in 2013. 

He performs with a 15 piece orchestra and has a real big band feeling. The musicians are incredibly talented but to me, every song he performed over the two hour period sounded exactly alike. 

Ironically the highlight of the evening was NOT the performance. I took this photo because I had a grand old time watching the couple in front of us on a date. You can see them in this photo. The man reminded me of Santa Claus, with a big white beard. A beard that caught a lot of attention from Santa's date. I will leave it at that. 

In addition, we had a man who joined us at our table, to make it a complete table of four. David introduced himself to us and we chatted throughout dinner. Right after the first song was performed, David got up, and literally left. We thought he went to the restroom, but he didn't! At the end of the evening, when the waiter handed us the bill for dinner, he told us that David paid for our dinner. We have NO IDEA why David did this and unfortunately we did not get a chance to thank him. I could speculate as to why he did this, but I really believe good deeds have a way of coming back to you. Anyone who thinks that random acts of kindness don't matter, are WRONG!

I have been focused on putting about about 40 framed pictures around my parent's house. I am still working on it! I think it will be fun to showcase them all here when I am done. 

We took a break today for lunch and went to a charming town center located in Calabasas. Which is about 23 miles from where my parents live. The center has this wonderful pond filled with koi and too many turtles to count. Big and small turtles. A sight Mattie would have absolutely loved. 

The town center has beautiful fountains too, that feature tiles capturing the flora and fauna of Southern California. 

Get the feeling for what the area looked like? We don't have anything like this is Washington, DC. Mainly because it is either freezing or broiling there. The beauty of Southern California is how the outside is captured and incorporated into one's daily life.