Richard. North. Patterson.

I'm now sitting in our new hotel which is very different from the last. We are in downtown LA in a HUGE hotel which looks like it belongs in a Seventies disaster movie. It even has the lifts on the outside of the building and we are so high up (29th floor) my ears have been popping going up and down. Boy Wonder has finally fallen asleep in his crib which we have pushed into the bathroom, so looks like Paul and I will have to pee in the paper bin. There is a nice area outside with a garden and pool, and we can see the 'Hollywood' sign in the distance which I do think is rather cool.

Santa Monica continued to be wonderful. We had a lovely trip down the coast to stay with our friends, Steve and Julia, and their two girls. They live in San Clemente which is about and hour and a quarter south of SM. We had a great time and Boy Wonder was rather perturbed to wake up on Sunday and realise we hadn't brought the girls back with us to amuse him.

It was the 'Mother's Day' USA style on Sunday and we were lucky enough to have a day where everything went exactly to plan. We had a (very small) lie in, the morning on the beach, a nice lunch, Boy Wonder slept in his stroller while Paul and I read by the pool, we then all played in the pool before getting ready for the evening where we took Boy Wonder out for his first curry.
I decided to wear a nice frock in the evening and got changed while Boy Wonder was in the bath. Just before I was going to get him out, he turned an alarming shade of red and started to poo in the bath. This isn't the first time it's happened so Paul and I were feeling rather confident in handling the mess (so to speak) better than the last time. Now, Boy Wonder's tummy has been slightly unsettled and the sight of all this floating poo was obviously too much for him, as all of a sudden, he picked up a bit and threw it across the bathroom floor. It was a bit like slow motion as I jumped away laughing 'no, no, no' and the flying poo missed my lovely dress by an inch. It actually went splat, I don't think I've ever seen anything go splat before. Paul and I then laughed so much we scared Boy Wonder, who will probably now be scarred for life.

As Paul is busy working, I'll be spending the next few evenings in the hotel room so I needed to get another book as the one I've just started ('Case Histories' by Kate Atkinson - thank you Sara) won't last me long. I went into my beloved Barnes and Noble and had a good rummage around the mystery section, which in the UK would be deemed the 'crime' section. Now as most of you know, I'm rather partial to a bit of crime and forensic pathology, and I find it hard enough trying to work out which Ian Rankin/Reginald Hill/Ruth Rendell/Peter Robinson/Kathy Reichs books I have/haven't read, and that's without them all having different USA covers. I finally decided on a good, old Richard North Patterson instead, so I needed to go to a different section. I thought the best way to find what I wanted was to ask a member of staff. It sort of went like this...
Me: Excuse me, can you tell me where I can find the Richard North Patterson books?
Staff member: (looks blank)
Me: The Richard North Patterson books? Where can I find them?
Staff member: (turns head to side and looks at me like I'm some alien from outer space)
Me: Can you tell me where they are please?
Staff member: (shakes head in a confused fashion) I can't understand you. I'm sorry. What?
Me: Richard (pause). North (pause). Patterson.
Staff member: Oh. Is that what you're trying to say? In the fiction section. (Walks off)
Me : (Walks off calling him many names, none of which I can write on my blog as they'll make my Dad blush)
Anyway, I got my book in the end, and jolly good it looks too. In case you are interested, it's called 'The Spire', by Richard North Patterson...

Tomorrow will be a long day as Boy Wonder and I are off to Disneyland for a day trip, and don't get back here until 9pm. It will be exactly a year since we met Boy Wonder for the first time so will be nice to do something special. Can't wait!