Celebrations - Part 1

So here's my first of three posts of "celebrations" for the week.

As most of you know, my friend and neighbor, Brigitte, passed away on June 24th after battling cancer for the past two years. Its been a crazy two years, and God has taken me on quite a journey of spiritual growth, emotions, service and love.

On Tuesday, July 8th there was a memorial celebration of Brigitte at The Farmstand, her favorite restaurant in El Segundo. Unfortunately her mom and sister were unable to fly out from France but about 40 people came whose lives she had touched in the US. The evening was complete with her favorite dish, grilled salmon salad, along with other tasty appetizers, her favorite music playing in the background and everyone gathering to honor Brigitte and get to know each other a little better. The mood was very lighthearted with a few tears shed as we shared how much she meant to each of us, a funny story or just how much she loved Sam and Sarah.

This is one of my favorite photos of Brigitte. Its from several years back as it was originally a photo with Sarah in it and Sarah is about 1 years old. People were given the opportunity to write letters or pass along a memory of Brigitte to Sam and Sarah and put it in the box for them to read at a later time.

Riley and Sophia were two little girls that Brigitte had been tutoring in French over the past year. Even on the days when she was really sick or tired, these two could brighten her mood and day. Their moms (Nubia, Sophia's mom, and Michelle, Riley's mom, are on the left).

Sarah surrounded by all of her friends. They have been a great blanket of support for her. Sarah's Social Studies teacher and Vice Principal also came to support her (no pictures).

Sarah, Sam and I

Jen, Lauren and Dana (in addition to all of my other friends) have been so supportive and understanding over the past two years. They have gotten to know Brigitte, Sam and Sarah pretty well over the last few months. Lupe, Brigitte and my neighbor, also attended.

Brigitte's close friends, Clare (her best friend of 20+ years that she met through Dan, Sam and Sarah's dad), Paola, Armelle and Debbie. The guy popping his head up in the background was from Brigitte's Cancer Support Group.

Dan and Sophia (tutoring kids). She was quite enamoured with him as he's a really talented artist and was drawing her pictures on the paper on the tables.

The following morning 9 of us headed down to Redondo Beach for the scattering of Brigitte's ashes in the Pacific Ocean. The lightheartedness of the night before helped to set the mood for the scattering, and I think Sam and Sarah have walked through both of the events emotional but in a way that would have made Brigitte very happy and proud of them.

We had about 15 minutes after we arrived and before the boat was going to take off so we snapped a few pics.

The mood was a bit more somber once we got on the boat. Before Brigitte's ashes were released into the ocean, there were two poems read by the captain and I had the opportunity to say a prayer (captain was planning to say a generic prayer but I asked everyone if it would be okay if I prayed for Brigitte and the group). This was a huge witness as no one on the boat,including Brigitte, was Christian or had a strong spiritual affliation.

I Love 3 Day Weekends

The 4th of July has always been a pretty important day for me - yes its my country's independence day and I love fireworks - but its also the day that I lost my 5th grade "boyfriend" Chad Ebensteiner to childhood leukemia. We were "going with each other" so when I was younger I always thought he was my boyfriend forever.

Anyways the 4th of July also happens to be Sam's birthday. The 4th of July festivities tend to overshadow his birthday though so we opted to have his BIG 16th birthday party on the 5th. There are lots of pics further down in this post.

So what did I do on the 4th? The day started off with going to the annual 4th of July Outlet BBQ. Forgot the camera in my eagerness to ride my cruiser and save on gas (can you believe its $4.75/gallon) so no pics. That night had a few people over to watch the fireworks and we played a bit of guitar hero to pass the time until the fireworks show.

Thought this was a cute pic of father (Dan) and son (Sam) watching the fireworks from outside my apartment.

Here we are sitting in the middle of my street. Although we weren't right under the fireworks, we had a great view of the fireworks as my street is right up from rec park and on a hill.

Saturday I went on a bike ride with a few friends. Here's Taylor showing her patriotism and Jen just flexing her muscle.

We stopped for lunch at a local fish and chips type place in Marina del Rey.

As mentioned above, Sam's birthday is on the 4th but we celebrated it on the 5th at his favorite restaurant, Red Robin. It's one of my faves as well - bleu ribbon burger and garlic parmesian fries is what we always order.

Here's Sam with all his friends. They sat outside on the patio and we (Sarah and her friend and the adults, I needed drivers since El Segundo produces kids that don't seem anxious to get their licenses. I remember dying to get my license when I turned 16 and being so bummed that my mom made me wait until summer before I could take my drivers test to get my license.)

So cute...

I was so excited when I was parking the car, I saw the Red Robin walking into the restaurant. By the time, they were going to sing Happy Birthday to Sam, I guess "Red" was off the clock and wearing a cut off tshirt and jeans, but we had a really cool waitress and she and the manager put him back on the clock and got him back in costume to sing to Sam and take pics with the group.

We couldn't pass up a chance to take a pic with Red Robin. Thanks to Jen, Travis, Dana and Phil for chauffering the kids to and from Red Robin and Yogurberry with me.

Travis ordered a cherry coke and I guess Red Robin doesn't have true Cherry Coke so they did what most places do - gave him a coke with marachino cherries in it. Only difference was that they literally put a mound of cherries, seriously like 10 cherries on the top of the soda. So what does one do when given marachino cherries, take the stems and tie them in knots with your tongue. Sarah impressed us with her skills as she was able to tie them in seconds. Jen was equally impressive although not quite as speedy. As you can see Sarah did about 5 to Jen's 1.

Sunday afternoon I went to my first Manhattan Beach Concert in the Park for 2008. I was so excited for the event because Jen had bought me a cool Crate & Barrel picnic table to use specifically for fun outings like this and this was going to be my first chance to use it.

Megan and Dave Lockridge with a bit of overdramatized PDA just for my camera.

The Baker's hammin' it up for the camera as well.

Phil and Dan deep in conversation.

As you can see, we were (and always are) there to hear a good concert. I'm not sure we actually ever really listen to the music or see the band. This past Sunday, we actually parked ourselves in a big grassy area that was completely unoccupied as there was a big bush that was completely blocking any view of the band. It's really just a great opportunity to hang out with friends and share a bit of wine and food with each other.

So... in case you didn't notice in the above pics, there wasn't ever a pic of the cool new picnic table. Well that would be because I accidentally left it in the car and didn't remember it until half way through the concert when John Mo asked where it was and then I was too lazy to walk back to the car. Oh well saving it for another Sunday...we're actually set to go on July 20th as Lauren is amp'd to see the Fabulous Diamonds.

Happy Birthday Dan

Dan, Sam and Sarah's dad, came into town (he's from London) a few weeks ago when Brigitte really began to decline and will be here until next week.

It was his 46th birthday on June 29th so we took him to Agra Indian Kitchen in Venice http://www.agraindiankitchen.com/. It was a new restaurant for me, and you know my love for trying new restaurants. Food was pretty good although not as good as indian food in London (which I've heard rivals indian food in India). I had the lamb vindaloo which was recommended in the Chowhound review.

Earlier in day Sarah went over to Jen's to make Dan a cake (check out Jen's blog for a pic of her decorating the cake). I was pretty impressed with Sarah's cake decorating ability. She definitely inherited Brigitte and Dan's amazing artistic ability.

Most of you have met Dan either the first time he was here in early May or his current visit and he always wears a suit. I've been determined to get him into some boardshorts and flip flops. Sam was able to get him to wear a tshirt and shorts when he got here in June because it was a heat wave and way to hot even for Dan to wear a suit.

I finally found some eco/animal friendly flip flops (Dan is a vegetarian and tries to only wear animal friendly clothes and shoes) and finally found some so I got them for his birthday.

Now he can take Yogi for walks (he loves to take him for lots of walks every day) and slip on the flip flops instead of taking 5 minutes to lace up his shoes.

For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion according to the greatness of his unfailing love. For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. Lamentations 3:31-33

Sarah's 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony

It's been a crazy month. Sorry for the lack of posts. Been doing alot but just haven't updated the blog. Get ready for lots of posts.



On June 18th, Sarah graduated from 8th grade from El Segundo Middle School. It was a really special day and a great achievement given everything she has gone through over the last two years with Brigitte.

Here is Sarah lining up for the procession.

Sarah with all of her friends before the promotion ceremony.

Sam, Sarah and I. It looks like Sam is almost as tall as a palm tree!!!

Sarah receiving her promotion certificate from her principal.

Unfortunately Brigitte couldn't attend at that point but there were several others in the audience to cheer Sarah on, including Jen and Dana. Thanks for coming, girls (yea for teacher hours since the ceremony was at 2p!!!)

Sarah with her Principal, Mr. Lubs, and Vice Principal, Ms. Devore. Both have been extremely supportive of Sarah this past year.

Happy Promotion Sarah!!!!

After the ceremony and sitting in the hot sun, we headed over to Yogurberry to continue the celebration.

You've Got the Right Stuff...

105 days and counting...

Until the New Kids on the Block, or NKOTB, as they are now called are coming to the Staples Center. AND YES I have tickets and I'm going to see my favorite boy band!!!

When I was sixteen (or maybe seventeen) my mom stood in line at Tower Records for hours waiting to get New Kids on the Block tickets for me and my friends. Yep way before Ticketmaster went online. As a teen, I went to two concerts. One of those times, my friends and I actually tried to follow the tour bus but lost track of it on the streets of Oakland (not the safest thing to do but what do you know at 16). My walls were filled with pictures torn out of Tiger Beat, 16, Superteen of the New Kids on the Block and specifically Jonathan (the shy one who had trouble dancing and never sang any solos). I had a pillow case of Jonathan and those big buttons which my mom is in search of for me to wear to the new NKOTB concert in 105 days...

What a View

I think I've mentioned before how much I love my view from my 10 ft living room window. On a clear day you can see the mountains (in the winter you can see the snow on the mountains). A few weeks ago, the city cut down one of the big trees across the street, this allowed more sun into my apartment and kitchen, enabled me to see more of the city (I can now see the top part of the high school), watch the planes at LAX take off and land (when they are landing from the west).



My windows have been noticeably dirty on the outside and numerous times when I've been walking Yogi, I've noticed a sign on one of the apartments advertising window cleaning. I happened to be out walking Yogi yesterday and ran into the guy that owns the business and paid him $20 to clean my windows today.



Now I'm really in love with my view. Clean windows definitely make a difference.




If you need your windows cleaned and your landlord doesn't do it for you or you own and don't have a ladder high enough, here is the guy that I used - Adromat's Window Cleaning/Pressure Washing (310) 322-2119.

A Few Breaks

Hey everyone,
Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month. As most of you know, Brigitte was in the hospital (2nd time) about a month ago because of the pain in her back and during the procedure to repair her compressed vertabrae, it was discovered that there were more tumors in her brain and all treatment had already been exhausted so she was transferred over to hospice. So I've been spending alot of time with Brigitte, Sam and Sarah as Brigitte now requires 24 hour care. We (no, I'm not sure why I say we and a few people have remarked when I have said that in the past and I guess because she considers me family I'm referring to all of us) now have two caregivers. Emily, the night caregiver is here for a large part of the night and Alicia, the daytime caregiver, is here for several hours during the day. I have a few hours in the morning and a few hours in the early evening/night where I am with her and periodic visits throughout the day just to check in. Her friends are also visiting quite often.

So the last 6 weeks have been pretty crazy with alot going on but not much to blog about. I have had a few breaks and now with the two caregivers have a lot more free time so hopefully more blog worthy moments.

Wednesday night bible study fell on my birthday and the girls brought cupcakes and I got to make a wish.

My best friend from high school, Gail, came down to visit for a few days for my birthday and because things had been so crazy and stressful. We met while working at Subway when we were 16 have remained very close through the years despite going to different high schools, colleges and living in different states by talking on the phone every day.

Jen organized a birthday dinner at Chef Hannes the Saturday following my birthday. It was in a private room next door to the main restaurant with cool pictures on the walls and a train with a track running down the entire table. It holds up to 50 people for dinner. It was a wonderful night to spend with friends. Brigitte came for about 15 minutes (one of the last times she was out of the house) and Dan, Sam & Sarah's dad was in town and also was there. It was great to hear him say afterwards that he saw a different side to Christians - partly all of the bottles of wine and the genuine closeness that he felt we all had. Here are a few pics from the night.

Here's Dan, Sam and Sarah's dad. He was here for two weeks to spend time with the kids.

Travis, Jen's boyfriend, making the first appearance on my blog.

The Annual Memorial Day Weekend BBQ at the Gundo's Rec Park. It was freezing so there was alot of huddling together.

This past Wednesday, our bible study had a break as we are at the half way point of the book. Usually during those weeks, we go out to dinner but they decided to bring dinner for Brigitte and the kids. It was a great opportunity to witness to Brigitte, Sam and Sarah. We ended up eating at my house because Brigitte was really tired and had been sleeping the entire day.

Thank you to all of you for being there for me, for your prayers and patiently waiting for this post.