Facebook gives you amnesia

My mom doesn't speak to my older brother. (or my younger one, for that matter!) By default, the rest of the family (meaning the sisters) doesn't either. Of course, I spoke to my younger brother and his wife when they came to visit me for a week last month. I just didn't mention that to my mom or my sisters.

When my grandmother called me for my birthday 3 weeks ago, she informed me that my older brother is now a grandfather. That makes my mother a great-grandmother. She asked me if my mom knew. I told her I didn't think so and that I was NOT going to be the one to deliver that news.

Yesterday, I got a voicemail from my younger sister calling me "Great Aunt" and asking if I've spoken to Mom lately. I knew then that the bomb had been detonated.

Today I got a Facebook friend request from my older brother's wife. Once I accepted, I saw that she and I have a mutual friend - my mother.

Time may not heal all wounds, but Facebook may.

Strangers in the house, the prequel

As I was relating the story of Missions in the Cabana to my friend Songbird, she reminded me of a story from 2 1/2 years ago:

I was in Orlando at a friend's birthday party and met Songbird for the first time. She found out I lived in Miami and mentioned she was going to be in Miami in a few months for an audition for the Florida Grand Opera. I told her to call me if she needed a place to stay, as I lived only blocks from the Opera House.

Fast forward: She calls and says a) she wants to know if the offer is still standing and b) can she bring a friend who is also auditioning. Of course I say yes. They end up arriving at 2 AM. They were amazed that I waited up for them. I gave her my bedroom, as it has better air conditioning and I was worried about her voice. They both did their audition and left that afternoon.

We've been TERRIFIC friends ever since! That's how life works.

The Cabana mission

As, I said earlier, my pool cabana seems to be a place where people land when they need a little help.

Last week, I hosted a kid from Argentina who was here for a few days buying instruments for his church (or so he said...THAT story is another blog post entirely) and needed a place to stay. A good friend of mine asked me to host him and vouched for his character. It was an interesting adventure, but again, a different post entirely.

On Tuesday, a friend was flying through Miami on his way back to a mission trip in Haiti. He had a 3 hour layover at which time he called with a request, "My friend on this trip is a dentist and he forgot to grab extra dental mirrors. Can you get some?" Within an hour, I was handing them 2 mirrors donated by my own dental office. Felt good to help out.

LAST night on his way home, he called again: "A member of our team got food poisoning on the plane. They are taking her to the hospital in Miami. We're not sure what to do next." Again, within the hour, I was at the airport, picking up some stranger's luggage and heading to a hospital to introduce myself. She was pretty sick and the doctors said she wouldn't be released for 3-4 hours. I gave her my number and told her to call when they discharged her. She could spend the rest of the night at my house (the cabana is now "conveniently" unoccupied) and take her to the airport whenever she could continue her travels.

She called at 3 AM and said, "There was another missionary on that flight that ate the same thing I did. She's in the bed next to me in the emergency room. I know it sounds bizarre, but do you mind if she comes, too?"

And so, that's how I ended up with two missionaries from Haiti in the Cabana, which is my own little mission field. Today, I helped them get clean clothes and get back to the airport. Mission accomplished!

If generousity is for suckers, then I'm a mosquito!

I got back from my travels on Wednesday. My tenants moved out permanently on Thursday, although they still have to come back and move out furniture, clothing and other stuff. In the meantime, I got an e-mail from someone who lost his job, is almost out of money and wonders if he could land in the cabana until he finds stability.

Guess what I said?

(wait for it)

(wait for it)

(wait for it)

(wait for it)

Of course I said yes. I told him he can stay here rent free until the first of the year. I hope I made the right decision.

Summer travel and friends

Here's how my summer "fun" shaped up"

- My brother and sister-in-law came to visit for 6 days. It was the first "adult" vacation that he and I have had without the rest of the family. It was VERY fun and much needed. I'll be heading up to their place for Christmas, since they should have a one-month old little girl by then!

- I headed out to San Jose and spent a few days with a friend from band camp. It was a fast and furious vacation but I got to see San Jose, Monterrey and Carmel. We watched the sunset at Pebble Beach and enjoy just relaxing. I DO want to go back and do some exploring of the area.

- I drove up to Band Camp with fellow campers from the Oakland area. Road trips are much more fun with friends. I was hoping to see more parts of their world, but he had some business meetings to attend and so it wasn't possible. Maybe next time, I'll head back down to their neck of the woods after camp and see them.

- After camp was over, I spent one night in northern California with former camp buddies. They've built a BEAUTIFUL home with a great view just north of Mt. Shasta. The visit was brief and left me wanting more time with them. I hope they felt the same.

- I did get to go rafting with a friend; a calm few hours on the water with no huge rapids made for nice visiting time. The only bummer was that I had to replace the tire on the rental car after an unfortunate incident with a curb. BUMMER!

- I spent 2 days just chilling with great friends in Medford. (Stray Dog and his wonderful wife) They were getting prepared to fly out to visit family and brand new grandson (#9 - born on July 1: GREAT day!) so I tagged along for errands and shopping but they did take me into Jacksonville. I had NO idea how close it was to Medford/Ashland and will definitely explore more there in the future. I also got to meet their pastor and his wife. We had some wonderful conversation.

- The highlight of the Summer Sofa Bed tour was visiting Electric Clown and his fabulous wife out in Bend. We did some hiking/geo-caching, went on their sailboat and generally acted pretty silly. I hope to do it again sometime, if they'll have me back!

I think I may be home for the rest of the summer. I returned to find that my tenants/dog sitters were moving out the next day. I have a short weekend to Dallas planned for August (AdvoCare Success School) and my sister and her boyfriend are heading to Florida right after that. She's planning on coming here for one day to see the house (post re-model) and the dogs, but they are going to spend the majority of their vacation in Orlando at his parents' time-share.

The Virginia people are still hoping I'll make a trip up there this summer (I mentioned it) but I'd have to road-trip WITH the dogs and time it around their "family cruise" (which always seems to involve only one branch of the family....hmmmmm). If I take the Pastelitos, it would give me something to do when the drama gets too intense.

Or I could save the time, money and energy and just spend the rest of the summer in my pool.

Home from "camp"

It's been a solid month since I posted that last "heated" message. (I DID put in the profanity alert, so if you were shocked....you don't know me as well as you thought. Sorry!)

Adult Band Camp turned out to be one of the BEST summers ever. I DID get to follow through with some podium time. Being left off of the schedule was an oversight based on incorrect information from a conversation a year ago. What I SAID was not what was heard or remembered. Thus my frustration. In any case, I did get to be seen as a real band director on the podium, not just the "administrator type" who has to constantly remind people about attendance stickers, money and generally icky topics. It made me feel almost human again.

Then I actually got to play my horn in the band for the first time in MANY summers. The first week concert was INCREDIBLE: the conductors and guest artists were amazing and the musical selections were quite emotional. I also got to take the In-Between days off this year, which was convenient. I slept 14 hours off and on the day after the concert due to emotional and physical exhaustion!

I did stay and work the 3rd, short session as always. I actually enjoy staying on when everyone else goes home as I can get some of my own work done (programming for the school year, getting my thoughts together on how to use what I've learned) AND I get a better chance at getting to know some of the students. The class is MUCH smaller and thus more interactive. It's usually a highlight of my summer. This year was definitely a plus, as the clinician was fantastic. I left there inspired to come back to school.

Unfortunately, school doesn't start for another 3 weeks. My motivation is waning!