Parent Day

We did our parental duty and visited our son, who is a freshman at St. Mary's College last Saturday. A quick flight to Oakland and a ride on BART to Walnut Creek where Will met us. We spent most of the day in Walnut Creek, having coffee, lunch and shopping for wardrobe items that he realized that he needed after spending 6 weeks at school. After lunch, we headed to campus and helped him unpack the new items in his dorm room. Male dorm rooms have not changed since I lived in one, but it iss always nice to see such quality reading in a dorm room, although I will question his taste in DVDs.

After a quick visit with his roommate's family and a quick tour of the campus, Will took us back to the airport for our short flight home to the OC. We left with the knowledge that Will has adapted well to college life and seems to be enjoying himself and learning at the same time. Too bad college life can't last 40 years, as it is a fun time.

In December, we will make our parental inspection of Nicky, but that one is a lot harder. A 14 hour flight to Wellington. But we get to ride jet boats, hike glaciers and ride on trains.

I think I am going to like making parental inspections.

Where everyone is going

My daughter lives here now. Our adopted "son" is already there and owns a house. His wife and their two dogs left our house last night to go here. Annette Will and I are heading there before Christmas, so I thought I would play a commercial for the location.

Where am I going to shop?

The local Whole Foods store closed this week and opened a new larger store in an outdoor mall in a location that is slightly farther away and much more inconvenient. With this move, and with the kids now gone from the house it has made me evaluate my shopping needs. For the past year or so, I would travel down to Whole Foods and buy produce, fish, some good tortilla chips, cheese, some Kashi cereal I couldn't find elsewhere, and some other odd and ends, then travel across the street to Alberstons to buy meat and chicken, paper goods and cleaning supplies. Our milk is delivered to our house, and I would occasionally shop at Claro's for great deli meats and Italian cooking supplies. With Whole Foods at the center of my Saturday shopping moved farther away what am I going to do?

What I liked about Whole Foods was their consistent high quality of produce, whether it was farmed organically or using standard practices. Other produce markets nearby lacked the consistency of quality. I didn't really care about organic. What I cared about was the freshness of the product (did it last long enough at my house) and does it taste good. Usually a store brand tomato, whether organic or not, has little flavor. Now give me an heirloom or locally grown tomato and yum.

So here is what I want in a grocery store.

• A good selection of fresh, flavorful produce (I will measure variety by how many chile peppers types do they carry)
• A good fish market (regular grocery stores fall flat in this area)
  
• Reasonably priced meat market (Costco would match this criteria, Whole Foods does not)
• It would be nice to have regular old tissue and paper towels in the same market
• I rarely buy prepared foods from any market, so the less of this the better.

I will check out the new Whole Foods this weekend, and report back next week. Who knows, maybe I will be blown away and buy prepared meals for my wife and I for the entire week and give up cooking. After all there are only two of us at home....

On second thought, cooking is my hobby and that would take away the enjoyment of cooking for my wife and friends.

Helping the kids fly the coop

This has been a hectic week for the Clark household. On Thursday, we move our son out of our house and into the dorms at St. Mary's college, and then on the following Monday, our daughter leaves for New Zealand to work as a swim instructor, or any other work she can find over the next 10 or more months. So prior to becoming empty nesters, there is a buzz of activity, including going away parties, shopping for those last minute items, and cleaning out stuff that has accumulated for a dozen years or more. Adding to the chaos is a house guest and two extra dogs who are staying until mid September. Even though the house is a clutter, their is not enough time to do everything, we all have opinions on the correct way to do even the most trivial task, my wife and I would not have it any other way.

Hotel Clark

The house has been a hotel this summer (not as packed as last summer where international water polo players invaded for the summer). Before and after our family cruise, a lovely family from New Zealand made our home their home away from home while they attended weddings of family members in Southern California and England. Will still lives here but is busy getting ready to head off to college. Nicky lives in San Diego, but is busy getting ready to move to New Zealand. With their pending moves, they seem to be in and out of the house more than normal. August will bring Ivana to our house for a month prior to joining her husband in New Zealand. I also offered our guest room to a co-worker who is visiting for a week in August from Oregon.

Although the house is busy, Annette and I would hot have it any other way. We find time to cherish the quiet moments like a simple panini and a glass of wine for dinner. But its the energy and vitality that thrills us when the guest room is full. With the kids leaving in late August and Ivana leaving in September, we are now taking reservations for October. Family and friends can make their reservations online or, get this, can even call us.