fossilfreak | Entries tagged with spooky

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. 599

73.0 miles

HOT and smoky!!

291 recordings of 53 types (most of them individual NCIS episodes), 23% clear.

The 19th of July, the day after the long San Jose trip, I sat on the edge of the bed for a long time talking myself into digging. I did it, finally, though not for long.

Ann G., from Sharing God's Bounty, called to invite me to the board dinner in August. I've been on the mailing list forever but the only time I actually went to one was back when it was a couple of blocks from Music Circus the same night as a play we were seeing. Rich went every year, since he was in charge of security. My current contribution is giving them coffee every so often, though at the moment the coffee has been riding around in the back of my car for a couple of months. Ann doesn't go to Mass at St. Philomene's as often as she used to, as she has issues with Father Martin. (After the really bad start when he shut SGB down, I thought he'd calmed down.)

I finally buckled down and finished reading Little Women.

The 20th was Moonwalk Day. I remember when North Highlands had a parade every year.

Bernadette and the kids came over. They leave a terrible mess. Joanna in particular... "here, put these blocks away" and she puts one in the bin and gets distracted. They built a nice tower, though, which I left up.

I showed Gareth how to log onto The Tech to scan his TechTag.

Bernadette weighs 20# more than I do! It's not lack of exercise, that's for sure.

Saturday I was awake from 1:30 to 4:00, possible because I was nervous about the colonoscopy.

Kimberly Guilfoyle is gone from Fox. Darn.

I trimmed back some of the mulberry, which is taking off again. It's getting low enough to touch the mandarin and my head, and going towards the peach tree. I'll need a tree guy again, but my old one blew it last year and I'm not having him again.

I went to Bernadette's to have a last day with the grandchildren till the end of August, as they are off to Joan's. Joanna and I showed Mommy the sticks and rocks game. We tried to get Gareth's real tech tag up but apparently they'll only take one a day, so we're stuck with my experiment. Oh, well. Next year we'll get it right. Then I read a couple more Grimm tales (in both senses of the word) to them and said goodbye. Sniff!

On the 22nd, I didn't sleep that well. I've been spending far too much money on the Mirrors of Albion game, so I've cut back enormously (since I won't get any of the special temporary prizes anyway).

You would think the last regular poop before a day of liquid would be normal but apparently my body knows what's coming.

I've missed two VIP weekends at LazyBoy, darn it. I hope they don't take me off the list. I never buy anything but it's fun to look and I get nice prizes.

Steve has started paying me!

I called Pittsburgh and had a nice long talk with both Frank and Carol (who is having her colonoscopy next week). I thanked Frank again for his good cooking and said I'd picked up some ideas. We discussed our innards quite a bit.

I finally caught entirely up with Chicago Police Department. My next project should be to get last season of SVU done. I can use On Demand for the episodes I haven't taped. Meanwhile, I'm still in season 2 of NCIS and as I remembered, Tony is a real dick..

I figured out how to set the alarm on my Timex. I was concerned that I would have to figure out how to unset it, because I don't want to get up at 3 AM forever. (I usually DO, actually, but I wouldn't mind sleeping longer!)

And I woke up on my own on the 23rd, so I went online and learned how to unset it. The yucky drink worked (and stayed down) so I was ready. Bernadette, worried about traffic, actually got here at 7 so we were a few minutes early for my appointment.

And then they didn't take me back for a half hour or more and didn't start the procedure till 40 minutes late. The doctor seems nice. I felt the cold in my vein as she put the sedative in, then woke up as he reached the end of the trail, where there is a big polyp growing in my appendix tube that he couldn't remove. I jerked a bit when I woke up but then just lay there enjoying the movie of my insides.

This big polyp will need surgery and he said he wanted to see me on the 6th. This has proven to be a lot more difficult than you'd think, and I'm still (the 30th) waiting for a call back on it. The nurses sent a "thank you" card(!) but I'd much more appreciate someone being able to set up an appointment. I still don't know if I can go to Crater Lake and Ashland, as I've been planning for months! Roni has said she can help (as long as it's not over Labor Day) and I think I would need her for three nights. But nothing is going to happen IF THEY NEVER CALL BACK ABOUT AN APPOINTMENT!!

On the 24th, I learned Lexi, again, is an All-American cheerleader and this year she'll be going to Rome!

Jackhammer noise all day, as the neighbors in back, the ones who took care of Pharaoh, took their pool out.

I went to breakfast with the ladies. Afterwards I went to the neighbors to get painter recommendations, but it's been too hot to call anyone. Because of the hassle of my surgery, I've decided to put the painters off Yet Another Year. This is when I started trying to get hold of the doctor's office to make an appointment.

I had the first peach off my tree. The squirrels were quicker, so in the week I only got 3, but they were good while they lasted.

And I finished Pere Goriot. Im not surprised that Balzac was on the Index. Not that we ever followed the Index, but the "morals" of this book were really grim and depressing.

And Vince called.

On the 25th I took Spooky in for checkup. The woman who took my call apparently forgot that part after she told me he needed two shots, so I was quite surprised when the tech came out for the carrier with the cat inside it and was starting to take him away. We got the checkup anyway. Next time I'll have the blood workup, though he's in fine health at the moment. 13#!

I called Road Scholar to beg for no more neck wallets. I already have seven!

On Thursday the 26th I went to Mass at the Retreat House, and then to the State Fair with Bernadette and Padreic. He wasn't very interested in most of the kiddie things, but loved the corner of the Counties building (only 18 counties? Shameful!) where they have a little store with play food. It was well over 100 degrees and very very tiring.

On Friday I was SO TIRED* but went down to Elk Grove to babysit so Bernadette could go to Camp Winton for their final campfire. I took some P.D. Eastman books to the boy (I've been helping to rearrange the books, and Bernadette got rid of a lot of the not-so-popular board books so the other preschool books could leave Joanna's room for the living room. So more of HER books could be shelved (though most of them end up on Gareth's floor anyway.)

*because I changed the bed, did laundry, finished digging, evened out the dirt, added compost and new garden dirt, and planted zinnias.

I got home about 5 to calls from the doctor's assistant (argh) and Road Scholar, all of which had to wait till this week to deal with.

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; Tyler's Row, Miss Read; Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, Robert Goldsborough; plus I want to reread Charles Krauthammer's Things that Matter.

In between I read Old Goriot by Balzac!

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 572

3.8 miles

cool, partly cloudy

350 recordings of 51 types, 1 old SVU, 62 old CPD, and 53 LMS. 24% clear.

Sunday I forgot to bring the donation envelopes. I've adopted Rich's program of giving one big donation on the first Sunday of each month and not on the other weeks. But that does mean giving on the first Sunday! I'll catch them next week. At least I did remember to bring a Mma Ramotswe book to Gerrie!

About five pews ahead of me was a big black man I've never seen there before. I didn't notice him until he suddenly sat with a *thump* from standing during the prayer. A woman sitting with her family in the same pew leaned over to ask if he was all right, and then a couple of other people came to talk to him and someone called 911 and went out to wait for the paramedics. 5 minutes later, Communion time, he was given communion, and then someone ahead of me in line told the priest about him and the priest went down to give him a blessing, too. Shortly after that the paramedics were there, but the man was well enough to walk to the gurney. I'm glad this stranger came to our church to be taken ill!

About 2:30 I drove with Pharaoh to drop off the chocolate-y popcorn I'd bought from Teddy. No way I could eat that. So I took it to Sunday Support. Imagine my surprise to find the meeting already underway. They've changed the time so people don't have to drive home in the dark. I tiptoed in and dropped off the snack and left, and came home to read the bulletin which I keep forgetting to do. I knew about membership and the luncheon this month, but I hadn't known about a trip to see an Eberley Brothers retrospective in March. Sounds like fun!

Monday morning, early, it started to rain and it rained for at least 30 straight hours. By the time it was done, the back yard was back to swampy, but at least this time the leaves are where they belong.

Monica decided to berate me publicly in Facebook. "Why do you post this stuff?" I was pretty mild telling her to back off, but I was mad, and went into messenger to tell her so. I told her she can disagree with what I post in public, but keep the personal stuff private, and besides, it's not her job to teach me to think. Honestly, I thought I raised her better not to be rude.

I decided, after 7 years, it's probably time to change out the Sonicare brush. I checked in the back bathroom cabinet and yes, Rich had three Sonicare heads. Unfortunately, they don't fit this model too well, but I made it work. They say to change every three months. Ha.

There's lots of stuff in those three drawers in the back bathroom. Aspirin, for one. I have to go through it (yet another thing.)

Tuesday I went to the WPAC breakfast, then to the Carmichael Post Office (which is mostly self-serve and PO boxes) to finally mail off the passport application, and on to the Ford garage, downtown, to give them back the engine fluid they left in the car.

In the afternoon I popped Spooky into the carrier and listened to him meow and squeak all the way to the vet, where he was checked (he's fine) and got a shot. I had to turn around halfway there as I forgot his stool sample, and as I'd cleaned out the box the day before I knew for sure the sample was fresh. I called from here to let them know I'd be late, but I wasn't all that late.

And yesterday I finally got to see the kids again. Padreic cried when he was told it was time to go with me, but he had a good time at Wee Wednesday. The lesson this time was about opposites, and I think most of the kids, who seem to be 3 rather than 4, were completely baffled. Then we looked at a painting with "warm colors" and "cool colors", again too much. They played a game with objects either "hard" or "soft" and that, too, was difficult. Arthur, who may be 4, he's talkative enough, was convinced his wooden truck was "soft." They did better with pictures of "hot" and "cold." However, on the whole this wasn't that successful. Padreic decided he wasn't interested in a third game, but he was well-behaved.

Back at Bernadette's, I got told that Joanna's teacher had called to have her talk to Joanna. The assignment, a 5 minute writing thing on "how I help the community", was too hard for her, she couldn't remember anything she did, and Bernadette reminded her about the things she does with the Brownies. But, when I went to get her, it appears that Joanna still hadn't done it, despite a talk with the principal and another talk with the teacher trying to talk her through it. She lost her eraser, broke her pencil, was told she could do computer once she'd finished it, and still didn't even start. I'm baffled, as she writes all the time at home. Anyway, I brought them home and read to them (although I stopped halfway through a long chapter because my voice was giving out) and Bernadette was pretty much standing over Joanna to finish the FIVE MINUTE writing. ("You'd rather have me than your Dad.")

And I left my raincoat. With my WPAC name tag in it. Sigh.

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

371 recordings of 51 types, 75 old SVU. 17% clear.

Saturday, September 2, I went to the WPAC breakfast. It's at a new place, so I got there a lot quicker than I used to. So I sat in the corner and talked to a couple of guys, and wasn't that happy when Ralph came along, but it turns out he's interesting. Also, he makes model ships so I need to talk to him.

The cat got locked in the pantry, and this time he urinated copiously. Grumble.

In church I said hi to a number of people. It was the 50th wedding anniversary for one couple who I talked to about Renaissance and the Camino (they may walk part of it next year.) I'm happy for them, but envious as well.

I gave the last of the Betsy-Tacy books to Gerrie, who called later to thank me.

My Canadian friends, Nancy and Doug, invited me to stay. So I'm serious now about driving to Ottowa from Pittsburgh next spring. This is the one thing that was Rich's job, hiring rental cars, that I haven't yet done.

I sorted through the SVU episodes and there were a number I had already seen, so that's why that number is lower.

On Labor Day I started the Trip Advisor reviews. I only did three, and have so many more to do. My current goal is to finish them all by the end of September.

I finished crumbling up dipping chips at the bottom of the bag, and used it to crust a chicken breast before I fried it. YUMMY.

New Orleans handled Katrina so badly, and continued whining afterwards, and Nagel was re-elected and talked about a "Chocolate City." I decided then and there that I never wanted to go back to that place. The way the people have handled Hurricane Harvey in Houston (how alliterative!) has made me interested in seeing it after a few years. So I looked up things to see... oh, yes, the Johnson Space Center! Vince, of course, knew this!

Tuesday I cut fur mats off Spooky. I haven't had a cat mat up since long-hair Smokey, before I met Rich. Spooky is short-hair, but sheds a LOT and is not the most fastidious cat.

I went over to the Tuesday morning breakfast. Afterwards I mailed the book to Sue from Ashland. It was too hot to go to the board meeting in the afternoon.

Fires and smoke everywhere!

Sometime that afternoon the squirrels took off with the two tiny pumpkin starts! AND the squash, and I have no idea how they got that (it was huge and I was going to have it that night)! This may have been my last chance for pumpkins (no, I have one more female flower and I'm going to net it the second it has flowered and been visited by a bee!)

Vince called. The boys started school this day. And there was a harvest moon.

Wednesday was my mammogram, then down to Elk Grove. I started Pinocchio with the kids.

Jeo, one of the first geocachers I ever knew, died! He'd been in the hospital a few years back and I thought he would die then, but he came out and seemed to be pretty much back to normal. I'm so sad.

I try to sponsor kids who are fundraising for local schools, so when this teen turned up on my porch selling cookie dough for El Camino's water polo team, I bought one. I talked to him a few minutes, then brought him the money... he said "how do you spell Yarnot?" and I asked "how do you know my name?" and it turned out he's a neighbor! From the house where they have the Hallowe'en parties! Oops.

Thursday I went into Hoarder central and moved stuff so as to get to the windows. I started sweeping there, too.

Outside there was a truck vacuuming out the storm sewers. Then it broke down and this ENORMOUS tow truck came to get it. Never a dull moment in this neighborhood!

I had a nice but small fish tv dinner. I wanted to add one more fish fillet, so I put it in the microwave at the same instructions as the dinner. No. You can't do that... smoke started pouring out of the microwave and it took quite some time to clear it out of the kitchen.

When I went to water the peanut plant, I startled up this HUGE black widow. Lesson learned, when I clear the junk and the cacti away from the back windows, I must be sure to wear gloves!

Friday I did clean the back by the high windows, wearing gloves of course. There was so much dirt and leaves under the boards Rich had there as shelves, that my dustpan broke.

Then it was Renaissance. The morning seminar was about the theater scene in Sacramento. I mostly went so I could tell about Patience, the play Bernadette is in. Someone else did that, anyway, so I didn't have to.

The time travel movie was "Somewhere in Time." Schmaltzy, but fun. Chip (the teacher) says the watch is an "ontological paradox" (because there is no origin.) This gave me a great pun, (what is a "phylogenical paradox"? To recapitulate) which no one understands. I had a hard time seeing this movie because Mr. Big Head came in late and sat right in front of me. Every time I almost could see, he'd move his head. He even had his cell phone on and it rang.) I believe the people behind me could see my occasional "choking hands" reaching for his neck. In the end, though, I was even polite to the creep.

On the way home I bought a Power Curve power strip (the 15 foot cord is of the most interest, because that would mean I could move the TV in front of the fireplace without rewiring one outlet) and a Spin Broom. As seen on TV. Unfortunately, that doesn't work as nicely as the tv would have one believe.

Then I was making cookies for tomorrow's memorial meeting, and put three pans into the oven at once. Because I messed up the preheating, the cookies were in too long and the kitchen filled with smoke, again. This time I apparently started burning the cookie pans, aluminum, because I accidentally had a whiff of it and couldn't breathe at all. Since then my persistent cough is persisting even more, and I'm a bit worried about shortness of breath. This time I locked the cat away and opened all the doors and waved the smoke out. I did eventually make some cookies, but maybe I should just stay away from the kitchen.