When Mom Came to Town

Sandy, Kara, and I

Last week Mom came out to L.A. for a visit. We had no particular plans, but somehow every day was filled with plenty to do. Her first night in town we went out for a girl's night with my friends Sandy and Kara. A great time was had by all, although we narrowly avoided an encounter with angry fans when Kara decided to (loudly) heckle the Lakers and cheer Denver.

One day during her visit was "bring Mom to work day." We hung out at the Villa and I showed Mom around and she got to follow me on my gallery talks. She saw my talk on religion in Greco-Roman Egypt and attended my hour of the gem handling session for that day. The gem handling sessions, as we call them, are associated with our "Carvers & Collectors" exhibition on ancient engraved gems and modern copies. We have a "touchable" collection of various gemstones and engraved gemstones in different stages of completion that we discuss and pass around amongst visitors who stop by. It is very different from the other kinds of teaching I do in that these are times when I just sit down and converse with visitors for an hour. As with most teaching, I find it exhausting but fun. Mom also got to meet some of my coworkers, who later told me my mother could pass for my sister.



All things considered it was a great visit. Now Eric and I are getting ready for his sister's wedding this weekend. All sorts of friends and family are converging on the Wells household at the moment, since the big day is tomorrow. This morning Eric and I packed and loaded the car so we can leave straight from the museum and head for the South Bay. It will be a crazy busy couple of days, I'm sure, but hopefully a lot of fun as well!