Odds and ends

This morning, Dad tried to bring me to bed with him and Mom when I woke up. Of course, I was up again in a couple of minutes. Then the house got very quiet for about 20 minutes -- so quiet that Dad got worried. This is what he found when he got to the back room:


Cousin Cathy brought the whole family to visit: husband Fonda, and daughters Irene and (another!) Yvonne.


They brought me pie and new friends. Enough said.

--Maddie

Mali(fa)bu: My shameless attempt to lure Gram back to the U.S.

Dear Gram,

Much to our surprise, we discovered this weekend that Malibu is little more than half an hour from where we live!

It took us barely a week to go from EST to PST, but six weeks more to actually lay eyes on the mighty Pacific.

I found my calling in life: Professional surfing.


One of the surfers offered to let me stand on her board, but I decided I would perfect my technique before I do that.


Also: Where does the water go when you pour it into a hole in the sand? Is there some elaborately engineered drainage system under the beach, or what?


It was hard to go home. Mom and Dad said we'd be back soon.

--Maddie

The scoop from SoCal

Well, it's been another very full week around here. Dad is all geeked out about some piece of paper he got in the mail, and it's not even his new CA driver's license:


If his head looks a little larger than normal in that photo, it's not a trick of the lens...

...so I am doing what I can to keep him in his place:


We don't spend all our time lounging around in the sun, though. Why, just yesterday we woke up to 60-degree temperatures and a strange gray substance blocking the sun. I had to consult a reference book to remind myself that they were called "clouds." It was awful -- they didn't burn off until almost noon!

We've been spending a lot of time trying to get our bearings in this brave new world, so I've been reading up on the area, perusing the L.A. Times over breakfast...


...and Los Angeles Magazine's listing of the top high schools in the region:

I figure I might as well make some use of my time on the potty, since I don't know what else to do with it yet. (Is that TMI? Sorry.) Anyhow, two of the top 12 public high schools are walkable from our house. So if I can make it to high school, I should be all set. But I like painting so much that I could end up at a conservatory or something:




Normally I talk a lot more than this -- and without any prompting -- but Dad was interrupting a contemplative moment as I was trying to figure out how to get as much paint on the furniture as possible.

I hope you had a fun week, too, dear reader. Remember -- for better or worse, the Madster is watching you:


--Maddie