Mixed Emotions

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        I'm on my way home from sunny, 75-degree Los Angeles to 8-degree, snowy, icy, windy Columbus, Ohio.  I'm dreading it.  The cold, that is.  I don't mind the flight  (though LAX, where I am now, and where I was lucky enough to snag about the only free seat in the waiting area, is wall-to-wall people), and  I'll be glad to get back to my mate, my close-by-living kids (Tommy and nephew Randy), my Panera Possee ( Marianne, Jean,and Birdie), and my piano students.  But I sure hate leaving Maria, Justin, and my two grand-babies.  It'll be at least several months before I see them again, and at six months and two-and-a half they grow and change exponentially in that stretch of time.  And I so wish I could be closer to give Maria and Justin a hand once in a while as they double-handedly run a growing business (a 24-hour-a-day job) and raise their little ones (also a 24-hour- day job), sometimes endeavoring to do both at the same time.  (See above candidly-shot photos).   So I was the live-in help this past week, and though I blogged about Manhattan Beach and Venice Beach,  and the glorious weather, most of my outings involved driving to Ralph's (the local supermarket - remember that quote from "The Big Lebowski":  "Hey, is there a Ralph's around here?" ?) and back.  Which was fine by me.  I like going to Ralph's.  The palm trees in the parking lot and the red tile roof really make the place.

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Ralph's.

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We did manage to squeeze in  a walk along the beautiful Manhattan Beach Pier this (foggy!) morning with a lunch stop at a local eatery called the Kettle, where I had a very LA-ish sandwich of spinach, bean sprouts, radishes, avocados, and probably a few more veggies, too - it was quite inspiring to be eating such a healthy sandwich! 

        So I'm dealing with my mixed emotions as I sit here waiting to board.  Maybe I'll fight the crowds for a quick once-around - the terminal before my plane is called. Then it will be good-bye warm life, hello Columbus!