So Kym came for her birthday and we had a great time! Since I'm working now, it just worked out that we ate out all meals except breakfast. Breakfasts were made for us every day, though, so we didn't even have to put out any effort there, either, except to chow down. :-)
I was really worried about when she'd get here on Monday because she kept getting delayed at home - but she made it in time to pick me up from work, and presented me with a new book, "Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street," which features a picture of Oscar the Grouch, so I immediately launched into "I Love Trash!" :-) We then went to sushi for dinner. and she was sufficiently impressed by the freshness of the food at the sushi bar, so I'd say it was a success. The only drawback was the group at the bar next to us, whose conversation was too loud for its topics.
Tuesday was her actual birthday, so we awoke to a birthday breakfast of blueberry pancakes and yogurt with mangos and raspberries. I had to go to work, but she came and picked me up for her birthday lunch, where we went to my favorite (so far) Indian resto in Fresno ... then that night we had Thai in the Tower District before going to the Tower Theatre for the Ladysmith Black Mambazo show. Dinner was fun and the show was great, and I loved having her here, so I hope Kym enjoyed her birthday, too!!! Click photo above to enlarge.
Then Wednesday she was leaving so she came again to meet me for lunch on her way out of town, and we found a good Persian restaurant. It's more expensive (and more "formal" inside than Falafel, Etc in Fremont, but the food was really good, and they had Persian tea! Yum. The baba was really flavorful and not too heavy in texture or garlic; the hummus was thick and also not overpowered by garlic, so that's a really good find. I have to take my mom there when she next visits me.
Wednesday evening we were then to host the Rev Mark Sell for a couple days as he was traveling through CA so we could visit and give him a check for his work, but he had gotten food poisoning along the way, so we never got to meet up.
As Kym will remember, we had what looked like a pond brewing in the front yard. At first we thought perhaps with all the rain we'd had it was settling there and because the sun wasn't on it, it was not drying out. Well, B started digging yesterday and figured there must be a leak in the pipes somewhere. He realized that where it was pooling was not the site of origin. See photos....
That's the pond with soil removed... and here is the source:
Yes, UNDER those 3 sprinkler pipes. Joy. So..... we have no water in the house, are using the bottled water for the toilet, so that we can still use that... and B is working on repairing the pipe right now, as I type this. Whee. So far, the water is leaking DOWN, into the yard and not into the house... which, of course, is MY big concern. :-) And I'm hoping it's an easy fix once B can repair the pipe. At least it wasn't tree roots in the pipes or a sewer issue. Ugh.
