Back from SF, Part 2

After lunch at Tu Lan, Seth and I went to Jeffrey's Toys on Market St, another place that we have visited many times over the years. The first time we went there Seth got his P-61A "Black Widow" model airplane, which is still displayed on the shelf in his bedroom. On another visit we got Seth's first "Exo-Force" Legos - our favorite line of Legos, now sadly discontinued. This time Seth selected a cool "Space Police" Lego set, using red package Christmas money from Grace's parents and brother Greg (thank you to them!).

It was unusually cold in SF and I was getting tired, so we took a taxi to Sarah and Jonathan's house. Seth and I have visited SF many times since moving from there to Bellingham when Seth was 2 months old, and we have always stayed with Sarah and Jonathan and their sons Toby and Jacob. Their house feels almost like a second home to me now. They have opened their home to us and treated us like family. I will always be grateful for their generosity and friendship.

Seth fits right between Toby and Jacob in age and he enjoys playing with both of them. It makes me happy to see them playing together. I was talking to Jonathan about the fact that it feels important to me that my children know my friends' children. It feels tribal, as if I'm telling Seth "these are your people - you can trust these people." Especially since I may not always be there for him, I want him to know that others will be.

After Sarah and Jonathan and their boys got home, we celebrated Shabbat with candles, chips, ginger ale, and singing. JK got Mexican food from Cancun Taqueria on Mission St. I had a burrito al pastor - yum. After dinner JK entertained the boys by reading from a strange and silly book that my friend Eric sent Seth for Christmas. It's from McSweeney's press, involves giant squid, and the boys loved it.
http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.detail/object_id/bebec4f0-abeb-40fc-821a-27baea82539c/AnimalsoftheOceaninParticulartheGiantSquid.cfm

Speaking of McSweeney's and Eric, they are publishing his new book "Donald" later this month, to coincide with the publication of Donald Rumsfeld's memoir "Known and Unknown."
http://store.mcsweeneys.net/index.cfm/fuseaction/catalog.detail/object_id/bca9a12b-c6c7-4d69-ab51-d66326acb980/Donald.cfm

"Donald" was mentioned in the New York Times and elsewhere recently!
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/dueling-rumsfelds-novel-to-appear-on-same-day-as-memoir/
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/stephen-elliott-on-donald-rumsfeld-hes-a-sympathetic-character_b20904
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/10/donald-rumsfeld-memoir-satire

Everyone agrees that Eric should be on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to talk about "Donald." If anyone knows how to make this happen, please do so or tell me how (I'm serious).