Monday, December 28, 2020

Monday, December 28, 2020

Tonight's picture was taken in December of 2008. It was a typical family tradition to walk down to the National Mall to see the Nation's Christmas tree, all the state trees, and the amazing toy train display. That year, Mattie was undergoing cancer treatment and therefore was unable to walk. So we drove to the Mall and then used Mattie's wheelchair to get around. Peter's parents were with us, and they snapped this photo of us. As you can see, Mattie wasn't in the picture mood! Nonetheless, I am so glad this memory was captured. Because over time, I unfortunately do forget some of the details. 

Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.

• Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 19,257,274
• Number of people who died from the virus: 334,514

Peter picked up both Indie and Sunny today. I hear they are both thrilled to be home. Indie was the first one picked up and thankfully she is so easy going, and always comes home in a good mood. We also used to getting a good report on Indie from our vet, where we board her. 

As you can see Sunny was thrilled to be in the car and coming back home. 

The reunion! 

Indie was sticking close to Peter today, as he was trying to work! 

Of course Sunny had to get in the act! He was sticking close to Peter today, which is very typical of Sunny. He is an anxious fellow and needs time to readjust to being home. 
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Meanwhile, last night, we had quite a rain storm in Los Angeles. It started at 11:30pm, and it involved an incredible light show and intense thunder. If Sunny were here, he'd be besides himself. I could hear the torrential rain. Which just continued all day today! When it rains in LA, it pours and floods. 

Outside my mom's office window, we can see the LA River. The Los Angeles River is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. While the river was once free-flowing and frequently flooding, forming  flood plains along its banks, it is currently notable for flowing through a concrete channel on a fixed course, which was built after a series of devastating floods in the early 20th century.

Normally the sight outside the window is dry concrete! But when it rains, you can see the overflow of the LA River. 

It was another full day today which entailed grocery shopping in the rain and a lot of time in the kitchen. My mom requested a carrot cake. She actually wanted a carrot cake for Christmas, but I decided on a coconut layer cake instead. So today, I made her a carrot cake! 

The final product!

What's this green stuff? I made homemade split pea soup. Last week, we served a ham while Peter was here. I kept the ham bone and today worked on the soup. Given it was cold, damp, and dreary, it was the perfect soup for the day. My dad had two big bowls of this, three chicken legs, a side salad, and even a piece of carrot cake. I am happy he's eating up a storm. In comparison to April and May when he refused food, this is great progress.