I just got home from attending the Wlaomen's Wellness Retreat sponsored by the Berkeley/Albany YMCA.  I will be teaching a short class on numerology tomorrow afternoon.  Should be fun!  I've been a member of the Albany Y since I moved here in 1996.  I especially love their yoga classes, and try to go three times a week.  It's a great bunch of people, a lot of "regulars."

I had Anders and Auggie for a sleepover last night.  The time goes so fast!  We have such a good time making dinner, doing projects, bath time, and then movie night.  Last night it was Hotel for Dogs.  They accused me of crying at the end. (I did.)  Auggie claimed he actually cried more than I did.

I browned and braised my pork shoulder this morning.  I'm making Rachel Ray's Phunky Pho soup with pork for family dinner tomorrow night.  Tomorrow is the big Tour de Cure ride, and Gunther is riding a 100 miles.  I promised to make dinner for the family tomorrow night.

I'm loving this warm, sunny May Day.  Very happy. 

I've just finished my column for April.

This evening, I went over to Gunther and Eliza's for dinner .  Eliza made fresh tortillas from masa, water and salt--so earthy, so real, so delicious.  We had the tortillas with pork adobada, salad. chopped cilantro, and onions.

Gunther is still on his month-long weight-loss, body-fat loss regime, hoping to win the competition at the Ice Chamber, the gym where he goes.   He's lost 14 pounds and has a very low percentage body fat.  He is really thin! Of course, he rides his bike to work and back for about 100 miles a week.

After dinner, I read some library books to Auggie and Anders.  Afterwards, in the bathtub, Anders seemed to be mulling over old Mr. Hatch who "kept to himself."  Mr. Hatch ate only a cheese sandwich with one prune for dessert, and he didn't have any friends.  After (mistakenly) receiving a big box of Valentine candy with a note from "a secret admirer" Mr. Hatch became vivacious, friendly, and helpful.  Anders thought a lot about Mr. Hatch's developing social skills.

Yesterday, Robert and I began scrubbing the house to prepare for the family visit tomorrow.  He hung out the bathroom window at a perilous angle to polish the glass.  We went shopping for lamb shanks, vegetables, hominy, blueberries, polenta, and wine.  

Since our Italian friend, Marco. taught Robert the secret of sharpening the knives, I can tell that he has reached a new level of bliss.  And our knives are very sharp now!

Sigrid, Jim, Trevor and Chloe will arrive  tomorrow.  It will be such fun to have them all here after so many months.  I am a teeny bit disappointed about the forecast of rain all week!  However, since they live in sunny So-Cal, Jim actually relishes the cooler weather here in the Bay Area.

I am very happy.   

What a wonderful week.

My friend Giulia Amici,and her companion, Marco Salghetti-Drioli, arrived from Italy on Tuesday night for a brief stay before continuing on to vacation in Maui.

Giulia and I have been friends since I began to teach the Celestine Prophecy seminars in Italy many years ago. I met her through Giorgio Cerquetti who first invited me to Italy. The two of them were married for many years and are still the closest of friends.

Last May in Milan, Giulia and I did another one of our numerology seminars.  She has become a great fan of numerology, and now has a regular radio program and magazine column on the subject.  She translated my numerology charts into Italian and sells them as well.  We had a wonderful time talking numbers again!

I enjoyed getting to know Marco better.  He has lived a very interesting life as an engineer, a spiritual counselor, and a master craftsman. For many years he was the director of the crafts department in the ashram headed by Osho.  Since those days, he has continued to focus on wood working.  He told us he would like to visit Japantown to look for tools.  I knew exactly where to take him--Soko Hardware on Post Street in San Francisco.

The weather on Wednesday had turned gorgeously clear and sunny.  

We had a great visit to the Japantown Center--eating lunch and shopping.  Giulia bought two long kimonos--one with a brilliant orange pattern, another in a subdued dark blue, each perfectly suiting her tall slender figure.

I bought a new hibachi (small iron barbecue) and some cedarwood incense. 

We ended our sight-seeing tour by driving up to the Marin Headlands where you can view the Golden Gate Bridge and the skyline of San Francisco from the Pacific Ocean side!  

                           * * * *

Earlier this month, Robert and I had been researching the best way to sharpen kitchen knives.  Gunther lent us his electric knife sharpener.  It did the job fairly well, but was rather noisy!  As luck would have it, Marco arrived!  He bought us  a whetstone, and taught Robert and me exactly how to use it.  Somehow we attracted into our a world a master craftsman to personally demonstrate knife sharpening! 

You have to love synchronicity.

Last night we had our friends Rainey Sykes and Mal Levine, and Beverly Cheney and Avrum Gratch over for dinner.  We made a lamb roast with artichokes, fennel, garlic, and red potatoes.  Robert carved the roast with our very sharp knife!

I'm just getting ready to go out the door.  Flying down to Burbank for a long weekend with Sigrid, Jim, and Trevor and Chloe!  I'm looking forward to seeing Trevor in his role as President Clinton in his 3rd grade play tomorrow.  He told his mom, "I got picked to play President Clinton because I'm the tallest in the class."  

Last Saturday I began the day as usual with my yoga class.  We were treated to the drumming sounds of a passing local Chinese New Year parade with dragon dancing.  That night, I went out with my old friend, Roy Iwaki, to see Tao, a Japanese group of Taiko drummers.  We had dinner beforehand in Larkspur at Fukusushi (I might have misspelled their name!)

On Sunday, Robert and I went to the Asian Art Museum and wandered around the beautiful collection. We had just watched several episodes of The Story of India on PBS, so it was a nice way to connect with the large collection of statuary and objects from some of the periods we watched.  After that, we strolled around Little Saigon, where a festival was happening a few blocks from the museum.  This is why I love San Francisco--so many diverse communities to participate in.  

Friday was my birthday.  Robert and I went into San Francisco and had a wonderful lunch at the House of Nanking.  I wish I had taken my camera to capture the restaurant set up with green and yellow bowls, red chopsticks, set against dark brown wood walls--very old San Francisco China town.  It was a gray and drizzly day to complete the cozy effect.

Went shopping and then home to watch Anders and Auggie so Gunther and Eliza could go out and celebrate his birthday, too.

Perfect day.