Fun Day

I got up early this morning to do a dog walk with Jean while Keith slept in for a little while.
After the dog walk, had breakfast and then Keith, Jean and I headed over to Lombardi Ranch. I love to go over there every year to take “autumn photos”. Each year, the Scarecrow Alley seems less interesting. I remember one year when they had some really fantastic scarecrows. Now they are so-so. The place was full of school kids as usual.
We went to Topper’s Pizza for lunch. I think it is my favorite place for pizza and my friend Jean said she heard that they are going to build another one in Canyon Country which is where I live.
Hiker is so happy with Keith here. She loves him so much.
Got up to around 90° here today.

Keith Is Here

Had trouble falling asleep last night. I think the last time I looked at the clock it was around 1 am.
Got up at 7 am, had some breakfast and then headed up to get my car wash. I go early because they have an early-bird special where you get a $13.99 car wash for $8.99. I got there about 10 minutes after they opened and there were already about 8 cars in front of me. Everyone likes a deal.
Was having a problem with my email yesterday. The emails Keith was sending to me were not arriving and I noticed that a few other emails people said they had sent had not arrived. It seemed to be mostly from the Hotmail.com and live.com domains plus the gmail.com domain. I think it may have had something to do with a download I did by accident when I got a notice that there were updates for the iTunes Cloud. I went back in and uninstalled it, so I hope that worked. So if someone emailed me and I did not reply, there is a chance I never got your email.
Keith got here just before 11 am and as usual, Hiker went nuts when she saw him pulling into the driveway. She started barking and jumping up and down. She ran out to greet him once he got out of the car, giving him lots of kisses.
Keith and I headed over to Everest for lunch. While there he remembered that he had forgotten his prescription Iron pills so we drove over to the Kaiser Pharmacy and got it refilled for him.
Tomorrow morning, Keith, me and my neighbor Jean are heading over to Lombardi Ranch. It is our local pumpkin patch and I have gone there every year for about the past 10 years to take photographs of the scare crows, etc.
Got up to 90° here today.

Cleaning House Day

Wednesday is my day for sleeping in until 8 am. The bed felt so good this morning. Hiker kept bugging me to get up.
Got up and made some breakfast and then ran the scans on all of my laptops.
Keith texted me to tell me that he is coming up tomorrow morning instead of waiting until Friday. The place that he does contract work for has been slow so they have not had much work for him.
Cleaned my house, which as you all know, I really hate to do, but it’s something that must be done. When I get the vacuum out, Hiker hides and as I move with it from room to room, I see her running as fast as she can from one hiding place to another. She is so funny.
Got up to 96° here today. A little cooler than it has been, but still pretty warm.

Support Group Day

Went to my grief support group today. Had a very small group. I think there were only 8 of us there today. Edwin was on a roll. He would not be quiet today and at lunch we were all talking about how he repeats himself all of the time and how he is always trying to tell everyone how they should handle their lives.
Paul, Jane, Ruth and I went to lunch at Jimmy Dean’s Grill. Got home around 1:30 pm. Hiker helped me put the trash bins out by the curb and then we walked up to the mail box. I’ll be glad when all of the political flyers quit coming.
Was cooler here today. Didn’t get into the triple digits, but it was still pretty warm.
I need to stay home tomorrow and do some house work.

Still Hot

I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamt that I was going to attend a reunion with school mates. I remember I had to go to a place where we were to get on a bus and then had to a place where we were going to get on a bus. I met up with Denise Welch (now Van Eps) and we got on the bus. We noticed that we did not recognize any of the people on the bus which we thought was strange because these were supposed to be the people we went to school with. The bus headed for the place where we were to get on the boat and when we got there, Denise and I met up with Madolyn Line (now Nix) and the three of us got on the boat. Now this was not a big cruising boat, it was a small ferry-like boat and still we did not recognize any of the people. We were packed on the ferry like sardines. They I woke up. I found it strange that I dreamt this because in a post on Madolyn’s Facebook page today, she posted that she and Denise and I met 60 years ago. We were all 5 years old and had just started Kindergarten. There was a group of us who started Kindergarten together and went all the way through Jr. High and High School together. Me, Denise, Madolyn, plus Mary Ann Pennala (now Kahanic), Cheryl Mullins (now Petersen) who are all on Facebook and the ones I have lost contact with… Barbara Gepfer (now Schambers) who is also on FB who I just connected with today, Barbara Folkins and Donna Koch.
Somehow the alarm on my clock got set and it went off at midnight. Don’t know how it got turned on because I have not used that alarm clock since I got my first iPhone. I always use my iPhone alarm to wake up in the morning. Had trouble going back to sleep, but finally I was able to do so, and I stayed asleep until 6 am when my iPhone alarm went off.
Funny how our mornings have been so nice a cool, perfect fall weather, but then out afternoons are in the 100’s. They are saying that we should start to cool down now. I sure hope so.
Got some housework done today. Temps hit 102° this afternoon.

I HATE THIS HEAT!

I just did not want to get out of bed this morning. I got up at the usual 6 am to let Hiker outside. I swear that she counts the chimes on my grandfather clock. Otherwise I have no idea how she knows when it is 6 am. If I get up to go to the bathroom any other time of the night or early morning, she does not move from the bed, but somehow she knows when it is 6 am.
She and I went back to bed and I fell asleep and did not wake up until about 7:45. Hiker was sitting right next to me staring at me.
I sure wish it would cool off here. It was 100° at noon. I just don’t want to do anything when it is hot. All I do is sit on the sofa and watch TV and mess around on the computer. Hiker tries to get me to play by bringing a toy or a chew stick over to me and she dares me to take it away from her. I hope when it gets cooler I’ll get back to wanting to walk and hike and do other things.
Finally got myself up off the sofa and headed over to the historical society with Hiker to meet up with my friend RuthAnne. I had something I had to give to her. She docents at the train station once a month. Stayed for a little while and talked with her and the other docent since there wasn’t anyone the because of the heat. When we got back home it was 109° on my patio.

Hot, Hot, Saturday

Was so exhausted from yesterday being up in Ventura with my neighbor Jean at the Harvest Festival. I’m sure it was the crowd and the traffic. I have never liked crowds especially when they are pushy and rude and I have never liked heavy traffic.
Went to bed at 9 pm last night and fell asleep immediately. Woke up at 6 am to let Hiker outside and then went back to bed with Hiker at my side. We finally got up around 7:30 am.
Did some laundry today but that was all because it was so hot here. 106° at 1:30 pm. I sure wish this heat would go away and that we would get some rain.

Here is the moon over SoCal last night

Exhausting Day

Up early for a dog walk with Jean and then she and I headed up to Ventura for their annual Harvest Festival. I had always wanted to go to the Harvest Festival, but now that I’ve been there, don’t think I’ll ever go again.
First the traffic was terrible once we got to Ventura, even worse than when we go up there for the county fair. There must have been a “zillion” people there (guess no one works on Friday) and they were rude and pushy.
Another thing I didn’t like is that to me, a Harvest Festival is supposed to be all about homemade and handmade items. Most of the stuff there was commercialized. Jean bought several things. I bought absolutely nothing.
Now this festival is held at the fairgrounds in Ventura which is right on the beach. It is usually so nice and cool and breezy there but today it was 95° and miserable! The exhibit buildings are not air conditioned and they were actually hotter inside than when we were up there for the fair in August.
We left to go over to the Busy Bee Café for lunch in downtown Ventura. I think the café has changed ownership because the minute we sat down I noticed that the menu was not the same one they had before. They no longer had some of my favorite items and both Jean and I noticed that the food didn’t taste as good as it used to. I also noticed that when we walked in that there were not very many people there eating. When we used to go there, it would be hard to find an open table.
On the way home, there was an accident on the freeway. Someone in a pickup truck pulling a trailer full of plywood dropped the plywood on the freeway and a car swerved to miss it and ended up crashing into the center divider and the car caught fire. Thank goodness no one was hurt but it sure messed up traffic.
We finally got home just a little after 3 PM and boy, was I glad to get here.

Getting Hot Again

Stayed up late last night and watched the new show “Stalker”. It was pretty good, but I still think the best two shows of the new season are “Madam Secretary” and “Scorpion”.
Got my results back from my blood work last night. My cholesterol went down a little more, so the Crestor really seems to be working. I emailed my doctor and told him I was pleased with the results and asked him about me still taking the over-the-counter Red Yeast Rice. He told me to stop taking it and try again to take the Crestor 4 times a week but if I get the muscle pains to go back to just 3 times a week. Actually he told me I can test it anyway I want and see how much of the Crestor I can tolerate. We are thinking that the combination of the Crestor and the natural statins in the Red Yeast Rice was too much statin for my body to tolerate.
Trouble is I just bought a new bottle of Red Yeast Rice at Sam’s Club last week and I really hate to toss it. Wish I knew someone who is taking RYR so I could give it to them.
I started taking the Crestor in February and in the past 8 months my total cholesterol has gone down 124 points (37%), my triglycerides have gone down 33 points (12%), my good cholesterol has gone up 3 points and my bad cholesterols has gone down 121 points (55%). Wish my triglycerides would go down more.
Anyway…tomorrow should be a fun day. My neighbor Jean and I will be driving up to Ventura to their fair grounds to the Harvest Festival. It’s supposed to be around 105° here in Santa Clarita tomorrow, so hopefully it will be much cooler up there since the fair grounds are right on the beach.
Got up to 96° here today.

Happy October!

Got up at 7 am. No breakfast because I was still fasting for my blood work at Kaiser. Did my weekly scans on my computers and then headed over to Kaiser. The lab does not open until 9 am but the lobby opens at 8:30 am. I got there around 8:50 am and signed in. I was the first person for blood work so once the tech got there, I got in and out really fast.
When I left Kaiser, I went over to fill the car with gas then stopped by the locksmith on the way home to have a key made for my back garage door to give to Jean with my front door key.
Came home, but didn’t eat any breakfast because it was already 10 am. I decided to just eat lunch a little earlier than I normally do.
The Santa Ana Winds started kicking up today. They are saying they are going to blow really hard this weekend and that it will be around 106° here. We are under a severe fire watch for the entire weekend.
Got up to 97° but it didn’t feel that hot because of the wind.

Pleasant Day

Up early to get ready to go to my support group today.
Spoke with the ladies that I was going to take on our little local tour. We’ve decided to reschedule our day together since Sunday is supposed to be around 103°. We are aiming at the first Sunday in November, if not then, the first Sunday in December. The reason we want to do the first Sunday of the month is because my friend RuthAnne is a docent at the Historical Society. She volunteers the first Sunday of each month and we want to have her take us on a little tour.
When I got home from my group I had 2 voice mails from the scheduler at my eye doctor’s office. They wanted me to come in tomorrow or Thursday for another injection because I guess the doctor is on a grand jury or something and he has those 2 days free. I told her I could not make it either day. First off, I have to go tomorrow and get that bloodwork done that I could not get done 2 weeks ago and second, I cannot expect Jean to take me over there on such short notice. She has a life and I cannot expect her to just drop everything and take me. They always tell me to have someone drive me when I have an eye injection.
Then the scheduler wanted me to come in during the week that I will be visiting my older brother and I told her I could not make it then either. She said that the doctor is not available again until November so I said “well I guess we will just have to wait until then”. So I now have an appointment for Friday, November 7th and another on Friday, December 5th.
After I got home, I was going to put the trash bins out at the curb. Hiker always gets excited and wants to go out with me. She always jumps up and down and I’m always telling her that she is going to hurt herself. Well she must have twisted her back leg when she came down from jumping because she yipped and was favoring it. She was limping a little at first, but I’ve been watching her and she seems to be OK now. I’m guessing that she just twisted it like we do when we step off of a curb or something. It hurts at first but then we work the soreness out of it. I’ll keep an eye on her to make sure she isn’t limping because if she is, I’ll have to take her to the vet to have it x-rayed. But I think she is OK.

Still Cool, But Not For Long

Stayed up late last night to watch the season premiere of “CSI” and then did not fall asleep until around midnight. Up early for a dog walk with Jean. Really dark outside here at 6 am.
Heard on our local news that it will be cool for a couple of days but then by the weekend it is going to be back up into the triple digits. Darn! That means that I’ll have to postpone the local tour on Sunday that I was going to take 3 of the ladies from my support group on. It will be too hot for us to be outside.
Was nice a cool when we did our dog walk this morning. There were a lot of people out walking, jogging, riding their bikes, etc.
After lunch, I did some house work which made me tired. I am soooo out of shape.

Mostly Cloudy All Day

Slept in this morning. When we did get out of bed, I noticed that it was in the low 50’s so I put on jeans and a sweat shirt for a while. I actually slept under the covers last night. That was the first time I’d done that in months.
Had some cereal and then took Hiker for a walk. Earlier it had been totally overcast, but by the time we left for the walk, the sun had come out so I had switched from the sweat shirt to a t-shirt. When we got home, the sun was back behind the clouds again.
I really need to get back into shape. I get a little winded when Hiker and I go walking now plus my calf muscles hurt when we walk. I hate it that I let myself get that much out of shape.
After lunch, Hiker and I took another ride around the valley. We headed over to Pico Canyon Park and got out of the car and walked around a little. Hiker always wants to greet any dog she see along the way, but there was this big dog she wanted to greet who didn’t seem very friendly. The guy who was holding the leash on the big dog said it was OK for them to say hi, but then the big dog started to come after Hiker and I pulled her back before it could attack her. It scared her.
Have a busy week coming up. Have to go to Wal-Mart on Monday, have my grief group on Tuesday, need to go for my blood work that I was not able to get done last 2 weeks ago, then grocery shopping on Thursday and on Friday, Jean and I are heading up to Ventura for their Harvest Festival.
Got up into the low 80’s here today and it was another beautiful fall day.

Beautiful Day Here In SoCal

Last night I was wide awake until 2 am. I had finished off the last of the coffee ice cream I made when my friend Ed was here. He likes it with a lot of coffee flavor so he had put 4 ½ tablespoons in the vanilla ice cream. Well obviously that is way too much caffeine for me since it made me so hyper. I think when I make it, I will only use 1 or 2 tablespoons.
Anyway, since I was so awake, I watched a very cute movie called “Peace, Love and Misunderstanding” with Jane Fonda. It was about old hippies living in Woodstock, NY. Was a fun movie. After that I watched a movie called “White House Down” which is exactly the same story as “Olympus Has Fallen” with a few twists.
After I fell asleep around 2 am, I slept pretty soundly through the night until Hiker woke me to go outside to potty. I tried to go back to sleep for a while, but really didn’t so finally got up around 8 am. It was beautiful outside at that time, only 54° and feeling very much like fall, which I am loving.
It was such a pretty day that I decided to take Hiker for a ride and take a few photographs. Got very cloudy in the afternoon and I keep hoping that maybe tonight we will get some rain.

Very Nice Day Weatherwise

I was so tired yesterday from being lightheaded and taking that motion sickness pill that I went to bed just a little after 8:30 pm and I fell right to sleep. I watched a movie before bed called “Forces of Nature” with Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck. It was cute.
Got up at 6 am and did our dog walk with Jean, her 3 dogs and 2 other dogs she is boarding. Then I flushed Jean’s hot water heater while she got up on my roof and glued down some loose shingles. I am afraid of heights and she isn’t so she didn’t mind doing it.
Was up into the low 80’s by 10 am. I had to run over to the liquor and get my lottery ticket for Saturday. I was going to get it yesterday, but didn’t feel like driving.
Keith told me that there is another update on our iPhone iOS. I know they said that iOS 8.0 had a lot of bugs and they tried to do an 8.0.1 to fix them but that made things even worse, so now they have an 8.0.2.
Was a beautiful day here today. In the low 80’s and breezy with clear blue sky. I hope that this cooler weather stays. The say we “may” have a chance of rain this weekend, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Out Of It Day

Got up at 6 am to let Hiker outside and I felt fine until I went to get back into bed. I didn’t fall asleep last night until around midnight, so I thought I’d crawl back into bed and get up around 7 am, but as I started to lie down, I got very lightheaded and the room was spinning. I must have turned too quickly or it could be the hot weather we’ve been having. I made it to the bathroom and took a motion sickness pill because I have found that they really help stop the dizziness when I have these spells. The pill put me back to sleep and I woke around 8 am not as dizzy, but still a little lightheaded. Got up and got some cereal to see if that would help. It made me feel somewhat better, but it made me mad that I got dizzy because I needed to go over to Wal-Mart and I could not drive feeling the way I was.
Was still feeling a little weak by 10 am but at least my head had stopped spinning. That’s what happens whenever I get a dizzy spell, it makes me feel weak the rest of the day.
I had planned on flushing my water heater today, and I did get that done once I felt better, but never did make it to Wal-Mart so I’ll just have to try to get there tomorrow sometime.
The problem with my taking those motion sickness pills is that they have always made me very drowsy. I decided to lay down on the sofa after lunch and I immediately fell asleep. Only problem is when I wake up I feel like I’m hung over and I’m very hungry.
Hiker is so smart. She kept barking at me and sitting by her toy container. I finally opened it for her and she started digging through it all the way to the bottom until she found her rubber pumpkin, which she grabbed and started squeaking and throwing around the living room. Guess she figured it was fall so she needed her toy pumpkin. I’m surprised she remembered it.

Busy On My Laptops Today

Up at 7:30 am and immediately out for a walk with Hiker. Felt like fall again this morning…cool and crisp, but then it warmed up and got to 90° out on my patio.
Hung around the house all day. I wanted to make sure that all of my email address books in my 3 laptops jived. When I go up to visit my brother Ron, I don’t want anyone to miss out on the Daily Email Blog and any photos I may take. I’m taking my smallest laptop with me and it did not have everyone’s email address in it so I was working on that all day.
I’m hoping it cools down tomorrow because I need to flush my water heater and I don’t want it to be really hot when I’m outside doing that. I also need to clean my rain gutters just in case we ever get any rain again in my lifetime (LOL). Don’t know if I’ll to that tomorrow or not. I might do it while the water heater is draining.

Our shadows went walking with us this morning.

Stayed Home From Group Today

The pet preparedness seminar that Jean and I went to last night was very informative. I got home in time to watch both “Scorpion” and “Under The Dome”. I’ll have to see if I can catch “Sleepy Hollow” on the On Demand channel.
I still was not feeling very well last night when I went to the seminar. My throat was sore from choking yesterday and my ribs were killing me from the coughing. When I woke up a 6 am to let Hiker outside, I felt like crap. Went back to bed and slept until 8 am, so decided not to attend my grief support group today.
Hiker must have known I wasn’t feeling well because when we went back to bed after she came in this morning, she cuddled up right up close to me, which is something she normally does not do.
After having breakfast, I felt better, so I went outside and put up some autumn decorations in my front yard. Also had to clean up Hiker’s poop and while I was doing that, I heard my house phone ringing. By the time I got in to answer it, it stopped and I saw that my brother Ron had called me. He had just gotten home from his doctor appointment and he wanted to tell me that his bloodwork results were not very good. His cholesterol has gone way up, so the doctor wants him diet and exercise and come back in 3 months.
Felt much better after lunch. I was even able to do some “dreaded” housework.
Got up into the mid-90’s today.

Typical Monday

I woke up this morning needing to go to the bathroom. I didn’t look at the clock when I got back in bed so I had no idea what time it was. I no more than got settled back in bed and my alarm went off. Had to get up and get ready for our dog walk with Jean.
There was a slight chill in the air again this morning, so instead of shorts, I wore sweat pants for the walk. I hope that chill in the air means that autumn weather is on the way.
After the walk, Hiker and I had some breakfast and then I headed out to Sam’s Club. I needed to pick up several of my supplements that I take. I decided to not buy the joint supplement because I have never felt any difference in the way my joints feel. I still hurt in the morning until everything wakes up and stretches out.
In the middle of the afternoon, I swallowed wrong and had a choking/coughing fit for a few minutes. I hate that when it happens. After the episode, my ribs hurt from all of the coughing and then my stomach felt bloated. My brother Keith said I probably swallowed a bunch of air while choking/coughing.
Was a nice day again. They say that today was going to be warm, which it was. It was in the low 90s, but they say that after this, we should start having cooler weather. I sure hope so.
Jean is picking me up at 6 pm to head over to the Valencia Library for a pet preparedness workshop. It lasts for 2 hours so we probably won’t be back home until around 9 pm which means I’ll probably miss most of the new show “Scorpion” tonight. I have to watch the “Under The Dome” season finale.

Pretty Day Here

Slept much better last night. Got out of bed at 7:30 am and took Hiker for a 2 mile walk. It felt cool and crisp as if autumn was in the air. I had on shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt, but almost wished I had on jeans. But by the time we got home, I was all hot and sweating so didn’t mind the shorts and t-shirt.
Had some breakfast and then did a little house work, plus did some laundry.
It was a beautiful day. Got up to around the mid-80s and the sun was great. Hiker and I just hung out at home the rest of the day.

Pretty Day Out - But I Don't Feel Good

Could not fall asleep last night. I went to bed just after 9 pm. I was feeling tired, but once I got in bed, I could not go to sleep. I could not get comfortable no matter which way I stretched out. I turned on the TV and watched “Murder, She Wrote” and still didn’t get sleepy. Around 1 am I got up and took a sleeping pill. Finally dozed off around 1:30 am, but when I woke up at 6:20 am to let Hiker outside, I felt like I had a hangover. When Hiker came back inside, I went back to bed and went right to sleep and slept until 8 am. Still did not feel that great when I got up.
Due to the lack of sleep, I didn’t feel very well all day, plus my stomach was bothering me for some reason. Made me angry that I was not feeling well because it was beautiful outside today and it would have been a great day to take Hiker out for a hike. Was in the low 80s and breezy with bright sunshine.
I was not hungry at lunch time, but around 2 pm, I forced myself to eat a sandwich even though I still was not hungry even then. Besides me not feeling well, I noticed that Hiker’s poop was very runny. I know we didn’t eat the same thing. Maybe she knows that I don’t feel well, so that is making her not feel well.
I watched “Jumanji” on Netflix.
Got my results back on my mammogram that I had back on September 10th and everything is fine, so that’s good news. I always worry a little bit since back in 2007 they found a small lump in my left breast. It was removed and it was benign, but I always worry that another lump may show up.

Nice Day

Had our Friday dog walk with Jean and her dogs, plus she had Dodger, a dog who is staying with her for a few days. We did our walk and then stopped by to pick up Patches who lives across the street from me and Hiker. Both Hiker and Patches were getting bathed and trimmed today.
After Jean was finished grooming the dogs, I left Hiker at her house with all of the other dogs and Jean and I went over to Everest for lunch.
I am so glad the weather has cooled down, but they are saying we may be back up into the triple digits again next week. I was actually able to open my sliding patio door and my front door today and just let the air blow through.
I called Kaiser this afternoon to ask them a few questions about my signing up for their Medicare Senior Advantage plan. I was a little worried about getting my enrollment form into them prior to my trip to Northern California in a few weeks. Wanted to make sure I had time. They told me that they will be mailing the packet with the form right after October 1st and that I have until December 31st to get it back to them, so I guess I have enough time (LOL).
Finally had to turn my A/C on at 3 pm. It got up to 83° in the house, so I want to have it cooled down by bedtime.

Do You Like Coffee Flavored Ice Cream?

TURN VANILLA ICE CREAM INTO COFFEE ICE CREAM

1.     Soften ice cream to a consistency where you can mix it (not watery – still a little thick. You can put it in the microwave for a seconds to help.

2.    Put ice cream in a large mixing bowl.

3.    Boil about ¼ cup of water.

4.    Put 2 to 4 tablespoons of instant coffee into a small bowl or cup.

5.    Make sure that ice cream is now about the consistency of a thick malt.

6.    Once the water is boiling, put about 2 or 3 drops into the instant coffee and stir. You want the coffee to be about as thick as pancake syrup, so do not add too much water.

7.    Pour syrup into the softened vanilla ice cream and stir for a minute or two and then let it sit for about 4 minutes and stir it again. Do this a few times until all of the coffee syrup is mixed into the ice cream.

8.    Pour the softened ice cream into a plastic container (like Tupperware) and freeze for about 6 to 8 hours.

A Little Cooler Today

Today, my friend Ed, who was Ben’s best friend for over 35 years came and took me to lunch. He does that about every 3 or 4 month. He lives in Pomona, CA. We went to Sizzler and I ate too much as usual (LOL). Prices sure have gone up there. I remember about 3 years ago the all you can eat salad bar for seniors was $7.99 and now it is $11.99. We got to talking about ice cream and what our favorite flavors were and Ed asked me if I liked coffee ice cream. Told him I love it. He asked me if I had trouble finding it at the stores. I told him sometimes I do, and then it is way overpriced, so he showed me how to turn ordinary vanilla ice cream into coffee ice cream.
Was not as hot today as it has been. Still got up to around 90° but felt much better than the 100+ days we had for the past 2 weeks. There was a nice breeze outside too.
Tomorrow I have to take Hiker over to Jean’s house to get her groomed.

Wasted Morning

So I fasted for 20 hours after my lunch with my group friends yesterday because I was going over to Kaiser to do bloodwork for my cholesterol. Well the lab I go to does not open until 9 am, so I get there at 8:45 am and they tell me that the order from my doctor for the bloodwork was scheduled for no earlier than Friday, September 26. They said they could have me speak with the nurse and see if maybe they could open the order earlier, so that’s what I did. The nurse told me that because the doctor had raised my dosage a month ago and then I emailed him about a week and a half ago to tell him that I was having muscle pain, and he told me to lower the dose back down to what I was taking before, that he changed the date for the bloodwork. She said that if we took it now before my body adjusts back to the lower dosage that they might get a false reading. Would have been nice if they had emailed me to tell me that.
It was 90° when Hiker and I went to bed last night a little after 9 pm and it was pretty warm all night. When I we got up at 6 am it was already about 72° outside. By the time I got home from Kaiser around 9:30 am it was already 90°.
I had thoroughly clean and fill my both of my hummingbird feeders. They were pretty dirty. I had bought a set of brushes on Amazon specifically made to clean hummer feeders.
My brother Keith notified me that Apple had a new iOS to download, so I did that on both my iPhone and my iPad. It was a big download so it took quite a while to download and install.
My friend Ed (Ben’s best buddy) is coming tomorrow and he and I will be going to lunch. He and I always talk sit and talk about Ben because they were buds for over 35 years and we both have such great memories of Ben. It’s nice to be with friends who knew Ben so that we can share those memories.

H-O-T!!!

Had my grief support group at the senior center today. We all were saying how much were are hating this heat wave we are having.
The annoying woman came today. She is just so rude. We try to be nice to everyone who joins our group, but sometimes, it is a little hard.
Paul went to lunch with us today and he has finally stopped paying for all of our lunches. We feel so much more comfortable about it now.
I have to fast tonight because I am going in for blood work tomorrow morning to see if the Crestor is helping to lower my cholesterol levels.
When I got home from group, it was 110° on my patio again. Sure hope it starts to cool down soon.

Will This Heat Ever Stop?

I cannot believe that we are half-way through September already. Seems like we just left August.
For some reason, I woke up around 4:30 am and could not go back to sleep. Finally got out of bed at 6 am and fed Hiker and let her outside to potty, then we went for a dog walk with Jean and her dogs.
After the walk, Hiker and I had a breakfast of poached eggs and then I went over to Wal-Mart to do a little shopping. That was just before 9 am and it was already 90° by then.
Noticed my brother Ron had called me while I was gone, but I decided not to call him back until after I watched “Young & Restless”. We talked for about 30 minutes. I can tell that he is looking forward to Keith, Hiker and me coming to visit him.
By 2:30 pm it was 110° on my patio. So far this has been the hottest day of this heat wave. Each day seems to go up a degree or two. Sure hope the heat wave breaks soon.
I did my vacuuming and also raked my carpet. It looks so nice after it’s been vacuumed and raked.
I went out in the heat to collect my mail up at the mailbox and there was only one piece of mail in the box. But it was good because it was my Medicare Card!

Some thunderheads are forming to the north of us.

Even Hotter Today

When I got up at 6 am to let Hiker outside, it was already 70°. I’m beginning to feel like I’m in the “Twilight Zone” episode where the sun is moving closer to the earth and everyone is dying off.
Got up around 7:45 am and took Hiker out for a 2 mile walk. It was already almost 80° by that time. At least we got out and did some exercise before it got too hot.
Got home and had a little breakfast and decided to take advantage of the hot weather and put a jug of water and tea bags outside to make some sun tea. It was already 95° at 9:30 am.
By 12:45 pm it was 107° on my patio, so today was the hottest so far of this current heat wave.
Hiker and I stayed inside and I watched an “NCIS” marathon on the USA Channel. These were old episodes with Sasha Alexander was on the show.
109° here at 1:30 pm. We are hotter than the Antelope Valley which is the high desert.

Morning Walk

Later In The Afternoon

HOT, Lazy Day

Slept in just a little this morning. When I let Hiker outside at 6 am, it was already 65° and by 9 am it was already 80°. I came to the conclusion that I was NOT going to even stick my head outside today because it was going to be just too damn hot.
Did some laundry and watched some movies on Netflix.
105° here at 2 pm with all kinds of heat alerts and heat warnings.

Another Very Hot Day

We got out of bed early this morning for our regular Friday dog walk with Jean and her three dogs. Was already getting warm at 7 am and it was a little more humid today than it has been. The bugs were eating us up again.
After the walk, Hiker and I came home and had some breakfast and then I went over to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping.
I mixed up the ingredients for a meatloaf and then flopped down on the sofa to stay nice and cool in the air conditioned house.
I did walk up to the mailbox in the late afternoon. Was 104° at that time. We are supposed to get hotter over the weekend and them they say the humidity will be even worse next week because of another hurricane coming up the coast. I don’t ever remember so many hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean.

Very HOT Day

Today was the 13th anniversary of 9/11, a day that all Americans should never forget. I hope you all took time to remember the people who lost their lives on that awful day.
Stayed up late last night watching “Extant” so I was very sleepy this morning. Decided to sleep in until 8 am. Hiker wouldn’t let me sleep any longer than that anyway. Had some breakfast and then thought I’d take Hiker out for a walk, but it was already getting hot by the time we left. We walked down by the park and Hiker did her business, then we came back home.
When we got back, I went over to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things. I’ve noticed that lately they don’t carry some of the supplements that I’ve always bought there before. I needed some Garlic capsules, and I’ve always bought them there, but now they don’t have them so I guess I’ll have to get some at Wal-Mart.
Sam’s club keeps trying to talk me into applying for their Sam’s Club MasterCard. I keep telling them I have too many credit cards as it is.
Was so hot all day that Hiker and I just vegged out on the sofa all day. Was 104° on my patio at 1:45 pm.

Busy Morning/Restful Afternoon

So today I had to get up early because I had a 9 am appointment for my mammogram. When I let Hiker outside at 6 am, I noticed the Harvest Moon again, so I got my camera out and took more photos. I think they turned out better than the ones I took the other night. Something about the blue sky in the morning made the moon seem more detailed.
My neighbor Jean needed to go to Kaiser to do some blood work, so she went with me over to the Kaiser facility here in our valley and she got her labs done while I was in getting my boobs squished. It didn’t hurt too much this time. The tech told me that they had just gotten in the latest and greatest machines. My doctor only has me go for mammograms every 2 years and I remember that the machines they had last time were looking a little old.
After we left Kaiser, we headed over to Kohl’s because I had gotten a $5 rewards email from them last week. I bought a new door mat for my front porch. It has dog paws, bones, etc. on it and says “Wipe Your Paws” in the middle. It was on sale, plus I had my rewards and then they gave me a scratcher ticket since I have a credit card with them, which gave me 20% more off. I asked for the Senior Discount, but it is only 15% so they told me the scratcher discount was better.
We then went over to the mall in Valencia and just walked around in a few stores. We were trying to waste some time before we went to lunch. I don’t really like big malls. Most of the stores are too expensive for my taste. I’m a Wal-Mart/Kmart/Target kind of girl.
Speaking of too expensive…we went into Payless Shoe Source and I think it’s time they changed their name because they are no longer “payless”, they are “pay more”! I was looking at a pair of very plan tennis shoes that I felt should have cost around $10 or $15. They were not a brand name and they didn’t even have support in them. The price was $39! I can get a brand name athletic shoe at Wal-Mart for less than that.

I Needed Group Today

Up at 7 am to get ready to go to the Senior Center for my weekly support group session. I didn’t get to bed until after 11 pm last night because I stayed up and watched “Under The Dome”. It has been getting really good.
Today would have been Ben’s 64th birthday. I’ve been feeling a little “weepy” for the past few days.
We had a full house at the group today. One new lady who seemed nice, but she didn’t really say much. When our therapist asked if she wanted to speak, she started to tear up, so we just let her listen. We don’t force people. We let them join in when they are ready.
Several of us went to lunch after group. Went over to Round Table Pizza in Newhall.
Got home around 1:30 pm and Hiker “helped” me put the trash bins out by the curb and then we went up to the mailbox to retrieve the mail.
Have to head over to the Kaiser facility in Valencia tomorrow morning to have my mammogram. :-O

I took some photos of the full moon last night with my new camera.

Very Muggy Outside Today

My alarm went off at 6 am and Hiker and I jumped out of bed to get ready for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs, then I heard rain on the roof. I was just about to call Jean when my phone rang and it was her. We decided to not do the dog walk today. The rain didn’t last long, but everything was pretty muddy so we didn’t want to take the dogs out in that.
Was very muggy all day and very cloudy. This bit of weather is being caused by Hurricane Norbert that is just passing by.
After breakfast, I drove up to the Goodwill store to see what they had in the way of soft luggage. Found exactly what I wanted for only $7.99 so I was happy. Now I need to take my old square suit case to the Goodwill as a donation or I’ll just put it in the trash.
It only got up to around 90° here today, but it was so muggy that it was just too yucky outside. However, after lunch, I vacuumed the house and then took Hiker for a drive up to Vasquez Rocks to take some photos with my new camera.
It was only 85° up there and it was breezy but once we got out of the car and started walking around the humidity got to use, so we only walked around for about 30 minutes and then got back into the car and headed home.

Restful Sunday

Up at 7 am again this morning. I’m trying to make myself get out of bed and get out for a morning walk. It was already a little warm and humid when Hiker and I left for our walk. Another hurricane is out in the Pacific and it is causing the humidity. Was ever a little cloudy here today, but still hot.
There were a lot of bicycles out again this morning and even a unicycle. Whenever Hiker sees them, she immediately stops and sits down and she won’t move until they have passed.
Got a reply from my doctor about me lowering the dose of my Crestor back down to three times a week. He said that was fine because it should still be beneficial.
Watched some movies on the Hallmark Channel and also made Hiker some homemade dog biscuits. This time I made some bacon ones with real bacon bits. These biscuits are healthier for her than the store bought treats because these are made from whole wheat flower, baking powder, non-fat milk, and eggs.
Was hot and muggy here all day long today.

Photo from our morning walk.

Nice Saturday...Except For The Heat

I was so tired last night. I watched the first of two episodes for “Coma” on Netflix and then around 8:45 pm, I went to bed. Thought I would fall right to sleep, but I didn’t get to sleep until around 10 pm and once again I had crazy dreams all night long. I remember a little bit of one of them. I recall I was on some kind of a field trip with some ladies I used to work with. We were way up in the mountains and I remember all of us getting on a bus to head back home.
Hiker woke me up around 6 am. When I got out of bed my muscles were aching and I still felt very fatigued. We went back to bed until around 6:45 am when I decided to get up and take Hiker for a morning walk before it got hot. We did just a little over a mile and a half. There were a lot of people out on bicycles this morning, so Hiker was on high alert. Must have seen about 20 bicycles or more.
I think I figured out why I’ve been so tired lately. About three weeks ago, I emailed my doctor about my Crestor doses. He told me to go ahead and try to take it four times a week instead of the three times a week I was taking it. I was fine for about 2 weeks, then the third week I started noticing the muscle aches and fatigue, so I’m betting that I need to cut the dose back down to three times a week because it didn’t bother me when I was doing that. So I emailed him this morning and I’m waiting to see what he tells me. My body just cannot tolerate high doses of statins.
Did some laundry and finished watching the last episode of the two part TV series “Coma” on Netflix.
It got up to 100⁰ on my patio this afternoon. Glad we got out for an early morning walk.

Earlier this morning I took a photograph of a hummingbird at the feeder in my back yard.

Lazy Friday

I was really sleepy last night so I went to bed around 8:45 pm and fell asleep by 9 pm. Then I started having the strange dreams again. Woke up once and remembered at that time what I had just been dreaming but now I don’t remember anything.
Around 1 am, Hiker jumped off the bed and ran to the front of the house and was barking like crazy. Jean’s dogs were out in their back yard barking too, so I got up and looked around, but didn’t see anything, but now I think maybe our squirrel is back. Jean and I had gone to do a little shopping and when I got home, I let Hiker outside and she started barking again. I looked and she was standing up against the tree trunk and looking up into the tree. I went to look and sure enough, there it was. The dog that lives at the house behind me has been barking all morning.
Jean and I went over to the Dollar Tree and then went up to Target because she needed to buy dog food and dog treats.
Makes me so mad when they put some dumb sport on instead of my soap. Today it was tennis.
I cannot wait until the weather gets cooler. When it is hot, I am so lazy and I don’t feel like doing anything except sitting on the couch, watching TV or being on the computer. It’s sad and I get angry at myself for being that way.

Somewhat Cooler Today

I was so tired this morning. I was awake until after midnight last night because after I watched “Extant” I worked some more on getting all 3 of my laptops set up the way I wanted them. I finally got all of the contacts lists on them exactly the same and I did some online research and found out how to get the folders from the new laptop to share with the older 2 laptops. I had to set the permissions for the folders I wanted to share to “everyone”, not just the “home group”. Never had to do that on the 2 older laptops so I think it might have something to do with them being Windows 7 and the new one being Windows 8. Don’t know for sure though.
I got up at 6 am to let Hiker go outside and when she came back in, I was so sleepy that I went back to bed and fell back to sleep. She came in and woke me up just before 8 am. Got up and had some breakfast and then I went outside and cleaned up the flower bed in my front yard. There was a thick marine layer here this morning so it was nice and cool outside.
It was cooler today, so after lunch Hiker and I headed over to Hart Park and hiked around. We did a little over a mile. Hiker always gets excited when she see the bison in the park.

Still Setting Up New Laptop

Slept in for about an hour this morning. I wanted to get on my new laptop and on my other 2 laptops and get all of my email accounts set up to where they had all of the same contacts, etc. Spent most of the day taking care of that and also tweaking the new laptop.
Having a problem getting the Home Groups on my network to perform correctly though. I can share folders from my 2 older laptops so that the folder show up on my new laptop, but for some reason, I cannot get the folder I want to share from my new laptop to show up on the 2 old ones. It keeps asking me for a password. I have tried using my “normal” password but it doesn’t seem to like that one.
I have checked all of the computer to see if I need to check or un-check a security rule, but have not found anything yet.
The only thing I can think of is that because my 2 old laptops are Windows 7 and the new one is Windows 8, that there is a security block somewhere between the two operating systems.
Was a little cooler today, but still way too hot to go out in the afternoon.

We slept in a little later this morning. I was up before Keith and Hiker kept wanting to wake him up.

Today is my older brother Ron’s 72nd birthday. Already sent him a “Happy Birthday” email plus a message on Facebook.

Obviously I didn’t go to my Grief Support Group today since Keith was here.

Had some cereal for breakfast then left to pay my monthly land lease and Keith and I headed over to Wal-Mart. After leaving there, we headed over to the Goodwill Store in Canyon Country. I was looking for a carrying case for my new laptop. Sometimes Goodwill had some, but this time they didn't. I'll have to check out the other two Goodwill stores in our valley.

We went to lunch at the new Round Table Pizza and had the buffet. Really good. Yum!

Came back home so Keith could spend some quality time with Hiker before he heads back down to Orange County this evening.

I decided since I got a new computer, I may as well upgrade to the new Microsoft Office 365. I have been using the free “Open Office” for the past 5 or 6 years so I am trying to relearn Microsoft Office. I downloaded it yesterday for a free trial period of 30 days. I’ll have to pay $99 a year for it after the free trial.

Was a little cooler outside today, but still in the low 90’s. I just with autumn would hurry up and get here.

First photo of Hiker with my new camera:

Another Hot Day

Up early to meet Jean and her dogs for a dog walk. She is boarding 3 other dogs for a few days, so we had a total of 7 dogs with us. Keith walked Hiker, I took Jean's Sassy and Charlie and Jean had her Timmy and 3 other dogs (Rocky, Ebony and Dodger). We must have been a sight walking through the park. Everyone kept stopping us to pet all of the dogs.
After breakfast, Keith and I headed over to Sam's Club to just wander around and look at things, which is never a good idea because you usually end up buying something you didn't need. We didn't buy anything there, but we were looking at the cameras there and I was talking about getting a new camera since my Canon PowerShot S5 IS is about 10 years old now and sometimes doesn't work as well as it used to, especially since I dropped in several months back while hiking at Vasquez Rocks.
Well we wandered over to Best Buy again because they are having such a huge sale this Labor Day Weekend. I should not have gone to that store again since I just bought the new laptop yesterday there which was on sale for $349.99 because I ended up buying a new Canon PowerShot SX50 HX camera which was on sale for $399.99. It's almost the same camera as my old one that 10 years ago I paid $449.99 for, but it's all upgraded with HD stuff, bigger zoom, better pixels, etc.
Oh well...might as well enjoy my money while I'm on this earth and since I don't have any kids to leave it to...
So now I have 2 new toys to play with.

Busy Day

We got up early this morning and headed over to Pico Canyon to do a hike before it got to hot. There were quite a few people hiking this morning. We did about 2.6 miles.
Came back home and I made some French toast and sausage for breakfast. Then Keith and I headed over to Sam's Club so I could pick up a few things.
We went back over to Best Buy and I bought a new Toshiba 17” laptop since I've been having so much trouble with my old Dell Laptop. I am in the process of trying to figure out Windows 8.1 right now.
Not much else to report today.

Hot, Hot, Saturday

I woke up around 4 am this morning and I didn't think I was going to go back to sleep, so I turned the TV on and in about 10 minutes, I had fallen back to sleep. Woke up again around 6:11 am and let Hiker outside to go potty.
Got up and had some breakfast and got the laundry into the washer since I wanted to get it done before Keith got here.
Hiker knew Keith was coming and she kept watching for him. Every time she head a car door outside, she went to the door to see if it was him. When he finally did get here, she started whimpering and got all excited.
Keith and I headed over to the bank and then we went to the local car wash where I had my car washed and hand waxed. While they were working on it, we walked over to Everest to have lunch.
Came back by home and then went over to Best Buy as I needed to buy some color ink for my printer, plus I was looking at the laptops. I might be buying a new one because mine has been acting up even though it is a little less than 5 years old. I saw that they had a Toshiba with a 17” screen (which is the screen size I want) on sale for $349.00. I didn't buy one yet because I'm still thinking on it some.
Came back home and decided to veg on the sofa because it was 105° outside.

Below is a link that will take you to a video of Hiker greeting Keith today.

Hiker greeting Keith

Today Sped By

Up early for our Friday dog walk and then Jean drove me down to Kaiser in Panorama City to my appointment with my retinal specialist.
This time he didn't shoot me eye full of steroids, instead he injected Avastin which is what he used in the first series of injections. They only do one or two steroid injections since steroids are not really good for us. So this time, they did not have to dilate my eyes, nor do I have the black veil and ink spots in my eye which I'm happy about because I was afraid my vision would mess up my weekend in with my brother Keith.
Don't have any idea when my next injection will be because my doctor told me he is on call for jury duty so they are trying to work out what days he will be in his office. He said that his scheduler will call me as soon as she gets it all worked out, but he did say it won't hurt anything if I go a little longer before the next injection.
Funny, he was able to get me off of jury duty, but he cannot get out of it himself. He said he kept trying to talk the judge into dismissing him, but she got mad at him and she told him to get his schedule rearranged and then come back. Must be an a-hole of a judge to not let a surgeon off.
On the way home we stopped at the Dollar Tree and I bought a few Fall decorations and then I treated Jean to lunch at BJ's Restaurant & Brewery. I had never been there. It was a nice place and their food and service was good.
So tomorrow morning I have to get up a little early and get my laundry done before Keith gets here.
It was 102° on my patio when I got home at 2 pm.

Week-end Is Almost Here

Stayed in bed until around 8 am this morning. Was not really asleep. Had the TV on and dozed now and then. Since I usually don't have regular plans on Thursdays, I tend to stay in bed longer on that day.
Had some breakfast and then took Hiker up to Canyon Country Park where we did a 1.3 mile walk. Started getting pretty warm while we were there. There was about 20 women doing Zumba in the park. I was sweating from the walking, so they must have been drenched! They were jumping up and down and going crazy to the music. There is no way I would ever be able to do that.
We got home around 9:45 am and it was already 83° on my patio. Hiker went straight outside fell asleep on the cool cement.
Jean and I will walk the dogs tomorrow morning and then around 10 am, she will drive me down to Kaiser for my next eye injection. The injections don't bother me, but I'm not looking forward to having the inky floaters for the next 2 to 4 days. At least I know they are normal when getting the steroid injections. When they were injecting me with Avastin I didn't get any big floaters, but the doctor did warn me that the steroids float around in my eye for a few days and that's what I am actually seeing.
Got up to 104° here today. Hope it cools down for the weekend. Keith and I would like to go for a hike.

View from the park this morning:

Too Hot To Do Anything

So this morning I'm sleeping away and just before I woke up to let Hiker outside, I start to have this dream. I'm dreaming the I'm with Hiker and my brother Keith and we are out at Vasquez Rocks and it is very cloudy and there is thunder and lightning off in the distance. There was another person with us, but I could not tell who it was. We were checking out some kind of water tank or something that was at the rocks. We noticed that out in the desert to the east, the clouds were getting worse and then we could see that it was raining really hard out there and the lightning was going crazy. Then we started getting some really big rain drops so we started to head back to the car. Just before we got there we noticed a funnel cloud starting to form about 5 miles to the east of us and it came down and hit the ground really fast and was heading right at us. It was a huge classic tornado and then a smaller one came down so there were two funnels...a big one and a smaller one. We started to run and we noticed it starting to hit things and saw the debris flying all over the place. We made it to the car and I turned to take pictures of the tornado when it was about a mile from us and then I woke up. I was actually breathing hard from “running” in my dream.
Got up and had breakfast and then I headed out to do my grocery shopping. Was already getting hot a muggy. We are getting humidity from Hurricane Marie. Wish some of that humidity would bring some rain because my lawn is turning so brown even though I am watering it 3 times a week like they want us to.
I had to do "surgery” on one of Hiker's toys. She gets it by the tail and shakes it all over and the seams started to come apart and its stuffing was almost about to come out of it. Happy to say the toy survived.
I have to have another eye injection this Friday. Keith is coming for the long weekend. I hope that the inky stuff that will be in my right eye will interfere with our weekend. I might have to go buy a new laptop. My Dell 17” laptop is just under 5 years old so I don't know why it is acting up, but it is. It's really slow booting up (I've done all kinds of scans and defrags on it and I have not viruses).
Was hot again today so didn't really do much this afternoon. Didn't even exercise. Just didn't feel like doing it.

Nice Support Group Today

I overslept this morning. Hiker usually always wakes me up just before 6 am to let her outside, but this morning she didn't. I suddenly woke up and it was almost 6:20 am.
Didn't get to sleep until around 12:30 last night because I stayed up to watch “Under The Dome” and didn't get to bed until about 11:30 pm. Then I couldn't go to sleep because my muscles were achy due to the housework I did yesterday afternoon.
I'm really thinking that there will be no new season for “Under The Dome” because everything seems to be coming to and end. We are finding out more and more information.
Had a lot of people at group today. The annoying woman did not show up today, so we were all glad about that. All of us are remarking that we'd rather listen to Edwin instead of her. Shock...shock.
Went to Red Robin with DeDee, Paul, Jane and Linda. Always fun when we go out to eat.

Wish This Cooler Weather Would Stay Awhile

I had wild and crazy dreams all night long, but I do not remember a single one of them. I kept waking up like every hour or so from a dream and I'd look at the clock. Then I'd go back to sleep and have another crazy dream and wake up and look at the clock again. Maybe I should stop looking at the clock – LOL.
Got up at 6 am for our dog walk with Jean. Her little girl dog Sassy had gotten her dewclaw caught in something this morning before they came over and she ripped it half off. Poor little girl. I don't know why dogs have dewclaws. I'm sure at one time they had a purpose but they don't anymore.
After Jean left and Hiker and I had a some poached eggs, I headed out to run some errands. Had to get gas in the car and had to stop by the Home Depot.
We had another “fall-like” morning here today. It was beautiful. Cool and breezy with that little autumn crispness in the air and some streaky clouds in the sky. But they are saying that we will be back up in the triple digits this weekend. There is a category 4 hurricane at the tip of Baja California that is heading up our way and they say it will bring in heat, humidity, and high tides. They didn't say anything about rain though. It will probably blow itself out before it gets here or it will head west and away from us. I've never heard of a Pacific hurricane coming ashore in California.
So after lunch and after Y&R is over, I say “Hiker, I'm going to go for a walk, so you can stay home if you want since you went out this morning on the dog walk with Jean and her dogs”. I was planning on walking down the street through Discovery Park and along the dry riverbed. Well suddenly Hiker is up on my lap kissing me and jumping all over the place telling me she wants to go with me. She knows that we sometimes go to walk somewhere else in town and that means she gets a ride in the car, so instead of Discovery park, I took her over to Central Park and we walked just a little over a mile and a half.
While were at the park, it started to get pretty windy. I think we are getting some of the clouds and wind from tropical storm Julio.
When we got back home, I used the carpet rake on my carpet and then vacuumed the entire house. Now I'm all hot, sweaty and tired.
Only got to 83° here today.

Cooler Sunday

Woke up at 6 am to let Hiker outside and saw on my computer that there had been a 6.1 earthquake in Napa, CA so I watched the news on it for awhile. Got out of bed at 7:30 and had some breakfast then put the towels and sheets in the washer and went outside. I wanted to move one of my hummingbird feeders into the front yard, plus I took down my Topsy Turvy tomato planter. Don't think I'll use it again. I only got about 10 tomatoes from it and they were quite small even though I bought the ones that were supposed to get big.
Decided to take Hiker for a walk and intended to do 2 miles but we got a mile from home and I had to go to the bathroom. The non-perks of getting older and having to take blood pressure medications with diuretics in them. My neighbor Jean takes B/P meds too but hers do not contain a diuretic, but she has learned that whenever she and I go out somewhere that I need to know where the bathrooms are and that I have to go all the time.
We had an “autumn tease” this morning. It was in the mid 50's which was about 10° degrees cooler than what is has been at 6 am the past few mornings. It warmed up to about 85° in the afternoon.
I'm thinking maybe that when it starts getting cooler (if it ever does), that I will start taking Hiker with me for a walk either in the morning or in the afternoon and then I'll take another walk without her so that I can get in some good aerobic walks like I used to get back before Ben died and before I had Hiker. Sometimes Hiker just does NOT want to go for a walk and other times she does, so I don't think she will mind if I go out alone sometimes. She gets really stubborn when she does not want to go. If I tell her we are going in the car to another area to walk, she's ready to go, but if I tell her we are going to walk down to Discovery Park, sometimes she doesn't want to go. I guess sometimes she is just lazy like her mom.
I tried to get Hiker outside to play ball for awhile, but after playing for about 10 minutes, she was ready to come back into the house. I decided to watch Steven King's “Bag Of Bones” on Netflix. I'd seen it a few years ago on TV but thought I'd watch it again.

Saturday

I did not want to get out of bed this morning. I didn't feel “sick”, but I just didn't feel that good. Actually it's more like “being tired” than feeling sick. Finally got up around 8 am and made some French toast for breakfast. Then I put my laundry into the washer.
Didn't really want to do more than watch some movies on Netflix. I watched “Along Came A Spider”. I just LOVE Morgan Freeman. Everything he does is fantastic.
Didn't have to turn my A/C on until around 2:30 pm. It reached about 90° on my patio this afternoon. I will be so glad when it starts getting cooler. Maybe I'll feel more like getting outside and doing things instead of being a couch potato.