Wednesday, December 31, 2014

New Year's Eve 2014

Woke up at 1:30 am with a really bad stomach ache. Did not throw up but I was on and off the toilet for about 30 minutes. Must have been something I ate.
Was having trouble sleeping anyway due to the howling of the wind all night long. I was surprised my trash cans were still standing in front of my house when I got up this morning.
I don’t like to be out on the roads on New Year’s Eve so Hiker and I spent the entire day at home inside the warm house. It was even too cold for us to take a walk. The winds just kept blowing and made it feel even colder than what the thermometer showed. It looked warm outside when I looked out the window, but when I went up to the mailbox, it was COLD!
Hiker and I wish everyone a very Happy New Year. Please be safe if you go out tonight.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

My Brother Keith Headed Home

Slept in until almost 8 am this morning. Woke up very sore from the past 2 days of hiking I guess. I realize now that when I sleep in later, I feel worse when I get up. It was very cloudy outside and was warmer this morning. 47° when we got up.
Had some breakfast and then watched a little TV, then Keith and I headed out to do some errands.
Decided to do my grocery shopping today and get it out of the way before the holiday. Keith and I decided to buy some stuff for lunch today. Had some summer sausage, soft cheese for crackers, etc. Was yummy.
Very cold here all day today. Mostly cloudy too. They are still saying we are going to get a really cold storm blowing through tonight with snow around 2000 ft. and they are also saying we are going to get a lot of wind, but not much rain.
Keith headed back home to Orange County around 1:15 pm. He texted me when he got home and it took him around 2 hours to get home. He said the traffic was terrible and that it was raining in Pasadena and in the San Gabriel Valley. Hiker was crying some when Keith was gathering up his stuff to leave.
My brother Ron called me because he is thinking about buying a new car and I think he was calling to see what I thought about it. But it is his decision, no mine.
Wind was really blowing by 3 pm and the sky looks threatening.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Another Nice Afternoon For A Hike

It was 32° here this morning with frost all over the roofs and lawns.
Hiker and I got up at 6 am to get ready for our morning dog walk with Jean. Keith didn’t get up until 7 am. I opened his door and let Hiker go in and jump on him to wake him up.
After the dog walk, we let the dogs play a little in my back yard, then Jean left and Keith and I had breakfast. We headed over to Wal-Mart after that.
Came back home and hung out for a while then at lunch time we headed up to Round Table Pizza or some pizza and salad. We were the only people in the place the entire time we were there.
Came back home and Keith helped me take down my outdoor Christmas decorations and then we put Hiker in the car and headed up to Vasquez Rocks or a hike.
Temps stayed low for most of the day but it was warm in the sunshine. They are saying we “might” get some snow Tuesday night because a cold front is coming in from the north and the snow level will be about 2000 feet. I live at around 1500 feet but we have gotten snow here before.


Sunday, December 28, 2014

Nice Afternoon For A Hike

We slept in a little this morning because it was cold here in SoCal. It was only 33° here and we were under a frost warning.
We had breakfast and then waited until it warmed up some before we headed out for a hike. We went to a new open space area called Wildwood Canyon. We had never hiked this area before. I could really tell I was out of shape. Have not hiked as much as I used too and my leg muscles were hurting and I was huffing and puffing when going up the hills. I really do need to get back to hiking more.
Anyway, we didn’t really care much for this hiking area because it was not as scenic as many of our other hiking areas. I like to hike the canyons that have more photo ops and more history to them.
While on the trail we came across a few people with dogs and one of the dogs was an Aussie Cattle Dog. I think the owner said the dog’s name was Oscar. Hiker and Oscar said their hellos and we headed on down the trail.
We brought Hiker back home and then Keith and I headed over to Carl’s Jr. for a late lunch. Had their new mile-high bacon burgers. They are pretty tasty!
Came back home and played in the yard with Hiker for a while. The afternoon sun felt really good.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Another Cold Windy Day

Last night, Keith, Hiker and I walked around the neighborhood a little so Keith could see the Christmas lights. It was pretty cold out. When we got back home, I lit a fire in the fireplace and we watched TV.
Was cold last night and this morning and we still have a little bit of wind. I think the wind is making it colder than normal.
I had to do some laundry this morning and we had to wait around the house for a while until the mowers came to do my yards. Then we went to lunch at “Everest”.
We had planned on going for a hike today, but the wind was just way too cold and for a little while, it looked like it might cloud up and rain, but then the sun came out again. We did take Hiker for a ride in the car because I had promised her she could go on a ride today.
Hopefully it will not be so windy tomorrow and we will be able to go for the hike we had planned for today.

Friday, December 26, 2014

My Brother Keith Is Here For A Visit

After the walk, Jean and I went over to Pet Smart to get a couple of dog calendars. They are 50% off this time of year for the next year’s calendar.
Came back home and Jean went home to wait for someone to drop off a dog she will be taking care of for a few days, while I waited for Keith to arrive for his visit.
Hiker was sitting in the front bedroom window when Keith pulled into the drive way and she went nuts. She started barking and ran to the front door, then did her “crying/screaming” thing until I let her out the door to go and greet him. She was so excited to see him.
I called Jean and she came over and the three of us went to breakfast/lunch at The Halfway House Café on Sierra Highway. It is a very famous café that is historical plus it is used in all kinds of TV shows, commercials and movies. In the 20 years I’ve lived here, I had never gone there to eat. It was pretty good food. For information on the café, click on the following link:

Halfway House Cafe

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Christmas Day

When Hiker woke me up at 6 am to go outside, it was 44° and windy, so you can only guess where Hiker and I went back to for another two hours. When we got up at 8 am it was still in the 40’s but the wind had died down to a light breeze.
Got a call from my friend Karren who lives in Idaho now. She had fallen yesterday and broke a bone in her hand and her knee is all bruised and swollen. The doctor told her she was he was surprised that her knee wasn’t broken.
I cleaned my hummingbird feeders and made some fresh nectar to fill them. As soon as I hung the feeders up again, I had several hummers show up for a drink.
I was surprised to see that a new Y&R was on today. Usually they show football or if they do show Y&R they show a really old one.
Mostly sat on the couch all day watching TV. Around 1:30 pm I took Hiker down to the park for a very short walk. When we got back home, there was a jar with doggy paws on it with some doggy cookies inside. I have no idea who left it there. Wish they would have left a note. It was a nice jester, but since I don’t know who left them, I’m not sure if I should give Hiker any of them. I’m pretty sure they are ok, but hopefully whoever it was will eventually tell me.



Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve

I woke up around 5:30 am and was having trouble going back to sleep. I think I dozed a little bit, but then Hiker and I got up at 7:30 am and headed out for a morning walk. It was a little chilly out, even though the sun was shining. They are even saying we “might” have some rain tomorrow.
Had breakfast when we got back home and I ran the weekly scans and clean ups on my laptops.
Found out that my Keurig coffee brewer is one of the ones that is being recalled, so I went online and signed up for the “fix kit” that they are sending out to people to repair the problem.
Spent the rest of the day just watching TV and checking out my email and Facebook. Also played some online games.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Nice Jester From Girl Scouts

Up at 7 am. Had breakfast and got ready to head over to the Senior Center for my Grief Support Group. I have not been there for a while due to the rain and one day I wasn’t feeling all that well. But decided I’d go today to see some of my friends and wish them a Merry Christmas.
There were only six of us plus our therapist for the first hour and a half and then one more person showed up for the last half hour.
There were several wrapped presents sitting on the tables when we walked into our meeting room. One of the workers at the center told us each to take one as there were gift boxes made up by some Girl Scouts for the seniors. The boxes contained things like a wall calendar, nail clippers and files, some specialty soap, chap stick, some knit gloves, a pair of socks, a small flash light, some chap stick and some treats like a small bag of hard candy. They also included Christmas cards and they wrote such sweet messages in them.
The weather for the past two days has been fantastic. It’s been clear, sunny and in the 70’s.

Here is the gift box from the Girl Scouts:


Here is the cute card that was inside the box:

Monday, December 22, 2014

The Beginning Of Christmas Week

We were up early to go on our dog walk with Jean, Charlie and Sassy this morning. It was clear and actually somewhat warm as we were having some Santa Ana Winds during the night. It was windy yesterday afternoon when Hiker and I went for our walk.
The wind died down by the time we were back from our dog walk. Hiker and I had some breakfast and then drove over to buy our lottery tickets. When we got back, Hiker didn’t want to get out of the car again. She just sat there and looked at me, so I went into the house. I checked on her a few minutes later and she was at the door wanting to come in. I guess she doesn’t want her car rides to end.
Did some housework and then checked my email and Facebook.
Just after lunch, my neighbor came over to give me a bag of mixed nuts and berries as a little Christmas gift. After the “Young and Restless” ended and the closing music came on, Hiker jumped up on my lap because I’ve often told her that when she hears the closing music that we can go for a ride in the car. She is so smart. She remembers things like that and she loves to ride in the car.
So anyway, I put her into the car and off we went for a ride over to Newhall. I still had not found the open space for hiking that I’ve been looking for, but today, I found the trail head. The only problem is trying to find a place to park. It’s at a dead-end street with houses all around. When Keith comes to visit this weekend, maybe he and I will take Hiker over there.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

First Day Of Winter

Happy first day of winter!
I told myself when I went to bed last night that I was NOT going to stay in bed until 8 am this morning and I didn’t. Hiker and I got up at 7 am and went out for a morning walk.
When we got back home, I had some breakfast and washed my sheets and towels, then Hiker and I walked over to Jean’s house to take her some of the fudge I made and also for Hiker to give Sassy and Charlie the Christmas gift from her.
Watched a couple of movies on Hallmark then had some lunch.
Around 1:15 pm, Hiker and I went out for another walk. I was going to go by myself if Hiker didn’t want to go, but she acted like she did want to go, so off we went. It was still very cloudy and got pretty windy while we were out. Leaves blowing everywhere.
Thinking about making some mac and cheese with some little sausages in it for dinner. Good day for some comfort food.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Made Fudge For Christmas Today

Another cool and cloudy morning when Hiker woke me up to go potty, and as usual, we went right back under the covers.
Don’t know why, but for several days, I have felt very tired. I have not really been doing much of anything so I don’t know what the problem is.
After breakfast this morning, I put a load of laundry into the washer and then I made four pans of fudge, one plain chocolate, one chocolate with walnuts, one plan peanut butter and one peanut butter with peanuts.
Watched some movies on Hallmark Movie Channel.
After lunch, Hiker decided she wanted to play. She kept looking at me and barking and I told her to go get a toy, so she went to her toy tin and tried to get the lid off with her nose. I opened it for her and she dug all of her toys out onto the carpet. She spread all of them around on the floor and picked out several she wanted to play with.


Friday, December 19, 2014

Overcast All Day

I cannot believe that Christmas is less than a week away. Where did 2014 go?
It was 40° when Hiker woke me up at 6 am to let her outside. We once again crawled back under the covers until around 7:45 am.
This morning I had to call Javier, who is the foreman of the work crew here at Canyon View Estates. Several months back, he had to change out the main breaker in my electrical box outside because it was fried. I noticed now for several weeks that my lights were flickering at night when I had them turned on, plus last night, I turned on my kitchen light and it went out seconds after I turned it on, so I flipped the on/off switch and it came back on.
Javier came by and saw that the back-up breaker in the electrical box was now fried also, so he and one of his crewman came back a little after 11 am and replace the breaker.
We are lucky to have a work crew right on the premises of our community to do all kinds of work for us.
Hiker was trying to hide the best she could while they were fixing the breaker because when they turned off the electricity, it caused the electric smoke alarms that came with the house to make whistle noises. Ben and I bought battery operated smoke alarms right after we moved in because we felt that if there was an electrical fire and it cut the power, that the electric smoke alarms would be useless. Anyway, Hiker was burrowing in behind me and the pillows on the sofa. All you could see was her butt sticking out. Dogs just do not know how to hide.
Took Hiker for an afternoon walk at Canyon Country Park. It was very cloudy and cool but we really needed to get some exercise.


Thursday, December 18, 2014

What A Day!

Well today was a busy day. Hiker and I didn’t get out of bed until 8 am. It was cold and cloudy outside, so we stayed under the covers for as long as we could.
Had some breakfast and then I headed out to do my grocery shopping. I noticed I needed gasoline in my car but I wanted to go over to Sam’s Club Gas to fill my tank because the USA Station was $2.79 a gallon and Shell was $2.84 a gallon. I came back by home and dropped off my groceries and got Hiker in the car and we went over to Sam’s Club. The sign out front said $2.49 a gallon but when I got to the pump, it was only $2.45 a gallon.
Came back home and remembered I had not put my Social Security deposit into my check book yesterday, so I went into my bank’s website to check it out and noticed that the Time Warner Cable bill I paid online back on 12/8/2014 still was not showing up in my checking account. It should have been there over a week ago. I went into the Time Warner website and I see that it said I had not paid the bill and that now I owed them $25.00 more. I called them to find out what that was all about and the guy (Ryan) tells me that they had received my payment from the bank, but then it was put on hold and then the bank requested the money back. He tells me that anytime the bank requests the money back, the bank charges TW a service fee of $25.00 so TW passes that on to the customer, which to me just sounds like a way for them to make extra money. He told me that there was nothing he could do about the fee and suggested I call my bank to find out why they recalled the payment and see if they would waive the $25.00 fee. I called Citibank and they told me that they never received a payment request for Time Warner from my checking account this month and they never sent out any money and they never recalled any money.
So now I jump in the car and head over to the Time Warner store to talk to someone there. The guy there (Eric) was very nice and he checked into my TW account and said that it showed the bank never sent the money but they claimed that the bank said they could not find an account with my name or number on it. My guess is that someone at TW who was doing the data for the payment punched in a wrong account number or something because I pay my bills online every month and I always double check my numbers when I input them, plus I’ve been with Citibank for over 30 years.
Eric said that I could write TW a check for the normal payment and that he would remove the $25.00 fee from my account. He used my written check to pay my bill electronically and said that my balance now showed zero and that I would not have a service fee or a late fee of any kind on my next bill. Don’t know why the guy on the phone could not do that for me.
So because of having to over to the Time Warner Store, I missed “Y&R” and didn’t have lunch. I’ll have to watch “Y&R” tonight on TVGN.
So I also noticed that my Lockheed Health Insurance was still showing that I was going to be on the Aetna Catastrophic Senior Plan instead of the Kaiser Senior Advantage Plan for my Medicare. I called the Lockheed Employee Service Center and spoke to a gentleman named Haven and went through my entire history again of my filling out the paperwork and Kaiser approving me but Lockheed still not showing me as approved. He told me he saw all of the notes in my account where I had called Lockheed several times and that I had called Kaiser several times so he told me he was going to put me on hold and delve a little deeper into my account records and see what he could come up with. Well according to him, even though my account on the Lockheed website still shows they are awaiting pending approval from CMS, that in reality I have been approved. He said they are behind in getting things posted to the accounts due to the fact that so many people are signing up for insurance this year plus the employees are taking off for the holidays so they are shorthanded. He said it shows that I will have Kaiser Senior Advantage as of January 1st 2015, but that because it’s not posted yet that I will probably pay the higher amount for my supplemental insurance in January. He said they will make an adjustment in February and I should see the difference in the money being returned to me with the next deposit of my pension check from Lockheed. I told him that I have an appointment with Kaiser on January 9th and he said that is OK that everything should go smoothly after the first of the year. I hope he is correct. I kept asking him over and over to verify that I am indeed approved for Kaiser as of January 1st and he kept telling me yes. I apologized to him for asking the same question over and over, but he told me he understood.
So it was one heck of a day.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Still Cloudy But No Rain Now

Hiker and I went to bed around 9 pm last night and I think I fell asleep around 10 pm. Around 2 am, I heard my cell phone announce that our area was under another flash flood warning, then around 2:30 am, it started to pour down rain outside. Just before 3 am, the thunder and lightning started and Hiker was barking and hiding in the corner of the bedroom. She hates thunder. The storm lasted for about an hour. I think I finally got back to sleep around 4:30 am and at 6:30 am, Hiker woke me up to let her outside for potty.
Watched TV most of the morning. Jean called me at noon asking if I wanted to take the dogs out for a walk. We normally walk them on Monday and Friday, but she is busy this Friday and her dogs had cabin fever, so we took them for a 2 mile walk. Now that Timmy is no long with us walking, the walks are really more like exercise instead of stopping constantly for the dogs to smell everything. He was the one that always slowed us down. But then he was old.
It was still very cloudy while we were out walking, but the sun did peek out now and then. Our rain is supposed to be over for a while, but you really can’t tell from the way it looks outside right now.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Stayed Home And Inside All Day

Talk about lazy! Today was the topper. Went to bed at 10 pm last night. It started pouring rain outside right after I went into the bedroom. Watched a little TV but could not get to sleep. I had eaten some coffee ice cream around 7:30 last night and I guess the caffeine was keeping me awake. Around 1 am, I took a sleeping pill and finally fell asleep around 1:30 am.
Had already gotten a call from Jane from my support group telling me that she and another member (Linda) would not be going to group today. I emailed DeDee to see if she was going and we both agreed that if it was raining this morning we were not going either.
Well when I let Hiker outside at 6 am, it was drizzling and looked like it had rained all night because everything was soaked. So got hold of DeDee again and we both decided not to go to group.
Went back to bed and dozed a little. Turned on the TV and stayed in bed watching a movie on The Hallmark Movie Channel until 9 am. Had a bowl of cereal while I was watching the movie.
Finally got up and was just getting ready to pay some bills when my phone rang. It was my brother Ron. He had just gotten back from his doctor’s appointment and he always likes to call me and let me know how it went. Doctor told him he needs to lose weight, lower his B/P and his cholesterol. Sounds familiar.
Stayed cool and cloudy all day. We have another storm coming in tonight.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Cool and Cloudy

When Hiker woke me up at 6 am it was only 39° on my patio. We got up and got dressed for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was cool enough that Hiker even had to wear her jacket.
Did some housework and Hiker and I drove over to the store to buy my lottery tickets for Wednesday.
I was so proud of both myself and Hiker because we FINALLY got out for a hike this afternoon. Drove over to Placerita Canyon and did two and a third miles. There were quite a few people out on the trail today.
Think the hike wore Hiker out because she is in on the bed sleeping.
Now waiting to see if we get more rain tonight per the local weather people.

Afternoon hike photos.



Sunday, December 14, 2014

I Was So Lazy Today

Really did NOT want to get out of bed this morning. It was 38° outside at 6 am when Hiker had to go potty and I didn’t want to come out from under the warm covers, but I did, but when she came back in, both of us immediately went right back under those warm covers.
I’ve noticed that this cool, damp weather is making my joints ache, so I’m thinking that I might be getting some arthritis. Since we’ve had warm dry falls and winters the past three or four years, I didn’t notice any aching in my joints like that.
It was another lazy Sunday. Watched TV most of the day or I was on the computer a lot of the time. I really have to stop being so lazy and start getting out more. I wish I could just get myself back into wanting to go hiking and walking.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Sleepy Saturday

Got home from the party last night around 8:45 pm. Hiker hates it so much when I leave her alone at home and even more so if I leave her alone at night. She was jumping all over me when I got home.
I was exhausted, so went right to bed, but didn’t fall asleep until around 10:30 pm.
It was cold when Hiker and I woke up this morning. It was 40° and there was frost on everyone’s roof. After Hiker went potty, we both crawled back under the covers for a little while.
Finally got up and had some breakfast, paid a couple of bills, balanced my check book, did a load of laundry and put Hiker’s flea and tick repellant on her for this month. It is a hassle to put it on her because she doesn’t not like me to do it. I have to be really sneaking about doing it. Have to catch her by surprise.
It was a beautiful day. I went up to our local post office to mail a package. Didn’t think it would be too crowded this early before Christmas, plus I went late in the afternoon, but when I got there, there were about 15 people in line ahead of me. But then it also doesn’t help when they only have one employee at the counter waiting on people. She finally called out another person and that helped some, but when I left, there were another 15 people behind me in line.

Here's me and my neighbor Jean with Santa at our community Christmas party last night.

Merry Christmas from Hiker & Kay

Wanted to send out Hiker's and my Christmas E-card to everyone. Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.


Friday, December 12, 2014

Newsworthy Day

A lot of stuff to post about today.
Around 2 am I heard the weather app on my cell phone telling me that I was under a flash flood warning. It started drizzling last night around 8 pm. It really started coming down hard…and I mean HARD around midnight. The wind was howling like a hurricane.
Just before 5 am, I heard a text on my cell phone. It was my brother Keith telling me that a window in his apartment was leaking as if there was not even a pane of glass in it. He sent a short video of it and you could hear the dripping and see that his carpet was sopping wet.
I turned on the TV news and they were showing all of the mudslides and all of the accidents on the roadways. Also heard that some areas in the valley I live in were without power. Glad I don’t have to go out anywhere today.
Hike had to go outside to potty around 5:30 am. She came back in so wet. It took two really big bath towels to dry her off.
The problem here in California is that we’ve been in a drought for over three years and we’ve all been wanting rain so badly. But we really don’t want to get it all at once like this. It would be nice if it would spread itself out some.
Heard on one of the TV emergency alerts that two or three of our local (normally dry) creeks overflowed their banks and caused traffic problems. I’d like to see what our normally dry riverbed (that so many of you have seen my photographs of) looks like right now, but I don’t want to go out in the pouring rain.
I was on the phone with Jean since we didn’t have our dog walk this morning. We needed to figure out what time we are meeting up to go to our community Christmas party tonight. I noticed that Hiker had gotten her blanket that I fold up and put in the corner of the bedroom each morning and she was running all over the house with a corner of it in her mouth and the rest of it dragging behind her. I wanted to get a video of her doing it but once I got out my phone, she stopped.
Anyway, I have to meet up with Jean at 3:30 pm because we’ve been asked to come down to the rec room early to help get everything ready before everyone else starts to show up.
I noticed that I have a leak or two on my patio. I see it dripping from a couple of places, but cannot figure out where the leaks actually are. I’m just glad that it’s the patio roof that is leaking and not the house roof.
Jean called me around 10:45 am and wanted me to run over to the Dollar Tree with her. On the way home, a bunch of fire engines, police and an ambulance passed us and we saw them over in the riverbed. We saw a couple of fire fighters climbing down the embankment into the river. It looked like they were “working” on someone and then the rescue helicopter came flying over and came down really low as if to land, but then they were called off and flew away. Come to find out, it was the dead body of a male lying face down in the water. I’m guessing that it was one of the local homeless people. A lot of them live under the bridges in the normally dry riverbed and I’ll bet they drowned last night in the deluge.
Heading over to the recreation room to help set up for the Christmas party.




Thursday, December 11, 2014

Will The Storm Hit Us Or Not?

Up at 7:30 am, had breakfast and then headed over to Wal-Mart. During this time of the year, I try to shop at Wal-Mart early in the morning to avoid the Christmas shoppers. There were a few people in the store, but it was not crowded.
When Hiker and I got up this morning, it was so dark and cloudy. It looked like it could pour at any minute, but around noon, the sun actually came out. I’m beginning to wonder if we are going to get the big, huge storm they keep saying is coming. I know it is hitting Northern California hard, but I’m thinking it may be a dud down here. They say the brunt of the storm should hit us between 2 am and 5 am tomorrow morning. They are also now saying that we will have more rain the beginning of next week.
After I got home from Wal-Mart, I took Hiker out for a walk. We did almost 2 miles. There was no one else out walking. Guess they thought it was too cold even though it was not that cold outside. I don’t walk as much as I used to or as much as I should and my legs and feet were killing me when we got home.
After the walk, I brought in some of my decorations and some other things that might blow away. They say this storm is going to bring in some really strong winds and possible tornadoes, which are rare here in California.
By late afternoon, the sun was gone again and it started getting dark.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

There's A Storm A Comin'

Got up around 7:30 am. It was clear and cool outside. Had breakfast and then I headed out to do my grocery shopping.
Ran my weekly scans on the two laptops I use the most.
Had lunch and watched Y&R and I noticed that it was getting cloudier outside as the day went by. The storm that is coming in is not supposed to hit us until later tomorrow.
Did some vacuuming so I count that as my exercise for the day.
Jean had told me that she was going to hook some kind of an adapter up on her TiVo and that she’d call me if she needed help with it, but I never did hear from her.
I only renewed my driver’s license online a week and a half ago and I have already received the new one in the mail. They sure use cheaper materials to make them these days. No longer thick plastic. More like thick cardboard these days. At least I won’t have to worry about my license again for another five years.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Out All Day

Went to my support group today. There were only 7 members, plus our therapist and we also had a social studies intern sitting in on the session. I took some Christmas shortbread cookies for everyone that I had purchased at Big Lots. I bought a huge tin of them and there is no way I’ll be able to eat them all by myself.
Jane and I went out for Mexican food for lunch. Was really good.
Was a beautiful day. Clear and sunny and about 80° here. The next rain storm is supposed to hit us sometime Thursday and last into the weekend.
This evening, Jean and I are going out with our dogs to walk around the neighborhood and look at everyone’s Christmas lights. If I see anything really good, I’ll take photographs and share later.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Busy All Day

Up at 6 am for our Monday dog walk with Jean then a little play date for the dogs. Had breakfast and then waited for my friend Ed to show up.
He got here just after 10:30 am. We talked for a while and then around 11:15 am we headed over to Round Table Pizza for their lunch buffet.
Came home and Ed played with Hiker for a while. I had been telling her before he got here that she needed to be nice to him and not bark, snarl, show her teeth and nip at him and she was actually pretty good this time. I still do not understand what it is about him that she doesn’t like.
After Ed left, I had to run over to Sam’s Club and pick up some things. There were more crowded than when I usually go in the morning. Guess I should not go over there on a Monday because after a weekend of people shopping, they don’t have some of the stuff I need. They didn’t have very many eggs and I needed them. They didn’t have any Eggland’s Best at all, so I had to buy some cage free brown eggs instead.
Came home and paid some bills and then settled down to watch some TV.
Have my support group tomorrow.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Cool And Cloudy Sunday

Slept in just a little while this morning. With the cooler weather, the bed feels so good in the early morning.
Did some laundry, had breakfast and checked my email. The watched a little TV.
I had to repair some Christmas yard decorations that I had purchased at The Dollar Tree. It seems the sticks they put on them were made from tight rolled up paper or cardboard and when we had the rain, it got them wet and the decorations fell over. I took the paper sticks off and put some really wood sticks on them.
It was partly cloudy all day and in the low 70’s.
In the afternoon, Hiker and I got into the car and went to buy my lottery tickets for Wednesday night.
Have a busy week coming up. Monday have our dog walk with Jean in the morning and then my friend Ed is coming up from Pomona to go to lunch. Tuesday I have my support group, Wednesday and Thursday and have to take care of my grocery shopping…Sam’s Club one day and Stater Brothers the next. Friday evening is our community’s Christmas party.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Sunny Saturday

Woke up around 3am with a “churning” stomach. I was feeling a little sick, so I took some Pepto Bismol and eventually went back to sleep. Slept until around 7:30.
We didn’t get the rain they had predicted last night. Woke up to 47° and a clear sky.
Had some breakfast and did a load of laundry. Watched some TV and check my email and Facebook page.
By the afternoon it was in the mid-70’s. Decided to take Hiker for a ride in the car. I was trying to find one of the new open spaces in the Santa Clarita Valley as I’d like some new places to go hiking. I was looking for The Wildwood Canyon Open Space in Newhall. I followed the directions on the map they have on hikesantaclarita.com. I know I was in the right area but there are no signs or anything showing exactly where the open space is. There is also another new open space called the Gateway Ranch/Taylor Open Space over on The Old Road but I don’t think that one has been totally opened yet. I think when Keith comes out after Christmas, he and I will drive over to the Wildwood area again and see if we can find the trail head.
My brother Ron called me from up north. Said he is thinking about dropping his Comcast package because they are getting so expensive and wanted to know what I thought of Netflix. I think more and more people are dropping their cable and satellite companies because of the prices.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Eye Appointment Day

Up at 6am to go for a dog walk with Jean at 7am. Did not have a play date with the dogs because we had to leave at 9am to head down to Kaiser in Panorama City so I could go to my appointment with my retinal specialist.
Did not get an injection today. They doctor took some photos of the inside of my eyes and then he examined them with his little lights and scopes. He said that the seepage has lessened, but it has not stopped seeping completely like he was hoping. So in January he is going to inject still a different medication into my right eye that is supposed to be even stronger than the last two medications he has tried. Each time they advance to a stronger medication, the risks of the cataracts and glaucoma increase, but if we don’t do something to stop the seepage, I risk losing the sight in my right eye.
On the way back home, Jean and I did a little shopping at Wal-Mart and then we went to a little coffee shop in downtown Newhall called the Way Station. I had heard about this place for years and wanted to try it. It was OK, but I’ve had much better foods at other places in town.
Got home around 2:30 pm. Hiker was glad to see me. She hates it so much when I have to leave her at home alone.
It has been very cloudy here all day and in the mid-60’s. They say we may have more rain tonight and then another storm is coming in off the Pacific in the middle of next week.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Finally Got Out For A Walk

On this date back in 1994, Ben and I moved into the house that I am still living in. Where did those 20 years go?
My fried Ed (Ben’s best friend) was supposed to drive up from Pomona today and we were going to go to lunch but he called just before 8am to reschedule. It’s a 65 mile drive one-way for him and there are several road closures due to the weather (mudslides, etc.), plus it still looks like it could rain more at any minute. We rescheduled for Monday.
Hiker and I drove over to buy my lottery ticket. It was very cloudy, dark and gray out. The storm that went through here just doesn’t want to leave. We really need the rain, but after 3 days of this, it makes me feel a little depressed. I know Hiker is going crazy because we have not gotten out for any walks or to play and she has not seen her doggy friends Charlie and Sassy. When we got back from going for the ticket, she didn’t want to get out of the car. I kept telling her to get out and she just kept moaning and groaning like a kid. I had to force her to get out.
The sun finally came out around 11am and Hiker was able to go out into the back yard and wander around. Her normal morning is to go outside around 9am and stay out until around 11am.
After lunch, Hiker was bouncing off the wall so I took her over to Central Park and let her out on her extension leash so she could roam around. She and I both really needed to get out into some fresh air. We had been cooped up on the house for 2 or 3 days with the rain.
Have an appointment with my eye doctor at Kaiser tomorrow. Don’t know if he is going to give me another injection or not. Jean is taking me.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

A little More Rain

Up at 6am this morning. I had to be over to the Toyota dealer at 8am to have my Rav4 serviced. I got stuck in the school traffic near my house and it started to drizzle on the way over there. My regular service person was not there today so got a guy I’d never worked with but he was nice. Took them about an hour and 15 minutes to do the car. I had my iPad with me and played some games for a while, then I watched the rain coming down outside while watching people who were also waiting for their cars.
Drizzled all the way home.
Had a voicemail from my friend Karren, so I called her, then I ran my weekly scans on my laptops.
The sun peeked in and out a few times, but around 1pm it started raining again but it only rained for a few minutes. So far we have gotten a little over 2” from the storm.
Spent most of the day inside with Hiker. I think she is getting cabin fever because she keeps running around like a crazy animal.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Rain At Last

Woke to the sound of rain this morning. Decided not to go to my support group because people in SoCal do not know how to drive in the rain. They can barely drive in dry weather let alone when the streets are wet. My friend DeDee had told me she was not going if it was raining and I got a call from Jane (from the group) asking me if I was going. She said she and Linda were deciding if they were going to go to group.
Got a text from Keith telling me that his power was out over in Orange County. He said it stayed off for a little while.
Built a fire in my fireplace to keep Hiker warm. She gets so wet when she goes outside to potty. I dry her with a big towel, but her hair is so thick that it says damp for a while.
Decided to bake some lemon bars today since I was cooped up in the house.
It rained pretty much all day. We really need this although after 3+ years of drought, we need rain during our “rainy months” for 3+ years to make up for what we have lost. Rivers, lakes and reservoirs are at an all-time low.
Went out to get the mail during a lull in the storm but as soon as I got back into the house, it started pouring again.
Have to get up early tomorrow morning to get my car over to the car dealer for service. Have to be there at 8 am so I hope it is not raining in the morning.

Wet doggy


Warm and dry

Monday, December 1, 2014

Welcome December

Yesterday I woke up around 3:30 am and this morning I woke up around 2:30 am. I was able to go right back to sleep this morning though.
Didn’t do a dog walk with Jean this morning as she had an early dentist appointment, so Hiker and I slept in.
Was still cloudy today, but the next rain storm is not supposed to hit us until Tuesday. They are saying depending on where you live, you could get anywhere from 1” to 5” of rain from this storm. The 5” is for people up in the mountains. I’m guessing I will get around 1” if they are correct.
If it is pouring down rain when I wake up in the morning, I may not go over to the Senior Center for my support group. I hate driving in the rain because people do not slow down and there are always so many accidents when it rains.
Hiker and I went to pay my land lease and then over to buy my lotto tickets and then by Sam’s Club to fill the car with gasoline. It is $2.95 a gallon here now. I know it’s lower than that in many other places, but it was nice to spend less than $20 to fill the tank from half full. I never like to let it get below half a tank.
After lunch I drove over to our Kaiser pharmacy in Valencia to pick up some refills on my 3 medications. Usually when I go the pharmacy is crowded, but I walked right up to the counter today and was out in less than 5 minutes. Guess people are home on their computers for Cyber Monday.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Good-bye November

I cannot believe that tomorrow is December 1st.
Woke up around 3:30 am this morning and was having trouble going back to sleep, but I finally did. When we did get up, I noticed that the walkway in my back yard was wet, so I assumed it had drizzled some during the night. Not a good rain, but I guess anything is better than nothing.
It continued to drizzle on and off throughout the day. I did “indoor” stuff like wash sheets and towels, changed the sheets on bed and watch TV.
Around 11:30 am, the sky opened up and it poured for about 5 minutes, then it just kept drizzling, but no other good downpour.
Was cool enough for me to actually light a fire in the fireplace.

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Another Busy Day

When I woke up this morning, I felt like a truck had run me over. It was about 5:30 am and I had just let Hiker outside. I was sore from helping Jean with her Christmas Decorations yesterday. Went back to bed and did not get up again until 8 am, still sore, but feeling a little better.
Had some breakfast and did a load of laundry. Jean wanted me to come back and help her put her lights around all of the decorations, but I could not go over until after the guys who mow my yard came because I had to pay them today. Once they were done with the yard, Hiker and I went over to Jean’s. She had put out more of the yard decorations.
While I was there, Jean opened the front door to wide and one of the little dogs she is watching for a neighbor got out and took off down the street. I had tried to grab it as it went by me but it was too fast for me. It ran round the corner and down my street with Jean running behind it calling its name. I stopped at my house and got my car and took off after them. Lost track of them so I circled around again and saw the dog running toward me with Jean following. The dog ran past me and up the hill so I turned the car around and followed it. Luckily two guys were working in their yards as I drove around the corner after the dog. I yelled at them to grab the dog and they finally cornered it and got it to me in the car. I turned around to head back to Jean’s house as the dog pooped on my t-shirt from fear. Found Jean walking slowly down her street looking upset because she had no idea I had the dog. She looked so relieved when I held it up so she could see it. She was wondering how she was going to tell the dog’s owner that the dog had run away, but luckily she won’t have to. I went home and changed my shirt and then headed back over to Jean’s house.
We finished with the lights around 1 pm so I headed home with Hiker to have some lunch.
It was another warm day here…about 80° so each day it is cooling down a few degrees. We might get rain on Tuesday, but I won’t believe it until I see it.

Friday, November 28, 2014

I'm Pooped!

Got up at 6 am this morning even though we didn’t do a dog walk with Jean and her dogs. Jean wanted me to go with her over to the Dollar Tree and Big Lots at 8 am. We were surprised that both stores were almost empty of shoppers. It was very nice and quiet. Guess a lot of people did their “Black Friday” shopping on “Gray Thursday” after they had their turkey dinners.
After we got home, I went over to Jean’s house and helped her put up most of her Christmas yard art. This is the third year I’ve helped her put it up and I can tell that it gets harder each year as I grow another year older. I was there for about two and a half hours and I was so tired I had to stop and come home. Plus the fact that it was 85° didn’t help any. I cannot take the heat. Anyway, when I left she was still putting stuff out. I told her that she either has to stop putting it all out or just put out only her very favorite yard decorations. She must have 150 to 200 individual pieces.
I also was able to put us some decorations at my house. I didn’t go all out this year. I usually put colored lights around the garage door, around the porch and around the big front window, but this year, I only put a small lighted Christmas tree on the porch with some lighted garland around the front door. Also a few pieces of yard art, magnets on the garage door and that’s about it. Just gets to be too much each year. After Ben died, it took me 2 years to get back into the mood to even decorate.
Got my driver’s license renewal in the mail today and I lucked out again. I don’t’ have to go to the DMV Office. I was able to renew it online. So I’m set for another 5 years on that.
I am hungry since I skipped lunch when I was doing all of that decorating, plus I am probably going to go to bed early tonight since I am so pooped.



Thursday, November 27, 2014

Hope Everyone Is Having A Good Turkey Day

Hope everyone has been enjoying their Thanksgiving Day.
Hiker and I stayed in bed until 8 am this morning, but I was not sleeping. I was watching “The Walton’s Thanksgiving Reunion”. I loved watching “The Walton’s” with my mom when I was a kid. I remember her saying that it always reminded her of her childhood growing up during the depression. I still love to watch “The Walton’s” now and then.
After breakfast I started watching “The Twilight Zone” marathon. Ben and I always used to watch it every Thanksgiving Day.
By 10 am it was already 80° on my patio. I went out to the garage and got out some of the Christmas decorations I plan to put on my front porch. Didn’t put them up yet because I never like putting them up until after Thanksgiving even though some of the neighbors already have their decorations up. I’m putting a 4 foot artificial tree on my porch and some lighted garland around the door. As I said, don’t like going up and down the ladder anymore. Haven’t put the tree up inside since Ben died so decided to put it on the front porch this year.
Watched the National Dog Show just to see the herding dogs. They had a Red Healer. It was not picked.
Went out around 1:45 pm and played ball with Hiker in the yard. It was 90° if you can believe that temperature on Thanksgiving Day.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Very Warm For November

Today was my “stay in bed until 8 am” morning. Didn’t sleep…watched TV. Got up and made breakfast and then I did some house work. Mopped and vacuumed. Then I ran my weekly scans on my computers.
After lunch and Y&R, I went over to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things that I was afraid I’d run out of before Monday. I do not plan on going anywhere near any stores between now and Monday.
Took Hiker for a very short walk around the neighborhood. It was 90° and too hot to walk more than we did. I noticed that several people have already started putting up their Christmas lights and decorations. I always wait until the weekend after Thanksgiving.
I’ve decided not to put up as many lights on the outside of the house as I did last year. I’m just going to put some around the front door and some other yard decorations. I’m getting too old to go up and down the ladder to put lights up.
I found out that Lockheed is not waiting for approval/conformation from Kaiser anymore. They are now waiting for the approval/conformation to come from Medicare (CMS). Kaiser already told me that they got the approval/confirmation from Medicare but now Lockheed has to get the approval/confirmation from them also. We all know how slow the government is, so who knows when they will get the confirmation.
Have gotten all of my “end of the year” big bills paid…home owner’s insurance, earthquake insurance, car insurance and my first installment on my property taxes. Now I’m waiting for the letter from the DMV for the renewal of my driver’s license.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

I Hate The Lockheed Employee Service Center!

Went to my support group at the senior center this morning. There were only six of us plus our leader there today. Guess everyone else has gone away for Thanksgiving Week.
Seems like the sessions are much more enjoyable when we have only a handful of people attending. I took the pumpkin bread I baked yesterday and everyone enjoyed it.
After group, four of us ladies went over to Jimmy Dean’s for lunch and had a great time chatting, as we always do.
Was only 38° here this morning when Hiker and I rolled out of bed at 7 am but by the time I got home from group around 2 pm, it was 85° on my patio. Strange how it can be so chilly in the morning and warm up that much in the afternoon.
I’m still having problems with Lockheed signing me up for my Kaiser Medicare. I thought it was all taken care of, but I keep getting notices and phone calls from Lockheed telling me that they have not received confirmation that Kaiser has approved me for their plan even though I have spoken to Kaiser who tells me that they have me all signed up and ready to go as of January 1st. I call Lockheed back and tell them that I’ve been approved and they say that they show me as “pending” with Kaiser but until they have the confirmation that they will default me to a catastrophic senior plan and which means when they start taking the money out of my Lockheed pension check to pay for my Medicare supplement, it will cost me almost $400 a month instead of the $126 it should cost me for the Kaiser plan. I go back and forth between Kaiser and Lockheed trying to find out who is supposed to contact who about the approval but I cannot seem to get an answer. Kaiser keeps insisting that Lockheed is supposed to have a liaison who gets the confirmation. I called Lockheed last week and they told me that I didn’t need to keep calling Kaiser because everything is pending. I spoke with Lockheed again yesterday and they told me that I’ve done all I need to do and that they are just waiting for the confirmation, but then today I get a letter from them dated 11/19/2014 stating that it is urgent that I get all of my paperwork back to Kaiser for Kaiser to approve me. I am so frustrated and it’s mostly with Lockheed. I’m hoping since I spoke to them after they mailed the letter that maybe things will work out soon. I know it’s causing my blood pressure to go up.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Monday

Did our dog walk with Jean this morning. It was only 38° when we left. My hands were so cold. I didn’t even think to take my gloves with me.
Yesterday, the neighbor just up the street and across from Jean found a stray dog. The dog had a license on its collar. Since the people who found the dog had to go to work today, they put the dog in their back yard. I put the dog’s photo on the Lost & Found Pets of SCV Facebook page. Jean called the local county shelter and asked them if they could help us find the owner if we gave them the number on the dog’s license. They gave us the dog’s name (Molly a senior Basset Hound) and they called the owner, who is an elderly gentleman who lives in our gated community. He was in having his dialysis done today and his wife is in the hospital. He told the shelter that he had some plumbers working at the house and they left the gate open and the dog got out, but he said Jean and I could take the dog home and put it in his back yard, so we did. Felt good to take her back to her home.
After breakfast, I went up to Pet Smart to look for a Christmas gift for Hiker to give to Jean’s two dogs (Sassy and Charlie), but didn’t find anything there, so went over to Target to pick up some Freshet dog food for Hiker and I got some treats there for her to give to them. I like to get holiday shopping done before all of the crazies get out.
Made a loaf of pumpkin bread. If it turns out good after I slice it, I’ll take it with me to my support group tomorrow to share.
Still very windy here all day.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Another Windy Day

Slept in again this morning. I didn’t really even want to get up at 8 am but I did. Had a small breakfast and then took Hiker out for a walk. There were high clouds and it was windy.
Did some laundry and made the bed. Watched a few Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel.
Tried to get Hiker to play some in the backyard like she did yesterday. She didn’t seem to want to play “turbo dog” like she did on Saturday.
After lunch I spent an hour playing Wii Games. I’m surprised at how much of a workout you can actually get playing those games. I actually end up about as tired as I do from a nice walk and I’m sweating by the time I’m done. Played Wii Tennis, Wii Bowling, Wii Golf and Wii Baseball.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Not Much To Report

Not much to report today. Slept in a while, then up for breakfast. Threw some laundry into the washing machine and then relaxed to watch TV most of the day.
Played some games on my computer, played with Hiker some and that’s about it.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll talk myself into getting out for a hike or something.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Very Pretty Day

I don’t know if it rained here last night, but on the news this morning, I saw that they had some flash flooding in some areas and that they were having snow up in Big Bear and in Wrightwood. I didn’t hear any rain and my yard didn’t look wet this morning. I have a CBS weather app on my iPhone and I do recall last night that I heard a voice on my phone saying “your area is under a flash flood watch”.
Did our normal Friday dog walk with Jean and then Sally, Jean and I went over for the grand opening of the new Canyon Country See’s Candy shop. We got there about 8 minutes before the ribbon cutting and there was already about 50 people in line. In just a few minutes, there was another 25 or so people behind us. The handed out free See’s suckers and before we entered the store, they had us spin a wheel to get a prize. I got what they call an “Awesome Nut & Chew” candy bar. Jean got a bag of suckers and Sally got a little See’s hammer keychain. I heard one of the workers say that it’s a replica of what they use to “chop” the nuts they put in the candy. She said that they used the hammers when See’s first started and they still use them today. Everywhere you turned, a See’s worker was offering you a piece of candy. I bought a pound of my favorite milk chocolate orange creams.
Since Jean had a lunch to go to, we headed back home, but one of these days, the three of us need to get together and go shopping, go to lunch and make a day of it.
After lunch, I took Hiker over to Todd Longshore Park and we walked around for about a mile or so. Some kid was riding a skateboard there and that didn’t set too well with Hiker. She’s afraid of them, so after a while, we headed home.
Beautiful day here…in the mid to high 70’s.


Thursday, November 20, 2014

Cloudy Thursday

Slept in a little again today. I was having a little trouble sleeping last night because I kept thinking about the fact that Lockheed’s Employee Service Center called me yesterday and told me that my annual enrollment/sign up for Medicare was not really approve or complete yet. They didn't really explain how the process goes. So this morning after I got up, I had to run a few errands and I was near our Kaiser Medical Center so I stopped by there to talk with the Member’s Services person on a video chat. After talking to them, I decided to call the Lockheed Center again and I lucked out this time…I got a young man who seemed to know what he was talking about and he explained to me step-by-step how the acceptance/confirmation process works. He told me to stop calling Kaiser because “the ball is in Lockheed’s court” at this time. He said because my new enrollment fell at the exact same time as everyone’s annual enrollment, that they process it differently than they do if you do a first time sign up with Medicate any other time of the year. Basically he told me not to worry about anything that they were working on getting the acceptance/confirmation they need. I hope he’s right. He really sounded like he knew the process.
When I was driving home, I heard sirens behind me and say all of these flashing lights, so I pulled over to let them pass. Three cop cars went flying by doing about 80 mph. Don’t know what that was all about.
After lunch, Hiker and I went for an “almost” 2 mile walk. It was bright and sunny here this morning, but then it got very gray and cloudy and looked like it could rain, but the local weather doesn’t say anything about rain.
My neighbor Sally and I are going to attend the grand opening of the new See’s Candy shop down the street from us tomorrow. Hoping to get free samples (LOL).

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Partly Cloudy Or Partly Sunny

Hiker is the silliest dog. Last night she went to bed around 8 pm while I sat in the living room watching “NCIS”. I went to check on her around 8:45 pm. I find her lying smack in the middle of the bed, however, the pillows are all on the floor as is the comforter. I asked her what the mess was all about and she gave out a little growl.
Was around 45° when we got out of bed this morning. Had some breakfast and then I headed out to do my grocery shopping. The store was more crowded than normal. I’m guessing people were already starting to shop for their Thanksgiving meals.
Was even more cloudy when I got home. Even looked like it could rain. I paid a couple of bills and then settled down to watch “Y&R”.
I HATE THE LOCKHEED EMPLOYEE SERVICE CENTER! I got a call from them today telling me that my enrollment for my Kaiser Medicare Supplement through the Lockheed Group Plan was not complete because I had to be approved by Kaiser. I told them I was already approved by Kaiser and that I already had my new Kaiser Medicare medical card and that I had a confirmation from Lockheed for my enrollment online. They told me that Lockheed had to send me a 4-page form for the Lockheed Group Plan and send it to Kaiser to be approved before Lockheed would accept my enrollment choice. I told them that Kaiser had sent me the form and I had filled it out and sent it back to them several weeks ago and that they had already approved me. Lockheed then asked me for my Kaiser medical number and said they would have to follow-up with Kaiser. I then called Kaiser’s Medicare office and told them and they said they don’t understand what Lockheed’s problem is and that they would never have sent me my new medical ID Card if I had not been approved. Lockheed never should have outsourced the Employee Services to a third party. I’ll have to keep checking to make sure it gets straightened out.
I had to go by the post office this afternoon, so after that, Hiker and I drove up to Canyon Country Park and did a mile walk.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Cloudy Day, But A Good Day At Support Group

Went to my support group at the senior center this morning. Had a small group and for some reasons, it seems that we have much better sessions when there are less people attending.
After group, me, DeDee, Jane and Carol went to lunch at Red Robin. They were already playing Christmas music in the background. By the time Christmas gets here, I’m sick of hearing the songs because they start to play them way too early.
Had high, thin clouds all day so the sun was just barely peeking through. Only go up into the low 70’s but I love this kind of weather. I would rather have this year round instead of those nasty, hot summers. Still a little breezy, but seems to be calming down some.
When I first got Hiker, she would meet me at the door when I came home from being out all day. She would be all excited to see me. Now when I come home, she is in her soft crate and she waits to make sure it is me before she comes out to greet me. I keep telling her that I guess she’d let just anyone come into the house. Crazy dog.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Not As Windy As Yesterday

Up early for our Monday dog walk with my neighbor Jean. We both noticed that we get our walks done about 30 minutes sooner since we don’t have Timmy walking with us anymore. Poor little guy. He walked really slowly and he wanted to stop and smell every bush and every light post.
After breakfast, I went over to Sam’s Club. Seems like every time I go there I spend at least $100 and I don’t buy a lot of items, but I buy my supplements there and they cost more. I like to get them there because I get a lot more for the money I spend.
Came home and paid some bills and then watched Y&R.
After lunch, Hiker and I went over to Central Park for an afternoon walk. The weather was beautiful. It was a little breezy, but not real windy like it was yesterday. I took Hiker into “Central Bark”, the dog park they have there. There were about 2 or 3 other dogs in the fenced area. I took her leash off of her, but she doesn’t go more than about 5 feet away from me. A couple of the dogs came over and sniffed her and as soon as they did, she was ready to leave. She likes to greet other dogs, but she is still pretty shy around them just like she is around people she doesn’t know. Jean says it’s because she is an “only child”.
Hiker has this new thing she does now. Started about 2 weeks ago. Whenever we go somewhere in the car, when we get home, she doesn’t want to get out of the car. I back into the garage and I unhook her from the seatbelt, but she just sits there and looks at me. I even tell her “bye” and close the car door and go into the house for a few minutes and when I come back out to get her, I still have to coax her out of the car. I don’t know what that is all about.
Got up into the mid 70’s here today and the wind made the sky so blue.




Sunday, November 16, 2014

Very Windy Day

Got up early this morning to wash my sheets. I normally do that on Sunday, but I got up early because my neighbor Jean and I had planned to go to a holiday craft fair over at Old Orchard Park in Newhall, CA but it was so windy here this morning that we decided not to go. The wind was howling all night long and the gusts of wind were huge. I know Hiker was glad I wasn’t going because she hates it when I leave her home alone.
Decided to do some housework and then settled down to watch some TV.
Since it was a little cool outside because of the wind, I made some spaghetti and chili for lunch and some garlic bread.
Hiker and I headed out for a walk around 1:30 pm. It was still very windy and about 70°. No other people out walking this afternoon. Guess they didn’t want to risk the chance of getting blown away.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Saturday

Slept in for about 30 minutes this morning. It was cloudy earlier but the sun came out later in the morning and it was hazy most of the day.
Did some laundry and then watched some TV.
Just before lunch, Hiker and I went for a walk. I made the mistake of telling her that she could lead the walk today and she ended up wandering all around the dry riverbed with me following. I don’t know what it is about that riverbed, but she loves to wander around out there.
On the way home, I talked to a woman with an 11 year old pit bull named Lokey. She was telling me that she usually walks Lokey in the early morning or in the early evening and that she has noticed a pair of coyotes in Discovery Park a few times during the last couple of weeks. She said they don’t bother Lokey but that she was talking to a guy who walks his two Siberian Huskies and that the coyotes stalk them. She said when she has seen them, she yells at them and they usually just turn around and walk away.
Tomorrow I am going to a holiday craft fair with Jean over in Newhall. Should be fun.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Not So Busy Friday

Didn’t do too much today. Got up at 6 am to meet up with Jean at 7 am for our Friday dog walk. After the walk, headed over to Jean’s house to have Hiker groomed. She got a bath but didn’t shave her this time. I let her hair grow in the cooler months.
Jean is taking care of a big, 12 year old Chocolate Lab named Bailey. Hiker is scared to death of Bailey because she is so big and she acts like a puppy and comes running at Hiker all the time. She just wants to play but Hiker doesn’t understand and hides. I was determined to make Hiker play with Bailey, but then Hiker started doing the “herding thing”, nipping at Bailey’s heels and snapping at her face, so then Bailey was hiding.
Came home and had lunch while watching Y&R and then put Hiker in the car and headed over to Sam’s Club to fill my car with gas.
It was in the high 70’s here today.

This is what I found when I went to bed last night.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Lunch With The Lockheed Girls

Last night before we went to bed, I got Hiker off my bed to make her go outside to potty. She was acting kind of strange. Maybe she wasn’t totally awake yet, but she still was acting strange when she jumped up on the bed to go back to sleep. She was back to normal this morning, but she had me worried for a little while.
Met with several of my retired Lockheed girlfriends at the Sizzler in Palmdale, CA for lunch today. As usual, we had so much fun.
My friend Judy gave me a new toy to give to Hiker and as usual, Hiker loved it. Started playing with it as soon as I took it out of the bag.
When I got home, my new Kaiser Medicare medical card was in my mailbox, so I’m all set up for Medicare starting January 1st. It will be nice to pay less for my co-pays.
Had high, thin clouds here all day. I saw that it was raining up in Northern California earlier today.

Hiker with the new toy that her "Aunt Judy" sent home.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Checked In On Jean

Today is Wednesday which means it is the day that I am lazy and sleep in. Hiker kept wanting me to get up, but I made her wait.

After we got up and had breakfast, I took Hiker over to Jean’s house to see how she and her dogs Charlie and Sassy were doing since the loss of their little Timmy. Jean said she could not go to sleep last night, so she spent the night on the sofa in the living room watching TV. She was keeping herself busy by grooming several dogs today.

Hiker and I left to head home, but Jean wanted us to come back in a little while as our friend Sally, who also lives in our community was bringing her dogs over to be groomed and I think Jean appreciated the distraction of us being there with her.

I did a little housework before we went back over to Jean’s. We stayed a little over an hour and then headed back home for some lunch.

Did not get out for a walk today, even though the weather was nice. Probably won’t get a walk in tomorrow either because I am going out to Palmdale to meet my Lockheed retired friends for lunch at Sizzler.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Good-bye Timmy

On this Veteran’s Day, I went to the Senior Center for my grief support group. There were only 8 of us there today. There was a big ceremony at our local Veteran’s park just down the street from the Senior Center. We could hear them playing “Taps” as we started our meeting this morning.
While I was sitting outside waiting to go into my meeting this morning, the fire department and an ambulance drove up to the lobby door of the center and took out one of the volunteers. She was complaining for pain in her side, so I don’t know if she was having an appendix attack, a gall bladder attack or a heart attack.
Went to Round Table Pizza for lunch with DeDee, Paul, Jane and Linda from group. I noticed that Jean had called me but did not leave a message. I always turn my ringer off when I’m in group, so I didn’t know she had called. I was going to call her as soon as I got home because I knew she was taking her little dog Timmy to the vet this morning. As I was driving home, my phone rang. I have Bluetooth in my car so I answered the call. It was Jean calling to tell me that she had to put little Timmy down. I feel so bad. He was such a sweet little guy. The vet found that Timmy had a very large tumor in his stomach and he was very anemic. Jean had been told when she got Timmy in 2008 that he was 4 years old at the time so she though he was around 10 or 11 now, but the vet said he was more like 14 years old and that they could do surgery to remove the tumor, but he might not survive it and if he did, he’d have to have blood transfusions and be in the hospital for a long time. The vet felt it was better to put him to sleep. Jean said she agreed, but had called me to confirm that she was doing the right thing.
Hiker and I are really going to miss Timmy. Hiker would try to get him to play, even though he never would. I would have to tell Hiker that Timmy was old and that she had to be careful with him. I’m wondering if she will notice him missing when we go for our dog walk on Friday.
The sun never did come out here today. It has been in the mid 60’s and looks like it could rain. I sure hope it does.

Hiker and her friend Timmy

Monday, November 10, 2014

Cooler Weather Today

Started our Monday dog walk with Jean and her dogs around 7 am. We noticed that Jean’s little dog Timmy was acting strange. He is about 11 years old now and he is slower than the other dogs, but today he acted like he just didn’t want to be out walking. We cut our walk short and went back to my house to let the dogs play for a while. Timmy was acting very tired and he seemed to be stumbling some.
Jean went home and called the vet to make an appointment for him and she emailed me and said his appointment is tomorrow morning. I know she is really worried about him. He was also drinking a lot of water and I know that when dogs have kidney failure, they start to drink a lot of water. She is thinking maybe he is diabetic. Hope he will be OK.
After Hiker and I had breakfast, I headed over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things then stopped by the Dollar Tree and looked around a little.
It was cooler here today. Had a slight marine layer this morning which caused it to be hazy most of the day.
I received my confirmation letter today from Kaiser for my Medicare supplement account with them through Lockheed. They said in the letter that now Medicare has to review the account and approve it and I guess after that, Kaiser will send me my new medical card with them. I didn’t know that Medicare had to approve every new account.
Hiker and I drove over to our Central Park after lunch and did a mile and a half walk. They were filming something there out on one of the soccer fields. Looked like they were filming the players doing the same play over and over.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

A Little Cooler Today

Slept in again this morning. I wish I could get myself back into a regular walking routine, but I just don’t see to have the incentive.
Hiker and I did get out for a walk around 9:30 am. It was already 80°. If this warm weather keeps up, I will have to uncover the air conditioner and get my shorts back out again. It got pretty warm in the house yesterday but it does cool down pretty quick once the sun goes down.
Went out to play ball with Hiker after lunch. She likes to play for about 15 or 20 minutes and then she goes to the door to go in letting me know she’s done playing. I noticed that the sky was really pretty today with thin, brush-stroked clouds. Got my camera and took a few shots.
When I was uploading the photos to my computer, I noticed a black cat walking around in my back yard. The lady on the corner owns this cat and the cat loves to aggravate Hiker. It sits in my front yard and stares at Hiker through the window while Hiker has a barking fit. I just know that the cat does it on purpose. Hiker didn’t see it in her back yard but when it jumped the fence and walked past my front porch, Hiker went berserk. I always have to go out and chase the cat away because Hiker won’t stop barking until it is totally out of sight. I like the cat hanging around because it controls the rat population we have around here, but I wish it wouldn’t tease Hiker.
Once again it was in the low 90’s here but it didn’t seem as hot as it did yesterday because we had a breeze today. Yesterday the air was dead still.




Saturday, November 8, 2014

Too Hot For This Time Of Year

Hiker woke me up around 6:30 so she is letting me sleep in some again. Guess she is getting used to the time change back to standard time. Laid in bed and watched TV until around 8 am then got up and had some breakfast.
Saturday us my “laundry day”, so I did that. Saturday is also me “couch potato day”, so I did that too.
So as I mentioned in my blog yesterday, I went to my eye doctor for another injection. He was very pleased with the results this time. He had planned to give me another injection in December, but instead told me that they will just take some photos of the insides of my eyes the next time I come and then he will decide where we will go from there. He said that if the steroid injection I got didn’t work, he had some other ideas up his sleeve, but then he said “guess we won’t have to go up my sleeve”. I still have the distortion from the Macular Pucker in my right eye, but at least the blood vessels have stopped swelling and seeping fluid into my eye.
Was 90° here today.