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.

 

 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 599

66.4 miles

HOT

 

341 recordings of 69 types, (I watched the end of the season of Suits and am not going to continue with it),  11 old CPD (with one missing). 23% clear.

 

Tuesday I went down to Elk Grove to pick up the sunscreen Rob bought for me (it's an add-on, and I don't spend enough at Amazon for it). The place looked like it exploded... Rob apparently decided to clean out the garage. Their cat was so lonesome! And after that it turned out to be the wrong kind of sunscreen..I wanted the roll-on kind. Oh, well. 

 

I had wanted to look for two geocaches, but when the GPSr batteries died I only got 10 or so caches loaded on. Fortunately, one of them was one I wanted to get, so I found it, for the first find in June. 

 

I finished Notre Dame de Paris, volume 12 of the Harvard Shelf of Classics. There are some laugh out loud moments in it.

 

The cleaners came because I had the lifeline screening on Monday.  While I was getting ready, after I'd shut my bedroom door, I opened Bernadette's room... and the sneaky cat wasn't locked away so went in there. Poor Alicia!

 

 

June 20 I went to the Knights of Columbus Ladies' Lunch. As they are on Wednesdays, I normally can't go. I sat with a lady who told the exact same story I'd heard before (from another woman) either at the brunch in Modesto or at the Retreat House. I.e., she's a parishioner at St. John Evangelist, her husband was Grand Knight, it was a lot of work, he was always on call, and when he was replaced they joined the Carmichael Elks and she said do NOT try to work up through the ranks.  The exact same story, different woman.

 

I took one lady home afterwards. 

 

I made a "Boxcar" geocache list.

 

June 21 Pagan came over and helped set up the White Elephant TV Rob and Bernadette gave me three or so years ago. It was a lot simpler than I thought it was going to be... I didn't need speakers. Also, getting the Uverse hooked up should have worked better, but there were some difficulties. Since I couldn't get through on the Internet, I was on the phone a long time with a helpdesk guy.  The trouble with hooking up to the TV was that the DVR wasn't plugged in very well. (Oops.)

 

I treated him to an Indian lunch. So good. 

 

In the afternoon I moved the furniture to get a good view of the television, which is now on the hearth. Then I took the 30-year-old Sharp TV to the recycling place. I was offered all of $1.30 for it, but couldn't be bothered. 

 

Charles Krauthammer died. So sad! Meanwhile, I've realized that I'm much happier when I fast forward through Juan Williams. You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts. And even his opinions are written by the Democrats.

 

I ordered up the Crater Lake boat trip. I decided I wanted to go, too, even though the climb back up is going to be very hard.  This is fortunate, as it turns out Vincent misinformed me as to how long they were going to be there, (so I will be leaving before they do, instead of the same day, because I have a play ticket that night. Sigh.)

 

 

Friday I printed up the permission slip for Joanna, since Bernadette apparently didn't send it in and then lost it, and Rob hadn't yet received the replacement. 

 

I spent so much on Albion the last few weeks, and didn't get the prize I was trying for,  I've cut way back, and am doing all right.

 

Saturday I went out and got money, a hose for the back stand pipe, and bread, and mailed off the graduation and birthday cards to the boys in Snohomish. And Niki is reluctant to do all the great things around Bend, which is stupid.

 

Today at Mass Gerrie had the two Bertie books, and doesn't like them all that much, and I gave her Village School by Miss Read (which I re-read in a hurry this week: and am now reading the next in the set so we can trade next week.)

 

After Mass I went down to have Rob sign the permission slips (which I have left in the car! How awful if I forgot them!!) We also traded sunscreen since he got the stick stuff, including for himself. He's skipping the Crater Lake part of his trip, as Gareth isn't all that interested. 

 

I got gas coming home, so I think I'm pretty well ready. I will water everything tomorrow morning and then it should be OK until Friday. I hope.

 

Today I decided I didn't feel like digging up tulips. It's not like I could be done tomorrow, so one day probably won't matter. 

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

 

352 recordngs of 38 types, 1 old SVU, 74 CPD, 50 LMS. 24% clear.

 

 

Heh. Schumer had to surrender. Guess he miscalculated. 

 

Monday was fairly laid back. I drove my neighbor to her massage appointment. We had a nice chat. I really need to see more of her, because it's always fun to talk to her.

 

I did more work on the puzzle and got Europe off the scratch map. Only Africa and some flags to do. It is driving me crazy... the guitar pick is a terrible scratch off tool. I can hardly wait to be done and frame it, and then maybe never travel anywhere else interesting.

 

Monday night I somehow lost my red-framed glasses (I finally found them on the floor Wednesday morning, so they must have been in the bedclothes somewhere.)

 

Tuesday I woke up to a HUGE spider in the bathtub. Usually in the middle of the night I ignore them till morning, but this one was big enough to get out of the bathtub immediately and had to go out right then. I remembered to unlock the front door... if I'd locked myself out I couldn't get in the back because it was still locked and the dog was asleep, and stumbling around in the cold and the dark looking for the spare key would have been very difficult.

 

AAA called me because they didn't have the credit card number. I figured they would. I also got my information pack from Road Scholar. They wanted Joanna's contact information, so I called on Wednesday to tell them I didn't want to give it to them. It might spoil the surprise.  

 

I went to the Widow's Breakfast, and then stopped to get milk to try to make yogurt. This almost worked... the problem was I didn't mix in the starter well enough. However, there was a little actual yogurt under the milk in the cups. I will try this again sometime next week.

 

In the evening I went down to the Camino Pilgrim's meeting. They had 5 people give quick talks about their Caminos, with slides. I enjoyed it. John came there, too. When I got home I noticed a hole in my porch! Where did that come from?

 

Wednesday I took a birthday card to Rob. It began to dawn on me on the drive down that I had the wrong year, and sure enough, he's 42, not 40. How embarrassing.

 

Padreic was really good at Wee Wednesday this time. There were lots of people at the Crocker today and we had to park at the side (where he could reach the coin slot without the step stool.) The meter swallowed a dollar coin. Then I stuck in my credit card and woke it up, so finished the job with quarters. I noted it was off again when we got back, but no ticket... just need to be sure they didn't charge my card, too.

 

Anyway, the lesson was about toucans. Miss Jill handed out feathers and P. was so excited about his I thought he might be reluctant to return it, but he was very good. Then we made toucan masks. He decorated it beautifully but there was no way he was going to wear it. Not gonna happen. 

 

Back at the house, I demonstrated that Alexa is not a Patriots fan. I said that to Bernadette and the robot popped up "I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that." (You know, we're actually putting wiretaps on ourselves, who needs the NSA? It might be instructive to start talking about stuff to buy in front of it and see what comes up on the computer in ads.) So I asked "Alexa, who will win the Super Bowl?" and got a screed on how wonderful the Eagles are.

 

I picked up the kids. Gareth, again, was slow to leave. His teacher says he's very bright, but not organized. No kidding. After about 10 minutes he was done and packed up and started out, walking right past his teacher and I pointed and he turned and said "bye."

 

 

Joanna sold me Girl Scout cookies. She'd wrapped up a present for Daddy, who came out to open it when I was reading to them, so I stopped. It was 4 little dishes. Padreic also had a present that Joanna had wrapped, 5 pennies. He burst into tears when Rob pocketed them, so of course Rob gave them back.

 

Yesterday ... well, let me copy my Facebook post: I wanted to move the African nativity set to the display case, which meant I had to clear the shelf that had my Mom's special things on it, which meant I wanted to move them to the shelves over the piano, which meant the onyx bud vases had to go, which meant I wanted to find the box they came in so they could go to the thrift shop in style, which meant I went through the bedroom closet where I thought that box was... no.. but it meant I found a whole bunch of stuff and even threw some out, and eventually just moved the bud vases to the shelves in my bedroom till I find that box or give up, and then the Nana stuff to the ornamental shelves, and the nativity set to the display case, which means I'm tired. The other project of today is re-filing bills and suchlike from the amorphous pile to actual files, mostly because I'm looking for last year's car license for the tax paperwork. (I haven't found it in past years, but this year I was determined to keep it, but of course it isn't in the tax folder.)

 

So. Much. Stuff.

 

I got so engrossed in the filing (and didn't get the registration form) that I almost was late for dinner at Appleby's. Small crowd (a lot of them are on the Hawaiian cruise) and really good. Chicken wonton tacos, total $4.02 so with the tip, I spent $5 for dinner.

 

346 recordings of 61 types, no old SVUs (three scheduled), 51 CPD, and 52 Last Man Standing.

 

I went to Mass Sunday morning (still 4th Sunday of Advent).

I called my sister and had a nice long talk. Bossy! She actually wants me to FINISH the nice long letter I've started to her!

 

Then in the afternoon I drove over to Elk Grove for the family Mass at St. Joseph's church at 4. Padreic was having a tantrum (he has a lot... partly due to his age and I think also he got a bit spoiled, understandably, when his leg was in a splint) over goint to church. But Rob got a smile out of him when Bernadette posed them in front of the Christmas tree.
 

 

 

 

Mass itself went pretty well. There were wiggles and giggles and eventually Bernadette put Gareth on my far side, away from her and Padreic. Then we headed back to the house to admire the gingerbread houses they each made. Bernadette's is even landscaped!
 

 

 

Rob did a creditable job with a Polish-style Christmas Eve dinner... fish, pierogies (potato: Babcha made cheese (dry cottage cheese) and prune ones), steamed cabbage and a delicious mushroom soup. I should have gotten oplatek... next year for sure. Padreic channeled his Djadja, and had at least 7 pierogis! Djadja (Rich) would have been so proud... he so loved his food.

 

I forgot to mention that on Saturday, I took a slight detour on the way home and stopped by Bernadette's neighborhood "House that Threw Up Christmas." Wow. On the way home from church tonight she drove by it, too.
 

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning I played Fishdom, and went geocaching. I got 3 out of 8 attempts. I wasn't stupid enough to go after one, which would have involved climbing a tree. I could do that, but not by myself! (One cache I missed was archived.)

 

I went over to Elk Grove at 3. Joan's plane had needed de-icing, so she was hours late, but relaxing there watching the kids play with the racetrack she'd brought. I gave B&R the almonds, and Joan a pack for herself. Then I gave Gareth and Joanna the presents for their parents that they'd made. Gareth, absentmindedly, almost opened his. The parents were duly impressed.

 

I liked a couple of Rob's toys, a hovering ball and a funny instrument. I liked them so well I ordered them for myself.

 

We watched "A Christmas Story" and chatted, and Rob put together a good Danish meal. I couldn't have the mashed potatoes (I will be SO GLAD when I've had the A1C test. I know I have to be careful but I'd be really glad to be a LITTLE less careful all the time!) But there was a great salad, and meatballs, and veggies. Yum. I skipped dessert (I'd given in with a fruit tart type thing the night before.)

 

After the kids were in their jammies they opened their stockings. Lots of candy and nice little toys including glowing fidget spinners (which they'd played with at Monica's, too.) I'd given B. a little penguin for Gareth's and a horse for Joanna (as well as a lot of magnetic trains for Padreic) and also a notebook and "candy cane" pen for Joanna, which I gave her a couple of weeks ago.

 

And so home. This was the best post-Rich Christmas (it's what I thought I was getting last year, before the whole kerfuffle of them going to Oregon for Christmas.)

 

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.

 

 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 547
154.7 miles
mild

372 recordings of 50 types, 71 old SVU. 17% clear.

Saturday the 9th was a busy busy day. After I did my morning watering I walked down to Leslie's house to help her set up her garage sale. I worked there until it was time for the sale, and got a decent wheeled ice chest and a great National Geographic atlas for my trouble.  (Well, I paid for them, but it was nice stuff. I needed a new ice chest... I had taken one from the neighbor's discards and they told me the handle was broken, but in actuality this lasted about 3 years before completely falling apart when we went to Micke Grove Park last April.)

I had planned to go to the WPAC second Saturday breakfast but decided there simply wasn't time. I headed back to the garage sale about 9:15 to chat and wait, and my friend Eileen came about 9:30 to take me and Alisa to Oroville for Jeo's memorial. I was wearing an orange Hawai'ian shirt that Rich bought about 10 years ago. (That was a great surprise. He always wore very conservative shirts, till we were in Hawai'i and he got a shirt for the luau (at my insistence.) This was on sale at the Lathrop gas station for $10 and he bought it.) It is far too big, and I couldn't wear my waist pouch on the outside and didn't want to wear it underneath since it made me look 10 months pregnant.  So I pocketed my camera and ID and money and keys, and made do without the kitchen sink I normally carry. (And I remembered when we picked up Alisa who is attached to her phone that I didn't take mine.)

It was a nice ride and I got some answers about why Jeo and his wife were no longer together. I thought she had washed her hands of him when he got sick, which I don't really approve of, but it was the other way around. Jeo told her to get out of his life (I have to believe it was the disease talking, as Jeo was usually a very sweet guy).  So at the memorial it was easy to hug her and tell her how sorry I was. At the memorial (which was at Jeo's sister's house) I learned some other friends are now divorced. Sigh.  There were about 35 geocachers there (all in Hawai'ian shirts, plus the family. The three children, and Cinde and her parents, Jeo's sisters and brother, and his mother. (Woe. Eileen says she's somewhat out of it, what a blessing.) Plenty of food  (although the cookies I brought were unpacked at the end.) I picked up a geocoin to remember him by. It's a California one, not recognized by Groundspeak, but that's OK.) I wrote a memory of Jeo in the book. (Rich and I had just started geocaching, and found a big travel bug hotel in Elk Grove, and we were engrossed in checking the contents when this voice boomed out "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" and scared us to death.) Jeo's son spoke. It was nice to see so many old friends.

I got home about 5.

Eric Bolling's son died.  The hits just keep coming.

Sunday was also a busy day. At church, Gerrie returned my books and gave me some candy (how the heck am I supposed to get my A1C down this way?).  I hadn't planned to go back to the house before the late afternoon, but had to get the candy bar out of the car.  Thence down to help with Communion... there's s guy from church there recouperating from a fall, in his 90s and sharp as a tack, knew my name and Brenda's.  He has an easy name to remember, Charles Schulz!

Hence to Elk Grove. I thought I would drop in on the 9/11 event and see some of the people who weren't in Oroville the day before, but I couldn't find the group. Oh, well. I stopped at Jack-in-the-box for lunch, then got to Bernarob's house. When it was his truck left in the driveway, I thought maybe they'd changed their plans, but no, he was still taking the big kids to see their Mom in the play. My job was to babysit Padreic.

He was busy busy.  There was plenty for him to do in the living room, but at one point he climbed over the gate into Mommy and Daddy's room (forbidden, and I'd locked both kids' bedrooms.) I got him out and then told him to pick up the little bells he'd been carrying. "No." He said "No" a couple of times, and finally I gave him a pop on the backside. Then held him while he cried it out, and we started playing finger games.

Rob and the kids enjoyed the play. He said it was better than the other Gilbert&Sullivan's Bernadette has been in.

Monday the 11th of September I had the flags out all over the yard. It was the day for  the cleaners. They sat in the driveway in their car and had lunch, and here I was all ready to let them in and disappear into the bedroom. I could have finished my TV show!

While I was in the bedroom, I straightened up some more for the window people, and called my classmate Rich who was in town for the weekend. Too hot to leave the house again, though.

I had cloudy urine. But it's been coming and going, mostly clear, so I don't know what's going on.

My neighbor Carol brought over ice cream bars to keep in my freezer for the party the next day.

Tuesday I went to breakfast with the ladies. We only had 4 this time.

I found and rescued a tiny alligator lizard in the house. I thought at first maybe Pharoah had hurt it, but it moved from the zinnia bed where I put it, so it's probably OK. So beautiful!

Carol had a farewell party for Leslie. I will be sad to have her (and Zeus) go. We met the new homeowners, James and Yolanda. They're into wine and across the street Sloan and Christy (who were new to me) brew beer! Hey, I live on a party street! I also met Luann, and then chatted with the neighbors I know, as well.

I got home just before Vince's call. Eric will be going to the Bahamas next year. Gabe and A.J. are doing well in soccer.  And I forgot to tell him about Jeo's memorial and about the alligator lizard... so I started a list for the next time!

Wednesday I went down to Elk Grove as usual, and Bernadette wasn't there. I thought maybe she had decided to take Padreic in to the doctor, since he's been crying over a hurt leg since Monday. Sure enough, it's broken!  He had a splint on it and it will be cast on Friday. He was apparently really good with the doctor, and the X-rays.  It was a trampoline accident. I said, when Joan gave them that, it was dangerous for such small children. Monica argued that it was good exercise and I said it would lead to broken bones. She said "at least they won't be overweight."  So of course, when I posted about the broken leg, I said "told you so, Monica!"

The big kids were in trouble about this. They just stood on the trampoline watching while Padreic cried. No one went in to tell Mommy.  Also, while B. was trying to clean up, Gareth just went to his room and Joanna wouldn't go fetch something "there's a branch in the way."  She got popped on the bottom for her pains, too.  Daddy had a long lecture for them. 

I fetched them and we talked about the broken leg on the way home. Nobody knows what exactly happened. I read them more of Pinocchio. I decided I need to bring over a marionette so they really know what it is.

Thursday, I got my new windows!!!!!! I just love it! The annoying thing is I will have to make sure all the smoke alarms have batteries (I really only keep the hall one and my bedroom charged up, the others are old and beep even with new batteries, too much trouble) before I call the county inspector to come out. It took the guys 4 hours to get all the windows in, and I spied one defective screen so called about it at the end of the day.

I went to the WPAC Appleby's dinner. I ordered the chicken tacos which were filling enough, and to my surprise, between the half price Happy Hour and the 10% discount, I only owed a little over 4 dollars! 

Friday was Renaissance. The morning documentary was "And Still I Fly" about Maya Angelou. When it was dealing with her early life, there was a cameo with Hillary Clinton, who said it was like her mother's early life. All I could think about was "was that before or after she named you for Sir Edmund Hillary?" The bitter old woman (mighod, this book tour!) always has to make it all about herself! The documentary, however, was really good. There was this time she lectured Tupac Shakur about his language.  I'd read all the autobiographies and really enjoyed this documentary.

The time travel movie was Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. I enjoyed it more this time than when I saw it first. Silly but fun. I was tempted to go to the forum but really wanted to come home.

Before I left I saw Leslie walking Zeus for the last time here, so dashed out for a hug from her and a total slobber from him.

The windows will go on November's bill! Hooray, it's nice to spread the misery out!

They warned me there might still be pieces of glass, but I forgot, and sure enough, barefoot in my bedroom. Ow.

Saturday I was pretty well crippled up with a terrible backache, but because I'd promised, I saw Bernadette's play, Patience. It's cute and funny. I'd never heard of it before though there's one song in it I've heard somewhere (an ad, maybe?)

Sunday I stayed in to heal up. My back still hurt but not as badly as it did the day before. I've been leaving the windows open night and day, except when the gardeners were here.   I trimmed the roses in the rose garden Rich made for me. Most of them are dead, thanks to the drought.

I made a salad of dragonfruit, pineapple, (I wanted pomegranates, but they aren't quite ready yet. There are so many I think I can have some despite the squirrels), romaine, one small bell pepper chopped up with a blueberry balsalmic vinaigrette. Yum.

I actually READ "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" for the first time. Disney did a great job following the descriptions! Irving's prose is great!