The nights are colder

and I'm burning up the fireplace with wood. There is definitely a chill in the air and I am thankful that this is California and not New York. I got up late this morning after coming home late last night from "Beer Breakfast" with my co-workers. What I thought was going to be three people turned out to be eight of us sitting down to breakfast and yes, I did have one beer. I'm not sure if it affects my "rhummy" but it sure doesn't hurt. It was nice to see everyone and hear the tales from the airport still haven't changed. I stayed home for most of the day and tried to whittle my piles of paperwork down to something more manageable. Carmen called me later in the afternoon to help her family do laundry and if I could give them a ride there. I wasn't doing anything but sit, do paperwork and watch T.V. so I went over and lent a hand. The Evan's always have a production of laundry to do and it's a well oiled machine that runs with utter timing. I would offer to help but there is a precision in running the washer and dryer up to folding the clothes which requires patience and the routine that only Carmen and Mama know best. So I just watch in amazement. Later on, we take a ride to Sports authority in Foster City to get Maurice a basketball for practicing. He is such an energetic, smart kid and is all over the place sometimes it's hard for him to listen. As with most kids, they want to touch, see and check out everything in the store, it's hard to contain Maurice's energy. We got the ball and made our way back to the laundry mat to help mama out with the rest of the clothes. As we came back into the laundry mat, mama was talking to another gal there who seemed to know everything about us when we walked through the door. Mama can make friends easily with anyone, man, woman, color or creed, she knows no boundaries. That's a good thing about her and people feel comfortable talking with her as if they're long lost friends. With the laundry done and Maurice's basketball in hand, it was time to go home. Maurice still had some homework to do and mama rested for a bit while that was going on. It was time to get myself home and out of the cold for December is around the corner waiting to lay down it's frigid breath of winter.