Preoccupied

The blog has been quiet. We've been preoccupied with tragedy. Saturday morning, while I was setting up for a Mom's Breastaurant event, I got a phone call from Mark suggesting that I call my beloved friend Chanda. Her husband, Dale, had had a massive stroke. I tried all day to reach her, but the number I had was her home phone, not her cell. When we finally did connect late in the day, Dale's body was on life support, but he was gone.

Mark and the kids and I did go to southern CA, as planned, and saw the JPL open house (not terribly impressed, but it might be worth doing again when the kids are older), the La Brea Tar Pits (a hit), the rocket launch (way cool), and the beach (WINDY). The whole time, though, if we had an internet connection, I was online looking at flight times to get me there ASAP to support her and help with kids and details and meals and laundry and everything else, and then to get others of our friends there for the Celebrate Dale party this weekend. My flight leaves tomorrow evening. So the blog will stay quiet for a few days more.

Most of you who follow this blog know Chanda and already know this news. For those who don't know her, or who didn't know about her loss, if you can spare a thought for her, the universe will hear it - and so will she.