On vacation at home

Lissie came in this weekend and it was wierd because I felt like I was on vacation, but I was at home. I think this was partly because I've never really hosted someone from out of town before and partly because it changed the routine of my life so much. It was actually pretty nice having someone I trust and care about around all day and all night, up for doing whatever I want, no other responsibilities added, just there for me, for a whole weekend. I had had such a rough week prior to her arrival that it really was a huge pick-me-up.

She came in Thursday night and my grandma took us out to dinner (although somehow I ended up paying) at El Torito (because the Sizzler she wanted to go to had closed). That night, feeling completely inadequate for showing her a good time, I looked up the "Best Restaurants of Sacramento" thanks to Sacramento Magazine, which was really helpful! Thanks to them, we went to the "best bakery" in town Friday morning on our way to visit Cindy and my class at Didion. From there we went to Old Sac and journeyed through the Downtown Plaza finally stopping to get dinner at Zelda's Pizza (ummm...deep dish...) and tracking down Jessica Mosher (an old high school friend) at Rick's Dessert Diner.

Oh! And we went and saw one of the best movies EVER, Walk the Line. Oh, it was so good. In some ways it made me think about the relationship my mom and dad had. I just recently discovered a box of love letters my dad had written my mom (mostly when he was in Vietnam). I really believe that they both had a deep love for each other, even if my dad was not the best father/husband/roommate. I mean, my mother never had a serious relationship after him...and she was damn good looking! And my father continued to use her as a model for most of his artwork and he was so torn up over her sickness.

Anyways, Saturday we went to Jack's Urban Eats for lunch and toured some interesting housing areas in town. Then we went to Cindy's where she was having a belated Christmas party with the family of her best friend from Chico. I always feel like I'm really part of a family when I go to Cindy's and it was a really fun time. They liked Lissie so much they are insisting that I import her back for next Christmas. And to top of that night, we had to take a trip to Leatherby's (the ice cream parlor dearest to my heart...and stomache). Randomly it turned out that Lissie's aunt from Providence, RI would be giving a sermon at a Unitarian church in Berkeley. So we went to Berkeley, picked up Stephanie, and went to church on Sunday. First time I'd been to church in a while, let me tell you, but I was actually really really glad I went. I think I needed it. And the sermon was basically about what the Unitarian ideals are and I couldn't help but agree with a lot of it. It seems like the most welcoming branch of Christianity I've seen. I don't know if I'm really prepared to welcome Jesus into my heart or anything like that right now, but when I am I'll definitely look into the Unitarian church. Coming from a Catholic family, it was such a nice change. Oh, and Lissie told me about this neat website where you can determine the best religious match for yourself. It's called BeliefNet ( http://beliefnet.com ) Try it.

We also hung out in San Francisco and while Lissie went off with another friend she had there, Stephanie and I had some time to talk and walk along the shore of the bay. We met up with her aunt for dinner and stopped by this condo the church put her up in. Wow! It was pretty snazzy. It felt like you were inside a hotel, had an awesome and warm and inviting pool, a gorgeous view, and lots of space. So sleak...Well, the next day she left and the world went back to normal. But I think we all had a fun time, so it was well worth it.