Tonight's picture was taken in February of 2009. That afternoon, we happened to be in the child life playroom. Mattie received a kit from a friend, that when assembled made a mini volcano. Mattie was always up for creating or taking part in a science experiment. So literally in the middle of the playroom, we had an eruption of lava. You will notice Mattie's awkward arm movements. Unfortunately after Mattie's surgeries, he had a very limited range of motion. But regardless, Mattie found a way to play and engage with the world.
Quote of the day: The trick in life is learning how to deal with it. ~ Helen Mirren
It was another FULL day! To top it off, the hotel is swarming with teenagers. They were all here to attend a dance team convention. Apparently this event is housed at this hotel every year. Honestly it is so disruptive that I feel the hotel should warn its guests prior to booking rooms. Why? Where to begin! There are hundreds of teenagers everywhere. They are running around and making noise at all hours of the night. They are practically eating the hotel out of food, and let's not talk about their manners at a buffet. With grabbing food off of trays with their bare hands. At 7am, I heard music blaring outside my window. It was one of the dance troupes practicing their routines! If you think I am complaining, you should have a chat with the hotel staff who have to serve and pick up after these young girls! At around 11am today, I had ENOUGH. I went with my parents to the front desk and demanded to talk with the hotel manager. The manager handled what we were saying very well and not only gave us certificates for free meals, but also added several thousand reward membership points to my mom's account. The hotel won't return to normalcy until Monday.
Meanwhile, we went back and forth to my parent's home to check on the progress of the demolition. As of now, their entire family room's wooden floors and sub-floor have been removed. Dehumidifiers are going in this room 24 hours a day, and the hope is all the mold has been captured, removed, and the what remains is drying. Yet more rain is predicted to Los Angeles next week. Which is truly a serious issue, because the family room's exterior and interior walls can't handle more water. For my parents, being relocated from their home is very disruptive, and it leaves them coming back often to pick up mail, pay bills, return phone calls, connect with contractors, do laundry, and the list goes on. However, entering the house isn't always the best decision, considering there is a lot of dust, debris, and the smell of stagnant water in the walls that is drying.
To add insult to injury, tonight we went to see a play, Anna Karenina. It was based on the novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, who first published the book in 1878. Many authors consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever written, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel.
A complex novel in eight parts, with more than a dozen major characters. It deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. city life. The plot centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and dashing cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky that scandalizes the social circles of Saint Petersburg and forces the young lovers to flee for Italy in a futile search for happiness. Returning to Russia, their lives further unravel.
Either it was my mental state or this production. But the story was convoluted, complicated, dark, and I frankly did not see the moral message. I have heard it described as a love story. I did not view it that way at all, or perhaps it just greatly differs from my notion of love. Nonetheless, it was not uplifting and by the intermission, we had enough and left. We were not alone.
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