Happy New Year!

Got up a little after 7 am and I release Hiker on Keith so she could wake him up.

We had some breakfast and then Keith and I headed out to put gas in my car and stop by Wal-Mart. Also stopped at Home Depot because I needed a new lamp shade.  Stopped by Big Lots on our return home. We then headed out again. Went to Best Buy where I bought myself a late Christmas present. I’ve been wanting a very small laptop to replace the Win Book tablet I bought a while back. I never was happy with the tablet. Best Buy had a little Leveno with a 10” screen on sale for $199.00. It doesn’t have very much hard drive space on it, but I just wanted it for a spare to play with. I already have two 17” laptops and one 15” laptop, but wanted a little one that is more “portable”.

After Best Buy, we headed over to the California Fish Grill and had lunch, then Keith wanted to get his car washed, even though we are expecting rain next week.

We came home after that and decided to lock ourselves inside for New Year’s Eve and stay away from all the crazy party people.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Been Out Running Around Today

So today Hiker and I got out of bed around 7 am. Hiker immediately went to Keith’s door and pushed it open then went in and jumped on him.

It was 24° here. We wanted to go up to Red Rock Canyon State Park, so we waited until a little after 8 am when it was a little warmer before we headed up that way.

We walked around there for a while taking pictures then headed back home. Took Hiker by the house and then Keith and I went to Topper’s Pizza Place for lunch. After lunch we went to a few stores around town and then headed home to be with Hiker.

Keeping busy.

My new look without glasses:

Red Rock Canyon State Park (Mars)

Eye Appointment And Keith Is Here

I was up early this morning. Had to go down to Panorama City to be fitted for one contact lens for my left eye. I was there over 2 ½ hours. Also ordered some regular eye glasses for when I can’t or don’t want to wear the contact lens.

I have to go back next Tuesday for a follow-up and for them to finalize the order of my one-year supply of lenses. They will mail them to my home. When the eye glasses are made, they told me they could have them sent to Santa Clarita so I won’t have to drive all the way to Panorama City again.

Keith got here about an hour and a half after I got home. Hiker was glad to see him. He and I went to Everest for lunch and then went to Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. Both places were swamped with people. I needed to pick up some Foster Grant reading glasses and computer glasses to wear when I have my contact lens in.

Today they told me to only wear the contact lens for 4 hours, tomorrow 6 hours, Thursday 8 hours, etc. They want my eyes to adjust slowly to wearing it. I got “Dailies” because I can throw them away each night after wearing them. They are a little more expensive but I save money on having to buy cleaning solutions and risk the chance of getting an eye infection. They are a much “healthier” contact lens.

Was somewhat warmer today. Got into the mid-60s.

Coldest Day Of The Year (So Far)

Got up early for a dog walk this morning, but actually Hiker and I could have stayed in the warm bed much longer. At 6 am when I let Hiker out to go potty, it was 22° here. Normally I would have crawled back under the covers when she came back inside, but we had our dog walk at 7:30. I decided to call my neighbor Jean and suggest we wait until around 8 am for the walk because there is frost and ice on everything and I didn’t want to fall while out walking. I’ve done that before. In fact, I think that’s how I hurt my knee years ago and it still hurts me now. Around 7:30, Jean called me back. She wanted to wait now until 8:30 for our walk. I agreed because it was still 22° and I didn’t want the dogs to freeze their little foot pads. The cold ground can hurt their feet as much as a hot ground in the summer time.

When we finally started out, it was 26°. The sprinklers had been running in the park, so everything was covered in ice and there was ice along the sidewalk. We had to be really careful to make sure we did not fall. Jean’s dog Charlie was slipping all over the ice. He could not get any traction.

It was too cold to sit on my patio and let the dogs play, so we skipped the play date today. I headed over to Stater Brothers to do my grocery shopping. I thought they’d be crowded since I got over there about an hour later than I normally do, but it wasn’t bad at all.

I have to get up early tomorrow morning and leave around 7:45 to head down to Panorama City Kaiser for my appointment with the contact lens optometrist. When I used to where contacts, they didn’t have “contact lens specialists” like they do now. Any optometrist could prescribe them. Keith is coming to start his visit tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be home no later than noon.

Another Sunday

Stayed in bed this morning, but didn’t sleep. I was watching “CBS Sunday Morning”. Got up at 8 am and had a little breakfast then I put some laundry into the washer and put clean sheets on the bed.

Decided to take down my Christmas garage door magnets and the few decorations I had put up on the front porch. I can tell I am still not over that cold. I feel much better, but just that little bit of work tired me out. It caused me to cough a little and made my nose run a bunch. Illnesses love to hang onto us longer as we age.

Didn’t really want to sit on the sofa all day like I’ve been doing for the past week or so. I put Hiker in the car and we drove over to the mall. They have a dog-friendly area called “The Patios” there, so I took her for a walk around there. They have dog drinking fountains and buckets of dog biscuits. Hiker liked that part, but she didn’t like all of the people wandering around, especially the kids. When the would come running toward her, she would stop and pee from fright. She’s not really very good with little kids.

Drove through Old Town Newhall and then headed for home. Stopped at the liquor store and picked up my lottery tickets for Wednesday.

My brother Ron called me from Paradise, CA. They’ve been having some rain and are supposed to get some snow soon. We are supposed to have warmer weather for the New Year’s weekend.

I thought I’d better do the vacuuming. I had not done it in 2 weeks because of my cold. That Shark Vacuum I have sure picks up a lot more dirt and dog hair than my old Dyson ever did.

Windy Saturday

Lately I have been so tired in the mornings. I just don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t know if I’m still getting over that cold and that’s causing the problem or what. This morning, Hiker started barking at me and nuzzling me a little after 8 am trying to make me wake up. 

Was cold again this morning. 31° when I checked the thermometer. After we got out of bed the wind started blowing really hard. 

My brother Keith texted me that he doesn’t feel good. Doesn’t know if it’s something he ate or if he has a flu bug. He said his stomach is upset and he’s achy. Hope he gets better. He’s supposed to come up and visit Hiker and me next week.

Wind blew all day long. They said we may have Santa Ana Winds all weekend. Heard there is a bad brush fire over in Ventura County and that Hwy 101 was closed down for a while because of the fire.

Christmas Day 2015

Would have loved to sleep in this morning as it was cold when Hiker went outside to potty, but my neighbor Jean wanted to do a dog walk because the dogs had not been together to play for over a week. 

After the walk and play date, Hiker and I had breakfast. I felt tired because I still have not completely recovered from the cold that I had a few days ago. 

I decided to watch a movie on Netflix. Decided to watch “Son Of God”. Thought it was appropriate for Christmas Day. I found it to be pretty much the same as “Jesus Christ, Superstar” but without the music. I enjoyed what I saw of it, but the walk this morning had made me so tired that I kept dozing off.

It stayed in the low 50’s here all day. We never did get the rain they had said might come. It started to get cloudy last evening around dinner time. I thought maybe it would rain during the night and into this morning, but we did not get a drop. Even though it was cold outside all day, it was sunny and they sky was clear.

Christmas Eve 2015

That cold really zapped all of the energy out of my body. It is still hanging on some. Had trouble dragging myself out of bed this morning. I’d probably still be there if Hiker hadn’t insisted I get up.

It was chilly here this morning…in the 30’s. They keep saying we have a chance of rain tonight and into tomorrow. That would be nice because we rarely have cold weather and rain on Christmas. Hiker and I have no plans for either day except to veg out on the couch, so rain would be great.

I had a moment a while today. While watching my soap (Young & Restless) there was a commercial showing that CBS is going to show 2 Andy Griffith Show episodes tomorrow for Christmas. One being "The Christmas Story" and the other being "The Pickle Story". The Andy Griffith Show was Ben's all time, very favorite TV show and those were 2 of his favorite episodes. I suddenly wished he was here to watch them with me and it brought tears to my eyes. 

I have been tired and a little light headed all day today. Proves that I’m still not completely over this cold. I’ll be resting all weekend as Keith will be coming to visit next week and I want to be well when he is here so we can go places. I think some of the light headedness might be from my vision. I’m hoping that when I go to get some contact lenses for my left eye on December 29^th that I will be able to focus better. 

Hiker and I have no plans for tomorrow.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope you get what you asked Santa for.

Feeling Better So Was Out And About

Up at 7 am this morning and felt about 70% better than I have felt for the past 4 days. Still not totally over this cold yet, but getting there.

Today was the last day for me to use my eye drops from when I had my cataract surgery. Glad I don’t have to do that anymore (until the other eye needs it).

After breakfast, I drove over to Food-4-Less to get some milk, orange juice and eggs. Didn’t want to run out over the weekend. It was cold outside, but sunny.

I felt better today so my neighbor Jean and I went over to the new Topper’s Pizza Place in Canyon Country. We’ve been to the one in Valencia, but ours just opened last month. Traffic was crazy and people were running traffic lights and not stopping for pedestrians. Made me remember why I usually do not drive anywhere near the holidays.

Another Day Of Rest

Stayed in bed until just a little after 8 am this morning. Thought about staying in bed longer but Hiker kept bugging me to get up. Had a bowl of cereal and paid a bill online before I plopped down on the sofa for the day.

I think we had some drizzle last night because things were “damp” this morning when Hiker went outside.

Still have my cold but feel a little bit better today. Been sneezing and blowing my nose like crazy, but I saw online that this is a good thing because it gets the mucus out of your body.

I’m hoping I feel well enough to get out tomorrow. My neighbor Jean and I talked about go out for pizza if I feel up to it and I need to stop by the store and pick up some milk and orange juice.

Last evening, around 4:30 or so, my cable and Internet went off. Called Time Warner and found out there was a major outage. It lasted about 2 hours or so. I feel so “lost” when I have no TV or Internet.

Stayed cloudy here all day but didn’t see any rain. My brother Keith said it had rained down in Orange County.

Another Day Of Couch Surfing

Went to bed around 9 pm last night. Took a sleep aid hoping that I’d get more sleep than I did the night before. I did go to sleep about an hour after going to bed, but woke up around 1 am and could not go back to sleep, so I turned on the TV and finally fell back to sleep.

Hiker woke me up again around 6 am to outside. While she was out, I used the Zicam Nasal Swabs and when Hiker came back in, we went back to bed. I had considered staying in bed all day, but around 7 am, got up to make some poached eggs for me and Hiker. At least I have not my appetite.

Decided to just stay in my jammies and camp out on the sofa in the living room for the rest of the day, but I could also go back to bed if I wanted to later on. I’d rather watch TV on the big screen in the living room so that was why I moved to the living room.

So I have more time to get well now. I was supposed to go to my friend Linda’s house on Tuesday for a group lunch, but because I’m sick, one of the other ladies in our group had to go to Oxnard because her childhood friend just had a stroke and some other things that have popped up, Linda had to postpone our lunch to another day.

My neighbor Christiane called me to see how I was doing. She’s been sick with a bad cold also. She came down with it before I did.

Some of you have been asking how Hiker is doing. Well the Metacam that I gave her for 3 days seems to have helped. She seems to be back to normal, running around the house, playing with her toys and jumping up on the sofa and bed without whimpering. I’m so glad that she is no longer in pain. It kills me when she hurts and cannot tell me what’s wrong.

Stupid Cold

Last night, just before I went to bed, I started getting the sore, scratchy throat again and I started coughing. Not a deep chesty cough…more of throat cough. When I went to bed, I could not sleep. My nose was stuffy, my eyes were watery, my throat was scratchy and my coughing upset Hiker so much that she got off the bed and went into the living room for a while. I got up in the middle of the night and used my Neti Pot to unclog my nose. That helped some.

I only got a little over 4 hours sleep and I felt like crap when I woke up. Used the Neti Pot again before breakfast. Right after breakfast, I headed over to CVS Pharmacy to pick up some Zicam Cold Relief Nasal Swabs. I keep seeing ads for it on TV saying that it is clinically proven to reduce the symptoms and duration of the common cold, so I thought I’d give it a try.

Hope it works because I have special lunch with some friends on Tuesday, and I don’t need another cold that hangs on for 3 weeks like my last one did because on December 29^th, I have an appointment with the Kaiser optometrist to get my contact lenses for my left eye and I don’t want to put that off any longer.

Spent my Sunday resting on the sofa watching TV. I want to accelerate the healing of this stupid cold. I’m guessing that I picked up a bug when I was at Kaiser last Wednesday seeing my retinal specialist. They say it takes about 3 days for a virus to incubate and medical centers are full of germs.

We got almost a third of an inch of rain yesterday. Not a lot, but anything is better than no rain. It watered what’s left of my lawn at least.

Fudge, Cookies And Rain

Hiker and I slept in this morning. I woke up around 1:30 am with a sore throat. That’s not a good thing because usually when I get a sore throat, it eventually turns into a full-blown cold. I had a couple of Airborne Cold Tablets left from the beginning of this year when I got really sick, so I dissolved one in some water and drank it. Woke up again about 3 hours later and throat was still sore, so I used the last tablet. When we got up around 8 am, my throat felt much better.

Hiker seems to be feeling much better. I guess it’s because I’ve been giving her the Metacam medication that the vet gave me for her back pain. Last night she jumped up on the bed and did not cry and she’s been running around playing and jumping up on the sofa and seems to not be in any pain. I’m going to give her the Metacam tomorrow and may Monday and then I’m going to stop giving it to her for a while and see how she does. The vet didn’t not tell me how long to give it to her. The label on the box says to give it “as needed”. Since I read that it is a very strong Nsaid and that it can cause internal bleeding, I don’t want her on it for a prolonged time.

Her feeling better is the best Christmas gift she can give to me.

I spent the day watching a “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” marathon on TV and making fudge and baking cookies. Made a pan of peanut butter fudge, another of plain chocolate fudge and another of chocolate walnut fudge. Also made a batch of sugar cookies and a batch of peanut butter cookies.

Seems like my peanut butter fudge never comes out right. It doesn’t seem to solidify. Maybe I’ll quit making that kind.

Started to drizzle her around 2:45 pm and by 3:00 pm it was raining pretty hard.

Today's Blog Is Early

Didn’t do a dog walk this morning because I want Hiker to rest up and take it easy all weekend. She seemed better this morning. She jumped up onto the bed by herself when she came back inside after going potty and she jumped up on the sofa several times. She also stood on her back legs when I was giving her a treat at noon.

Hiker even let me brush her teeth a little this morning. I bought some poultry flavored enzyme toothpaste at the pet clinic yesterday and she loves the taste of it, so that helps a lot.

She and I drove over to the bank this morning so I could use the ATM. It was in the low 40’s at that time.

My neighbor Jean and I are heading over to the senior center this afternoon to go to a DMV Senior Driver Refresher Class so I will be sending this out early today.

Hiker Was A Good Girl At The Clinic

Hiker woke me up at 5:15 am wanting to go outside to potty. It was 28°, so as soon as she got back into the house, we went right back to bed and did not get out from under the covers until 7 am. I was surprised that Hiker had jumped up onto the bed since she seems to have a sore muscle. I was not back into the room when she did it, so I don’t know if she whimpered when she jumped up there or not.

I can really see the capsule they injected into my eye this time. Usually it takes a few days or weeks before I start seeing it floating around inside my eye, but this time, I saw it as soon as he injected it and now it keeps floating across my vision every now and then. This capsule is full of steroids and slowly dissolves. That’s why it lasts for 4 to 6 months until I have to have another one.

Hiker did really good at her dental appointment. A young Asian girl cleaned Hiker’s teeth and she said Hiker was really good about it. The only problem she found was a fractured back tooth that appears to have been broken 2 to 4 years ago. She said the pulp shows a little bit, but it looks like the tooth has “healed” itself because it didn’t bleed when she cleaned it and Hiker doesn’t seem to have any pain in the area of the tooth. She told me to try to brush that one tooth at least once a day to try to keep as much tartar and plaque off of it as possible. They told me to bring her back in 2 months for a check-up which will only cost me $20 and that I probably should bring her in every 2 months to keep an eye on the tooth. When they clean their teeth, they wrap them up tightly in a towel and sit on the floor with the dog’s head in their lap. I noticed once when the door was opened that Hiker was just lying there and not causing any problem, but when they got done and brought her out to me, all she wanted to do was get out of there (LOL).

I also had the vet check Hiker out to see what he thought was causing her pain when she jumps. He said he didn’t think it was a pulled muscle because she walked fine and because I told him she still runs around and plays. He said because it only hurts her when she tries to jump that it sounds like she tweaked her back. He gave me an oral spray to give her once a day for pain and inflammation. Hopefully that will help her. If not, I’ll take her to another vet.

I just let Hiker relax in the house all day to maybe help her get better. Tonight my neighbor Jean and I are going to walk around our community to look at the Christmas lights. I was going to take Hiker, but I think I’ll leave her at home because I think she might be better if she does not get out and walk up and down the hills in the cold.

Eye Appointment

Got up early this morning. I had an appointment with my retinal doctor down in Panorama City and Jean was picking me up at 9:30 to take me down there.

He gave me another eye injection. I need them every 6 months and I had not had one since the middle of July so I was due.

On the way home, we stopped at a place called Wolf Creek for lunch. I didn’t care for it much. I didn’t think they had a very good menu and the burger I got wasn’t really that good.

Hiker was happy to see me when I got home and I was happy to see that she jumped up onto the sofa without whimpering when I got home. I still think I’ll have the vet at Tags look at her after I have her teeth cleaned there tomorrow morning. Maybe he can give her a shot or some pills to relax her muscles. If he can’t do anything for her (as they are a clinic), there is a new vet not far from me who takes walk-in appointments and I’ll take her there.

Hiker is all muscle, no fat. Dogs that are muscular seem to injure themselves more than dogs who are not.

Cold Here

Hiker and I slept in late this morning. I noticed last evening that Hiker whimpered a little again when she jumped up on the bed. I’m thinking the cold weather is making her joints hurt because we had a couple of days that were warmer and she was fine. She was jumping up on the bed and sofa with no problem at all. Funny thing is, she still runs around and plays with her toys and even wanted to pay with her football in the backyard today. It seems it’s just that she doesn’t have the strength to jump up on things.

I met my friends for lunch the Backwoods Inn today. Had a great time as usual. Love those gals.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with my retinal specialist. Jean is picking me up around 9:30 to head down to Panorama City.

Front row left to right…Robyn, Carol and Linda. Back row left to right…Me, DeDee, Jane and Ruth.

Typical Monday

We got about a 10^th of an inch of rain last night. Better than nothing I guess. It was in the high 30’s when Hiker and I got out of bed this morning. The wind was making it feel even colder.

We did a dog walk with Jean and with the wind blowing, I was freezing. I even made Hiker wear her Martha Steward jacket.

After our walk, I made some breakfast for me and Hiker and then I headed over to Wal-Mart. Usually they are not crowded at the time of the morning I got there, but the closer it gets to Christmas, the more crowded they get.

After lunch, I did some housework that I wanted to get out of the way. Didn’t really want to do it, but forced myself and now I’m glad that it’s done.

Breezy Sunday

Slept in late this morning. Figured it was Sunday and I had no plans. But when I sleep in late, then I feel so lazy the rest of the day.

Did some laundry and had French toast for breakfast, then I put Hiker in the car and went to get my lottery tickets. Thought while we were out I’d take Hiker for a ride, so we drove around the valley for a while.

 Last night I watched a movie on Netflix. It was called “Beyond The Sea” and was kind of a bio on Bobby Darin. It was “OK” as movies go, but I loved the music.

Today I watched a movie called “It’s Complicated” with Meryl Streep. I like her, although I didn’t care much for “Ricki And The Flash”. It was just “OK”.

Was sunny but cool here most of the day. Hiker and I just stayed inside all afternoon.

Saturday After Christmas Party

Had a good time at our annual community Christmas party last night. There were about 150 people there. Good food, good friends and neighbors. Had my picture taken with Santa.

Got home around 9 pm and was wide awake so I sat down and watched TV for a while. Hiker kept wanting me to go to bed so I finally did around 11 pm but I turned the TV on in the bedroom until I fell asleep.

We got up this morning around 7:30 or so. Didn’t really have any plans except to do some laundry, which I did and then I baked a sheet cake. No special occasion for the cake. I just had it in my cupboard and thought I’d make it.

Nice day outside. Bright and sunny. Temps stayed in the 60’s all day.

I watched a few movies on Hallmark and Lifetime. All in all, a relaxing, quiet Saturday.

Have a busy week coming up. Monday will be a dog walk as usual, then I need to go over to Wal-Mart. Tuesday I need to get my car washed in the morning if the weather is good and then I’ll meet my friends at Backwoods Inn for lunch. Wednesday I have an eye appointment down in Panorama City with my retinal specialist. Thursday I’m taking Hiker to have her teeth cleaned and that evening, we might walk around the community and check out the Christmas lights. Friday will be another dog walk and that afternoon, my neighbor Jean and I will head over to the senior center for a refresher DMV senior safe driving class.

Left to right – Jean, Me, Santa, Christiane and Sally

Community Christmas Party Tonight

Got up early for our Friday dog walk with Jean and her dogs. It was very cloudy while we were out but didn’t rain at that time.

After the walk, Jean asked me to come to her house to help her out with something on her computer that she didn’t understand. While there, she wanted to drive over to Pet Smart to pick up some dog calendars. They go on sale this time of year, normally $14.99, on sale for $7.49. She got a Cavalier King Charles calendar and I picked up a Blue Heeler calendar. I also bought a little squeaky Santa toy for Hiker that was also on sale.

Came back home and it started to sprinkle some. Only rained for a few minutes and then the sun came back out.

The water was turned off on my street while the work crew fixed a bad leak in a pipe just down the street from me. They turned it back on around 1:15 or 1:30. I was busy doing other things, so I barely noticed it being turned off.

Jean will be coming by at 4 pm and she and I are going over to the community rec room to help them set up for the community Christmas party which starts at 6:30 pm. Should be fun.

Below is our Christmas card to everyone for this year.

Hiker Seems Much Better Today

Hiker seemed better during the day yesterday and today, but she still is being very careful when she jumps up on the bed or sofa and she still is very nervous about me touching her anywhere near her butt or back legs. She has not whimpered since the first day, so whatever the problem is appears to be getting better, but I’m still keeping an eye on her.

Some people have suggested that it may be her bowel glands but she seems to be going potty OK and she is not dragging her bottom like dogs do when the glands need to be expressed.

I’m still thinking that she just had a sore muscle or leg and hopefully not walking her for a couple of days will help. She still runs around like a crazy dog playing with her toys, so she can’t be in much pain.

Sometimes I think she is reacting to me being so worried and upset whenever she seems to be hurt or have something wrong.

She actually went outside and we played with her football for a while. She was running around pretty good, but she still is cautious when she wants to jump onto the sofa or the bed. Seems it’s just something to do with the jumping and not the running.

I spoke with Jean on the phone and asked her if she would check Hiker’s glands tomorrow and she said she will, but she doesn’t think that is the problem since Hiker is not dragging her butt.

Started getting high, thin clouds here around 11:00 am. Had a few earlier this morning, but really started to roll in. Hope we get the rain they keep promising. My brother Ron who lives in Northern California has had rain for 2 days.

Got a call from our community office that my water will be turned off between 9 am and 2 pm tomorrow. There has been a water leak down the street from me for several weeks and they are just now getting around to fixing the problem, so they have to turn the water off on my block. Our Christmas Party is in the community rec room tomorrow night.

By late afternoon, Hiker seemed to pretty much be back to her old self, but I’m still going to keep an eye on her.

Worried About My Hiker Girl

Hiker had me worried yesterday. She and I went on a morning walk before I went to meet my friends for lunch. She was fine before I left but when I got home, she didn’t come to me when I called her and when I went to touch her, she backed off and whimpered. She didn’t want me to touch her. She wanted to go outside so I opened the slider and she had trouble going down the steps. When she came back in, she would not come near me. She ate her dinner OK. Later I went to take a shower. She always comes into the bedroom and gets up on the bed while I’m in there. When she jumped up on the bed, she whimpered again. I gave her a little bit of ice cream but she still did not want me to touch her. Later when it was time to go to bed, she was still lying in the entryway. Usually she is in my bed already. I made her go outside to go potty before bed and she went out OK but when she came back in, she had trouble coming up the steps this time and she would not come to bed with me. She went back into the entryway.

I finally got her to come to me in the living room and I started touching her all over to see where she was hurting. She didn’t like it when I would get near her hips and back legs. I got her to let me message her back there and slowly stretch her legs. I gave her a baby aspirin and I went to bed. She finally came in to join me around midnight and I helped her get up on the bed because she kept going around it like she wanted to get up on the bed but couldn’t. I took a sleep aid and we both went to sleep. She did not move from under her blanket the entire night.

This morning she jumped off the bed when the alarm went off and she did not whimper, but she came in to lay under a small table I have by the entryway and she whimpered a little when she got under it. I gave her another baby aspirin.

She ate her breakfast and went outside. I went back to bed because I had not slept that well and she stayed in the living room.

I had to go do my grocery shopping and she seemed a little better when I got back home. She went outside for a while and this time did not have any trouble doing the steps.

I’ll keep an eye on her all day. I’m thinking maybe she just pulled a muscle and is in a little bit of pain like when we have back pain or whatever. If she doesn’t seem better by Thursday, I’ll take her to a vet.

She seemed to be doing better in the afternoon. She even wanted to walk up to the mailbox with me. I had messaged her hip area often, so maybe that was helping. Since I didn’t get much sleep last night due to being worried about Hiker, I kept tried to take a nap on the sofa this afternoon.

Lunch With My Beloved Friends

Was dreaming about my old job again last night. Every time I dream about when I was working, it is nothing like what it actually was. For some reason, I’m always working at night in the dreams and I never worked anything but the day shift. This time we were dismantling a building because the company was closing down. I was helping clean out the offices and getting ready to retire. Weird.

Hiker and I got out of bed at 7 am and I had some breakfast before we headed out for a morning walk. Was pretty warm outside. When we got back home it was already 71° but they keep saying we are going to cool way down and have some rain by Thursday.

Had a great time with my widowed girlfriends today at Chili’s.

Our friend Linda (one of the widows) took this photo of the rest of us today at Chili’s. Too bad she didn’t have the waitress take a picture so Linda could have been in it too.

Left to right – DeDee, Jane, Me, Robyn and Ruth.

Regular Monday

Got up early this morning because we had a dog walk with Jean and her dogs. We did a little over 2 miles this morning.

After breakfast, Hiker and I went to get my Lottery tickets.

Relaxed the rest of the day.

My weather station was reporting 89° today. They said on the news that we were going to have a few days of warm weather and then maybe some rain on Thursday and Friday.

Another Lazy Day

I’ve got to stop being so lazy. Hiker and I stayed in bed until 8 am again this morning. As usual, I let Hiker out at 6 am to go potty and when she came back in, we got back into bed. I turned the TV on to watch “CBS Sunday Morning”, but instead I fell back to sleep and didn’t wake up until just before 8.

Last evening, before sitting down to watch a movie on Netflix, I had a major crying spell. Must be the season because I have not done that in a very long time. Goes to show you what how grief never goes away….it just changes.

It was another lazy day. I washed my sheets and towels, but didn’t do much of anything else. Once again sat on the sofa most of the day watching the Hallmark Channel. Just didn’t feel like going out and doing anything.

Thought once about putting Hiker in the car and driving up to Vasquez Rocks, but just wasn’t in the mood. Guess the time of year has gotten me feeling down a little.

Did go out into the back yard with Hiker and through around her football with her. She loves to make me chase her while she runs with it in her mouth.

Was 85° here today.

A Lazy Saturday

Did not do much today.

Got up late. Did a load of laundry? Watched movies on The Hallmark Channel.

Before noon, an animal control officer came to my door. They were canvasing the neighborhood to see who had dogs. They already knew my name and Hiker’s name. I thought maybe she needed to see Hiker’s papers but she just wanted to know if Hiker was still the only dog living here. They do this every now and then to make sure people have licenses for their dogs.

Thought about taking Hiker for an afternoon walk, but I felt lazy today and I think she did too because when I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk, she went over into a corner and curled up. I figured that meant “nope”.

Busy Morning

Got up early this morning. My neighbor Jean and I went to a holiday boutique at a church up in Montrose, CA and while up that way we had breakfast at a place called The Dish in La Canada. On the way home we drove through my old hometown and by my high school and the house I grew up in.

Was cloudy and overcast all morning but the sun came out in the afternoon. I took Hiker with me over to Sam’s Club to fill the car with gas.

Our community is having their annual holiday boutique at the club house tomorrow, but I don’t think I’ll go. I usually end up not buying anything anyway.

Got An Afternoon Hike In Today

We actually got out of bed at 7 am this morning, only because I wanted to get over to Sam’s Club and do some shopping. While I was there, I noticed they sell contact lenses. Was checking them out for price and most of them were about the same price. Noticed Dailies are about $45 for 90 lenses.

It was 21 years ago on this date that Ben and I moved into our home here in Canyon View Estates (Canyon Country, CA) and I’m still here. I love my community. It’s quiet, well-kept and I feel very safe here.

After lunch, I took Hiker over to Placerita for an afternoon hike. I thought it was going to be chilly because the trail is in the shadows, but there was a breeze and it was a warm breeze. We stopped to sit on a bench a little over a mile into the canyon to relax and enjoy nature and kept hearing something walking around in the bushes down by the creek bed. At first I thought it was a bird but the footsteps were larger than a bird. Could have been a deer, but never did see anything.

Was almost 80° here today but didn’t really feel that warm outside.

Sad Day

Hiker and I are getting too used to sleeping in each morning until 8 am. Have had no reason all week to get up early so have been staying all tucked in under the covers.

I did get some housework done today. I was not able to do any the week after my surgery so it needed to be done.

Sat down and got all ready to watch the Y&R and about 10 minutes into the show, they broke in with the news of a mass shooting in a Social Services building in San Bernardino, CA. So have been sitting on the sofa most of the day watching the on-going news.

So far 14 confirmed dead and at least 14 injured and in hospitals. Sad situation.

Not much else to report on this day.

Enjoyable Lunch With My Friends

Fell back to sleep again this morning after Hiker came back in after she went potty. I had the TV on to watch the morning news, but could stay awake. Hiker was asleep too, but she stood up on the bed to stretch and it woke me up and I noticed it was almost 10 minutes after 8.

After I had a bowl of cereal of breakfast, Hiker and I walked down to our community office to pay the monthly land lease. Hiker likes to go down there because she knows that Marcie has doggy treats in her desk drawer. When I mentioned to Hiker that we needed to walk down there, she got all excited and started whining at the door and she pulled me all the way down the street and around the corner to get there. When I opened the door to the rec room, Hiker pulled me right into Marcie’s office and went right up to her for a treat.

I sure will be glad when I finally get to the optometrist to be examined for the contact lens for my left eye. Some days my eyes focus pretty good, but other days they don’t and I get slight headaches. The headaches are bad but they are annoying. Both my retinal specialist and my eye surgeon told me that if I didn’t get the contact lens and just wore eyeglasses with one plain lens and one prescription lens that I would get headaches. My appointment with the optometrist is the week after Christmas.

I just called Tags Clinic to make an appointment to have Hiker’s teeth cleaned. I’ve never had her teeth cleaned before so this is going to be something new. They do not use anesthesia so that’s good, but I know she will be afraid. A pet dentist comes to the clinic 3 times a month to do the cleanings and it’s about half the price that a regular vet charges.

Had lunch with my widowed friends at the Round Table Pizza today. Fun as usual.

Really nice day here today. Got up into the mid 70’s.

Beautiful Fall Day

Cannot believe that today is the last day of November. This year has gone by so fast.

Had planned on getting up around 7:30 this morning. Got up at 6 am to let Hiker go outside. It was 27° outside according to my personal weather station. Hiker came back in and we got right back under the warm covers. I fell back to sleep and woke up at 8:01.

After breakfast, Hiker and I headed out to do some errands. Had to get my lottery tickets and I had a big bag of aluminum cans that I needed to take to the recycle center. On the way home from there, stopped at the Goodwill to drop off a bag of donations. Was surprised that it only took us about a half hour to run the errands.

After lunch, I put Hiker in the car and we went over to Central Park for a nice 2 mile walk. It was the first good walk Hiker and I have had since before my eye surgery. One thing though, I will be so glad when I don’t have to wear the big “old-far” sunglasses because they are NOT very comfortable. Once I get my contact lens, I’ll be able to wear “regular” sunglasses.

Was a beautiful fall day. It got up to 73° with high, thin clouds.

Productive Sunday

Slept in again this morning. Felt so good all cuddled up under the warm covers with Hiker.

Got up around 8 am and made some pancakes for breakfast. Washed my sheets and towels since I couldn’t do that last week because due to my eye surgery I could not bend over to put clean sheets on the bed.

Went outside and took all of my fall decorative magnets off of my garage door and replaced them with my Christmas decorative magnets. Took my scarecrows off the front porch and replaced them with some Christmas garland around the front door. Decided I’m not going to put up any outside lights this year because I don’t think it’s safe to climb up and down the ladder anymore.

I don’t decorate inside anymore. Have not done that since the Christmas before Ben passed away. This is my 5^th Christmas without him.

After I was done outside, I came inside to find Hiker’s stuffed Charlie Brown toy losing his stuffing. Seems a little dog was shaking him around so hard that his seams ripped open. So I had to do “surgery” on him.

Won’t be doing a Monday morning dog walk with my neighbor Jean. She is dog sitting 5 or 6 dogs plus her 3 dogs. Too many to try to walk them all and wouldn’t want to leave any of them behind. I have some errands to run and Hiker can go with me on them, so that will make her happy.

Sleep Saturday

Hiker and I slept in some this morning. She woke me up around 5 am making that “throw-up” noise dogs make. She got down off the bed and headed for the living room where she coughed up a still solid treat I had given her last evening around 7 pm. She has a very bad habit about not chewing her food properly. She gulps it down most of the time. I don’t know how she enjoys the flavor because a lot of things I give her, she swallows whole.

I decided not to give her any more of those treats because if it didn’t dissolve in her stomach after 10 hours, I’m afraid that she may try to cough one up again and it might get caught in her throat and choke her.

Today I was having a little trouble focusing again. They told me that my vision would fluctuate for several weeks and it is doing just that. Yesterday, everything was pretty clear in both eyes but this morning each eye was wrestling with the other to focus. Had a headache most of the morning. That is why both my retinal specialist and the eye surgeon recommended I go with a contact lens in my left eye instead of just wearing eyeglasses with a non-prescription lens in the right eye. They both said there would be days that I would get bad headaches if I didn’t. Hopefully in a month, I’ll have that contact lens and my eyes will stop competing with each other.

Around 11:30 am, my headache was pretty much gone because I took some Tylenol. I decided to take Hiker up to Pet Smart to buy her some new dog treats since I tossed the ones that she coughed up. She loves going to Pet Smart because she knows they have treats behind the check- out counter.

Spent the rest of the afternoon watching an “Aerial America” marathon on the Smithsonian Channel. Fell asleep a couple of times.

Good Report From Eye Surgeon

Had to get up early this morning…not for Black Friday shopping though. I had an appointment with my eye surgeon at 9:15 this morning and Jean (who was driving me because they were dilating my eye) wanted to go to breakfast at Crazy Otto’s before my appointment.

My surgeon said my eye is doing great. He did notice a little scar tissue from the surgery but said it didn’t look like it would be a problem. He took off all restrictions and told me I could stop wearing the night shield. I still have to use the eye drops for a few more weeks. The pressure in my eye was 17 which is very good and my vision in the operative eye is now 20/30. It was 20/40 last week when I was in his office. He told me to go ahead and make an appointment with optometry for 4 weeks from now to get my contact lens. I tried calling them when I got home but got their voicemail, so I left a message. Hopefully they will get back to me soon.

He also said that if my retinal specialist needs to give me an injection that it won’t be a problem.

Found out something interesting. As I mentioned before, it was the steroid eye injections that cause the cataract. Well today my surgeon told me that any kind of a steroid injection to any part of the body can cause cataracts. The injections don’t just need to be in the eye. So he said since I will continue to need the injections for my retinal problem that eventually I will probably need cataract surgery in the left eye.

Kaiser Optometry called me back and I have an appointment to have an examination for a contact lens on December 29^th.

Took Hiker down to Discovery Park for a little while. I thought maybe she’d like to get out of the house some and the weather was fantastic. A little nippy, but beautiful.

Happy Thanksgiving

Stayed in bed until 8 am this morning. Figured since it was a holiday, didn’t need to get up early.

Still felt like my blood pressure was somewhat elevated. I didn’t check right away it with my monitor because I figure I it was high and I saw it, it would make me more nervous and it would go even higher. Decided I’d check it later today after my BP meds kicked in.

Thought about not using the eye drops today since I think they are what is causing my BP to be up, but then decided against that because I know I need them to heal my eye. There was one of them that I was supposed to stop using tomorrow, but I decided to stop using it today. Figured one day would not make that much difference. I have to take the other 2 for another 4 weeks, lowering the dosage as time goes on. I do that by using them less times each day. 4 times a day this coming week, to 3 times a day the next week, to 2 times a day the next week, to 1 time a day the last week according to the instructions.

Noticed it was overcast when I looked outside.

I put my little Butterball boneless turkey roast in the crock pot and then Hiker and I got in the car and drove down to the liquor store to get my lottery tickets for Saturday. When we got home, I settled down to watch the “Twilight Zone” marathon.

The sun came out just a little after 11 am and was gone again around 1:30 pm.

Decided to take my BP at 1 pm. It was 130/76 which is in the “zone” but still somewhat higher than it usually is when I take it. But I’m happy with this reading compared to what it was yesterday.

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with my eye surgeon. My neighbor Jean is taking me and she wants to go somewhere for breakfast before my appointment. We figured most restaurants won’t be crowded because everyone will be out shopping on Black Friday.

Restful Wednesday

Went over to Wal-Mart early this morning. Thought I’d get there before it got too crowded. WRONG!

After I left Wal-Mart, I headed over to the Tags Pet Vaccination Clinic to talk to them about getting Hiker’s teeth cleaned. I have never gotten her teeth cleaned because every place I ever called about it wanted $300 - $400 to do it and they anesthetize the dogs. Tags does not anesthetize them and they only charge around $125. They told me to call back on Tuesday to make an appointment for her.

I notice today when I took my blood pressure here at home that it was high which surprised me because it is usually very normal at home and just high when I am at the doctor’s office. So I got to thinking that maybe it had something to do with the eye drops they have me using to heal my eye after the surgery. Sure enough, all of the eye drops are considered steroids and can raise the blood pressure. I’m going to ask my surgeon about it when I see him on Friday.

Got my car insurance renewal today. Every six months when I get it, they keep raising my “estimated annual miles driven” which makes the premium go up. I keep telling them that I ONLY drive my car around the valley I live in, to do my shopping, go to doctor’s appointments, have lunch with friends, etc. I contacted my agent and she said she will check into it on Monday.

Hiker and I were sitting on my patio this afternoon. It’s nice and sunny but it was so cool that after about 20 to 30 minutes, I had to come back into the house because I was starting to shiver. I think Hiker wanted to come back in like I did because every time the sun moved and she ended up in the shade, she’d get up and move back into the sun again.

Noticed last night just before I let Hiker out to potty before we went to bed that there was another opossum in my back yard. Good thing I noticed it before I let Hiker out there.

Another Fun Lunch With My Widowed Girlfriends

Hiker and I slept in late this morning.

Was supposed to meet the widow ladies at the Egg Plantation for lunch today. I got there first and I think I got the last parking spot in the parking lot. So I texted the girls and told them. Then I went around front and found out there was about a 30-minute wait for a table so I called the girls. They were just getting out of the grief group session at the senior center which was about 5 or 6 blocks away. We decided to go over to Cathy’s Deli instead.

Doesn’t matter where we eat just as long as we are together and having a good time.

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and I actually found one of those small Butterball Boneless turkey roasts. The store only had about 2 or 3 of them left. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and get it and I’ll slow cook it in my crockpot for Thanksgiving. Hiker will be happy because she will get some turkey on Thursday plus she will get left-overs for several days. Instead of stuffing, I’ll make my cheesy potato casserole to go along with it and then I have the sweet potato pie for dessert.

Got home a little later than normal from lunch because they are so busy at Cathy’s Deli since it has changed management that it takes them longer to get our bill to us. Hiker was really happy to see me when I got home. She was jumping all over me.

They keep saying we might get some rain tonight and tomorrow.

Fantastic Weather

This morning instead of our normal dog walk, we just let the dogs play in my backyard. Jean is dog sitting 3 dogs this week so there were her 3 dogs, the visiting 3 dogs and Hiker. Hiker was not happy because one of the dogs (Max) is a big Lab and she is afraid of big dogs.

After Jean went home with all of the dogs, I made Hiker and I some poached eggs and then I went grocery shopping. Usually when I go on Monday mornings, there is hardly anyone at the grocery store, but today the place was packed. Guess everyone is trying to get there Thanksgiving stuff early.

I found a sweet potato pie at the store, so bought it. I like pumpkin pie but sweet potato pie seems to have more flavor. I don’t even like sweet potatoes but years ago, one of my bosses at Lockheed made a sweet potato pie for a pot luck we had. She insisted I taste it, telling me it tasted just like pumpkin pie, but I found out it was actually tastier than pumpkin pie.

I can tell that my eye is going to be needing another injection of the steroid again soon. Even though the cataract is gone from the lens, the distortion and the cloudiness in the back of my eye, near the retina and the macula is getting worse. I had the last injection in July so I’m due again in December. Don’t know if my retinal specialist will give me one that soon after the cataract surgery or not. My cataract surgeon told me there would be no problem if he did give me an injection at my next visit.

After lunch I took Hiker over to the park that is about 2 miles from the house. I will be so glad when I get my contact lens and can wear normal sunglasses instead of the “old fart sunglasses”. Those big, huge, clunky sunglasses don’t fit well.

Was 82° here today but we are supposed to get cooler tomorrow and maybe have some rain tomorrow night.

Stay Inside Sunday (Well, for most of the day)

Slept in late this morning. Decided since I’m supposed to be resting according to doctor’s orders that I was not going to doing anything but veg out today.

That crazy bird that was flying up against my bedroom window yesterday was back early this morning. Hiker and I started hearing the tapping around 6 am. Don’t know why the bird seems so determined to try to fly through my window pane.

Made some pancakes for breakfast and then decided to walk Hiker down to the park. Didn’t walk fast or very far. Just needed to get out of the house. I felt Hiker needed a walk because she is getting bored and starting to dig in the backyard. I also wanted to see how my vision was outside. It worked out pretty well.

Was a beautiful morning. Sunny and clear and a little breezy.

While walking around the park, I realized that my problem with focusing since my surgery is kind of like when I was a kid. I started wearing eyeglasses when I was 11 years old. Every 2 years I’d have to get new eyeglasses because my eyes were changing so quickly. Every time I’d go to the eye doctor my prescription would get stronger. The focusing issues I’m having now reminds me of back then. It would take 2 or 3 days for my eyes to adjust to the stronger prescription. I remember the floor would look like it was tilting when I’d put on a new pair of eyeglasses. Only now, I have that same feeling every morning.

After lunch, I put Hiker in the car and actually drove down to the liquor store to get my lottery tickets. Even though I’m still “out of focus” my eyes were much clearer than when I was driving around with that cataract in my eye.

Spent the afternoon watching Hallmark Christmas movies again.

Me wearing my “old-fart sunglasses” – they are huge!

Still Out Of Focus

Sure hope that when I’m finally able to get to the optometrist in a few weeks and get my contact lens for my left eye that it will make it easier for my brain to focus by eyes equally. Each morning I never know if my eyes are going to focus or not. I keep telling myself that my doctor said my vision is going to fluctuate for several weeks.

The hard part is that with my right eye (the one I had the surgery on) I cannot see anything up close. My left eye cannot see distance without me wearing my eyeglasses. I actually feel as if I’m inside my head looking out. Like I’m inside a box or something. Makes me feel light-headed all of the time.

Today my focus is so bad, I don’t think I’d be able to drive if I had to.

I was in my bathroom this morning and I kept hearing a tapping at my bedroom window. I looked out and there was a bird that kept sitting on the fence and every now and then, it would fly up to the window and hit it with its feet. I don’t know if it was just learning how to fly or if it was trying to find a place to perch out of the wind. It was tapping on the window for a long time and driving Hiker crazy.

My right eye felt very dry today. Was the same feeling I remember when I used to wear contact lenses and my eyes would get very dry.

Another windy day here today, so that could be one of the reasons my eyes feel dry. Other than the wind, it was beautiful outside. Bright and sunny.

I keep forgetting to put on my sunglasses before I go outside. I’ve worn transition lenses in my eyeglasses for so many years that I’ve never had to think about sunglasses. I’m using the big “over-the-eyeglasses” sunglasses they gave to me after my surgery. Ben used to refer to them as “old fart sunglasses”. Once I get my contact lens, I’ll get some nicer looking sunglasses.

Resting After Yesterday's Surgery

So I had to take the eye shield off yesterday after a while, even though my instructions said to leave it on for the first 24 hours except when I had to remove it to apply my eye drops. Since the surgery to the right eye, it is now pretty clear. I still have the distortion in the right eye because of my retinal problems in that eye but it is much clearer than it was with the cataract. My left eye, which does not have a cataract, still needs either eyeglasses or a contact lens because it is very nearsighted. When wearing the shield, I cannot wear my eyeglasses. My eyes were fighting each other so much to focus that I got a really bad headache, became dizzy and was starting to feel nauseated. Finally said to heck with the 24-hour rule.

I took the right lens out of my eyeglasses so my eyes could focus as much as possible.

The shield is mostly there to prevent me from rubbing my eye. I did put it back on last night when I went to bed, but had to take it off again when I got up this morning because I once again was having problems focusing.

I cannot believe how the colors seen through my right eye are so much more vibrant. Everyone told me they would be, but it is remarkable how much different the brightness is now between my right eye and my left eye.

Followed up with my surgeon this morning. He said my vision is going to fluctuate for several weeks and until I get the contact lenses for my left eye that it will be hard for my brain to adjust the focus. He said that he may give me the OK to call Kaiser’s Panorama City Optometry office next Friday when he sees me so I can make an appointment to get the contacts. He said everything looks good in the eye that he removed the cataract from yesterday and that my vision in that eye is now 20/40 without corrective lenses. I mentioned to him that I still have the distortion in the right eye and he said unfortunately I will continue to have that problem due to the medical condition I have with my retina.

He also told me to make sure I take it easy for about a week. No strenuous activity so won’t be doing dog walks or the dog park with my neighbor Jean for a while.

Was really warm here today. Our high temp was 92° but 92° this time of year does not feel as hot as 92° in the summer.

Surgery Day

Didn’t get much sleep last night. Didn’t go to bed until 11 pm and didn’t fall asleep until about midnight. Woke up a little after 2 am and had trouble falling back to sleep, but I did. Was planning on getting up at 5:45 am but woke up around 5 am and got up to start putting my eye drops into my eyes and got dressed around 5:30.

My appointment was 9:45 am but I had to be there to check in at 8:15. We got there around 8:10 and I was told that my doctor was about 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Found out it was because 2 patients were “no shows”. How can you forget to show up for surgery? But that made it better for me. Sat in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before they called me into the pre-op room. I was in there for about 20 minutes before my doctor came in to talk to me, then we went into the operating room. Was in there for about 10 minutes. Did not feel a thing and all I saw was lights and colors. Went into recovery room and they signed me out after about 15 minutes, so everything took about 45 minutes and I was in Jean’s car heading home 5 minutes before my actual appointment time.

Before I left, my doctor told me to continue putting the eye drops into my eyes as soon as I got home, but the discharge nurse told me to not put them in until after I see the doctor tomorrow morning. My discharge paperwork told me to continue using he drops as soon as I got home. About 30 minutes after I was home, my phone rang and it was the discharge nurse telling me that she had told me wrong and that I was supposed to use them today. Luckily, because my doctor and my paperwork told me that, I had already put the drops in right after I got home.

Now my problem is I have to wear this eye shield for 24 hours. Can only take it off to put my eye drops in. After the 24 hours (and after my follow-up with my doctor tomorrow), I still have to wear it at night when I sleep. My glasses won’t fit over the shield so it is hard to watch TV. I took the lens out of the right side of my glasses so when I don’t have to wear the shield.

I’ll be glad when the dilation goes down in my right eye. The vision in the right eye (the one I had the lens replacement in) is somewhat better than it was, but so far, not as good as I expected. Hopefully it is just adjusting and will be better. Right now there is still a lot of distortion which may still be caused from the retinal problems I have. Was really hoping that the distortion would go away. I do notice that I can see more light and the colors are brighter.

Day Before Eye Surgery

Woke up around 5 am this morning but didn’t get up until about 7 am. Put my eye drops into my right eye and then made some breakfast for me and Hiker.

Ran my scans on my computers while I was cleaning my guest bathroom, so got the housework I wanted to do out of the way. Any other housework will just have to wait until my doctor tells me I can got back to doing everything “normal”.

I’m a little nervous about tomorrow, but also excited to get the surgery done so I can see again when I’m driving. I just hope my B/P is not up like it always is when I’m in a medical building. My primary doctor knows I have white coat syndrome and he even has it written in my medical records. They will be giving me an intravenous sedative, so hopefully everything will be OK.

So I don’t know when or if I’ll be online tomorrow. I’m assuming I will be in the afternoon and evening, so I will let everyone know how my surgery went.

Got My Surgery Time

Normally on Tuesdays, I meet my widowed friends for lunch and we had planned on meeting today at the Egg Plantation over in Newhall, but one of them was having a washer and dryer delivered today, another was having her sprinkler guy come by and another said it’s been so cold lately that she just wanted to stay home inside her warm house. So that left 3 of us. I contacted them and they said since half of the group could not come, why don’t we just cancel lunch this week and meet up at the Egg Plantation next Tuesday.

Hiker and I got up just before 7:30 am and I put my 3 eye drops into my eyes before having a bowl of cereal for breakfast. I have to put the drops in 4 times a day so to help me remember, I do it at breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime. Since I have to wait 5 minutes in between each drop, it was almost 8 pm before I was done.

After breakfast, I went over to Wal-Mart. I was thinking about getting one of those little, round Butterball boneless turkeys for Thanksgiving. I used to get those when Ben was alive and I’d cook it in my crock pot all day. We’d have it for Thanksgiving dinner and then have sandwiches for a few days.

Well, Wal-Mart didn’t have any. They had a bunch of big turkeys, but didn’t need that much for just me and Hiker. Then I got to thinking that I really didn’t need a turkey on Thanksgiving. I actually like mac and cheese so much better than turkey that I decided that is what I’ll make instead. If I change my mind, I’ll try another store early next week.

When I got back home, I finally got around to my dusting that I’ve been putting off forever. After lunch, I did my vacuuming and tomorrow I need to clean my guest bathroom. Everything else will have to wait until my doctor tells me I can once again do my “normal” stuff.

Right as I was finishing my vacuuming, my brother Ron called me so we talked for about 20 minutes or so.

Around 2:30 pm the phone rang and it was the surgical facility. My surgery appointment is set for 9:45 am on Thursday, November 19^th. I have to check in at 8:15 am. I called Jean right away to give her the information since she will be driving me. I called the surgical facility back a while ago because I noticed that the check-in time is an hour and a half before the surgery time and I thought maybe I wrote it down wrong but they assured me that I had the correct time because it takes over an hour to prep me for the surgery.

So I’m all set now. I’m a little nervous but I’m also glad I’m getting it over because it’s getting scary when I drive and cannot see very well.

Still Have Not Done My Housework

We got up early for our dog walk with Jean and her dogs. The wind howled all night here. I called Jean around 6:15 am to ask her if she thought it was too windy to walk the dogs, but she wanted to try. By the time we got out for our walk, it was more breezy than windy.

Had to start using my eye drops today to prepare for my surgery this Thursday. One of the stings some, but not bad.

Today was my day to water my lawn. The sprinklers came on at 7 am and when they did, Hiker started to bark like crazy. I went to look why she was barking and I saw that one of the sprinklers was gushing like a geyser. Looks like the sprinkler head had gotten cut off by my gardener’s lawn mower over the weekend. So Hiker heard the noise of the water gushing and she let me know something was wrong. Glad she did, otherwise, I never would have noticed it and a lot of water would have been wasted. I changed the sprinkler, but it’s still not working right so I need to remember to have my gardener check it out.

It really turned out to be a nice day outside once the wind died down and it warmed up a little. My brother Ron who lives in northern California said he is seeing snow in the Sierras which is a very good thing for California.

I’ve got to stop putting off that last minute housework I need to do before my surgery. I’ll probably end up doing it on Wednesday.

Simple Sunday

Got up around 7 am. Jean wanted me to go to a Holiday Craft Fair with her over at Old Orchard Park in Valencia. I thought maybe it would be raining this morning, but when Hiker went outside at 6 am, the sky was totally clear. When we left to go to the craft fair around 9:45, we saw clouds out over the San Fernando Valley that appeared to be heading our way. We were done looking around the craft fair within 30 minutes. Not a lot of sellers showed up because they heard it might rain. Anyway, by the time we got back home, the clouds were over the Santa Clarita Valley and it started getting a little breezy.

It got very dark outside around noon, it stated to rain a little. I thought it would be a nice day to put a log in the fireplace and have a fire. So that’s exactly what I did, then I went into my front bedroom/office to pay a couple of bills. By the time I got done, the clouds had pulled back and the sun came out and no more rain. So there I sat on the sofa in front of a nice blazing fire. Kind of killed the mood.
Since I have housework to do before I have my eye surgery, I need to stay home most of the week and get it done. Will go to buy my lottery tickets Monday morning after our dog walk and then drive up to Sam’s Club to fill the car up with gas. I’ll still meet my widowed friends for lunch on Tuesday, but other than that, I’ll stay home.

Sleepy Saturday

Stayed in bed about an extra hour this morning. It was chilly and it felt good to be under the blankets.

Got up and made some pancakes for breakfast and then I mopped my floors. They have needed it for a long time, but I’m getting to where I put things off more and more these days.

Nice day here today, but they are saying we might get some rain tomorrow. That will be fine with me because we need it so much. They even said the snow level will be down to around 2500 feet. That would put snow on the top of the mountains around our valley.

Spent most of my day watching Hallmark Christmas Movies again. I have not had much energy to get out much since I’ve had to stop taking all of my vitamins in preparation of my eye surgery. I can really tell the difference in how I feel when I’m taking them and when I’m not. I feel very sluggish. I’ll be glad when I can start taking them again next weekend.

Friday The 13th

Up early for a dog walk with Jean and her dogs. We didn’t go to the dog park today. Hiker doesn’t really like going there because the other dogs frighten her, so I wanted to just do a walk like we used to.

After the walk, we let the dogs play in my back yard or awhile then we went over to Jean’s house so Jean could groom Hiker.

Was a really beautiful day here but Hiker and I decided to stay home since I’ve been running around all week. It was nice to just relax.

Just Another Thursday

Stayed in bed until almost 7:30 this morning. After all of the craziness of yesterday, I was exhausted. I think I’m tired because I have not taken my vitamins/minerals or herb supplements for a week now because I had to stop taking them 14 days prior to my surgery.

I made some breakfast for me and Hiker and then I called Jean to see if all of her electricity was back on yet. At the time it wasn’t. She called me a little while later and said that she saw Javier (the foreman of our community workers) next door so she mentioned to him that she still had sockets that were not working. He reset all of her breakers by turning them all off and then back on and then all of her electricity was back up.

I headed over to Sam’s Club to pick up a few things. When I got home, she came over and got all of her food out of my freezer and fridge that we had put in there yesterday evening because my electricity was working when hers wasn’t.

It was a beautiful day here. Pretty windy, but otherwise really nice. After lunch, I had to go to the post office to mail some empty ink cartridges back to HP so they could recycle them, so I took Hiker with me and then we went over to Canyon Country Park.

When I got home and picked up my mail, I was surprised to find a check from a settled class action law suit against Lockheed’s employee savings plan. Since I was a member of the plan, I was eligible to receive a settlement. I will say I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a lot more than what I had expected to receive, especially at this time of year when I have so many large bills to pay. It was actually enough to cover my homeowner’s insurance and my earthquake insurance. Nice!