Weekend Confessions

Before I left town for the weekend, we hosted two small boys, along with their parents, for dinner at our house. They were visiting from Portland. It was the first time we’d had small kids over for dinner. We were somewhat apprehensive about how we would be able to entertain them. The only "kid friendly" thing we have in our house is a single Veggie Tales video - someone gave it to us as a wedding gift, if you can believe it! It didn’t take long, however, for us to realize that we would not have to entertain anybody! They would entertain us! Within 3.5 seconds of entering our apartment, they had legos, miniature race cars, and train tracks set up all over the living room, dinning room, and kitchen. It was wild. After saying a blessing for the dinner, I looked up to find little Will, unbeknownst to all others in the room, dipping his fork in the feta cheese bowl, licking it, and stabbing it back. He looked up to see me gawking at him and a mischievous smile crept on his face. It took all my strength to hold back the laughter.

San Diego was as beautiful as ever. It’s such a colorful city. Everything from the skyscrapers to the little houses scattered on the nearby hills that are painted brightly in many different hues. The conference was at a hotel on Coronado Island. More precisely, it was on a peninsula that stretched out from the island, with panoramic views of the water all around. Very lovely.

Thursday night I went to a "youth" meeting for the under-30 crowd. I was late because I went to the wrong hotel and then drove around the entire Island after missing the off-ramp for the right hotel. Upon arriving at the right place, no one was there. I asked the clerk at the front desk if I had the right meeting room. He looked in his little book and told me that, oops, I’d just missed my cruise! Um, no, I told him. "I’m not a part of the ‘inner circle’ donor group. I’m just here for a youth meeting!" I went back upstairs to the empty meeting room, sat down, and ate a few chips with salsa. Hey, I rationalized, just because I was the only one there didn’t mean good food had to go to waste! Eventually I found a few kids wandering around upstairs looking for the right place. We bonded after laughing over my escapades. Their dad offered to treat me to dinner. I hopped in their rental car and went to a nice seafood restaurant on the water. Making new friends and having adventures. That’s what life is all about. ;-)

The best part of the trip . . . I got to meet Phyllis Schlafly (a personal hero of mine) and Ed Meese. I talked with Phyllis about CEDAW and I talked with Ed because a mutual friend introduced us. You know how famous people are always flocked by admiring fans who have nothing significant to say to them but just want to "meet" them so they can tell their friends? Gag. I hate that. Let me tell you . . . there were many other famous people that I did not say "hi" to (even when I rode the elevator with them) because I didn’t want to be one of those annoying people.

In the end, I came home with a slight sunburn and a great desire to see Kevin again. I flew in just in time to see his concert. It was very moving. Every time I go to one of his concerts, I appreciate classical music more and more. And that’s sayin’ a lot! It was absolutely beautiful. The combination of orchestra and voice was heavenly.

Sunday afternoon, we walked to a park and Kevin and I had contests to see how far we could hock spit wads into the river. He won, of course. He then taught me how to do it properly so I’ll have a better chance next time.

It’s good to be home again.