Wednesday the 1st I had to buy some tickets, as I don’t make it to Richmond often, but I saw that in June that Talking Heads’ Jerry Harrison would be doing their “Remain in Light” with Adrian Belew and Les Claypool will be covering Pink Floyd’s “Animals”. Friday Nina, Jill and another Girl Scout ran a cookie booth in the bitter cold at Pupatella (I gave them hand warmers from my go bag). We got takeout from Bartaco for dinner.
Saturday Nina was with the Girl Scouts doing food sorting for a simple gesture. Sunday Nina did volleyball and had a Girl Scout meeting in the afternoon, so we moved going to the Anastasia musical from matinee to evening, with predictable up way too late results, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
Saturday the 11th my mom’s husband David passed away peacefully. She had dated him in college, but they went their separate ways and got married and had families. But in 2015 with both of them single again, they met at the nursing home Mom worked at after he had back surgery. They married a year later and moved up to Rochester where his family was. We were sad to see her go, but happy to see love can happen again, no matter what age you are.
Sunday was the Super Bowl and I made possibly my best wings yet. We usually all watch the first half and the halftime show, but this time we couldn’t convince Nina to hang out and watch the commercials. Tuesday (Valentine’s Day), I was going to see Stephen Sanchez at the 450 capacity Union Stage when I saw he’d been covered by Blackpink’s Rosé. Apparently that is still not enough to make going to see him cool, according to Nina, who is a Blink (Blackpink fan). I still had fun, and I think he’s going to get famous fast. Plus they have some good beers there.
Friday the 17th I had bought tix for The Judds: The Final Tour for that night at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax on the chance that Brandi Carlile would join her. That date got Tanya Tucker (with Martina McBride as an opener). We weren’t really interested otherwise, and since I couldn’t give the tickets away at StubHub, so I did give them away for free on BuyNothing. Saturday was a big day, as we started early by getting to Katsucon when it opened. Nina has developed a powerful love of anime and manga, and she and 2 friends cosplayed as My Hero Acadamia characters. They got a picture with one of the voice actors, then we walked over to Mezeh to get some lunch. We stayed long enough in the afternoon for everyone to finish their shopping, then left. We had a babysitter for come over at 5, then left. I had decided to try Royal Nepal because it was nearby and we hadn’t tried Nepalese before. Jill realized we’d eaten there before when it was a Thai restaurant. It was a delicious meal, best meal so far after Little Pearl. Next we saw Matt Nathanson with Stephen Kellogg at the Birchmere, and our good friend Linda saved us some fantastic seats. Nina and her babysitter got takeout from Ariake for dinner.
Sunday afternoon we took Nina and some friends out again, this time to the Renegade to see another friend perform in Vienna School of Rock, and it turns out they’re in the “nu metal” group. And that resulted in me hearing a live cover of Tool for the first time and it was great. The food was once again very good as well. Monday Nina and I were off, so she choose mini golf outside. Only bad thing was she left her hoodie on a fence, but I was able to get in later in the week. She also asked for boba tea and pho for dinner.
Wednesday Connie, Jill’s father’s mother, and Nina’s great-grandmother, passed to be reunited with her beloved Gerry. Her memorial wouldn’t happen until May, but the memorial for my mom’s husband David was the next weekend, so on Friday I took the RIBS 2 bud from my house to the Wienie Metro station, then the Silver Line to Dulles for the first time. Remarkably easy, then I satisfied my craving for Five Guys (and beer at Firkin & Fox).
I had an uneventful flight to Rochester where Budget gave me a Kia Soul, and I was soon working through the hours long list of projects my mom needed done. We had dinner at the main Cloverwood building that she calls the “big house”, and I found out when I ask for a steak with no salt, that may not be what I get. Later I picked up Sharon from the airport. Saturday was the service, and David’s daughter Jeanne was there with her boys and some of David’s friends, including a college roommate. They served lunch at the VFW across the street from the funeral home, then Sharon and I went back to Mom’s where we spent the afternoon going through pictures. Jeanne joined us at the “big house” for dinner. Jill and Nina kept busy in my absence, meeting with Girl Scouts, going to flute lessons, and trying out a cat café.
Sunday Sharon and I went to church with Mom then had brunch with her at the “big house” before we drove to the airport and chatted before my flight boarded (hers took off an hour later). Jill and Nina picked me up at Dulles.
