Product Alert!

DO NOT buy any of those "Pocket Hoses" that you see advertised on the "As Seen On TV" commercials. I bought 2 of them 3 or 4 months ago and I have tossed both of them in the trash as of this morning. The one in my backyard started leaking from where the hose and the coupler that screws onto the faucet meet. I thought it was the washer, but appears the hose was tearing away from the coupler. It finally broke apart. The one in my front yard was really strange. The "skin" on the hose, that they claim is made from the same material as fire hoses split open. It the caused a blockage somehow around the rest of the hose and the cheap inner tubing started blowing up like a water balloon. I turned from watering my plants on the front porch and saw this huge hose and at first it scared me because I thought it was a snake. (LOL)

Anyway, even though they "claim" they are guaranteed for life, there are several terms (in small print). You must have the original receipt for the hoses. I only kept my receipts for a couple of months and then tossed them. Also they want to take the hoses back to their manufacturer and have them run through tests to determine that I didn't run them across any sharp rocks or other objects before they would refund any money. I had a guy at Target tell me that his broke 2 weeks after he bought it. He returned it and the company refused to refund his money saying that it appeared he had some how "cut" the hose.

So stay clear of those hoses. They are a scam!

Another Hot Summer Sunday

We had planned on maybe going for a hike this morning but when we got up at 7:30 am, it was already getting warm. I had promised Hiker that we would take her for a ride in the car, so we drove up to Vasquez Rocks and walked around for a few minutes. It was already 90° there so we didn't stay long. Keith and I went over to Wal-Mart where I purchased a portable vacuum to use in my new car. I didn't realize that the black seats would show every little thread, etc. We also went over to GameStop and picked up a few Wii games. They had used ones at buy two get one free. I've decided not to go to my support group on Tuesday even though Keith didn't get to stay as long as he was going to originally. I had already made plans with Jean to go to the Tuesday Antique Swap Meet at Saugus Speedway, so I'm not going to cancel that plan. So just a heads up to the ladies in group, I won't be there this Tuesday.

Spending The Day With My Brother

Hiker and I got up and took a nice walk this morning and then I came home and did a load of laundry while waiting for Keith to arrive. Hiker was so excited when he got here. I knew that he would be arriving around 10:30 am so I told her to watch out the front window for him which she did. When she saw him pull into the drive way, she started "screaming" and ran to the front door to meet him. She was yapping and jumping up and down. He finally had to get down on the floor and play with her to get her to settle down. She loves him so much. Keith and I went over to Round Table Pizza for lunch and then headed out to do a few errands. Came back home to be with Hiker and we played some Wii games for awhile. Now we are trying to figure out where to go to get some dinner.

Another Week Come & Gone

Did our usual Friday dog walk and play date with Jean and her dogs then Jean wanted me to come to her house because she needed to groom her dog Sassy and Sassy squirms a lot when she is on the grooming table. Jean wanted me there to hold Sassy while Jean groomed. After lunch, took Hiker with me up to PetSmart. She loves going there because she knows they have cookies behind the counter. I needed to buy some flea & tick preventatives for her. I found some all natural ones that do not use pesticides, just natural plant oils. When we first walked into the store, Hiker went right over to the check out person and sat down to ask for a cookie and she got one, then when we were checking out, she went behind the counter and sad down to ask for another one. At least she sits like a good girl to get one. Got up to 100° here today. Watched the latest episode of “Under The Dome” on Amazon Prime. That's the only way I can watch it since I still don't get CBS on Time Warner.

Flea & Tick Medications

When I first got my dog Hiker, I took her out hiking and she got about 5 or 6 ticks. We had gone hiking in a canyon that had a lot of tall grass along the trail and I'm sure that is where she got the ticks.

I decided to start putting a monthly flea & tick medication on her. I first bought Hartz because it was inexpensive, but I was told by many friends not to use it because it had a bad reputation, so I decided to spend the money and buy Frontline Plus because I had heard that it was vet recommended and I had friends who used it on their dogs.

Then I saw Vetguard Plus at Sam's Club and it appeared to be a generic of Frontline Plus and it cost a lot less, so I decided to start using it on Hiker.

The first time I put it on her in June, I noticed that she was acting strange. She didn't want me to bother her and she seemed lethargic, but I didn't connect her actions with the Vetguard Plus.My brother had been visiting us and he had just left to go home. Hiker loves him so much that I thought she was just having separation anxiety for him.

The next time I put it on her in July, I noticed that she seemed to be breathing hard and once again she acting lethargic, and still I did not associate her actions with the flea & tick medication.

Today I put another dose on her as it had been a month since the last dosage. Once again, I noticed her acting strange. This time she started pacing. She circled the sofa for hours and then would lay down for a few minutes and soon get back up and pace some more. Again she acted like she didn't want me to bother her and she once again started acting lethargic.

I decided to go online and research these products and once I did, I tossed the last 2 tubes I of flea & tick medication that I had and I put Hiker in the shower and washed off the stuff I put on her today.

In my research, I found that all flea & tick medications are nothing but pesticides. The main ingredient in them is Permethrin. They claim that this ingredient is safe for dogs as long as you follow the instructions on how to use it but I disagree.

The most common side effect of Permethrin is redness, itching, rash or loss of hair, but it also has other side effects which include vomiting, drooling, diarrhea, increased excitability, lack of coordination, change in body temperature, seizures, tremors and lethargy.

I noticed the "excitability" in Hiker when she was pacing all over the house and the lethargy once she settled down some.

It is up to my friends who have dogs as to whether or not they want to use these kinds of products, but I just wanted to let you know the experience I had with my Hiker Girl.

Another Lazy Day

Not only did I fall asleep yesterday afternoon while sitting on the sofa, I dozed off last night while watching a movie on Amazon Prime. Went to bed at 9:30 pm and fell asleep immediately which is nice since a few weeks ago I was lying wide awake at 2 am. Got up around 7:15 am and took Hiker for a 2 mile walk. I love the mornings we've been having. They feel so much like fall, but then by around 9 am, it is already getting very hot. At noon today, it was already 95° here. After the walk and breakfast, I headed over to the bank, then up to Costco. Don't know what was with Hiker today. She was “pacing”. I've never seen her do that before. She just kept walking a circle around the sofa. I was wondering if she knew Keith was supposed to come today and since he has not shown up, she is pacing. I watched a very strange movie on Amazon Prime called “The Cabin In the Woods” and when I say strange I really mean freaky strange.

Sleep Afternoon

Had a slight headache when I went to bed last night and I woke up with it again this morning. Hiker and I did a 2 mile morning walk and then I made some breakfast. After I ate, the headache was almost gone. I went up to Wal-Mart and then over to Sam's Club. On the way home, I got a call from Keith. He was supposed to come tomorrow (Thursday) and stay with me and Hiker for about 5 days but he got an email from his old workplace this morning asking him to do 3 weeks of contractual work for them. He has been out of work for 2 years now, so he needs the money. They also told him that they have put in a request to hire him back full time but don't know if the corporation will accept the request. Will just have to wait and see. He was really excited. So now he will come out on Saturday morning and visit until late Sunday afternoon. I told him that if he didn't come at all, Hiker would really be disappointed because I've already told her that he was going to come. We got back up into the low 100's here in SoCal today. The hot weather made me fall asleep on the sofa this afternoon.

Pleasant Day

Went to my support group today. We didn't have too many people in this session. A lot of them are off visiting family for the summer. We were all very happy to see that the new woman was wearing long pants today, but now we are all wishing she would wear a bra. Oh well. We went to lunch at Cathy's Deli and as always, had a good time. On my way home, I was driving down Soledad Canyon Road towards my house and I saw a sheriff on a motorcycle coming up really fast in the lane next to me with his lights and siren on. After him came two more black and white cars and then another 8 or so black and white cars, plus 3 or 4 unmarked cars. All of them had lights and sirens going and all passed me like I was standing still. Had no idea what was going on, so when I got home, I checked out our local radio station's Facebook Page and they were going to assist the Parole Department in finding an “at large parolee”. They gave his description, but it did not mention why they were looking for him. They had a command post set up at the Albertson’s parking lot at Soledad Canyon and Sierra Highway.

A New Week

Went on our every Monday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. She is boarding 2 dogs again so we had a total of 6 dogs on our walk and play date. Our mornings are so nice. Like I mentioned, they are almost “fall like” which I love, but it has gotten warmer today than it has been. We were in the mid to high 80's, but today it is in the low 90's. After we came home and Hiker and I had breakfast, I did some house cleaning because Keith will be coming for a visit starting this Thursday so I wanted to get it done before he gets here. I decided to sign up for Amazon Prime today. I have been using Netflix for my streaming movies but with Amazon Prime I also get free 2-day shipping on items that I order on Amazon. I can also watch “Under The Dome” for free on the Amazon Prime since I cannot see it on CBS. The newest episode comes out the Friday after it airs on the Monday before. Didn't do much else today.

Sunday

Didn't eat breakfast this morning. Had to get some errands done. Took Hiker with me. I went to Home Depot to get a part for my automatic sprinklers. Last evening when they came on, I noticed one of them as leaking which was causing the others to have less water pressure. I think the gardener ran over the part with the mower and cracked it. That happens now and then. Luckily I had a spare of the part I needed and fixed it but then I had to go to Home Depot and get another spare for the next time it happens. I have Toro sprinklers and I've noticed that Home Depot does not carry many Toro parts anymore. They carry mostly Rain Bird but most of the people in my community have Toro sprinklers and sometimes it's hard to find parts. After we left Home Depot, we headed over to Central Park in Saugus to take a morning walk. There were a lot of people in the park. All of the baseball diamonds were being used and the big soccer field too. I let Hiker guide me so we meandered all over the place. When we got near the dog park, she went way around it. She remembers the time I took her into the fenced area and about 5 dogs came running at her to play but she thought they were attacking her and she hid behind me. I don't take her into the fenced area anymore and as we were passing about 5 dogs were running at another dog and there was all this growling and snarling, so I guess it's a good thing I don't. While we were walking around, we kept hearing what sounded like fireworks being shot off, like bottle rockets. I saw where it was coming from and I noticed that there was a small fire truck at the other end of the park. Since the hills around Central Park are very dry, I went over to the fire truck to talk to the firemen about the “rockets”. They told me that they were not fireworks, but model rockets and that they were legal because they don't actually spark or burn. They told me that kids build them for science class at school and come to the park to shoot them off. But they thanked me for being a concerned citizen.

Pleasant Saturday

Since I woke up around 3 am on Friday morning and was not able to go back to sleep, I feel asleep Friday night on the sofa around 9 pm. Woke up about 9:45 and went to bed and fell right back to sleep. Hiker and I got up around 7:15 am and went for a nice long morning walk. We hadn't really had a good walk since last weekend. Even though we did two dog walks with Jean and her dogs, I don't count those as walk because we do more stopping than walking. Jean's dogs love to stop and sniff everything, whereas when just Hiker and I walk, we don't stop much. It was really nice outside. Our mornings are already starting to feel a little like fall which I love. After lunch Hiker and I took a ride in the new car. I want to get her to understand that this is now our car and she doesn't need to be afraid to be in it. We went “crusin'”. It was about 80° outside, so I opened up the windows and sun/moon roof in the car and turned on my 50s XM Satellite radio and I felt like I was a kid again (LOL). I finally figured out why my Internet was not working on my car media screen. I thought because it was “bluetooth” that I didn't have to plug my phone in to use the Internet. Well the bluetooth is ONLY for making and receiving phone calls. Once I plugged the phone in, I was able to use the Internet. Might come in handy on trips if I needed to search for motels, gas stations, restaurants, etc. I guess I was thinking of “bluetooth” like “wireless Internet”...DUH!

Casual Friday

Something woke me up a little after 3 am and I was not able to go back to sleep. Finally got up a 6 am and met up with Jean and her dogs at 7 am for a walk. She said that just after 3 am, she had gotten up to go to the bathroom and she heard either a gunshot or a firecracker. I'm thinking that is what woke me up, even though I don't remember hearing it. After the dog play date, had some breakfast and then I went grocery shopping. Found out that Hiker is “afraid” of the new car. I took her for a short ride in it yesterday and as I mentioned, she acted like I had put her in someone else's car and that I was going to leave her. I guess because the new car does not smell like me or her, she thinks it's not ours. I tried to get her to go into the garage with me this morning and she hid in the house. That's how I figured out she was afraid of it. She will eventually get used to it. After lunch I went over to Big Lots to buy a twin fitted sheet to put on my passenger seat when Hiker goes with me in the car. I had put a towel on the seat yesterday and even with the towel, there were a few of her hairs on the seat when she got out. The interior is black so it really shows the hair a lot. Was really a nice day here today...low to mid 80's which is great for SoCal in August.

Checking Out All Of The Bells And Whistles

Spent most of today sitting inside my new car going through the owner's manual to more understand all of the controls. Jesse (the salesman) took 30 minutes yesterday to go over them with me and he connect my Bluetooth for my iPhone, but I still needed to sit out there in the garage and learn “hands-on”. I think I have most of them figured out now except for the “Internet”, which I probably really would not use much anyway. It told me that I had to go on my computer and set up an account with their Toyota Entune, then download the Entune App on my phone, which I did. Then it told me to sync my phone with the car again, which I did, but when I try to use the Internet (Bing) it tells me “Connection has failed. Please ensure that Entune APP is running on your device”. I had it “running on my device” so I don't know why it won't work. I sent them an email to see if they can tell me. At least the GPS works. I also have Satellite Radio free for 3 months, but I don't listen to the radio that much when I'm driving unless I'm taking a long trip. So regular radio will be just fine when the 3 months run out. First thing I did this morning was go down to our community office and get my windshield sticker for entering the community, then I put Hiker in the car and we went to get my Lotto Tickets. She looked a little scared when I first put her in the car and then shut the door and walked around to the driver's side. I think she thought she was in a stranger's car and that I was going to leave her there. I also called my Mercury Insurance Agent and took care of my insurance. So all of that stuff is out of the way now. Maybe I'll get back to my normal “routine” tomorrow (LOL).

I Got Such A Great Deal

What a long day! I got up at 6 am because Jean and I were going to try to get over to the Toyota dealer before the sales people arrived, but it didn't work out that way. We were so glad it didn't. I got the nicest sales person at Frontier Toyota in Santa Clarita. His name was Jesse Livitski. He was so honest. The first thing he asked is what I was looking for and when I told him he asked if I wanted a moon/sun roof and navigation system. He told me right away that the difference between having these items and not having them was about $2500. I told him I wasn't really interested in them, so we started going around the lot looking at the cars. I told him exactly what I wanted, but he didn't have it in the color I wanted. He had me drive one anyway and told me that if I liked it, he would get me the color I wanted from another dealer. We went inside to start negotiations when the owner of Frontier Toyota walked by and Jesse asked him to stop and meet me. We spoke about the dealership and I told him how many years I've done business there and after he left, the owner went over to the finance guys and told them to “take good care of me”. Well the did! The found the color I wanted at the Northridge dealership and told them to bring it up. In the meantime we did a little more negotiating with the finance guy and we stuck a deal. When the car from Northridge arrived it had some “extras” on it that were not on the one they had priced for me, but that didn't matter, I got all those extras for the same price they had quoted me. I saved over $2500 on the car so I am really happy. Jesse also gave me (and Jean) free key chains that the sell in their gift shop that had dogs on them after he found out we loved dogs. He also to me that when I'm almost out of the tank of gas they gave me (which was full) to come by the dealership and he will give me another free tank of gas. He was really a fun guy, and he was actually very cute. He sat and talked with us for hours while we were waiting for the car to be delivered and washed and gassed up. He brought us soft drinks and another employee brought us candy bars. If you live in Santa Clarita and are thinking about buying a Toyota, definitely go to Frontier and ask for Jesse and tell him I sent you. Hiker was so excited to see me when I came home, but Jean and I decided to go over to Backwoods Inn for an early dinner and we didn't get back again until about 4:30 pm.

Me and Jesse, my sales person

A Day At The Fair

Didn't sleep well last night. I was thinking about going to the car dealer tomorrow. I'm excited about car shopping but not about the long negotiations. Jean and I went to the Ventura County Fair today. It was Seniors Day. It was really crowded. I think there were more people there than there was last year. As soon as we entered the fair, we ran into our neighbor Charlene. We accused her of being the official greeter (LOL). I only took 2 photos at the fair. It was so crowded that if I stopped to take a picture of anything, I just about got knocked down. We checked out all of the exhibit buildings and checked out the livestock. Also there was a Toyota display there and they had a Rav4 on display so I checked it out. Really like it a lot. The young man who was showing them was very nice and gave us all kinds of information about the car. He told us that the Rav4 is on a Camry chassis, so it is much bigger now. My friend Jane from Grief Group had told me to have some cotton candy while at the fair. Well Jean and I looked everywhere and never did see any for sale. In one of the commercial buildings we found a booth that sold dog stuff, so we both bought some magnets for our vehicles. They overcharge for food at the fair, so we went up to Main Street Ventura and had lunch at the Busy Bee Cafe. I had a patty melt and Jean got the cold meatloaf sandwich. We both had diet cherry Cokes and they were really good. They make them just like the old days with real cherry juice. After we left Ventura, we headed down to Camarillo to stop by the home of some people who used to be our neighbors in Canyon View Estates. They are leaving on vacation so Jean is going to board their little dog Jonah, so we picked him up to bring him to Jean's house. Hiker was so excited when I got home. At the fair we had visited a booth for dog rescue and if you gave them a small donation, they gave you a gift. I got a squeaky pig toy for Hiker and I gave it to her when I came in the door. She loves it! She has been running all over the house with it. So tomorrow morning, Jean and I will be heading over to the Toyota dealer around 8:30 am so wish me luck.

This sow had 12 piglets that were born on July 19

Average Day

Today was Hiker's first dog walk with her three buddies (Jean's dogs) in over a week. She was so excited this morning. She was lying on my bed while I was getting dressed and I asked her if she was excited about seeing Sassy, Charlie and Timmy. As you know, Hiker does not have a tail, but she still has that muscle at her butt that wiggles when she's happy and when I mentioned the other dogs names, that muscle was wiggling like crazy. She had so much fun running around the back yard with them when we got back to my house and let them have their play date. Jean and I planned our strategy for car shopping on Wednesday, figuring how much money I want for my trade ins (I have their Blue Book value) and to figure how much I wanted to offer on the car during negotiations. Tomorrow Jean and I are going to the Ventura County Fair, so I won't be online until tomorrow evening. I didn't know what to do with myself during lunch today. I usually watch Y&R while I'm eating lunch, but since Time Warner dropped CBS, I'll have to watch Y&R tonight at 7 pm on TVGN. What really makes me mad is that I'll miss “Under The Dome” tonight and tonight is when they find a smaller dome in the woods with an “egg” inside of it. After lunch, I put Hiker in the Corolla for another ride to use up some gasoline. I drove the outer perimeter of the Santa Clarita Valley and the gauge shows I'm down between ¾ of a tank and ½ of a tank, so there is probably still about 8 gallons of gas in the tank. Got up to about 95° here today which is about 5° warmer than it has been.

Peaceful Sunday

Woke up from a strange dream this morning. It seems I was visiting a woman I used to work with at Lockheed. Keith was with me. The woman was showing us around the mobile home she lived in, but then I was alone on a mountain trail taking pictures with my cell phone. I went back to the mobile home to find Keith and found him standing on a lake beach taking photos of the lake. The beach was crowded with people and I remember I saw a group of boys dressed in Civil War costumes which I thought was strange. I held my cell phone up to take their photo with the lake in the background, but instead of them being on my screen, I saw Ben standing there smiling and posing for the photo. I quickly snapped the picture hoping Ben would be in it, but when I looked at the photo all I saw was the lake. No Ben and no boys in costume, and I woke up. Got up and took Hiker for a walk around our gated community, then we went by the liquor store to get my lottery tickets and then we headed west, up Highway 126 into Ventura County. I needed to burn more gasoline in the Corolla, so we drove up to Piru, CA and walked around their town park and then farther west to Fillmore, CA to the railroad park and walked around some there. I was able to use of ¼ gallons of gas so far. Now I need to also burn some gas in the 4Runner. I will do that when Jean and I go up to the Ventura County Fair on Tuesday. When Hiker and I returned home, I had some lunch, did a load of laundry and vacuumed the carpet.

Nice Afternoon For A Ride In The Country

Finally got a pretty good sleep last night. Went to bed around 9:30 pm and actually fell asleep before 10:30 pm. Hiker and I got up and went for a morning walk. It was very nice outside and there were a lot of people walking their dogs. Came home and had some breakfast and then I decided I'd take anything out of my vehicles that I really didn't need in them right now. Jean called me yesterday and asked me when I wanted to start car shopping. We decided on Wednesday. She is still boarding the extra dogs this weekend and Monday after our dog walk, she goes to the Senior Center to play cards. Tuesday, I normally go to my Grief Support Group at the Senior Center, but this Tuesday, Jean and I are going up to the Ventura County Fair. Tuesday is “Seniors Day” and we get in free. After lunch I remembered that I had just filled both of my vehicles with gasoline last week and that they are both completely full. Last week I had no idea that I would be shopping for a new car next week. I don't go through gasoline very fast, but I hate the thought of “giving” a car dealer a full tank of gas if I give them my cars for trade-ins. I thought maybe Hiker and I should get out for some car rides (which as you know Hiker loves). We headed up through Soledad Canyon north towards Acton, CA. Took back roads all the way so I could snap some photos. Went all the way up to the Palmdale Grade and then headed back towards home. We stopped off at Vasquez Rocks because there was a t-shirt in their gift shop I've been wanting to buy but every time I went there, the gift shop was closed. I found out last time I was up there that the gift shop was only open on weekends, so that's why we stopped there. I finally got the t-shirt I wanted. We headed back home. Problem is, my Corolla gets such good gas mileage, even after about a 50 to 60 mile round trip drive, I don't think the gas needle even moved. I'll just have to take Hiker for another drive tomorrow and I guess I'll drive the 4Runner up to Ventura when Jean and I go to the fair on Tuesday. That's about a 50 to 60 mile drive one way, so hopefully that will use up some of the gasoline. If I knew how to siphon it out, I would (LOL).

 

Maybe I'll Get Some Sleep Tonight

Tossed and turned all night trying to make a decision of what to do about my vehicles. Do I sell one, do I keep both or do I sell both and buy a new vehicle? I think I have finally come to a decision and I think I have a plan and that is to buy a new one, but I will have to see if the dealership will agree with my terms. I want to wait until my brother Keith comes up for his next visit so he can go over to the dealership with me. This is the first major (and pricey) decision that I have made by myself since Ben passed away. I am pretty confident that I will be able to buy a new vehicle and I can do it without having to make any monthly payments. So I hope my plan works. I only got about 4 hours of sleep last night. Hiker got me up at 6 am to let her go outside and I tried to go back to sleep when she came back in, but I was too excited about my plan, so we got up and had breakfast. After breakfast I mopped my kitchen floor and since I had decided to try to change the lock on my patio door by myself, I started to work on that. It turns out I didn't have to get a new lock because once I got the old one off and cleaned it up a little and put it back in the door, it seemed to work much better. Didn't feel loose like it did before. Went up to Sam's Club and did some shopping. It was a beautiful morning here. I spoke with Jean today. We have not been dog walking because she is boarding 2 large dogs and Hiker is afraid of them. Anyway, she told me that if I don't want to wait until Keith comes up that she would go with me to the Toyota dealer if I want to buy a car. She went by herself to buy her Rav4 a few years ago and worked out a deal with them. Well Time Warner dropped CBS2 and KCAL9 here in the greater Los Angeles area about 2 hours ago. I hope they come to an agreement soon.

Cannot Believe It's August

Well I took my 4Runner in for “routine” service this morning and naturally, they found two major problems and two minor problems with it. Seems like every time I take either car in for service, they always find something else. I told them to go ahead a fix everything while they have it there and I took the customer shuttle home until they call me later to come pick the 4Runner up. Thank goodness I get the 10% senior discount, but it still costs a pretty penny to maintain an older vehicle. The 4Runner is 11 years old and the Corolla is 10 years old. After Ben died, I considered selling of the vehicles but I remember Ben telling me that we should always keep two vehicles because you need a spare car like you need a spare tire, but now I'm beginning to wonder. I think I'd lean more toward keeping the 4Runner and selling the Corolla. The 4Runner has about 50,000 more miles on it than the Corolla does and I know it does not get the good gasoline mileage that the Corolla does, but I feel that the 4Runner is built better, is sturdier and I have room to carry things in it that I can't in the Corolla. It's getting costly for maintaining two vehicles...insurance, registrations, tires, shocks, etc. My land lease is going up in October also, so that is making me really think. I really don't know what to do. Called Julie (my service tech) around 1:30 pm to see how my 4Runner was doing and she said it probably won't be ready until around 4 pm so I took Hiker out on a short walk down to Discovery Park. Had gotten a little warmer, but it was nice when we were in the shade. Will have to decide what to have for dinner since once the customer shuttle picks me up and takes me over to the dealer and I pay for the work and get my car back and drive home, it will be too late to cook anything.

Sleepy Day

Last night when I went to bed, I was feeling the beginnings of a headache. I think it has a lot to do with my vision since some days my right eye bothers me more than other days. I didn't fall asleep until about 11:30 pm. Hiker woke me up a few minutes before 6 am and I did have a headache and felt light headed, kind of like I was “hung over”. Took a motion sickness pill because they usually help me when I have light headedness, and I went back to bed. Hiker woke me up again at 8 am. Still didn't fell that well, but got up and made some breakfast. I thought maybe eating would help my head. It did help a little, but I canceled the plans I had of going over to Sam's Club because I did not trust myself driving. After lunch, I started feeling somewhat better but I felt very tired. Fell asleep a couple of times on the sofa. My cell phone ringing woke me up. It was the Toyota dealer reminding me of my service appointment tomorrow morning at 8 am. Hiker would come up on the sofa with me every now and then and lay down beside me and lick my hand. She and I walked up to the mail box together in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day outside and I was sorry that I didn't feel up to par because it would have been a great afternoon to be outside. I really do think the lightheadedness is caused by the problem with my eye, plus I have not been able to fall asleep before midnight the past few weeks.

Home From The Senior Center

Went to my support group at the senior center today. The overweight woman was there and once again she was showing the world her underwear. She just cannot keep her legs together for some reason. She should wear long pants instead of the baggy dresses she wears, but I'm sure she wears the dresses to be more comfortable because of her weight. At lunch we were all saying how her voice is like fingernails on a chalk board and she is still trying to tell people what they should or should not do and that is a NO NO. Went to Red Robin with the ladies from group and when I got home, Hiker was excited to see me as usual. Got a call from my brother Keith. Good news....he had a doctor's appointment this morning and they said his pneumonia is completely gone. Now he is hoping to plan a visit with me and Hiker soon. I need to call a locksmith tomorrow and see if I can get someone to come and put a new lock on my sliding glass door that goes from the living room out to the patio. I saw a DYI video on YouTube, but I think I'd rather pay someone to fix it because it would probably take me hours to do and they can do it in a few minutes, and they would do it correctly. It was about 85° here today. Actually we are having a pretty comfortable compared to the one we had last year. We've had a few days of over 100° but have mostly been in the high 80s to low 90s.

Took this photo of Hiker last night while we were playing

Nice Day For A Hike

Since Jean is not doing our dog walks this week due to the fact that she is boarding 3 dogs for vacationing friends, my original plan for this morning was to get up around 6:30 to 7:00 am and take Hiker for a hike over in Placerita Canyon. When we woke up at 6 am, it was foggy outside. I didn't really want to hike in the fog so I went back to sleep and didn't get up until 8 am. Made some breakfast and since it was still only about 70° outside, I put Hiker in the car and we drove over to Placerita Canyon. We did a 3.3 mile hike up the Canyon Trail. Was not really hot, but it was humid. It was nice to be out getting some exercise and vitamin D. There were several other hikers out this morning. It always surprises me how many people hike on week days. Some are them are old enough to be retired, but others are not. We got home just in time for me to watch “The Young And The Restless” and Hiker plopped down on the floor and took a nap. It is now almost 3:30 pm here and I still have not turned my A/C on today. That's a good thing!

Stay Inside Sunday

Slept in some again today. That's getting to be a habit. I remember I was dreaming that I had Hiker outside on her lease and somehow she got loose, which would be hard to do. Anyway, she ran off ahead of me and I was yelling at her to come back. I don't know if I yelled her name in my sleep but I suddenly hear her bark and it woke me up. Got dressed and went outside and used my weed whacker on the grass that grows on the slope on the north side of my house. Sometimes I ask the gardener to do it for me, but I didn't get out to ask him yesterday, so I did it myself this morning. Now my arms are tired and sore. After I finished that, took Hiker with me to buy my Lottery tickets then came home and had some pancakes for breakfast. Washed my sheets and towels and vacuumed the carpet. Glad I got it all done in the morning. Put together a meatloaf and put it in my crock pot. This is the first time I've tried one in the crock pot, so I'll see how it turns out. It sure smells good.

Warm Saturday

Stayed in bed until 8 am this morning. Had the TV on so I wasn't really sleeping in. The bed just felt so good, I could not make myself get out of it (LOL). After we got up, Hiker and I went for a nice walk. Was in the 90's here again today. We spent most of our day inside the house where it was cool. I did go outside in the late afternoon and cut back a rose bush that was getting unruly. It was hanging out into the street and might snag someone walking by. Made some sun tea. That's one good thing about hot weather.

Relaxing Day

Thunder off in the distance woke me up at 3:30 am. Hiker was barking at it. She barks as long as it is far away but if it gets right over head, she hides. We did our walk with Jean and her dogs this morning. She is boarding a chocolate lab for a week and we took Hiker by Jean's house to meet the dog but Hiker was scared to death of it. The lab was overly friendly and came running at Hiker. Hiker hid behind me and shivered. I want her to get used to being around other dogs but this one was just to “aggressive” for her. After Jean went home, I went over to Sam's Club. It was still very cloudy and I had some big rain drops on my way home. Didn't do much the rest of the afternoon. It was hot and humid outside, so we stayed inside with the A/C.

Felt A Little Ill Today

Don't know what I ate yesterday that gave me a stomach ache last night, but it kept me awake until after midnight. I still didn't feel so great when I got up this morning. Didn't go for a walk because I didn't want to be too far from my toilet (LOL). By lunch time, my stomach didn't feel much better. I did have some lunch, but felt yucky after I ate. Just sat on the sofa all day and watched TV. Even took a short afternoon nap which is very rare for me. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Pretty Nice Day

Hiker was so funny last night. A fly had gotten into the house and she was chasing it all over the place. She would run from room to room jumping into the air trying to catch it. She'd settle down for a bit and then she'd see the fly again and I hear her galloping through the house once again. She finally cornered it in the bathroom and I was able to kill it with the fly swatter. After that, Hiker pranced around and “smiled” like she knew she had helped hunt it down. Got up around 7 am and went for a walk around our neighborhood. It was beautiful outside at that time of the morning. Came back home and had breakfast and then did a little housework. I needed to wash my Corolla since it sits in the driveway and it had gotten filthy from the last small rain. It was too hot and I was too lazy to do it myself, so after lunch I took Hiker with me down to the drive-thru car wash and got it done. I had taken her there with me before when I had the 4Runner washed and she was fine, but this time, it scared her some. Before they send you through the car wash a guy hand washes it some and then sprays it with a power washer. The power washer spraying the car is what scared her. She was jumping all over the place trying to hide from it. She was OK once we got into the car wash itself. She just sat and watched everything.

I'm Stuffed

Went to my grief support group today at the Senior Center. Had a small crowd as several of our members are on vacation. There was a new woman there that I had never seen before. She was extremely overweight and sat across from me with her legs apart. I have nothing against overweight people because I know how hard it can be to lose weight, but I kept wishing she would sit up because there were a couple of men sitting across from her too, plus I don't think any of us wanted to see her underwear. At least she had some on (LOL). I thought she was very rude. She seemed to think that our session was a “library” as she did nothing but sit there through the entire 2 hours reading a book. Every now and then she would “come to life” and speak in a very overbearing voice, giving people advise on family matters that she knew nothing about. She was telling my friend Jane how to handle her son without knowing the entire story of his problems. After group, a few of us went over to Backwoods Inn for lunch. It was pretty busy today and so it took a long time for the waitress to get to us and take our orders then it took a long time for her to get our checks to us so we could leave. I got home about 45 minutes later than I usually do and Hiker was at the door ready to greet me with kisses. I ate too much so probably won't have dinner tonight.

Normal Monday

Went to bed around 9:30 pm and actually got some sleep last night. I think a lot of the problem is because it's warm at night so I can't stay asleep. I don't run my A/C at night because it clogs my sinuses. I have my fan on and I open my sliding door a little, so that helps some. Got up at 6 am to go for our dog walk with Jean. Had breakfast after she headed home and then I went and did my grocery shopping at Stater Brothers. I knew the nice cool weather yesterday wouldn't last. We had rain last night. Not a lot but enough to make it extremely humid this morning. It was 90% humidity at 7 am when we started our walk. It was getting sunny and hot by 10 am. Had to turn my A/C on. Didn't do much the rest of the day. I'll be glad when summer is over so Hiker and I can get out in the afternoons more.

Cooler Weather

My plan for this morning was to take Hiker up to Vasquez Rocks for a morning hike and photograph the sun coming up, but when we got up, it was all cloudy outside. I had a restless night again so was having trouble keeping my eyes open at 6 am when Hiker woke me up to let her outside. Decided to go back to bed for a little while. Slept for about 2 more hours. When we got up again, it was still cloudy so I had to make a decision of where we would go for a morning hike. Thought about Towsley Canyon, but then thought if the sun did come out, there is not much shade on that trail so we went over to Whitney Canyon because there is quite a bit of shade there. I was lucky to find a parking place since they lot is usually full on weekends. There was a fallen tree across the trail about a mile up the trail. It was completely blocking the path. I didn't go into the weeds to go around the tree because there could be snakes or ticks in the weeds, so Hiker and I headed back to the car. It was very humid while we were hiking and the deer flies were eating me alive. The sun peeked out for a little while, but stayed mostly cloudy all day. Did a load of laundry and vacuumed the house when we got home. Hiker stretched out and took a nap. In the afternoon, we went out and sat on the patio. It was about 79° and a nice breeze was blowing. It was still very cloudy. We finally came in because the flies were attacking us.

Sofa Saturday

I let Hiker outside a little before 6 am this morning so she could go potty. After she came back in, we went back to bed and I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 8:15 am. We got up and went for a walk. The weather was cloudy this morning and actually looked like it might rain, but then the sun came out and the clouds burned off. I heard that there were some big thunderstorms and downpours in Las Vegas last night. That's where Ben's sister and her family live. When we got back from our walk, I made Hiker a poached egg and I made myself some fried eggs and toast. Looked at the calendar and noticed that today was the day my mom passed away 15 years ago. Where does the time go? The clouds starting coming back a little after 2 pm and the wind started whipping up some. Didn't do much today.

Busy Day

Got up at 6 am to get myself ready to go over to Kaiser for my appointment with my retinal specialist. Jean picked me up at 7:30 am expecting more rush hour traffic, but there was not much traffic at all so we got to Kaiser around 8:10 am. I checked in at 8:30 and they called me in right away. They gave me a quick eye test and checked my eye pressure and then dilated my eyes and took photos of the inside of my eyes. Waited about 10 more minutes before the doctor came in. He said that my right eye (the one with the problem) had improved some but he could still see a little swelling in the eye. He said it had improved about 45% from the last time I was there. He said that it had not gotten any worse and he doesn't think it will. He gave me two choices. The first one was to give me steroid injections in the eye which has the risk of causing cataracts and also the risk of retinal detachment, or....wait another 4 months and see if it improves on its own, which he says is possible. I chose to wait 4 months to which he said that would be his recommendation but he said he had to give me both choices and let me decide. So I'll go see him in 4 months and if there is no improvement, we will start the injections. After my appointment, Jean and I headed back over to Santa Clarita and we did a little shopping. We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and then Kohl's and then Target. I bought a couple of t-shirts at Target. Also got some dog cookies for Hiker and I bought one of those As-Seen-On-TV Olde Brooklyn LED Lanterns so if the power ever goes out. After shopping we went over to Chili's for lunch. Jean had never ate at Chili's and she really liked it. When I got home, Hiker was so excited to see me. She was jumping all over me and kissing me.

Couch Potato Day

Once again I had to take a sleeping pill to get to sleep last night. I had been sleeping so well for the longest time and just in the past 2 or 3 nights, I have not been able to fall asleep until well into the early morning. Don't have any idea what the problem is. Hiker and I have been out walking in the afternoons. I would think that just that alone would help me to sleep. It sure helps Hiker sleep (LOL). I went back to bed at 6 am after letting Hiker outside. She let me sleep until a little after 8 am. I decided as soon as I woke up that today was going to be a “do nothing” day...that I'd just be a couch potato. I noticed what appeared to be smoke in the air here and found out it is from a fire down near Palm Springs which is about 150 miles away from us. I guess the fire is really big. Went out into the yard and played ball with Hiker for a little while. It was very warm out there, about 98° but we played under the shade of the tree. Tomorrow morning I have to get up early to go to my appointment with my retinal specialist. It is not until 9 am but Jean is picking me up at 7:30 am because the traffic from our homes down to the Kaiser Medical Center is terrible in the morning. It usually takes us at least and hour to get there during “rush hour” and I'm supposed to check in at 8:45 am. I'm guessing Jean and I will go somewhere for a late breakfast or early lunch after my appointment.

Hot Afternoon

Since Jean is driving me to my retinal specialist at Kaiser on Friday morning, she wanted to do our dog walk today instead. So we did the walk and then let the dogs have a play date. Jean wanted me to come up to her house and check the volume on her Time Warner box and DVD recorder. She thought she didn't have something hooked up right, so Hiker and I went over to see what the problem was and fixed that for her. I was a little worried about Keith because I usually get either an email or a text from him each morning and I had not heard anything from him by 11 am so I texted him. He texted back that I woke him up with my text. He took some antihistamine early this morning and it “knocked” him out. After lunch, Hiker and I drove up to Vasquez Rocks. As you know I love that area for hiking and taking photos. It was HOT up there today, but it was actually 7° cooler there than it was at my house, which is surprising since “The Rocks” are more out in the desert than where I live. There was a school bus load of Jewish kids there and they were all over the rocks. I know that they were Jewish because they were all dressed in school uniforms and the boys were all wearing yamaka. I kept thinking that none of them were aware of or watching out for rattlesnakes because they were crawling through the bushes and climbing into the small caves, etc. Hiker let me know when she'd had enough of the heat. She started pulling me and heading back towards the car. When we got back to the car, I gave her some water and then she found the spot in the car with the most shade. She stretched out on the hardwood floor by the front door when we got home.

Pretty Good Day

Since I had taken a nap due to my headache yesterday afternoon, I had trouble going to sleep last night. I have never been into afternoon naps, not even when I was a toddler. My mom said she didn't put me down for naps because then I was awake all night and I'm still that way. I went to bed at 11 pm but was still wide awake at 1 am. I finally took a sleeping pill and I turned my TV on to the Music Choice channel and listened to “classic country music” which finally lulled me into sleep. Hiker finally woke me up at 6:30 am to go outside, but I was so drowsy that I went back to bed until 8 am. When we got up, I had some breakfast and then Hiker and I drove over to the Kaiser Pharmacy and picked up my blood pressure medications for the next 3 months. Hiker was so happy that she got to go for a ride in the car. When we got back home, I did a little house work and then went over to KFC and picked up some lunch to bring back home. I decided not to go to my support group today. I wanted to get some stuff done around the house instead, but I will go next Tuesday. After lunch, Hiker kept sitting next to me and barking at me and pawing at me. She does that when she wants me to do something. I decided she wanted to go for a ride or something, so we headed over to Placerita Canyon Nature Center and just walked around a little there. It has shade and dirt so it's not too hot and there is no pavement to burn Hiker's paw pads. That seemed to satisfy her because once we got back home, she stretched out on the entry floor and went to sleep.

Go Away Headache

We had our dog walk/play date with Jean and her dogs this morning. After she went home, had breakfast and then I headed over to Wal-Mart. I woke up with a headache this morning. I seem to be having some problems with my sinuses so I don't know if that is what is causing the headache or if it is because I need new eyeglasses but need to see when my retinal specialist says I can get new glasses. He may want me to wait until he's done with whatever procedures he needs to do. The headache has lasted most of the day even though I took something for it. Because of it, I just stretched out on the sofa all day and fell asleep a couple of times. Hiker was acting strange all day. For some reason she could seem to settle down and relax. She would curl up somewhere and then two minutes later she was up roaming around and then she'd curl up and again and two minutes later she'd be up again. Don't know what that is all about. I'm thinking about not going to my support group tomorrow because since Jean is driving me to Kaiser on Friday for my eye appointment, and I'll have dilated eyes all day, I'm short a day this week from running around doing my errands and any housework. I really enjoy going to lunch after group with the ladies, but I think I mostly go to the sessions now for the social aspect.

Lazy Sunday

I felt exhausted this morning when I woke up. Had a very strange dream last night. I remember it had to do with work, but didn't look anything like where I used to work. I remember I saw several people that I recognized. One was my cousin Lynda, two of them were ladies I used to work with, Olivia and Betty. I had not worked with Betty since we were back in Burbank about 20 to 25 years ago. Also Eva Longoria was in the dream which is really strange. We used to have a computer program that had the acronym of “PADAIS”. In the real world, I have not used this computer program in almost 20 years. In my dream I sat down at the computer and remembered exactly how to use this program and I remembered the basic form we used for it and I remembered what to type on every line. I'm thinking the combination of this crazy dream and the fact that yesterday I had a crying spell is what made me feel so exhausted. I know that when I've had crying spells before that they pretty much exhausted me. Grief takes a lot out of you. By the time Hiker and I got out of bed this morning, it was already getting too warm for a walk so we didn't go on one. I loaded my washer up with my sheets and towels and then did a little housework. The rest of the day we just lazed around the house. We will get out some in the morning with Jean and her dogs.

Hot Saturday

Got up around 7:30 am and took Hiker out for a walk. It was a beautiful morning with lots of people out. When we came home, I made us some poached eggs and then did a load of laundry. I made myself cry without meaning to. I was going to transfer some old video I had taken on some of Ben's and my vacations up north and so I was going through them on my laptop. Then I saw Ben and heard his voice. There we were together up in the redwoods of northern California. Me taking the video and him being his usually nutty self. I started sobbing and had to stop watching them. This was the first time I'd looked at any of them since he passed away, and obviously, I'm still not ready to look at all of them. I can look at still photos of him and they make me smile, but seeing him moving and hearing his voice....nope, not there yet. It was too hot to go for a walk after lunch...almost 100°, so I took Hiker for a ride in the car. She seemed pretty satisfied with that.

Up at 6 am this morning. We went for a dog walk with Jean and her dogs and then we stopped by and picked up Patches. She belongs to our neighbor Chris who is also our community manager. The dogs then had a play date in my backyard for awhile before we all went up to Jean's. Both Hiker and Patches were going to get groomed by Jean, or as Chris says, they were going to have their “spa day”. I had Jean shave Hiker again since we will still have a couple more months of hot summer weather. Today was the first day of Hiker's new diet. Jean said she felt sorry for Hiker because she had to go and get her vaccinations yesterday, then she got a bath (which she hates) today, and on top of it all, she has to be on a diet. Hiker can't seem to understand why she is not getting any bites from my plate at lunch and dinner. I just have to keep strong and not give in to that cute face. I found out today that we are going to get a new Sizzler here in the Santa Clarita Valley. I am so glad to hear that because I love Sizzler. We had one here in our valley for years but it closed down about 15 years ago and I really missed it. Glad to know that we will have a new one here this fall. After lunch, I took Hiker over to Central Park and we did a mile and a half walk. It was 90° but didn't feel that hat because the wind was blowing. Not too many people in the park today.

Another Overcast Day

When Hiker and I got up, I thought it was really early in the morning because it was so dark in the house, but then realized it was extremely cloudy outside. SoCal does not usually have a monsoon season, but we sure are having one this year. Got up and had breakfast and then took Hiker to get her vaccinations. She was due for the distemper one and the kennel cough on but I also decided to get the rattlesnake booster since it will be due in 3 weeks anyway. They told me that Hiker is getting too fat again. To look at her, she looks muscular and lean but the vet knows better. He said she is the same size from shoulders to rump and she should be narrow at the hip, so he told me to cut her food down about 50%. I know it's my fault because I just cannot resist that cute little face when I'm eating people food and she is asking for a bite, but I will have to stop giving in to her. I really need to cut down on my food too especially since I'm going to make her eat less. When I adopted her, the shelter told me to give her a cup of food in the morning and a cup in the evening, but the vet said to cut that down to half a cup in the morning and half a cup in the evening. She was such a good girl at the clinic. It was crowded this morning and there were several dogs and cats. The other dogs were getting into little fights and making all kinds of noise. She just sat there on the floor watching all of them. She always makes me so proud when she is out in public because she behaves so well. After we came back home, I took her out for a morning walk. It was so humid out that when we got home, I felt like I just stepped out of a sauna. Hiker went out into the backyard and stretched out on the cool cement of the patio. My eye was really bothering me today. I sure hope when I see my retinal specialist a week from tomorrow he can do something more about it. I need to have my camera that zooms ready to go when I'm sitting on the sofa. I missed taking a photo of a Yellow Hooded Oriole that was on my patio at the hummer feeder this afternoon. I have never seen one before. I went to get my camera and it was still there but then Hiker barked and it flew away. I immediately looked online to see what kind of bird it was. Hopefully it will come back.

Cloudy/Muggy Day

Slept in about 45 minutes then got up and took Hiker for a morning walk around our community. It was totally cloudy and we even got some big rain drops while we were out, but all that did was make it humid. When we got back home we had some poached eggs for breakfast and then I headed over to Sam's Club. The sun peeked through the clouds around 12:30 but it stayed cooler than the past few days. The sun didn't stay out very long and around 3 pm my power went off, but came right back on within a few seconds. I'm wondering if maybe there was a lightning strike somewhere that cause it. I lost my Internet for awhile too. Today is my brother Keith's 58th birthday.

Interesting Day At Group

I was having the strangest dream last night. I was going somewhere with the ladies from my support group. There were several of us so we were taking more than one vehicle. I usually drive whenever I go with a group but for some reason, I decided to let the others drive this time. It was night time which is strange because I very rarely go out at night. I remember I was ready to go and everyone else was running late and they were just taking their time like we didn't have to be anywhere soon. I decided to ride with Jane and she and I got in her car and headed out. It started to snow. Don't ask me where that came from because we are in SoCal and its summer and in the 100's here. Jane didn't know how to get where we were going and I kept trying to tell her which way to go and she kept doing the opposite of what I told her. The I woke up. It was about 5:30 am so I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until almost 6:30 am. Hiker was sitting on the bed looking at me. I told Jane about this dream before we went into our support group this morning and she just laughed. She thought it was so funny. It was already 70° at that time. Had a lot of people at group today. So full that one guy came in the door saw no seats and turned around and left. We had two more new people today, one woman and one man. They didn't say much. Just said they wanted to just listen, which is fine. After lunch 6 of us plus Gin's caregiver Ann went to lunch at Jimmy Dean's. Always have so much fun when we go out to lunch. All of us say now that we mostly go to group just to go to lunch after. Had an email from Keith when I got home plus he called me to let me know he was doing better. His doctor emailed him that his white blood cell count was getting back to normal which means the antibiotics are working. It was 100° on my patio when I got home.

Played Wii Sports All Afternoon

Got up a little early this morning. Had our normal Monday dog walk/play date with Jean. Another beautiful morning here in Canyon Country. I just wish the weather would stay as cool all day as it is in the morning. Got an email from Keith. He said he is feeling much better today and he has a follow-up visit with his doctor this afternoon. It was another day of not doing much. It was a little over 100° here today so too hot to go walking or hiking. To get some exercise, I once again played some of my Wii Sports games. A little bit of light aerobics is better than no exercise at all. I love playing the Wii Sports Resort Frisbee Golf.

A Take It Easy Day

Didn't do much today. After Hiker and I got out of bed we headed out to get my lottery tickets. Came back and made some pancakes for breakfast then did some laundry and vacuumed. Played out in the yard a little with Hiker and her ball. Got an email from Keith. He said he was feeling a little better but that his fever is still going up and down, but now it stays down around 101° instead of 102.5°. Maybe the antibiotics are finally kicking in. I sure hope so. Got up to around 95° here today. I didn't turn my A/C on until after 2 pm. Been trying to lose it less but I do turn it on when I think it's getting too hot in the house for me and Hiker. INSP TV was having a “Waltons” marathon, so I watched that for awhile and then played some of my Wii Sports games. Need some kind of exercise since we didn't get out for a walk this morning.

Saturday

Stayed in bed until 8 am. Hiker kept bugging me to get up. We went for a morning walk. It was nice out but already starting to get warm. At least there is some shade along the way where we walk. Got back home and started the laundry and had some breakfast. My brother Keith has not been feeling well so he made an appointment with his doctor yesterday. Keith was having pain in his shoulder and they saw that he had a temperature of 101° so they took some x-rays and ran some lab tests. They contacted him later and told him that he has walking pneumonia. They prescribed antibiotics for him and told him to rest. Being his “big sister” I told him he'd better take care of himself and rest like the doctor said so he can get well. Hiker and I went out in the yard to play with her ball after the gardener finished mowing. Even though the thermometer read 90°, it felt cooler than that under our shade tree in the backyard. I texted Keith to see how he was feeling and he replied “not good”. I told him that if it gets worse for him to have someone get him to urgent care or to an ER.

Semi-Cool Friday

Hiker and I had our Friday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was overcast and cool this morning. Jean and I told each other how our dogs reacted to the fireworks last night. Hiker was nervous and would not settle down. She would run from one room to the other trying to “get away” from the noise. I finally took her into my bedroom around 8:45 pm, closed the door, turned on the fans and the TV and got on the bed with her and cuddled her. She finally settled down and went to sleep around midnight. Jean said she found her Charlie and Timmy hiding in the bathtub during all of the fireworks. Her little Sassy was hiding under the sofa. After our play date with the dogs, I went up to Stater Brothers and did my weekly grocery shopping. The sun started peeking out some by that time. It stayed pretty cool compared to what we had been last week.

Happy July 4th

Got up around 7:30 am and went out for a morning walk with Hiker. She and I celebrated her 3rd birthday today. I don't really know what day she was born, but with the estimates of the vets who worked at the shelter I adopted her from, they said she was born in the summer of 2010, so I decided on July 4th as her birthday so everyone could celebrate it with her on the birthday of our country. It was cooler today than it has been. I was able to go without the A/C until around 1:30 pm. I hope the fireworks tonight don't scare her too much. I had a strange dream last night. Ben was in it, and so were his mom and dad. His dad passed about 27 years ago and his mom passed a few years ago. In the dream it seems his mom and dad were having some kind of party or celebration and Ben and I were going to it. I remember seeing Ben's brother Lanny and Lanny's wife Diana in the dream too. Ben's dad died from Parkinson's Disease but in my dream, he was healthy and both of Ben's parents looked young. That's about all I remember about the dream.

The birthday girl

Overcast Day

Hiker and I got up at 7 am this morning and headed out for a walk (just the 2 of us) before it got too hot. It was a little cloudy, so I could feel a little humidity while we were out. We did just under 2 miles. Someone somewhere was shooting off fireworks last night and they were scaring Hiker. I was trying to get her to go outside to potty before she and I went to bed. Hiker got so scared of the noise that she peed on the couch. Good thing I have a leather couch. Makes it easy to clean up. We stayed inside most of the day. Got up into the 90's here today.

A Little Cooler

I was so sleepy when Hiker woke me up at 6 am. I went back to sleep for an hour and was still tired at 7 am. I stayed up last night watching “Under The Dome”. Went to my support group at the Senior Center. One of our ladies now has a “live-in” caregiver who came with her today. The caregiver was really nice and seems to really care about people. We had a new person come to group today. I remembered her from the Caregivers Support Group that I went to when Ben was in the hospital. Her husband had Alzheimer's and passed away a short time ago. Still hot here in SoCal but not as oppressive. It's been in the 90's which is still too hot for me but much better than the 100's. It was a little overcast all day too. The wind kicked up this afternoon making me worry a bit about July 4th coming up with people shooting off fireworks. Everything is so dry here. My older brother called me again this afternoon and while talking to him, Hiker kept losing her deer antler under the sofa and she'd sit there and whine until I got it out. She kept losing it in the exact same place and finally it got so far under that I had to make her wait until I got off the phone to get it. Had to get a stick and my grabber to get it out. Silly dog.

Not As Hot Today

Cooler today due to the fact that we have a totally overcast sky, but that makes it humid and in SoCal, we are NOT used to humidity. We are usually hot and dry. Did our morning dog walk with Jean and her dogs then I went over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. When I got home, I noticed that my brother Ron had called, so I called him back and we talked for about 30 minutes. It is extremely hot up in northern California where he lives too. Got up to around 93° here today.

The Last Day Of June

I was having nightmares last night. I watched a movie on Netflix called “The Final Storm”. Usually movies like that do not bother me, but this one did and I tossed and turned most of the night. Hiker woke me up around 5 am but I made her go back to sleep for another hour. It was another day of staying inside all day due to the extremely hot weather. Watched some movies on “Hallmark Movie Channel” while Hiker stretched out on the sofa next to me. She loves burrowing under the pillows. Took Hiker outside to potty and to check the weather around 1:30 pm and it was so yucky out. Hiker did her thing and we both hurried back into the house. Watched an old movie on Netflix...”Move Over Darling” starring Doris Day and James Garner. Love those old movies.

Early Morning

Mid-morning

Afternoon

Another Stay Inside Day

Hiker woke me up a little after 6 am and it was already getting hot. I didn't sleep all that well because it was warm last night. I don't like to run the A/C at night because it makes my nose clog up and gives me a sore throat. It was too warm outside for me to open my sliding door. Had the fan blowing on me, so that helped. We got up a little after 7 am. I had to go to the post office to drop off a package. I went over there at 9 am when they opened and it was already 93° at that time. When I came home, Hiker wanted to go outside. She likes to go out in the morning and lay in the sun, but it was so hot that she only stayed out there a few minutes. I felt sorry for my gardener and his son when they were here mowing my lawn. It was right around 100° outside at that time. Hiker went out again to go potty around 12:30 and she went to lay in the sun like she always does. She stayed about 2 minutes and came running back to the door to come into the house. I did some laundry but spent most of the day on the couch watching Netflix again. It was just to dang hot to do anything else.

TURN THE HEAT OFF!

Got up at 6 am and went for a dog walk with Jean at 7 am. It was already HOT here at that time. It was almost 80° when we started and there was no breeze at all. After the walk, we let the dogs play for awhile in my backyard and then Jean and I went over to Payless Shoe Source. I needed to buy some new walking shoes. The last ones that I bought at Wal-Mart, less than a year ago had come apart where the sole connects the top part of the shoe. Decided to go to Payless because they are having their BOGO sale. I got two pair of walking shoes for $45 + tax. We also stopped at a pet store and looked around. I bought a piece of a deer antler for Hiker. My friend Rick had suggested them to me awhile back and Hiker really seems to like chewing on them. After we got back home, Jean wanted me to come up to her house to help her connect and setup the new 24” Visio Smart WiFi TV she bought at Wal-Mart yesterday. She didn't know how to set up the wireless network so she could get Netflix, YouTube, etc. so I did all of that for her. The rest of the day, Hiker and I stayed inside because by 1 pm it was 100° on my patio. I may need to buy a new oscillating fan for my living room. I run them with the A/C because it moves the cold air around better. A plastic piece on the fan I had in my living room broke and it would not oscillate anymore. I'll check Wal-Mart next week.