Very Windy Day

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

Saturday

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

Not So Busy Friday

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

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

Lunch With The Lockheed Girls

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

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

Checked In On Jean

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

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

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

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

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

Good-bye Timmy

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

Hiker and her friend Timmy

Cooler Weather Today

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

A Little Cooler Today

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

Too Hot For This Time Of Year

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

Another Eye Injection

Hiker and I had our Friday morning dog walk with Jean and her dogs.
Jean picked me up at noon to drive me to Kaiser in Panorama City for my eye injection. Have not had one since July before my doctor had to do his jury duty. I have another one the first week of December.
Doctor said my eye is doing really good and he is really happy with the results of the injections, even though I don’t see any change in my vision. That is due to the other problem I have in that eye which is a Macular Pucker, which can only be fixed with surgery.
They are having the fundraiser dinner down at our rec room tonight, so Jean and I are heading down there just before 6 pm.

Too Hot For Fall

Hiker woke me up around 5:45 am to go potty. When I let her out, I felt like I had been drugged. I was so sleepy and I just could not get my body to wake up. So we went back to bed and I fell right back to sleep until Hiker woke me up again just before 8 am.
Dragged myself out of bed and had some breakfast. I realized that I was almost out of milk and orange juice. I always buy milk, eggs and OJ when I go to Sam’s Club. I had just been there last Monday, but for some reason, I didn’t buy those three items and I could have kicked myself. So back I went to Sam’s Club to get milk, eggs and OJ.
After lunch, Hiker and I went over to New Leash On Life dog rescue shelter. This is where I adopted Hiker and I try to support them as much as possible. I had some old blankets to donate to them to keep the dogs warm this winter. Whenever I notify them that I’m coming over, they always tell me to make sure I bring Hiker so they can see how she is doing. They had her for about three months before I adopted her. She is still “famous” there. They still have an 8”x10” photo of her in their lobby and they still use her on their website to encourage adoptions.
On the way back home, we stopped at the Placerita Nature Center to roam around some, but it was 90° here today so it was too hot to be there too long. We tried to stay in the shade of the coastal oak trees.
Tomorrow afternoon (Friday), I have to go to my retinal specialist for another series of eye injections. My last series got disrupted when my doctor got called in for jury duty and could not get out of it, even though he is a surgeon. He was able to get me off of my jury duty in July because of my eye injections, but when he tried to get off, the judge became angry with him and told him to go and reschedule his patients and come back and serve. It took almost three months to get back on track with my injections.
Friday evening, Jean and I are going to our community rec room for a fundraiser dinner for a young man who was injured in a dirt bike accident.

Warm, Windy, Wednesday

Up at 7 am this morning because I needed to go do my grocery shopping. After breakfast, I headed over to Stater Brothers. I like to shop early when there are not a lot of people.
Did some housework today and then took Hiker down to the park for a little while. It was warm and windy. Temps in the mid-80s and we are under a fire watch alert because of the wind and high temps. I wish it would cool back down to the weather we had last week.

Out All Day

Hiker actually slept longer this morning, but she still tried to wake me up around 5:30 am. Maybe she is finally getting used to the time.
Went to my grief support group today. A lot of people didn’t show up today. We had two college interns visiting our group today.
Went to lunch with Linda Clark and Carol Blackstone. Had a nice time.
Weather was beautiful. I would have walked this afternoon if I had not been at group all day.

Beautiful Weather On A Monday

Hope it doesn’t take Hiker too long to get used to the time change. She woke me up at 5 am again this morning. She was pulling the covers off of me with her front paws and burrowing her nose into my neck and licking me.
We went on our Monday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was 38° when we started out. Wore a light jacket, but by the time we were heading back, I was starting to sweat some. Was 75° by noon and a little breezy. They say we might get some strong Santa Ana Winds.
I went over to Wal-Mart and picked up a bunch of stuff for making fudge, lemon bars and pumpkin bread. I like to get it early because if you wait too long, they run out before the holidays get here.
After lunch, Hiker and I went over to Central Park for a nice afternoon walk in the beautiful weather. It was about 70° and a little windy. Hiker loves walking around Central Park because she does not have to worry about bicycles or skateboards there and I put her on her extension leash so she can wander around more freely. Not too many people in the park today.

Beautiful Sunday

Hiker is so used to getting up at a specific time to go outside to potty in the morning. We changed back to Standard Time early this morning, so Hiker thinks she is supposed to go outside at 5 am instead of 6 am. The time change has her all mixed up. She kept jumping on me, pawing at the covers, whining, licking me and pushing at the mattress with her nose, but I ignored her. Told her she has to get used to the time change, so she didn’t get to go outside until 6 am. Don’t remember how long it took her to make the transformation last time.
Because of the time change, I was wide awake by 6:30 am so I turned on the TV in the bedroom and watched “Sunday Morning” then we got up and I made some eggs for breakfast.
Changed the sheets on my bed and washed the ones that were on it, plus washed the comforter and put a different comforter on the bed. I have a couple of older comforters that I’m going to take over to New Leash On Life, the rescue shelter where I got Hiker from. They can always use blankets when the cooler weather comes, so I sent them a message on Facebook to see if I can bring them over this Thursday. They always want me to bring Hiker over to visit.
It was so beautiful outside today. After we have a rain, the next day is so fresh and clean. I wanted to get out for a walk or a hike, but my stomach felt upset. I think it was due to the fried eggs I had for breakfast. I can eat poached eggs, but fried eggs seem to mess me up.
Watched one of my favorite Hallmark Christmas movies. It’s called “The Christmas Card”. I think I like is so much because it was filmed in Nevada City, CA where Ben’s sister Donna used to live. Ben and I visited there once many years ago and I loved the little town. Always wanted to go back again but never got to. Ben’s sister now lives in Las Vegas.

Cloudy and Cool

Got home from the community Halloween party around 8:30 last night. Hiker must have been scared by the sounds of the “haunted house” up the street and the kids roaming the streets. When I walked in the door, she was so excited to see me that she tried to jump into my arms and once I got inside, she was shaking like she was frightened. I had to hurry and let her outside before she peed in the house.
Didn’t get to sleep until around midnight then I woke up around 2 am from the sound of the pouring rain. It was coming down really hard. We really needed that rain and we need a lot more of it.
Fired up the heater for the first time since last winter. Most people don’t like that smell you get when the heater has not been used for a long time, but I do like it. Smells warm and toasty to me.
Jean came by at 9 am and picked me up. She wanted to go over to the Dollar Tree and Big Lots. We were only out for about an hour. We were still both pooped from decorating and the party last night.
I decided I was going to be a couch potato today and just sit and watch TV, but I did do a load of laundry.

Halloween 2014

Up early to do our Friday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. Was very cloudy and cool while we were out this morning. Let the dogs have a little play time in the back yard.
At 10 am, Jean and I headed over to our community rec room to help get things ready for the Halloween Party tonight. Chris, our neighbor and manager of the community, had most of the decorating done, so we helped her with getting the treats ready. Decorated cookies, made “mummy dogs” and popcorn, etc.
We will head back over there around 4:30 pm to get any food that needs to be warmed up done and make sure everything is ready. The party starts at 5:30. The costume judging starts early, so we have to be there to check out all of the kids.
I will have to watch “Y&R” online tonight since I didn’t see it this morning and I probably won’t be home until after TVGN shows it. Although, if I’m still awake at 12 midnight, TVGN shows it again.

Busy Thursday

Well today started out “weird” for me. Hiker did not wake me up around 6 am as normal. I woke up and it was already well after 6 am so I jumped out of bed and found her in the living room. I let her outside. When she came back in we went back to bed. I was exhausted because I had trouble going to sleep last night due to the fact that my muscles were aching. Don’t know if it is because of my Crestor or because I’ve been walking more again.
I fell back to sleep almost immediately and I started to dream. First I was dreaming that my brother Keith and I had been on a trip and I had purchased a huge painting. Don’t know what the painting was but supposedly it was very expensive and I got it for a steal. I decided to try to sell it at an auction house. When I bought it, the canvas was in the frame, but when I was at the auction house, they were separate. They were looking at the frame to put a value on it and Keith got the canvas but it was torn and they were telling me that it needed to be repaired before they could make me an offer on it.
That dream went away and then I was dreaming that I was home, but it looked like the first home where Ben and I had lived. My mom who passed away 16 years ago was there with me and so was Hiker. Ben was not in the dream. I saw my neighbor Valerie who had just rented a room to some young people. They were making all kinds of noise and she was apologizing to me about it. Hiker was digging under a bush and I kept telling her to stop. Then it was no longer Hiker, it was a baby elephant. Seems I had planted pumpkins and the elephant was eating them. There was this one really big pumpkin that I picked up but I noticed it was very light in weight. Someone told me it was because I had watered it too much.
I woke up with a start and it was almost 8:30 am. Hiker came running into my bedroom from the front of the house and I accused her of letting me over sleep.
Got up and headed out to Sam’s Club. Wanted to take advantage of several paperless coupons they had.
Hiker and I did not go for a walk today because I had to check out my Emergency Kit to be sure all of my flashlights were working and that all of my batteries are good, plus check on the dates on the canned foods I have in it. Also had to do my vacuuming. Couldn’t do it tomorrow because most of the day I will be at our community rec room helping decorating it for tomorrow night’s Halloween Party. I’ll be judging the kids’ costumes tomorrow evening.

Hump Day

So today is my day for staying in bed until 8 am. Doesn’t always mean I will sleep until then. Sometimes I’m watching TV and other times Hiker wants to play.
She and I had breakfast and then I put her in the car to head over to the local post office so I could put my Kaiser Medicare enrollment package in the mail. It was around 9:30 am when we got there only to find out that the post office does not open until 10 am. What the heck is that all about? So we headed over to the main post office in Valencia so I could post the package inside to assure it will get out today.
Some things I mail in my cluster box mail slot, but because our mailman has lost mail before, and often puts my neighbor’s mail in my box instead of theirs, I don’t trust him with important stuff. My address is 27833 and I often get my neighbor’s mail whose address is 27838. Also I get mail for my neighbor Michelle Wagner. My last name is spelled Waggoner. This guy has been our mailman for years, so I don’t know what his problem is.
When we got back home, I mopped my kitchen floor and then because they are saying we have rain coming in late Friday night, I made sure my rain gutters were clear of leaves and branches. They are pretty sure that we really are going to get rain this time. I sure hope so.
After lunch, I took Hiker over to Valencia Heritage Park for an afternoon walk. I was going to vacuum the carpet when we got home, but I was too tired so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Do you think Hiker knows that there is a gigantic soccer ball sneaking up behind her?

Good Day

Went to my support group today. Ed was on a roll today. I think he talked at least 40 minutes of our 2 hour session. He didn’t talk all at once, but when he got started, he’d ramble on for about 5 to 10 minutes before we could move on. We had a college intern in our session today. She is studying to be a social worker. Had a few new people come to the meeting today. One was a man who lost his wife last week. He was in the caregiver support group at the senior center. His wife had a stroke about 15 years ago and was living in a facility when she passed. The other new people was a couple, I’m assuming husband and wife, but we never did get to hear from them.
Four of us ladies went out for pizza after the session.
When I got home, Hiker and I did our normal thing…put the trash out by the curb and go up to the mailbox. I went online and signed up with Lockheed for my Kaiser Medicare supplement plan. Tomorrow I need to get the enrollment form from Kaiser in the mail. Kaiser said I have until December 31st to get it back to them, but I want to make sure it gets here since it took so long for me to get the form from them to fill out.
Was chilly here this morning but got into the mid-80s by the afternoon.

Somewhat Busy Day

Had our “every Monday” dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was only 42° and I actually had to wear a sweater. I love it!
After lunch I took Hiker over to the South Fort Trail to do a 2 mile walk. It still gets a little warm in the afternoons, but nothing like it was during the summer months.
When I got home I found that my Kaiser Medicare paperwork had finally shown up in my mailbox. They claimed they had sent the package to me the end of September and I never got it, so I called them about 2 weeks ago and told them, so they said they sent me another one. I called them Friday to ask a couple of questions and they told me the package had been sent out on October 22nd. Well, today I don’t get just one package, I get two identical packages. The postmark on one was October 23rd and the other was postmarked October 24th. But at least I finally got it.
So I spent the afternoon filling the forms out and tomorrow I have to go online to the Lockheed website and enroll online with them for my Medicare supplemental insurance.
Covered up my air conditioner this afternoon. As I said, it is still warm in the afternoons but not warm enough to run the A/C.

Out And About With Neighbor Jean Today

Stayed up late last night watching a movie on the Hallmark Channel. Hike and I went to bed around 11:30 pm.
Hiker then woke me up just after 5:30 am to go outside this morning. She’s been off her schedule ever since we got back from our trip up north.
Got up around 7 am and had breakfast. Jean came around 9:30 am and picked me up to go to the Crafty Ladies fall craft fair over in Northridge, CA. I only go because it gives me something to do. I think I’ve only bought something there once.
We left there and headed back over to the Santa Clarita Valley. Jean told me she was taking me to lunch because I had helped her with hooking up her cable box, Tivo and TV last week. She wanted to try a new place that one of her friends had told her about over in Stevenson Ranch called Urbane Café. I wasn’t really into going there because it was all “gourmet” sandwiches and salads, but I figured since she was buying, I would not object. I’m not a gourmet kind of girl. I like plain old food like burgers, fries, pizza, etc. I will admit that the sandwich was not bad, but I didn’t care for the salad that came with it. It’s not a place that I would go back to.
We also stopped by a few stores, but I didn’t buy anything.
The weather was fantastic today. It was about 75°, clear and breezy. My favorite kind of weather. Took Hiker out for an afternoon walk.

TV Day

Slept in this morning. It was cloudy when Hiker and I got up but the sun finally came through even though it was still “partly cloudy” most of the day.
Got an email from my brother Ron saying that it was raining up in Paradise, CA. Sure wish some of it would come down here.
Even though the weather outside was beautiful today, I spend the entire day sitting on my sofa watching “The Good Witch Marathon” on the Hallmark Channel.
Hiker slept most of the day.

The morning sky here:

Not So Busy Day

Up early for our every Friday dog walk with Jean. It was actually a little chilly out this morning. Jean commented that she wished she had worn a sweat shirt instead of a t-shirt.
Most of the day I spent on the sofa watching TV, but after lunch, I put Hiker in the car and we headed up to Vasquez Rocks for a hike. Was still pretty warm up there.
When I got home I found my Lockheed Health Insurance package for my enrollment. Now I just have to sit down, figure out the numbers and decide if I want to stay with Kaiser through Lockheed or get Kaiser on my own.

Had A Good Day

Hiker woke me up around 6:15 am. We went back to bed after she came back inside and I fell asleep and didn’t wake up for another hour and 45 minutes. Had some breakfast and then Hiker and I went to get my lottery tickets for Saturday and then drove over to Central Park in Saugus and did a nice morning walk. I’m trying to get myself back into shape. There were a lot of people there this morning walking with dogs or walking alone. I had several people stop me to ask me what kind of dog Hiker was. There were a couple of ladies who knew and they were surprised when I told them she came from a rescue shelter. Three young men were there to play Frisbee Golf and one of they said Hiker looks like someone took the head of one kind of dog and put it on the body of another kind of dog. I’ve had people tell me that before.
Watched my soap and had lunch and then decided to clean my master bathroom. Had a bunch of Windows Updates I had to put on my laptops.
We actually hit 90° here today, but this time of year, 90° does not feel as hot as it does in the summer.

Semi-relaxing Day

Hiker woke me up at her usual 6 am to go outside. Only went back to bed for a little while. Got up and made some poached eggs for me and Hiker and then I headed over to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping. I was good because I bought a bunch of fresh veggies.
Watched my soap and had lunch and thought about taking Hiker out for a walk this afternoon, but decided I really needed to vacuum and clean a little. Took me almost an hour to do so I figured that was my exercise for today. I’ll probably take her out for a walk tomorrow.
Didn’t do much else the rest of the day. Messed around on my computer some and watched a little TV.

Good Day At Group

Up at 7 am to get ready to go to my grief support group today. It was good to be back with my friends in the group. We had a really good session today. Most of the “old” regulars were there. We had two new people come in. One woman and one man. The woman didn’t say anything while she was there but we got the guy to talk. He lost his wife of 45 years in March and his kids made him sell his house and all of his belongings and then they passed him from his daughter’s home to his son’s home and he said he just feels so alone and left out of everything. He is thinking about getting an apartment so we all gave him information about the senior apartments in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Edwin didn’t show up and neither did Paul. Five of us ladies went to lunch and had a fun time as we always do. For a bunch of “old ladies” we act like a bunch of teen-aged girls when we are together.
Nice weather here today, in the low to mid 80s.
I finally got into the Social Security website this morning. If you recall, they had sent me an email telling me that my “annual statement” was online and ready to view. Well when I looked at it, it didn’t look any different than it did the last time I looked at it.
I’ve made the decision that if Lockheed does not offer the Kaiser Senior Advantage health insurance plan to me when I get my packet from them, that I am going to go ahead and sign up with Kaiser on my own, since I’m already a member of Kaiser and just tell Lockheed to “go pound sand”. I looked at the individual plan that Kaiser offers for seniors and it actually looks like it might be cheaper for me to just go with them on my own than to go with them through Lockheed, so I will just wait and see what happens when I get my enrollment packet from Lockheed.
I bought a new microwave last week. My old one was one that Ben and I bought way back in the late 1980s or early 1990s. The old one was not cooking the middle of my food anymore. It still worked but not as well as it should. Here in our community, we have a work crew who takes care of the grounds and other things and if we put items out by the curb with a free sign on it, they will usually take it and repair it or scrap it out for money. I had the old microwave out all day yesterday and no one ever took it, but I put it out again this morning and it was gone when I got home from group. I’m glad because I thought I was going to have to take it over to Best Buy so they could recycle it.
Hiker is all stretched out in her usual spot on the sofa. I think the trip to my brother’s wore here out – LOL.

Crazy Afternoon

Up at 6 am we went on a morning dog walk at 7 am with Jean and her dogs and then they had a play date in my back yard.
So today I tried to get into the Social Security website again to check out my annual statement. I put in my information and then it tells me that I tried several times to get into the site so they were suspending me for 24 hours because I had tried to get into the site too many times and failed. Well that was NOT my fault because yesterday it kept crashing. So now I have to wait until tomorrow to try to see my statement.
I am finally loving the cool fall weather. Took Hiker for an afternoon walk. Was still a little warm out there, in the low 80’s. But I need to get back into walking 3 or 4 times a week.
When I got home, I picked up my mail and there was a letter from Lockheed telling me that the insurance plan I now have with them would no longer be offered. I called Kaiser and they said as far as they knew, Lockheed California was still offering Kaiser to its retirees but Lockheed Georgia was not. So I called the Lockheed Employee Services which I hate doing because they are a 3rd party and never know what they are talking about. Anyway, they told me that Lockheed California WAS still offering Kaiser to its retirees and that I should get my enrollment papers next week with a form to fill out to sign up with Kaiser Medicare Advantage. I hope the woman knew what she was talking about because most of the time they don’t. She told me she had no idea that Lockheed Georgia had dropped Kaiser, but Kaiser told me they had a letter from Lockheed stating that they were.
Then I called Kaiser back to let them know I had called Lockheed and what they had told me because the woman I had spoken to at Kaiser said they would appreciate a call back from me to let them know what Lockheed told me. In the meantime, I asked about the form Kaiser was supposed to send to me this month for me to fill out and send back to them. They said they had mailed it out to me back on September 24th, but I never received it. I check my mail every day and go through everything, even the junk mail. They told me that they would send another form out. Hopefully I will get it in time for my enrollment period.
What a mess.

Still Trying To Get Back To My Routine

Don’t know why but since I’ve gotten back from my trip up north, I have felt exhausted. Last night I wanted to stay up and watch a movie on the Hallmark Channel but I fell asleep on the sofa around 8:30 pm. Woke up around 9:45 pm and the movie was already on and I had missed the entire beginning, so I just went to bed and I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Got to see the movie on Hallmark this afternoon.
Slept in this morning until 8 pm. Hiker didn’t wake me up at 6 am like she usually does. I woke up to go to the bathroom and noticed it was 6:30 am. I let her out to potty and then we both went back to bed.
After I got up, I had some breakfast, put the sheets and towels in the washing machine and then I made some hummingbird water and filled my feeders. No more than got one filled when a hummer showed up at it. I bought a new hummer feeder while at my brother’s so now I have three of them…two in the back yard and one in the front.
Had an email from the Social Security telling me that my annual statement was available online but everyone in the country must be trying to get online because the site kept crashing. Typical government website.
I am hoping to get back to walking Hiker tomorrow. Almost got out today, but had so much to do around the house, just didn’t get the time.

My garage door.

I Cannot Seem To Catch Up

I slept in late this morning. I got up at 6 am to let Hiker outside and I was sooo tired. I’m guessing it was due to spending most of yesterday trying to figure out Jean’s digital boxes, Tivo and DVD recorder.
Did more laundry this morning. Seems like since I got home from my trip up north that I just cannot seem to get caught up. I had another bill to pay today, plus had to fill out my mail-in ballot for the election so I could get it into the mail.
Still trying to figure out my new TV channel set-up. I am having so much trouble trying to remember where the channels I normally watch are. I have the booklet that Time Warner sent to us, but the print is small and I have to really search to find what channel I want.
Called my friend Karren. She and her husband Wally are in Idaho. They just bought a house there and will be moving into it sometime in November.
Jean called me asking if I was coming over to help her hook up the DVD recorder in the bedroom. Told her I’d be there after my gardeners left. Sent over there around 11:45 am. We had no luck figuring out how to hook up the recorder because every digital box and every recorder is different and some of them don’t give you a good description of each port on the back of the device. She finally decided that since she has the Tivo hooked up in the living room and it works, that she did not need the recorder in the bedroom because she can record on the Tivo.
Hiker and I came home around 1:30 pm. I was starving so I had some lunch and then finally settled down to watch some TV and check out my emails, etc.

Busy Day

Got up at 6 am and Hiker and I went on a dog walk with Jean and her dogs while Keith slept in. I was telling Jean how Hiker has been scratching a lot. She started doing it while we were up at my brother Ron’s. She was scratching more than usual and she was rubbing her nose on the carpet. Jean went to dog grooming school and she learned a little about dog allergies and skin problems. She suggested that I give Hiker a bath because she may have picked up something from the pine trees and other vegetation up north that she was not used to.
Keith left to head back to his home around 11:15 am, so as soon as he left, I put Hiker in the tub and lathered her up really good with dog shampoo. I’m surprised she was so good with me doing it because she used to give me all kinds of problems when I would try to bathe her back before I turned that job over to Jean.
I’m hoping that now she won’t be scratching so much because I was worried that she would get a rash or some hot spots. Or maybe scratch herself raw.
I did a couple of loads of laundry…sheets and towels from our trip and the towels I used to bathe Hiker.
Had some bills to take care of and some other things that I could not really get to until Keith left.
Jean called me around 11:45 am and told me she just went to Best Buy and purchased a new Tivo and she wanted to know if I would come over and help her set it up. I know nothing about Tivos but I told her I’d give it a try. Was there for several hours and we kept having problems with Time Warner on the phone trying to re-activate her new digital boxes that she got today.
Weather was fantastic today. It was in the mid 70’s and breezy. A few clouds floating over.

Getting Back To Normal

Slept in a little this morning. The bed felt so good. Nothing like your own bed. It was crisp and cool when I let Hiker outside at 6 am. Finally the fall weather I’ve been looking forward to.
Got up around 7 am and had some breakfast and then Keith and I headed over to the carwash to get the dirt and grime off my car. From there we went to Sam’s Club as I had a few things I had to pick-up.
When we got back home, I put up some Halloween magnets on my garage door and then went through my mail from last week. Still need to pay some bills but I’ll wait until Keith heads home before I do that.
Went to lunch and then headed over to Wal-Mart because I needed a new microwave oven. My old one was about 25 years old and it got to where it was not cooking all the way through. Sometimes the middle of the food would still be cold. Got a nice one for $65.
Only got into the mid 80’s here today. Finally getting cooler.

I'm Pooped!

It started raining last night in Paradise, CA after we went to bed. Keith and I wished that the rain had come earlier in the week so we could have enjoyed it. We left Paradise around 7:30 am and we had a little bit of rain until we got south of Sacramento.
Long, long drive home. Keith and I split the driving. It was mostly cloudy all the way down, but the sun did peek out now and then.
We got home just before 3:30 pm and it took me an hour to unpack and put everything away. I think that is the worst part of a trip.
I know that Hiker enjoyed being with my brother Ron, but she sure was glad to get home and get back to her “normal” routine.
Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight and I’m sure Hiker is glad she will be on the bed with me.

Took this photo near Tracy, CA on the way home.

Heading Home In The Morning

This morning, Hiker, me, Keith, Ron and Matt headed down towards Chico, CA. We stopped along “The Skyway” at Vista Point to check out the view of Butte Creek Canyon and then drove down into the canyon to visit the Honey Run Covered Bridge. I was wondering if there was much water in Butte Creek since we have not had much rain in California, but it still has quite a bit of water.
After leaving the bridge, we headed down to the Genetic Resource and Conservation Center in Chico. They have a nice little nature trail that runs alongside Comanche Creek. We usually go there to take a nice walk when we visit. Hiker likes it there too. Funny, she is so afraid of taking a bath, but she seems to love the creeks up here. If I did not have her on a leash, I think she might just jump in.
We left the center and headed over to Upper Bidwell Park to hike around a little. There were a lot of students up there. Some younger ones who appeared to be on a field trip and then a group of students from Chico State. We were thinking maybe there were in a geology class as they were looking at rock formations in the park.
We brought Hiker back to Ron’s apartment and then then we went over to Izzy’s to have a burger. I think they have the best burgers in Paradise, CA.
Kept getting cloudier as the day progressed. We are supposed to have some rain starting tonight into tomorrow.
Keith, Hiker and I will be heading back home tomorrow morning so email blog may be later in the day.

Out and About

I slept better last night than I did the first night. Hiker woke me up around 5:15 am and I kept telling her she had to wait a while and to go back to sleep. Then she woke me up again at 5:30 am. Once again I told her to go back to bed. She kept bugging me so finally at 5:45 am, I got up and fed her and let her go outside. When she came back in, she went back to bed and so did I until around 6:30 am when my brother Ron got up.

We went and picked up my nephew Jared and we went over to a café called Kalico Kitchen. I remember my mom used to love going there for breakfast when she and I used to visit Ron back in the 1980’ and 1990’s.

We left the café and came back to pick up Hiker and we headed down to see if we could see the Sutter Buttes up close. We’ve always seen them from up here in Paradise, way off in the distance. I looked them up online and it said they were a “state park” so off we went to check them out. I printed out a Google map but when we got to where it told us to go, there was no sign of a “state park”. No gate, no entrance…nothing. So we turned around and headed back up to Paradise.

We dropped Hiker off at the apartment and then went to lunch and then took Jared back to his home.

It started getting very cloudy this afternoon as a storm is supposed to be heading this way, but Keith and I are afraid we are going to be heading home before it gets here and we won’t be able to see the rain. We have not seen “real rain” for so long down in SoCal, we were really hoping to have at least one day of rain here.
Tomorrow, Hiker, me, Keith and Ron are heading down to Chico. Planning on checking out the Honey Run Covered Bridge in Butte Creek Canyon and then going to a park in Chico to walk Hiker around.

First Full Day In Paradise, CA

We stayed up late last night watching a movie. I always have trouble falling asleep the first night we get here. Hiker could not figure where she wanted to sleep. First she was on the cot with me then she realized there was not enough room for the both of us, so she got under the cot for a while. I think she finally ended up in her collapsible crate. She woke me up around 6:12 am to go outside.
My older brother Ron was already up and getting dressed in his room so I went ahead and got up and so did Keith. We waited for my nephew Matt to get here so we could go to breakfast over at the Black Bear Diner.
After breakfast we came back and got Hiker and then went for a 30 minute, one and a half mile walk through the old cemetery behind my brother’s apartment. I could really tell how out of shape I have gotten because I was huffing and puffing and my legs were killing me, but I survived.
We came back and sat around at the apartment for a while and then we went over to Bille Park and did some more walking.
Hiker met another Australian Cattle Dog there. It was a 5 year old male and they seemed to get along pretty good. There was some old man at the park who kept mumbling “This is NOT a dog park”. I don’t know what his problem was. We knew it was not a regular dog park and Hiker was on her leash the entire time we were there. I think maybe he just did not like dogs.
When we got back home from the park it was passed lunch time, but we were all so full from the huge breakfast we had that we decided to wait until dinner time to have anything to eat. We are thinking about pizza.

Long Day

Keith, Hiker and I spent the day driving up the middle of California to visit our brother Ron for a few day. Long drive, very tired.