The week is going by fairly quickly, thank goodness.  Today is the sixth day if Shiva, so Timary, Tina and I went to spend time with Earl's family.  It's customary to bring food, but since we don't have a refrigerator at work, I didn't want anything I may have cooked to go bad and get everyone sick.  So all I had to give was a card.

It was nice to sit and talk with everyone.  I'm not sure Earl's mom knew what to make of me. Let's be honest, my sense of fairness is pretty strong and I felt like Earl's brother was getting swept to the side.  Even with his mom.  That's not right! Everyone talks about the other brother that passed away, but rarely this one.  I made a point of telling everyone that while Earl did indeed talk about the brother that passed away, he also told me great stories about the brother who was with us.  Luckily for me, when I went to Earl's birthday luncheon late last year, his brother arrived when only two of us had gotten there ahead of him.  The other gal, Lou, didn't know much about Earl's family, so that left it to me to make him feel welcome. I was nervous, and you know how I react to that: I talk a lot. I mean A Lot. I pulled out everything Earl had ever told me about his brother and asked him about what I'd learned.  There's no way I would have known that stuff if Earl hadn't told me.  He seemed grateful to know that he mattered to Earl. He did matter, It's just Earl didn't show it very often.  His brother is a musician, we had a great time talking about Cal Tjader! I was humbled to learn that he'd mentioned me to his wife after that lunch. He told her back then how nice I was! Can't ask for more than that!

When the Minion showed up, it was time to leave. Timary wanted to go to Sur, so we went there for dinner. Now, in case you didn't know, Sur is the restaurant on "Vanderpump Rules", so I expected to see some fan girls. Dude!!! There were tons of people having their photos taken with the waitresses and bartenders. They were kinda snobby when I mentioned we didn't have a reservation, and we had to sit at these low tables near the bar, but the food was good.  So was the conversation. We told Earl stories we couldn't say in front of his family, plus I'm on a never-ending quest to get my friends into better jobs!  They deserve better.

The only drawback to the night was the fact that by the time I got near my apt there was no parking in my neighborhood, apart from the area where you have to move by 7am. Stupid city decided that it was a good idea to complete work on multiple blocks at once (while parking their zillion bulldozers on our streets overnight, taking up great swathes of spaces) in an area of Los Angeles known for it's shortage of parking spaces for residents. Bah.

I should probably go to bed now that I have to get up early to move my car....