Where to begin? 6.30 rise and off to LGCafe for breakfast with Jen and Lauren. Tommy slept in. Jen feels weird about going there as it was a place they went with their mom and with us as a family, and I was willing to go to the other location, but we ended up there anyway. I get it, but I also have a sense of history there prior, as does she, when it was the Iron Skillet. I'm good about respecting what might be considered crossing the line. But this isn't one. We then went to Costco and dropped funds on food and holiday gift bag stuff for our neighbors. Lauren and I took a wreath and Walkers cookies to my mom. I finally isolated the presence of a small mouse in the garage thanks to night vision. 5 attempts to kill it with a large trap failed – it turns out this is not uncommon. They don't trigger it. I'm glad it didn't because it's so small that the end result might have been brutal and inhumane. I have to rethink my next steps and options. Fucker's kinda cute, TBH. Dropped Lauren at Amtrak. Miss her already. Tommy's adjusting back to PST after traveling. Ended the night going to David Benoit doing a jazz concert with a "Charlie Brown Christmas" theme. I planned ahead and got to meet him and get my vinyl copy of "Christmastime" signed. He shared that it was originally just a cassette he made for friends at Christmas in 1982 and that a record company said they wanted to release it as an album. He also laughed out loud at my "we three jumpin' jivin' kings" reference. I explained how it opened a door to a whole world of Jazz for me. While performing Blue Ronda Ala Turk, I felt a powerful presence and connection with my father, who would have loved to see me be as into this music as he was. It felt like he was there with me, within me, nodding along and snapping his fingers. What a gift to have this level of connection. I hope my kids feel my presence in such a positive way when they're older, too.
