February 27 - 29, 2012 - CA
Tuesday, February 28. We're sitting here trying to decide what to do this week and it looks like we are headed to San Anselmo to check out some antique shops this afternoon. The weather station is predicting rain for the next 2 days and it is pretty cold and windy today plus we are still feeling the effects of that lingering cold that has been with us for the last 2 weeks. Needless to say, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
We've been quite curious about the RV that has been parked 2 sites away from us for the last week. It is a vintage motor home with all windows covered with dark red curtains. The other day I walked by and a pit bull was lying on the dash. Two young men and a woman, shabbily dressed with gnatty rasta hair come and go periodically and take out all 3 pit bulls for a short potty break each morning. Other than stepping out the door with a cigarette in their mouths, they have hibernated inside that ratty looking place. On Sunday, we were hoping they were getting ready to leave, as a bustle of activity regarding batteries was going on. This morning, we had the same hopeful feelings when they appeared to be taking care of sanitation stuff, although the cable tv cord is still plugged in and the rig is still there. The management here seems very particular about the appearance of RVs that are allowed here and I'm sure they are keeping very close tabs. I hate to be judgmental about people, but I can't help but wonder what goes on behind those curtains. I don't feel threatened, but certainly wouldn't want to encounter the dogs when I'm out and about.
We had to get out of the house today, so we headed to San Anselmo to The Legacy Antique Mall to browse around and saw several items that we both liked but weren't that inspired to purchase. That is always a good way for us to get a taste for the local history and we really enjoyed poking around. A little taqueria next door looked tempted, so we stopped for a bite to eat. By then, my head was pounding and I was ready to head back home. I'm beginning to wonder about this crud.
Wednesday, February 29. So our questionable neighbors pulled out this morning and we are both feeling relieved. In talking with the manager yesterday, they had presented some problems (a loud pushing match just outside the manager's RV) and were asked to leave by today.
Again, we awoke with stuffed heads and serious headaches, in spite of all of the Esberitox, Benadryl, Advil, honey and cinnamon and vinegar steams we can do - I was off to get Mucinex today. I hope to heck that it helps, already after one dose I'm feeling somewhat better but the roller coaster ride keeps on going. I finally remembered the last time I felt like this was back in 2005 when we still lived in Ocala. I'm sure glad that I am usually a healthy person - I couldn't take feeling like crap all of the time.
The weather turned and we had a night of rain - the air felt fresh and cool when I walked this morning. I happened to spot some wildlife along the trail that I haven't seen before. Check it out.
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February 20 - 26, 2012 - CA
Monday, February 20. The crud continues to linger around our house and it seems like Mike is a day behind me and is starting to experience more symptoms. It has gone through the entire family and I learned from Jill that Charlotte is starting to feel better but still isn't over it.
So there's not much to write about. We did disconnect the Bravo today to head down the street for propane. It never lets us down - starts right up, jacks work, slide works, and Mike even ran the generator for a while to make sure it keeps working. We also stopped to fill the gas tank as the price of gas just went up to $3.99 per gallon and who knows what it's going to be like later on. Ugly things are happening in the middle east. $200 on fuel today - dang!
Wednesday, February 22 Back with Charlotte the last 2 days. I went by myself yesterday and all went well - we are both feeling better but certainly not 100%. Mike stayed home, he's even worse today. The weather has been beautiful so I took Charlotte for a couple of nice, long walks in the stroller. She loves being outdoors, making sweet little humming sounds as you go along. Today, I considered going to the Botanical Gardens at Golden Gate Park, but ended up just taking a long walk instead. One of these days, I'll get more ambitious.
Thursday, February 23. What a beautiful day it was here in Marin County. I had things to do and errands to run first thing this morning - stocking up on groceries for our weekend visitor, my niece Ashley from Kansas City. When I finished that, I got busy with laundry while Mike did the vacuuming and necessary house cleaning.
It was so warm that we opened all of the windows, shed the long sleeves and brought out the flip flops. Boy, does that feel good. I was tempted to bring out the grill tonight but I found an interesting recipe to cook my cod fish on top of the stove. Talk about simple - oil the pan, add the fish fillet, drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with pepper - cook 4 minutes on each side. YUM!
Sunday, February 26. Whew! The weekend just flew by so quickly. My niece Ashley's job brought her to the city so she decided to hang out with us for the weekend. We had planned to pick her up at her hotel on Friday afternoon but Charlotte was just at the point of needing a bottle when she called, so she hopped in a cab and headed our way. After Charlotte's nap, we took off for a walk through Sea Cliff and a small part of the Land's End trail where she could get a good look at the city from the lookout point, up along Camino del Mar to the Legion of Honor and then back to the apartment.
I fixed dinner for when Ben and Jill got home and we had a great time just hanging out and visiting. The cousins hadn't seen each other in 8 years and Ashley was only 16, so a lot had changed since then. Ben and Jill are getting ready for a vacation, so Ashley came home with us.
Yesterday, we started with a nice long walk with Frisco, took showers and headed to the city. Mike didn't join us, as the crud that has been getting us all down hit him like a brick this morning. Ashley wanted to see Haight-Ashbury, so we headed for that neighborhood, parked the car, and walked a few blocks; took some pictures, checked out a few boutiques and stores with trinkets. We were headed back to the car when Ben called to let us know that Charlotte was up from her nap and we could go have some lunch. The trusty Beach Chalet & Brewery was our choice, as we could sit outdoors and Ruby could be with us. It was a bit chilly for outdoor dining, but we found a table where we were somewhat sheltered from the wind - it was a good taste of the sunny but cold weather for Ashley.
We said our goodbye's and then headed north across the Golden Gate, with a quick drive through the Inner Richmond district and a stop at the Golden Gate Lookout point before getting back home. Mike was surprised that he had slept the entire day - thanks to the drowsy feeling you get when taking Benadryl. It was a quiet, lazy evening of watching the tube - Bill Maher's recent stand-up act from Silicon Valley and "My Week With Marilyn". Both were quite enjoyable and it was a good night.
Up early this morning to get Ashley to the airport for an 8:30 flight that meant leaving here by 6:30. No problem, it was such an easy drive at that time of the day and even a bit enjoyable. So now I'm lazing on the sofa catching up on the latest news.
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February 13 - 19, 2012 - CA
Monday, February 13. It was cold and rainy this morning, so Frisco didn't get much of a walk. Throughout the day, we took him out between rainfalls - nothing heavy, but we had a mix of rain and sun most of the day, with pretty high winds.
I spent the morning running around to get groceries for the Valentine's dinner I'm making tomorrow - nothing that special but I wasn't able to find the cut of beef that I was looking for. The recipe called for a 3 pound top round roast, trimmed and tied. The first butcher at Molly Stone's said that a tri-tip would work - I wasn't sure, so I passed that one up. I came back home, got the recipe and took it with me. I headed for another market not far from here and found an empty store - no Bryan's. So then I headed to Andronico's in San Anselmo and they had a top round London broil - I wasn't sure of that either. I called Jill for her opinion and she thought that would work - so I headed back into the store and bought it - we shall see. As I'm writing this, I just thought that I should have called my own family butcher expert, my brother-in-law, Dan. Duh.
Back home on the computer, I was working on a valentine project for Ben and Jill. Another screwy deal, mostly caused by my recent computer crash. First, I had to reinstall the printer that just didn't seem to want to work right. After several attempts, I succeeded - it only took most of the afternoon, but then it was a cold and rainy afternoon so I was stuck indoors anyway.
Tuesday, February 14. Happy Valentine's Day! We sat here over coffee this morning reminiscing about our first V-day together back in 1967 - it seems like such a long, long time ago. A beautiful, unseasonably warm day in Wisconsin when we both skipped work and spent the afternoon cruising around on Mike's motorcycle. I never have been a big fan of the holiday - just a way for Hallmark and the candy companies to get bigger and richer - expressions of love should be an every day occurrence.
Another valentine's day that meant a lot to me was 1977 when I was nearing my due date of February 23 for Ben's birth. I was at a bridal shower and someone told me that I would be overdue based on my belly size - little did she know, because he was born just 2 days later, on the 16th - a week early.
Friday, February 17. Poor little Charlotte came down with her first cold this week and because of that, Ben decided to stay home with her today. She's been a real trooper but not eating as well as usual and she wanted to be held and comforted a lot more. We're all thinking it is a cold that just has to run its course, as she hasn't had fever along with it. Yesterday, I kind of felt like I was coming down with something too, so I started with the Esberitox regimen in hopes of knocking anything down before it starts.
I got my shopping fix yesterday with a trip to Costco and then to Kohl's. I can't believe the bargains I found at Kohls - undies marked down from $20 to $7, socks from $14 to $3, and a t-shirt from $30 down to $6. As I was checking out, the clerk told me that I had saved $36 - I always chuckle at this because I didn't really save anything - I just spent $18. Anyway, I enjoyed it.
When I got back home, Mike told me that we had to go to a music store in San Rafael to get guitar strings, as he broke one when changing them out. It's a good thing that he bought 2 sets, as he broke another when he got back home.
The computer woes continue. I'm struggling with finding the recipes that I have put in my MasterCook program, getting music into iTunes is driving me nuts, and getting my music from my iPhone back to my computer is another struggle. Grrrrrrr!
Saturday, February 18. Ben called yesterday morning to let us know that he was staying home with Charlotte, as her cold seemed to be a little worse and she was feeling miserable. He wasn't feeling that great himself and Mike and I both woke up with scratchy throats too. As the day went on, our symptoms got a little worse - not like we are sick, sick, but just not feeling very well.
Other than a couple of short naps, I spent the day getting music back on my computer. I finally said "to heck with getting the music from my phone to the computer" and decided to start from scratch. What a pain in the butt! Finally, this afternoon I was finished with that project and I did another backup of everything on my computer - I shouldn't have to go through this crap again.
Check this out - we saw this Action Mobile pull into a site near us this afternoon. After checking out their website, I learned it comes at a cost of $670,000 but then it will take you just about anywhere. Interesting!
It is a cool and windy day around here today. We did manage to get outdoors for a walk. Neither of us are feeling very good again today, so we declined on our dinner date with Ben and Jill tonight. Charlotte was doing better today, so they decided to keep their date since they had a sitter lined up and reservations for a nice place. So much for celebrating Ben's birthday with him.
Sunday, February 19. Sniff, sniff, sneeze, cough - the story of my life these last couple of days. Yuck! I was hoping to feel better today - I'm sick and tired of sitting in the house. It's a beautiful, sunny morning so I took a shower and headed off to the grocery store - big deal, huh! I put a pork loin and some sauerkraut in the slow cooker and was ready for a nap.
We both went for a walk this afternoon but that only lasted about 20 minutes and we were back home being lazy. Talking with Ben this evening I learned that Charlotte is feeling better but he and Jill are both feeling crappy. Hope this all passes pretty soon.
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February 6 - 12, 2012 - AZ
Tuesday, February 7. The light rain soothed us all through the night until 4:50 am when my phone rang. What??? It must have been a mistake call from my brother, Rick, as he didn't leave a message (it was 7 am in his time zone). Needless to say, there was no going back to sleep for me.
Charlotte really resisted her morning nap - between Jill, Ben, and myself all trying to calm and soothe her, it took her an hour to fall asleep for a 40 minute nap. I then remembered a gift that I bought when she was a newborn, called the Baby Buzzr (a battery operated toy with 3 switches; eyes light up, a vibrator, and lullabies) and is supposed to soothe them when they are uncomfortable or anxious. It was in the toy box with a dead battery, so Mike loaded it up with new batteries and I showed it to her when we were rocking and settling in for a nap. I turned them all on and she was focused and relaxed quickly - I laid it on her tummy and she was asleep before 5 minutes passed, and got a good, hour and a half nap in. I've got my fingers crossed that it works for Ben and Jill too.
Thursday, February 9. Yesterday was a good day with Charlotte and a gorgeous day outdoors.
What busy bodies we were today! I took a nice, long walk this morning - it was warm and sunny. When I got back home, I baked some banana bread to use up a couple of over-ripe bananas that I had on the counter. Then I took the curtains down from the *bleep*pit windows and hand washed them - it's not been that long since I did it last, but they sure were dirty. After a wash and 3 rinses, they were finally clean. It's a challenge with a large piece of fabric in a tiny little kitchen sink, but I managed.
When I finished with the washing, I rolled the curtain up in a beach towel to get rid of most of the moisture.
Kneeling on the floor and rolling up that towel really brought back memories of how my Mom taught me to do that with my nylon stockings back when I was 13 or 14 years old. Now that is the old days - they were actually made in the shape of a leg with reinforcements at the toe, heel, and thigh. We wore garter belts that had hooks on the front and back of each thigh to hold them up. They had to be hand washed after each use.
Mike repaired the hardware on my pots and pans drawer that had started acting sluggish. We just happened to have the replacement parts that we needed - it has happened before.
I also re-glued the little wood dowel trim pieces that have fallen out of the slide-out and have been sitting in a drawer waiting for it to be done.
After I went grocery shopping, we got in a nice walk - looks like today will be the last of the warm, sunny weather for a few days, as there is a cool-down headed our way.
We topped the day off with a salad and tenderloin for dinner and a movie. Can't get much better than that.
Sunday, February 12. I tried a new recipe at Ben and Jill's on Friday, a Rustic Chicken Minestrone soup from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine - very tasty. That Martha - when it comes to recipes - her team knows how to do it.
I sat down at my computer when I got home that night, only to find the dreaded Windows black screen of death - it wouldn't boot up. Mike was finally able to get it to boot but I knew it wouldn't be long before it happened again. Saturday morning, I reinstalled the operating system and started from scratch. By 4:00 that afternoon, I had most everything reloaded, although I keep finding that things are missing. I also learned that I forgot to backup my music on iTunes - dang it! That's going to take some time.
Some cool and cloudy weather is predicted for the next few days, so we decided to take a drive up to the Mt. Tamalpais State Park today. That is definitely a nice Miata drive, although it was nice in the Honda too. A lot of folks on bicycles use the road and what a workout that has to be - not only that, there isn't much shoulder to ride on either. At the top, you can see views of San Francisco and the bay, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, Sausolito, and the San Pablo Bay also - gorgeous. Along the way, we passed through stands of giant redwoods and when we got out of the car, the ground is soft and mushy from all of the needles, moss, and moisture. Once we headed down the mountain, we could see the fog rolling in from the Pacific and you could just feel the drop in temperature. Good timing on our part.
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February 1 - 5, 2012 - CA
Wednesday, February 1. What a busy day - starting with 7 trips up and down the stairs to do 2 loads of laundry. Little Charlotte kept both of us busy today, as she really wasn't interested in napping, other than a one-hour nap shortly after we arrived this morning.
I took her to the library for story time and she really seemed to like it a lot. We sat next to a couple that are also granny nannies for their 5-month old grandson and I learned that they are having a similar experience and enjoying the time they are spending with him. I had forgotten how much preparation goes into taking a little one on an outing. She fell asleep as soon as the car got moving down the street.
The library is in a really busy area on 9th Avenue, between Geary St and Clement St. I was able to find a parking spot and its a good thing I keep a bag of quarters in the glove box, as it was metered parking. I plugged the meter ($2/hour), putting in $2.50 and then realized it was only a one-hour meter. I then stood there struggling with opening the stroller - and this is after practicing a few times in the garage before I left. I got Charlotte's car seat in the stroller and she is still sound asleep, so I was beginning to wonder if this trip was even worth the effort. She woke up when I parked the stroller and took her out of the car seat and then she was focused on the story time activity. I will have to do this again, as she enjoyed it and it is a good thing for her developing brain and social skills.
Thursday, February 2. Happy 5-month birthday, Charlotte! It's our day off so I started it with a nice long walk with Frisco on this beautiful morning, having a conversation with Rita and Denny while walking.
When I got back home from our walk, I headed to the grocery store as the refrigerator and freezer are empty. We've both been doing some reading about the dangers of sugar, carbs, and processed foods, so we're really trying to eliminate a lot of that stuff in our diet. We do pretty well, rarely use any processed foods or soda but are definitely guilty when it comes to carbs and sugar. We've both been taking turns reading "Sugar Nation" by Jeff O'Connell (we spotted it on Ben's bookshelf) and it is some scary stuff, especially when not many of us learn from our doctors that we could have pre-diabetic conditions for many years before the dreaded disease is diagnosed. And then, the pharmaceutical companies are the only ones that benefit - you become dependent on their products. Once again, the doctors are best at putting on bandaids but not helping people to change their habits and prevent disease. Ben also recommended "Sugar Blues" by William Duffy that was published back in 1986 that gives a historical viewpoint on sugar addictions.
We got another nice walk in this afternoon, sat in the sunshine and read for a little bit, took naps, and had a nice dinner. Tonight we watched the movie, "The Social Network" - a good story but we both found the movie a little boring.
Saturday, February 4. Yesterday was another beautiful weather day and we spent some time with Charlotte at the kid's playground near Ben and Jill's house. She liked watching all of the activity, although Grandma wasn't thinking when she didn't take a hat to protect her from the sun - it's now added to the "take along" list.
Frisco and I had a nice, long walk again this morning. He is getting better and better when he meets up with big dogs along the way. That has been one behavior that we have struggled with since getting him, it might be a little dog thing because he always tugs on the leash and gets in attack mode - probably not vicious, angry attack mode but definitely a defensive behavior. I've been taking along treats and having him sit calmly as they pass - sometimes he's ok and other times he's not.
Not much else going on today other than a little bit of shopping at the nearby Bed, Bath and Beyond store. I got a magnetic knife holder to mount on the wall behind the stove and I'm hoping that will make reaching into the silverware drawer a little safer and easier. Lucky Mike gets to do the install.
Sunday, February 5. It was another beautiful day; got a good walk in, did some house cleaning, and spent some time sitting outdoors in the sunshine.
Ben and Jill treated us to a dinner at the Pacific Cafe tonight - our first experience with Charlotte at a restaurant. Unfortunately, she wasn't very cooperative about napping this afternoon, so she was a bit cranky. The last 2 times we have been there, they have run out of the Parmesan Crusted Halibut, but we were there early enough today to be able to order it - and it was delicious, as usual. Thanks guys!
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Created on 02/01/2012 09:23 AM by bridge
Updated on 03/03/2012 05:07 PM by bridge
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