Friday, February 28, 2014

Very Rainy Day

Woke up around midnight last night and hear it raining a little bit, but then I woke up again around 4:30 am and it was pouring and the wind was howling. Sounded like a hurricane. Could not go back to sleep. When Jean picked me up at 9:15 to head down to Kaiser, it was not raining as hard, but still as coming down some. We decided to take surface streets over there instead of the freeway because we had heard that the freeways were full of accidents. My doctor's office didn't seem as crowded today as it was a month ago. I mentioned to him that I was having some blurry vision in my left eye now. When they checked my vision, It was still 20/20 in the left eye with my glasses on, but I kept seeing some “cloudiness”. My doctor checked my left eye out before giving me the injection in my right eye. He said I have a “fluid detachment” that is leaking and causing me to have floaters which have been causing the “cloudiness” in the left eye. He said eventually the floater will fall down out of my central vision so I should not have the “cloudiness” after that. He said it was a very common thing. The injection seemed to go easier this time around. There was a woman in the next room, probably in her 80's, having her first injection and I heard her moaning and crying when they injected her. I heard the doctor say “you started yelling before I even did the injection”. When the aide was washing her eye after the injection, she continued to moan and groan. Jean said when the woman came out to the lobby, she commented “this is the worst day of my life”. I don't know what her problem was because you don't have any pain at all when they inject the eye. We got back over to Santa Clarita and it started to pour down rain again. I took Jean to Sizzler for lunch to say “thanks” for driving me down there. Still pouring down rain right now. They claim “it never rains in California”, but when it does, it POURS! We are under a flash flood warning right now.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

In Between Storms

The rain started last night around 7:30 pm. I had just gotten back from the neighbor's. We were going over what I need to do when I go over feed her dog and cats while she is away this weekend. It rained off and on all night. Hiker and I slept in this morning. Once we got up, we had breakfast and went to buy my lottery tickets and then, since it was a beautiful morning and we are were in between storms, we went for a nice walk. I'm just hoping that it's not pouring down rain when Jean takes me down to Kaiser tomorrow for my second eye injection. The drive down there and back is bad enough with the traffic without it raining. The sun was out all day with bright blue sky and fluffy clouds. Hiker and I spent most of the afternoon watching TV.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Waiting For The Rain To Come

Hiker and I got up at 6 am this morning because we had a dog walk planned with Jean and her 3 dogs, but just before we got ready to go, it started drizzling here. If it was just me, I'd go but don't like to take Hiker out in the rain because wet dog does NOT smell good (LOL). Instead of going on the walk, I ran scans on both of my laptops. The “computer spooks” have been invading both of my laptops. The other day, I was working on my Dell laptop and it just suddenly shut down. I checked the plug that goes into the computer, but it was plugged in. I kept trying to reboot but couldn't. I was starting to think it was time for a new laptop, but then I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the other end of the A/C adapter had come unplugged from the power surge strip. Have no idea how it came unplugged. Then I noticed the battery on my Toshiba laptop was not charging even though it was plugged in. I checked to make sure it was all plugged in and it was, so then I took the battery out and plugged the computer in without the battery to check if it would boot up. It did, so that told me that the battery was just not holding a charge. Both of my laptops are about 5 years old and have the original batteries. So I thought I'd have to buy a new battery for it. However, this morning when I turned the Toshiba on, it said it was 100% charged. Have no idea what's going on there. Next I noticed that my external hard drive was not showing up on the laptop I have it plugged into. I in plugged it and plugged it back in twice before it started working again. Like I said “computer spooks”. Went to Sam's Club to pick up some things. No rain yet by noon in fact, the sun was peaking out. Was cloudy again by 3 pm but still no rain. I have to go up to Jean's house around 5:30 pm. She and I are going to share taking care of another neighbor's dog and cat while the other neighbor is away, so we have to see what needs to be done. Jean is taking care of them Thursday and Friday and I am taking care of them Saturday and Sunday.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Just A Quick Note Today

Went to my support group today. At one point during the session, a woman popped her head in the door to see what was going on. I guess we were all laughing and making so much noise that she wanted to see what was so funny. We are a crazy bunch. After group, four of us went to Round Table Pizza for lunch. Was bright and sunny today, but the two rain storms are supposed to start coming in tomorrow evening. I hope that the rain the are predicting is for real. A lot of time they tell us a storm is coming in and we don't even get a drop of rain.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Warm Monday

Slept in this morning because we did not have our normal dog walk with Jean and her dogs. She had a dental appointment this morning. Beautiful morning here this morning even though they claim we are going to get 1” to 2” of rain this weekend. Guess we will just wait and see. Figures it is supposed to rain Friday. That's the day Jean is driving me to Kaiser for my second eye injection. I did some housework this morning and then settled down to watch some TV. Thought my main laptop had died on me this morning. I was on Facebook when it suddenly just shut off. I could not get it to start again. I checked the plug that goes into the laptop and it was OK. I texted Keith and he told me to try starting it in “safe mode” and that didn't work, then I noticed that the main plug had come out of the surge strip that is plugged into the wall socket. OOPS! Guess the batter had totally drained. I hadn't even noticed that it had come unplugged and I'm not even blonde (LOL). I was thinking I was going to have to use some of my tax refund on a new laptop. I have another laptop, but I like to always have 2 in case one does die. Awhile back, Jean had given me an article in The Magazine Of Santa Clarita about a dog photo contest. I don't think there is a prize, just bragging rights, but I went ahead and set Hikers photo to them on Valentine's Day. Today I got an email from them telling me how beautiful she is. They said they are getting so many great photos that they are having trouble picking the best one so they are going to post her photo on their Facebook page and have people vote. I will let everyone where to go on Facebook to vote for her when the voting starts. After lunch, Hiker and I went and got some gas for the car at Sam's Club and then we headed over to Central Park in Saugus and took a nice walk around the park. Was 80° here today.

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Feeling Somewhat Better

Watched movies all day yesterday. Went to bed a little after 8:30 pm because I still was not feeling very well. Went right to sleep but kept waking up all night because I could not get comfortable and my body was aching. I'm really thinking I have caught a bug because I woke up at 2:30 am. I was aching all over and I had the chills. My stomach felt very empty because I had not had anything to eat since mid-day yesterday, so I decided to get up and get a bowl of cereal. Hiker wanted to go outside, so I let her out and when she came back in, we went back to bed and it took me a little while to fall back to sleep. Hiker let me sleep until 6:30 am before she started to bug me to get up and feed her. I felt a little better, so I decided to go ahead and go on the dog walk that my neighbor Jean and I had planned for this morning. We put the dogs in Jean's car and drove over to Canyon Country Park. Her dogs went crazy because they had never been there before. They were sniffing everything. I was still not feeling 100% while we were walking around the park, so I was glad to get back home. I decided to eat my old “normal” way today to see if it will help me to feel better. It seems that the minute I tried to each “healthier” and less portions, I started feeling sick. Also decided to spend the rest of the day at home inside to see if I feel better. However after lunch, I was feeling a little better, so Hiker and I got in the car and went out to buy my lottery tickets for this week but came right back home.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Another Lazy Saturday

Hiker woke me up around 5:45 am and wanted to go outside to potty. When I got up to let her outside, I noticed that my muscles were more sore this morning than they were yesterday morning. I guess I'm really going to have to consider hiring pros to shampoo my carpet next time. When Hiker came back in, I told her we were going back to bed until 8 am. She was fine with that until about 7:45. She started bugging me to get up. She won't give up either. She keeps kissing me and pawing at me. If I ignore that, she starts to whine and bark at me. Once she got me up, I started my laundry and then made some pancakes for breakfast. Hiker and I decided to be lazy today, hoping that my body aches will be gone tomorrow as my neighbor Jean wants to take the dogs over to Canyon Country park for a walk. Don't know if I have a bug or what, but didn't feel like doing anything today. Just stayed on the sofa all day watching TV. I hate days when I'm like this. Was about 70° here today and a little hazy. They say we might get some rain by the end of next week.

Friday, February 21, 2014

It's Friday!

Up at 6 am to get ready for our dog walk with Jean. We were out walking by 7:15. The dogs were all excited because they had not seen each other for a week. On the way back to my house we had to stop at our neighbor Chris's house so Jean could pick up Chris's dog Patches to groom her today. I'm going to brag about how smart Hiker is again (LOL). Chris lives across the street from me. We were walking up the street and normally Hiker will pull me to cross to my side of the street down on the corner but today I told Hiker that we had to go pick up Patches, so Hiker stayed on Chris's side of the street and when we got to Chris's driveway, Hiker turned and went right up to Chris's porch. She knew which house Patches lives at. Makes me so mad....I have cut down on my food portions and got some exercise in the past 2 days and what happens? I gain half a pound instead of losing any. Grrrr! I went to do my grocery shopping this morning and then after lunch, Hiker and I drove up to La Canada to pick up my taxes. I have not had to pay to either Feds or State in 33 years. The first year Ben and I were married, we had to pay the state of California $800. This year is the first time I've owed anything and that is once again to the state of California. I owe them a lousy $2! When we got back home, took Hiker down to the park for a short walk. It was 82° here today.

My blue iris is blooming. This plant was a gift from my office when I retired 8 years ago.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Busy Day

Got up at 7 am and had breakfast and then finished shampooing my carpets. I still had the dining area and living room to do and I finished it all in about 2 hours. Hiker and I spent a couple of hours in our bedroom watching TV while the carpet dried. Shampooing the carpet used to be one of the things I didn't mind doing, but now I am getting to where I do not like doing it. Eventually I will probably start having it done by professionals. Got a call that my taxes are ready for me to pick up. Think I will wait and do that tomorrow afternoon. I'm too tired to go get it this afternoon. I've also been having some problems with my stomach today. I've decided after seeing my cholesterol results from my blood work yesterday that I need to lose some weight and get back into a regular exercise schedule. Yesterday I started my new “diet” which is a small breakfast, BIG lunch and only salad for dinner. I'm sure my cholesterol is up because I've gained about 10 lbs since the last time I had my blood work done. Last year my numbers were still high, but they were lower than they had been in ages. This time they were higher than they have been in quite awhile. I got into eating both a big lunch and a big dinner and doing less exercise. I used to walk every day and sometimes even twice a day. Since last summer, I have only been walking maybe once or twice a week. As most of you know, I cannot take statins to lower my cholesterol because they give me muscle and joint cramps. My doctor told me to take OTC Red Yeast Rice. He wanted me to take 2400mg per day. I tried that for about 2 months last year but the RYR was also giving me muscle and joint cramps so I cut the dosage in half. Tried that for a few months and eventually, that also gave me muscle and joint cramps, so I just stopped taking it.

Here is a photograph I took of Hiker last evening.

"Oh Oh....the bed exploded"

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Busy Morning

Slept in until just before 7 am this morning. I didn't have breakfast because I had to go over to Kaiser to do fasting blood work for my doctor's appointment in March. The lab doesn't open until 9 am. I decided to wait to go over there at 9:30 am because I also wanted to go to Sam's Club which is just down the block from Kaiser. My membership at Sam's Club doesn't let me go in the store until 10 am. I figured I'd have to wait awhile at Kaiser. I got there and checked in and they took me immediately into the lab, so there was no wait. I drove over to Sam's and waited in the parking lot for about 10 minutes. Got back home and did a few things on the computer and then watched Y&R and had lunch. After lunch, Hiker and I went for a 2 mile walk. It was warm outside...about 75° while we were walking.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Normal Tuesday

Up at 7 am and then off to my Grief Support Group at 9 am. It was nice and sunny when I headed over there this morning but when I came home it was all overcast, but still warm outside. We had a new lady (Betty) at group today. I'd say she was in her 80's. Just lost her husband of 40 years from lung and bone cancer. He was her second husband, but it was easy to tell when she told us about him that he was the love of her life. She was so sweet. Another lady brought her and came back to pick her up after group. Don't know if it was a neighbor, friend or caregiver. As they were walking out, I heard Betty tell the other lady “The people in the group are so nice. I'm looking forward to coming back next week”. Made me feel good because she had told us how lonely she was sitting around even though she has friends and family, she doesn't get out much. I always feel so bad for new members because I remember when I was new. The grief is so new and you are so numb and you feel so lost. I'm glad she found us. The “lunch group” went to Cathy's Deli. We always have such good stories and we laugh a lot when we go to lunch. I'm so lucky to have these friends. Hiker was happy to see me when I got home. She loves to “help” me put the trash cans out and walk up to the mailbox. Then she got on the sofa a couple of feet away from me and went to sleep. No dinner or anything else for me tonight. I have to go for my annual blood work tomorrow morning so my doctor will have the results when I go to see him for my annual check up on March 5th.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Warm, Sunny Day

Got up a little after 7 am. It was 40° and clear and started warming up as the morning progressed. Keith and I went over to Wal-Mart so I could buy some planting mix so I could put my little tomato plant into the Topsy-Turvy I bought for $1.50 yesterday at Big Lots. Keith told me I have to send him a photo of it every Sunday so he can see how it is doing. I had an appointment with my tax man today, so Keith headed home around 12:30 and I also left to head up to La Canada to my tax man's home. When I came home, I think Hiker was wondering what I did with Keith since we left at the same time. Warm, sunny and 75° here in SoCal today.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Fun Day With Hiker And My Brother Keith

Had a dream about Ben last night. I have not dreamt about him in ages. I was dreaming that I was at the DMV office doing some kind of paperwork on my car. It was really crowded as usual. It was strange because they had a counter where they had me sit. I was getting frustrated because I was having trouble making the guy there understand want I needed. When this guy would talk to me, he spoke very softly and I could not hear what he was saying and he kept getting up from his chair and wandering around behind the counter. Suddenly I noticed that Ben was sitting next to me at the counter. I could see him but no one else could. He kept saying that the guy behind the counter was a jerk. This is the first time Ben has spoken in any of the dreams I've had about him. Ben kept wandering off just like he did when he was alive. He could never just sit in one place for too long. He came back with a small rock in his hand and said “look at this cool rock I found” and he handed it to me. It was black and looked like a chuck of blacktop, but I told him it was pretty and that I'd keep it. The guy behind the counter handed me a piece of paper to sign and the printing on it was very light and I could not read it. I refused to sign it and Ben told me it was good that I did that. The dream seemed to go on for quite awhile before Hiker woke me up, so I don't know how it ended other than her waking me up. We headed over to Elsmere Canyon and hiked the Creek Trail. We did about 2 miles round trip. There are some really cool cliffs in that canyon. Keith had never hiked there before so I think he enjoyed it. Came home and dropped off Hiker and then Keith and I went to lunch at Carl's Jr. After lunch we headed over to the Goodwill Store and looked around, then stopped by Big Lots. They had those “Topsy Turvy” tomato growers for $1.50 so I bought one, then headed up to buy a tomato plant at Lowe's. I should have bought some potting soil, but didn't so we will probably go to Wal-Mart tomorrow morning so I can get some. Beautiful warm day here. Got up to about 85° with bright sunshine.

Me and Hiker in Elsmere Canyon

My brother Keith in Elsmere Canyon

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Hot And Sticky Here

Slept in a little this morning then got up and put in a load of laundry before Keith arrived. Had to put Hiker's flea and tick repellent on her for the month. She has gotten a little better with letting me put it on her than she used to be. She still doesn't really like it, but she doesn't run from me as much now when she realizes what I'm doing. Keith arrived just a little after 11 am and we headed over to Rattlers BBQ where Keith treated me to lunch. Had enough left over to bring home for our dinner this evening. We went back home and got Hiker and took her down to Tags Clinic to see about her rattlesnake booster shot. I told them that her paperwork shows her due in January, but I never got the reminder post card from them and then I forgot about it until yesterday. They told me that she can get it either every 6 months (if we live in a snake prone area or do a lot of camping, etc. or ever 12 months which is for people like me who only hike a little, so we decided to wait until July when she is due for all of her other booster shots. I thought it was nice of them to save me the money. Some places would have insisted I get it every 6 months. Brought Hiker back home and Keith and I headed up to Lowe's Home Improvement so I could buy a hose real for my back yard. It was overcast, hot and sticky here today. Got up to around 85°. We used to never have humidity. The weather all over the world has gone totally crazy.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Valentine's Day

We were up early to go for our Friday dog walk with Jean. Today was her dog Charlie's birthday. He turned 4. He is a King Charles Cavalier. Jean had red leashes and collars on all 3 of her dogs for Valentine's Day. After she left, I fixed some breakfast and then did a little housework. Wanted to get it done because Keith is coming for a visit this weekend. Also made an appointment with my tax guy for Monday. After lunch, Hiker and I went over to Central Park in Saugus and walked a little over a mile. There were quite a few people in the park today. Probably because of the hot weather. Today it got up to 92° on my patio. Hope this is NOT a preview for this year's summer.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Hot Day In SoCal

Beautiful morning here today. It was already 75° by 10 am. Looked more like spring than winter. I met for lunch with 4 of my girlfriends who are retired from Lockheed. DeDee, Marce, Judy and Gail. We went to the new Sizzler here in Santa Clarita. We always have fun when we get together. When I got in the car to come home, I could not believe how hot it was outside. My patio thermometer read 90° when I got home. I kept thinking about the people in the eastern half of the United States. They are freezing and being bombarded with snow and ice and we are having summer.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Lunch With Ben's Buddy

Didn't want to get out of bed this morning. Hiker kept making little noises and putting her nose in my face trying to wake me up. Don't know why she does that because once I get up, she's somewhere sleeping. I really need to get back into exercising (walking/hiking). I have gotten into such a bad habit of not doing it on a regular basis like I used too, plus I eat too much. I guess the fact that I eat more than I should is not really all that bad considering that when Ben first died, I wasn't eating at all and I know some of the ladies in my grief group are still not eating enough. I get so mad at myself sometimes. I know I need to exercise and take care of myself better. My friend Ed (Ben's best buddy), came up from Pomona, CA to go to lunch with me today. We went over to Round Table Pizza for their buffet lunch. The weather was so beautiful here today. Got up to 85° on my patio.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Another Group Day

Went to my grief support group today. Last week we only had 8 people there. This week we had about 16 people. Our leader had to rein in Edwin again. Sometimes he is really good but other times he gets on a roll. It was a little hazy here today but got up to 80°. After group, 4 of us went over to Backwoods Inn for lunch. I have a busy “lunch out” week. Tomorrow I'm going to lunch with Ben's buddy Ed and Thursday I am meeting my Lockheed retired girlfriends for lunch. At least I won't have to worry about fixing dinner. When I have a big lunch, I usually skip dinner totally or I just have a snack. Hiker is not going to like me because I'll be leaving her alone for several hours most days this week.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Very Pretty Day Here Today

Up at 6 am for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was cool and clear this morning and we are supposed to be heading into the 80's by the end of the week. I went over to Wal-Mart this morning and bought a new hose for my back yard, the old one had broken where it connects to the faucet so I bought a new piece for it, but it constantly leaked so I bought a new one. Also bought a hose caddy to roll the new hose up into instead of leaving it out in the weather. Bought a double-hook shepherd's hook for my hummer feeder and my suet feeder. I was surprised that Wal-Mart didn't have any patio chaise lounges in the store. They have them online, but I like to physically see things like that before I buy them. I want to make sure I'm getting what I really want. Spent the afternoon on the patio watching Hiker play with some bubbles while I set up my new shepherd's hook with my twp feeders. Was a beautiful day here today.

Here is a photo of Hiker playing with the bubbles on the patio today and below that is a video



Sunday, February 9, 2014

Foggy/Cloudy Sunday

Slept in a little while again this morning. When we got out of bed, it was foggy outside. After grabbing a bowl of cereal, I put the sheets and towels into the washer, emptied out the dish washer and then got to work on shampooing the small front bedroom and the short hallway that leads into it. Once it dries and I vacuum and put things back into the room, half of the carpet in the house will be shampooed. Don't know yet when I will get to the other half because I have a busy week and then Keith is coming to visit next weekend. Once I turned on the fans to help the carpet dry, I headed over to Big Lots to see if they had any “double hook” shepherd's hooks for my yard. I want one with 2 hooks so I can put a hummer feeder on one hook and a suet feeder on the other hook, then I'll move the single hook one I have now to the other side of the house in front of my kitchen window and I'll hang another hummer feeder on it. Big Lots usually carries the double hook ones, but this time they only had the single hook ones. Ben and I never went to the theater to see first run movies, so now I am catching up on movies with Amazon Prime and Netflix. Last night I watched “The Out Of Towners” from 1970 with Jack Lemmon and Sandy Dennis. Cute movie. If you are a Meryl Streep fan or a Kevin Bacon fan, or just a fan of suspense/adventure movies, you need to watch “The River Wild”. I know it's old (1994) but worth a watch. I had never heard of it until I watched it. Kevin is evil and Meryl is courageous.

Hiker was looking in the dryer for her toy that had to be washed today. She almost crawled into the drying to find it.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Short Note Today

This was the first morning I've been able to sleep in for about a week and a half. Felt good. Had breakfast, put a load of laundry into the washing machine and proceeded to start shampooing the carpet in my bedroom and master bathroom. Took me about an hour and a half to do it, then I put on fans and opened the sliding door to the backyard to help it to dry. Watched “Peggy Sue Got Married” on Encore. The sun was shining most of the day. It was very cloudy when we first got out of bed this morning, but then cleared up some. Stayed cool...in the mid 60s. Thinking about have baked tilapia and some rice for dinner.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Worked On Jean's Computer Again

Didn't sleep much last night. Went to bed at 9 pm and read for about 45 minutes. Turned out the light off around 10 pm and went right to sleep. Suddenly woke up around 11:45 and could not get back to sleep. I think I finally dozed off around 2 am. I noticed that Hiker was restless last night also. She kept getting off the bed, going to the other room and then coming back in about 30 minutes to jump back up on the bed and go to sleep. Got up at 6 am to get ready for our dog walk with Jean. Jean had called me last night around 8:30 to tell me that her computer was acting up again and she wanted me to come by today and look at it again. I have no idea what is wrong with it, but I do notice that she keeps getting “Trojans”. When I scanned it the other day, she had one “Trojan”. She scanned it last night and found five “Trojans”. When I went over there today, I tried to run another scan and the computer kept stopping and freezing up. My brother Keith told me that the “Trojans” are probably coming from websites and I have no idea what kind of websites Jean goes into. We tried to run the scans on it again this morning and it was taking forever to scan so Jean and I left and went shopping for awhile hoping that it would be done when we got back, but it wasn't. I finally told her I was going home and for her to let me know if it ever finished the scan and what the results were. I didn't hear from her so I called her and she said it was still running, so I went back over to her house and did a system restore back to December and redid everything and it seemed to be working much better. She will let me know tomorrow how it's going. Was cloudy here all day today.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Finally A Trace Amount Of Rain

I was falling asleep on the sofa last night around 7:30 pm while watching TV. I don't know why I was so tired. I did finally wake up enough to watch the 200th episode of “Criminal Minds”. Went to bed around 10:15 pm and fell asleep immediately. When Hiker and I got up this morning, it was partly cloudy and about 40°. I went to Stater Brothers and did my grocery shopping. When I went into the store, the sun was shining, but when I came back out about 30 minutes later, it was totally cloudy and dark. Hiker and I were supposed to go over to Placerita Canyon this afternoon to hike with my friend RuthAnne, but it stated to rain a little at my house and I didn't trust the weather enough to attempt going on a hike, so I texted her to tell her we would not be there. OK...so I'm a wimp (LOL). When I first retired, I would walk in pouring down rain and go hiking when it was in the 30s outside. I've either gotten wimpier or smarter...don't know which (LOL). It drizzled a little this morning and then stopped, but then started drizzling again around 1:30 pm. Still won't be enough to help our drought. It would have to rain for a couple of weeks continuously to help. I have been so tired of eating the same old meals all the time here at home. I love pasta but I know that too many carbs are not healthy. I each chicken, fish and lean red meat, but it gets so boring sometimes. My older brother Ron mentioned in an email the other day that he made a tuna casserole for dinner. I remembered my mom used to make that for us when we were little kids because it was cheap and very filling. I had him send me the recipe so I can make it. I have not had it in probably 50 years or so. Think I'll make it next week. Tonight I've decided to have weenies and beans. My mom used to make that for us too.

Hiker checking out the rain drops

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Nice Wednesday

I had thought about starting on shampooing my carpet today, but decided to wait until Saturday morning. I'm hoping it will be a little warmer then and that it will help the carpet dry faster. Hiker is so silly. When we are lying in bed in the morning watching the local news, I will scratch her head of her back and then I stop. She will make a little grunting noise because she wants me to continue doing it. So I scratch her again and then stop on purpose and once again she will grunt. She has found that if she grunts I do it again. This goes on until I get tired of scratching her. After lunch I drove over to Sam's Club. I was almost out of the basics...milk, eggs and orange juice. When I got back home, I took Hiker out for a walk. It was in the low 60s.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Another Day At Group

28° here when Hiker and I got out of bed this morning. I guess we are now starting to get our winter, but I wish we would just get some rain. Went to my support group today. It was strange because lately we have had “standing room only” (about 15 to 20 people) but today only 8 of us showed up. After group 4 of us went over to Red Robin for lunch. Was still “chilly” when I got out of the restaurant and getting a little cloudy. They keep saying we are going to get rain soon, but every time they have said that, we get nothing.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Beautiful Day Here

Right after Hiker and I crawled into bed last night, the power went off. I was watching TV and suddenly everything went dark. Heard a loud noise probably from a transformer blowing somewhere. Hiker started barking. But the power came right back on in about a minute. Had to get up and set clocks and turn computers and printer back on. Had our regular Monday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was cold here this morning...right around 32° when we started out and in the 40s when we were in my back yard with the dogs. The rain we were supposed to get last night never appeared. When I looked outside this morning, there was not a cloud in the sky. Talked with the appointment scheduler for my retinal specialist this morning, so my next two appointments for injections are February 28 and April 18. Have an appointment for my annual checkup with my primary doctor on March 5 so I will have to go to the lab for my blood work in a couple of weeks. I remember when my mom was alive how she went to the doctor all of the time and now I find myself doing that. Guess it's just something that comes with “old age” (LOL). After Y&R and lunch, I put Hiker in the car and we went down to the office to pay my land lease for this month and then we drove over to the Kaiser Pharmacy on the other side of Santa Clarita to pick up my blood pressure meds.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Fixing Jean's Computer

Cold here this morning when Hiker and I got up. It was 30° on my patio. I put the sheets into the washing machine and then Hiker and I went to get the lottery tickets. My eye is still a little sore. Only notice it if I move my eye too fast. Not much improvement in my vision, but I really cannot expect anything from just the first injection. I'm sure the medication they inject takes awhile to work. That's why they have you do four injections. Jean was having trouble with her computer. She said her email wasn't working and her computer was slow and kept freezing up, etc. I spent most of the day there running scans on her computer. Found out she had a “Trojan” so I deleted that, also cleaned up her registry and disk, plus ran her Windows updates and defragged. Now her email is working fine and the computer is faster. I was there from 10 am to 2 pm. It is getting very cloudy here and the wind is kicking up. They say it is going to rain tonight. Hope it does more than drizzle.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Beautiful Day Here

Well yesterday was interesting. My appointment was a 2 pm but I didn't actually get my injection until around 4 pm. There must have been about 20 other people getting injections that day. I went in and out of the office about 2 or 3 times. First for the nurse to do her thing (checking my vision, dilating my eye and putting the numbing gel in). Then back to the lobby to wait. Next back in to talk with the doctor and have him look into my eye. Then back to the lobby to wait. Then finally back in to have them put more numbing gel and antibiotics into my eye and then the injection. Didn't really hurt, per say, but it was uncomfortable. Not really looking forward to having it done 3 more times. There was a really nice man sitting next to me in the lobby who had almost gone totally blind due to Type 2 Diabetes who had eye surgery and injections that helped him to get his sight back. He knew that this was the first injection for me so he told me how it was done and kept telling me not to worry that it was not as bad as I was thinking. He did help calm me down quite a bit. After I was finally finished, it was almost 4:30 and we had to go over to the Kaiser pharmacy to get some lubricant drops for my eye. Traffic was terrible coming home and we didn't get home until about 5:15 pm. Hiker sure was glad to see me. This morning when we got out of bed, my eye was a little sore, however I did seem to notice that even though my vision in that eye is still distorted, it didn't seem as “cloudy” as it was before. While doing a load of laundry this morning, I went online and ordered my blood pressure medications and also made an appointment in March for my annual checkup with my primary doctor. Hiker and I went on a walk this afternoon. Did just over 2 miles. Very nice weather outside, but they say cloudy and drizzle tomorrow. We will see.