Entries tagged with walk

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Triduum Retreat

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

33.0 miles

cool, sunny today after a LOT of rain

340 recordings of 30 types, 62 old SVU. 24% clear.

This year, as the kids were in Oregon, I went to the Retreat House for the Triduum Retreat. I'd never even heard of the Triduum until I was in college at the Newman Center. We were of the "go on Sunday and holy days" type, and my grandmother would go to Confession every time she was going to go to Communion. We went to Good Friday services. Lent ended about noon on Saturday so we could pig out on candy! For Rich, he was the altar boy with the priest who went from house to house blessing the bread and salt and eggs and who knows what on Saturdays, and got tips and food from the people. This was one of the reasons he loved Easter. But Father Taylor is the one who introduced me, and possibly him, to the whole cycle of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil.

During our marriage, we usually went to these. I didn't always do them all, and sometimes he missed Good Friday. (At least he did in 2011, and I went and was upset with one woman who decided during what was supposed to be silent prayer to go to the ambo and read scripture.) St. Philomene's Easter Vigil was special, at least until our music director left. (And Vince and Bernadette both agree that we miss this one. Vince went at his church, and Bernadette was singing at the one in Junction City. The Retreat House one was beautiful, but not the same.)

So. Thursday afternoon I took the dog to the kennel, then came back to the Air Museum and renewed our membership. Their passes now are virtual, but since I don't have a smart phone I'll get physical cards. (Which came and I printed them out, but the woman who had my old card in her hand really confused it: "Jan and Bernadette Durbin Yarnot." I imagine they'll do.)

Then, because I had a little time before check in, I tried a geocache. Without luck, of course. All the caches in this area seem to be missing, since no one has found one since 2016, with the exception of the one I tried. Oh, well.

I stopped by the kitchen before I went to check in, to give them a dozen of Monica's oranges. They appreciated it and put them out at dinner, and people enjoyed them.

I checked in, and settled into my room, which was on the ground floor this time. It was 90 minutes to dinner, and also it was 88 degrees, so I changed out of the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing. I still had on the Camino t-shirt, and John asked me about it. He was sitting with Susan and I assumed at first they were married, but then he would sit one place and she another, so I was confused. This finally got resolved Easter morning brunch, when I learned they both are on an interfaith team and go to a lot of conferences where they see each other. She may be interested in him, and I decided over the course of the retreat that he isn't so much interested in people as he is in his prayer life. Still, he asked me about the Camino a couple of times. He had gone to the Santiago cathedral when he was in Spain, but not actually walked the Camino.

I went and walked the labyrinth, which I always love. I also visited the library and picked a book that was a bit different, "Until Tuesday." More on this later.

Dinner was pasta and gravy, some meat, salad, and steamed veggies. I took a roll but skipped dessert (which looked WONDERFUL! They all did. I tried to limit my carbs, with dubious success, but at least no desserts (and one tiny chocolate egg which I simply could not resist!)) Father Giltus gave me a big hug when he saw me. I sat with Elaine, and then she and I sat together at every meal and many of the conferences. John sat next to me and we talked some more.

I tried to limit my talking to myself. If I like the silence I must stop breaking it!!

We had an introduction to the whole retreat, and then the liturgy which started in the conference room with footwashing. I was one of four or so people who didn't do it. It was beautiful though, someone would have their feet washed (one of four stations) and then wash the feet of the next person. Then we went to the church for the rest of the liturgy, the Last Supper. Afterwards they stripped the altar and we left in silence.

I had signed up to come for adoration at 4:30, so I kept waking up every half hour or so after 1:30 to be sure I didn't miss it. I padded down to the conference room for coffee and had brought Belvita to dunk in it as I do here at home, so I was ready. There was one lady who appeared to have camped out in there... she was on the floor praying but later she lay down and slept (and snored!) a bit. There was another woman there when I arrived at 4:15 and the 5:00 woman was a few minutes late, but I made the full hour.

Breakfast (in silence) was at 8. This one was in silence, but that fell apart at the other meals, which were also supposed to be in silence. Father Tom kept trying to emphasize silence but it didn't work. I myself stayed fairly quiet, though. Breakfast was yogurt, fruit, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and Raisin Bran. (And, of course, O.J. and coffee!)

At 9 we had a Tenebrae service for morning prayer. Father Joe explained about it. It's a monastic prayer. There are 5 candles set up in front of the Crucifix, and at the end of each reading, one is extinguished, until only one candle is left. It is hidden, and there's a cacophony, symbolizing chaos without the light of Christ. Then the light returns and is placed on the altar. I really liked this service.

10 o'clock was the Stations of the Cross, outside. There were numerous distractions for me: the people who brought their little dog, the 4 year old having a tantrum (but I'd like to bring Gareth next year), a turkey with a limp, some class from somewhere playing noisily before they came to do the stations, people not moving to give others room. Still, it was a good experience.

Father Tom's conference was on Mark 6:1-6. One thing he said, quoting Jesus, was "My ability to be excellent depends on your willingness to be excellent with me."

Then lunch! Like all the retreats I've been on here, the food was excellent. Pasta with marinara sauce, a roll with butter but l didn't take the mashed potato (sigh) 3 bean salad and a VERY juicy apple. Lunch was supposed to be silent, too, but that was beginning to crumble.

Afterwards I got an Elf help book for Joanna and then went to "Movement and Meditation" where we raised our arms... it didn't do much for me. Then I didn't want to do the art, so I went to take a nap.

At 3 the Good Friday liturgy started in the conference room. It seems there were three Isaiahs spread out over a couple of centuries! Father Tom talked about the "suffering servant" and likened it to the Parkland kids. It's not "why me?" but "who does my suffering help?" In the church we read the Passion narrative, then venerated the Cross, then had Communion. I do not normally have wine, but intended to today (all weekend, actually) but they ran out.

I walked around the grounds, .8 miles. This tired me out.

Dinner was fish and chips, salad and cole slaw.

The evening prayer was for the World. In the part praying for peace I tried to say peace in ourselves, but the word "unworthy" didn't come to me and I mumbled something about feeling incompetent. Oh, well, God knew what I meant.

I went to bed about 8:15 but was awake at 1:45 for awhile. Because there was a skunk outside I had to close the window.

I was really into the book I was reading, "Until Tuesday" by Luis Carlos Montalvan. He was seriously wounded in Iraq and this is about his recovery, and PTSD, and Tuesday, the service dog who helped him. I commented in my diary about him meeting Col. McMaster. About his disappointment with Obama because he never demanded accountability. "Baby wipes, one of humankind's most under-rated inventions." I finished the book at 4 AM and then was able to go back to sleep. I got up at 5:30 and went to the other building to the library to pick up the sequel.

Breakfast was french toast (OK, enough already, I had a piece! But I skipped the potatoes!) sausage, fruit yogurt, raisin bran and O.J. It, too, was supposed to be in silence. The Mindful Movement was walking. I tried, I tried, but I just don't get it. We had another Tenebrae service.

I talked to a man sitting outside about the Camino.

Father Tom is from Pittsburgh. Also, there's a Passionist monastery in Pittsburgh and I've since looked it up, not really all that far from where Rich grew up. This conference was good except we broke into groups and were supposed to discuss one thing but ended up talking about Jehovah's witnesses, and conversion, etc. This way I was able to avoid sharing, and made my escape for lunch. I really don't do well with group discussions.

The Holy Spirit is not a dove, but an EAGLE!!

Lunch was salad, bratwurst, sauerkraut, beans and I had a few chips. Dessert looked lovely, too.

My plan was to sit outside and read, but that didn't work out too well. Elaine spotted my Camino shirt and wanted to know all about it, so we talked about that for about 20 minutes. (Poor Father Tom. He kept asking for silence, with very little success.) She apparently hadn't noticed Thursday night, nor heard me talking to John about it. Finally we were through and I went to a bench overlooking the grounds, got settled in, and sometimes looked up to see John walking the labyrinth. Then I had a nosebleed!

Back in the room, and since it was a bit chillier than yesterday I put the longsleeve shirt again. I was reading, and suddenly saw John walk past my room holding a water glass. What in heck? (My window was overlooking grass, not sidewalk!) So I asked him later and apparently he had a long conversation at the labyrinth with a ladybug. He didn't see it when he'd finished the walk, but it seems to have hitch-hiked back to the building with him, so he was replacing it "fly away home".

Then the fire alarm went off. I went out with my book but without my purse, and mostly without my camera. It did turn out to be a false alarm, but I couldn't get a picture of the fire truck!

There was a short conference about the Sign of the Cross.

Montalvan's second book (Tuesday's Promise) was more about life with Tuesday, and he decided to have his leg amputated so he could have a great prosthesis and maybe start running again. This was a lot of the book, as well as getting back with his family and going to spend all the holidays together. Also, what to do as Tuesday aged... he was 10 and would soon start slowing down, so they planned to have a successor dog, Promise, who would be trained for two years then join the family and slowly take over chores from Tuesday. The book ended on a very hopeful, upbeat, note. And then the co-author's epilog told of Montalvan's suicide, December 2, 2016. Apparently he was having trouble with the leg, had had orthopedic surgery in Australia and Tuesday wasn't there, and was in Houston for further treatment. Without Tuesday. WHY didn't someone come along to take care of the dog while Luis Carlos was laid up? I'm certain that if the dog had been there he'd have noticed the human's mood and helped. This is so sad. And now I know why these books are in the library. (They were donated by a friend of Montalvan's, but that isn't what I mean.)

Supper was stuffed pork chops. Mighty hard to cut, but tasty.

The Easter Vigil Mass started outside, with a fire kindled with flint and steel... Rich always figured that a lighter was flint and steel, but this was a real stone and knife. Eventually the sparks caught. Then I held the book while Father incised the candle and said all the prayers, and then we all went into the chapel. Then he brought the candle in (but I missed the "Lumen Christi!" "Deo Gracias!")

We all had candles, they took the book away from me, and then we took the lights to behind the altar where they were put into sand trays. This is not the usual time this happens, but it worked better with the way the chapel is configured. There were three readings in the dark, then the lights came up for the Gospel! Father Tom read the Gospel of Mark and then talked about it. "When I say 'Jesus Christ is Risen' you say 'Jesus Christ is Risen Indeed!'" And it was pretty much the ending of every sentence.

Then it was time for me to hold the book again while water was poured into the basin and Father blessed it, then put the candle into it, then had us renew our baptismal vows. This time everyone sprinkled water on everyone else. They took the book away from me and went on with the Mass. It was beautiful, and I have a second career now, as a book stand.

We had a social with antipasto, and John wanted to talk to me more about the Camino, but Joyce came up to talk about meditation and he was distracted. I made my excuses and said I'd see him in the morning, and went to bed.

Easter morning, up before dawn, out on the grounds greeting the sun with meditative movement. Also admiring the almost-full moon setting.

A Continental breakfast in the conference room, then Easter Mass. I wore a skirt. I had the reading from Acts. Father Tom explained each reading before the reader came, and then I wondered if he'd actually forgotten to read the Gospel, as he was down the room folding a sheet with Olivia and then saying "Jesus Christ is Risen!" But when this was done, he headed back to the ambo reciting the Gospel. Then he had a real stemwinder of a sermon. What I took away from it was that Jesus, without the winding sheets, was naked. And it's up to us to clothe Him. Am I ready to be his wardrobe?

Again I held the book for the Baptismal vows, and gave it back to Father after he went around sprinkling everyone.

John saved me a seat at brunch (yummy yummy) because I asked him to (I had to go to the bathroom first) and Susan sat across the table, so the talk was all about prayer. The night before he said he is going to be a grandfather in November so we did talk about that a little.

And so I left, picked up the dog, and attempted to get back to the real world.

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A Week in Mid-February

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

27.1 miles

rainy, windy

338 recordings of 36 types. 1 old LMS, 69 CPD, 8 LMS. 23% clear. (Friday's statistics. I start this so early and then get too busy to finish.)

Sunday February 18 was great fun. I met my geocaching friend Carol in Folsom. The restaurant I was thinking of turns out to be closed on Sunday mornings. Oops. And she got stuck in terrible traffic so was late, but we finally met up.

Her usual geocaching partner doesn't like walking, and Carol does, so this was perfect. For starters, she'd marked a cache I didn't have listed, so looked for that while I dashed back for my sunglasses. Then off we went, off to the trail. There are no new art works since I was here in December, so no new geocaches. Yet. But there were 4 I was unable to get last time. Carol had found one of those, but not the others. And it was such a pleasant day for a walk. I think she and I should go to the Lafayette reservoir one of these days!

We came back in sore need of a bathroom, and hungry, and stopped at Pizza Classico (where I had a salad. Yay me.) All in all, a very pleasant day!

I was watching a show about the Galapagos and learned that a volcano there erupted in 2015! I must not have been paying attention.

Monday's only event was that I went to the Newcomer's Dinner. I had called to remind John, so he came. He and Bill (a neighbor, on Pounds Lane) had both gone to Grant High School in the 40s, so they had a lot of reminiscences that I found fascinating.

I cleaned out the kitchen pantry (except for the pasta shelf, which I got the next day). SO much vinegar! So much alcohol! I DID have corn starch after all, so now I have far too much! And so much gelatin!!

I've been watching old movies. TMC has a pre-Oscar special, and so many are interesting to me. So I had to cancel S.W.A.T., that I never got into, and cut out a lot of the How the Universe Works segments (all about how the universe is going to kill us... maybe in 5 billion years, or maybe this afternoon.)

Tuesday, my USAA subscriber bonus came, which would cover the deposit for Oberammergau. I found out that it's not refundable, but for $200 I could transfer it to another program, which might be useful, if I do it and then go with Father Giltus.

I actually made it to the breakfast. I like the people but really am not impressed with the restaurant.

Wednesday I had another nosebleed. Sigh. This gets old.

At Wee Wednesday Miss Jill was gone so Miss Michelle was the leader. She did a "criss cross" rhyme and Padreic learned to sit cross-legged. We showed Mommy when we got home. It's a lot better when they sit that way so they dont get in everyone's way. Too bad Arthur doesn't get it, and too bad Arthur's mom and grandmom don't try to get him to behave.

The parking meter acted up, told me I was paid till 11:30, but when we came out at 11:10 it had expired. There was no ticket, but I thought it should be reported. I tried calling the number on the meter but it continually kicked me off. Later, about Monday, I reported online. And yet, the next Wednesday a woman was unable to pay at that meter. She has a smartphone so could do it, anyway.

Back at the house, I was picking up stuff (Bernadette had turfed out Gareth's room and it looked great) and found Joanna's Thanksgiving list. She's thankful for Grandma, but not for me. This little girl manages to hurt my feelings on a regular basis! She is still not doing her writing. I keep asking why and she doesn't know. I asked Joan to tell Joanna she, Grandma, would like her to do her school writing. That might work.

Thursday I was almost late to the Retreat House, swallowed up by Facebook. But I made it. Again, a huge amount to eat!

I got Pharaoh's DNA kit and swabbed his cheeks. I really am curious.

I have decided not to play the regular levels in Fishdom until they come up with a new aquarium. But I'm OK playing the additional game of Herman (the crab) even if it means (and it did) dropping another league. They add 15 new games every Thursday, and I've been buying the diamonds at a discount, so by mid-March I should have enough to play the 60 or 75 games I'll have before they go to the "chests." Those games don't let you get new decorations or fish. When they do open the Wonderland exhibit I can buy a lot of goodies right away. The fish keep nagging me to go to the store, but I have everything already and the aquaria are stuffed!

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OW!

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

12.5 miles

fog, sunny

348 recordings of 32 types. 1 old SVU, 71 old CPD, 33 LMS. 23% clear.

Friday was OW day!

I woke with a terrible back pain and took an Ibuprofen, which worked, but I forgot to take another to Renaissance. The morning was a documentary, For the Love of Spock. The newsletter had said it was in a room at the library at 10 but it turned out to be in a room in Tahoe Hall (which used to be the business building) at 9:30 so I barely made it. I sat next to Gerry, my former Shakespeare teacher. He won't be going to Ashland this year... their casting of a woman as Hotspur last year was a bridge too far for him. As is the making Oklahoma! all about gay couples is for me, but I can just not go to it. The Oregon Shakespeare people keep trying to push boundaries, and sometimes it's just ridiculous. As was the feud with the bookstore, which nearly pushed me out.

I love this documentary couple, and they're moving to Boise! NOOOOO! They didn't have closed captioning on this one and the sound was low, and Gerry couldn't hear it and left early. Too bad. It was really good.

Then I went for my tea and tuna banh mi and took it to Time Travel, as usual. Chip had "invented a time machine", an animation, over the break. It was a pipe at the top, and two openings on a "box" underneath. It worked in that a ball dropped from the top into the left opening, then came up out of the right opening and disappeared at the top. Turn the machine on, and the ball came out before it dropped in. Then if you warp the box, the ball comes out and hits itself coming down, so it doesn't go into the box (the grandfather paradox.) But if you warp the box just right, into a shallow U shape, the ball emerging from the right side hits the ball dropping and caroms it into the left side. This is the ontological paradox (where does the ball come from?) Then he showed a short from the Netherlands, A Single Life, which was sad... and so to the feature film, the Terminator, which I saw with GoE back when it came out, and didn't like it, too noisy and violent. I was prepared to give it a second chance, but my back pain came back with a vengeance, and I reached the point I just had to leave.

I called Bernadette to cancel having Joanna, which was a disappointment. I'd made sure I had the ingredients for her science kit, I had brought out 5 VCR films so she could have her choice (I was hoping for Lady and the Tramp, in fact) and I had a macaroni and cheese dinner ready to go, since I didn't want t a repeat of the fried chicken disaster of last time. I'd also hidden the Boxcar Children books. Rats. But I thought I was lucky just to get home.

Saturday I went to Lyon's for the WPAC breakfast. It was disappointing this month. Apparently they were short a cook, and the meals came out 3 at a time. My bacon was limp and the eggs cold. And then the waiter took FOREVER to get our checks to us.

At home I went through a box of old papers. I found a letter from Nelda in 1964 when she was working at Glacier National Park and flirting with guys, and it was flooding. I was at the Indian Reservation and we went to see her after Mom picked me up. There was also a letter from my sister saying she wouldn't come be my matron of honor. It wasn't, as I remembered, because it would be hard to travel with my 5-month-old niece, but because she was so much in love with her husband she couldn't picture leaving him for a week... (didn't we invite him? Oh, well.) It's interesting how time changes things! Nelda's now a nun, and Chris divorced for upwards of 30 years.

Because moving is the best thing for my back, I had an ambitious plan to walk to a nearby park, but only got to the corner when I realized I wasn't up to it. So I did a shorter, 2 mile walk, and passed the museum where I admired the crowds for Free Museum Day. Rich and I volunteered for that a few years.

Sunday at Mass I saw a friend was there with his girlfriend. I'm glad for him. His wife left him in 2012 and decided to write me a letter explaining why, and the upshot was it was no way his fault, she just needed to find herself. I found (find) it hard not to resent this: there were times with Rich I felt this way but I stuck it out, and I lost him and had no choice. She moved away and is now in Redding with her boyfriend (second husband? I don't know). I'm glad to see he's finally found someone, himself. (And, she (the ex-wife) was in a car accident Sunday afternoon but is fortunately only shaken up.)

Laurie has moved in with her daughter! No longer in the neighborhood. THAT was fast. I missed the garage sale... maybe it was last week while I was at the retreat.

LazyBoy had another VIP sale, so I went over and looked at everything and got 6 nice drinking glasses, this time not in a LazyBoy box. I really liked a Blue Agate table. There was also a bird made of sticks, and since the last few days I've been picking up twigs because the magpies are building a nest in my palm tree, this seemed appropriate.

In the afternoon I drove up to Citrus Heights to see A Shot in the Dark. I managed to get a front row seat (I really have to get these tickets ahead of time) and they did an adequate job. It was quite a talky performance, with quite a few laughs. The two principal actors were really good.

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Things Fall Apart

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

1.3 miles

cloudy and cold, warmer (60s?) during the day

348 recordings of 64 types, 1 old SVU (almost done here), 51 old CPD, and 50 old Last Man Standing. 25% clear.

It all started with a few computer glitches back in early December. I poked around to find out what to do about them, and must have triggered something.

But this past week was something else. My phone went out the Thursday before Christmas, and when I reported it on Friday morning, I was promised a technician would be here Friday the 29th by 8PM. Hoping that something would happen earlier, I spent Tuesday through Friday here in the house, with my cell phone on. I did dash out Tuesday morning to see if I could find a Christmas tree for next year, but no such luck. The pre-lit trees that were left were too tall. Oh, well. I'm still throwing this one out so I will HAVE to buy a new one next year. Vince forgot to call on Tuesday. I suggested FaceTime, but at the time he called on Wednesday that didn't work, as my iPad had gone off.

Oh, and that night my light bulb popped.

On Wednesday I was looking at the credit card bill and spied a suspect charge from December 5. See above. I looked in my diary, nothing, and checked on the internet to find "mycomputersupport.com" which had "SCAM" written right after it, so I disputed the charge and immediately lost that credit card with a new one coming in three days. I had enough cash on hand in case the phone guy charged for the service (which would happen if it was somehow my fault, though I doubted that.) Only one bill was coming due that week, TracFone, so I wasn't too worried. Of course, it did come due on Thursday so I called and explained. And I thought that was set, but when I got the card I immediately called them and it was long and involved... something that should have been simple was terribly complicated by the Indian woman on the line.

I worked on the jigsaw puzzle, days 4 and 5. It's amazing how much quicker this one is than the Rosetta Stone! I was wishing I could sleep in, since I had nowhere to go, but was awake by 4 every single day of that week.

I had a hot flash. This is hypoglycemia, which means I've been TOO low carb along the way. I hope the A1C test is good... I'm really tired of being so very very good.

Thursday I cut oleander along the driveway. This night I went to bed leaving the TV on, so at 4 I saw all those strange lights coming from the living room!

Friday my card came, so I had a lot of time notifying people of the new number. I got Amazon right but it took 3 tries and as many days to finally get Apple right. It was good I had the Amazon right, because my DVD player wouldn't open and give me back the Netflix disc it had. I eventually pried the tray out, but the disc fell into the machine. So I took the top off, and got the disc out unharmed, but obviously needed a new DVD player, and ordered a refurbished Sony with a 3-year warranty. And finally, at 7 Friday night, the phone guy came. He tested all the phones, and all the jacks (which involved taking a lot of the junk in the back room out of the way, and it was all bootless anyway.) He finally decided the short was probably in the attic. I didn't want to tackle the attic with that awful fluff insulation and who knows how many rat corpses, what to do? He decided to wire a new phone jack piggy-backed on the U-verse jack, which is at last in the living room (what a mess if it had still been in the back!) He put my kitchen phone on it as a temporary fix, which was awkward. I ordered a cordless phone with three handsets... the base will be in the living room and the other phones in my bedroom and the kitchen, and of course I can wander around the house with them.

So Saturday I first went on a walk to Trader Joe's for eggnog and to CVS for scotch tape. The 4 pounds of eggnog got heavy by the time I got home. In the late morning I tried to go to see "Darkest Hour" but had the wrong time, and the 3 PM show would have been too late, as I needed to go to Saturday Evening Mass. Which I did. Then when I came home in the dark I could see dark reflective spots on the carport floor. Uh-oh. I had an oil leak.

Before the festivities on New Year's Eve, I went out to a morning coffee geocaching get-together. And the final thing that is falling apart is ME! When I went to get out of the car, my left hand cramped up and wouldn't stop for about 10 minutes. Ow ow ow ow ow. The first time I had a hand cramp was in Spain and there's only been one other since. It's either dehydration (which would be Spain) or a lack of potassium, so I had to get bananas.

Entry tags:

Mid-December Catch Up

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

214.9 miles

cold and sunny

373 recordings of 63 types. (Big Cat Week is doing me in, but apparently it's also deleting some, since I lost two old CPDs.) 40 old CPDs and 5 old SVUs, 22% clear.

Thursday the 7th I was way down on my weight (it's come back since, darn it!) and blood pressure.

0bama really DID fundamentally change America, politicizing the Justice Dept and the FBI, which is the worst since J. Edgar.

I drove downtown to the Del Monte Almond factory for the girls' family presents. I admit to being tempted by the habanero, shiracha, and wasabe almond assortment for Rob, but that would be unfair to the kids, especially Padreic. Then I wound my way through midtown to get onto the freeway to go drop off the carseat which I forgot to leave on Wednesday. With traffic calming, one-way streets, and construction, this was nearly impossible. I would have been better off going back to my area and getting on then. I spied a major traffic holdup northbound, so I came back on Power Inn/Howe. I see Squeeze Inn has changed its name to Squeeze Burger.

I worked some on the jigsaw puzzle. I'd turned it around and the different angle was helpful. Still very very slow, though.

Friday I drained and coiled the hoses, which was certainly cold cold work. I slow cooked the pork shoulder, but I will never again get one with a bone. Removing the cartilage was disgusting work, better done by a butcher.

Frank had been in the hospital (heart attack, AT the cardiologist's what timing! and they installed a pace maker.) He came home that night.

In the afternoon I went over to St. Philomene's and put flyers about the women's retreat into the bulletins. On the way I dropped books off at the library, and coming back I stopped at St. Vincent de Paul with two boxes of icicles and some Christmas window trim. I went in, and found a alarm-clock radio. (The one I have has been acting weird, gaining 0 to 20 minutes every day. Then I looked up digital clocks gaining time and started to worry about the circuit, but the new one seems to work fine.) It had a blinding display, but I found the switch to dim it and it's nice. GREAT BIG NUMBERS.

Saturday I went to the widowed person's breakfast and then drove out to the BevMo in Citrus Heights. They didn't have the big bottles of Amarula either, but had gift packages with a bottle and 2 glasses. So I got two of those. Later in the week I realized this liqueur is probably high in carbs, so I've only had one of them, till after my A1C test in January. This is hard.

I tried to replace the television, because I'd bought some speakers... the entirely wrong type. I keep asking Bernadette to help with this, and she keeps not doing so, and the whole thing was SO FRUSTRATING! I wanted to move the entertainment center to the hearth, to block off the fireplace and clear a wall. I threw a tantrum then moved the TV back to Hoarder Central. I am -><- this close to buying my own with its remote, and speakers, etc.

Once I calmed down I went for a walk of 3.3 miles. My sneakers are all on their last legs (ha!) and I will have to buy new ones. The funny thing is I don't remember where I usually buy shoes! I can picture it, but no idea where.

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The Last Weekend in November

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

202.4 miles

c-c-cold!

(It would be easier to keep up if I weren't so busy. Of course, then I would have nothing to write about.)

Last Saturday, November 25, I slept in until 6 and started covering a garden bed with leaves before the gardeners came.

I spent most of the afternoon waiting for Bernadette, and still bitter, at one point I took a 4.3 mile walk to take a book to the farthest Little Free Library. No Bernadette. I thought she'd forgotten, but it turns out my communications major was unclear as to when she was coming... she'd meant SUNDAY afternoon.

There was a Black Friday sale on Fishdom. I'm not playing much, only getting the diamonds when they are on sale.

While online, I also bought one thing for Steve&Family, since it was something I was already going to get but was on sale.

The 26th was Niki's birthday and I actually sent her card on time. Bernadette came by and got her tickets, and stayed and talked. She admired Hoarder Central. She says it's gone from "dumpster ready" to "messy." I was having her help me move the train layout so I could cover it with plastic and put it out, but it turned out to be broken. The plaster mountains had cracked. OK, then, it will go with the hauler. She helped me move it out to the carport.

Also, I found out they are going to WorldCon in San Jose next August. Since I'll be in Oregon with Vince and family, Joan will be babysitting. I hope she doesn't have the heat problem again. (She fainted last year.)

While Bernadette was here I darn near burnt the turkey soup, but saved it just in time. It's gonna be good.

I replaced a light bulb and the Brita filter.

I was beginning to wonder about the night twinges I've been having. They are normal, hyptic jerks or sleep starts. (And, of course, now I know that, I haven't had any since.) On this evening, I'd been asleep for about an hour when there was a TERRIBLE noise. The cat somehow managed to knock my ceremonial dagger to the ground! Boy, that changed things!

Entry tags:

Half a Social Butterfly

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

184.7 miles

cold and sunny

371 recordings of 30 types, 4 old SVU and 21 old Chicago PD; 23% clear.

I had planned to write this yesterday, as a summary of my full social life, but in the end my social life wasn't as full as I thought it would be. The 4th was the 6th anniversary of Rich's death and that rather overshadowed a couple of things.

However, Wednesday (the 1st) I met Bernadette over at the Mondavi center in Davis to see the Reduced Shakespeare Company. We had really good seats since they upgraded me from the balcony to row S on the ground floor. (I suspect they had a school group upstairs and needed the room, and I lucked out.) The show was very funny, though loud and fast paced and I missed a lot. However, knowing more about Shakespeare than I used to, I did catch more than I would have another year.

Then Thursday's activity was a one-time only filming of "I'll Push You" which was a fundraiser for the MDA and about a couple of friends who did the Camino, one in a wheelchair. I invited Laurie. It was great, and she was very excited about it.

Friday I was planning to go to see "Blithe Spirit" at a new theater company in Citrus Heights, but after the Renaissance movie (Time After Time) I really just wanted to stay home. They're apparently in trouble, as ticket prices have been slashed in half. The next show is the same thing I saw with Reduced Shakespeare, but I may do it anyway, just to see them, and support them, and also to see if I pick up more of the jokes.

Saturday I went to the Widowed Person's Breakfast and stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up Spanish cheese and crackers. However, I had already decided I probably wasn't going to the Camino Welcome Back potluck. Yesterday I saw the pictures, and I'm very glad indeed I didn't go. There were at least 50 people there, and I was in no mood for people-ing. Laurie called in the afternoon, after our rain (only an hour, they'd promised all day!) and told me to take a walk. It made sense to me, and I did, and did feel a bit better.

Meanwhile, though, the dog got into the kitty litter. Grumble. After I swept up the mess I dropped the dustpan onto my toe, and today I have a doozy of a bruise. I don't think it's broken, though.

I took another, longer walk, yesterday. Today the cleaners are coming, so I can't go walking, unless they're really early.

Entry tags:

If It's WPAC, it Must Be Eating!

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

cold in the mornings, sunny and breezy

366 recordings of 28 types, 60 old SVU. 19% clear.

Saturday morning I went to breakfast with WPAC. Some other group was sitting at our tables so we went into surrounding booths to wait. I sat with a Michael, who is new. I asked how long he'd been with WPAC and he said he was starting because his Match.com lady and he had ended their relationship, so he was looking for others. Ick. I know the guys are more likely to hook up immediately, but WPAC is not a dating service. And, as it turned out, his wife only died about a year ago, so he's been on the prowl far too soon. When we got over to the table he was talking to others about Match.com and other dating services. I started conversing with a couple of ladies, one of whom, sadly, is moving to Southern California on Wednesday.

Home to veg out until I decided to go to Mass to leave me time to water properly on Sunday.

Which I did, also a totally fruitless session with the jigsaw puzzle. SO frustrating!

Monday I walked down to deposit a check and look for a geocache. The walk-up ATM was out of order. I went on a little farther to look for a geocache. It's tricky, one with lots of keys. I thought I'd figured one lock out but it only turned a quarter turn. I thought maybe the lock was broken, but now the cache owner assures me the key I chose was NOT the right one. OK then, I'll try again soon.

So the walk was fruitless except for being a walk. I drove back to the area for a WPAC Newcomers' Dinner, and deposited the check along the way. The receipt indicated I had less money in there than I'd thought. I checked today and yes indeed, I'd somehow had 6+5 = 13. Oops. At the dinner I sat with a number of new people. One lives about 3 blocks away, so I'll likely see him around the neighborhood.

Entry tags:

Renaissance

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

cool

347 recordings of 28 types, 64 old SVU. 22% clear.

Yesterday was Renaissance. I went over really early to get a good parking place (not early enough for my favorite spots, under a tree and all alone so no dings, however.) However, I am off the too-political documentaries. I miss the couple that did stuff like "My Life as a Turkey" or the horseback ride from Mexico to Canada or the Honor Flight documentary. The seminar wasn't that promising and travel was about India, so I decided to skip it entirely. I brought along the GPS to use as a pedometer and walked around the north part of the campus. I couldn't get to the arboretum because of construction of Yet Another Parking Structure. The new Riverside dorm, where I used to park, is gorgeous. Gerhard wouldn't recognize the place. I looked at the displays in the science building. The silk worms were interesting, otherwise they were rather blah.

1.6 miles and I decided not to go any farther. Down in the Book Bin I got three "Beans of Egypt Maine" books. More to the point, I got another Bernard Cornwell about Sharpe, and a Trollope I didn't have. (It's good I brought my list, because I thought I had this one but not the one I actually did have.) Then I sat there and read my Nero Wolfe until it was time for lunch.

The bag was awkward and heavy so I decided to put it down on a table and go order my lunch. Unfortunately, I didn't put it down properly and it toppled, with a couple of books and my water bottle hitting the deck. I didn't notice the hole in the water bottle when I picked everything up, but did see it, fortunately, while I was eating lunch. Sigh. This was the bottle I got at the Denver Geowoodstock and I really liked it. It unscrews both at the top and at the wide body part. I threw it out and looked up another one with the same style, which should be here Sunday.

The movie was "Cronocriminales" and what a thought-provoker. We had a lively discussion afterwards... I disagreed with the leader about the motivation of one person, but then he pointed out one thing I'd missed, so he was right. The main question... did he change the time line or just reinforce it... was a big discussion. What a good movie!

I set up a Mass intention for Rich and got $$, then went home. Andy came over to look at the shed door that Pharaoh has destroyed. Bless him.

I had a headache last night, but finally got to sleep.

Entry tags:

Catch Up #1

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 547
153.2 miles
90s and muggy

367 recordings of 51 types, 74 old SVU. 18% clear. (I had it lower but made the mistake of visiting TCM!)

Gah! I am so far behind! Besides this journal, obvious, I have TripAdvisor reviews to do, and so much paperwork to clean up in the house, and then there's the rest of the Camino to write up. So instead, I play Fishdom and watch TV.

I came back from Ashland two weeks ago. The first week back was awful, so very hot. Alicia informed me something was wrong with the answering machine. Actually, I finally found out the phone was offline. So I called AT&T and in was voice mail hell. Then I tried online and got to chat with a human. I was reluctant to give last four digits of my social security number (it probably would have to be Rich's anyway) but I could tell what the last phone bill was. He said there'd be a tech out in the next 24 hours. I waited all day long then suddenly realized I could go online again and see what was up. I initially started another complaint but then I saw the place to check progress. Lo! They had checked the line and set up a technician appointment and I would be back online at 8 PM.

In the meantime, the cleaners came and went. At 7, AT&T pulled up. I told him where the phone box was. As I was trying to push the dog back in with my foot, he snapped at it, then realized what he was doing. Tsk. The technician discovered, just as I'd suspected, that when the UVerse guy fixed that and put in a new router, he knocked a wire loose. I did have a couple of phone calls but then nothing, and I knew something was wrong with the phone when I talked to the vet.

(On the Monday in Ashland I checked my phone and had three calls. All from the vet, one each on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They had tried running my credit card and it had been refused.) So on Tuesday I called and said "why didn't you use my home number?" They said they had, but nobody had answered. So *I* thought it was the answering machine, somehow off.) Always something.

Tuesday of that week I completely forgot about the widow's breakfast. I did brave the heat and go to the commissary and took a quick trip to Raley's also for milk. This was just a stopgap trip, which I had to do quick before the very end of the month, and I plan to do a big one in the middle of September. I called to make my mammogram appointment, and also talked to the windows people, and it turns out the appraisers had never actually scheduled me for right after Labor Day after all, so when I called her in the time between trips and she tried to call me back, no answer. My windows will be here on the 14th! I also talked to the bank to find out when I was supposed to tell them to put more money (when USAA closed out the California account in my mutual funds) into the CD renewal.

And for the first time in 4 weeks, Vince was able to call me at home!

Wednesday was Padreic's birthday. It was SO HOT. I told Bernadette I would like her to drive me over to pick up the big kids, and this fit in right with her plans. So I brought Padreic the riding Tyrannosaur I'd gotten for him in Wyoming, and he instantly named it Roar. Then when it was time to pick up the kids, Bernadette drove over and I walked into the school for them. Then she didn't drive straight home. The kids were baffled. Then we pulled up at Leatherby's! They gave Padreic a special sundae and sang to him, and he was thrilled. (Unfortunately, I can't seem to get the video up on Flickr. "Candle out" he said once he blew it out on the second try.) I had a small sundae but probably should have had a kid's sundae. I do try to be good!

Doris died. I no longer have to feel guilty about not visiting her... well, I still can feel guilty, but nothing I can do about it now. It's a blessing for her. Sweet lady.

SMOKE! From the Sierra fires and even the Oregon fires, which I thought I'd left behind when I left Ashland. (That smoke continued till Weed, but after my lunch the smoke had lifted, and I had clear skies coming home.) So I couldn't walk except very early in the morning. This morning I got as far as Whitney School, but I saw someone opening the fence and driving in. I figured that he had a key, he was probably OK, but I stopped to check anyway. Looked like he was cleaning the bathrooms instead of stealing the computers. But I came home after that, and the rest of the week the heat and the smoke kept me in.

I called the Bard's Inn and discovered, yes indeed, they do have a AAA discount, so I definitely should have used it this year and will certainly use it next year. I reserved a cabin at Crater Lake, next to the kids' campground, and I hope I can do the plays I'm interested in immediately afterwards. That way I'd only have one day (Monday) down.

I donated, through Catholic charities, to Harvey relief.

It's so slow on the jigsaw. One day I only managed 7 pieces.

Because I was gone much of August, I hadn't registered for a class at Renaissance. I had been interested in TED talks or the Time Machine Movies. I thought maybe after a documentary in the morning, I would be tired of thinking. Hence, I wanted the movies. But, since I hadn't registered, I was worried there wouldn't be room. I crashed the class and there were about 10 open seats, so good. The movie was the Time Machine. I'd never seen this one (with Alan Young) before and enjoyed it. Our "homework" was to think what three books you would take to help fix the future. I contributed The Way Things Work and then when I got home I would add the Boy Scout Handbook.

The morning class was a seminar on food in Sacramento. It was OK.

And after trying a few times to get back to "fossilfreakca" at LiveJournal, I gave up and came here. Still learning it.