Hello dere. Again, I am doing things before running out the door. I took mom to her new home today, to see her apartment, meet the people, and sample the food. She seemed very pleased, if a bit overwhelmed by all the changes. The food was very good and everyone was really nice to her. She could see that all the residents are happy and healthy and friendly, and that her apartment is her very own, so I think she will be very happy and comfortable there.

About the icon, that is for the Persian new year, which is the first day of spring. That is the sprouts which are grown, then wrapped in a ribbon and tossed to get the bad luck out of the house. And, tulips and hyacinths are the official flowers of the new year.

Okay, about the baby shower. It was lovely. The restaurant ended up giving us the bigger room, which was fantastic. The food was wonderful, the service great, and everything went pretty darn well, except that Fang's family was over an hour late. I got to see some old friends I hadn't seen for awhile, and it was just a nice, warm atmosphere, with lots of good wishes. I had the shower at the Italian restaurant where we had our company Christmas party. I had chosen a special menu, with stuffed shells, spaghetti and lasanga as the choices. It was really, really nice and the people at the restaurant knocked themselves out for us.

Since I was an active participant, I didn't take many photos, and I gave the camera to Alicia to photograph a few of the presents as I opened them. There were a lot of people with cameras, so I am expecting more photos. Here are two just to give you an idea.
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Here I yam. We got lizaah to the airport, she should be in the air on the way to Minneapolis, where she will wait an hour to change planes to Winnipeg. I've managed to squeeze in as much as possible with my mom and my pregnancy and yadda yadda. Yesterday was pretty fun. On the way to LACMA, I took a quick side trip to Hollywood Forever, just to get the basic big names, like Rudolph Valentino and Mel Blanc. Then, we went to LACMA where there was an exhibition of the work of photographer Diane Arbus, on display at LACMA from February 29-May 31. It was an amazing exhibition. Diane Arbus was known for her photographs of the "outer fringe" of society: i.e. circus freaks, female impersonators, and even just the ordinary person on the street in New York. Her work was amazing. She died in 1971 at the young age of 48. If she had lived longer, she wouldn't have needed to go to freak shows or nudist colonies in New Jersey, because the people on the edge are now right in the center! The exhibition is called Diane Arbus: Revelations and contains 180 photographic works, including many not displayed in Los Angeles before. The exhibition also showed her cameras and other photographic equipment, plus her hand-written journals and even letters and notes typed on manual typewriters. For anyone under the age of, say, in the neighborhood of 40, this was all history. But, it was like, wow, I thought the 60's were tacky, and they were! But, I remember that! She also shows the 50's, and a world I am sure a lot of people at the time weren't even aware of. The book accompanying the exhibition was $55 for the paperback at the LACMA bookstore, but the hardcover is only $15 more on Amazon.com! The hardcover was over $100 at LACMA! I cannot wait to buy the book. I scanned it at the bookstore, and found it had all the images from the exhibition, plus all the notes and history. It is great stuff.
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This will be short and sweet. The Baby Shower was grand. Shower is the operative word, cuz we cleaned up, tee hee heeeeeeee. Saw lots of folksies I hadn't seen in a month of Sundays. Everything was fabulous. It was a busy day, because my mom got out of the hospital that day. I was exhausted. We went to Hollywood yesterday. Now lizaah is gonna take us out to dinner, Monday night Mexican buffet, not that Taxco crap, yay! Watched Lost in Translation over the weekend, loved it! Ummmm...going to LACMA tomorrow. So much going on, bla bla bla, that is all.

Well, we retrieved lizaah from the airport after stranding her there for two hours, I tried to 'splain that ten miles in L.A. is an hour. Poor thang. Then, as we arrived at the airport, all the cars were slowing down for the "random search" and I knew, could have placed a money bet on the certainty that Fang would be pulled over. DING! DING! DING! Fang was the lucky recipient of the "random, non-racial profiling" search. Yuk! YUK! Although I was more annoyed than Fang. Fang said, sure, search my car, I have nothing to hide! It just annoyed me! Well, that was over, then we slowed down and let Lisa jump in the trunk. We're such good hosts. After this, we made our way to the Gardens of Taxco restaurant in West Hollywood. I had heard many wonderful things about this place, and I wanted Lisa to sample real Mexican cuisine. Well, as Fang would say, "Don't ever listen to your friends again!" First of all, the place has no menus. Nope. Some guy comes to your table and tells you what they have, and then 'splains it. "The chicken is in mole sauce. This is not hot, it is SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICY!!!! The chicken in cilantro cream sauce is so tender, you think the chicken is borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrn in the sauce!" We just sat and stared at him like deer in the headlights. Well, we didn't like the food very much. At least I know now. BUT!

I had told Lisa that if my luck held out, she would see a celebrity her first night in L.A. Every other out-of-town guest who has visited has seen a celeb their first night out with me. And, TA DA! At Gardens of Taxxxxxxxxxxco, we saw not only a minor celebrity, but a CANADIAN minor celebrity! It was Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall!



He was sitting in the booth right next to us, with a young girlfriend(?) and perhaps her mom??? Dunno. Everyone was getting drunk except us, maybe that is why the food tasted lousy? They offered us each a shot at the end of the meal, which Fang and I turned down, but we should have given them to Lisa. She was very TIRRRRRRRRRRED!

Well, I will leave it to lizaah to post her impressions of the warm, golden, crispy state of California so far. Tonight, we're stuffing gift bags, how fun! And playing Trrrrrrrrrrrivial Pursuit! WHEEEE!

Later, gators!

I feel better but my voice sounds worse, innit that funny? Well, things are falling into place, but it's tremendously busy, I have had to multi task to the max. Fang is having over-lapping appointments and forgetting that he asked people to come in, and then he runs out to the job site, and he says we're leaving promptly at 5:00 pm to pick up lizaah at the airport...one can only hope! lizaah called me from Minneapolis earlier today to say her connecting flight was on time. We're planning to take her to her first authentic Mexican meal. It's the least we can do, eh? :-)

I've been bugging the heck out of the Convalescent hospital to get my mom's doctor's order ready so that she will be all ready for the Assisted living move next week. The director came out and assessed mom today, the gal said, "Your mom is so sweet." I said, yes, she's a kind person, but BOY can she lay on the guilt trip. Her mom was also a Catholic lady of the same age, so she knows of whence I speak. Mom is coming home Saturday morning, the caretaker will look after her, and the baby shower will go on as planned. Oh life life life, eh? EH!

Ok, people are here to meet...they keep passing each other...Fang forgot about the meeting...what is a girl to do???? By the way, the baby is growing by leaps and bounds. I wish I could keep her in a pouch the last two months, like a Kangaroo! Oh Joey, HA...(I amuse meself).

Oh, I saw an interview with Susan Sarandon on E! channel this a.m., a profile, really. She was talking about how she had her children late in life, and how kids think your life begins when they begin. So, by the time she had her kids, she had lived her life and developed her opinions and her daughter always sneered at her sagaciousness. But, one day her daughter came upon one of her mom's early movies, filmed when she was about 20. She realized her mom had been 20 years old and mixed up and confused at one time. Since then, says Susan Sarandon, "She's been very nice to me." Oh yes I can just hear me saying to my daughter, your mom screwed up, big time, but now, see how I walk across the swimming pool? Bwa haha, I can hear the laughter now. :-)

Yo mama!

Wow, everything happens at once, eh? My mom is being released from the Convalescent hospital Saturday morning, and I am trying to expedite the paperwork to get her moved into the Assisted Living. She seems pretty happy about the arrangement, I told her I chose the best place, it's like a Hilton hotel, and she was happy. I am going to take her to see what it's like next week. The food there looks fabulous, I think she will gain twenty pounds there. She's just thrilled to be getting out of the house of nuts. Koo Koo for Cocoa Puffs.

Then, I could tell I was getting an ear infection, so I went to Urgent Care and got a prescription for Amoxicillin. Soooo...I am on anti-b's, getting my mom settled, having a baby shower, and entertaining guests, wheee! I am hungry, I want a pot pie, yum! I am glad it's not Thursday, I thought it was Thursday. It's not Thursday, otherwise lizaah would be waiting at the airport, oh my!

My mom seemed happy today for the first time in ages. She was even talking enthusiastically about the baby. I think things are gonna work out fine. What did they say on Mary Tyler Moore? You're gonna make it after all? ACHOO! I just have to poke J.C. Penney to send my maternity clothes, ack. Damn weather. BYE.

Not trying to make people out east feel bad, far from it, but it's 80 degrees here today! This is insane! One day, it's freezing, the next day, it's boiling! And, we all have little colds and our body says WHA? in a Scooby style. And, I haven't received my short-sleeved maternity blouses, eh! Getting ready with my ehs for the arrival of lizaah Thursday, eh!

My little calendar is getting so full. I went to see about the assisted living apartments for my mother today. This place is lovely. There are only 41 residents, and they have three full, restaurant-style meals a day. The apartments are very clean, and the building is wonderful. I put a deposit on an apartment for my mom, since they only had one studio available, and the one bedroom was too big for her. This way, she will only be a few steps from the bathroom. She has an emergency button in the living room and bathroom, and they check on the residents if they don't make it down to one of the three meals. They also have snacks at activity time, they take them on trips to the mall, the movies, they even take them to a doctor. It's a nice place. I need to get the doctor to fill out her paperwork so that they know what level of care she needs. We figured that if we got her 24-hour care at her own home, it would cost twice as much. Besides that, she has no air conditioning at her house, and it's a long walk to her bathroom. This will be so much better, and, after enduring the convalescent hospital, it will seem like heaven, I think. I know she has been resistant to care, but she doesn't want to end up in the hospital again, so she is amenable to this idea. And, it relieves a tremendous amount of stress from me, so I can raise my baby and not worry about whether or not my mother is eating enough, or concealing things from me, or whatever. And, I can take the grandbaby to visit her, and we can eat together, and other fun stuff.

Lemme see...I have 19 people confirmed for my shower. I think we will spend Friday stuffing gift bags and wrapping prizes. Sunday and Monday are for sight-seeing with the area's #1 travel agent, in my own mind. Fang has more stress here at work. Oh, don't we have fun? Oh, Sunday mrs_presley came over and gave us great decorator work in picking out paint and wallpaper. She and Fang were up to their elbows in dusty wallpaper books. I am the pregnant contessa, so I just nodded my head like the dog in the back of the window. They are going to be beautifully painted rooms, I am excited. I can't wait to move in, and I can't wait to see this baby. Yay!

That is all. Please pick up your complimentary Jelly Bellies on the way out.

Well, I caught Ashley's cold. First, she caught the cold from her idiot boyfriend, then she gave the cold to Fang, and now I got it from answering the phone she was using. Oh, goody. I did not want to catch a cold, but, since I am much farther along in my pregnancy, hopefully it won't hang around too long.

I went to Target and then came to the office. Fang and I are going to leave for lunch and to order the baby shower cake, then over to the Convalescent Hospital to see my mom and take her mail to her. They will let me know next week exactly when she will be released. Everything is happening at once, and now I have a cold, oh goody.

Hey, I have a feeling my daughter won't be the doll fanatic I am, but I couldn't resist buying this doll for her nursery. It's called the Queen of Greece, but I think she looks more Persian.



I want my daughter to be aware of her heritage very soon.

I have a sore throat. Ugh. Here's some subliminals. I need a 10-day nap. Bye!

1. Dogma::Religion
   
2. Spirit::In the Sky
   
3. Voodoo::Priestess
   
4. Demon::Rum
   
5. Digital::Computer
   
6. Ceremony::Wedding
   
7. Research::Project
   
8. Career::Plans
   
9. Penis::Envy
   
10. Film::Critic
    

Well, I've been tracking down some of the folks who hadn't RSVP'd for my baby shower, and I found out that a recent horrible murder in Pasadena was the best friend of my friend's sister. She was decapitated by a stalker they identified as an ex-boyfriend, but he wasn't. It's all too horrible, you never, ever expect things will go that far, you think you only see that on tv. She had seen her friend that very day, and the guy was hanging around and flipped out when he saw she had a new male friend. It's all just so horrible to imagine. (Here's a story link: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/02/18/state0858EST0031.DTL)

Isn't the world a scary place? So, now to the baby I am bringing into our world, ahem. Had to wait a long time at the OB yesterday, Fang was nodding off in the waiting room. I asked what he would do when I was in labor, he said "Give me a pacifier." When the doctor came in, he proceeded to take the baby's heartbeat, while chatting up Fang about House of Sand and Fog. I was still so he could get the baby's heartbeat, but they kept chatting, bla bla bla. Of course, the baby ran away from the stethoscope, and then the doc couldn't find her, so he started kneading my belly like Lucy's loaf of bread. He and Fang keep chatting, bla bla bla, while the doc presses the hell outta my tummy, causing pain and nausea. I told Fang, don't ever chat during the exam again! Damn it, Janet. That doc is much stronger than he looks.

Oh I have such a list of things to do. The shower will be fun. Gotta order a cake. Meeting the decorator Sunday. Got appts. to keep got house to clean got things to do! Eeek! Well, I did some crap that is behind this LJ cut, that is all, have a nice weekend, eh?
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