Well, it happened. Tammy and Marilee met up in Pleasanton, California on Saturday, October 17th at 12 noon. And I don’t know about Tammy (she’d be too polite to tell you how crazy I am), but I had a blast.
The visiting crew included my husband John (John #1) and, of course, The Divine Miss T . . . otherwise known as Tazmin . . . also otherwise known as the most spoiled Keeshond in the western world and our pseudo-child!
Tammy brought her sister Ginger, and Ginger’s husband John (John #2). That’s right, we had 2 Johns. And we had no excuses whatsoever for getting the men’s names wrong.
After waffling over where to eat, we finally agreed upon a place John #1 recommended – “Pasta’s Trattoria”. The nice thing about this restaurant was that while they had pasta, pizza, paninis, salads, etc., they also had brunch items, so everyone could have whatever their little hearts desired. Tammy and Ginger ordered a pasta dish with gorgonzola cheese, cream, and chicken (I think, and I stole a taste of it . . . it was wonderful!), John #2 ordered a salad (I think it was a shrimp salad, but I wouldn’t bet my life on it), and John #1 and I ordered a type of Eggs Benedict called Eggs Florentine which had chopped bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach between the English muffin and the poached eggs. It was very very yummy.
We were seated by the window, which made photography iffy with the bright sunlight in the background. Tammy forgot her camera (yay!), but John #1 was quick to point out he had brought his (Rats! He must have found where I’d hidden it.). Anyway, he hauls out his camera, and then informs us that he neglected to charge his batteries because they were dead. Without even thinking, I opened my big ol’ mouth, and commented that I had batteries in my computer bag. I was then forced to cough ’em up. I had to cannibalize my purple cordless mouse to do it, too! Tammy also realized she had a camera in her cell phone, so she took a few photos too.
After lunch, we went and got Tazmin out of the car. She was kind of bouncing around, but as soon as she “took care of business”, she settled down. We walked around a couple of blocks, then stopped in at a pet boutique place called “Murphy’s Paw”. They had also sorts of pet paraphernalia . . . Halloween costumes, toys, food & treats, collars, leashes & harnesses, etc. Tazmin immediately found the big knuckle bones in the rear of the store and had to be forcibly dragged away. “Santa” was able to purchase a few toys in anticipation of Christmas, and I hope Tammy’s cats aren’t reading this because she picked up a few toys for them, too. ^_^
We then decided to park ourselves on the patio in front of a coffeehouse, a burrito joint, and a Cold Stone Creamery. John #1 and Tammy went for coffee drinks, then I got a child’s sized serving of berry frozen yogurt at the ice cream place. Ginger and John #2 behaved themselves.
So we sat out there in the shade – it was in the high 70’s but kind of muggy – and chatted, drank coffee, ate frozen yogurt, babysat a Beagle named “Scout” while his dad got some coffee, and had a very nice time. Tazmin held court – “we” must be admired by all, you know. She actually was pretty well behaved considering there was a piece of turkey from someone’s sandwich which had been dropped on the sidewalk, and she WANTED IT! Every 15 minutes or so, she’d sneakily try to slither her way over to that turkey. Tammy also learned that eye contact with Tazmin is considered an engraved invitation on her part. ^_^ Fortunately, we kept a strong grip on her leash. We finally let Tammy, Ginger, and John #2 go at about 4:30 pm.
A disclaimer: I want you all to know what a sacrifice I’m making by posting these photographs. The camera and I are hideous enemies (and I’m very sensitive about my weight). Tammy claims she does not photograph well either, but may I point out that she is a virtual beauty queen next to me? And I should also point out that John #1, who is clearly more photogenic than I, which isn’t saying much, avoided being photographed by being the photographer. The rat. However, I will post a picture of him taken a couple of years ago with Tazmin.
The first photograph . . . from left to right: Ginger, Tammy, Tazmin (standing on my computer bag!), John #2, and Marilee
~Marilee
