It was unseasonably warm today in the Golden State. Eighty-two degrees. Please excuse me if I sound like I am gloating. I picked up Sophia from school and we headed down to the wharf to spend the afternoon and we had the most wonderful time. We ate ice cream and watched the sea lions who were jumping out of the water like dolphins. We went shopping and I bought her a winter hat and flip flops. It is rare in a big family to be able to spend one-on-one time with one child. And it is even rarer that a teenage girl  would want to have anything to do with her mother. At one point I asked her if I could hug her and she said, “Good God Mom, no. We’re in public.” To which I responded with what I usually say, which is, “Someday you will be a mother and you will know how I feel.” My happiness in life can be attributed to my ability to ignore people when they are rude to me. This comes in really handy with teenagers. After about an hour of staring at a pelican waiting for it to blink, we got back in the car. I let her drive home. (She’s practicing to get her license.) I said three Hail Marys. (Once a Catholic, always a Catholic.) We pulled into the driveway barely missing some trash cans on  the curb. Sophia turned to me and said, “You know Mom, this was kind of fun.” I’ll take what I can get. And what I get is worth the world to me.