LA Driving- amber alerts, dodging motorcycles, and 10 lanes full of cars- where are all of these people going at 2 PM?

Thank God that my sexy husband knows his way around the city, and we have a GPS, because if I had to deal with his complaining about my manual transmission AND being lost, I would understand the true meaning of road rage.  Thank you, kind, polite, and patient Colorado drivers.  I appreciate you.

So, we left the house about 10 AM to pick up Lindora, (our baby mama) and her 2 sons, Dwaun (13 years) and Dylan (17 months).  These boys are precious, well behaved, and polite.  After dragging these boys all over the city all day, we did not hear so much as a whimper from either of them.

After enjoying a lunch at Chili's we went to California Hospital, where Lindora is scheduled to give birth.  We met with the social worker and got a tour of the hospital, and I'm here to tell you people, it was an eye-opening experience.  This place is a far cry from the private birthing rooms with mountain views and clean floors in the Happy Valley.  Needless to say, neither Lindora or I were settled with the idea of our baby being born there.  More about this later...

Back to Lindora's neighborhood, to shop for furniture.   Lindora recently moved out of a friend's apartment, where she was sleeping on the floor, to a place of her own, where she is sleeping on the floor.  Yes, nine months pregnant, and sleeping on the floor!  It was our mission to find her a cheap bed (btw, this can be particularly tricky, since we don't want it to appear as if we are "buying" her baby for the price of a bed.)  But no luck- no cheap furniture store had a futon or sofa bed available for purchase immediately.

By 4:00 we had a meeting with the social worker from the agency.  Her name is Nikki and she is unbelievably amazing.  We love her.  Lindora and Nikki met for a little over an hour while I chased a toddler around a roomful of noisy toys (please, only quiet toys for our baby!!!) and Jeff got smoked by Dwaun twice in the board game Sorry.  Then it was our turn to meet with Nikki.  We worked out details for the openness of the adoption.

By 6:30 we were in the car, on a quest for a bed for Lindora & the boys.  We took Nikki's advice and bought an Aerobed and some linens.  Then to In & Out Burger for dinner (how can a fast food restaurant with such great burgers have such disgusting fries?)  We arrived at Lindora's apartment to help her with the bed.  By 10:30 PM we were back in the car on the way back to our cottage.  Glass of wine and to bed. 

This morning our task was to figure out how to work the system to allow Lindora to give birth at a different hospital that will allow her a private room and allow us to be with the baby other than visiting hours.  The plan now is to wait until she goes into labor and take her to the emergency room of a private hospital closer to her new home.  So now, we wait...

Off now to walk to the beach, 72 degrees today (sorry, I couldn't resist...)