Ahh mom, gotta love her!

Did you know that some parking lots have concrete blocks to keep cars from moving beyond the designated space?

Did you know that parking lots often have a path to take in order to maneuver through them, getting from one shopping area to another?

Did you know that my mom takes her own routes through parking lots and almost, kinda sorta, successfully squeezed at an angle, between two concrete blocks, ignoring the designated path? The underside of her car scraped on a portion of a block as my fingers gripped even tighter into my thighs. I heard her mutter frustration with the concrete blocks being in her way and asking the air why the blank blank blocks were in her way using the most colorful words I have heard coming from her mouth.

She turned her head in my direction, which caused me more concern about her now lacking view of parked cars and other vehicles motoring appropriately through the parking lot, to inform me that if her driving made me nervous, I could drive.

What could I say, being her little girl in her mind other than, "Oh no, you are doing fine." There was no smile to accompany the comment but I did not glance in her direction in fear she would see the deer in headlight look on my face.

Reminders of why I chose not to teach my teen children to drive flashed through my head. Thoughts that I DID want to survive my vacation trip to California, crept in also.

The blessing was, the rest of the drive home, she adhered to my directions on where to turn and what lane to be in once we hit the busy streets of Oxnard, until we semi-safely, made it into her carport. Hey, she is good at parking that puppy in her carport in perfect formation!

I knew the worst thing from this situation would be week long bruises on my thighs and a need for a glass of wine.

Can I back up at this point and share with you my welcome to California and life with mom?

I left Seattle with mixed emotions, leaving behind people I knew I would greatly miss, even if only an 8 day trip. Spending time with my aging mother and one of my two sisters and my sister in law, was my goal. Not to mention a need to take a break from my (at the time) current overwhelming schedule.

I arrived in LAX and made a quick departure for the bus terminal outside the airport. In Los Angeles, it was very warm and windy. Washington somehow missed out on the memo that summer had arrived. I waited for my shuttle which was 30 minutes late. It gave me time to enjoy the view as Los Angeles is a far cry from the neck of the Hundred Acre Woods I live in. It gave me time to ponder the not so comfortable moment back at the SeaTac airport, when three security guards asked me to stand and be searched as part of their random safety search. I stood there with arms raised shoulder height, while the female security guard discovered the roll of skin that rests on the waist of my jeans, concealed by my loose blouse, and hoped she would not share that information nor my age as she checked out my drivers license.

The shuttle finally arrived. In the meantime, I had made a phone call to my mom and left a message on her home phone (mom does not want anything to do with cell phones) that I was at the LA airport, waiting for the shuttle and would call her when I got to Oxnard so she could come pick me up.

The drive to Oxnard on the shuttle bus was an introduction to driving with my mom. We ran over obstacles in the road that made for a very bumpy ride. I hoped it wasn't pedestrians but you never know. :)

The view was lovely. We took the coast route.

Once in Oxnard, I grabbed my bag and handed the driver a tip - mostly with thanks for allowing me to arrive in tact physically.

I stepped inside the airport terminal, set my bags on a chair and began my call to mom. Just as the phone began to ring at her house, I noticed a rather large American flag flapping in the wind from the back window of a car pulling up out front. Could it be a motor pool escorting Obama???

silly me

it was mom

She reported to me that the gigantic flapping flag is there for the purpose of her being able to find her car in a parking lot. She reported to me that all the cars look alike for some reason...hmmmm go figure

Mind you, I am proud to be an American and proud our of flag, but to draw THAT MUCH attention to my excursions through town is not my thing.

I wondered if I should have a concern which rose as she told me how much she liked my green blouse when clearly it was blue. hmmmm

So there you have it - that my friends is only the first two days of my 8 day stay. I did not mention the 10 required daily games of Yahtzee or the three pots of coffee I am expected to help her consume. Or the menu which is one meal only per day and that was at 3:00 p.m. and consisted of George Foreman cooked chicken breast which was split between us, a scoop of veggies, a scoop of fruit and of course...coffee.

Hmmm...shall I return in December as planned...Stay tuned :)