fossilfreak

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

74.5 miles

hot again but a break in the smoke after weeks!

293 recordings of 52 types. 32% clear.

August 2 I wasn't going to leave the house at all, but I found some books of McClellan history in Hoarder Central and thought I'd try donating them to the air museum. They were delighted. While I was out I finally took the coffee I've been carrying around to Ann, who takes care of the donations for Sharing God's Bounty.

I called Carol to find out how her colonoscopy went. Better than mine, it appears.

The 3rd was Bonnie's birthday so I called her, which was fun. She was quite amused with Joanna's plans for Boxcar Children camp when SHE is a grandmother!! We discussed falls, too.

I was at Bernadette's from 10-1, helping sort through books, old board books out, slightly more grownup children's books to the living room (including some I took over which Padreic enjoyed), Joanna's books to her bookcases, Gareth's books to his. You can sure tell this is a family of readers!

Then I took some books to the library. (MY books, not hers, which she wanted to take to Little Free Libraries.)

Day 4 of a jigsaw puzzle I was trying to do before I go to Crater Lake. It was going fast, but it was obvious there were lots of pieces of another puzzle, as well. So I had no idea if I had enough pieces of the real puzzle. I would only know by finishing it.

I love watching Safari Live, and I also went onto the computer for an extra hour after the tv show was over. I just love it. I really want to go with Benson next year, but Zimbabwe is still roiling, and South Africa is looking a bit odd too.

On Saturday the 4th I got a free breakfast at the WPAC breakfast, so I left a tip and went out full and flush. One of the ladies had her daughter die of cancer. I feel, sometimes, like i've been dancing between the raindrops.

Willie (Bill) is going to be homeless at the end of August so will be coming to live with me for awhile. This will have some advantages... he can clean out the rain gutters which are full of driy leaves and palm seeds, and will be here if I want to take off for an overnight or two.

I was a bit appalled in the morning because Pharaoh ran into the kitchen with his rat-chasing look. Didn't spy any long tails, though, and the dog relaxed.

Sunday the 5th I went to Mass and Father asked us to pray for him. Apparently he's been the subject of some gossip, which isn't true, but he got a "canonical warning" (in other words a wrist slap) by the Bishop.

While in church I had a bad pain in the gall bladder area. I really don't need to add that, do I? However, it's gone now, so it was probably gas.

I kept thinking there was something I wanted to do this afternoon at 2, but of course I didn't remember what till 4:30, so I missed the Knights of Columbus ice cream social.

Charles Spinks, my friend whom I never met, the guy who went on the Camino 5 days ahead of me, died. :(

So. The doctor told me to come in to his office on the 6th, so I thought maybe I could do an end run around Kayla the unhelpful receptionist by calling the doctor's office directly. Michelle, his receptionist, didn't call back till the afternoon, and told me the doctor is not in his office on Mondays. Why did he tell me this? I will see this through, with the Nurse Practitioner Svetlana, on Monday the 13th, and get my operation, but I am definitely going to deal with some other group next time. I liked Svetlana, I liked the doctor, and the nurses were fine, but I can't take the stress.

I was trying to remember who I gave the baby gate to. I guess it was Pagan.

On Tuesday the 7th I went to breakfast and updated the ladies on my medical frustrations. First off, though, I listened to Jackie's stories, and it was something like having a MadLibs read to me, without any of the blanks filled in. I had to use a lot of imagination!

Then I went down to Elk Grove and read to Padreic and played with him while she worked on Joanna's stuff. She's going to have that room all cleaned up so Joan can trash it. Apparently J. complains that they don't have a decent guest room (and I've stayed at Joan's, so this is a bit hypocritical.) Anyway, I helped a bit, but mostly by keeping Padreic busy. I took a box of "food" and dishes (tiny Tupperware) to him and he was thrilled. I took the dehydrator to Bernadette. (When I dug it out I found a box, kind of a shelf which used to hold vinyl records, apparently, in the bar area and now it has scrapbooks in it)

Because of the smoke, it was possible that Vince would cancel Crater Lake, but now, a few days later, it seems like it'll be OK. I decided I would go anyway.

The 8th I apparently lost my Tac glasses, no idea how or where. Early in the morning, I removed some trumpet vine from the side yard.

Then I walked over to see the doctor. I was waiting in the room and he tapped on the door and opened it and said "sorry!" and backed out! That was puzzling. When he finally got back I teased him about being afraid of me and we had a good laugh. What had happened was he wasn't quite through with the other patient and just opened the wrong door.

He also took his time with me. He updated my shot records (though I'll have to correct one next time. I told him I'd had an injection for Typhoid but it was actually Yellow Fever.) He checked on the colonoscopy stuff and I told him how frustrated they are making me. He listened to my heart and lungs and felt my neck for lumps and, woe, looked at my feet. The prescription is to put Vicks Vapo-Rub on my toenails three times a day for one or two years! OK then. He said I was mildly depressed and I argued the point. It's because I don't sleep well.

Still, it was a satisfactory visit.

Once I got home again I went to the commissary for a big re-stocking (and of course, I already have two more items on the next list (oatmeal and RealLime)). It was over $220, so I'm sure glad I don't do this monthly. In fact, the last BIG one was in September, with a medium one in March, and I go pick up this and that approximately once a month. For the big ones, I go through the checkout and tip the baggers ($10 this time. Rich would have a cow.)

When I was putting the food away I heard the back toilet gurgling. Has that been happening since the cleaners were here? And if so, why didn't I hear it when I was putting papers in the back?

The temperature was back at triple digits.

On the 9th, I slept 9:30-2:40 and then went right back to sleep till 4:30.

I watched Gordon Ramsay's new show. He's doing a Sacto Restaurant next week. The post-show reviews don't look good. I believe I'll skip it.

I took the car in for its 122+K mile check-up. All it needed was a tune up and a replaced third brake light. (I hadn't even known I HAD a third brake light!) I took a long shuttle ride home, through downtown and East Sacramento, but that's nothing, he was in Rancho Cordova when I called him back so it took more than an hour. It's OK, though. At least I got to spend some time at home.

And THAT was interesting. Because it's Thursday, I took the dog poop bag out to the trash. While I was puttering back there, I decided to lop some of the lowest branches on the mulberry, so I opened the shed door to get the pole lopper. Like a flash, Pharaoh jumped into the shed and trapped and killed a squirrel right before my eyes. He was so proud of himself! He strutted out of the shed (thank goodness. I really didn't want to try to get the corpse with all the junk all over the floor and shelves) and brought his trophy to the porch, where I was waiting with a plastic bag. Then, as I took it to the trash, in front, I could hear him back in the shed. He then presented me with a dead young rat. So back into the house I went for another plastic bag (AFTER shutting the shed door!) and took THAT body to the trash! At least it's trash night!

And yes, I lopped the branches, and when I put the pole lopper away, I had the dog shut in the house.

I got new TacGlasses when I drove home. I see Sprouts has come into the grocery store that used to be SaveMart! If my food storage wasn't so chock-a-block full, I'd have checked it out, but maybe in a week or two.

That night, Pharaoh was still full of himself and wouldn't come in when I called him. I got the flashlight, which is usually the magic tool, and he still wouldn't come in. So I got a newspaper and whapped him when he came in. The next day again he didn't come in and I left him out for a couple of hours. Since then he's remembered to come when I tell him. (Which was something I taught him after Rich died. He needed to know who was boss, and it isn't him.)

The 10th, I was weeding the zinnia garden, one foot in my garden, one in the neighbor's yard, and I tripped over my little wire fence. Fortunately I didn't fall, but I sure got a big, painful, bruise.

I went back to Bernadette's, and again helped mostly by letting Padreic show me stuff. "Look!" every little thing he does. That and he starts every sentence with "no." "Are you going to put that in the dollhouse?" "No, I'm putting it in the dollhouse." Bernadette says he inherited it from Rich, who was very contradictory. "Why do you contradict everything?" "I don't contradict all the time!" he would say, contradicting me.

I finished the puzzle, 9 days, 995 pieces. There were 5 missing, but they didn't really ruin the picture. There were 31(!) pieces that didn't belong to this puzzle. No, I didn't pack them up with the puzzle!

My driver's license renewal came. I can't get an appointment until I know when my surgery will be. This is so frustrating. I did spend some time looking for my social security card, which I'm sure I used when I got my TSA pre-check number. Oh, well. I did find a piece of paper in my tax papers with the full number in it. And today I talked to Joan M. who didn't have an appointment but went at 0630 in the morning and got it taken care of and home by 9. So I'll do that.

I was invited to the Sharing God's Bounty board meeting, which was at a pizza place. I was amazed at how this ministry has grown. When it came time for me to speak I talked about the start, 35 years ago, and how Rich and I were in on the planning. How he did security/parking for something like 20 years. How I don't do much since he died except provide coffee. (Ann said there was more, but I didn't want to brag up my donations in his name.) I sat with Peter Mithin and talked to Bill Durborough.

I really pigged out on the pizza. And on the way home, my jaw hurt. I'm thinking imminent heart attack (no, if I get a heart attack, I want to do it in Svetlana's office!) It stopped when I got home, though I had it happen a little the next morning.

I was too late to see most of Safari Live live on the TV, but I managed to get to it overtime on the computer while I was finishing the puzzle. And it was exciting. There was a leopard (Hosana) stalking prey (and not getting it) and a hyena baby!

The next morning was the second Saturday breakfast, and I saw many of my friends. Mostly I talked to Marty.

Afterwards I went to Raley's for my prescription, and to Lazy Boy to look around (lots of pretty stuff, but I actually don't want any more overstuffed furniture in my living room. Something more like Bernadette's gliding chair which was initially Roni's. I don't like the new covers Joan put on that chair and stool so I've told her I don't want it. I got 4 glasses.

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

66.6 miles

HOT

On Wednesday the 11th I drove Debby to Vina, the Cistercian Monastery. They were dedicating the church, which has been added on to the former chapter house made from the medieval stones of Oliva Monastery in France. Rich and I had watched while they started this chapter house and visited when they'd finished, and I've been back a couple of times, with WPAC, then Laurie and then Brenda. I was talking and overshot the turn-off, so we were about 15 minutes behind when I thought we would be and ended up sitting behind a pillar, but it was still a special Mass with chanting and Latin (fun for the convert!!) and incense and all. Then we had wine and a nice lunch buffet in a tent before we stopped at the winery and came home. (This time I missed the turn to Yuba City so ended up in Oroville, so it took a little longer to get home, but as a compensation Debby taught me a better way to get through Marysville.

The 12th I only dug one tulip bulb out. I went to Bernadette's in the morning and picked up some of the mess while she had a dentist appointment. Back at home I changed the kitty litter out, did laundry, and fixed stuffed peppers with a southwestern rice hamburger mix topped with mozzarella.

On Friday the 13th I finished season 4 of Chicaco P.D. and discovered one of the season 2 NCIS episodes has gone missing. Maybe I accidentally let it get erased.

It turns out I waited too long to sign up for the Mississippi River cruise next April. Darn it, it looked like fun.

I went out to thrift shops and a bookstore and found 4 Boxcar children books for Joanna.

Carol and Frank were leaving just as I was so she didn't get a chance to tell me they had some food for me in their fridge. She called. And so I looked for their key in the plastic bag I keep it in, and it wasn't there! Maybe the cleaners saw it and hung it up, so I took a fistful of keys over, and sure enough, the second one I tried opened the door! The food was two huge artichokes and a big pack of potato salad.

That night I went to see 1776 at the Chatauqua. Bev didn't arrive in time for the first act, and when I saw it was an all female cast I was annoyed, but it was great. Bev was there after intermission so I could stop worrying about her. Meanwhile, my friend Bill with the Pancreatic Cancer, looks great! He's recovered so well they gave him a new knee and they geocached through a lot of states.

I liked the first act better, but then I believe that's true every time I've seen it.

Saturday I had gotten tickets for us to ride the Sacramento River Train. Bernadette came by for me and we got down to Old Sacramento early. We stopped at the History Museum to spend some time. I am guessing it's been over 10 years since I've been there and they've surely changed a lot. They had a stretched penny machine so Joanna and Padreic each got one. Then we started walking toward the depot and when Padreic said he would like to get on the train, is when I let them know that's what I planned. We rode in the back coach and got our tickets punched, rode the 3 miles south and then got to watch the engine go down a spur then couple onto our coach.

I was wearing my Wyoming shirt and a guy asked me was I from the state. Turns out he is from Rock Springs and did indeed know the Zs, Joe's family.

I learned two short toots mean "we're starting" and two longs and a short mean "we're coming in."

It was a fun ride and the kids seemed to like it. When we got off Gareth asked "have you noticed we haven't had lunch?" so he got a bit of a talk from Mommy about how to tell people you're hungry a bit more politely. We went to a restaurant and Joanna turned into a whiny thorny monster because nobody else had finished their lunch. She was hanging her head with her shoulders hunched and near tears, so I tried to comfort her. A porcupine would have been easier. Turns out she wanted to "do something exciting."

Then we went over to the Railroad Museum, and she got into her "cling-to-mommy-because-there-are-scary-adults" phase. Mighod. She's got to be the saddest little girl in the world. It was NOT a good day for her. (Oh, yeah, she'd already informed me she doesn't like ballet and didn't want to see "Cinderella" and I'm pretty sure it's just that she didn't want to go anywhere with me. This despite a good camp. I've made myself feel better because I'll take Bernadette, and she can just stay home and maybe rethink her life.) It was the kind of day that makes me say that while I love her very much, sometimes I don't really like her. (I said that to B., and she agrees.)

At that gift shop we got more stretched pennies and I got Padreic his book. He was thrilled.

At home I noticed that after maybe a year, my fridge water filter needed changing. (I've been looking at the light for months, but never saw it go yellow. It was red this time.) I pulled it out to see what it was (but didn't write it down) and went to put it back and jammed it in, couldn't close the filter door. I tried to get the filter out but couldn't, asked for help from my friends, but no, and finally freed it on Sunday by attacking on a different angle.

\I dozed off and woke at 7:47. As it was light outside, I thought I'd overslept through the night, had missed my chance to dig, and would have to hurry for church. It finally dawned on me that it wasn't actually Sunday, but was still Saturday!

Sunday the 15th, I was distracted in church because of Joanna. Grrr.

I ordered tickets for the Kingston Trio (just me), Pinocchio with the kids and Bernadette, and the ballet with Bernadette. These are at Folsom. Last week I got the Mondavi (Davis) catalog for next year and they don't really have anything I want this time.

I was making chicken a la king and dropped it as I was putting it back into the microwave for the second part. And it smelled so good, all over the floor. I was amazed at the dog, who just sat looking at it until I told him it was OK for him to eat it. Such a clean floor!! Sigh.

Monday, I'd thought I'd be done digging by the weekend, but I was overoptimistic. I waited all day for the cleaners. Once they came I called Helena, who is also having a colonoscopy, hers this coming Friday.

I went to the Newcomer's dinner, and took my iPad (in its new cover) so I could show Bill my wounded picture. He wasn't there, but I did talk to Tom.

I am in 37 different places in Albion because I accidentally opened the perfumer's workshop instead of keeping it for the artist's studio.

July 17 I dug up 14 bulbs, then went to the WPAC breakfast. There were 6 of us. After a nice meal and chat I went to the commissary for a few things. I got home before it got too hot. It's been over 100 the last two weeks.

And at home, Benson asked me to come on safari next year. I really want to! It would be all over Zimbabwe. I asked if I could come early and go geocaching with him around Victoria Falls. It actually sounds like maybe we could do that! So I went to the Road Scholar page and checked it out, and then looked at the Iceland tour. I called Jean and we firmed up the date. I will sign up at the end of July.

I had found out at the Newcomer's dinner that Gary T. was home again so I called him. He's doing well.

And, of course, I forgot it was Tuesday until Vince called.

July 18 was the day I gave Gareth his promised trip toThe Tech Museum in San Jose. I got there by 7:30 so as to get to San Jose by 10, but I didn't account for dire traffic especially on 580. There were times I would have to come to a complete stop, then go a few car lengths and stop again. It was frustrating, but we finally arrived at the parking garage and got to the Tech a little before 11. The bathroom was the first stop. Gareth was so excited. I got our tickets (free, with a membership at the Powerhouse) and the guy asked if I'd like to donate. I said "yes, but later" and actually did drop $10 into the box as we left.

We stopped at the exhibit entrance and asked how the TechTags (which were the tickets) work. You scan it at each exhibit and at the end of the day you can put the number in at home and see a summary of your day. This sounds good, but Gareth lost his at the first exhibit. Used mine for awhile, but then when we left for lunch he got a different one, which he mostly used but at the end of the day he was back to using mine, and lost it. At the same exhibit. I'd picked up another one so at home I tried to see what that ticket user had done, and this spoiled the chance for Gareth to use the blue, substitute one, since apparently they only register one each day. Oh, well. If we do this next year we'll do better.

I had brought a book and sat nearby while he played. I did, at one point, show him there was another area, since he had pretty well done the whole coding area. At one point he was encrypting a password and the numbers were flying past and he was covering his ears to help him to focus. When we went to the different area he was entranced with the earthquake exhibit and with Google Earth. At 1 I finally suggested we go to lunch, where we spent a whopping 20 minutes. Back to the area. He discovered the biometrics area, and signed up for a monitor which he wore for about 40 minutes. (Again, this would be one of the first things if we come back.) Then we went upstairs, where there was my favorite thing of the day, the biochemistry. I helped him put on plastic gloves and a pair of goggles, and then he got a tube of bacteria and a tube of dna, combined them, warmed it, cooled it, spread it in a petri dish, put in the warmer to cook, (after scanning it) picked a cooked one and looked at it for various colors. The whole thing was fascinating. Another one that he liked was "building bacteria". We turned in his monitor and discovered he's a "confident builder." This is something I really would have liked to have on his tech tag at home. Oh, well.

He stood in line to ride the jet chair in space. Definitely he'd be Major Tom. There were lots of camp groups, but eventually he got to do everything he wanted to do. He finished on the same exhibit he'd started on, a game of building a network. I was interested to see how he interacted with other kids.

We went to dinner across the street, but didn't stay long enough to avoid major traffic jams on the way home. Gareth said he'd like to go with Joanna and Padreic and I pointed out that they would want to go to some other exhibits when he didn't. Padreic in particular would be bored with a lot of it, though there are areas he would enjoy. I think we would need three adults for the three kids. I was not the only adult who had brought a book (though I used my iPad more, to report on Facebook) and let the kids do their thing. I had a good time and I know he did, and I may do this again for his birthday next year. However, I believe then I would get a motel room on 1st street by the metro line and ride the train in, and avoid traffic. Rich and I did that when we went to ConJose in 2002. If we did that we might visit, uh, someone who lives here (to quote Gareth, who doesn't remember Aunt Monica's name.)

Anyway, I didn't get home till past 9, but the dog had behaved himself. A nice day!

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

64.6 miles

HOT, though better than a couple of days ago.

(Friday's stats.)

353 recordings of 64 types. This is deceptive as I am getting old NCIS episodes individually (because I don't have room for 19 seasons on the DVR!) 22 old CPD and going down quickly.

21% clear.

June 1 I took Joanna to the Powerhouse museum, then took her home with Ozma of Oz. I read the kids a couple of stories from a 5th grade school reader, then came home to sort through kids books. I thought I'd read Thornton Burgess this summer. (However, I went back on the 4th and read Old Mother West Wind... a bit (a LOT!) boring for Gareth. Later in the month I got a compendium of Andrew Lang Fairy Books (disappointing, all but the Blue the unfamiliar ones, too small print and no illustrations) and think that's what I'll do this summer. First off at Boxcar children camp with Joanna, but I think Gareth can stand these a few times.

On June 2nd I went to breakfast with WPAC and Gene U. sat next to me. He has a new girl friend, it seems, so much for Judy and I'm a terrible person for being a little glad (because she threw me over to chase after him, and I thought (judgemental me) that it was far too soon after her husband died.)

The next day Gene had a stroke and he's in a recuperation home at the moment.

Timing was such that I decided to go to see "The Book Club" (so where's MY pilot??) first and then go to the SPCA book sale. I took a big bag of books and another bag of bags. I picked up a few books, some for Bernadette, but came out ahead with only 7 books. I did find some more Bernard Cornwell books. When I went back on Friday (the 8th) I ended up with a much larger bag of books. I had taken back some John D. MacDonald mysteries which I read one-a-day and put back into their plastic envelopes.

June 3 was the Fiesta at the Retreat House. I didn't really want to go, but I'd promised to help. Fortunately, Mass was indoors, and I dashed over to the dining room and dished up rice for people. Then I really thought to stay till the end, but it was so hot and I hadn't brought a book, so I came home.

I've been digging out the tulip bed. Only a month late. I wish I'd done it in May, but noooo I had to sit in the house feeling sorry for myself.

Monday is when I went down and read Old Mother West Wind to the kids. They're going away for the summer and I won't see them again till a short while in July and then not till late August. Sniff.

Coming home I scared myself badly. I blanked out (not blacked out, more like highway hypnosis) and came to running a red light at Edison, close to home. Lucked out there. But this is scary.

In my Albion game I wound up trying to get something and spent far too much money. Without getting the reward. So I've learned my lesson and am not spending much, and not trying for prizes, they will come when they come. I had trouble with the iPad one day and thought I would have to get a new one. I will have to do that, but fortunately not right away, it's talking to the Internet again.

I am enjoying my windows! I've had the AC on a little bit, but not too much.

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

35.3 miles

sunny!

338 recordings of 26 types, 61 old CPD. 24% clear.

So I need to summarize the last few days because tomorrow I'm heading to Pittsburgh and Ottawa. I'll write after I get back, because I'm not taking the laptop, just the iPad.

I've seen some interesting things going on outside, and I hope I don't miss too much. The wrens have built a nest in the kitty kat nest box, and I hope I'll get to see the fledglings. My yucca, that I grew from one of the shoots from the deformed one I cut down, is going to bloom. And as my tulips begin to die back, the poppies are coming out beautifully.

On Tuesday I walked over to the Powerhouse museum to renew that membership, and I see that the Salvation Army is operating a transitional shelter on a nearby street.

When Vince called, I had a two week list! He told me about a computer museum he went to with Eric. Sounds fascinating.

Then Wednesday was fun. Padreic made a vase with pipe cleaner flowers and was very justifiably proud of it. I gave Bernadette her dragon basket present in the morning, then asked Joanna in the afternoon if she'd seen it... "yes, did you get anything for me?" Why yes I did, but you have to wait till after I read to you. I read two Just-So Stories, then went out to the car and brought in the two parts of her present. I handed her the big box and she started unwrapping it... "It's BOXCAR CHILDREN! And look! It's in a box that's a boxcar!!" Then I showed her the picture of the resort I'd printed up with the trains showing... you and I are going on a Boxcar Children camp and we'll stay in a real train car! She is beyond excited. Gareth wanted to know when he was going and I pointed out that I took him to Mt. St. Helens and Seattle when he was 8. Her turn. Padreic, meanwhile, wanted a birthday present too, but was OK with being told he had to wait till his birthday. He sang "Happy Birthday" to Mommy and Joanna, however.

When I got home I called Road Scholar to give them Joanna's address and tell them to send the paperwork to her (and mommy.)

Bernadette and I were talking about the summer... the kids will be gone most of June and a lot of August, so if I'm going to finish Charlotte's Web before we're separated for most of the time, I'll have to really read a lot every day.

Thursday I went with the WPAC to Cache Creek Casino. I had my old player's card that they gave me when I went in Rich's place back in 2012. From now on, if I go to a geocaching party at the Road Trip Cafe, I'll stop by here coming back. I lost $50, then won it back and cashed out, but still had a couple of hours, so in the end I lost $30. Fun, though. I sat with a Barbara, but she mostly had her nose in a book.

In June they're going to see Frankie Avalon live in Modesto. I asked Sharon if she had the coupons yet, but she agreed to take my money now and hold a coupon for me.

I took that in on Friday before I went to Renaissance and saw the movie About Time. Great actors, including a guy from The Best Marigold Hotel movies, who dies from lung cancer, sniff! At home I watched Donnie Darko (and was on my computer, which is why it confused me) which I didn't like as well.

In the evening, the Chatauqua did a super job with "A Time to Kill." And my friend Bill looks pretty good and says he feels well, and they're planning a geocaching trip to the East (so he can actually get away from a bathroom!). However, another geocaching friend had a heart attack and died Friday night. Owl is the person who asked me, a week after Rich died, if I was planning to move. No. (Though nowadays it sometimes seems like a good idea.)

I forgot to order my blood pressure pills last week, and had not realized I had no refills left so they had to contact the doctor, and since last time they didn't change my doctor's name despite my telling them that, it's taking too long, so I went into the pharmacy to ask them not to return the prescription while I'm gone. Who knows. I have some blood pressure pills that I got when I wrongly panicked on my 2012 Wyoming trip, because I thought I'd forgotten the pills. So I can use them, a slightly different prescription but still HCTZ.

I decided to order a bright blue luggage strap with a TSA approved lock, mostly because this way I can spot my bag more easily.

Yesterday I accidentally drove first to the First Saturday restaurant, thinking how fast time flies, it only seems like a week since I was there. Oops. Off to the right place! Then in the evening it was the church social where I sat with Laurie.

Today I saw "Chappaquiddick." What a POS Teddy Kennedy was, but the people in Massachusetts loved him. He'd never have been President, though. On the Kennedy tour in Boston the guide said Kennedy's fight with Carter finished his chances, but I thought about Chappaquiddick. The rest of the country isn't Massachusetts, just like the rest of the country isn't, thank goodness, California.

Getting nervous! As long as I remember to take the iPad charging cord, I should be OK. I'm otherwise packed, I believe. (But just now remembered to check in and print my boarding pass!)

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

cloudy, cool

308 recordings of 21 types. 66 old SVU. 31% clear.

Sunday morning (the 18th) I went to church. There was an amazing time when all these young people, at least 100, filed in. I gathered it was a Confirmation class by the flame badges they were wearing, and later, after meeting the 14(!) leaders who came from as far away as Scotland and many different states, I deduced it was a retreat, and probably most of the diocese.

Then I came home, quickly wrote a journal entry, cleaned up the kitchen and living room, grabbed a quick bite, and was out of the house by 11:15. I tried stopping near the raptor center to see if I could get the cache I missed the other day, but it was down a steep slope and I had no backup if I hurt myself, so I reluctantly let it go. There were a couple of slowdowns on the road to San Jose, including one complete stop, but I got to Monica's house about 2:20, yay me.

Mark wasn't there! He was off riding his bike. Monica helped me carry the train stuff into the house, and the grill set from Lazy Boy. Then she gave me two bags of citrus. Now I'm trying to sprout some kumquat seeds. We were on our way out the door to walk down to the MLK library when Mark arrived, so we told him he wasn't allowed to look till I got back.

It was a pleasant walk and I got to see the inside of the library (which is a joint city and university library, which is a fantastic idea!) with Charlotte. When we got back to the house, I went and got Mark, telling him I want to play with the trains.

He was delighted. The decorations are great, (he thinks he can use Windsor Castle as an amusement park) and the trains wonderful. He said one locomotive was worth over $300! I'm so glad I didn't have to try to sell them! (And I just found another box with more layout stuff, though not as full as the last one.) Two of the transformers were corroded, and he gave me back the good one that was in good shape, because the Z gauge train was in the box. So I still have the tiny tiny one.

I overheard Genevieve breaking my heart. She was making a poster or something that said "If you're pro-life you're pro-welfare..." Sigh. But no point in confronting the 17-year-old, who knows everything of course. I hope the society continues to change, because I'm sure her grandchildren will be horrified that people nowadays thought abortion was acceptable, the way we are disgusted by slavery.

Monica and Charlotte went off to see a play, and Mark had a dinner with friends, so I said goodbye to Genevieve and drove off to Helena's. Of course I once again turned at the wrong exit (the Lawrence expressway). Maybe next time I'll get it right.

Helena, on medication for her bad back, couldn't have the wine, but *I* surely enjoyed it!

She fixed a pleasant dinner and we were relaxing, both in our jammies at 9 when all of a sudden the CO monitor went off with an ear-piercing shriek! It turned off for a short time when I took it outside, but started up again in the house and there was no shutting it off... Helena went through the neighborhood till she found someone to remove the batteries. We opened windows and turned off the heater, but it was obviously a defective monitor. (It never stopped, even outside.) Nonetheless, we were jumpy.

Helena has a way of repeating herself that is easy for me to catch. When I got home I found myself talking to myself (which I do) "That was good. It was quite tasty." "I really liked that tasty meal." "It was really good."

Monday morning I went out geocaching. To my delight, I found the first three, so of course I got cocky and didn't find two, but ended up with 5 finds, including two Little Free Libraries and I did remember to bring books to leave at each. (And picked up a book for Padreic at the first one.) The second one was built from an old fence. Their hint was something about the attic so I wasted a lot of time looking there before I found the cache in a fake book. Really clever!

Helena had been intent on taking the CO monitor to Home Depot but when I got back and said "let's go" she didn't want to. We had lunch and then went off to Notre Dame High School. Monica and Mark had each given us directions, and they differed slightly, so once I had the vague idea, I was able to get to the school, and I saw the parking lot was open. Helena, trying to interpret the instructions, was telling me to turn right, but I decided to circumnavigate the school first, and sure enough, we got a parking place in the school lot!

There was a little program, and then Charlotte took us on a tour of the school. The tour finishes at a big display of place settings... each Freshman girl made a plate and display about a famous woman. Of course there were a lot of women like Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, not so many of the Condaleesa Rice persuasion. They did have Katherine Johnson, (Hidden Figures), and Malala, women I really respect. They also had Bella Abzug and Margaret Sanger. I dont know why one has to be in favor of killing babies to be a feminist, and this at a Catholic school. If I lived here I would be biting my tongue so very much.

They also had some really nice food and I, like an idiot, threw out a very nice plastic cup that they had veggies and dip in (so I went back for another which I kept.)

They finished with the school song and I was reminded of the time I saw Charlotte in her 1st grade performance of "I'm going to eat some worms" when she really got into it and shuddered. I said then she'd be an excellent actress and so she has been (apart from the first time when she was just checking with everyone else about what she should do.)

Afterwards I drove us to Monica's (which Helena, for some reason, calls Mark's) where she fixed a very nice dinner. I told her I'd filled my eye-rolling quotient for the day, but I got a few more in before we were done.

Part of the eye-rolling was because I'd said "sure" I'd come to her grief support group and then she was all a-dither about dinner, we'd be late, they couldn't have it early enough, etc. etc. I finally said I wanted to go to dinner(!) and to the grief group if we managed but que sera sera. She'd managed to get Mark involved in the panic, but in the end we had a good dinner, plenty of chat time, and make it to the meeting in time. Though Helena's deafness did cause some trouble because on the way back I asked, to be sure, if the grief group was at the church, and she heard something about the Greek church and said she'd never been there and I'm thinking that can't be right. We finally got it sorted out. It's good we went because we were the only two people there apart from the group leaders. I wore my WPAC name badge and we ended up talking about that. They thought we had some good ideas. I pretty well dominated the hour, but we did give Helena some time to talk.

Tuesday early I left, and came home. It wasn't too bad once I got out of SJ.

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

31.3 miles

sunny, mild!

320 recordings of 23 types, 67 old SVU. 28% clear.

Monday the 11th I realized that it was going to be cold and windy over the weekend so I called Alicia, and yes, she could come house-sit while I went to San Jose. Hooray!

My feet got cold and I remembered the toe socks. Sure enough, that helped. Later, the house got up to 69, this without the heater.

The cleaners came.

It rained that night and overnight it only got down to 67 in the house. I've been trying to keep the heater off as much as possible. The cold snaps recently made my gas consumption go up even so. (The previous Saturday it got down to 62.)

Tuesday I went to the ladies' breakfast. There were only three of us there, so I'm glad I went.

Then I went to get my taxes done. I hadn't brought the 1099 for the one thing that is not taxable anyway. And I found out that it will probably not benefit me to itemize deductions next year. This year it gives me $1200 but next year the standard deduction will be $1300. And I had my aha! moment why Rich didn't itemize... there were two of us, it wasn't worth it. But I didn't because he didn't in 2013, and then the light dawned that it might be worth it, and sure enough, it has been.

Claire went to get her Africa pictures so we compared notes afterwards. She also has a "rub my tummy" picture of a lion!

I got to the WPAC office for my name badge, (and then lost it again, for about a day, till I got it off the car floor), and to the AAA office for maps and tour books for Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. (I'm beginning to get excited.)

I had canned tamales for dinner. I don't think I've had this since I lived with my Mom on Ord Street. (I'm fairly sure my granddaddy would not have been happy with this dinner!)

Wednesday it was so rainy I didn't want to drive the freeway with Padreic, so instead of going to Wee Wednesday I just stayed at the house with them and read the Faith Ringgold books to him and played with him.

Faith Ringgold Book and Quilt at Wee Wednesday

The neigborhood signpost and Wee Wednesday on the 7th.

Bernadette has both Siri and Alexa, so they can fight it out.

As it was still raining, Bernadette went to get the kids and I read to them. I especially enjoy Gareth's reaction, as he seems to be really enjoying the story and listening well. Joanna hadn't had her meds in the morning and was definitely wiggly.

I accidentally got TWO copies of Charlotte's Web, so decided to donate the extra to the kids' school library.

Thursday I went to the Retreat House, where I volunteered to help with the June 3 picnic. Then I went to the commissary. This was a medium expedition. I had a big shopping thing to really load up the freezer and pantries in September, and then have been going about once a month with fairly small ones since. There was quite a bit to get today. I had been looking for falafel mix, and this time I found it. (But not tahine sauce, so I'll try that somewhere else.) I made falafel the next night. Yum. I also picked up meat, though there is still quite a bit in the freezer. And I got stovetop cleaner, then discovered I already had two bottles of it!

Also, in Fishdom (am I opening my data up to the Russians? Maybe not, since I don't use the iPad with any money accounts (except, of course, iTunes and Amazon)) I played a side game. They finally opened the Wonderland aquarium on the next day and I had a grand time playing and stocking it up. Then I have to wait until the next Thursday when they'll load up 15 more games. Their Easter stuff is all the same as last year, so I only moved the hedgehog playing with the egg to Wonderland. I'll play to get enough eggs to get the two fish, Humpty and Dumpty. (I have "Alice", "Chessie", and two clown fish, "Tweedledee" and "Tweedledum." One day as they were swimming, one of the Tweedles hoped I would buy a clown fish, "they're a lot of fun." Heh.)

The Russians keep giving me Oz decorations, Dorothy's house with a cyclone, ruby slippers, and a tin man. Apparently they don't know the difference. I've stashed all of those decorations.

There was a terrible bridge collapse in Miami.

Before the commissary I tried to renew my Air Museum membership but they weren't open when I was there.

And I put down my deposit for Oberammergau. They want the rest April 19... I sure hope Father Giltus has sorted it out by then so I can cancel and only lose the deposit. Otherwise, I'll either go with Road Scholar or transfer the $$ to a Japan trip.

Friday I woke at 3 to the pouring rain and decided not to go to Renaissance, and then it had cleared up by the time I got up... but I chose not to go anyway and had a jammie day! The only thing I really missed was the forum with Sacramento's new police chief. The Time Travel movie was "Back to the Future."

Fiona from Ngoko safaris was visiting the school and wanted a letter from me to the kid I'm sponsoring, Kuthula. I thought I'd missed my chance but was able to send one for Monday, with the elephant-ride picture.

I'm watchng olde Oscar-winning movies, and enjoyed Liz and Dick in "Taming of the Shrew." (I wonder if this is the one I saw at Renaissance).

I booked my hotel in Haliburton, Ontario. It's too early to get Syracuse. (I hope to use my stay points for it.)

Saturday, I did quite a bit, emptied the compost jar, poured out the garden cart, policed the yard, moved the car... then got a haircut, stopped at Lazy-Boy for a grill set for looking around, found a farmer's market, which wasn't much good for me since I got lots of veggies at the commissary, got money, then wine to share with Helena.

A couple of geocaching friends came by for the stuff we had that they might be able to make geocaches with, and we stood outside and talked. I missed some of the Gonzaga game but we won anyway.

I watched, again, "Gone Girl." Scary stuff.

Biggest leprechaun I've ever seen.

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

29.9 miles

partly cloudy

334 recordings of 30 types. 2 old SVU, 71 CPD. 24% clear.

Wednesday the 28th of February I ordered A.J.'s birthday presents, some wooden track and a roundtable.

The water company finally made it to my end of the street, and put their portapotty out in front of my house. They started digging and I left for Elk Grove.

The Wee Wednesday program this day was about sculpture, solid shapes, lines, colors. Padreic talked a lot to Miss Jill at the beginning but didn't contribute when we were up in the galleries. It's such fun to see him growing every week and improving socially.

I was planning to bring the big kids here on Saturday to watch "Lady and the Tramp." Joanna kept coming up with reasons she couldn't. She "was planning to sleep in." That's OK, I'll come after lunch. Then she had some other plans for Saturday. I finally said to her "look, I know you don't like me, but you're stuck with me." Gareth heard part of this and wanted to know more, but I told him it was not his business.

The TCM movies today were "Grand Hotel" and "Tortilla Flat."

Thursday we had a record 1.5 inches of rain. Unusually enough, I managed to get back to sleep despite the early wake-up when the rain started. Then it was really pouring.

I saw a palm frond down in the street and luckily the rain was light at that time, so I went out and put it into my yard. Then, about an hour later with the rain bucketing down, I saw many more fronds in the street. They would be obstructing traffic, so I headed out to get them in. In the end, there were 24! They were down the street and in the neighbor's yard, and I got thoroughly soaked.

When I went out later for a single one (light rain again) I was only out of the house for maybe 2 minutes. It was time enough for Pharaoh to get into the kitty litter (I'd forgotten to put the baby gate back up.) Since it was so miserable outside, I sent him to bed. He knew he was in trouble, for sure.

I'd ordered charcoal filters for the kitchen compost crock. The ones that came were too big, but scissors took care of it.

The tax people called (I was planning to call them this day) so I set up my appointment.

Friday was Renaissance. My hands got SO COLD driving to the campus that I stopped at the bookstore for gloves. They turned out to be $20 but worth it. I am leaving them in the car until the big freeze is over.

The documentary was about Floyd Norman, an African-American animator for Disney. Fascinating stuff. It was more about ageism than racism. In any case, he's still there.

The time travel movie was "O Homen de Ono" from Brazil, which was a real mind-bender. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

We had more rain.

I used a can of salmon from 2010 and made salmon patties. Which were quite good.

My tax form from St. Philomene's came and the bookkeeper missed $600! I thought it was $50 more, but it turns out Mass stipends aren't included.

The TCM movie was "The Time of their Lives."

Saturday I went to the WPAC breakfast. Again, it was crowded, but it was enjoyable. I got back in time to tell the gardeners to skip the swampy back yard, so they cut up the palm fronds.

I was going to have the kids come, but when I put "Lady and the Tramp" into the VCR it wouldn't work (and it has worked with this television, on this particular outlet, before.) Worse, it grabbed the videocassette and wouldn't turn it loose. It wasn't until I was taking the machine apart, on Monday, that I discovered the control panel. (As I seem to do every time.) Anyway, I called to cancel having the kids. Sulk.

I will have to get a remote as well as speakers for the White Elephant when I set it up, because how else can I go to different inputs?

TCM movie... "All Quiet on the Western Front."

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!

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

26.3 miles

COLD!

334 recordings of 37 types. (Lots of movies, because TCM is really interesting right now). 70 CPD, 1 SVU (SO close to being done!) and 11 LMS. 24% clear.

(This is the stuff from Tuesday, Feb. 27th.)

Ash Wednesday being on Wednesday this year, I skipped getting ashes and instead did my stuff with the kids. Priorities! On my way down the hall in the early morning, I saw the map was skewed. One of the hooks had given way. I took the map down and replaced it later in the day. I wonder what happened... perhaps the cleaners bumped into it?

Padreic made a valentne for Mommy at Wee Wednesday and was so proud of it. He let me take care of it while he played at the Wng Ding exhibit, but otherwise he held it all the way home. He almost panicked when I took it while I was taking him out of the car, but was willing to hear me explain. He presented it with great pride and Bernadette was appropriately thrilled. Then he helped load the dishwasher.

I had nice valentines for the three and told Padreic his was the one with his name, and he picked it out. And was good about not taking the others. The big kids, too, enjoyed theirs, Joanna logically more than Gareth. (The school has an "all or none" policy about Valentines, so Joanna gave them out and Gareth didn't.)

And I drove home with the car seat. Fortunately, Bernadette didn't need it until Saturday, so I didn't have to take it back. This is good, because the freeway was a total disaster. I was going to get wine before I went home and had decided to get off on El Camino, fortunately. Hence, even though the Arden Way on-ramp was much busier than usual, I started over, and then one more lane to the El Camino exit, then, as things were really really slow... pretty well stopped in fact, one more to the exit only lane. Which was fortunate. As I glanced over on it, I saw traffic was completely stopped and the highway was empty, because there was an incident (suicide attempt?) on the overpass. I had heard on the radio there was an accident at Marconi, which is why I had thought things were so slow, but this was a surprise, and had developed about 5 minutes before I arrived there. They were telling people to get off on surface streets, but I was on the only possible way to do that. Lucky me. It only took me 45 minutes to do the normal 20 minute stretch.

I got the wine, got home, and waited impatiently for the time to go to Debby's. She'd asked me to a Valentine's day for widows, bring something red, so I brought red wine. The first time I went there, no one appeared to be home. I drove home to be positive I had the right time, then called... and she was there, apparently in the garage when I rang the doorbell. When I got back, another person was there and another person drove up, so I felt better. My wine went over well, and the food was great. A real disaster for low-carb, spaghetti (Debby had two sauces, but I didn't want to be the one among all the Catholics to remind everyone it was a day of abstinance, so my Ash Wednesday was a total failure!) and two fantastic desserts, but it was a delightful evening with a lot of talk, about widowhood and about other things. A nice Valentine's day after all.

Thursday, Pagan was in town (it was his birthday) but this would have been the only day I could see him and I really needed some time to wind down. I went out to the Retreat House and then came home to finish the jigsaw puzzle.(18 days of work since New Year's Day.) I also signed up for the triduum retreat.

It was really windy. Also, there are magpies building in the palm tree so I have to keep picking up so many sticks.

I took some stuff to St. Vincent de Paul, including my mom's rice cooker.

Friday was, of course, Renaissance. The morning documentary was about the Oscars, and gave me a lot of ideas of movies I would like to see. My Netflix queue somehow never gets smaller. In the Time Travel class, he had 3 short films. My favorite of the three was "Mi-Temps", and "La Jetee" was grim... and was the inspiration for the film we saw the next week, "Twelve Monkeys." I called Notre Dame High School in San Jose to RSVP for the Grandparent's day.

Oooh. Road Scholar is offering an Oberammergau Passion Play tour. When I mentioned it, Father Giltus at the Retreat House said he was possibly going to lead one. I would rather go with him instead of with a bunch of strangers, though the RS one also goes to Salzburg which would be nice. I've found out that I would lose $200 of the $500 deposit (it would be a transfer fee to another program, which I have planned anyway) if I signed up with RS then backed out. So I'm holding back for a short while. At least till the next credit card bill closes, because this month's is so huge I need to recoup a bit. (I paid for the Boxcar Children in full.)

Saturday I had a nice lunch at Marie Callendar's and met a Bob, new member of WPAC. Then Bernadette came by for the car seat, and I also gave her a ton of conditioner (because I kept getting it instead of shampoo) which she says Joanna can use, and fancy material for her costume-making friend.) Thence to Mass, because I had a great plan for Sunday.

Father Brown is Mr. Weasley?

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

13.9 miles

COLD! (warm most of the week)

354 recordings of 34 types, 1 old SVU (I have to keep repeating "no, don't record that"), 70 CPD, 19 LMS. 21% clear.

This week went by in a flash... I've been playing Fishdom and reading Nero Wolfe, not writing this journal or keeping up with much of anything else. Sunday through Thursday I was watching Safari Live and hoping to win a safari, but sadly a woman from Seattle won.

Monday (the 5th) would have been Rich's 76th birthday. When I changed out the cat box I realized there wasn't enough poop. Later in the week I saw that Pharaoh was sneaking in there WHILE I'M IN THE HOUSE so there's no time I can leave the gate down. He was duly punished but he's apparently too stupid to learn or too obsessed to care.

I watched Marnie.( I'd never seen it before.) I was surprised that it was written by Winston Graham.

I can't stand Adam Schiff. He speaks, he lies. I was happy, later in the week, to find out he got pranked by some Ukrainean DJs, and now I think of him as a buffoon. I think he's lost some credibility (I hope) because of that.

Tuesday my sleep was all messed up and I didn't make it to breakfast. My weight and blood pressure were both down. I dug in the garden a little bit. Turned off the heat and opened windows much of the next few days. (Then it got cold again.)

Pharaoh got into the rawhide I got out for St. Vincent de Paul. He's *impossible* these days.

Wednesday, fun with the kids. At Wee Wednesday Padreic was a little more social, though he was as pushy as Arthur. The hard lesson was "wait your turn." Then he surprised me by not wanting to go to Wing Ding. (He fell asleep on the way home.) More of the "Land of Oz" with Gareth and Joanna. Bernadette can't get on Facebook, so I've been writing her, and of course my communications major never communicates.

I talked to my friend down at the school and she didn't like Father Heart-Throb at all his second time through, so I wasn't the only one.

Thursday was my doctor visit. I'd thought it might be a full checkup but it was just a review of the A1c test. In the 6 months I lost 5.2 pounds. My A1c was 5.9, so much better than it's been all along. It's still in pre-diabetic range but the lowest it's been since they started checking it 3 years ago or so. He wanted to know how hard it was to be good, suggesting Glucophage. I looked it up when I got home and have decided no, especially if I can get the A1c down farther (not this week, though. I celebrated with a pizza Friday through Monday, and also have been enjoying other carbs, hash browns and toast and jelly, that sort of thing. (And gained the weight to prove it. Easy to put on, hard to take off!))

The doctor also recommended a two-part shingles vaccine with a much higher prevention rate than the one I already had. So I went down to the pharmacy for it... and TriCare doesn't cover it! $200! For the first half! Painful two ways.

I worked on the jigsaw, and went out to the WPAC dinner in Citrus Heights. It's the chicken won ton tacos there, quite good. One of the women there had a terrible time on the Hawaii cruise. Makes me think again about the Alaska one in a couple of years. The person airlifted off at Hilo WAS on that ship but not a WPAC person.

Friday I had a nosebleed, and decided to skip the morning session, mostly because I wanted to carry a pillow to deal with those terrible seats. I gave the teacher a Time Travel book I'd found. The movie was "Time Bandits." Silly. During the week I watched "Terminator" and I was wrong, I hadn't seen it before. For one thing, it came out before I met GoE, so I wouldn't have. It must have been a sequel that I didn't like.

My neighbor came over to tell me they'll be putting a fence in. Darn. I really like it when the dogs see each other and when I can reach over and pet them, especially Patches, the new one. I miss the old days when I could see the neighbors! Oh, well.

That night I went to the Camino Pilgrim's meeting to see the Le Puy presentation. Not much help about the route from Lourdes. John was there. He called the next day to see if I was all right, because I left while he was talking to another woman.

Saturday morning I went to the WPAC breakfast, which was nice. Marty and Jim were there. She got really sick on the cruise, and he was disappointed at the Arizona Memorial.

I took the kids to see "The Secret Garden". And I started looking for maps of Nero Wolfe's house. I settled on Stout's sketch of the office but finally adjusted Baring-Gould's first floor to make the second floor work. (Still can't do the third floor and the orchids, but oh, well.)

Had a nice long talk with John on the telephone.

Sunday it was Mass, Communion at the retirement home, and finishing the Rex Stout Nero Wolfes.

Reading: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; Little Women, Louisa May Alcott; We Die Standing Up, Dom Hubert van Zeller; A Portrait of a Lady, Henry James, Jr.; and Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street, William S. Baring-Gould.

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.

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

8.4 miles

cold and cloudy

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

Heh. Schumer had to surrender. Guess he miscalculated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So. Much. Stuff.

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

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

7.6 miles

cold and cloudy

348 recordings of 41 types, 1 old SVU, 74 CPD, and 46 LMS. 24% clear.

This was the weekend of the Schumer shutdown. That didn't work out so well for him. On the 20th I once again (like every day) rejoiced that Hillary isn't the President. There are a lot of things I don't like about Trump, but I do like many of his accomplishments, and I am SO SO SO glad Hillary lost.

I went to the WPAC luncheon at the Old Spaghetti Factory (which used to be a steak house where we went at least once a year wth Rich's former landlady, and which later was sued and I was in the jury, could hardly wait until the trial was over so I could check it out. More recently it was Farrell's Ice Cream. I never made it to that reincarnation.) Anyway, there were 91 people there. I had asked my friend Gary (not the Gary I used to have lunches with in 2015, RIP, or the Gary who fixed my doorknob, who was so distraught over his wife's death but got re-married in under a year, but the Gary who was with Darlene) to join me there so I would know someone. In the event, I was sitting with Stan and Faye, so I'd have been OK, but it was really nice to have a long talk with Gary and find out how Darlene is doing. She's moved to Tallahassee with her son, and has a nice section of the apartment all her own. I need to call her one of these days. (I miss her.) Gary was there for Christmas.

I had the chicken marsala and also ice cream for dessert. I know, I know, carbs, but just this once? SO good!

Sunday while I was at Mass, the dog snatched the last three mince tarts Roni gave me off the table. Bad bad dog. (And yesterday I caught him sniffing at the last of the dried fruit.)

Marty stopped by to give me $20 for Joanna's Girl Scout cookies.

I walked to Raley's and got birthday cards for Carol and for Rob, and I found three delightful Valentines for the kids. Then I had to completely clean out my purse including Marty's money, because I thought I had more with me than I actually had. I didn't have to use the credit card, anyway.

My yogurt cups came. Gonna try that next with the Instant Pot.

I've been reading a book a day. Joanna's Boxcar Children set came and I read one of those, plus an Aunt Dimity I ran into, and I'm really chugging through the Nero Wolfes. I'm still reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; Little Women, Louisa May Alcott; and Trio for Blunt Instruments, Rex Stout.

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. 585

4.3 miles

rain

343 recordings of 42 types. 1 old SVU, 71 CPD, 49 LMS. 25% clear.

I forgot to mention that on Wednesday, I found treasure! I had left too early for the Crocker and arrived with about 25 minutes to wait until it opened, so I took Padreic over to look at the utility box that looks like a little house. Then we walked back through the park, and I spied two halves of a disco ball which had been thrown out. Bernadette was equally pleased and plans to put them together. Treasure!

Since I had no luck at Bed Bath and Beyond, I ordered an Instant Pot from Amazon. Then, when I was at the senior care center to help with Communion, I learned the nearby WalMart was closing. So afterwards I stopped by just to see. The lines just to get IN at Sam's Club were amazing, but it wasn't that bad at WalMart. They had one Instant Pot there for a lot less than I'd paid from Amazon... I considered having someone get the box, and then the lines to check out, and the fact I'm reluctant to use the credit card at WalMart, and the fun of either cancelling or returning the pot at Amazon, and I chose the lazy way.

I stood in front of the TVs for quite a while. It's really tempting just to buy one that actually has everything I want instead of this constant fight with the white elephant Bernadette and Rob gave me. But then I had the bright idea to have Pagan help me the next time he's here.

Reading my Nero Wolfe, I suddenly got to a page where all the capital Os were blacked in. It was just like my Mom was saying "hi."

On the way to church I had a bit of dizziness. I wondered if I was going to be like the man last week. Fortunately, no. Gerrie wasn't there, so I couldn't trade books with her.

I don't like the toothbrush, guess I will buy an Oralcare one. Too bad I can't find that 20% coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond. I suppose I'll get it from the dentist.

I got my tickets to Pittsburgh and reserved a car. I also filled out a reservation form for the Crater Lake boat, but it's 2017 and I had to put all the credit card info out there... sort of worrying. I had to call the Bard's Inn because they're no longer with Best Western and their online reservation system is being revamped. That's a relief, I was afraid they were sold out. I got a room on the first floor of the building I like. It's going to be pricy, but worth it. So I pretty well have August and April set. (Still need motel reservations for the Ottawa trip.) I tried to get Joanna's camp set up online but will have to call it in.

Yesterday, Monday, I got a call from John (a friend of Jackey's) who is planning to go on the Camino. I talked to him and since it was the third Monday, I invited him to the Newcomer's dinner. We met and he'll be coming over today to see my pictures (well, about 5% of them.)

I had wondered if the cleaners were coming yesterday, as it was a holiday. They sure did, at 8:30, and I really wasn't ready. Oh, well.

I got a lot of the sky done on the jigsaw puzzle. It's coming along nicely.

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 585

(I started this book right after Rich died and if I'd held
to the 5 pages a dayI planned, I'd have been done in June 2012!)

4.3 miles

cool, partly cloudy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Entries tagged with wpac

Still Limbo

Two Fantastic Wednesdays, and the Stuff in Between

Blood Test

Next June Entry

Early June

Ready to Travel

Pre-Retreat

San Jose

Mid-March

Antioch and Davis, This and That

And Into March

A Week in Mid-February

A Slow Start to Lent

A February Week

OW!

Week Four

Shutdown Weekend

Buyer's Remorse?

Plans

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December 2018

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