Birthdays and Fire
Just some general updates this time. We had a couple of birthdays over the past couple of weeks. Both my mom's and Grammy's. For my mom, we went out to dinner the day before her birthday. We met up with Aunt Jennie at a Teppan style restaurant. I enjoyed the food (I got scallops, but it came with a whole bunch of other stuff), my mom didn't enjoy her beef. Jennie wasn't in a good mood at the time, but I tried green tea ice cream for the first time and liked it. Then on my mom's birthday, we had lamb and macaroni and cheese as she requested. My brother and his girlfriend had chicken parmesan though as an alternative because of food pickiness and sensitivities. Then we had ice cream bars for dessert.
As for Grammy's birthday, just this last Tuesday (the day after her birthday) we went down to Laguna Beach. Grammy wanted to go down there to see the old neighborhood where she and my dad lived. But first we went for a walk on the path above the beach. It was a really beautiful day for it and a bit warmer than I was expecting. We stopped at some picnic tables to have lunch. We had brought sandwiches, drinks, and snacks from the store. It was a lovely little picnic as we could watch the ocean and the pigeons stalked us for food.
We had brought Grammy's walker and she was walking good with it. It was probably the most she walked in a long time. There was a pretty steep ramp going down to the beach and I was concerned about Grammy going down that way. It looked even difficult for me (I might have a bit of Dyspraxia) and I was worried Grammy would fall. But they all insisted and we carefully went down the ramp and held on to the rail. We kept checking back to make sure Grammy was OK and she made it down safely. Then we got to dip our feet in the water. It was cold, but surprisingly not as cold as it usually is. It was actually pretty nice. It's been so long since I've been to the beach and stuck my feet in the water. I missed that.
We hiked back up again and I thought we should get some ice cream. There was an ice cream place downtown, but there's nowhere to park so we opted to get ice cream closer to home. First though, to see my dad's old neighborhood. He talked about how a lot changed and pointed out the different houses where his neighbors lived and where he used to play and get on the bus to go to school. It's just a cramped little area and street in the hillside, but I'm sure my dad and Grammy got some nostalgia. We wound up getting ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I got something like the Oreo Monkey Madness, which was new. It was banana ice cream with Oreos and peanut butter swirls. It was OK, but I probably wouldn't get it again.
That was our day. A nice, pleasant outing. I thought we were going to have Grammy over for dinner, but my parents decided they can only take Grammy in small doses these days. She's 95 now and it's been so difficult with her memory loss. She can't remember what you told her a day or even hours ago. She really needs to be in assisted living. It's even more frustrating when she insists certain things are true or happened when we know they haven't. I don't think her memory loss is Dementia level, but it's still hard. However, it did seem like she had a nice time at the beach and it was great that she was walking well with the walker.
Before all of this, on the ninth, a fire starting burning (still is actually). It's called the Airport Fire. It started on the mountain and the smoke looked really scary that first day. It looked like a volcano erupted. Truly apocalyptic looking. Needless to say I felt on edge that first day, but luckily it was traveling up the mountain and away from where I live. It crested the peak and has grown to over 23,000 acres. It's incredible how fast it exploded in size. Unfortunately it has destroyed 160 structures and injured some firefighters. My heart goes out to them honestly, risking their lives and struggling to put it out over the difficult terrain. Right now it is at 41% containment. Before, we had a nasty heatwave that lasted several days, so it was a recipe for disaster. Now the weather has been nice and cooler, so it's been helping. The cause of the fire was due to public works employees ironically trying to prevent fires by blocking access to vegetation. Their equipment sparked, which caused the blaze. If that's not the most facepalm worthy thing ever, I don't know what is. Really frustrating. I still can't believe it, but what's done is done. I just don't understand why they would take preventative measures during the middle of heatwave rather than doing it sooner. Anyway, glad we weren't in danger from the fire, but still sorry for those who have lost homes. :( Hopefully they can finally put the fire out soon. There are also other major fires ongoing. It's a stressful time of year.
I think there was a third thing I was going to talk about, but I forgot what it was, so I'll just end it here. I'm probably close to the end of Neofeud though, so that might be my next update.
As for Grammy's birthday, just this last Tuesday (the day after her birthday) we went down to Laguna Beach. Grammy wanted to go down there to see the old neighborhood where she and my dad lived. But first we went for a walk on the path above the beach. It was a really beautiful day for it and a bit warmer than I was expecting. We stopped at some picnic tables to have lunch. We had brought sandwiches, drinks, and snacks from the store. It was a lovely little picnic as we could watch the ocean and the pigeons stalked us for food.
We had brought Grammy's walker and she was walking good with it. It was probably the most she walked in a long time. There was a pretty steep ramp going down to the beach and I was concerned about Grammy going down that way. It looked even difficult for me (I might have a bit of Dyspraxia) and I was worried Grammy would fall. But they all insisted and we carefully went down the ramp and held on to the rail. We kept checking back to make sure Grammy was OK and she made it down safely. Then we got to dip our feet in the water. It was cold, but surprisingly not as cold as it usually is. It was actually pretty nice. It's been so long since I've been to the beach and stuck my feet in the water. I missed that.
We hiked back up again and I thought we should get some ice cream. There was an ice cream place downtown, but there's nowhere to park so we opted to get ice cream closer to home. First though, to see my dad's old neighborhood. He talked about how a lot changed and pointed out the different houses where his neighbors lived and where he used to play and get on the bus to go to school. It's just a cramped little area and street in the hillside, but I'm sure my dad and Grammy got some nostalgia. We wound up getting ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I got something like the Oreo Monkey Madness, which was new. It was banana ice cream with Oreos and peanut butter swirls. It was OK, but I probably wouldn't get it again.
That was our day. A nice, pleasant outing. I thought we were going to have Grammy over for dinner, but my parents decided they can only take Grammy in small doses these days. She's 95 now and it's been so difficult with her memory loss. She can't remember what you told her a day or even hours ago. She really needs to be in assisted living. It's even more frustrating when she insists certain things are true or happened when we know they haven't. I don't think her memory loss is Dementia level, but it's still hard. However, it did seem like she had a nice time at the beach and it was great that she was walking well with the walker.
Before all of this, on the ninth, a fire starting burning (still is actually). It's called the Airport Fire. It started on the mountain and the smoke looked really scary that first day. It looked like a volcano erupted. Truly apocalyptic looking. Needless to say I felt on edge that first day, but luckily it was traveling up the mountain and away from where I live. It crested the peak and has grown to over 23,000 acres. It's incredible how fast it exploded in size. Unfortunately it has destroyed 160 structures and injured some firefighters. My heart goes out to them honestly, risking their lives and struggling to put it out over the difficult terrain. Right now it is at 41% containment. Before, we had a nasty heatwave that lasted several days, so it was a recipe for disaster. Now the weather has been nice and cooler, so it's been helping. The cause of the fire was due to public works employees ironically trying to prevent fires by blocking access to vegetation. Their equipment sparked, which caused the blaze. If that's not the most facepalm worthy thing ever, I don't know what is. Really frustrating. I still can't believe it, but what's done is done. I just don't understand why they would take preventative measures during the middle of heatwave rather than doing it sooner. Anyway, glad we weren't in danger from the fire, but still sorry for those who have lost homes. :( Hopefully they can finally put the fire out soon. There are also other major fires ongoing. It's a stressful time of year.
I think there was a third thing I was going to talk about, but I forgot what it was, so I'll just end it here. I'm probably close to the end of Neofeud though, so that might be my next update.