Visit with Selim

Had to hit the ground running when I came home from Sacramento so I couldn't post about my visit with Selim until this weekend. We were busy with both "little" Denise and her entire family and Phil - all had come to see Dad. Of course, I had to go back to school, too!

I arrived in Sacramento very late on the night before Thanksgiving. By the time Selim and I got to his house in Rancho Cordova (a suburb outside of the city), it was after midnight, so we went straight to bed! He, himself, had just driven in from San Francisco after work so he, too, was tired. I did greet his room mates and their Moms, however!

The next morning we went to Selim's favorite breakfast haunt - a place called Crepeville! We had wonderful brewed tea and melt-in-your-mouth banana bread. Since we were going to have a huge Thanksgiving dinner, we kept it "light". Then, we sat for a couple of hours and just talked - it was an opportunity to bond like we haven't had in years! Selim gave me a tour of Sacramento via his cool sports car (a Mazda RX 8). The city is called the Tree Capital of the country - and it's easy to see why. What I loved was it was in full fall foliage and the colors were gorgeous! The tree-lined streets were breathtaking - especially having just come from the desert!

We returned home and found Kerry, Rhonda (Kerry's fiance), and their Moms in the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner which they announced wouldn't be ready until late in the afternoon. The menu consisted of turducken (hope I spelled that right) which is about the weirdest thing I've ever seen - a turkey stuffed with duck and chicken as well as the turkey meat!!!! Someone in Louisiana created this oddity. In any case, it turned out to be very good - the meat was moist and tender. Sides included mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, asparagus, cranberry sauch and macaroni cheese! The meal ended with pumpkin pie, sweet potoato pie and ice cream. Wow! Quite a feast! By the way, I just ordered a thank you gift for both Kerry and Rhonda from Eagle Ranch Pistachio Farm (in Alamogordo) and mailed it to them. Of course, both Moms have returned home - Kerry's Mom lives in Milwaukee (Selim met Kerry in Madison, WI when he worked there and invited him down to work with him), and Rhonda's Mom lives in upstate NY. Before dinner was ready, I took a walk in the neighborhood, and then another walk with Kerry's Mom, and Kerry and Rhonda and their dog - according to my pedometer, I walked over 4 miles altogether! I figured that entitled me to try both pies!! LOL

The next day, after having lunch at a very nice restaurant in Sacramento, Selim and I took off to Lake Tahoe which is only about two hours away. After we settled in at the Hyatt Regency, we walked along the edge of the lake and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. That evening we ate at a wonderful restaurant - I had the most delicious shank of lamb. We were both in giddy moods so we ended up laughing a lot - why is it when one is giddy, just about everything seems funny?!! LOL

We got back to the hotel and Selim decided to head down to the casino while I opted to settle in with a book. However, I think I fell asleep pretty quickly -woke up next morning around 9, had breakfast with Selim (another wonderful meal - one of the best breakfast buffets I've ever had - and Selim concurred!). By the way, Selim works in San Francisco 1/2 a week, and Sacramento the other half of the week. While in SF, they put him up at the Hyatt Regency which is why he opted for the Hyatt at Lake Tahoe.

Anyway, we had a great time and as I said, the trip was truly a bonding experience for both of us! He treated me like a queen! Even on the flight home, I hadn't gotten my boarding pass until I had arrived at the airport, but was nevertheless the first to enter the plane as Selim had gotten me "business select" tickets - which also entitled me to a glass of wine! I sipped the wine while reflecting on my visit - and thought about how lucky I am that Selim is my son! : )

The timing was good, too, as there is a strong possibility he'll be working in Dubai next year - he's currently in discussion with the CIO of the hospital there which means he'd be doing the same kind of work he's doing now - placing the entire hospital system under one computer network.

I will have to post pix later as I had forgotten the digital camera and ended up buying a throw-away camera - I still have to finish the roll so I can develop it! : (

Babette