Cheers to Time with Old Friends

Mike and I drove out to Livermore to visit our friends Yaravi and Eric and their growing brood:

Mike and I went to college with Yarv and Eric; Yarv lived in across the hall from me in our freshman year dorm, the now-leveled Laura Kuykendall ("L.K.") Hall. Yarv and I shared many college adventures, including keeping our spring break condo from being condemned by the health department and taking a solo and ill-advised walk through Matamoras together and living to tell about it. She is now the mother of three sweet, smart and fun children (number 3 was still in utero at the time of my visit, but has since made his appearance in the world) and also a doctor (currently on a child-raising break). Yarv makes being a mother of young kids look so easy that you want to try it for yourself, just because it appears so fun and effortless. I had not seen Yarv and her husband in a long time, probably since 1994 or so, when they happened to be in Austin, and had not yet met their kiddos.

As soon as Mike and I stepped in the door of their beautiful house (having survived a walk past their ever-ferocious dog Blackberry), we were immediately drawn into a whirlwind of frenzied activity, in between which we caught up on old times. The kiddos alternately acted shy and showed off their amazing abilities, which include, among other things, dancing, spinning, tumbling, playing with multiple toys at once and walking around with things on their heads like this:

Elizabeth in a restful moment:

We chatted for quite a while and then took off in search of sushi, which would be my birthday meal:

The gang tried to steer me toward a Mexican food establishment, in hopes that I would be subjected to an embarrassing birthday group sing-song, but I successfully steered them away from that concept by reminding them that I have access to pretty good Mexican food in Texas. So, sushi it was. We ate at a fabulous place whose name I cannot remember now (but I think it may have been this one), where the entrance area was as comfortable as the waiting area of a nail salon, with a little couch and coffee table and magazines. We were ushered into a small room with rice paper screens for walls and doors—perfect for a loud group like ours that included active kids, too. Over dinner, we debated the name of Yarv and Eric’s third child, who was due to arrive any day; Eric rejected all of our suggestions, even the ones that were not meant as a joke! The sushi was excellent and so was the Japanese ice cream that followed.

Apparently not having eaten enough, we retired to their house for an excellent homemade birthday cake, courtesy of Yarv and Elizabeth! I continue to be amazed by how it feels as if not a day has passed when talking with old friends like these. We stayed up late talking about everything old and new, like only friends who have known each other since they were still teenagers can do, then Mike bade us farewell, as he was leaving in the morning for an L.A. visit with his sister and nephew.

We rose pretty early in the morning, thanks in part to Wilson's freakishly earlybird personality, and ate breakfast together while continuing to catch up on life. I was fortunate enough to be visiting on the day of Elizabeth's dance class, which flew by as Yarv and I watched. Aren't these the cutest dancers you have ever seen?!?!

We returned home, picked up Eric and Wilson after their morning of wagon travel and donuts, and found a fabulous lunch at one of Livermore's local wineries. The place was beautiful, featuring a wooden front porch, a shady and graveled back patio with tables and even a bacci ball court so that the kids could keep things interesting. The restaurant's food was wonderful; I especially enjoyed the roasted garlic and fresh-baked bread.

Shortly after this feast, I tore myself away from my old friends to hit the road again, but was excited as I looked forward to seeing another old friend in El Dorado Hills, which is just east of Sacramento. On the way there, I saw some interesting things like this truck full of oranges:

and this message for the Shrub (AKA Bush the Younger):

and a very flat horizon:

A few hours later, I was thrilled to greet my friend Laura. We met as summer law clerks for the same firm. Laura, being much smarter than I am, almost immediately realized that law firm life was not for her and bailed on the clerkship, while still finishing law school near the top of her class and passing the bar exam. She has since then gone on to, among other things, read exponentially more books than are contained in your average Borders book store and simultaneously raise three cool kids, all of whom I was excited to see on this trip as well (hubby Bill was out of town on business). The kiddos are practically grown-ups, with head-spinningly busy social schedules, and I was stunned into admiring silence by Laura's ability to handle all that that involved while carrying on an in-depth catching up conversation with me. Sadly, I was so engrossed in catching up with her and following with amazement the plethora of activities in which the kids and their many neighborhood friends were engaged that I completely forgot to use my trusty camera to take some photos of them in the midst of these activities. So you will have to take my word for it that they are a very handsome family with fabulous hair! :) They also live in a pretty and comfortable house with a glorious view of the rolling hills and grasses.

Being too sleepy to go on now, I will stop for now and write next about my first visit ever to the wine country . . .