The Times They Are A Changin'

I tackled the Fabric Mart with Lauren

3 things I have/had yet to do here.

1-Flower Market in downtown L.A. I am still scared a bit of finding my way around and knowing where to park, etc. You have to go at 6 a.m. when all of the florists go to get their flowers for their shops. I will do this, but wait to go with someone in the know. Great prices, freshest flowers. I just want to do it.

I have these flowers right outside my kitchen window. They didn't bloom until this month.

2-The California Market Center or the Clothing Mart.

The sample sale is held the last Friday of every month. This is apparently really fun, a little crazy, and also in downtown L.A. Basically, buyers come and see samples of everything, and decide what to carry in their stores. The samples are then sold really really cheap. The women in this ward and town know all about the sample sale. Women come back with 5 dollar boutique jackets, or a 5 dollar sweater that they later see at Anthropologie. The problem is, there is no way I can go with Kate yet, because there are stairs and people, people and stairs. I will have to wait on this a while.

3- Fabric Mart in the L.A. Fashion District-Done. Check. This is basically a few street blocks full of fabric and notions everywhere. I am in charge of the Relief Society Christmas Dinner in a few days. We had forest green tablecloths, eeh, and so the R.S. Pres, who is an interior designer, just said nonchalantly, "Why don't you just go to the fabric mart in L.A. (I think that's what it's called) and pick up some fabric for $2 a yard and make a Christmas fabric square for the 8 table tops." I decided, why not? Why wouldn't I go do that? So, today Lauren and I did it. Lauren was happy, because she thought she was in Mexico, which is her 2nd home..

After the fabric stop, I successfully got us to Santa Monica so she could shop at H&M on 3rd street. I only heard one street performer and as we came on the street, I could hear his harmonica. "So Dylanesque.." I thought to myself only to find as we got closer that he was singing The Times They are a Changin' by none other than Bob Dylan. He was good. We ate at a little deli and had a nice conversation with a gentleman wondering if Kate in her flowered ruffled shirt was a girl or a boy. Finally, gelato at my favorite gelato place in the world. Every kind of gelato imaginable.

My iphone was dead, so I didn't even have my much valued GPS. I made it anyway! Lauren has absolutely NO confidence in me or my ability to get us ANYWHERE, so she was worried the whole time that a-she wouldn't make her flight and b-that I would get lost. Wrongo Miss Lauren. Who got you to LAX on time, with no GPS, from a different way never driven before? Hmm? When the woman on 3rd street said, "Well, you can take Lincoln or just grab the 405," did I know where either of those were? No! But some people don't PANIC, do they? :)

I was so grateful to her for coming! It is so natural having her in our home, even our California home. All is well when Lauren is around.

I am missing Syd big time. At the tender age of 9, she is now on that 3-day/2-night field trip I was telling you about. She is in a cabin with adults as chaperones who she does not know. Not one of them. She is staying with girls she likes a lot, but has never played with outside of school. She is a worrier. Example: Lauren said that Syd put about 10 sticky notes around the house to remind Lauren that she had to take ibuprofin for her field trip the next day. When I dropped her off, our lunch wasn't labeled and I had to talk her off the ledge before she saw that I could actually borrow someone's pen and label it. See Syd? It's ok. We're all good.

If she comes home happy, we are celebrating in a big way. Huge triumph for Sydney! I'm missing her though, how she helps with Kate, and how she is my little companion. She's still my youngest in many ways. Love her.

To close: This is Baby Kate. Baby Kate is fascinated with Gus. She pats his belly and honks his nose and touches his hat as she says "hat!" Every day ritual to say hi to Gus. Here she is on the counter insisting on the belly pat. She then tries to pat my belly which elicits a huge, "HEY!!" from mom. This makes Baby Kate laugh. Her laugh makes mom laugh. Then I kiss her belly. More laughs all around. Gus doesn't laugh though, he just smiles.