A Visit from Mom

This past week Mom came out for a visit. All told we had about four days to hang out and visit, and boy did we keep busy. Aside from the usual shopping and gadding about town (well, Mom's gadding was more like limping thanks to a broken foot), I got us tickets to a Friday night showing of Wicked at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood as a birthday/Mother's Day present for her. Wicked is by far my favorite musical and I knew Mom would like it too. Although the original Broadway cast is the one I like best, the L.A. cast did not disappoint--it was as entertaining and enjoyable as the first time I saw it, if not more so. The music is also irresistible. I can listen to it over and over again (and sometimes, when Eric is in a Wicked mood, I do) and not get tired of it.

It also happened this past weekend that the St. Louis Cardinals were in town playing the Dodgers. I'd been wanting to go to a Cards v. Dodgers game out here, so we went to the game with some of my LACMA buddies and cheered on the redbirds. Naturally, there was a bit of animosity from the Dodgers fans, but I chalk that up to bitterness at the fact their team lost 4-0 that night. Oh, well--L.A. has Hollywood, right? They can just make a movie about their team winning, so who needs reality? :-) It was definitely a lot chillier than we anticipated. Recently we've had some wonderfully sunny weather, but then it all changed suddenly and there were cold temperatures, snow in the mountains, wildfires, and even a tornado near L.A. It seems when Mom came to town she brought the apocalypse with her.

After two late nights Sunday was more relaxed. I took Mom to the church I attend out here and afterwards we headed to the Wells house for a cookout. Between the heavy meal and all of the activity of the past few days (and the fact I had to work the next day), I was more than ready to crash at the end of the day. Monday evening we capped off the visit with some good Italian food at Louise's on Pico (with Coldstone for dessert) since Mom's flight was scheduled to leave early the next morning.

All things considered, it was a pretty good visit!