Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 602
100.3 miles
80s
 
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.
 
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!
 
 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 585
(I started this book right after Rich died and if I'd held
to the 5 pages a dayI planned, I'd have been done in June 2012!)
4.3 miles
cool, partly cloudy
 

348 recordings of 48 types, 0 old SVU, 69 old CPD, 48 Last Man Standing. 24% clear.
 

I didn't mention on Thursday that I'd also done more on the jigsaw puzzle, day 8 so far, and I'd scratched off North America on the map Vince and Niki gave me. I slipped and got a tish of North Dakota, the upper peninsula of Michigan (I decided Detroit airport didn't count) and some of Nova Scotia, so obviously I have to go to those places to make it right.
 

Yesterday I had more errands. I reconfigured the car and took Joanna's car seat inside, to wait for when Padreic is big enough for it. I took stuff to St. Vincent de Paul, stopped at the church to request a Mass for Rich on February 4, and took a bag of books (mostly Nero Wolfes) to the library. I came back with an Aunt Dimity book I hadn't read. I just told Bernadette that I was sick of cosies, but hey.
 

I got back to work on the "books read" spreadsheet, and behold, I was two off last year, actually read 108 books!
 

Today I took the dog with me in the morning in the car. I was early for breakfast so walked him around the parking lot of the strip mall. He actually behaved well. Maybe I can take him for walks again, which I haven't done for over a year.  Of course, I would still have to worry about other dogs, but it might work out.  A pleasant breakfast, 32 people or so, and I had a steak skewer skillet.  (For lunch I used my new griddle to make a proper grilled cheese sandwich. The way Rich used to make them. Yum.)
 

Then I went geocaching a bit: the first one I tried for the third time (2009 and 2013) and found it. I dunno how I missed it before. I also had spied a man with a Gonzaga sweatshirt so I commented... his son had gone to Jesuit and Gonzaga but quite a while after my kids. Then the second one was at a place I'd tried last year with Richard without luck, and again I had no luck today. Oh, well.
 

At home I started watching the current season of SVU, though I think I'm missing an episode. (Still 2 missing in season 18, too.) And I'm slowly getting through the madness of Big Cat Week and of my Christmas movie binge on TCM. 

Profile

fossilfreak

December 2018

S M T W T F S
       1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031     

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Sep. 6th, 2025 06:29 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios