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.

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.