Mom's here

My mom flew in tonight, and she'll be staying here for a week. I'm hoping for a chance to get out and play a little. (And no, we aren't planning to see the World Naked Bike Ride in the City.)

No new news on the job front.

I'm a bit of a design geek, and I'm not sure where to note things down. I like the San Francisco Opera's ticket page. It has an exploded view of the seating sections, and you can click the sections to see an image of how the stage looks from each section. Really nice user-centered design.

Mother and Child Reunion

I've developed some sort of weird mothering instinct over the past few years. I first really noticed it when my mom was visiting a few years ago. We were at the airport, and I was leaving her alone for a few minutes to use the washroom. I was struck with the feeling that I shouldn't leave her alone because something bad might happen to her. Logically, I knew that she travels all over the U.S. and Europe, so she should be able to spend a few minutes alone in San Jose Airport, but it wasn't a rational thing at all. I did leave her, but had to force myself to do so.

Last night, my mom got in about 10 PM PDT. She was running on East Coast time, so she wanted to have a quick bite to eat, go to her hotel room, and go to sleep. I insisted that we stop at the grocery store so that she could pick up some food to keep in her hotel room. (She stays about 5 minutes away in a hotel room with a kitchenette that's across the street from a strip mall with a grocery store, Starbucks, and a few other stores. Because of the time difference and the fact that I'm a night person, we spend mornings apart, so she can go to Starbucks and hang out in the morning.) She commented that she could go across the street if she got hungry, and I made a crack about how she might starve to death before she crossed the street. It was mostly facetious, but a small irrational part of it wasn't.

This mothering instinct first surfaced when I got Harlee; I also felt like if I left her alone, something bad would happen to her. Now the cats are on a diet. I took Nima to the vet the other day, and the vet told me to feed them only once a day, and if they empty their bowls, to leave them empty. I'm doing it, but I'm finding it really hard. The cats are taking it more calmly than I am. Now I understand the feeding instinct that sometimes has driven me nuts in my mom and my grandmother.

On the other side of the coin, I always get really sleepy when my mom is here, even now, when I'm well-rested. Something about having my mom physically present really relaxes me.