Company!!!!!!!

Rob's nephew -- yes there are a bunch of them, OK actually three, but it sure seems like a lot, and that's not a bad thing -- needed a place to stay when he came out to visit the two brothers who have already moved to Ventura.

Rob was really excited to have them here, but I was more reserved, concerned that staying in someone's house where the living room has been converted into a sick room (I can arrange the couch pillows to make raised cradles for my injured ankle, knee and back) might make them uncomfortable. They were really sweet about it, though, and were able to use us as a place to rest between rounds of drinking and catching up. Plus they get a room and bathroom to themselves upstairs where they can be on their own.

The people in the house who were really happy (and our pets ARE people) were the dogs, who LOVE LOVE LOVE company. One of the conditions for staying with us is having to put up with our menagerie, after all it is THEIR house.

Brindle, the little black poodle/shi-tzu, aka shitpoo in designer dog terms, always delights when people come over. Even though she's come to rest with us, Brindle has always been a well-loved little dog, unlike the other two rescues, so she assumes the world wants to pet her. Fuser, the little chihuahua/jack russell, rescue has learned to love people after initially being terrified of men. Now he rolls over and wants people to run his teeny little belly -- you have to use two fingers because a whole hand is too big.

But poor Rascal, the poodle/terrier who was found wandering the streets of El Rio in Oxnard, still has problems with appropriate behavior. He starts off terrified and cowering and slowly approaches when he's sure it's OK. Duncan and Mary (the nephew and his girlfriend) really showered the little guy with attention, much to Fuser's consternation and disgust. Fuser jumps up on Rascal, who is more than twice his size, and tries to intimidate him by growling in a really deep mean dog voice, and he'll bite Rascal if that doesn't work. Fuser, sadly but luckily, is unable to bite effectively with his teensie little mouth, so it never hurts despite his fiercest intentions.

Each time Duncan and Mary so much as came down the stairs the dogs went crazy, barking and whining. Fortunately both Duncan and Mary are great animal people and thought it was cute. The visit proved quite painless, especially because they went up to wine country over the weekend. As with all good things unfortunately, it came to an end and the little guys had to say goodbye with great sadness. Now they only have us to give the 24/7 attention they deserve and require.

One of the most fortunate things about moving here has been the parade of relatives who've come out to live here since we got here. First, it was just Lindsay and me, then Rob joined us a year later. A few years later Rob's nephew Sean came out and stayed with us, and despite the fact that he had to go home for about a year to get some work experience, he persevered and came back out. Now he's married to Gen and is a wonderful father to Kaia. Then Colin, the youngest nephew, came out and went to school. Now Duncan wants to join them. Duncan is an accomplished musician and is hoping to start a career. There's no better place than the L.A. area and he's very talented, so he should do well.

I've always said I'm every native California's worst nightmare, the person to comes out and has the rest of the family follow. Speaking for myself, California is the first place I've ever been where I felt at home. Even in Princeton, N.J., where I grew up, I always felt like an outsider. The minute I set foot in California, though, I felt a sense of homecoming and it's really cool to be able to share that. It's also so cool to have relatives around. It makes a place so much more comfortable when you can share holidays and special events with family.

Like yesterday, Kaia called. She was doing a "survey" for her first grade homework assignment. We had a choice: Which was our favorite, a bear, a monkey, a giraffe or an elephant? How delightful!