by Dianne
Dear Ma and Pa:
I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man
Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.
I
was restless at first because you get to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m.
But I am getting used to it, so I
like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is
smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch,
mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.
Men
got to shave but it is not so bad, there’s warm water. Breakfast is
strong on trimmings like fruit juice,
cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham,
steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and
Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their
food, plus yours, holds you until noon when you
get fed again. It’s no wonder these city boys can’t walk much.
We
go on “route marches,” which the platoon sergeant says are long walks
to harden us. If he thinks so, it’s
not my place to tell him different. A “route march” is about as far as
to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride
back in trucks.
The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels
just ride around and frown. They don’t bother you none.
This
next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for
shooting. I don’t know why. The
bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don’t move, and it
ain’t shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do
is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don’t even load your own
cartridges. They come in boxes.
Then
we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle
with them city boys. I have to
be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain’t like fighting
with that ole bull at home. I’m about the best they got in this except
for that Tug Jordan from over in
Silver
Lake . I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I’m
only 5’6″ and 130 pounds and he’s 6’8″ and near 300 pounds dry.
Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding
in.
Your loving daughter,
Dianne, That was very unexpected and made me LOL. Your vacation sounds like it will be fun, cruising with your relatives. I have no travel plans for the near future.
ReplyDeleteChad and I went to look for Cala lily bulbs the other day. He wants to change the plants under the front windows. There are ugly green plants there now. He also wants to plant something in the raised flower bed between our house and the druggies next door, to hide them. They have so many cars now, they are parking some on the lawn!
Dianne,too funny! I have not seen this one.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that you have sugar beets in Denver. We have them here in Michigan, but I don't recall ever having a celebration of any kind. My hometown had a sugar beet factory. We had many migrants come from Texas to harvest/weed pickles also. I remember working as a teenager at "Aunt Jane's pickle factory. I hated it! We stood on pallets to avoid water on the floor and packed pickles in jars. Nasty place!
Ugh on your DDS!
I called my Orthodontist Thurs. because the wire on the back of my front lower teeth had come lose along with the cement,( whatever that adhesive is called) to have them repair. They took me right in. My Dr checked me out and had his assistant fix it. He didn't charge me. I went on home and could feel something kind of sharp on the place she fixed. I looked in my 10X mirror and could see that she didn't grind down the cement and left a sharp piece that did not attach to my tooth! After cutting my tongue a few times, I put on my night retainer. I have worn it every day so far. They don't reopen until Monday. I will be there for sure! I'm not even going to call, just show up lol!
JustLynn, 85 steps!! Peshaw! I went down 545 on the Island of Santorini in Greece to get to the sea wall. We took a taxi back up lol!!
I can go down steps easier than up, but 85 is a lot. I would have ridden on the back of an usher boy lol!
I got my flu shot yesterday. Like you, I usually wait until Oct. There is never a line at my pharmacy. The needles they are using now are so tiny, that you never feel a thing!YAY!
I too have marveled at the oriental gals that can hear each other so clearly! I can barely hear them, much less understand lol!
It is cool and rainy today. My bones are not liking it!
I won't be taking Zoie on any long walks until the first frost. There is EEE carrying mosquito in Michigan that has killed a few people and some animals. Also there have been a few coyotes spotted in our area! Bad enough I have to watch out for predatory birds looking for my Zoie! We have huge Eagles and Hawks flying around looking for rabbits. Zoie is a bit heavy for them, but you never know!
Later.....
Hi...We’re having beautiful fall weather here but tmrw is supposed to be only 55 and rainy. I’ve been loving the fall weather. It’s my favorite season. I just hope snow holds off for awhile since we are driving on our vacations. We sure can’t be late for the cruise in Galveston. My cousins left on a Viking cruise Saturday. Her husband left his phone in the Lyft car and there wasn’t time to get it back. I’ll bet he wasn’t thrilled to tell her as his other one he went swimming with it a couple of weeks ago. They are in Budapest right now.
ReplyDeleteDidn’t do much over the weekend. Watched the Broncos lose in the last couple of seconds ...again. We haven’t won a game yet. Mary, did you get your wire fixed? That’s a pain that you had to go back. My flu shot a he’d for a couple of days. I had nerve blocks in my back Friday. I had to see if it helped for four hours. I was ready to sleep with the drugs in me. I guess they helped so I go back Friday to the surgery center for another set of shots. If they work then they will schedule me to have them cauterized..ouch’! Ins requires it to be done twice before they will allow the final one. There are no side effects of the shots but the burning one will be painful dr said. I’m not sure when I’ll do it with these trips coming up. I may want to wait until December 6th. I hate to wait but I don’t want to mess up our trips.
Barb, did you get the new flowers for your yard? Sounds like chad is really getting things done for you around the house. That’s nice he’s there. Are your drug neighbors the ones where the roof was such an issue?
JL did you go see that movie? I’ll probably end up going to see Judy by myself as barb is working weekends at Penney’s.
That’s about it.
Dianne, we are just looking for flowers now. He has specific colors he’s looking for and so far has only seen them in catalogs. He plans to plant the bulbs in late fall so they will bloom in the spring.
ReplyDeleteYes, the drug house is the same one with the roof issues. The owner is letting the people doing the ‘work’ live there in lieu of paying them for their labor, and he buys the supplies. At this rate, they will never be gone!
Mary, I had the same problem when the dentist didn’t file off enough acrylic filling material, and it was also over a weekend. I used an emery board to file the sharp point a little so it wouldn’t be quite so pokey! I still went back to the Dentist so he could smooth it properly. I didn’t tell him what I did, though! LOL
ReplyDeleteBarb, please don’t say that they are still working on the roof? Hasn’t that been about a year now?
ReplyDeleteOne of my closet friends husband passed away last night. He had pulmonary fibrosis and had been getting worse although we were just there two weeks ago to watch the game with them. They very recently adopted their grandson who is now 6. It’s going to be hard as kathy will be 76 next week and now alone. It’s so sad. . Kathy and I went through her last husband dying and my husband and now she has to go through this sadness again. .
Louis and I went to the mountains for lunch in our drizzly weather. It was 48 degrees here. We had lunch and then drove up further to see the changing of the leaves. The weather went up to 60 and was so nice and sunny there. We came home later today go the drizzle again and fog.
Dianne Thanks for the blog. It was a good one! I didn't see the punch line coming at all.
ReplyDeleteMy condolences on the loss of your friend's husband. It is good that you went and visited so recently. I can't even imagine adopting a little kid at my age, although I get that it is her grandson so what else could she do, really? It was certainly the kind thing to do but he is awfully young. Do you know if she has arrangements for him in the event that she passes? A lot of grandparents are having to care for their grandchildren these days. Primarily due to drugs. My ex-fiance and his wife adopted her granddaughter but that was about 10 years ago or so and she has started high school now. My ex-fiance is two years older than me but his wife is 12 years or so younger than him so that's helpful for their situation. I've been pet-sitting my daughter's two dogs this week and I barely have the energy for that, let alone for a little kid full time.
Can't you get together with Barb during the week to go to a matinee?
I'm glad the nerve blocking shot helped you. Is that what you are doing again, today?
Mary OMG! 545 steps? There would be no way unless I could have rest periods and bathroom breaks. LOL I suppose it easier on muscles to go down rather than up but going down is harder on the knee joints. I'm surprised that didn't give you trouble. The Greeks must have really strong legs.
ReplyDeleteThe dental assistant sure did a piss poor job by leaving a piece of unattached wire sticking out. Thank goodness you had a retainer to protect your tongue from it. I assume you have that fixed now. Even the tiniest thing feels gigantic in one's mouth. Okay, I see that sentence is an opening for a joke but I'm not going to go there. LOL Use your imagination.
Barb I keep thinking I want to put some potted plants on my front porch but I keep not doing it. Story of my life. I am an excellent procrastinator.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter came down from Oregon with her dogs last Saturday and then flew out on a business trip on Monday. She'll be returning tonight. I think she plans to drive home tomorrow but spend the night along the way rather than drive the whole distance like she did coming down. Having these dogs has upset my sleep schedule, especially last night when the chihuahua decided he had to go out at 3 a.m. That means everybody has to go out and I'm out there shining a flashlight on the steps going down from the deck to the backyard so the dogs can see where they're going and I'm hoping there's no skunk hiding in the shadows and bushes.
For most of the week, I've had a painful back. It's actually that muscle right below the waist on the right hand side of the back. I don't know what caused it but it made me yelp when I'd take a step with my right foot. It was at it's worst last weekend and Monday. The dogs were sunning themselves on the deck and I had the back door open and a bird flew in. It was trying desperately to get through the glass of the dining room window. I didn't want to catch it with my bare hand so I yelped my way into the kitchen to get an oven mitt then yelped my way back to the dining room. I guess my yelping and giant mitt hand scared it into flying into the kitchen. The door was fully open but it landed on the floor and was trying to squeeze through the hinge side of the door. As I approached with my giant hand, it flew up and around the door and made its way back out.
JustLin, OH My Goodness! I LMAO @ your mouth comment!!! What a visual!!
ReplyDeleteI leave the sliding door open once in a while for Zoie. I often wonder if some bird or varmit will get in! Doggie sitting is getting a bit crazy for you lol!
Dianne. I wish Jim liked going for rides like you do. His vehicle seems trained to go only to the Casino and the VFW.
Jim now has to transmit his night sleep patterns of his heart monitor from his phone. They were doing it direct from their office. He got a message yesterday telling him that there were irregularities and they will be prescribing another pill. It shook him up, but still smoking!
He has had a bad week. He decided to mow (his new John Deer). He did something wrong and broke the main belt. It cost $146 to replace! Matthew said something about his not revving up the RPMs when in taller grass. Matthew usually mows.
His coffee pot has sprung a leak, and our kitchen faucet stopped working. Matthew said it would be an easy fix. The new one was $194! He had a hell of a time getting the old one out! The plumber that put it in somehow cobbled it up and Matthew had to take a hacksaw to cut the faucet out a piece at a time! He forgot to put the handle on the "off" position. Water all over the floor from under the sink while he was connecting things oye vey! Matthew has been so pooped from fixing the mower and the faucet!
I went to my eye specialist Wed. I told him the new eye drops were giving me a bit of anxiety and have had trouble sleeping an a bit of labored breathing when in bed. He told me to start taking it in the morning and dropped one of the eye drops I had to take twice a day. So now I only have to do one set of drops in the morning and one at night. I have noticed the difference right away! I have been sleeping liker a rock with no palpitations! The new drops are keeping the eye pressure down but they are over $100 for one month supply!
I had my roots done Thurs. What a week!
Last night I went to get some crackers out of the "bread" drawer and found my head of lettuce in there. LOL
ReplyDeleteJustLin, oops lol!
ReplyDeleteJim lost one of his coffee cups today, so he used another. He looked all over for
it. I looked out on the patio and in the garage where he had been. 2hrs later he found it next to his lazy boy on a small ledge of the wall He has never put anything there. It is mostly a knick knack wooden beam.
I drove to town to replace the coffee pot. I hate driving in the dark, but I know all too well about coffee drinkers in the morning lol!
Going to fold towels, from all the sopping up of water! Hoping nothing breaks while we are sleeping!!!
Howdy....well, big news. We won our first game today against the chargers...big game! Barb and I went to see Judy yesterday. It was a really good movie. What a life she had ! Barb quit her Pt job. It was just too much for her and she still works full time. I was kind of glad to have my buddy back.
ReplyDeleteMary, sorry for all the water issues you’ve been having. What a mess. I have nose drops I need for $96 per month. They are originally $700. Ridiculous for a tiny bottle.
JL...funny that you found lettuce in your bread drawer. You’d better check around the other places. Oh, I wouldn’t like a bird flying around my house at all. I don’t even like a darn fly? Your pain in your back sounds like the same as mine. I went in for my shots again on Friday but I don’t feel that they worked. They are only going to work for four hours to see if I’m a candidate for the ablasion. It’s hard to know in the short time. I will tell them Tuesday that I’m not. They burn your nerves and then your in pain with pills for a week or two. It might work for six mos
Barb, are you going to see the Judy movie? I think you’ll really like it. Renée does a great job in it We are getting snow predicted here for Thursday with temps In the 30’s Brr
Dianne, did you really have to use that 4 letter word S--W??
ReplyDeleteGlad you Broncs finally won!! Our Lions didn't :(
JL, Jim has been forgetting to "zip-up" lately and a bit forgetful on other things. I am now using the "do you know where your lettuce is" to kid him lol!! I think you made his day, and now feels better about his coffee cup "misplacement" :)
Barb, I hope you have caught up on your sleep. I am lucky that Zoie rarely gets up in the middle of the night. She is a sleepy head in the morning and the last one out of bed lol!
We had our "inspection at our VFW last night. I was placed on the roster as Secretary in name only because I didn't want to hold office anymore. The Treas. and her Mom the Pres. keep all the records. Well evidently the Treas. left out a few things from the Sec books and I was the one that got spanked for it!
I will not be returning to any meetings. not for that reason alone, but because we got a new member who I despise! We now have men joining as Auxiliary. When this new member was a teenager her tried to molest my boys. It's a long story that happened over 45 years ago. I quit going to the VFW bar with Jim when he started showing up after his retirement. I was so upset to see him come in to the meeting. We usually have a snack after the meeting. I brought sandwiches. As soon as the meeting adjourned I walked straight out the door after handing in the Sec. book. I cried all the way home with memories of my young sons eyes when they told me what he did to them! It all came rushing back. The town is very close nit and many related who chose to ignore his actions. I can't! He has a right to join and I have a right to stay away.
I am ok now, not sure why it hit me so hard last night.
Dianne, So, the roof on the house next door is still not completely finished, and it’s been two years, now. They still need to finish the trim. I’m afraid they are in the house for the duration. They know all about squatters rights, and I am sure they will use that knowledge to remain as long as possible. They say they are doing other work requested by the owner, but they have no incentive to get it done quickly, in fact it’s quite the opposite! Chad tries to stay friendly with them. We certainly don’t want to piss them off, because that could get ugly.
ReplyDeleteI’m so sorry about your friend’s husband. Raising a six year old is certainly a huge task at any age, but I don’t think I could take that on at this age.
J/L, I have found things in my fridge that don’t belong there, but I don’t think I have ever put a fridge item somewhere else. I got a giggle out of your mouth comment, too. I bet Ursula likes having the company of your daughter’s dogs, but is also glad when she has you all to herself. My sister-in-law and family would visit for a weekend and bring their chihuahua. Our cocker liked having the dog visit, but after a day, he would start to ignore him and was happy when they were gone.
ReplyDeleteI'm just popping in real quick to let you know that I may be out of contact for a bit. We are having power outages starting today. According to the planned outage grid, it looks like it will hit me at around noon. It has started this morning up in the Napa area. This is because of high winds expected and the danger of fire caused by downed lines. It appears that most of Pacifica will be fine but I may be included on the grid that covers the mountain that I live by. This is going to be a pain in the ass. We don't know how long this will last. For sure it will last until tomorrow evening. It will be a boring night sitting around in the dark. I am going into SF to Olive Garden for dinner with a friend but I will want to go early as I want to be home by around 7 because I really want to get home when there is a little daylight left and get some candles lit.
ReplyDeleteMary, I am so sorry about what happened to your sons. It is totally understandable that you would react the way you did. Those are some very hurtful memories to have suddenly forced on you so unexpectedly. (((HUGS)))
Mary...that’s terrible of what that person did to your sons. I wouldn’t want to be in a room with him either. People can be so awful and then never pay the consequences. I’m really sorry you had to see him and it upset up you so much. You are a mom through and through and that’s something you can never forgive! Hugs to you.
ReplyDeleteJL, hope you don’t lose your power. I hate being in the dark at night. It’s always been scary to me. Check in if you can. How was Olive Garden? We went to Maggianos for Kayla's 21st birthday tonight. There were 12 of us. Tammys dad and his wife joined us this time too. Louis and I did the dinner where you get one to take home too. I always just get spaghetti and meat sauce every where. Tammy and group are all off to Vegas for four days tmrw to celebrate the big day. It was kind of strange watching her legally drink wine at dinner. She’s come a long way since having a pizza in her car at 18...bad memories.
Barb, I can not believe that owner is ok with that roof never getting done afterward this time. I guess it’s good Chad is friendly with them as you’re right..you wouldn’t want to make them mad. Are you going to see the Judy Garland movie? It’s really good.
Our cold weather is blowing in tonight. It was a beautiful 80 degrees at 3 this afternoon and now starting to rain and temp dropping. It supposed to be 17 in our area tmrw. Mary, they say the cold front is moving across the states so be ready. We may even send you a smidge of snow. I’m sure not ready for it yet.
Here I am. I still have power so I am assuming I am in the clear now. The website for the utility is not very helpful in trying to figure anything out. It kept crashing due to so many people trying to get on there and now the map showing the outages and potential outages is not operating properly. Yesterday, I took a bag of freezer items and another bag of refrigerated items over to my friend's house. They were the most important items I wanted to save out of my refrigerator. I guess I can go retrieve them today after my hair appointment.
ReplyDeleteWe were not impressed with our pasta dishes last night. They were just kind of blah. I did lover my Zuppa Toscana, as always, and she loved the salad, as always. One of these days I am just going to order soup and salad. I keep saying that but then not doing it.
Mary, what a terrible experience for you and your boys to have gone through. It’s not something you or your boys will ever forget. When Chad was in 7th grade he was in Jr. High and he left for school after Bob and I left for work. One morning, he answered the phone and it was a man who engaged Chad in a conversation that got a lot of personal information from him. He used the info that Chad was in the drama club and choir and told him he was a talent agent. He called every morning for over two weeks and Chad didn’t mention it us until about a week after it started. We were very suspicious about these calls and soon this guy was talking to Chad about meeting him. We had a very good friend who was a detective in the CHP and Bob asked him what we should do. John was able to check our phone to find where the calls were originating, and unfortunately it was a pay phone outside a grocery store near our house. Since the calls were coming in at about 7:45 am every week day, John sat outside the pay phone one day and sure enough, the only person to use the phone that morning was a man, so John followed him after he completed his call and he went to an apartment nearby. Bob stayed home that day and listened on the extension phone, then he called John to confirm the time of the call. The guy worked at the grocery store, stocking shelves overnight and got off at 7:30 am. So John payed him a visit and because he didn’t have enough evidence to arrest him, he mainly just wanted him to stop calling Chad. John told him to cease the calls and that they (the CHP) would be watching him. The calls stopped, but I have often wondered over the years, if any other boys fell into his trap. I have no doubt, from some of the things Chad told us about the conversations, that if Chad hadn’t told us, and he did meet the guy, that Chad would have been molested or maybe worse!
ReplyDeleteJ/L, I’m glad you weren’t affected by the power outages. I hope that means the same will be true for future planned outages. I guess it could go on anytime they expect high winds. Does PG&E plan on fixing the issues that could help cause fires? I certainly hope so!
ReplyDeleteI have finally gotten my cataract surgery date. It will be November 6 and then a follow up on November 7. Now I am just hoping that Kaiser employees don’t go on strike. I haven’t heard anything more about, so I hope it has been settled.
Dianne, Sharon and I went to see Downton Abbey and we loved it. We also want to see Judy, but we, we don’t have a plan yet. Sharon is having PT twice a week so we have to find a day we are both available.
ReplyDeleteWow, Kayla is 21! I cant believe how quickly the time goes, although when my kids were teens, I thought we would never get through those years.
Hi gals. I have wanted to check in, but I seem to keep being distracted!
ReplyDeleteI will make this short ( I hope lol) Last Sat.I had a blood vessel burst in my right eye. Not much I can do about it, but let it heal. Screen time seems to stress it. I use my phone more because I can dim the screen light and it's not as big as my pc.
I will check back in in a couple of days.
SacBarb, wow! I am so glad your son finally told you! How scary and weird! Heard about the earthquake! yikes! Glad it was small!
JustLin, Glad you have not lost power! It's the one thing I hate about winter and the storms! Nights are the worst!
Dianne, hooray for your Broncs! Two in a row!
Hi......Mary...thanks for the broncos congrats ..now cheer loud tmrw night as we play the Chiefs...not good. At least it’s a home game and fall weather. Detroit got robbed the other night. Hope your eye is better.
ReplyDeleteDo any of you watch the Voice? I just started watching it this season and am really liking it and the judges. I really like all of them and they are so funny. Just found out today Blake Shelton will be here in March so hope Tammy can get tickets for us. I’m going to Celine in March
too. My friend Pat got them for my bday gift.
JL... am glad too that you didn’t lose power and now an earthquake. Don’t those scare you? I’d be scared to death. I love the zuppa and the chicken soups at Olive Garden. At lunch I try to do the soup and salad. Their lite Italian dressing is very good too. Today I went to Old Chicago as my friend had a free pizza coupon. Their pizza is pretty darn good I went to ww first and lost and then probably gained it back at lunch.
Barb...do you only have to get one eye done for your surgery? I think the worst part was all the drops before and after the surgery. Yes, Kayla is 21. They all had a good time in Vegas. Kayla and her friend went to clubs. She said they got in for free but one place she ordered Red Bull and vodka and it was $54. No wonder you get in for free. Kayla also won $350 on a slot she put $40 in to play. WENDY, Andy, Tammy and Emilee just did things like going to in and out, massages, etc. I’m glad I didn’t go. Oh that’s so scary about that guy calling Chad when he was younger. Good thing you knew someone to help you.
Saturday we go to the memorial service for my good friend Kathy's husband. She’s so overwhelmed right now plus raising her grandson. I’ve gone over a couple of mornings just to hangout and talk with her. It’s very sad.
Dianne, I am watching the Broncs. Not looking good right now. I hope they come back!
ReplyDeleteHow sad about your friend Kathy, losing her hubby and raising Grandson. That is a lot to take in!
I have watched the Voice since it started. Once in a while I miss a show, but not often. Sometimes I catch a re-run on the week end.
I love watching PBS shows. Right now I am watching "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries".
My eye is doing better.
I am not liking this cold weather!!!
That is all...... :)
Mary...the broncos look worse than a little league. Our QB sacked nine times and still another quarter to go! We have absolutely no offensive line or decent QB. Louis fell asleep. We are have 70’s right now but weekend might be cooler. Glad your eye is doing better. My friend Kathy has so much. Her 50 year old son (that I’ve known since he was a kid) was just diagnosed last week with cancer and then his wife asked for a divorce. I’m so concerned how much she can take with all this going on. It’s just heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI really think the Voice is good and funny. There are some really good singers. I’m partial to Blake as a judge.
Dianne. I wish we would hit 70*! At least we have had no rain for two whole days!!
ReplyDeleteThat's something! The farmers have been going non stop trying to get their crops in before the next rain. We are surrounded by corn, soy beans, hay, sugar beets,& potatoes.
There were/was?? huge machinery on the road today. Really holds up traffic. They take up a huge part of the road.
I cannot believe what your poor friend is going through! So sad about her son too :(
Blake is my fave too.
Dianne Wow! Your friend Kathy sure has a lot on her plate. I hope her son's cancer is a type that can be dealt with. It's hard enough to be going through the grieving process over the loss of her husband without having to nurture and care for a 6 year old and now added worry about her son. When my husband died, I cried at least once a day for about 8 months before it subsided. I hope your friend is able to set aside a little time to take care of herself.
ReplyDeleteWell, our 49ers have been doing really well. Knock on wood. I think they play again tomorrow and I don't want to jinx it. I'm feeling really good about the QB we have now and, boy, is he cute!
The winning at the slot machine must have been fun for Kayla but not the $54 tab for a drink. Yikes! What kind of a rip off club was that?
My neighbors are currently on a cruise in Europe and I'm jealous. They are taking a round trip cruise out of Barcelona and then spending time in Paris after that. It is somewhat similar to what my daughter and I did a few years ago except we went from Barcelona to Rome before spending time in France. I would do it all over again.
Mary I hope your eye is much better now. If not, I was wondering if wearing sunglasses when looking at your computer screen might be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was going to have to stop putting peanuts out for the squirrels because they were causing problems for my neighbor behind me. It's two gals that live in the house behind me and I ran into one of them (Mary) at the grocery store a few days ago and she was telling me that Jane was upset that the squirrels were buying their nuts in her flower beds and vegetable garden and kind of wrecking it all up. So I told her to tell Jane that I would stop putting nuts out when I finished with the two bags I had already purchased. So today I went to the grocery store again and this time I ran into Jane. She told me not to worry about it now as she won't be planting new things again until April and the squirrels could probably use the extra food being provided through the winter months. She asked if I would then maybe just put out nuts half as often during spring and summer. So that's where we are with that. I'm not a gardener but I can certainly understand the frustration of planting things just to have them dug up. So today I watched a squirrel grab a nut and run directly towards my back fence and go up and over into their yard. LOL
By the way....How's Max's basil doing? Are you sure he didn't mean that as a gift for you?
Barb That is so creepy about the guy that was calling Chad. There are so many creeps out there and now they have the internet to reach out with, too. Scary!
ReplyDeleteLately, I've been cooking things that make enough to provide me with several dinners. The latest was I made meatballs and simmered them in Golden Mushroom soup. That soup is very tasty as a sauce. I had it with mashed potatoes (sauce great on the potatoes, too) and carrots. I guess it's the season that is making me want these kinds of comfort foods. I'll be finishing off the meatballs tonight. Maybe I'll make tuna casserole on Sunday. I always have everything I need to make that. I pretty much love anything with noodles, anyway.
I don't know what the deal is with PG&E. The situation that prompted the blackout was the high winds in the higher elevations combined with the extremely low humidity. Everything is so dry that it was just a bad combination. Although I am at sea level, I am at the foot of Montara Mountain and it looked like I just might be part of the grid that covered that. Fortunately, I wasn't.
Hi....it’s cold here today...49 but that wind is howling and freezing. We have heat on here. Went to my friends husband memorial yesterday and then over to her house with some friends for a couple of hours. It was a nice service. Quite a few people too. I’ve been semi packing today and trying on things to be sure they fit ok. At least just need summer clothes for cruise but traveling will need warmer things. I’m doing pretty good with the packing. Louis even started too. Our plan is to leave a week from Tuesday morning unless snow is predicted...even a flake and we will be out of here.
ReplyDeleteMary, has it got any nicer there? Sorry your Lions lost today. We were cheering for them. Sometimes I pay more attention to the judges on the Voice than the singers. Yes, Kathy has a lot going on. Hopefully all of her friends will be helpful. I notice she’s balling me more and I’m really glad.
JL, I was so sad when my husband died too. Kayla was just a year old and being around her helped me too plus I had my family and great friends. It’s just such a hard thing to go through as we all know. Can you believe the rip off drink prices in Vegas? They had fun but Kayla, her roommate and Tammy all came home sick, coughing, etc. Kayla and Tam went to urgent care and got some meds. Your team won again today 9-0. What kind of crazy score was that..lol...at least they won. My Texas cousins just got home from a Viking cruise. They loved all the countries. I’m never going to be able to go to other countries with my mobility issues! I just live through everyone’s pictures. Wow, that’s quite a squirrel story. At least you can feed them through the winter.
I cooked a new roast recipe today in the crockpot. It was a roast with a pkg of ranch dressing, Italian dressing, brown gravy, water and onions. It came out so good and so tender. Made rice dish with it and now we have enough for dinner tmrw night. JL, your food sounds good. I love Tuna casserole.
Barb, I’m going looking for you soon.
Dianne, Thanks for the nudge. Like Mary, I have been very distracted lately. I have made that same roast recipe when my in-laws were here and everyone liked it. I made it in the crockpot and served it with mashed potatoes, salad and garlic bread.
ReplyDeleteI am going to get both eyes done at the same time. I am glad I only have to go through it once.
I wonder if that drink price was a mistake? I would have questioned it. What was in that drink? I guess they have to pay for their new stadium somehow! And the Raiders thank her. LOL
I like the Voice and especially the judges. Kelly and Blake crack me up!
So sorry about your friend Kathy having to go through all that. I hope her son’s cancer is operable and he will be OK.
J/L, How nice of you to adjust your squirrels feedings for your neighbors. They seem nice too, telling you not to worry about it until planting time. That’s how neighbors should be everywhere! Unfortunately, it’s not like that everywhere!
ReplyDeleteLast week my sister and I signed an affidavit stating no one came forward with a claim on my brother’s estate, so we could close it. The check from his SO’s estate that he never cashed, will be reissued and split between Marie and me, and we will be done.
Mary, Do you know what caused that blood vessel in your eye to burst? I hope it’s better. Did it hurt? I hope it heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteChad and I (and my sister, if she doesn’t back out) are going to dinner with my Joshua, my grandson, and his wife, Allie, On Friday. Her birthday was last week and we weren’t invited to the Celebration at Dean’s, so we’re taking them out to celebrate. I think she is 24. Josh is 28.
SacBarb. I really don't know how it broke. It did hurt for a bit. The only thing I could think of was, when I put in my night drops I felt a sting in my eye like a piece of metal scratched it.
ReplyDeleteOh to be 24 7 28 again!! Enjoy the Birthday dinner.
I think I will have both of my eyes done at the same time too. I went with Jim when he had his done, twice. I know he would not like waiting twice for me! I may ask my girlfriend to take me, then I won't worry about it.
Dianne,Your roast sounds good. I will be baking a whole chicken tomorrow. Jim went to the casino all day today. Matthew asked for Tacos for supper, so that was easy.
It has been cold, rainy & very windy here. Our leaves are dropping big time. I try to keep Zoie's pen area raked. Hard to find her poop lol!!
JustLin, We have had a few power outages here.Some due to the wind. I heard a farmer's
machinery hit an electrical pole and cut power to many homes. Glad it was across town!
You talked me into making meatballs this week. I try to make a menue for the week. Tomorrow, baked chicken and Thursday meatballs with some kind of pasta.
It's a pain cooking every day. Fri is usually pizza night, so I get a break lol!
I still have my gift certificate for a local restaurant that cooks home made meals. I may cash that in soon :)
Hi...Mary, I really wouldn’t want to cook every night. We had roast for two nights and then Andy made hot chili for us today. He actually made it and delivered one to Tammy, em, Kayla and us. It’s too hot for me. The kids and tam are sick so they really wanted it. Nice of him. My uncle is taking us out tmrw night for a late birthday for Louis. We’re taking my SIL out Thursday night for her bday if it’s not snowing too hard. It’s supposed to start tmrw night for two days. I just want it over before we leave. Our leaves have dropped too..very windy lately.
ReplyDeleteBarb. Did you go to your dinner yet? Sad that Dean doesn’t invite you to his place. Your holidays will be as interesting as mine! At least I’ll be in Texas for thanksgiving. Kayla was drinking Red Bull and vodka...gross! She said you had to buy the plastic cup for $15. Kathys son was to see the dr today. I think he has to have his prostrate and bladder removed. On a better note, Ben had a PET SCAN Friday and they said 90% of his cancer is gone! That’s good news...he and Kayla are on the outs right now and she’s sad. She just needs to maybe move on. He doesn’t treat her very nice.
JL...how’s you’re weather? Power okay? Louis and Andy went to see the Angelina Joley movie. They didn’t realize it was a Disney movie. I don’t think they were too thrilled with it. There’s a Christmas movie on Lifetime Saturday night with Marie Osmond. Have you gone to see Judy yet?
That’s about it from my end of the country. IM busy trying on clothes before I pack them.
Snowing hard!
ReplyDeleteDianne Uh, oh. Does that mean the birthday dinner is canceled? It is 90* here and a warm breeze. Unfortunately, there are more fires burning in California and there are stronger winds there. One is north of me in wine country and the other is in So. California. I don't know if either of these were caused by downed electrical lines. Power had been shut down again in those areas that were deemed at risk for fire.
ReplyDeleteHave you made decisions on what to take on your trip?
I still don't understand the cost of that drink Kayla had unless she had super expensive vodka in it. It's good you didn't go on that trip. You might have come home sick, too.
Mary So did you make your meatballs and pasta tonight like you planned? That sounds good. I have no idea what I'm making for my dinner tonight. Probably grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup. Easy peasy.
ReplyDeleteThe warm weather today has made me lazy. I really haven't accomplished anything much except laundry of sheets and a little bit of housework. I'm trying to get going on Christmas stuff and spent too much time browsing on the internet for possible gifts. I did order my Christmas cards the other day so at least that's out of the way.
I hope your eye is all healed now.
Barb I'm an "animal person" and I really enjoy seeing the critters. I also have 3 planter saucers on the deck which I put fresh water in every morning. Birds are so cute when taking their baths! They do drink the water, too, and so do the squirrels. Who knows who comes during the night to drink? I bring the seed in at night and the peanuts are always eaten up during the day. Some mornings when the dog goes out, she is very excited to smell all over by the water dishes so I think there may be a occasional raccoon coming up on the deck during the wee hours.
ReplyDeleteI'm really disgusted with the whole voting thing on DWTS. They are basically locking out the whole west coast. Grrrr.
Hi...Well, Big snowstorm predicted Sunday, Monday and Tuesday here. We were planning on leaving Tuesday and have all our reservations accordingly. We’ve decided to leave after my hair tmrw and get to Amarillo tmrw night. We want to not only get out of colorado but new Mexico too. We have a pass to go over there. I quickly canceled my plans today and except for my back mri and got busy trying on things and packing. I’m all packed up except for a pair of slacks in the dryer. Good thing I make lists for us. I was major stressed last night as I thought we’d leave a day early and then this dumb storm popped up. I’m too worried about not getting to ship in time Friday am. I was able to change my reservations on the hotels with no issues. We don’t quite know what we will do Tuesday and wed night. We will stay two nights in Dallas and meet a friend Monday. I was able to change nails to today but no luck on hair...and that’s a must!
ReplyDeleteJL. We were able to take my SIL to dinner last night as snow melted right away. We got 4” but other parts of Denver got a trace. I put my labels on my Christmas card envelopes yesterday before I knew of the change in plans. We had Olive Garden for dinner. Went there yesterday and you can pay $5 to take another home so that’s what I did for tonight. What do you mean they are locking out the west coast on DWTS? I don’t watch it but was wondering what you meant.
Well, my dryer is calling me. Send good vibes for our weather everyone, please.
So, here I am wondering if I'm going to have my electricity shut off or not today. If so, the power outage will be for a couple of days. This is ridiculous. I think I'll be notified one way or the other in a few hours.
ReplyDeleteDianne, On DWTS it used to be that you could vote by text or online up until midnight before the voting was closed. This season you have to vote by the end of the last commercial on the show. Since it is live from the east coast, there is no way we can do that on the west coast as we are seeing the show 3 hours later. East and Central time zone people are watching the show live so they have the opportunity to vote with this new system.
Hi....we’re in Amarillo. Got my hair done and left town at noon. We had beautiful weather all the way but took 7 hours...long day. Tmrw we had to Dallas. We will be there for two days. Hopefully tmrw it will be a shorter day
ReplyDeleteJL, I hope you don’t lose your power. I feel bad for you and a Donna. Very scary. Take care and keep checking in with us.
Quick pit stop before going to bed. I am pooped! The Halloween party was not as big as the past. It rained from 6:00 and didn't quit until 11:00. I am thinking no one wanted to get drenched! Oh well, I get paid regardless lol! I am thinking of retiring this time for sure! It was a scary drive home. With the rain and darkness, I had a terrible time seeing! I'm thinking having my eyes on the puter screen all night had a lot to do with it! My eyes didn't adjust until the first 10 miles!
ReplyDeleteDianne. I am glad you are out of CO! Safe travels, and have fun!!
JLin,I hate what you and Donna are going through! Stay safe!!
Barb, glad your bros. business is finally taken care of! Have a great Birthday coming up!!!
Mary..What was your costume? Did Jim go with you? Were there a lot of cute costumes? I saw the retired hooters..,cute idea. I’m having a harder time with night driving just locally too. Our plans have changed ..now one night in Dallas and two in Houston. This snowstorm has me so messed up. I’m getting to know the reservation people at every hotel as I call so much! I’m getting confused on where I’m going.
ReplyDeleteHello dear Owls. It’s 2:43 am and I’ve been trying to sleep since around midnight. I don’t know why I haven’t fallen asleep. I decided to just get up and see what you all have been doing.
ReplyDeleteDianne, your trip is turning into quite an adventure trying to stay ahead of the weather. Were you able to find an appointment to get your hair done? We had a nice dinner with Josh and Allie at an Italian restaurant that they like. The food was really good and mid priced. I made the reservation for their trip to Japan using my miles, and they told us some of the sites they are hoping to see. They aren’t going until May 2020 after Josh gets out of school. He will have his Master’s degree then. He plans to go to law school after that. The trip to Japan will be their very delayed honeymoon. Their 1st anniversary is Nov. 9th and they are going to go to Disneyland.
Mary, The pictures you posted looked like everyone was having a good time at the party. Did you wear a costume, too? I would hate cooking every night. I am so used to not cooking much after all the years of cooking for the family, I’m not sure I could that again. When Chad cooks, he usually cooks enough for 2-3 meals. He may cook two days in a row, then we switch off eating the left-overs. It’s been working out well. Occasionally we’ll order pizza or Chinese food.
J/L, I am disgusted with DWTS, too. How could ABC possibly think the whole Pacific time zone would be OKAY with being left out, especially when it’s taped in Los Angeles? I want to say I won’t watch it anymore, but I know I will! LOL
Thank you for the birthday card. The Jennifers took me to lunch and a movie today. We went to Seasons 52 restaurant and I had a grilled salmon salad and it was excellent. We all like this restaurant. Their menu changes with the seasons and we have never been disappointed. The salad had mangoes, bell peppers and watermelon radishes, which I have never had before, along with the mixed baby greens, and a 3 oz. pice of grilled salmon on top. I think you told me you don’t care for salmon, but it was really good. They also offered grilled chicken breast as an option. Then we came back to my house and had carrot cake made by Jen. Also delish. They are coming back tomorrow and we’re finally going to start on our Christmas cards.
SacBarb, You must have felt our power outage. It was the exact time you woke up last night! LOL! I wouldn't have known about the outage if Zoie hadn't been growling and barking. Turned out it was Jim stumbling to the bathroom in the dark. I think he was still tipsy from all the free drinks he was given last night!.
ReplyDeleteI was mad at myself for not charging up my phone. All the picture taking and my uploading ran my phone down. I noticed the power came back on about 6am. I quickly put my phone on the charger and flushed the turlet. An hour later.. no power again! I was so pooped that I went back to sleep until 11:00! Matthew hooked up the generator so they could watch the football game and plug in the coffee pot. The power came back about noon.
Dianne, yes, our Lions won! I didn't wear a costume. I used to, but It made it hard for me to do my job. Those "retired Hooters" won first place. They were a "Hoot"
There were lots of cute costumes I drove back to the place today to pick up the rest of my equipment. It was raining too hard for me to pack it all in last night.
Jim helped set up my speakers and lights, then went home for a few hrs, then came back to help me tear down.
We set up about 2:00. It usually only takes me 45 min. to set up. This time it took me 2 hrs! My computer was messing up and I couldn't get it to run my programs for DJ & Karaoke. Hate when that happens! I finally figured it out. I drove home, showered, made 2 pizzas, and back I went to the gig. It was 6-11.
Sooo, you see why I am pooped
JustLin, How are you doing? Have you lost power? Please check in!
Thinking of all my Cali friends! The news feeds are so scary!!
ReplyDeleteMary, Thanks for thinking of us. I know some are in real jeopardy, but I am not close to any of the fires, so far. Thanks also for the birthday card. I laughed at your marker! Whatever works. I saw your karaoke pics and the retired hooters deserved to win. They were really funny.
ReplyDeleteDianne, I think you board your cruise tomorrow. I forgot where you’re going, but I hope you have fun.
J/L, I am so pissed at DWTS, I may even write a letter to the network. I know it won’t do any good, but maybe I’ll feel better. I hope you have no more power outages.
Happy birthday barb....hope it was good. We leave Friday morning and going to Cabo and some other place. I’ll probably stay on the ship as the excursions we not wheelchair accessible. I’m ok with that. I love being on the ship. It was 70 and rainy here in Houston today. We leave for Galveston tnrw for two day’s. We are at loose ends Since we just kind of showed up with a day noticE. We had a nice family dinner
ReplyDeletelast night but everyone works during the day. My cousin Judy is still sick so we don’t want to go there . We went to lunch with her husband gordon Today. Boring afternoon and night with Louis watching the World Series. He’s so happy Astro’s didn’t win so “we” can watch another game tmrw night! I’m beside myself with excitement! I will find us something to do fun in Galveston for sure. I’m glad not to be home in the 9-12” of snow and the 0 record breaking temp....again, so glad we left the early. Mary, glad your power is back on
JL.... check In you’re doing ok. Barb and a JL, you’re not near the fires are you? They are so scary.
Dianne Here I am! I am not close to the fires. I do live at the foot of a mountain but no fire here, thankfully. I have power again but a lot of people don't. Last night I retrieved the food I was keeping in my friend's extra freezer an refrigerator that she has in her garage. Stuff I didn't take over there had to be thrown out. I had to go to two grocery stores yesterday to find milk. This has certainly been inconvenient but I am so lucky not to be close to a fire. Whole cities have had to evacuate and people are losing their homes. I certainly have nothing to complain about.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have a wonderful time on your trip. Don't lose too much money in the ship's casino.
Barb I still have power here even though it is quite windy. Maybe our humidity isn't so low anymore. One thing I realized when I was without power over the weekend is that I should have a portable phone charger. I was lucky to be able to go to my friend's house to charge my phone and Kindle. Also, I charged my phone one time at a neighbor's house who had a generator hooked up. It's really boring to sit around at night in the dark, too. Especially when there is no one to talk to except a dog. LOL It's a one way conversation. Thankfully, I have a gas stove. I made coffee by setting up my Mr. Coffee coffeemaker but instead of putting water in the reservoir, I boiled water in a pan then poured it slowly directly over the ground coffee in the filter. It worked fine and I was able to have my morning coffee which was a comfort. Coffee couldn't stay warm in the carafe so I just made one cup at a time.
ReplyDeleteMary That Halloween party looked fun. Two hours to set up? No wonder you were pooped when the night was over. It looks like it was a fun group to be around, though.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand about flushing the toilet. You have to have power to flush the toilet?
It might be a good idea for you to have a portable phone charger, too. My friend has one that has two USB ports and hold enough power to charge a phone 4 times. I think I will look for one like that. It would be handy to have when traveling, too. They do have tiny ones that are the size of a lipstick and hold enough to charge a phone one time. I think my daughter has one that size. It's important to have a working phone in an emergency. I have a landline but it was out when the power went out.
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