fossilfreak

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. 602

93.8 miles

heating up, 90s

264 recordings of 41 types, 38% clear.

The 16th I drove over to the campsite and parked and had breakfast with them. Then off we went to the boat dock... they had said, the night before, that we'd better leave by 7:30 to get to the trailhead by 9, due to construction. As it happened, however, we were fine. I got the tickets (I was #1!!) for the 10 o'clock boat, and we started down the trail. Nice trip, too bad I was never going to make it back up. We were early, so I settled down with my book (The Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher, oh my goodness!) and the bags while the family played by the lake. Then it was time for the boat trip. A.J. and Gabe had to have life jackets, and because of the recent tragedy in Branson, I really paid attention to the safety information.

It was a bit smoky, but as we got close to the sights we could see them clearly and if you looked at the water, it was really blue. We saw the floating tree, the Old Man of the Lake, which has been floating at least since 1896. We boated around the Phantom Ship, which reminded me of a Galapagos Island.

After the 2-hour trip it was back up that trail. I walked across the Pyrenees (bitching and moaning all the way) I can do this. Yes, but it took a lot of sweat and a loooooong time.

We went to the Visitor's Center for lunch and shopping, then to an overlook for The Picture. I have a picture of Vince and me in 1992, his college trip, here. One of my friends glanced at it and asked "are they twins?" which has made my day ever since. So we had to have an updated picture. I think it turned out pretty well.

We stopped at another visitor's center on the way back to camp and saw a film and took a short trail, and Gabe got into trouble with his mom for leaving the trail. In my room, later, I realized there were virtual caches all over the park, including that visitor's center, so I made my plans for the next day. Gabe made the fire though dinner was something else... this was for marshmallows. AND I had just given them a grill set they could have used for marshmallows, but forgot until they got back from a trip to the store. Anyway, I left about then.

I had coffee in my room so didn't have to use their system. The next morning I drove down for breakfast, and watched Vince helping A.J. with his Junior Ranger stuff. I then went back to my cabin and checked out and met them at the center place, and we drove to the Pinnacles. This was a short hike and the Pinnacles are fascinating. They are fossilized fumaroles. We saw the National Park border with an old gate
.

Then we went to Plaikini Falls, which was a pleasant hike after the hard one of the day before. And then we said goodbye... they were going around the lake counter-clockwise while I planned to head that way a short distance to pick up some information for a virtual cache, then go back to the park center and get more information and maybe just walk along the rim for awhile, then out the north entrance and go to Ashland. I did this, and also stopped at a couple of viewpoints and chatted with a couple who'd been to Devil's Tower and a German couple, and then to the park center. I walked over to the Lodge and finally found the information I needed for that geocache. When I stepped out I was admiring an old car when a modern one screeched to a halt and a lady raced out saying "JAN!" It was my dental hygeinist!! So then, as I walk back to the park center, I spy some familiar looking people... Vince and family, taking A.J. to a visitor's center to get his Junior Ranger patch!! We said goodbye again, I grabbed something for lunch and passed their car on the way out of the parking lot, and drove on to the Wizard Island overlook where a nice man helped me with the picture, and so out of the park.

And so to Ashland. It was a VERY long way, over 100 miles. I swear I thought it was closer. I finally pulled into the Bard's Inn, which is no longer a Best Western but still very nice. They had repaved the parking lot, and it's beautiful. The town was smoky but I managed to see all the plays, even the outdoor ones, outside. I took the backstage tour (I think the 4th time, and this one was the best) and went to a "park talk" which was inside. Got to hear a couple of the actors, always a fun thing. My plays were Book of Will on Friday night (and I was tired, had a hard time staying awake), Henry V and Love's Labors Lost on Saturday. LLL was outdoors and late because of the smoke and the possibility they'd have to cancel it. So about 11 I was really getting tired, but it finally ended. Sunday I went to church (and since Joan knows the priest, I went back to say hi on Wednesday) and then to Sense and Sensibility and, outdoors, Romeo and Juliet. The weather was beautiful, but when Tuesday dawned, they had to move R&J to the high school.

Monday was off, so I went geoaching, then walking and shopping. The first cache was fun, since I was having no luck at this church sign, when a voice from on high (well, the porch) said "keep trying." Eventually he pulled it out of the bush for me.

The shopping I got three jigsaw puzzles, as if I needed jigsaw puzzles. I also saw a marble run and thought it might be a good present for Padreic. And I got "Runny Babbit" by Shel Silverstein, for the kids, because they obviously need more books.

Tuesday was Othello in the afternoon and then I went to dinner at the Black Sheep. I'd tried all kinds of restaurants and still have to write my TripAdvisor reviews. It was a fun but very expensive trip!!

Wednesday, after Mass (everybody wanted me to stay for coffee) was a long drive home.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 602

93.0 miles

heating up, 90s

276 recordings of 46 type, 35% clear. I am halfway through season 3 of NCIS.

On the 10th of August I was weeding the zinnia bed and semi-tripped over my little wire fence. I didn't fall, thank goodness, but had (and still have) a doozy of a bruise.

Pharaoh was giving me trouble about coming in at night and I left him out about 40 minutes.

I went to Bernadette's and played with Padreic and helped clean out Gareth's room a bit. She told me the coming operation will take out the appendix, which makes sense.

My driver's license renewal came. Too late to get an appointment, especially with the medical issues.

I went to the pizza party for Sharing God's Bounty. I really pigged out. It's amazing how many people are involved in so many jobs... besides cooks and servers there's publicity and volunteer liasons... I sat next to Peter Mithin and Boyd Keenan. I felt a little silly saying why I was there, but as a founder, and hospitality early on, and as Rich's widow, I was OK. I said I didn't do much now but bring coffee and both Ann and Jim said I was also a generous donor.

My jaw hurt on the way home. I don't need a heart attack just now, TYVM.

I finished the jigsaw puzzle in 9 days. It has 5 pieces missing, but 31 pieces that didn't belong to this puzzle. I took it up to Niki.

August 11 was second Saturday breakfast. I spent some time looking for my Social Security card so I can get a Real ID driver's license. I stopped at Lazy-Boy on the way home and got some glasses. I took them up to Vince and Niki but they didn't want them.

August 12, Father had a LONG homily. He's very excited about the Mass and eager to share it. Then I went to Communion at the nursing home. It's been a long time, since before the disastrous Pittsburgh trip.

I ordered face masks for the smoke in Oregon.

August 13. I finally got my appointment to get the results... very disappointing. Basically Svetlana, who is a very nice lady but NOT the doctor, read me a black and white copy of the color report I got from the doctor. They're going to refer me to a surgeon. I was in tears when I left and went to Bernadette's. She was too wrapped up in her World Con plans to be sympathetic. I tried calling the doctor's office to find out the name of the surgeon, but of course it didn't work. So I don't know any more than I did before.

I walked over for a geocache, which I actually found.

August 14 I drove back out to the office to get the surgeon's name and phone number so if they call while I'm gone, as they did, in fact, I could call back for an appointment. It turned out there's no phone service at Crater Lake so I couldn't check in at home until Friday, and couldn't call the surgeon's office till Monday, but I got an appointment for Friday! I had to replace the bulb in the back hall.

There was a Pilgrim's pizza party, and this time I didn't pig out quite so much. I gave a little speech about Casa Leopoldo in Palas de Rei. I bought wine for the trip to Ashland and packed my Ashland glass, but couldn't find my beaded covers for the glasses!

And, finally, Wednesday the 15th, I could start my Oregon trip. I packed two duffel bags, one for Crater Lake and the other for Ashland. My sandwich was too big for a regular sandwich bag! Finally, I left the house at 7:47. I drove and drove (past a field of melons!) till 9:48, the Corning rest area. I needed to get out and stretch even more than I needed a potty break! What a nice rest area, where I've probably never stopped before. Look at all the olive trees! Is there a geocache here? (My pocket query assumed I was taking Highway 99 instead of I-5.)

At 11:39 I was at Castella, looking (unsuccessfully) for a cache. I had waved gaily at the rest area where I saw the eclipse last year. After the fruitless search I stopped at the RRPark resort to ask how they were doing with the smoke. I'd put on my mask at Redding because it was really bad there. There were "thank you" signs to firefighters on all the overpasses. My favorite was "thank you for kickin' ash."

I ate my sandwich at the resort and decided not to stop in Dunsmuir, maybe on the way back. (no.) I went on to Weed and couldn't find the cache at the totem pole, but fortunately stopped at the gas station for a potty break. I say "fortunately" because the rest area on hwy 97 was closed.

I didn't notice there was a cache in Dorris (and in a store, I really could have found it!) till I was just past the turn to it. And no real place to turn around. Oh, well. I did stop and take a good look at the second-highest flagpole in the world, which we had watched being built, back in the days when we would drive to Spokane on 97.

I stopped for gas in Klamath Falls, next to the Super 8 where I stayed when I went up alone to get Vince (when Rich bought the van!) Actually, leave them alone for 25 years and they change everything! Then when I took the turn for Crater Lake I started looking for geocaches, but only found one of the ones I had marked. I stopped at the overlook for Annie Falls, and finally got to Crater Lake about 4:30. I registered and got cabin D1.

Then I tried to call Vince, and discovered there was no phone service. So I left a note at the camping check-in, but decided, sensibly, not to trust that and sat on a log overlooking the parking lot while I read a book. Sure enough, I saw them, about 5:30, and told Niki just to register to see if they got the message... nope. They were camped about .4 miles away, further when I walked around the long way.

I sprang for dinner and had pork chops with mustard, cornbread and butter, and green beans. Yummy. And I bought A.J. his first stretched penny. I spent the rest of the time at Crater Lake looking for an album, but they finally managed to get one (and two more pennies) on the way home.

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. 599

66.6 miles

HOT

After I got back from Boxcar Children Camp, I had a blood test and then a followup visit with the Nurse Practictioner.

June 30, I policed the yard and got money and gas. (Great gas mileage!)

Lexi won all sorts of awards at the Marin County Fair, and Eric designed the logo the Scouts used when they went diving in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, Monica and her family were protesting while they were at the cabin. The family keeps busy.

Saturday night, there was a MUPT, a reunion Modem User Pizza Thingie. Bernadette and the two younger kids came. (Gareth was camping with Rob.) I saw a number of people for the first time in almost 30 years. It was a lot of fun catching up!

Then Sunday, July 1, I went to church, then out to Elk Grove for a memorial for a geocaching friend who has been fighting thyroid cancer about as long as I've known her. I met some of her cousins and told them about geocaching. I also ate a lot. (At this point, after a week of camp and the three parties this weekend, I'd completely given up on the blood test!) I left there about 3 because I didn't have any specific memories to share.

Then Bernadette picked me up for a 50th anniversary party of a couple from church whom we've known forever. Boyd is from Wyoming and was a student teacher (but not one of mine) when I was in high school. Mary Frances is very proud of her Croatian ancestry and used to have a sort of friendly rivalry with Rich on a lot of shared Eastern European traditions. They initially had trouble having a family and had adopted two boys and a girl, then lost them in the courts, but then had Amy, Brian, and Ned. Ned is about Bernadette's age. Amy married a few years ago, and has two stepdaughters, and their own daughter, Delilah, who is a healthy, delightful Downs child. Neither Brian nor Ned have married, so Delilah is the only grandchild and is the light of their lives. It was another great party, with all my church friends. I was surprised at how many people had seen my Facebook bruises pictures.

Then, as usually happens, Monday rolled around. I had made an appointment with the Quest diagnostics place at the same building where I had my colonoscopy pre-appointment. Once I found the Quest place, the blood test went smoothly and I had a full hour to have breakfast in the cafe.

Svetlana (an NP from Russia) gave me the preliminary exam and then I was scheduled for my colonoscopy on July 23, at 8 AM, in Roseville! And poor Bernadette has to come from Elk Grove, and stick around. Rob has agreed to stay home that morning so the kids (who aren't leaving till the 24th... I really have to write all this stuff down!) don't have to stick around the medical offices with her. I initially thought it would be just Padreic and she'd be able to leave and come back. (That's what happened with me last two times and with Rich's tests.) They sent the pharmacy the prescription for the colon cleanser, may I only be able to keep it down, and I was able to pick it up the next day.

I got home by 9:30 and spent the rest of the day waiting for the cleaners. When I was going to call them I noticed I had a message... they had come early! They never do, it's usually sometime between 1 and 3! So I called and they did come, about 3:30. How annoying!

I rather reluctantly reminded Steve that he owed me money (from maybe 20 years ago) and am quite relieved that he's still speaking and is willing to start paying me back.

July 3 I got back to digging up tulip bulbs, weed roots, and loosening the soil. The nearby country club had its fireworks, but I didn't feel up to going over this year. However, I stepped out in back when I heard the booms, and ended up watching most of them, the ones that rose above the neighbor's tree. Beautiful!! Vince had called early so I was able to stand outside and enjoy them.

On the 4th I finished watching "The Americans." It's interesting how the KGB wanted to stop Gorbachev. Think how Putin is now doing his best to undo everything since the fall of the Wall. It's a shame.

Benson was denied a visa to come to the US this fall. According to Fiona they didn't even glance at his paperwork! Grrrr.

July 5 I woke at 3:30, I went out to Mass at the Retreat House. It felt like coming home. Father Giltus is great. I sure hope he's going to lead a group to Oberammergau! I ate a little of the goodies, and talked to the guy who always is barefoot in church. A woman gave us plums!

Then I went to the Commissary for a few things, but didn't shelve the stuff until after I got back from Elk Grove. I'm reading fairy tales to the kids, but I can hardly wait till late August when they're back so I can start Stowaways in Paradise.

Bernadette has a friend who is going to start a kindergarten, so she wondered if I had stuff. Oh, yes, counting dogs and counting bears, and buttons, and keys. I threw my mom's tin she used as a button box away. I used to love to play with the buttons, but never got to it with my kids or grandkids. The keys are a lot of ours and even more of GoE's. I always thought they'd make great wind chimes, but of course never got to that either.

On the 6th the laptop didn't get recharged overnight. (When I moved the television I also moved my chair, and suddenly I can't leave the computer plugged in.) There's one of the outlets in the power strip that doesn't, apparently, work. I finally got the computer charged so I could upload the pictures.

There's a girl named Carol Powers (my sis-in-law's name) in an episode of NCIS!

On Saturday the 7th I went to the WPAC breakfast, and Gene, who had a stroke last month, was there. The girls' government teacher at Loretto had a couple of nice pictures of Bernadette's graduation for me.

I stopped at WalMart on the way home and got some dish disposal cleaner. It took all 4 packets, but the disposal is finally pretty clean.

Then I finally got back to the Nano T-rex Monica gave me at Christmas. I built a couple of ribs, but other pieces began to fall off, and it was hard to figure out where they came from. I'll have to take it all apart and start over, and it was just too frustrating, so I've put it away for awhile.

At Mass on Sunday the priest didn't consecrate enough hosts, so we all had tiny bits.

I took Joan M., a new widow at church, to WPAC.

I played a lot of Fishdom on the 9th. Then I watered the entire back yard.

On the recent commissary visit I'd gotten some curry noodle bowls. The instructions say to shake the curry to one side. I'm guessing it got a little damp, as the curry was hard. And no, it wasn't past the best-use-by date. Tasty when it was made up, though.

I finally wrote up the boxcar children entry. This got me into Flickr for the pictures and I got sidetracked correcting a lot of past omissions.

My car registration came! I made sure to put the sticker on right away, and put the paper into the car. I've printed up my insurance form, too, but it isn't in the car yet.

My doctor visit was the 10th. I actually thought it was the annual physical (which apparently I don't get anyway), but it turned out just to be a followup with the blood test. My A1C is 5.8, better than last time. Then, no surprise after the week of being bad, the glucose is 129. My cholesterol and thyroid are OK. Since the Lifeline screening found something maybe wrong with my thyroid, I could wish we'd looked into that a little more.

Vince's call was mostly about Eric, swimming with the sharks. Oh, just great.

I'm still reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Little Women, Louisa May Alcott; We Die Standing Up, Dom Hubert van Zeller; Over the Gate, Miss Read; Archie Meets Nero Wolfe, Robert Goldsborough and Pere Goriot, Balzac. (Everytime I hear that name I think of Music Man!)

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

66.3 miles

HOT

339 recordings of 59 types (most single NCIS episodes, and I have all of seasons 1 and 2, and most of season 3.) In CPD, one was mislabeled so I'm getting it from Netflix, and I somehow erased 2, but I'm mostly through season 4. 16 of these episodes. 24% clear although that will change today.

On the 5th, the kids and Bernadette left for Oregon. Sniff! I went to the Ladies' Breakfast. Later in the afternoon I went to the WPAC board meeting. One guy had his knickers in a knot about limiting the number who can attend a luncheon. And another woman was complaining, at great length, about the way facilitators are trained. I was properly impressed with how the president got things back on track and we finished the meeting in an hour.

Election day. (I dropped off my ballot last week.) At least we got a Republican into the governor's election, and yet again I wont be voting for Senator. (2 Democrats in the general election. I hate the jungle primary.)

On Wednesday, Pharaoh upchucked. I hope he's not sick. I got a phone call from America's Plumbing to rate it, but I don't see my 5-star review posted.

Thursday the 7th was Vince's birthday. Bernadette surprised him by driving up there with Padreic. (She took my rock tumbler (which Rich had kind of taken over, so I sort of lost interest) as my gift to him.)

My much-anticipated visit to the new doctor was today. I actually had "Doctor Oni" who is a Nurse Practitioner with a long first name that starts with Oni and an even longer last name. He's very nice. I showed him the after-fall picture and this gave him lots of ideas. One thing is the next blood test will also look at my thyroid. I told him about my arm occasionally hurting and he asked if my jaw hurt. No. I didn't remember the Pittsburgh blood pressure but now I do, 156/something first and later 148/something. My actual check up will be in July.

I walked over to the Little Free Library to drop a book off. And the big thing is I backed up the pictures and the journal entries from last September to today. About time, yes?

Friday the 8th I went to the book sale again, and then went out to Ogre's Den in Orangevale (where I discovered my GPS hadn't loaded the caches I tried to download because the batteries had died.) I asked the guy if I could bring my old Dungeon and White Dwarf magazines, and he said "sure." Yay.

We heard that Charles Krauthammer is dying. Fishdom had a wild update. And Glenna is in town and got in touch.

Saturday I had breakfast with WPAC and then lunch with Glenna. We went to Bella Bru, and the food was good though the young man forgot my order so I had to re-order. We had a nice chat. Steve has gotten a promotion. Also, they're looking at perhaps buying another house. I got the skinny on the grandchildren.

I spent so much money trying to get one special prize (and didn't get it) so I'll be just doing the minimum for awhile.

I went to church in the evening so as to be free on Sunday the 10th, and forgot to bring the checks. Last week I'd gone to the retreat house so didn't leave the envelopes. Church went long. Then stopped by Brenda's trying to get my Oberammergau book but she wasn't home. (It turns out she was walking her dog. She has Ring so knew I had stopped.

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

35.1 miles

cloudy, one small rain shower

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.

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

33,0 miles

sunny, warm

334 recordings of 40 types. 63 old CPD. 23% clear.

I'd better catch up on the couple of days before the retreat!

Tuesday morning (the 27th) I went to breakfast with the ladies and I told Christa that I was thinking of going to Oberammergau. This got us talking about Germany and I told her about our trip to Walchensee. We had been going to go into Austria but that was the day our parked car got hit ---by a beer truck! How traditional for Bavaria! I told her about going to Oberammergau, in 1969 (not a Passion Play year) and carefully selecting 10 carved figures for our Nativity set... so pleased to have a set from Oberammegau.. only to find it was actually carved in Italy!

Christa told me about how in the War her home town was used to make munitions, so the women and children were moved out and her family ended up living in a castle with a baron, who took them in so they'd help pick strawberries. And she mentioned her husband's (he was born in Germany but moved to the US when he was small and was a citizen) father was buried in Belgium (World War I), and it took me a minute to realize he'd be in the German cemetery there.

I finally called Canada. It was harder than it should have been, considering the country code is "1". I tried everything and finally went into chat with TracFone. There's an access number to call first. Actually, I don't know if having called it once I need to bother with it again, but I certainly will keep it handy.

I finally got to talk to Doug. Nancy was off at a meeting. They intend to go with me to the Canadian Geocaching capital! What a wonderful idea!! It was a nice talk, and of course, Frank came over to give me some rye bread while I was still on the phone!

Vince tells me they've put AJ back into PreK. The aortic disease he had probably slowed him down. It's hard for grownups to get emotionally straight when their bodies are sick, how very much harder it must be for a 3 and 4 year old!

Wednesday the rat guys came over.and checked the place out. There are 4 or 5 new holes or ones where the old caulking has worn down, and they were really against all the vegetation close to the house. They will come next week and plug the holes and cut back the trees and bushes and plug the rat hole in the kitchen (the bricks seem to be doing their job, anyway. The rat didn't get in while I was gone.) Again, I was on the phone when they came, talking to Clare (from the tax company. She's Jewish so wanted to know about Oberammergau.) I chatted with the inspector for about a half hour after they had finished.

I'd called the water company in the morning. The water guy came over almost right away and eased my fears. They burrow under the tree roots and he will be sure they get it right. So I didn't need to move the daffodils as I did. Now, as I write this, I know they'll be on the street on the 4th and 5th. (Rat guys on the 4th. It all happens at once.)

I changed the living room light bulb (still have incandescents) and cleaned the shade while I was about it.

I also got a number of geocaching areas figured out. I decided I'd best download them to the computer right away, to the GPS late

Thursday morning I packed and frittered. Rich's watch fell apart in my hands... not just the band but the connection to it on the case. I took it loose to the retreat and it's amazing how often I look at my wrist!! I played the Mirrors of Albion for quite awhile, too.

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

31.4 miles

partly cloudy

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!

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

5.1 miles

sunny (but cold)

351 recordings of 40 types. 1 old SVU, 74 CPD, 51 LMS. 24% clear.

Tuesday the 16th I went to breakfast with the widows and we had a great time discussing funerals and laughing and laughing.

Then in the afternoon John came over and I showed him pictures and told him about the Camino for two and a half hours. I had a great time.... that was a lot of fun!

Vince called and apart from a time when his microphone went out, this week it all worked.

And then I got to looking at the geocaches in Canada, and before I knew it, it was nearly midnight.

On Wednesday I went to pick up Padreic for Wee Wednesday. Rob was home, celebrating his birthday with two weeks off. Padreic was OK with leaving today and he was happy to check out the play room and the tot room. He had a little difficulty sharing. I was spelling his name out with the blocks, and of course the C was missing... then he lined all the blocks up in no particular order, and then went to play with something else, but when another kid came to play with the blocks he was possessive... "MINE!" No, you have to share. Tears, real tears, and loud crying. If you keep that up, we're going home. Immediate quiet. Then when a little girl came over, she wanted to have him play with her... "you can help me put some blocks on." He didn't understand that, so while she built a tower (and kept offering to let him help) he built a triangle wall. The girl was ahead socially, but he was an engineer.

The story was about "happy" and "sad" and then we went up to look at pictures. Then the idea was to show how we could make happy and sad faces. Hey, Padreic was real good down in the tot room with sad when he had to share. But he really didn't have a clue. Then they were given an oval and lots of shapes to glue on to make a face. Again, he just liked gluing shapes on. He was very very proud of his collage. I saw the black square needed more glue and took it to do that and he clouded up, but he listened when I explained and I gave his creation right back after it was mended. He carefully took it home to give to Mommy to display. (They have a dresser in front of most of the refrigerator display space, but Bernadette found room.) Then I gave him a Cars sticker book.

After awhile they were having Alexa play songs. Padreic was dancing and spinning and got really over-excited so had a major breakdown just before I left to pick up the kids at school. Needed some cuddle time with Mommy. "Raining Tacos" is a really silly song.

Joanna had a good behavior slip this time, with only one "oops" and again, it was about writing. It's kind of scary that her birthday present, a Boxcar Children themed camp, is going to have writing, but I hope that the different setting will help her, and hey, if she doesn't want to do it, it really won't matter.

I read more of Betsy and Tacy go over the Big Hill, just one day left of this, which will also include the real story.

My name tag wasn't in the raincoat after all, so I wasn't hallucinating putting it somewhere last Friday. But I thought it was in the car and I have turned that inside out, so I have no idea where it is.

I had thought I would go to Yuba City for the geocaching event, but I was really too tired.

My Instant Pot came, and I've got a bit (a lot?) of buyer's remorse. It's too big (if I'd bought one off the shelf, I'd have gotten a smaller one), I managed to scald myself during the "this is how to use it" program, and the kicker is the rice cooker feature, one I really wanted it for, was a disaster. I was hoping to replace my Mom's 40+ year old rice cooker. But I followed the "multigrain" instructions, and about half of the rice stuck to the pan and needed to be scrubbed off. I do have a big, shallow, pan that I've used for rice before on the big burner on my stove, and it works well, so I still have a plan for rice. Certainly not this Instant Pot. I've also looked at the recipes, and there's a lot of prep for each meal. When they say "10 minutes" they don't count the time to soak beans or cut up meat, for instance.

The next day I tried to modify a slow cooker meal for the pressure cooker. Turns out, I don't have corn starch, so I couldn't thicken the gravy, but oh my goodness, the beef cubes were delicious! So my Buyer's Remorse is still to be decided. I ordered some yogurt cups, and will try making yogurt in it.

Thursday I made a commissary run. As I was putting the food away I noted a case of diced tomato cans, and they're from 2008! (I don't remember getting anything like this while Rich was alive, since I avoided the commissary like the plague.) They seem OK. I keep buying diced tomatoes because I use them a lot, so I'll probably be able to get rid of these fairly soon.

I called for Joanna's camp and paid for it all right now. I looked at the map, and it does look like fun. I'll print the page up for her because the information probably won't come until May.

Friday I didn't do much, just stayed home all day, got a call from Food for the Poor so they now have my new credit card number. I worked on the jigsaw, pretty much finishing the blue sky. I also scratched off the countries in South America for my map, and the flags on that side of the map. (Which I hate, though I've discovered that my thumbnails work better than the idiot guitar pick they gave me.)

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

215.4 miles

cold, WINDY yesterday

351 recordings of 65 types, 3 old SVU and 45 old CPD. (I got suspicious at the constant 373 recordings and 22%, and know for sure some CPDs were erased. So I took off a number of "Love it or List It" episodes. Once I get past all the Big Cat Week recordings, I'll be fine.) 26% clear.

Last Sunday, the 10th, at Mass, Father forgot to light the Advent Wreath. But he did go on and on and ON about Our Lady of Guadalupe.

After Mass, while I was waiting to help with giving out Communion at the home, I called Carol, but no answer. I tried again when I got home, and the second time she answered. She had called back, as well as trying the cell phone, but I wanted to use some of my time, since I had almost 400 minutes. When we did finally connect, it was a 50 minute call, which is nice. I got my travel dates lined up. The brothers are always wanting to know "where in the world is Jan Yarnot?" Heh.

Rich's next older brother broke his shoulder just before their 50th anniversary. I have such a mixed reaction to this anniversary... I'm happy for them. And so jealous.

To my utter delight, I was invited to a caroling party tonight!

Monday I was babysitting. Padreic was commenting on "coca dots" (polka dots). He was fine with the dog after initial dismay at the licking, but then the dog barked. I had to spend quite a while getting them used to each other, and then he was playing and the dog was asleep on the other side of the room. Padreic was lying down on the Big Book and hitting the button for the "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" over, and over, and over... and suddenly he burst into tears. "What's wrong?" "AGAIN!" I have no idea, but I suggested he have a nap, and he did lie down for about 5 minutes.

Then he fell asleep on the way home, and when I went to get him out of the car and he woke up. Crying and saying "NO Phawaoh!" over and over. So I guess he had a nightmare. He's been a little under the weather.

We went to get the kids. Joanna got to work on her homework and Gareth kept getting sidetracked. He seems to have trouble staying on task.

I stopped at Petsmart for dog and cat food, and got a new elk antler for Pharaoh. I have no idea what happened to the nub of the old one he had. I handed him a bone and noted he was beginning to splinter it, so I took it away. The antlers are a lot better.

Tuesday I went to the widow's breakfast. Back at home I did some digging, and worked a little on the puzzle, and called Wind Country baskets to be sure both orders were in, since I only saw one on the credit card bill.

And Fishdom kept crashing on me. I reset the iPad, following the "settings" area, and that didn't help. So I deleted Fishdom but then when I tried to get it back, the iPad wouldn't talk to the Internet. Finally I went to the laptop and found an easier reset, that actually worked. So I was re-loading the game when Vince called and so distracted. Not much of a conversationalist!

The reset gave me back the Facebook link and thus the games people have been sending me, and apparently they were saved up!

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

207.0 miles

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:

Bernadette had an old tent she wanted me to take to Loaves and Fishes. I had it in the car, thinking I would add the bag of motel toiletries and take it in tomorrow. But I was a bit faster with Padreic today than I thought I would be, and would be driving right past L&F, so even though the motel soaps weren't with me, I decided to drop off the tent. Great timing. We got to the Crocker Art Museum just as it opened, for Wee Wednesday. We went to the Tot room, which Padreic loves, and I wondered if he'd be OK to leave it for the Wee Wednesday program. He was perfect, plopped right down on a mat for the story, which was a book about "lines." Then we walked on lines, a straight line, a curved line, a zigzag line. And on up to the Diebenkorn exhibit to plop down on another mat and look at lines in the painting. Padreic didn't contribute, but he took everything in, and when it was time for the activity he carefully covered the zigzag line on his paper with plastic bugs, and did a second one with gems. I was really impressed with him, for his first time. It could have gone either way, and I'd have tried again in a month if he wasn't ready. Afterwards we went to the WingDings exhibit, which is for the littles. He got too tired going back to the car (he's still limping a little, and it's hard for him) and slept going home (for the second day in a row.)

We all stopped at the park after school because I usually rush past it so I can read to the kids and get home before the bad traffic, but since I was waiting around for Rob to get home after work, I had time. Padreic got very tired again. Anyway, a satisfactory day.

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

196.4 miles

clear and cold

371 recordings of 29 types, 7 old SVU and 32 old CPD. 24% clear.

Thursday the 16th I was a seething mass of resentment because Bernadette and family were going to Oregon for Thanksgiving, even though they had been planning to be at Roni's with me and the rest of the family. There's a good (though sad) reason for it, in that Rob's Aunt Marie is sick with bone cancer. But I really resented it, and it brought up memories of some of the other good reasons, like last Christmas, and really, tellingly, Bernadette's wedding, which Joan took over. I had wonderful plans for here, but it had to be in Junction City, for the good reason that Rob's dad was too ill to travel here.

Joan only left 10 days ago, and would see the kids again on Saturday. She sees more of the kids than I do!

When I got to Bernadette's, she was gone. I burst into tears. Then I called her, where the heck are you? She was at her Mom's group, Heart 2 Heart, which I thought she'd had last week, so would be home this week. FINE! I'm going home!! Wait, wait, she said. Why don't you come to Heart 2 Heart with me? I grudgingly said OK, but really was considering going home anyway. But I drove over there and she was waiting outside in the cold for me. In we went, with me griping about the trip to Oregon. Then I hear the speaker talking about "how to get along with your inlaws this holiday season!"

She was really very good and made a lot of telling points about relationships and how a quick prayer can help. Most of the mothers there are young (Bernadette, at 40, may well be on the old side) but the points still applied to me, and I got the definite feeling God got me here. I definitely finished with a better attitude and am trying to hold on to it.

When we got back to Bernadette's, it was almost time for me to fetch the kids. I stopped at Joanna's class (she had a good report for a change!) to talk to the teacher and ask if I could chaperone the planetarium trip in January. It's at the nearby museum so I would like to meet them there rather than ride the bus. We don't know yet.

Meanwhile, all the way home Joanna insisted the field trip would be tomorrow. She only heard part of the directions, that they had to return the permission slip the next day. This was one of the things the teacher meeting talked about, that her comprehension was down. Apparently we need to have her feed back what she heard. She didn't really believe me till Mommy told her the permission slip was what she needed.

Vincenik sent my Christmas present already. Since I hadn't actually read the Facebook thread, I'm afraid I opened it. Then I re-packed it. (It's a scratch-off map, you scratch off places you've been.) . I think I'll know where I'll put it.

(On Friday, in the Travel discussion at Renaissance, which was about Panama, I started listing all the places I want to go. There are at least 10 of high priority. Then I realized that we didn't travel (out of the country) for 40 years! (Rich had trips to Europe, but I stayed home except for a quick trip to Burwell in 1977.) 40 years between 1972 and 2012 wasted. Lots of travel in the states, but a lot of it was to places we'd been before. So this map will have a lot of places not scratched off, and never will. Well, at least I got to Hawaii.)

I finished And be a Villain which introduces the criminal master Arnold Zink. So I am 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; and The Second Confession by Rex Stout.

I have to renew my passport next month! I was thinking of doing it next year, but now realize I'll be going into Canada just a couple of weeks before it expires. Can't do that! I guess (see above) it's possible the next one will be my last.

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

192.9 miles

rain

370 recordings of 29 types, 6 old SVU, 29 old CPD. 23% clear.

Sunday I went to Mass and discovered one of the parishioners had died. Back in the 80s, he and his wife led a theology class which I enjoyed enormously. I've been a little ticked at him or mostly his wife, lately, since not only did they not come to Rich's funeral, she never once told me she was sorry. However, I gave her hugs and found out when the funeral was.

They finally FINALLY finished the parish directory, 2 years after they took the pictures. It's minimal, but at least I can learn some people's names. It's been about 10 years since the last one. I took another one to Charles S., at the nursing home, where we gave out Communion.

I made another quick trip to the book sale and got 2 books. At home, playing Fishdom, I was trying to hold onto 3rd place but got overtaken at the last moment. Now I'm not spending ANYTHING until they give me the real game again so I can get a couple more decorations for my India aquarium. I'll only buy new diamonds on their sales. So I'm starting this with 481 diamonds, 2 bombs, 2 lightnings, 2 lightning/dynamites, 1 swap, 2 hammers. We'll see how I can build this up.

I finished Too Many Women. I really am enjoying the Nero Wolfes. Took a slight detour with the latest Alexander McCall Smith, and I'm dying to talk to someone about it.

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; and To Be a Villain by Rex Stout.

Monday was Genevieve's birthday. While I had a card, I didn't have the $$ to put into it. I spent the day at Bernadette's. She was out on the bike at first, but we had time to talk. I read the kids the Just-So Story about the first armadillos. I don't know if I'd ever read it before but it made me laugh out loud when I was reading it Sunday night to the dog. Bernadette went to the teacher conference about Joanna... she is having comprehension trouble (though I think she understood the story) and writing trouble though the latter may just be the defiance and refusal to participate. I guess it's a continuation of the "I won't sing" "I don't want to" that she used to do when she was 4. They have a prescription for Adoril but haven't yet picked it up.

Also, her class is having a field trip to the planetarium near me. I would like to chaperone if I don't have to ride the bus! I can walk over and meet them. Bernadette forgot to ask the teacher if that was possible... I will ask on Thursday if she forgets.

On the way home, a beggar at the lane divider, sign reading "Need $ for a jacket and some food." A guy crossed in front of me, and handed over his own jacket and went away smiling in his shirtsleeves. What a great example!

Tuesday was Al's funeral. I learned a little more about him than I had known, and saw David M. who's been very sick but is getting better. I skipped the reception and came home, picked an eggplant and some beans.

I'd slept in too late in the morning but since I'd talked to a woman on the phone the night before I headed over to the WPAC breakfast just to say hi to her.

2 more days with the puzzle. Very very little accomplished.

Vince called, and he got his promotion! Neither one of us had much to say, but it's really nice to talk to him.

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

178.6 miles

cool and cloudy

370 recordings of 28 types, 9 old SVU and 12 old Chicago PD (I need to see how the series started). 22% clear.

Harry Lewis: An excellent question. Kelly's point is analogizing the Civil War to the current situation in the country. If we can't find a basis for compromise, we will end up in another civil war. Obama drove us toward civil war, because he deliberately "federalized" many controversial leftist policies, leaving many religious and other communities with no civic space in which to survive.

This just in: Mueller has determined that Carter Page returned a tape to Blockbuster without rewinding it in 2001. And it was 'Gorky Park'! This definitively connects Trump to Russia. ~ @NotElizabethNJ

Sunday I scheduled a Mass for Rich. Ellen was the lector so pronounced his name correctly. I heard more about Jeannie (who died Tuesday.) I really didn't feel like going to the nursing home to give out Communion... this is really a hard time of year.

I finally finished volume 10 of the Shelf of Harvard Classics. This was American short stories and I kept getting sidetracked by other things. Like playing Fishdom. I finished in 2nd place in the silver guild.

Monday I made a Commissary trip, and that was it.

Tuesday after the WPAC breakfast (the restaurant is getting more and more lame. There's always someone sitting in "our place" and they don't manage separate checks or even separate orders very efficiently) I went to buy gas while I can still afford it.

Besides the restaurant, I have another grumble with the Knights of Columbus. I've signed up for their Widow's Mass and Luncheon, but OMG the coordinator is a pain. He'd never heard of Rich. He needed everything at least twice and I had to call him back to repeat when Rich had died. Today I got the letter explaining what the Mass was, and halfway through he called me "Barbara." ARGH!!!

I dug up weeds and raked oak leaves over one garden bed (the one I'd had corn, beans, and squash in). There were squirrels in the shed, driving Pharaoh nuts, and I put some tools back in and scared two squirrels out.

I only had 17 kids trick-or-treating. I really wonder if I should continue to try. (But the ones who came were really cute.)

Vince found this about the Franklin.

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; and Not Quite Dead Enough by Rex Stout.

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

178.6 miles

cool in the mornings, hot in the day. No heater, no AC, just wait it out.

369 recordings of 31 types, 18 old SVU. 21% clear.

After I got home from the garage on Monday (the 23rd), I called Sacramento Suburban Water to report that I have an underground leak in back. I've noticed the last week that there's a wet spot (with really green grass) back there. Such timing! It's pretty much where the old pipe will join the new one when they move the main to the front in the next few months. The so-called "customer service" person, who didn't give me her name, said I would have to get a plumber. Wait a minute, it's your pipe. No, if it's on my property it's my pipe.

I did have the satisfaction of slamming the phone down, and have decided to let it leak until the water company comes to join it to the new main. Then they probably will fix it! I told Vince this and he said it'll be a lot on the meter, and I told him I don't yet HAVE a meter! That's what moving the main is all about!

I forgot all about the WPAC breakfast on Tuesday and arranged to go to Elk Grove. You know, I don't much like the new restaurant so I didn't care. I was a little later than I intended going down anyway because I was looking for my camera. In the end, Tuesday evening, I found it in the shelves in back, which I've been cleaning. For some reason I thought it was the one I dropped into the ocean in the Galapagos, and I somehow thought my new camera was silver. Nope, it's black, and the ocean camera turns out to be red. Now I have all the cameras of the past 10 years. (Only the ocean one is completely broken. The Canon (which I *loved*) was warped after I dropped it while chasing after Gareth, the first Sony, red, which Rich gave me, was beginning to make rattling noises, and I discovered it would cost $200 to repair, or $200 to get a new one, decisions decisions. The new one was the one I dropped in the ocean. Its replacement is the one that was lost in July and found in September, and it was beginning to go bad. The lens doesn't open automatically, and when you try to view pictures, they waver through a number back and forth. So I was reluctantly going to replace it anyway!)

Anyway, I finally made it to Bernadette's. She went shopping for the material for Joanna's costume. She had the house all decorated and I kept reaching for the camera. No luck. Padreic now has a splint and has to spend a little time walking. He still was attached to the iPad and cried when he had to put it down. I read him "Green Eggs and Ham" and "Are You My Mother?" and he seemed to like them well enough. When I picked up the kids Joanna had a good report, for 4 of the last 5 days. However, the next day she was too excited that Grandma was coming and so was in trouble again. Daddy had warned her about that.

Vince's call was going to be short because they were caring for the brother of a kid in the hospital in Seattle. However, he was able to stay on while I rapidly rattled about the last two weeks, and told me a lot about A.J., who is having trouble adjusting to school (I think making Kindergarten all day, as Washington did, is a huge mistake!) and who is emotionally very young. We won't be talking this week, because Tuesday is Hallowe'en and I'm busy the rest of the week.

Wednesday I had a Rich dream, something about being in Marrakesh with the grandkids (not Bernadette) and trying to get out of the hotel (and getting lost, of course) and someone giving me a LOT of stuff for them... he was very little help, which isn't fair to him, he would have been much better in real life.

Bernadette and I took Padreic to Wee Hallowe'en. Since I forgot to bring dollar coins for the meter, I bought quarters from Gareth's bank. We found a parking place across from the museum and went to check in. We had to wait for our turn about 30 minutes, but they had a yarn spider web to play with. And here I had all those little remnants of yarn (and still have a few) that I could have donated to the museum. I will, next time I get to that part of the cleanup again. We saw a Sherlock, a dinosaur with little brother dinosaur still coming out of the egg, a home-made stegosaur (likely carnivorous!) and a family with two of the 101 Dalmations and Cruella deVille. It's so neat to see the little kids, because the parents go all out to make really cute costumes.

Padreic was a little bemused at decorating his goodie bag and getting the first two prizes in it, but when we got to the place where the prize was a jingle bell, he'd caught on and "me! me! me!" The ballet was the Nutcracker... I would really like them to do something else, like Peter Pan, something I know Joanna would like. (The Nutcracker is too crowded.) At one of the last stops, in the galleries in front of the Yosemite picture, a cowboy sang "Home on the Range." A young mother with two little kids was in the gallery and they came to listen to the song. I thought it would be a shame if they didn't get the little prize (a beanbag with a picture of a horse) so asked the cowboy if he had a couple of extras and I gave them to the kids. No flamenco dancer this year, but outside a guy played a tuba and recited (with great panache) "Custard the Dragon" which is one of my favorites.

We went to the refurbished Tot Room and Padreic got a lot of exercise walking a bit around the ship and up the ramp. His legs are getting stronger.

I picked up the kids and read a couple of chapters of Pinocchio, and Grandma arrived just as I was about to finish. So I did and said goodbye to all and came home to cut into my little pumpkin and stuff it. (Actually, I cut it in the morning and got the seeds out, then kept it in the fridge till I could make the stuffing. I just used stuffing mix and the boullion gel I decided to try.) It turned out well! Enough for two days. The big one will be almost a week's worth of meals, and I intend to stuff it with quinoa, sausage, and ground turkey!

Thursday I detected a smell in the bathroom. This is unusual, believe it or not. I got a pine candle and set it in the bathtub (and closed the door so the cat wouldn't get curious and ignite himself) and after a couple of hours it smelled great. However, by that time I got a worse whiff in the playroom. I checked for cat misbehavior, but no. Then I thought it might be gas, the water heater. I went out to check and the top of the door (which is a heavy press to fit door, not a proper door) was open. I pulled it all the way off but I couldn't tell if the pilot light was out or not. There was no discernible smell there. I put the door back on and worried, but decided if the pilot was out I could start it the next day, when I had more daylight to work with.

Meanwhile, my velociraptor came!! So I finished cleaning off the shelf and built the dinosaur (HEAVY!!) and put it up. I've been cleaning the shelves in back... there were SO many things just thrown up there.

I didn't sleep well and woke up early Friday fretting about the pilot light, but when I checked to see if I had hot water, I did! The room really smelled bad, something rotten somewhere. Maybe a rodent got into the water heater compartment and died? Then Saturday it was fine. So I may never know.

It was Renaissance, and a really fun one. The morning seminar was developments in architecture and I saw a lot of places I want to go see for real. One of the really modern ones is The Barn, in West Sacramento! Another place he talked about was a development downtown made with modular units assembled in Tennessee. Then the time travel movie was Brigadoon. I've seen it before, and I do like the stage version better, but it was a fun change from the mind benders of the past few weeks.

Still cleaning the shelves in back... look, I found Nasty! I stepped on a needle. Fortunately I was wearing slippers so I didn't get too much in my foot.

I'm reading the Nero Wolfe series. He never leaves the home, right? Except, of course, when he does... 6 times in the first 9 books!!!

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

cold in the mornings, sunny and breezy

368 recordings of 27 types, 60 old SVU. 19% clear.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Monday the heater guy came for the yearly tune-up.

Yesterday I had breakfast with the widows. There were only 4 of us. I really regret this move to the different restaurant.

Then at noon, Pagan came by. He took me to Koreana, which is a super supermarket with all sorts of imported food. I found the banana catsup I was looking for, and some different brands of ramen that I want to try, and some tapioca pearls and some candy for Monica. The pearls are so she can make her own boba tea! (Somehow I doubt she will.)

From there to Fahrenheit 250 that Pagan wanted to try. Very good barbeque indeed.

I hoped that Cost Plus would have an African nativity set, but no. In fact, no nativity sets at all. I guess I'll have to get the online one.

And we stopped at Deseret so he could check out the last thrift shop. A fun afternoon!

Vince didn't call. My TV show ended at 8:15 and I realized he hadn't. I was slightly worried that something was wrong but thought he probably just forgot, and that indeed was the case. Sulk!

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

cold in the mornings, sunny and breezy

371 recordings of 31 types, 67 old SVU. 18% clear.

Monday I did all the watering I put off Sunday because of the wind (which has led to the terrible fires going on in California.) I had a dental appointment at 11 and was a little surprised I would have scheduled it the same day as the cleaners. Then I remembered I changed the cleaning week after my trip to Ashland. In any case, Stephanie was quick and I also had a nice visit with the dentist himself. He asked if I'd gotten their birthday card... no, actually, and I haven't gotten it yet.

I was back in time for the cleaners. In fact, I'd just made my lunch and there they were!

To my utter surprise, one of the squash grew!

After the cleaners left I went to Walmart to see if I could find ramekins. No luck. Then I got gasoline and went down to Raley's to see if my prescriptions were in. The Lisinopril was, but there was a question about the Simvastatin and they were checking (with the doctor in Placerville, sigh, so I guess I'll have to do the doctor change thing again next year.) According to the paperwork, they think it will interact with the blood pressure meds. It hasn't for the last what, 4 years? 5 years?

I got my flu shot while I was there. And on the way out I found some ramekins, so I bought 3. I use them for bacon grease, and stupidly shattered one of the two I had by putting the still-warm one into the fridge. Fortunately, it cracked but held together by the bacon grease. I posted about the great ramekin hunt in Facebook and drew a surprising argument about cooking with bacon grease.

I called Cricket Media to get the last three subscriptions at the lower price they were giving on the online renewals. To my utter shock, Kelly at customer service was quick and efficient. After all the trouble I've had with them through the years, this was surprising.

I had also intended to call the heater people and the hauler, but didn't. I'll get them later.

Tuesday I went to the WPAC breakfast, then down to Elk Grove. Bernadette went out for dust masks and then spent all the rest of the time cutting and decorating a gourd. Since I had thought the plan was to finish with the garage, I found this frustrating. I felt a little better when I learned the gourd was for the 2nd grade basket for the school carnival. She wants me to win it if she doesn't! Meanwhile she thinks she'll be able to keep Joan out of the garage. Chance would be a fine thing, though Joan and I had a long talk about the science kits so she may be making messes with them instead.

Because the kids had a dental appointment, I came home early and vegged out. Vince called and talked for about an hour about his trip to Washington. It sounds like they had a great time. I'm so glad he had the idea (he went when he was in 8th grade but their school doesn't participate, so he thought he'd give Eric the same advantage.)

Mark says Monica doesn't like surprises, so I can talk about my trip to San Jose next week.

Wednesday was really frustrating. I was hoping to write this up but when I tried to get Facebook up it was awful on the computer and I tried to run a repair app on it, which froze. Even the iPad didn't do well with FB, which was giving me Bernadette's posts from 2016!! Also, I got together a bag of toiletries, toothbrushes, and toilet paper for a nursing home that has taken in evacuees from the fires, and then drove 20 miles out of my way but couldn't find the place. Argh.

I did get down to Elk Grove and did the reading, but next week Gareth is having his teeth sealed, so I can drive down to San Jose earlier. I left the kids on a cliffhanger. Gareth was trying to see how the story ends, so Pinocchio was a good choice. I asked Joanna if she was trying for a record of the most "consequences" in second grade. She says she was good at the beginning, but it's hard.

When I got home the computer was still frozen, but I hit every key and eventually it restarted, and restarted, and restarted a third time, and it works!

I had picked 18 pounds of pomegranates in the morning, about a third of them, so I will have plenty to share with Joan and with Monica next week. I gave a dozen to my neighbor Mindy.

I had pretty well gotten over the coughing but this day was really smoky.

Yesterday the water guy came and showed me where the new meter would be. He looked at the setup in back and has a plan where the new main will join the current pipes. I get to keep the standpipe. I didn't ask if there would be a way for me to cut off the water to replace washers (as if, but there are a couple of things in the bathroom that need attention.) I'll call him and ask later.

Andy came while he was here and fixed the shed door. I also went in and rearranged stuff after the dog had really messed it up. I took a huge box out. I was surprised to see glasses at the bottom... apparently they were the current ones which fell in when I wasn't paying attention. Anyway, I got it into the recycling can. I'd intended to get a lot more paperwork in but got ambushed by Rich's notes on banking last week.

Since I intend to have a big open house on my 75th birthday, I've got to get to work.

Quick trip to the Commissary. $60+, though.

I went out to Appleby's for dinner. Ray sat with me, and was quite pleasant. I also met a Dave, whose son plans to walk the Camino. This gave me a chance to tell some of my stories to someone who hadn't heard them! I tried the appetizer combo and it was too big, and then they gave me a birthday dessert! When I got home, there was a hatching raptor candle from Monica.

I was going to write this then, but Bernadette wants Monica's pictures NOW so I downloaded 270 of them and started to sort them chronologically, but my eyes began to cross after about 80 or so. Darn. I had hoped to have this one so much more organized than Roni's was. Oh, well.

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

warm

350 recordings of 31 types, 66 old SVU. 21% clear.

On my birthday I went over to the WPAC breakfast with a bag of pomegranates, but nobody turned up for a long time and I thought I'd be eating alone. Finally Jackey came and I got to tell her my tale of stupidity. Then Terryl came and I got to repeat it. It's a good story if it has happened to someone else! They each took a pomegranate, leaving me with about 7 to take to Bernadette. I guess that's why I forgot my glasses!

On down (ow) to Bernadette's, where I dropped trows for her. She was properly impressed with the bruise, which is less black but still impressive. Now, two days later, the outskirts of it are feathery (I'd do well camouflaged in a forest!) then blue, purple, ending with black in the crack. Still painful.

She didn't do much cleaning in the garage, though she got out an impressive amount of Hallowe'en decorations. She did pass out Boo Baskets the day before, two in the neighborhood (they're wise to her by now, as proven by the nice Easter baskets a neighbor gave the kids this year) and one with Gareth's teacher from last year. (SHE will be baffled!) B's main project this day was to clean up the kitchen counter. That she could have done without me. Meanwhile, I went into Gareth's room. All the stuff was up off the floor but in a tumble on the desk. I sorted through papers, keeping an awful lot because I didn't know for sure if it was important. Joanna has been there, too, leaving her junk in the room, and I sorted that out. I dug down to his computer, anyway.

Joanna had had a "difficult day." I would guess SO. She's defiant in school and refusing to do what the teacher says. Wednesday's report was much the same. I know there have been times she's argumentative (like almost all the time) but she's gone over the line to bratty.

I talked to Gareth about what HE would have done if I'd gone unconscious. "CPR" was his answer, so we had a talk about calling 911 or at least running into the museum to say "My Nana needs help." I'd better talk to him some more about how you need to actually know HOW to do CPR or you'll hurt someone worse. (Though teaching the Heimlich manouver might not be a bad idea.)

Vince called. He told me all about the plans for his and Eric's trip to Washington, which started the next day. On Thursday they had a Congresswoman (Eric's friend's district... he's moved to Kentucky but the kids are still close) giving them a tour of the White House and later (dunno if it's the same person) the Capitol. Nick will give them a tour of the Pentagon and the rest of the time it's play it by ear museums and so forth, though they will definitely do the Spy Museum. If Rich had been going after it was built, I'd have certainly directed him there. Apparently if you want to go to the bathroom, you have to crack the code! Rich would ask me what he should see when he had Pentagon trips and I told him the VietNam wall, and the Holocaust Museum, both new since we were there together 50 years ago. Vince and I talked about when he went, in 8th grade. He saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I don't think we saw the Tomb... I remember the Iwo Jima monument and the eternal flame for Kennedy, but I don't remember that. Gabe will go with Niki in two years. (Personalities similar. I remember when Rich and I took the two to the Lawrence Hall of Science. Rich, who was ill, was able to sit with Eric concentrating on some computer program, while Gabe led me on a merry chase through all the exhibits.) I'm putting in my bid to be the one to take A.J. when he's in 8th grade!

Vince, living in Washington (state), doesn't have an acceptable driver's license for ID, but he does have a passport. Eric has a passport and also an ID card.

Anyway, it sounds WONDERFUL!

Yesterday I started trimming the privet in back, because I was looking for the water cutoff for one of the houses on French avenue and couldn't see it. I want to show the water guy next week... I called him to tell him I had three, and when they are installing the new water mains, I would really like it if they didn't come here three times to do it. Since the other two are on a different street, I imagine that's not going to work.

Then down to my usual Wednesday stint at Bernadette's, though this time she had an appointment about Joanna. It wasn't an actual 504, because the J. is not having any educational problems, it's all behavior. (Howling in the bathroom, screming in line, defiant with the teacher.) They have a behavioral specialist at school so she'll work with J. and give Bernadette and Rob some helpful ideas. I sure hope so. Meanwhile, I emptied both kids' wastebaskets before the recycle truck came... hello? I thought that would have happened last night! I started going through Joanna's stuff and found the poster she didn't have last weekend, so I put it out with the stickers she was supposed to put on it. When Bernadette got home, though, Joanna had picked up the Ladybug magazine and could barely keep her eyes off it. I stopped her twice from taking it into her room before she'd done her homework.

(This reminds me. I went to CricketMedia to do the yearly renewals, but naturally, they didn't send my password. Hmm. Maybe I didn't have one. I'll have to start fresh, but who knows who's getting what. This company has been nothing but trouble since I started.)

I finished the Nero Wolfe I'd brought with me, and so while I was waiting for B. to get home with the kids, I started "The Little World of Don Camillo" (I'd had two so gave her one.) OK, hooked again.

Now reading: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (yeah, right); Pepys' Diary; American Fiction; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; The Red Box by Rex Stout; and The Little World of Don Camillo, by Giovanni Guaresci.

Today was pretty much a waste. I finally got my act together to drive to the restaurant to look for my glasses, and they told me Jackey had picked them up. This afternoon I was going to go to the neighbor's water polo match only it was cancelled. I talked to her about others and thought I might go to Rio next week, but no, I'll be heading to a WPAC dinner.

So I did drive enough to get the car out of the carport so I could take the bin back for the rest of the privet, and leaves, and yes I found the water cutoff.

Lots of real phone calls. From the WPAC lady reminding me of breakfast next Saturday, from Jackey to tell me she has my glasses (NOW she tells me!) and can bring them by, from Alicia, twice, to find out if I was home (I was the first time, outside talking to Jackey!) and then they came by with my birthday present, a Tricerataco holder! The other call was from Helena, Monica's mother-in-law, first off to thank me for a grief booklet I sent, and to tell me she's having a hard time (go figure, of course she is) and to invite me down in a couple of weeks. I don't think Monica is reading this, in fact, I don't think she ever read my LiveJournal and I haven't yet actually advertised that I'm here, but in any case I think that's all I'm saying at the moment.

I snapped about half the green and wax beans Bernadette gave me, heated them in the microwave, sprinkled them with Parmesan and YUMMMMM! Also had leftover andouille and squash stew. Yum. I'm spoiling all that nice healthy eating with Amarula, but ohhhhh, it's good!

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Entries tagged with vince

First Time Roommate

Oregon, Part 2

Oregon Trip, Part One

Colostomy Fun and Games

Blood Test

Next June Entry

Back to Real Life

Pre-Retreat

Another Week at Home

Antioch and Davis, This and That

Buyer's Remorse?

More Mid-December

Babysitting

God Takes the Reins

Rest in Peace

The Last Days of October

Four Days in October

Fun Day With Pagan

Puttering

So THIS is 73!

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December 2018

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