People Are Wonderful and Helpful - 1/31/12

I am feeling so blessed by this whole experience.
I can't even describe it.

I'm also feeling really grateful to those who go even a bit out of their way to offer me a ride somewhere.
On Sunday night, Jaitri drove me all the way home.  I know it isn't close to her place, and that she has a trip coming up that she should be focusing on, but it was incredibly sweet of her to offer and to do!  Sunday nights are the awkward nights in my schedule.  I may have to figure out a way to stay over in Costa Mesa that night, though I'm still looking for someone to take me part of the way, to Disneyland (and thus avoid 2 different buses).  I'm sure though that something will work itself out.  Life is good that way!

I babysit my Grandkids sometimes for a whole day.  I absolutely adore them, they are perfect!  Yes, I know you hear that about everyone's Grandkids, but it is true about mine!  ;-)

One of the statements I had going into this was that I wanted to make sure my time with them would not be cut out by my taking the bus, if I hadn't been able to work that out, I wouldn't have been able to do this.  They, and the time with them, means too much to me.  Though the other side is that I am, in a way, doing this for them.  I want to make sure to be a good example in their lives and part of that is being responsible and being debt free.

My babysitting time normally starts at 6am and I could not find a way to get there by then using transit.  What I ended up figuring out is that I need to go over to their place the evening before and stay over night.  Monday night was my first time doing that.


Monday  1/30/12

It's really funny!  There is a bus stop not too far from where I work.  When I first started looking at bus schedules I just assumed that I would be able to find buses to and from everywhere that would just pick me up and drop me off there.  Boy was that wrong!  Now that I have gotten somewhat used to the bus system and how it seems to work, when google maps told me that I could get on a bus at that stop to go to my Daughter's place, I had to check the results several different times because I just couldn't believe it!  It turns out that one of the few buses that goes to that stop will take me directly from my work to a few blocks away from my Daughter's house.  That is amazing!  No bus transfers, no anything!  Just a straight trip!  That just doesn't happen!  Though I'm incredibly grateful that it does in this instance.

Most of the time when I stay over at their place I have a "sleep-over" with my Grand-Daughter.  (I have no idea what is going to happen when my Grand-Son starts asking for them!  I can't be in two rooms at once!)  It's a great time of bonding.  Christina sleeps on an air mattress on the floor (and gets the joy of not having to make her bed in the morning - this is a big deal - and of having Grandma all to herself) and I sleep in her bed.  I arrived there Monday night in time to watch the end of the movie "RIO" and then we did our sleep-over.  Being able to show up for my 6am babysitting in Pjs is definitely a more relaxing start to the day!


Tuesday 1/31/12

While I'm babysitting I have the car that they have allocated to the kids (the one that will hold two car seats, stroller, etc...), which is what we've always done.  So, for that part there is no difference, everything runs smoothly.

I wanted to go to a Yoga Metaphysics class tonight, at the Yoga Center where I teach (The Yoga Center of California in Costa Mesa.)  I had the bus routes pre-researched in case the timing worked out.   Christian got home in time for me to make it, I just had to push past the pleas from Christina asking me to stay just a little bit longer.  I had prepared her that I would have to leave when Daddy got home.  It didn't make a difference, and in a way that is good.  I am so blessed to have Grandchildren that love me and want to spend time with me!

I arrived at class just in time!  I had a slight spill on the way from the bus stop to the Yoga Center.  My first spill since the first day doing transit.  I caught my scooter tire the wrong way in a crack in the sidewalk.  It was minor though, no problem.  I just got up and laughed about not noticing that crack and went on.

Class was awesome!  I'm so glad that I had the chance to go!
I had thought I might have a ride home from there, but in the end, I didn't and that was fine.  Mary took me to a bus stop near where she is living so that I could cut the bus trip down to two buses instead of three.  Yay for friends!  It is really cold at the bus stop tonight!  I think I'm looking forward to summer weather..  though I still have to find my sun hat, oh and my rain hat too.  They have to be the same place together, where-ever that is!

Riding the bus to Disneyland (Disneyland is a main transfer point between Orange County and LA,) when we are very close to Disneyland the bus driver suddenly calls out asking if anyone needed to catch the 460 (that is very strange, bus drivers don't normally do that.)  I called out back that I needed to catch it.  He stopped at the next bus stop, pointed down the road and said to run down there to catch the bus and emphasized the word "run".

I got off the bus and went that way and even got on my scooter because I don't run quickly...  but I didn't see the bus I was supposed to be running to catch and I was afraid of missing it and it was dark and I didn't see a bus stop either.  I just started heading down the road.  I stopped and stood there, feeling abandoned and like I had just missed a bus I had never seen and I certainly didn't know what to do.  All of a sudden the 460 bus comes around the corner.  That was a welcome sight!  But, I'm not at an official bus stop and those buses aren't supposed to stop anywhere but official stops and I know that.  I just don't know where the bus stop is!  I'm standing there all tense, ready to get on my scooter and race to where-ever the bus does stop and at the same time waving at the bus driver, hoping he will notice and wait for me.  He was incredibly nice and fudged the bus stop a bit so that I could get on...  and then gave me a lecture about the fact that I had to be right at the bus stop.  I told him that I was very grateful for his help and asked where the bus stop actually was (so now I know!)

This was all such a blessing!  That is his first stop *after* starting his run at Disneyland.  Had the first driver not pointed out that I should get off, or had this driver not been gracious to stop and wait for me, I would have had to wait for the next bus, which I think would have been another 40 minutes.  At night time, 40 minutes is a lot!  I am very, very grateful!

I have learned some new things.  I learned that it didn't help much to have Mary take me farther down the line for the 43 than I normally go, because I still had to wait for the same bus to come by.  I also learned that I could get off a stop or so before Disneyland when coming home and have more of a possibility of catching an earlier bus.  Cool things to know!

My home is nice and warm and welcoming.  It has been a great few days, but I'm very glad to be back too.  :-)

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