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.

Friday

Last night I watched a movie on Netflix called “Alien Abduction”. They movie was kind of like a documentary and they “claim” that it was based on a true story. Now I watch all kinds of crime shows, even all the ones on the cable networks that are based on true stories and they don't scare me, but this movie made me feel a little jumpy last night after I watched it. Even caused me to have some strange dreams which the crime shows don't do.
Hiker and I got out of be around 6 am and got ready to go for our Friday dog walk with Jean. Jean is still boarding a little dog named Dodger, so we had an extra fur bay with us this morning.
After breakfast, I refilled my humming bird feeders. Then Jean called and asked if she could come over and look at my sprinkler controller in the garage. We are trying to adjust our watering to the new rules brought on by the drought we are in, so she wanted to see how mine was set. I'm aloud to water Monday, Wednesday and Friday because I have an odd address and her watering days are Sunday Tuesday and Thursday because her address is even. No one is supposed to be watering on Saturdays. I've noticed that most of my neighbors are still watering every day even though they are only supposed to water 3 days a week now, plus they are watering on days that do not go along with the schedule. I don't know if they will be fined or not, but I would prefer not to risk it myself.
Got into the low 90s today. I sure am looking forward to fall getting here.

Didn't Do Much Today

I was lazy this morning and stayed in bed until 8 am. Watched both episodes of “Extant” last night, so didn't get to bed until around 11:30 pm.
After breakfast, Hiker and I went to get the lottery tickets and then we headed over to Bridgeport and walked around the man-made lake there. It was a beautiful morning, but started getting a little warm on the way back to the car. I was sweating like crazy.
Came home and watched some TV and had lunch then I did a little housework while Hiker slept.
Other than that, didn't do too much today.

Hump Day

Hiker and I got out of bed just before 7 am this morning. It was very cloudy outside but that burned away quickly. Had some breakfast and then I headed over to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping. After I got home and put everything away, I put Hiker in the car and we headed up to Canyon Country park where we did a 1.3 mile walk. Was sunny, in the low-70s and a bit humid.
Did a little weed pulling in the yard today since it was cooler outside. Got a splinter of some kind in my finger so I had to dig that out.
Did several online surveys and watched TV.
Got up into the mid-80s this afternoon. I had the doors open for most of the day, but the house started getting warm so I had to turn the A/C on for awhile.

Photo I took while on our morning walk

Support Group Tuesday

Went to my support group at the senior center today. We have this new woman who has been there about 3 times. She is starting to irk the regular members. She is loud and very rude. She interrupts others when they are talking and she sits and complains loudly that it is too hot in the room. Whenever she talks it is usually something about “poor me”. At first I thought it was just me, but at lunch the other ladies said that they don't care much for her either.
We've been having smaller groups lately. We are guessing that some of the people are away on trips for the summer.
It was actually somewhat cooler here today and a little cloudy. Was in the mid-80s as compared to the 100's we've had the past few days plus they are saying there could be some thunder storms in some areas.
I love to photograph clouds because they are such good subject matter. I noticed after I uploaded this one that there was an Aussie Cattle Dog at the top of the cloud. Can you see it?

Hot Hot Monday

Up early for our dog walk with Jean. She had an extra dog with her today. She is boarding Dodger for a few days while his mom and dad are away. There were a lot of people out walking this morning. Guess they wanted to get out before it got too hot. It was already 88° by 10 am.
After breakfast I headed out to pick up my lottery tickets and I had to run over to Sam's Club and spend my money. Seems like I never get out of there for less that $75 anymore. This time I only bought a few things, but a couple of them were expensive, like my bag of frozen salmon fillets so it was over $90 this time.
When I got home I was putting my purchases away when I noticed something run across the floor in front of me. It was either a tiny lizard or a tiny salamander. It looked more like a salamander. It scared me and I shrieked. Hiker came running to see what was going on. I know she had not seen it earlier because she would have still been searching the entire house for it if she had of seen it. Anyway, I got my grabber stick and trapped it in the bathroom where I was able to grab it and take it outside.
After lunch I had to drive across the Santa Clarita Valley to pick up my refills for my three medications. Was pretty crowded at the pharmacy but the line moved along really fast. I still do not understand why when I got my Crestor for the first time back in March that it cost me $75 and the last two refills have only cost me $25. I'm not getting a generic because they don't have a generic for Crestor yet. But I'm not complaining.
It was already 100° when I got back home around 1:30 pm. I didn't do my indoor walking today because I decided to do my vacuuming instead. I've read that vacuuming is a form of low aerobics.

Sleepy Sunday

Slept in a little this morning. I still find it amazing how dogs can tell time. Every morning between 5:45 am and 6 am, Hiker starts to stir. She moves around on the bed, getting into different positions and usually ends up on her back with her belly in the air. I pretend to ignore her. She then whines a little and again I pretend to ignore her. Then she get on the pillow right next to my head and starts poking me with her cold, wet nose. I roll over to face away from her so then she starts pawing at me and grunting. I finally have to give in and get up, feed her and let her outside. Once she comes back in, she goes back to bed and stretches out to sleep some more.
My brother Keith got through his colonoscopy with no problem. The results only showed diverticulitis, which he already knew he had, plus they said he has some internal hemorrhoids, which could have been the cause of the blood they found when he did the fecal test. However they still do not know what is causing his minor anemia and his vitamin D deficiency.
After I did some laundry and had lunch, I considered taking Hiker out for a drive since she loves riding in the car, but it was already 99° outside and I just was not in the mood to get out and drive.
Hiker was at the patio door having a fit, so I looked out into the yard and there was a squirrel on the fence, I let her out and she was barking and running around. The squirrel finally leaped from the fence to the tree and climbed to the top. After awhile, Hiker once again saw the squirrel stretched out on the fence. I got a picture of the squirrel when it got back into the tree and I'm afraid that it's going to keep teasing Hiker and the dogs that live behind me because it keeps running back and forth along the top of the fence. I finally closed the blinds on the sliding door, but that didn't stop Hiker from sticking her head between them to look outside.

Saturday

Just before 6 am, I looked at my clock to see if it was time to get up at let Hiker outside and just then my power went out. I looked outside around the neighborhood and it appeared that the entire area was out. It came on about 8 or 10 minutes late. I decided to go back to bed when Hiker came back in and I dozed off. Just before 8 am, I heard my cell phone text message alert. It was my brother Keith. He is going in for a colonoscopy later today and he told me he was dreading drinking that nasty liquid they give you to clean yourself out.
As you all know, it was a colonoscopy that landed Ben in the hospital for emergency surgery due to his colon being twisted during the procedure. I have not had a colonoscopy since that time and I do not intend to ever have one again, and it worries me so much now when anyone I know is getting one.
Had some waffles for breakfast and then did a load of laundry and ran the dishwasher. I only run my dishwasher about every other week. I wash most of my dishes by hand since it's just me here.
Stayed inside all day as it was in the triple digits here today.

Warm Friday

Didn't really do very much today. Did our Friday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. Basically just sat on the sofa all day either watching TV or messing around on the computer.
I'm really starting to get bombarded with all of the Medicare junk mail in my mailbox these days. I still have about 5 months until I turn 65 and I already know who I am going with. A lot of the stuff I get doesn't even have a provider's name on it. All it has is my name and wants me to answer a few questions and return it to a P.O. Box, but of course, I'm not falling for that. Have not gotten my Medicare Card for the government yet, but I figure that will be coming in the next couple of months.
Got up to about 97° here today. At least it is cool in the morning and also cools down in the evening.
Since it was too warm for an afternoon walk outside, I did a 1 1/2 mile walk indoors.

Hiker was hiding under the sofa pillows again.

Lunch With Friends

Boy was I tired last night. I had done a 3 mile 45 minute indoor walk with my Leslie Sansone DVDs. I had to struggle to stay awake during “Extant” and even then, I think I may have dozed off a couple of time.
Got up at 7 am and immediately took Hiker out for a 2 mile walk. Wanted to get out early before it got too hot.
Met several of the Lockheed Retired Girls for lunch at the new Round Table Pizza Parlor here in Canyon Country. For those of you who know the ladies, I was with Judy Holdt, Sandi Owens, Lynn Toler, Marce Smith and Gail Plessner. Good food and good friends. What else can you ask for?
Got up into the mid-90s here today. Actually there was a nice breeze so it almost didn't feel like it was that warm.

Hiker got some new toys from her "Aunt" Judy today.

Wednesday

Up around 7 am and then off to go shopping at Wal-Mart. I like getting there early when the store is almost empty except for the fact that they have about 20 or 30 checkout registers and only have one open until later in the day. There were about 15 people in line so I went over to the self checkout registers and checked myself out.
Hiker and I sure have not been going outside much due to the hot weather. We do go for a dog walk twice a week with Jean and her dogs. We cannot wait until Fall gets here and the weather cools down so we can start getting out for our afternoon walks again.
I'm at least getting some exercise doing my indoor walking sessions with my Leslie Sansone DVDs. Hiker gets exercise playing in the back yard and by me chasing her around the house.
I know that we could get out early for walks while it is still cool outside, but that's when I like to go and do my grocery shopping, Wal-Mart runs, etc. Plus when we get up even at 7 am, it is usually already 70° to 75° outside.
Got up to 94° on my patio today.
Time to get off my butt and do my indoor walking.

Typical Tuesday

Would have loved to stay in bed this morning. Didn't get to sleep last night until almost 1 pm. I stayed up watching “Under The Dome” and then was wide awake. Tried watching TV in bed because that usually puts me to sleep, but didn't work this time.
Beautiful morning here today. It was almost 70° at 6 am, but there were some clouds in the sky and it just looked so pretty. Even though it's in the 90's during the day here, at least our mornings and nights are cool. We've only had a few days over 100° this summer whereas last summer we had weeks of those high temperatures.
Went to my grief support group today. Had a very small group of people today. A new woman joined us. She has been widowed for a little over a year. Four of us ladies and Paul went to lunch at Cathy's Deli and this time Paul did not pay for all of us, which we were all glad about. We all agree that it is nice of him to want to treat us, but we all feel uncomfortable that he does it all of the time.
I had a patty melt and when I got home, I felt like I was going to explode. It really filled me up.
Got up to 99° here today, so it was a little hotter than it has been.

Usual Monday

Up at 6 am to go for our dog walk with Jean. She was early this morning. After our walk she had to take her car to have it smogged, so there was no play date for the dogs this morning.
Hiker and I came home and had breakfast and then I washed my sheets and towels since I didn't do it yesterday due to the guy being here cleaning my carpets.
I drove over to get my lottery tickets this morning and I saw the Chem Dry guy. He saw me and gave me a big wave. Nice guy.
Got a call from Jean. She was still at the car dealer. They found an oil leak in her 14 year old Rav4 so she has to leave her car. I thought she was calling for me to come and pick her up, but she said a friend from her card group is coming to get her and take her to their game, but she wanted to know if I could drive her back over to pick her car up tomorrow after 12 noon. I had to tell her no because I have my support group tomorrow and then I go out to lunch with the ladies of the group and do not get home until after 2 pm. I told her if she wanted to wait, I could come by and get her around 2 pm and take her to get her car, but she said she would call the dealer shuttle car. I felt kind of bad about it because she is always so good about driving me to my eye doctor appointments.
After lunch, I decided to clean my guest bathroom. I noticed while I was cleaning that it was getting cloudy outside. Went out on the porch to look and it was really humid.
As soon as I get this sent out, I need to do some indoor walking.

Super Moon when we got up this morning

Busy Sunday

Got up at 6 am so I could have the smaller furniture moved out of the way for the Chem Dry Carpet Cleaning man. My appointment was at 9 am however Brooks showed up just after 8:30 am which was fine with me. He was really nice. He told me that he had seen me walking Hiker around town when he was driving to or from a job.
He gave me the 10% senior discount on the carpet cleaning, plus because he had to change our appointment from last Thursday to today, he also gave me 50% off a ScotchGard treatment on the carpet. Thought that was really nice of him.
Hiker was having a fit when Brooks first came in. I had put her out on the patio just before he arrived. After she settled down some, I let her come and meet him so that she knew it was OK for him to be in the house. He told me that he has a very gentle pit bull.
While he was cleaning, I went out to the patio with Hiker so that we would be out of his way. Took him about an hour and a half to clean the entire house. He told me that he pulled a lot of deep down dirt out of the carpet. I must say that it looks almost as good as when it was brand new. Smells good too.
Problem is now, Hiker is chasing flies all over the house. They got in while Brooks had the front door open. They have to keep it open because their hose for the cleaner comes out of the back of their van and through the door.
Finally got all of the small furniture back into place around 1 pm. I decided to put the big ottoman that came with my couch in my bedroom so that Hiker could use it for a bed. Since I got the smaller mattress, she leaves if I start moving around. The ottoman is big so she can stretch out on it as much as she wants and stay in the room with me.
Had some lunch and then after lunch I went out and adjust some of my sprinkler heads in the back yard. I noticed this morning when they came on around 4:15 am that one of them was hitting my bedroom sliding door, so I need to fix that.
Had a scare with my big Dell laptop. I was working on it when all of a sudden I lost my network on it. I didn't even give me any choices to pick from. My network was fine on my smaller Toshiba laptop. I just kept messing around with it and I don't know what I did, but somehow, I got my network back on it. Then I had to reset my home group so I could share things between the two laptops and my printer.
Below are some photos of some bad spots in my carpet before and after the cleaning. The left side is before showing the spots, the right side shows how good it looks now.

Sleepy Saturday

I must have been exhausted...I had let Hiker outside at 6 am and she came back in, then I went back to bed and feel asleep and only woke up at 8 am because Hiker woke me up. I felt like I could have slept even longer.
My neighbor Jean called me not long after I got out of bed to tell me that she called Time Warner and that they were not being very helpful. We have been having problems with the sound while watching our TV shows. Jean was also upset because she uses Tivo to record her shows and Time Warner has just gone totally digital and so now her Tivo is not working. She called them to find out why and they told her she needed to get a converter for her Tivo even though she has a digital box connected to it. I keep telling her to just watch the shows she records on the TW On Demand. I don't record anything anymore myself.
Got a call from Chem Dry to remind me of my appointment with them tomorrow at 9 am and got a call from my brother Keith. He likes to call me while he is out on his daily walks.
It was too warm to do anything outside, plus I decided I did 4 days of exercising this week so figured I could relax over the week.
Watched a few more episodes of “Twin Peaks” which I started watching on Netflix last weekend.
I'll have to get up early tomorrow morning to move out some of the smaller furniture for when the carpet cleaner guy arrives.

Friday!

Up early for our regular Friday dog walk with Jean and her three dogs. The weather was nice and cool and not humid this morning which was nice because it meant we were not being eaten up by the bugs.
Didn't do too much today. After lunch Hiker and I went over to Central Park and walked around for a little over a mile (20 minutes). It started getting hot and I started sweating which caused the bugs to start attacking me, so we headed home.
Around 3 pm, I did another 1 mile indoor walking with my Leslie Sansone DVDs.
I heard back from the woman that I bought that HipKlip pouch from at the fair. She told me that she will replace the pouch free of charge. She had offered to send me free tickets to get back into the fair, but she said I would have to pay for the parking which is $10, or she could mail another pouch to me. I told her to just mail it because it would cost me $15 in gas to drive back up to the fair, plus the parking for $10. That would cost me as much as buying a new pouch. It's nice to deal with people who stand behind their products.

Smelling Smoke???

The bed felt so good this morning that right after Hiker came back in a little after 6 am, we went back to bed and I fell asleep and slept until a few minutes after 8 am. I decided since the carpet cleaning people are now not coming until Sunday that I didn't have to get up early.
Had breakfast and then headed up to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping. Had an embarrassing moment while I was there. I didn't take my purse with me, instead I took the little Hip Klip pouch that I had bought at the Ventura County Fair. Had my cell phone in the back slot and put my driver's license and money in one of the zippered slots. Well when I went to check out, the stupid zipper on the slot got stuck. I had noticed it sticking a little the other day, but I was able to get it open, but today it would not budge. Even the clerk could not get it open, so as the line of shoppers waiting behind me to check out began to grow, I asked the clerk if she had a pair of pliers, which she did not, so I asked for a pair of scissors, which she did have and I cut the damn thing open. Made me mad that I had to do that since I paid $25 for the pouch, but I had to do something. I can still use it to carry my iPhone. I sent an email to them on their website, plus I put a post on their Facebook page, but I doubt I'll hear back from them.
So anyone who was thinking about buying one, think twice. The zipper sticking can be a fluke, but you don't want to have to be embarrassed and have to cut it open like I did.
Since it was only in the mid-80s again, Hiker and I went out to sit on the patio this afternoon. Had to come in after about 20 minutes because even though I don't see any smoke anywhere and I have not heard of a fire burning nearby, there was a strong smell of smoke and my eyes started to burn.

Hiker "hiding" under the sofa pillows.

Pretty Good Day

Up at 7 am and had breakfast.
I needed to fill the car with gas since I drove up to Ventura and back yesterday, so I put Hiker in the car and we headed out. I also wanted to go to PetSmart, but it was only 8:15 am and they don't open until 9 am, so we stopped at the park and did a short walk...just under a mile. Then we headed up to Sam's Club to their gas station and then over to PetSmart.
The reason we went to PetSmart was because Hiker destroyed her favorite toy yesterday. It was a rubber squirrel with a blue bushy tail. My friend Judy Holdt (Hiker's “Aunt Judy”) had bought it for her a couple of months ago and it was the only toy Hiker played with since that time. Well yesterday, she chewed off “Squirrely's” rubber foot and she kept chewing on the rubber and she was swallowing it, so I didn't want her to get sick or injured from eating the rubber. Had to toss “Squirrely” into the trash. Thought maybe I could find her another one at PetSmart, but they didn't have anything just like it, so instead she picked out a fuzzy fox with a bushy tail. We call him “Foxy” and Hiker already knows his name.
As always, Hiker headed straight for the check out register when we entered PetSmart to look for the cookies they always have there, but there was not a person at the register right then, so she had to wait until we got done shopping and checked out.
After lunch, it was still in the mid to high 80s outside, so Hiker and I went out and sat on the patio for awhile. There was a nice breeze out there.
Tomorrow, I have Chem Dry coming to clean my carpet, so I need to get up early and move out the small furniture before they get here. Not planning on moving or having them move any of the big furniture (bed, sofa, etc.) since when I shampoo my carpet myself, I never move any of the big stuff out of the way. Since I don't walk on the carpet that is under the big furniture, it can't be very dirty anyway.
Hope it's not too hot outside tomorrow because I'll have to put Hiker outside while the carpet cleaner is here. I may even have to put myself outside for awhile to keep out of the way too.

A Day At The Fair

Didn't go to my support group today. Instead, my neighbor Jean and I went to the Ventura County Fair.
We left around 9:15 am to go to the fair and got there around 10:30 am. There were already a lot of people there. We went through the exhibit buildings and then walked down to see the livestock. By the time we started walking back, it was already 12:30 and there were so many people there you could hardly walk without running into someone.
While there, I bought this cool little “pouch” called a HipKlip that clips on your pants and had a slot for an iPhone and two zippered slots for caring money, credit cards, ID, etc. A couple named Allan and Julie Enriquez came up with the idea for them and let me tell you, they were selling like hotcakes.
We left the fairgrounds around 12:45 and drove over to the Ventura Harbor Village to have lunch at Andria's Fish Market and Restaurant. They have the best fish in the world. I always get the deep fried cod, but they have grilled fish and just about any kind of fish or shell fish you can think of. Some people think their prices are a little high, but they give you a lot of food. I always end up bringing half of it home for dinner that night or lunch the next day.
We stopped off at a farmer's market in Fillmore, CA on our way home.
Got home just after 3 pm. Big difference in the temperature in Canyon Country and Ventura. The fairgrounds is right on the beach in Ventura and it was about 75° up there while it was 93° at my house.

Below are links to the websites for the HipKlip and for Andria's.

HipKlips

Andria's Fish Market and Restaurant

Monday Again

Up at 6 am to go on our regular Monday dog walk with Jean. The humidity was 83% while we were out walking, but the sky is clear.
After the walk, I made some breakfast and then headed out to get my lottery tickets and also went to Sam's Club. I was running out of some of my vitamin supplements. When I came out of Sam's I noticed that the wind was starting to pick up. They are saying we are going to have some pretty gusty winds later today.
After I got home, I called Kaiser to make my mammogram appointment. I'm not really due until October, but I kept getting phone calls, letters and emails from them telling me that I was overdue as of July 11th. I don't know where they came up with the idea that I was overdue because I always keep really good track of when I'm due for appointments, lab work, etc.
I also called and made an appointment to get my carpet cleaned professionally. I've always cleaned my carpet myself but it really needs a good deep cleaning, so I decided to call Chem Dry to come out and do it. They will be here on Thursday, sometime between 10 am and 1 pm. They told me that the products they use are 100% pet safe.
I only got a little bit of drizzly rain here last evening and last night, but out in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, they had downpours up to 3 1/2” per hour with a lot of flash flooding and mud flows.
Tomorrow, my neighbor Jean and I are going to the Ventura County Fair, so I won't be going to my support group this week. It is “senior day” at the fair so we get in for free, but we still have to pay for parking.

Cloudy & Humid

When I got up to let Hiker outside at 6 am, it smelled “wet” when I opened the door. I am wondering if it drizzled last night. It was totally overcast, already 74° and extremely humid. Felt more like I lived in the gulf states instead in “dry” southern California.
Way to warm and humid to go outside for a walk or anything else. The damp air just sucks the air out of your lungs.
Decided to stay inside all day again and watch more episodes of “Twin Peaks”. Watched 3 episodes. I wish Netflix had episodes of “Northern Exposure” and “Picket Fences”. I think Hulu.com has “Picket Fences”.
Stayed totally overcast here all day. The humidity went down a lot from this morning. It was 73% at 6 am but down to 33% by 2 pm. Temperature stayed below 90° on my patio. Hiker and I went out into the yard for awhile and we were getting hit by those huge rain drops that if you move around, they don't even hit you.
Just after 3 pm I received a flash flood warning on both my iPhone and across my TV screen. I think it's mostly for the mountain areas.
I didn't do any exercise yesterday or today. I figure if I do it 4 to 5 days during the middle of the week, I can relax on the weekends.

Just Hangin' Out With Hiker

Decided to be lazy this morning. After I let Hiker outside to potty at 6 am, she and I went back to bed. I tried to go back to sleep and I did doze off a little, but just before 8 am, Hiker decided she didn't want me to sleep anymore. First she got on the pillow right next to my head as close as she could get. I ignored her. Then she started making “moaning” sounds, which I also tried to ignore. After awhile, she started putting her nose on me and licking my ear. I pretended to ignore that, which was hard to do. I decided to put the sheet up over my head so she then started pulling the sheet off of me with her front feet. I finally gave in and got out of bed.
Decided to start watching “Twin Peaks”. Don't know why I never watched it when it was on TV back in the early 90s. It appears to be the kind of TV series I would have loved to watch.
Was overcast most of the day here. Thermometer said it was 90° but when Hiker and I walked up to the mailbox, it didn't feel that warm. It was also getting pretty windy. They are saying we have a chance of thunder storms late tonight.

Happy August!

Really not much to report in today's email blog.
Last night my stomach was bothering me for some reason. I was watching some documentaries on Netflix and kept dozing off, so finally went to bed around 8:45 pm and fell asleep around 9:15 pm which is early for me.
We got up at 6 am and then went on a dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was already hot and muggy outside at 7 am. “Muggy” used to never be a word in my vocabulary. It was something that described the summer weather in the mid-west, not in southern California.
Filled my humming bird feeders, swept the cobwebs off the patio. After that, Hiker and I stayed inside with the A/C.
Got angry when the president cut into my soap opera about 15 minutes after it started. I'll have to try and watch it on TVGN later this evening.
At 2:30 pm I checked the thermometer on my patio and it was 104° so I'll have to do my exercising indoors today. I've noticed that since I've been using the DVDs to exercise at least 20 to 30 minutes with that I seem to have a little more energy lately.
Hiker went out and laid in the sun on the patio this afternoon. I told her she was crazy!