fossilfreak

 

266 recordings of 54 types and I finished season 3 of NCIS. 37% clear.

 

I have never had a roommate before (Rich doesn't count, we were married and busy building a family.) I really thought I liked living alone, can go to bed when I want, get up when I want, leave dishes in the sink, watch the TV *I* like, cook with  onions...  so, when Steve's friend from 30 years ago needed a home back last summer, I reluctantly told him I would be plan B. And he was able to find another place to stay.  Whew!

 

Unfortunately, that place fell through on the first of September.  Bill e-mailed me to ask if the offer still held. My heart sank. I really tried to think of how I could say "no", but there was no way to do that. So, darn it, I said yes. I took all the stuff off the captain's bed in the playroom, made the bed, found some pillows, and prepared it as well as I could, though there are still a gazillion toys in it. If I have the kids, I'll have to take the toys out.  

 

Then, in August, the medical issues came up and I realized there was a silver lining. He'll be here to feed the pets, and when I get back from the hospital he can help with some of the chores. 

 

So, Saturday September 1, he came. I gave him a key, showed him his room, told him that the back bathroom was his. I told him I wouldn't cook for him all the time, but there's plenty of food in the freezer and pantry.  I did cook for him this night, a frozen chicken-broccoli pasta dish.  

 

 

To my surprise, it's working out! I kind of resented sharing the living room (like where else? I had given him a bedside light but there's not much room in the bedroom) but we knock along OK. The TV is mine till I go to bed, and if it's Fox News he disappears, but he likes much of the other things I watch.  Then I go to bed about 9 or 10 and it's his, and he goes to the Cartoon Network or some "History" channel show.  He's been buying his own food so I don't have to feel guilty about hiding the peanuts or the nachos! He has friends and goes gaming, and he has part-time work (he's applying for more) and I am on the go a lot, so we aren't under each other's feet all the time. 

 

Bernadette and Rob got new kittens. They are, surprise surprise, cute!! 

 

I went to church on the second. Then it was  Day 5 with the puzzle, and I hooked up a cookie.

 

On the 3rd I woke up with  tummy pains. I'll be so glad when this operation is over.  My whole digestive system is not up to par these days.

 

 I got a lot of goodies in Fishdom.

 

My computer was not talking to the Internet. Bill figured out how to fix it.

 

On the puzzle, I hooked two cookies together.

 

On the 4th, I played lots of games. My ankle bruise (from August 10) is slowly healing. The Senate indulged in Kavanaugh Kabuki. I had breakfast with the ladies, giving Fay the parking pass for the Kingston Trio. 

 

Pagan came over and we went to Koreana. I love this store, but didn't have anything in mind to buy. I'll have to introduce Bernadette to it. I got the screws to hang the scratch-off map and the next day asked the neighbors to help. Carol misunderstood and when she found the right drill bit (actually not, I needed a concrete one) she called and asked if I wanted the drill, too. "Yes, and the husband!" Frank came and got the  hangers up (pulling off the adhesive and the paint in one place. I do have patch paint and a couple of places it will go, someday.)

 

On the 5th, Spooky, who has midlength hair, was really matted. I did find a rake which took care of the mats instantly. Boy, that cat sheds!

 

I took Padreic to Wee Wednesday, which was fun. It was about primary colors and pretty well over the kids' heads. There was a three-year-old who was all over the place. It's amazing how Padreic ("I FOUR!") has grown!

 

I cooked an actual meal, tuna noodle casserole and salad.

 

 

Fishdom was going well  on the 6th.

Oberammergau is on! Including Medjugoric which I know absolutely nothing about.

 

After the Retreat House I went to the Commissary. It was around here I was begining to resent cooking, but it's gotten better. Bill is really polite and stays out from underfoot.

 

I took a bag of books to the library.

 

I was going to relax but then I remembered that this was the day I was going to put the poop bag into the trash, darn it. 

 

Day 7 of puzzle. Slogging today.

 

I started the Camino 3 years ago on the 7th. The butafumiero is down right now. How lucky I was!

 

I spent money on Fishdom. I've been playing Albion for 6 months. I hate to think how much I've spent on that.

 

I went to Renaissance, almost forgetting breakfast. I saw a slide show about Nepal. The western movie film was a documentary, Reel Injuns. Fascinating, about the depiction of Native Americans in movies. We saw "Smoke Signals" being filmed when we were in Spokane at one point.

 

On Saturday the 8th I went down to Oak Park to take the CASA files to be shredded. I'd never seen the actual park in the area, and it's gorgeous. I've been in the seedier parts of OP, but this area is nice. The volunteers at Wellspring were nice and I'm really glad to have these sensitive files off my hands.

 

Then I went to where the breakfast was to check on why Fay called. It was to remind me of breakfast! 

Marty asked me to dinner to see Mike F., who is in town.

 

Day 8 on the puzzle.

 

I was tired of taking pictures off the picture disc so I could take more, and I bought a 32G new one. 3000+ new pictures!

Marty asked me to dinner to see Mike

 

I've been reading the Driver's Handbook. 

 

Bill returned before I went to bed, darn it. 

 

On the 9th, I finally finished Act One by Moss Hart.

 

(Reading:  I'm still reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel;  We Die Standing Up, Dom Hubert van Zeller; The Gates of the Alamo, Stephen Harrigan;  Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, Robert Goldsborough; The Halcyon Fairy Book, T. Kingfisher; plus I want to reread Charles Krauthammer's Things that Matter. I must read the Alamo book and the others I got as "homework" for San  Antonio and stop getting sidetracked by Miss Read (though Gerrie is catching up!))

 

I went to Church and helped with Communion at the nursing home. That night I had dinner with Marty and Jim, Alicia and Mike F. We went to Olive Garden. It was so good! Mike actually met Steve when he was at Caterpillar. He also is really impressed with the IT system there, a fact I should share with Steve. Interesting... in his early 40s, he seems to be at the "finding himself" phase.

 

The cleaners came on Monday but didn't clean up the kitty litter. I will talk to them next time, before complaining to the office. 

 

9-11 was on Tuesday again. I went to the DMV early and was #22 in line. They have it set up well, and I was actually done within an hour so I could go to the ladies' breakfast. 

 

Minor gripes: he uses so many ice cubes! And has peanut butter in the evening and leaves the knives just sitting.

 

I'm going through old papers and found a letter from Granddaddy's brother, Uncle Frank. It was written in 1976 and was all about his brother Harry and sister-in-law Mary.  Interesting letter, but they're all dead without children or grandchildren, nobody but me left who remembers them, and I pitched the letter. Later I found one from Tom, the guy I went to the Air Force Academy ring dance with... I was dating Rich by this time so probably wrote him just to find out what was up. He was madly in love with a girl in Pinedale who didn't return his calls, and he planned to go to flight school and then be an astronaut. Instead, he was shot down in VietNam. Another letter I trashed. Sniff.

 

And, Tuesday, a nice call from Vince.

 

 

The 12th I only dug one tulip bulb out. I went to Bernadette's in the morning and picked up some of the mess while she had a dentist appointment. Back at home I changed the kitty litter out, did laundry, and fixed stuffed peppers with a southwestern rice hamburger mix topped with mozzarella.

 

On Friday the 13th I finished season 4 of Chicaco P.D. and discovered one of the season 2 NCIS episodes has gone missing. Maybe I accidentally let it get erased. 

 

It turns out I waited too long to sign up for the Mississippi River cruise next April. Darn it, it looked like fun. 

 

I went out to thrift shops and a bookstore and found 4 Boxcar children books for Joanna.

 

Carol and Frank were leaving just as I was so she didn't get a chance to tell me they had some food for me in their fridge. She called. And so I looked for their key in the plastic bag I keep it in, and it wasn't there! Maybe the cleaners saw it and hung it up, so I took a fistful of keys over, and sure enough, the second one I tried opened the door!  The food was two huge artichokes and a big pack of potato salad.

 

That night I went to see 1776 at the Chatauqua. Bev didn't arrive in time for the first act, and when I saw it was an all female cast I was annoyed, but it was great. Bev was there after intermission so I could stop worrying about her. Meanwhile, my friend Bill with the Pancreatic Cancer, looks great! He's recovered so well they gave him a new knee and they geocached through a lot of states.

 

I liked the first act better, but then I believe that's true every time I've seen it.

 

Saturday I had gotten tickets for us to ride the Sacramento River Train.  Bernadette came by for me and we got down to Old Sacramento early. We stopped at the History Museum to spend some time. I am guessing it's been over 10 years since I've been there and they've surely changed a lot. They had a stretched penny machine so Joanna and Padreic each got one. Then we started walking toward the depot and when Padreic said he would like to get on the train, is when I let them know that's what I planned. We rode in the back coach and got our tickets punched, rode the 3 miles south and then got to watch the engine go down a spur then couple onto our coach. 

 

I was wearing my Wyoming shirt and a guy asked me was I from the state. Turns out he is from Rock Springs and did indeed know the Zs, Joe's family.  

 

I learned two short toots mean "we're starting" and two longs and a short mean "we're coming in." 

It was a fun ride and the kids seemed to like it.  When we got off Gareth asked "have you noticed we haven't had lunch?" so he got a bit of a talk from Mommy about how to tell people you're hungry a bit more politely.  We went to a restaurant and Joanna turned into a whiny thorny monster because nobody else had finished their lunch. She was hanging her head with her shoulders hunched and near tears, so I tried to comfort her. A porcupine would have been easier. Turns out she wanted to "do something exciting."  

 

Then we went over to the Railroad Museum, and she got into her "cling-to-mommy-because-there-are-scary-adults" phase. Mighod. She's got to be the saddest little girl in the world.  It was NOT a good day for her. (Oh, yeah, she'd already informed me she doesn't like ballet and didn't want to see "Cinderella" and I'm pretty sure it's just that she didn't want to go anywhere with me. This despite a good camp. I've made myself feel better because I'll take Bernadette, and she can just stay home and maybe rethink her life.) It was the kind of day that makes me say that while I love her very much, sometimes I don't really like her. (I said that to B., and she agrees.)

 

At that gift shop we got more stretched pennies and I got Padreic his book. He was thrilled. 

 

At home I noticed that after maybe a year, my fridge water filter needed changing. (I've been looking at the light for months, but never saw it go yellow. It was red this time.) I pulled it out to see what it was (but didn't write it down) and went to put it back and jammed it in, couldn't close the filter door. I tried to get the filter out but couldn't, asked for help from my friends, but no, and finally freed it on Sunday by attacking on a different angle. 

 

\I dozed off and woke at 7:47. As it was light outside, I thought I'd overslept through the night, had missed my chance to dig, and would have to hurry for church. It finally dawned on me that it wasn't actually Sunday, but was still Saturday!

 

 

Sunday the 15th, I was distracted in church because of Joanna. Grrr.

 

I ordered tickets for the Kingston Trio (just me), Pinocchio with the kids and Bernadette, and the ballet with Bernadette. These are at Folsom. Last week I got the Mondavi (Davis) catalog for next year and they don't really have anything I want this time.

 

I was making chicken a la king and dropped it as I was putting it back into the microwave for the second part. And it smelled so good, all over the floor. I was amazed at the dog, who just sat looking at it until I told him it was OK for him to eat it. Such a clean floor!! Sigh.

 

 

Monday, I'd thought I'd be done digging by the weekend, but I was overoptimistic. I waited all day for the cleaners. Once they came I called Helena, who is also having a colonoscopy, hers this coming Friday.

 

I went to the Newcomer's dinner, and took my iPad (in its new cover) so I could show  Bill my wounded picture. He wasn't there, but I did talk to Tom.

 

I am in 37 different places in Albion because I accidentally opened the perfumer's workshop instead of keeping it for the artist's studio. 

 

 

July 17 I dug up 14 bulbs, then went to the WPAC breakfast. There were 6 of us. After a nice meal and chat I went to the commissary for a few things. I got home before it got too hot. It's been over 100 the last two weeks.

 

 

And at home, Benson asked me to come on safari next year. I really want to! It would be all over Zimbabwe. I asked if I could come early and go geocaching with him around Victoria Falls. It actually sounds like maybe we could do that! So I went to the Road Scholar page and checked it out, and then looked at the Iceland tour.  I called Jean and we firmed up the date. I will sign up at the end of July. 

 

I had found out at the Newcomer's dinner that Gary T. was home again so I called him. He's doing well.

 

And, of course, I forgot it was Tuesday until Vince called.

 

July 18 was the day I gave Gareth his promised trip toThe Tech Museum  in San Jose. I got there by 7:30 so as to get to San Jose by 10, but I didn't account for dire traffic especially on 580. There were times I would have to come to a complete stop, then go a few car lengths and stop again.  It was frustrating, but we finally arrived at the parking garage and got to the Tech a little before 11.  The bathroom was the first stop. Gareth was so excited. I got our tickets (free, with a membership at the Powerhouse) and the guy asked if I'd like to donate. I said "yes, but later" and actually did drop $10 into the box as we left.  

 

We stopped at the exhibit entrance and asked how the TechTags (which were the tickets) work. You scan it at each exhibit and at the end of the day you can put the number in at home and see a summary of your day. This sounds good, but Gareth lost his at the first exhibit. Used mine for awhile, but then when we left for lunch he got a different one, which he mostly used but at the end of the day he was back to using mine, and lost it. At the same exhibit. I'd picked up another one so at home I tried to see what that ticket user had done, and this spoiled the chance for Gareth to use the blue, substitute one, since apparently they only register one each day. Oh, well. If we do this next year we'll do better.

 

I had brought a book and sat nearby while he played. I did, at one point, show him there was another area, since he had pretty well done the whole coding area.  At one point he was encrypting a password and the numbers were flying past and he was covering his ears to help him to focus.  When we went to the different area he was entranced with the earthquake exhibit and with Google Earth.  At 1 I finally suggested we go to lunch, where we spent a whopping 20 minutes.  Back to the area. He discovered the biometrics area, and signed up for a monitor which he wore for about 40 minutes.  (Again, this would be one of the first things if we come back.) Then we went upstairs, where there was my favorite thing of the day, the biochemistry. I helped him put on plastic gloves and a pair of goggles, and then he got a tube of bacteria and a tube of dna, combined them, warmed it, cooled it, spread it in a petri dish, put in the warmer to cook, (after scanning it) picked a cooked one and looked at it for various colors. The whole thing was fascinating.  Another one that he liked was "building bacteria". We turned in his monitor and discovered he's a "confident builder." This is something I really would have liked to have on his tech tag at home. Oh, well. 

 

He stood in line to ride the jet chair in space. Definitely he'd be Major Tom.  There were lots of camp groups, but eventually he got to do everything he wanted to do. He finished on the same exhibit he'd started on, a game of building a network. I was interested to see how he interacted with other kids. 

 

We went to dinner across the street, but didn't stay long enough to avoid major traffic jams on the way home. Gareth said he'd like to go with Joanna and Padreic and I pointed out that they would want to go to some other exhibits when he didn't. Padreic in particular would be bored with a lot of it, though there are areas he would enjoy. I think we would need three adults for the three kids.  I was not the only adult who had brought a book (though I used my iPad more, to report on Facebook) and let the kids do their thing. I had a good time and I know he did, and I may do this again for his birthday next year. However, I believe then I would get a motel room on 1st street by the metro line and ride the train in, and avoid traffic. Rich and I did that when we went to ConJose in 2002. If we did that we might visit, uh, someone who lives here (to quote Gareth, who doesn't remember Aunt Monica's name.)  

 

Anyway, I didn't get home till past 9, but the dog had behaved himself. A nice day!

 

337 recordings of 27 types, 62 old SVU. 25% clear. (and 216 recordings (this morning) in "keep till I remove.")

 

 

Monday (the 2nd) I stopped at the credit union to let them know I was traveling in two weeks, and to check on the status of my loan. Which I'm doing well with... I'm about 40% paid off, and of course as I bring it down, more of the principal and less of the interest are in each payment. 

 

I got the C batteries that were needed for the Cookie Monster toy.  I also found a watch, almost the same as Rich's that broke, but in plastic rather than metal. But it works the same way. 

 

I also bought dog food, but couldn't find Staples for an ink cartridge. The place I pictured in my mind was actually a Fed Ex place. So I went to Amazon. (And mistakenly only ordered color, so I still needed black. On Thursday I looked up the address in the new Yellow Pages. They failed me, and it was  Harbor Freight Tools at the address they posted. This was the second YP failure, the other being the wrong number for the exterminator. So into the recycling it goes.

 

I was working on trip plans and could SEE the New York Merci Boxcar on Google Earth Street View. I am staying... free... in Syracuse with Choice Hotel points.

 

And I waited and waited for Vince to call. But it was Monday!!

 

Tuesday morning there was another rat in the kitchen! It dashed for a hole on the other side of the dishwasher, since the one hole was blocked with bricks. So I guess the noises I heard on Sunday were, indeed, vermin, even though my pets didn't react. 

 

I started clearing out some TV shows I like but don't really need to have recorded while I'm gone, like "How the Universe Works" and "What on Earth" (for two really cheerful shows about how we're all gonna diiiiiiiiiie. Also "Love it or List it", which is great fun but it doesn't matter if I miss a few or a hundred.

 

There was a Herman game, so I played Fishdom.  I had a tuna sandwich for lunch and a slow-cooked stuffed pepper (in the tiny slow cooker, the one for nacho cheese) for dinner, and still have some food in the pantry past the sell-by date. 

 

Fiona from Ngoko Safari had sent on the letter from Kathula's grandfather. Besides the letter (thanking me for supporting his nephew!) there was a picture and a tiny necklace and bracelet set. 

 

My arm really hurt. I apparently strained it, possibly by picking up the dog food. 

 

Vince called (about time, right?) and we are agreed that we both miss St. Philomene's Easter Vigil (done right, before the new priest and the different musicians.)

 

 

Wednesday was my day with the kids. At Wee Wednesday, Padreic was very busy putting big soft blocks into the "shack" and was really upset when Arthur went into the shack. I went over to tell him that Arthur could go in the shack too, there's room for two. Then I told Arthur that Padreic was putting the blocks in, and Arthur's mother came over to suggest Arthur could help.  Then we left them alone, and they put all the blocks in, and played in the shack, then threw them all out, and (this was the exciting part) they cooperated on a different project involving lining up the blocks under the shack. No grownups involved!

 

I finished reading The Land of Oz to the kids.  I told them next week it would be short stories so I wouldn't start a long book and leave them hanging (though now it looks like they'll be gone in June so I'll have to really work to read all of Charlotte's Web to them before they leave. Of course, I can read some to them when we go to Gilroy.)  Anyway, Joanna suggested I should FaceTime them and read to them. This was a nice comment, proving that I'm right, they do enjoy it.

 

Apparently I just ordered colored ink, not a double package with black, for the printer, so I decided I had to go to Staples. I finally, on Thursday, ended up at Office Max.

 

Thursday was the rat guy. It was Cody again. He plugged the new outside holes and trimmed back the oleander, and really surrounded the dishwasher with copper wool and black gunk. At first it was really hard to open the dishwasher and I pushed the lid down Very Carefully, but today the lid just falls down. This is worrying, since the plug's wearing out. We put bait up in the attic. Thursday night, though, the rats apparently brought along elephants to protest with them. It was a lot of noise.  The dog keeps checking, but I think they're gone... except Wednesday morning  I pushed at the dishwasher and there were noises back behind the sink. DIE, already!  The heavy heavy rain on Friday should have erased their trails outside so I should be OK for awhile.  

 

Also, the water people came through. They dug a hole in front but then dug underground all the way to the back...I didn't know that for sure until I asked on Tuesday. Then the guy took me in back and showed me where they'll connect up the pipe... in 4 to 6 weeks. Oops. I thought it was immediate so I scheduled the pipe replacement May 14 and 15th. The water guy didn't think it would be a problem, in fact it would be easier to hook up to new pipes. So maybe they'll all arrive together! Guess we'll see.

 

Friday, rain rain rain! I decided to stay home and play games, so I did.

 

Saturday I went to the WPAC breakfast in the morning and then met Bernadette and the kids for "Jack and the Beanstalk." Padreic did enjoy it and also enjoyed meeting the actors afterwards and getting their autographs. Then they came here so Padreic could play with the Cookie Monster toy now that it had new batteries.  They had to leave by 3, though, because Gareth had a play date!

 

Then, instead of going to the shell ceremony with Sacramento Pilgrims, I decided to stay home. I hadn't called John back, though I did some days later and left a message.

 

Sunday I had forgotten it was the second Sunday, so almost didn't help with Communion at the nursing home, but I did go and enjoyed it a lot. I did remember to take the baby bottle full of change that I had filled during Lent. It was Divine Mercy Sunday and Father Martin is really excited about it.

 

I called Helena to find out how her brace was working out, and discovered that the x-rays for the back fracture had uncovered a lump in her lung. It's stage 1 and hasn't spread at all, so next week they're having a treatment conference, her, doctors, and Mark and Diane. (D. via Skype.)

 

The squirrels, or so I believe, dug up one of the peanuts I planted. 

 

I was watching an olde John Wayne movie and there were cartoons and shorts before it. One was clips of historic film, including the funeral of Edward VII with all the royalty of England there. Fascinating!

 

 

Monday the water guys were working across the street. I didn't know they'd finished my yard until the next day, when I asked.  The cleaners came, and I had called ahead to ask them to park in my driveway. I also had neighbors parking in the driveway, too. After they left, I went to the commissary, a small trip but almost $100 because I was getting Alicia some breakfast burritos and found some impulse food for myself.  

 

305 recordings of 21 types, 65 old CPD. 31% clear.

 

Tuesday (the 19th) as I was driving home, I decided to stop at Wendy's for a burger. I think this may be the first time I've been at a Wendy's since David died and Rich walked me down to the local one to help me calm down.

 

Alicia had left the baby gate open so the dog got into the kitty litter. She left the shower leaking. She didn't eat the strawberries and grapes I had out for her, and she had the heater up to 72%. (darn. I was really hoping this month's usage would be down.) However, she was able to come at the last minute and the dog didn't have to stay out in bad weather.

 

Vince called and they planned A.J.'s birthday party for Saturday. Vince wanted to put together some kits so they could make their own trains.

 

Wednesday Fishdom came up with an Easter game. While I had most of the things from last year (and put the delighted hedgehog into the Wonderland aquarium) I did want the two fish again (Humpty and Dumpty) so I played.

 

Bernadette had work this day, so she brought Padreic over in the morning on the way. I decided it was too rainy to go to Wee Wednesday, so we just stayed in the house and I gave him macaroni and cheese for lunch.

 

 

He was playing with the Cookie Monster toy and had discovered it would travel across the kitchen floor, so of course the batteries ran down. It was C batteries, and I found a pack of two unused Cs. Then I see they were both corroded. Who knew that not using batteries in many years wasted them? So I need to get new Cs.

 

I drove directly to the school and went out in the rain with Padreic to go to the office and donate Charlotte's Web. We hung out then for about 10 minutes until we could go wait for the kids on the school grounds. I saw Joanna and told her to go to the crosswalk and then go to my car, which was unlocked, and get into it, and then waited for Gareth. The three of us walked toward the crosswalk, at Padreic's speed, and there was Joanna with the principal holding an umbrella over her. Apparently, she only remembered the first part of the instructions, and I believe this is the second time that's happened, so from now on I'll have her repeat the whole thing.

 

 

Back at the house, I read to them and watched their homework, though Gareth needs constant prompts. Joanna played with Padreic. When Rob got home he helped set Gareth up to edit his paper (which gets electronically sent to the teacher: wonderful technology) and then went to relax. I stayed around to keep the kids sane (not that it was hard) until R. came out to start dinner and I told him B. was going to bring something. Then I asked if he was prepared to rejoin the world, he was, so I left about 5:45. It was late enough that going up Watt actually was OK and I got home myself about 6:30.

 

Thursday, rain rain rain. I stayed in. John called. As I suspected, he's found a widow he knew from the past and is beginning to date.

 

I made the backspout *whoosh* out, very satisfactory. However, I got a hand cramp. The first one I ever had was in Zubiri, Spain, but I'm getting them more often now. Foot cramps I've been having for years.

 

I uploaded all the pictures from my camera. It's been a couple of months.

 

There was a shooting over the weekend... it was initially presented as a poor unarmed young dad, but there was a bit more to the story. It's our own Michael Brown incident, though so far the Black Lives Matter people have only blocked off the Kings games. No rioting to date, which is promising.

 

 

 

Friday I did some digging in the garden. I called Brenda to find out how Renee is doing, and she's been removed to a convalescent home. I also called Darlene. She was on her way to St. Augustine.

 

Then I drove down to the Feickert school Carnival. Bernadette had bought my raffle tickets and a ticket for a cheese pizza slice. (Friday in Lent, no hot dog for me!) I danced the Macarena and Y-M-C-A, but mostly I hung out. Bernadette actually can do the hula hoop! I put my tickets mostly in the bag for the gift cards, and a few in the Kindle Fire bag. And I won nothing. However, Bernadette (and Padreic, who had carefully put the ticket in that bag when she told him to) did win a basket with a really cute bunny. And Joanna was totally thrilled with the bag.

 

&bsp

 

I sadly told them goodbye, since this is Joan's turn to have them for Easter.

 

Saturday I spent a lot of time playing games, then went back to sleep and ended up with 8 hours of sleep. This hardly ever happens.

 

I went to the store, then later went to evening Mass to avoid the Palm Sunday processions. Ever since Alan left, our Palm Sundays just aren't that exciting any more. I talked to Peter Mithin for a bit.

 

I adjusted a slow cooker orange chicken recipe for the Instant Pot. It wasn't bad (it's from a diabetes cookbook) though I forgot the grated orange peel which is ridiculous with all the oranges Monica gave me!

 

Sunday morning the dog wasn't in his bed. I went looking for him and there he was in the kitchen with a RAT! A big one! Eeek!! It scurried off to the hole next to the dishwasher. Sunday morning at 4 AM, I couldn't call the rat people till Monday. That night I tried blocking the hole with a lead weight, but it pushed it over and got into the kitchen again, though this time I didn't see it. Then I put bricks there and that seems to be working to keep it out of the kitchen.

 

I dug up the garden for peanuts which I planted on Monday. I'm also trying to sprout kumquats. And I have a different kind of avocado pit I hope to grow.

 

I had a long talk with sister-in-law Carol. Frank will be 75 on April 11th!

 

Fiona (from Ngoko safari) has posted her trip report. They (she and Benson) will be coming to the US in October, maybe to Seattle!

 

I printed up the Canadian Geotour passport, and put Doug and Nancy on the GPS.

 

Monday I had a nosebleed. I spent a lot of time playing games. I am spending too much money on Albion, but it's very addictive.

 

The cleaners were early so I had to do a quick final pass. Then while I was in the bedroom I kept hearing this "tap tap tap" and wondered what they were doing. Finally, when they tapped on my window I learned they had locked themselves out!!

 

My tulips are so pretty!

 

 

I'd been wondering if Roni would ask me for Easter. She finally emailed the family, what fun it would be if everyone came for Easter dinner. (This was a surprise, lately they've been taking Grandma to dinner in a restaurant. Apparently Kathy has become totally anti-social, doesn't want to go out, doesn't want people to visit.) Monica is going to New Orleans, Bernadette is in Oregon, and I said no because I'm on retreat till Easter morning and am going to want to go home with my dog. Poor Roni!

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 595

31.3 miles

rain rain rain

 

328 recordings of 28 types. 68 old CPD, 1 old SVU. 25% clear.

 

 

Sunday March 4 I went on a WPAC trip for the first time in a couple of years. I had planned to sit in the bus with Thea, and she thought we were doing it too, but Sharon was convinced Thea would be with Donna and she put me with Ray. Uh-oh... while Ray and I have been communicating (ever since I showed him my air museum membership card) lately, there was some tension earlier. As it happened, we got along fine. At the beginning he said "I don't know why I'm stammering" and I said "Apparently I intimidate you. I certainly don't MEAN to" and after that he stopped stammering.

 

We talked books and travel, seeing President Kennedy and other famous people (I had Milton Caniff, and he knew who that was! I completely forgot Eva Gabor) and it was quite entertaining. When the coach arrived in Antioch we stopped at the Lone Tree golf club for their brunch buffet, and all I can say is.. wow. There was so very much food! I didn't wait for the roast beef, but went through a different line, so filled my plate with so very much good food. Thea and Donna had waited for us to sit next to them, and Ron and Gen were also at the table. I had wanted to tell Ron that I walked across Spain, because he always liked to walk. I also wanted to tell him I'd gone to Africa. And I wanted to tell Gen that my Wednesdays were fun, since she had asked the last time I saw them. I still miss him, though I don't think I showed it. I did find his dithering exasperating while he was trying to find the dining room. At one point I pointed at Ron and Ray and said they were the only two WPAC members I'd been geocaching with.

 

I ate a lot, but tried to be carb conscious. I was the only person at the table who only had one dessert! There was a lot of merriment going on when Donna couldn't get her dishes picked up and put them on another table... then the people who had that table reserved came in.

 

I'd noticed a geocache but it would have been too far a walk, so I didn't go for it.

 

Then the driver wanted to show us some of Belmont, but eventually decided there was too much traffic. So off to the Antioch theater where the Zmed brothers did their Everly Brothers Experience show. Not only did they sing the songs, but told us biographical information. It was really great! Toward the end I found myself in tears, not so much crying for Rich (who was later than most of these songs) but apparently for my lost youth. Which was a huge surprise, since this is the first time I've not been content with my current age.

 

And so home, a quieter ride during which I pretty well finished my book.

 

Monday the water people were back, to my surprise. I spent much of the day watching, wondering what they were doing. Finally, as they unloaded the fire hydrant at my neighbor's house, it all became clear. Oh, THAT's what the mysterious "FH" meant!

 

This is when I discovered the VCR control panel and rescued "Lady and the Tramp." I'm not going to try to get it set up with this television, though, but going to wait until I get the white elephant set up. It dawns on me I will need a remote, as well as speakers. I'd thought I could do it by hand but with a VCR and DVD player I will almost certainly need a remote to get to the different INPUTs.

 

The olde movie I watched was "Ball of Fire."

 

I guess I fed Pharaoh twice He doesn't let me know, but then he upchucked. Sigh.

 

I'd dozed off, and Helena called at 9 something, to let me know it would be OK to stay with her in a couple of weeks.

 

Tuesday my Fishdom game finally had something I could play, Herman the crab, so I did that. (I'm saving the main games, which get added 15 at a time on Thursdays, till they open the new aquarium, so I can win their goodies to furnish it.

 

Once again, I skipped the ladies' breakfast. I like the people, but not the restaurant so much.

 

Movies were "Test Pilot" and "Talk of the Town."

 

I took a box of books to the library and stopped at the office. They still didn't have my name badge, so I tried ordering it again. I made my reservation for a gambling trip to Cache Creek casino. They had sent Rich an invitation, before he died, and I thought I could use it but called first, what a hassle, but I have a membership now. But I've only gone there one time, in 2012, so would enjoy going back. Without having to drive it!

 

I then stayed for the board meeting.

 

On the way home I stopped for cuticle cream, because my fingernails are miserable. I couldn't find the sort ot tube I was looking for, so I got Aquaphor which says it's for cuticles, too.

 

And it was a nice call from Vince. I'm actually letting him talk occasionally.

 

The Gummint is suing California over sanctuary cities. Great, I get to pay both sides (as well as the 18 times Becerra has sued Trump. One of which he's lost.) The state is going to pot, and this is how they spend my tax money.

 

Wednesday, my dreams seemed to mix up Eric's page job with Last Man Standing. Odd.

 

Wee Wednesday was about the Faith Ringgold exhibit. We started with the "word quilt" book, then upstairs, in front of the quilt, we had the story the quilt tells.Padreic was interested and talked about the first book but we got interrupted with an unneeded potty stop, and he didn't know about grandma's quilt. When I went back to the Crocker on my own to really look at the exhibits, I bought both those books and took them to him and he was fascinated and loved them.

 

The kids got out early this week, so I was home in time to call the church bookkeeper and get my donations sorted out. I figure the tax people would have taken my word for it, so we'd only need proof if I got audited. However, the bookkeeper mailed the correction right away.

 

I've got a new game, Alice in the Mirrors of Albion. It's a very involved hidden objects game and I was getting frustrated that it wouldn't let me buy hints and kept freezing on me. I deleted and reinstalled it twice with minimal success, but then I reset the iPad and all was well.

 

Thursday, the kids were still getting out early, so we went over to Davis to the Raptor Center. It doesn't take much time to go through, but I think Joanna was quite interested. I walked over to look for a cache but there was a woman sitting in a car there. Then when we drove past she was gone and I said that, but Bernadette didn't stop. Oh, well, I'll look for it when I'm going down to San Jose.

 

Kim wants to meet with Trump! His Gridiron joke, about "how do you meet with a madman? That's not my problem, it's Kim's!" is coming true!

 

 

354 recordings of 34 types, 1 old SVU (I have to keep repeating "no, don't record that"), 70 CPD, 19 LMS. 21% clear.

 

This week went by in a flash... I've been playing Fishdom and reading Nero Wolfe, not writing this journal or keeping up with much of anything else. Sunday through Thursday I was watching Safari Live and hoping to win a safari, but sadly a woman from Seattle won.

 

Monday (the 5th) would have been Rich's 76th birthday. When I changed out the cat box I realized there wasn't enough poop. Later in the week I saw that Pharaoh was sneaking in there WHILE I'M IN THE HOUSE so there's no time I can leave the gate down. He was duly punished but he's apparently too stupid to learn or too obsessed to care. 

 

I watched Marnie.( I'd never seen it before.) I was surprised that it was written by Winston Graham.

 

I can't stand Adam Schiff. He speaks, he lies. I was happy, later in the week, to find out he got pranked by some Ukrainean DJs, and now I think of him as a buffoon. I think he's lost some credibility (I hope) because of that.

 

Tuesday my sleep was all messed up and I didn't make it to breakfast. My weight and blood pressure were both down. I dug in the garden a little bit. Turned off the heat and opened windows much of the next few days. (Then it got cold again.) 

 

Pharaoh got into the rawhide I got out for St. Vincent de Paul. He's *impossible* these days.

 

Wednesday, fun with the kids. At Wee Wednesday Padreic was a little more social, though he was as pushy as Arthur. The hard lesson was "wait your turn."  Then he surprised me by not wanting to go to Wing Ding. (He fell asleep on the way home.)  More of the "Land of Oz" with Gareth and Joanna. Bernadette can't get on Facebook, so I've been writing her, and of course my communications major never communicates.

 

I talked to my friend down at the school and she didn't like Father Heart-Throb at all his second time through, so I wasn't the only one. 

 

Thursday was my doctor visit. I'd thought it might be a full checkup but it was just a review of the A1c test.  In the 6 months I lost 5.2 pounds. My A1c was 5.9, so much better than it's been all along. It's still in pre-diabetic range but the lowest it's been since they started checking it 3 years ago or so.  He wanted to know how hard it was to be good, suggesting Glucophage. I looked it up when I got home and have decided no, especially if I can get the A1c down farther (not this week, though. I celebrated with a pizza Friday through Monday, and also have been enjoying other carbs, hash browns and toast and jelly, that sort of thing. (And gained the weight to prove it. Easy to put on, hard to take off!)) 

 

The doctor also recommended a two-part shingles vaccine with a much higher prevention rate than the one I already had. So I went down to the pharmacy for it... and TriCare doesn't cover it! $200! For the first half! Painful two ways.

 

I worked on the jigsaw, and went out to the WPAC dinner in Citrus Heights. It's the chicken won ton tacos there, quite good. One of the women there had a terrible time on the Hawaii cruise. Makes me think again about the Alaska one in a couple of years. The person airlifted off at Hilo WAS on that ship but not a WPAC person.

 

Friday I had a nosebleed, and decided to skip the morning session, mostly because I wanted to carry a pillow to deal with those terrible seats. I gave the teacher a Time Travel book I'd found. The movie was "Time Bandits." Silly. During the week I watched "Terminator" and I was wrong, I hadn't seen it before. For one thing, it came out before I met GoE, so I wouldn't have. It must have been a sequel that I didn't like. 

 

My neighbor came over to tell me they'll be putting a fence in. Darn. I really like it when the dogs see each other and when I can reach over and pet them, especially Patches, the new one. I miss the old days when I could see the neighbors!  Oh, well.

 

That night I went to the Camino Pilgrim's meeting to see the Le Puy presentation. Not much help about the route from Lourdes.  John was there. He called the next day to see if I was all right, because I left while he was talking to another woman.

 

Saturday morning I went to the WPAC breakfast, which was nice. Marty and Jim were there. She got really sick on the cruise, and he was disappointed at the Arizona Memorial.

 

I took the kids to see "The Secret Garden". And I started looking for maps of Nero Wolfe's house. I settled on Stout's sketch of the office but finally adjusted Baring-Gould's first floor to make the second floor work. (Still can't do the third floor and the orchids, but oh, well.) 

 

Had a nice long talk with John on the telephone. 

 

Sunday it was Mass, Communion at the retirement home, and finishing the Rex Stout Nero Wolfes. 

 

 

356 recordings of 60 types, 3 old SVU, 45 old CPD. 25% clear.

 

Wednesday (the 13th) was another babysitting day. Bernadette dropped Padreic off and I left the dog in the back part of the house. I had him make a tree, as the older kids had. He was really careful about where he placed each of the sticker ornaments. Then, after a short time playing, we went off to Wee Wednesday.

 

 

This one wasn't quite as nice as the first one, but Padreic was into it and even contributed a little. The story was "It's Not a Box" and then we saw sculptures up in the galleries and made one with colored popsicle sticks and tape.

 

On the way home I tried to get tickets to "The Star" for Saturday with Gareth and Joanna, but had no luck. They were only showing it at 9:45!! So I decided I would take them to see "Ferdinand" at, gulp, Arden Fair instead.

 

Then home to give Padreic lunch and go to get the kids, play in the park, and read to them. And stick around till Rob got home. Padreic was much more awake and alert this time.

 

 

Thursday morning I headed out to Folsom to meet with other Sacramento Pilgrims to walk on the new Johnny Cash trail. I was wearing my Camino sweatshirt so was easy to find for the others. We were led by a lady who lives in Folsom and is quite excited by the developments here. They have some lovely art work planned. We walked 7 miles, and at a pace faster than I'm used to. It was fun sharing thoughts and memories with others. But I sure was tired coming home!
 

 

 

Back home, emptying the bag I took, I discovered my Renaissance nametag, the one I lost last spring so I got a new one in September!

 

I was so tired I nearly forgot the Posadas out at the Retreat House. Fortunately, I saw a post from Bernadette and remembered, so I called her to ask for a ride. We forgot about "Mexican time" (non PC term!) and were there shortly after it was supposed to start at 6. It actually started at 7:15. Father Clemente had written a nice meditation to go with the songs. One choir was indoors (running from door to door in the retreat house) and we were following Jose and Maria and another choir and singing with them on the outside. At the fifth door we were welcomed, "pilgrims" (oh, yeah, this was definitely a pilgrim kind of day) and went in to a fiesta. Yes, I had a tamale! The kids were funny with the pinatas. I remember in 3rd grade or so we read a story about children in Mexico and how at Christmas time they had a pinata. How exotic that was! Nowadays kids almost expect one at every party. I got home about 9:30.

 

 

Friday I was stiff, but never mind, I walked to the UPS store (about a half mile) and got my passport photo.

 

I was looking for nailless hangers, I know I have some, and opened one kitchen drawer and there was a spider in it! While it wasn't especially black, it was shaped like a black widow, and I didn't take a chance, but smished it.

 

 

Fishdom has a 12 days of Christmas game, but I'm going to wait till it's worthwhile. Right now I get the same prizes over and over, and am not winning anything else... I want the decorations that go into this "Fantasy" aquarium.

 

I did some digging of weeds. I see the dog has started on the gate. It's pretty high, and I don't think he can get a purchase so I'm guessing the gate will outlive him. It looked like the leaf bin was low enough to deal with the newly-fallen leaves. (Then the next day the wind came up and stripped the beds, and I wondered if the gardeners could find room, but it was OK.)

c-c-cold!

 

371 recordings of 35 types, 41 old CPD, 5 old SVU. 24% clear, but that will change with Big Cat Week and babysitting Padreic!

Monday I swept the leaves off the back porch, and the palm seeds in front, but really, why bother? Every time I sweep it up, more fall and it looks just the same. Plus this week the wind blew all the leaves off the garden and out of the yard onto my back porch. I had to sweep a path out.

I went really early to Supercuts for a much-needed haircut. The young man was quick and did a good job, though not quite as short as I would have liked. It still looks a LOT better. Then I made a quick stop at Emigh Hardware to ask where the fuses are. She showed me, in the plug. Mind you, when I got home I still had a hard time opening the plug, so went online. Oh, it slides! So I tried various permutations to replace the fuse, and nothing worked. Apparently it's the wire itself. Now I have a case for the tree, but I believe I'll get a different tree next year saving all these fuses and bulbs. In fact, I'll try to get next year's on the 26th, since as I say, I have a case. I wound up turning the tree so the lit string is in front. It looks OK.

 

The cleaners were early, and I'd just finished the bonus disc of Doc Martin.

 

They were done early enough that I decided to go to the movies, and saw "The Man Who Invented Christmas." It was a pleasure to see Ian MacNeice playing an entirely different part. There was also someone else from Doc Martin, though not a main character like Bert Large. I enjoyed the movie.

 

Tuesday was babysitting. Padreic was interested in all the toys I brought out. When I went to change his diaper I managed to get poop on the floor. Later, he was playing with the enormous number of toys I brought out and said "I found all the tools." I am reminded of Vince at this age when we'd given him a tool bench... "this 'ittle boy is workin'!"

 

I put batteries into the talking snowman and while I was about it, did the same for the singing snowmen. I could learn to regret that!
 

 

(click for the video.) 

 

He was getting along fine with Pharaoh (once the dog calmed down) but then the dog barked at someone and Padreic decided he was afraid of him. So after I'd read "10 Little Toddlers" three times to him I put him down with the book and he cried and "cried." The quotes are for when he was faking it. So I put him down on the couch for a nap. After a few quiet minutes he was fine.

 

We had macaroni and cheese for lunch and Padreic fell asleep on the way home. We went to fetch the school kids. Joanna had had a terrible day (B. had forgotten her meds). She passed it on with her rhapsodizing about Grandma coming to Christmas in the Park (which was wrong but I had a fit first) "Grandma sees you more than I do." "It's because we love her so much." Well, that puts me in MY place. Vince told me off about that.

 

Wednesday was St. Nicholas Day. I woke up sad, partly because of the whole Grandma thing and mostly because of St. Nicholas Day, but then Bernadette brought me a puzzle when she brought Padreic over.

 

My Facebook post:

 

 

 

Joanna still had a sad day, and playing in the park didn't help much. They ran ahead of me, and I'd forgotten to lock the door. Oh, dear. I read them another chapter of "Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill." Later, after her homework was done, Joanna was buried in "The Secret Garden", no pun intended. That book was what she got from St. Nicholas.

 

And I drove home with the carseat! I have been coming up Watt, long trip, but probably better than the freeway. I don't get home till dark.

 

I realized that I didn't have the book "Little Women", which was always one of my favorites, so I ordered it, So now reading:

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; The Little World of Don Camillo, Giovanni Guareschi; Little Women, Louisa May Alcott; and The Golden Spiders, Rex Stout. (I've gotten up to 1953.)

 

I printed up my Passport Renewal Form. Then I made mistakes (with my own cell phone number!) on the second page.

 

Fishdom finally opened a new aquarium but I had to wait to play a couple of days till the "levels" came up, to get the decorations. Once more I've played beyond where they are, so stopping until it's worth it to me to play. I imagine I'll have Christmas decorations pretty soon.

 

 

 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 560

 

372 recordings of 29 types, 8 old SVU, 32 old CPD, 23% clear.

 

Friday (the 18th) was, of course, Renaissance. I decided I was interested in the travel seminar about Panama. So many places I would like to see, so little time. 

 

I got there early and picked a good seat along the wall, so I could see the screen and wasn't blocking any one else. About 15 minutes before the class started, a woman sat next to me, said "Jan? I'm Jean N."  I remember her from years ago, at St. Philomene and in the neighborhood where she still lives. But it has been years. A quick catch-up says that she was widowed a couple of years ago. She wanted to know if it gets easier. Her future trips, with friends, will be to Greece and Portugal. It was great to see her and I'd like to get her into WPAC. I had some thought of asking her to the Newcomer's Dinner, but in the end, just as well I didn't, because I didn't feel like going on Monday.

 

After the interesting presentation, I had my usual tuna bahn mi for lunch at the movie place. The seats are so awful, I really need to remember to bring a seat cushion. The movie was "The Edge of Tomorrow." An alien war movie. Tom Cruise was great. I enjoyed the whole thing, except for the seating!

 

At the discussion, I misquoted Shakespeare, "the coward dies a thousand deaths, the valient only taste of death but once."  The teacher had never heard it! (Later, when I corrected the quote in email, he thanked me for raising the level of the discussion above his stupid jokes.)

 

In the evening I wanted to see the new tiny theater so drove 10 miles out to the wilds of Citrus Heights to see if I could get in. I drove back and forth looking for it, but it was dark and I couldn't see the sign for it. There was a homeless man sleeping right next to an alleyway I drove down looking, and others here and there, and I finally gave up and came home. To a spirited argument about "You should have used a smartphone, you should have used Google Maps." I did use Google Maps, but I still don't see what a smartphone would have done to help me see the sign!

 

Saturday was fairly calm. I did a little digging and picked three oranges.  I started polishing a three-candle candlestick and it turns out to be a lot harder than I had realized. I plan to take it to Roni and if Monica wants one, I have another one. (How come I have two? Were they my grandparents'? )

 

I got about 12 pieces into the puzzle, by sheer perseverance, trying every piece in every place.

 

I was using the picture frame on a 2014-15 picture disc that ends just before my Camino. I decided to go through the pictures on the computer and get rid of some of the fuzzy ones. Lots of good memories. I'd also hoped to rotate some but that doesn't work. 

 

Sunday at Mass I saw Laurie and invited her to go to see "Lady Bird" with me. This is a movie set in Sacramento, semi-autobiographical by the Sacramento native who wrote it. Laurie really liked it, I thought it was good (but I'm not actually a big "coming-of-age" fan.) Nice to see all the local sights.

 

Then in the afternoon I did go to the Citrus Heights theater who did "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged)" It wasn't the one I saw on the 1st with the Reduced Shakespeare Company, and the seats in the still-under-construction theater are uncomfortable, but I enjoyed it up till close to the end, when they were supposed to do Hamlet but instead started a very dull stretch so they could have an intermission. I left then. However, I do want to see their December play, and some of the ones next year (except for Twelth Night. I am SO DONE with that play!) 

 

Monday I made a quick trip to the Commissary before the cleaners came. I also had a chance to talk to the neighbor, and it turns out my neighbor on the corner (who never lives there any more) also has a backyard leak.  On that topic, the plumber called to check on my job, and yes, I'm still happy.

 

I won all the decorations I could with Fishdom so am going to not play for awhile until they make the new aquarium. (A resolution that has been tested a bit... I can play Herman because there are rewards... I lose slowly, but I get goodies, too. Leo, I'm not playing until I get lots more diamonds.)

 

I had filled out a form to be on a mock jury, and they want me! So I'll be doing that on Sunday December 3rd. Nice!  There's $125 in it for me!

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 558
169.1 miles

WINDY! (Sunday) hotter but calmer yesterday.

 

356 recordings of 30 types, 67 old SVU. I've completed seasons 10 and 12 now. 20% clear.

 

I went to the first Saturday breakfast and got my birthday card from WPAC. There were 4 October birthdays there.  Then on the way down to Elk Grove I actually did some geocaching, found two but for the third the only parking place I could find was next to the "No stopping any time" sign, so I thought I'd try a different approach another time.

 

When I got to the house, the menfolk were all asleep, with Bernadette and Joanna gone camping. It seems that Gareth got up about midnight and played on his iPad the next 6 hours. So when Bernadette got up she sent him to bed with Robert, so they were all dozing away when I arrived at 10. 

 

Gareth packed for himself... with a bit of reminders from me and his dad. Rob made him some breakfast. (Toast and jelly.) He made eggs for Padreic who had said that was what he wanted but then, of course, wanted a banana instead. 

 

Gareth and I went over to the Fall Festival at Green Acres nursery. They changed the date from the third Saturday to the first Saturday, which competes with the Elk Grove Harvest Pumpkin Festival. (Where they had a giant pumpkin weighing more than a ton, setting the record this year!)  So it didn't seem to be as busy as usual.  Gareth hurt his knee last week and was limping, so wasn't really interested in this anyway, and he never was one for the pumpkin decorating or the balloon animals so after we did the pie walk (and didn't win) we left. 

 

I drove up Watt so I could get a car wash, and not before time. July or maybe even June was the last one, and I drove to Laramie and had a week in smoky Ashland and another couple of weeks in smoky Sacramento. First Saturday breakfast, driving into the rising sun, is always a good way to tell that the car needs washing, anyway. Then I drove thru the nearby McDonald's and got him a hamburger, and so home.

 

I'd taken one of the STEM kits from Grandma, as well as the da Vinci model I gave him for his birthday. Bernadette and Robert never actually get around to doing this stuff with the kids.  The boy had his 30 minutes with the iPad, which is when I finally got Bernadette's message that he shouldn't take it here. Oops. So later when he said he didn't get his after breakfast time, I said "oh yes you did, all last night!" The boy is definitely addicted. 

 

We did the bubble kit.  You experiment to see what makes strong bubbles, catch them and bounce them (Gareth needed to be reminded which way to put his hand... sometimes I wonder what's going on in his head) and the best thing was making square bubbles. There was a lot of manaical laughter. I think he enjoyed it.

 

Later he FaceTimed Grandma, and they've made plans to do this together when she's here.  I suggested she lock Joanna in a closet. Joanna is so bubble crazy that we had to hide this kit because she wouldn't be able to help herself.  Also, she tends to take over and Gareth tends to let her. Grandma can also do Joanna's kits with her (without interference from Gareth.)

 

We had trouble with the model. It's easy enough, but we didn't have the hand strength to put some struts in.

 

We played Blokus. The boy for some reason dumped the thing when I went to the door at one point. I won both games, though I'm still not sure what the best approach is. However, I have to stop thinking it's like Go, because the way to win is totally different.

 

In between all this, he played with the giant Lego.  I would think it's too babyish, but he had a good time experimenting with different building techniques and making a big tower.

 

At bedtime, I read him the last chapter of the Great Brain. It turned out to be 35 pages, what a surprise, and he was tired but stayed awake to the very end, laughing at the final words.

 

Sunday we went to Church, then I was distributing Communion at the nursing home and he was good in the corner with his iPad, and so down to Elk Grove. Daddy was interested in helping with the model, so I hope he did.  

 

I came home and just collapsed. I completely forgot I had a ticket to Rising Stars of Opera in Davis, even though there it was in my purse calendar which I consult frequently. Oh, well, at least it was a free ticket.