The sisters’ sit-down.

Of course there is no shortage of exciting and scenic things to do in the Bay Area, but Natalie surprised me by suggesting we all go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for her birthday weekend. Andrew and Delia squealed in delight at the prospect. We had talked about going, but it’s a long trip down there – and back. Nat also wanted to see Santa Cruz, which has a beach with volleyball-playing hippies, a boardwalk and pier with tourists, surfers of all ages and an old wooden roller coaster, among other amusements. We’ll need to stay overnight Saturday, and Michael will balk as he’ll just be back from Charlotte but we’ll have fun.

Meanwhile, Monique and Jon are here. I’m swamped at work, and making sure the kids get baths, food, and to and from school - especially with Michael gone. Today though, I took my sister to one of my favorite restaurants in Sonoma, The Girl and The Fig. (www.thegirlandthefig.com - just look at the menu and see if it doesn’t ALL look delectable!) This is like nothing she has back in Saddlebrook, NJ so I knew she’d be impressed. We talked a lot about Natalie and what might be ahead for her. We both hope her great adventures will be mainly in the areas of employment and education. Nat does like it out here, and is having fun with Stefan - we know that much, but there’s not a lot of goal setting. Having lunch with Monique reminded me that she was the same way, and actually still is. Not that there’s anything wrong with planning life around charity auctions, tennis and spa appointments – nice work if you can get it, right? But it’s a bit…passive, and Natalie needs a female role model who is balancing more of life’s roles. That is, after all, why she was sent out to me. Not that I’ve had the influence I was hoping for, like encouraging her to develop interest in business. Her Red House internship was a disaster. Maybe it’ll take more time for Nat to develop the maturity to figure out how to go about getting what she wants.

This was just lunch - we couldn’t resolve all of Nat’s issues. (Or ours either!) We did agree to communicate more about what’s going on. (Until now, I hadn’t told Monique about the arrest, the “NaSte” tattoo - and even now couldn’t bring myself to mention the dynamite as the other info caused her to squirm quite a bit. So much for me thinking she’s blasé!) I was glad we were able to talk. Monique agreed to participate more in her daughter’s life. She needs to have an opinion, and I could do with fewer (!), but we both want the best for our Natalie.

I wrote up a list of fabulous wineries for Monique and Jon to visit. Plus, they’ll be doing a bit of used car shopping with their daughter. And I went back to the office to resolve issues that Kerin then called clients about. She is really taking control of every project I throw at her, I’m so glad that she’s here!