Nine is an Odd Number

We have nine people in the house right now and while fun, it is such an odd number. David was down the hill, out of town actually, and that left eight of us. We were all going to Benihana's for dinner. My car seats seven. So, Daniela used their rental and we ended up at Benihana's in three cars. David said there was no way he was coming back thru the canyon to come home and then go back out!

We had such fun. Benihana's has something for everyone. They cook in front of you and as bored as the chef may be, after doing this in front of thousands of people and for twenty-five years, he still smiles and makes us feel special.

Daniela asked a woman from another table to take out photo. Lens was dirty from sitting by the cooker, I think. But you can see all of us. We took a few other photos as well. Phoebe has a killer 8 pixel camera, mine is only 5. Here we are..........


Katharine, Zoe, Daniela, Phoebe, David, Rex, Nancy, Lee and Julian

We had a lot of fun and laughs. Great dinner. And I got the check!

We hung out for a while and talked, joked around, laughed. We finally inflated the queen size air bed in Katharine's room. So Daniela and family are now all in there. The mattress is quite nice. Will find out this morning how well they slept!

Phoebe took a couch and offered the other to me, since I don't sleep much. Very kind! Everybody went off to their respective sleeping areas. Daniela and I sat up til 1:30 and chatted about anything and everything. Lightening flashing in the distance. Clear sky with big moon over us. It started to get pretty cool and we realized we could no longer see the lights across the canyon. We went to bed. I turned on the TV and watched for a while and woke up at four and watched more. Stayed in our bedroom til 6:00 though!

It is fun with Phoebe here, everybody else too, of course, but Phoebe has her binoculars out upon arrival to look for birds. We have two bird baths, two feeders and a couple of pots with water in them. Always a bird show. She tells us about the birds.

In other news, a guy came to the door to introduce himself to us. He just bought the house next door. His name is Carlton. I said, "like the doorman?" Yes, like the doorman. He is very nice. Married. No kids. They bought this tiny little house next door, I didn't know it was on the market yet. He apparently got it thru somebody who knew the owners, our previous neighbors. They were staying there while remodeling their other home.

I told Carlton, I knew that his house is the cheapest in Laguna Beach. He asked how I knew that. I told him I know about the real estate in our town. Then I asked if he minded me asking how much he paid. He said, "That's pretty personal." I said, "That's okay, I will see it in the paper." Or to myself, I thought, I will ask my Realtor friend. I did say, you probably paid more than $600,000, he said, well, yes I did. Hmm, I think to myself, David and Susan got it for $500,000. This house is about 800 sq feet. Needs a ton of work, but he said he is not tearing it down and building a bigger house. I was happy to hear that. I love all the eucalyptus trees and don't want to see them go. It is an historical grove. So, this is good news. We didn't want the lowest selling house in Laguna to be right next door, but for that price, the comps won't be affected too badly, not that we are selling. But, it was nice of him to introduce himself to us....

So, this morning is the Farmer's Market and from there, who knows....

I hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday!