CG

Today was a great day in LA. BJ was finished working this week, so we set off early this morning, as sleeping in has become a thing of the past. Breakfast was had at the Original Pancake House. BJ ordered the German pancake, which was quite comical-looking and I took a picture of it... however, it should be noted that I stupidly forgot to pack my camera battery charger, so I was forced to buy a disposable camera for this vacation. That blew my plan of chronicling our adventures via blogging and posting pics to smithereens. Anyway, his breakfast was funny looking. After that, we headed to REI to buy a child-carrying backpack, checked into our next hotel, happily ate cheeseburgers at In-N-Out, and then spent the afternoon at the Huntington Library, which was absolutely amazing and well worth the 15 bucks a head. This place had about a thousand gardens, and all three of us had a great time.

Now, to the title of this entry. In a previous entry I referred to my poor mother as CG, abbreviated for "Crazy Grandma," and I promised readers the story to accompany this unfortunate dubbing. Since that time I have received a request to tell that tale, and I have decided that today is that day. I feel like telling the story with the mannerisms of George Costanza, whose ridiculous theatrics would serve this action well. On that note, the story shall begin... "The sea was angry that day, my friends..." Just kidding.

But really.  BJ and I had just gotten Tex the week before, and he was an 11-week-old puppy.  I'd say that he was small, but for those of you who know Tex, he was large even then. Within the first week of having Tex as ours, we had to drive home from Minneapolis to Oklahoma City for weddings that were on back-to-back weekends, so BJ and I just decided to take the week in-between off from school and spend it with our families in Oklahoma. One night during this week, my mom, Tex, her puppy Sam, and I were all in the backyard relaxing. The dogs were running around on the back porch and, for some reason that I cannot remember, my mom went over to one side of their porch (which is quite large), and I think she stooped to pick something up. As she was coming back to a standing position, she began losing her balance and took a small step backward to regain it. Unfortunately, puppy Tex was immediately behind her and had chosen that exact moment to put his front paws up on my mom's leg, begging to be picked up.  Tex got kicked by this small step that my mother made. This sent him somersaulting backward over the side of the porch, which was probably one foot off the ground. It happened in such a way that he actually landed on his back on the edge of the porch, so that his momentum kept him going and he performed a complete back flip off the porch and onto the grass, landing on his feet and coming away from the incident relatively unscathed. My mom watched these proceedings in horror, and I with amusement. Once I realized that Tex was absolutely fine, I burst into laughter, and my mom, who remained horrified for another five seconds, soon followed my cue and began laughing as well. When we recounted this adventure to my dad later in the evening, he scooped up Tex and said to him, "Well, what was your momma thinking, bringing you to a crazy lady's house? Don't mind that lady...she's just your crazy grandma."  Over the years BJ and I never let that name slide and we eventually shortened it to "CG." I had aspirations of Silas following suit and also calling my mom CG, but my four-year-old nephew has already decided to call her "Nana," so I guess that wins out by default of Sebastian being older than Silas.

There you have it folks. CG. And she's the best-ever grandma to that dog. In fact, I have no doubts that he has had late night walks with his best buddy Sam, lots of food and treats, and a big dog bed to snore on in my parents' bedroom while BJ, Silas, and I have been gone this week. Three cheers to CG!