San Francisco

Jeff went to the Java Developers conference this summer, and I got to go with him this time:).  We had Jenica meet us there for the first couple of days.  What a FUN TREAT!!  Jenica has a WONDERFUL lady named Crea that she lives with and nanny's for her darling little boys Mosie and Theo.  Crea's sister lives in San Fran, so she drove down from Oregon with Jenica and visited her sister, and we got to spent some wonderful time with Jen.  It was fun to finally meet Crea and the cute little guys.  Those poor kids were SO tired when we met them, Theo plopped down on Jen's duffle bag.  He drew me a GREAT picture.  Mosie had a shiner from kissing his aunt's coffee table.  I got a cute smile from him.

The first night we went to a wonderful restaurant and really enjoyed a chance to catch up with Jenica.  She seems to really enjoy Oregon, and i am pretty proud of the beautiful woman she has become.  She works at the cafe at the Hell Gate Resort and is quite the little baker now.  You should see the incredible designs she does on the coffee they sell there.  I will put a picture on here.  

The next day  Jenica and I walked down to this incredible place called the Ferry Building.  There were incredible chocolate shops, organic fruit stands, Olive oil's, fresh foods and cool antique kitchen ware.  Spices, rubs and incredible book stores.  Wow, what a FUN PLACE!  You walk out the back deck and see the Golden Gate Bridge.  We spent some time in the art  galleries, checked out the schools and enjoyed shopping.  What a fun and wonderful time we had with Jenica.  We went one day and met Jeff for lunch (at Blondie's for the vegie and whole wheat pizza...YUM).  She bought her daddy a red rose...CUTE.  We went down to fishermans wharf in the evening and rode the trolley car down.  FREEZING!!  Jenica was sooo funny when she was barking and talking to the big sea lions down on pier 33.  We went to a cool surf shop for dinner down there.

After a sad departure with Jenica on Tuesday, I decided to walk down to the Ferry building myself and do some shopping.  I enjoyed spending time in that wonderful city.  It seems to have an energy of it's own.  I would stop and listen to the street musicians, avoid the pan handlers the best I could, and would wander through the street art.  I was walking back up the block to the St Francis hotel where we were staying, and there was quite a crowd gathering.  Two police cars and a fire truck came whizzing up and they jumped out of their vehicles and started yellow taping the block shut.  I looked up at what the crowd was looking at and there was a young man on the window ledge of the top floor of the building right across the street.  POOR kid....In the movies, the cops just go on the roof and talk them down.  Well, the cop was on the roof talking to him, but it didn't work.  He jumped and landed on his back then head:(  It really affected me pretty bad.  The cops just scooped him up and put him in the back of the ambulance, cleared the tape, and let people walk on by while they were squirting the side walk off.  It really made me think about life in general, and how precious it really is.  I cried and went back in my hotel room and called Jeff just to hear his voice.  I also talked to the kids, just to make sure I felt some grounding.  I finally got my guts up to go back out and do some more shopping.  I was at a stop light waiting for it to turn so I could cross the street and a homeless lady who looked like she had not showered in a few weeks came up to me in a big trench coat, and asked me if I could give her some change.  I said "No thanks".  I know that doesn't make sense, but that is what Jeff says to them, so I started saying that.  She reached in her pocket of her trench coat and pulled out A RAT!!.....Not a ONE HANDED RAT, BUT A TWO-HANDED RAT!! For those of you who don't know me, you have NO IDEA the phobia I have about mice and rats.. oh man oh man oh man. She put it up to MY FACE and said "Then it will eat your face off."  I don't remember much else, but the running and getting to the hotel FAST through the crowded side walks.  I called Jeff and really was not uttering anything legible at that point.  I am sure he was so glad that he had not one, but TWO interruptions in his conference that day from his wife.  He did ask me what the lady did when I screamed and ran, and I told him honestly that I had NO IDEA.  I did  not take the time to, nor did I CARE what she did.  I spent some time in the room at this point mellowing out....deep breaths in through the nose, out through the mouth.  

I DID end up walking down to meed Jeff that evening (all by myself) to watch the Smashmouth concert in the park.  That was actually fun.  Jeff took me to the coolest little Jazz Club that night and erased away the crazy day.  It was dark, cozy and there was great food, and such good musicians on a piano, bass fiddle, singing and saxophone and trombone.  We relaxed, chatted and enjoyed.  Man, I am lucky to have such a great husband.  

All in all, San Francisco was a wonderful experience, and one I will not forget for a long time!