Weekend Updates

At brunch today with my two youngest sons, I learned my first news about how my youngest daughter is doing at her new school.

That's because they follow her Snapchat page. They said she posted photos of herself laughing with her new friends -- a great sign she is making the transition well.

"That made me happy," said Dylan, as he considered how to approach his plate of huevos rancheros. "I was worried about how her transition would be, having had a number of difficult ones myself."

"It made me happy too," said Aidan. "We should tell Mom."

He too was digging into his huevos rancheros.

Aidan and Zaira are off to Missoula early this coming Thursday, so today as one of our last chances to have a brunch together before *that* transition.

Since Dylan will be the one living at home this fall, he talked with me about some of the things he is going to be helping me with. One is adjusting our cellphone service to save some money. One is to open his own Lyft account. Another is to help me acquire a new laptop, since this ancient model is, in Aidan's words, a "joke."

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Her Moving Day

My youngest moved away today. Her brothers took her up to Napa to her boarding school, where she will live and study the next few months.

She, in turn, took them to lunch and paid for it with her brand new ATM card. They went to Black Bear Diner, which is a place the boys and I discovered up around Seattle a couple of years ago.

We had a sendoff dinner last night with Vietnamese food from Sunflower, Julia's favorite Vietnamese restaurant.

All of this is a reminder how much food to families.

A transition day but so last night and today no tears from me. I think that's because this feels like the right thing for Julia at this stage.

(Photo is of her at the Grand Canyon last month.)

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Quake Hits in the East Bay

It just about rolled me out of bed with a sharp jolt that shook this house early this morning. It clearly came from the east -- almost a like a blast shook the house from front to back. On the other hand the boys slept right through it.

I think it shocked me and afterward I had trouble stopping the shaking. I realized I was also having a flareup of my "Peace Corps stomach" so I chose, in the end, to stay home today. That way I got to spend some time with the boys.

Julia leaves Wednesday for Napa. Aidan in about ten days. Dylan's going to get a job and stay around here.

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