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| March 2012 - CA |
March 26 - 30, 2012 - CA
Wednesday, March 28. Monday's weather was decent but the forecast is for several days of rain this week. Our propane gauge was below 1/4 full, so after a leisurely breakfast and showers we disconnected and headed down the road to fill up. It's always good to hear the Bravo start right up and have the levelers come up and the slide go out smoothly - knock on wood!
It was a year ago Tuesday that Jill's brother, Casey passed away. We are so glad that we have Charlotte this year because she sure has a way of clearing up gloomy feelings. When Jill got home from work, she had a Skype call with her parents and I'm sure Charlotte helped to add some cheer to their day too. Casey was wonderful guy who tried to live his life fully in spite of his many struggles with cancer. I hope that Charlotte grows up to have some of his characteristics - she has his middle name.
Yesterday's weather was really nice when Charlotte woke from her morning nap, so we headed off for a little walk and a stop at the neighborhood park. She loves the swing and usually likes watching all of the other kids but we happened to be the only ones there this morning.
Thursday, March 29. Another month is winding down - way too fast. I had to itch to visit some thrift stores this morning so I headed to Novato, about 12 miles north of where we are. What a nice little town. After a couple of hours and only spending $2 on an umbrella, I headed back home, satisfied that I got my browsing fix.
I made Frisco a batch of the liver treats that he loves so much. Although the process is gross (the liver has to be liquified in the blender), I am getting more efficient at it and not making so much of a mess. The smell is bad but that was quickly covered up by the baked chicken dinner that followed it.
We topped the evening off by watching the movie "War Horse", a sad story about a young boy's relationship with his horse. He enlists to serve in World War I after his horse is sold to the cavalry and his journey takes him to France where he is in the thick of the fighting.
Saturday, March 30. Yesterday was a good day with Charlotte - she is so much fun to watch. In fact, it's hard to take your eyes off of her and she's checking regularly to see that you are. It even seems like she's showing off a bit, like when she poked her index finger through a tag and glanced up to me to see if I noticed it.
Ben didn't have anything going on this afternoon so we ended up hanging out with him and Charlotte. We baked a French Honey Cake but unfortunately took it out of the oven before it was completely done and it dropped - the center was doughy. Dang - it even passed the springy top and clean toothpick test but apparently the sides hadn't pulled away from the edges quite enough. It was a recipe that called for no eggs and no sugar but was sweetened with honey and raisins - more of a bread than a cake.
The guys also spent some time geeking out on computer stuff for a while.
March has certainly just zipped right through our lives and has gone out like both a lion and a lamb. The prediction was for fairly heavy rain and high winds and that is exactly how the day started out. When we headed to the city, the skies were breaking up and it was bright and sunny by the time we got to Ben's house. Just before we went to bed, it had clouded over and started to rain again.
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March 19 - 25, 2012 - CA
Tuesday, March 20. I guess there wasn't much to write about over the last few days. Hmmm - how did we spend them? Sunday was a relax around the RV kind of day. After the previous windy days, we pushed out the slide again (it had been so windy on Thursday night that we pulled it in) - it's amazing how much that 18 square feet adds to our living space. What a great invention!
I felt like doing a sewing project and had some pieces of fabric left over from the car organizer that I had made for Charlotte. While surfing the web, I found a pattern for a bopple ball that looked like something she would really enjoy right now. She loves tags and little pieces that stick out from her stuffed toys. I made my own pattern, ran to JoAnn Fabrics to get some stuffing and made the little ball. She enjoyed playing with it today.
Yesterday, after a lazy start to the day, we went to San Anselmo to check out a couple of antique shops that we hadn't been at previously. At our first stop, we had a great conversation with the shop owner and enjoyed browsing. When we got back, Mike took care of his chores and I headed to the grocery store.
We spent the day with Charlotte today - a typical but enjoyable one. I made another recipe from Martha's Everyday Foods magazine - the slow cooker Cajun Stew - and we had another easy and tasty dinner with Ben and Jill.
Wednesday, March 21. Jill's first appointment of the day wasn't until 3:30, so when Marta invited me to go walking with her this morning, I took her up on it. We went to the Point Isabelle Dog Park near Richmond, where the dogs could be off leash and just be dogs. Frisco hasn't done that a lot, so I was a little leery but he behaved well, came when he was called (most of the time) and stayed pretty close by. One time when he wouldn't come to me was when he saw a big nasty puddle that he couldn't resist - his whole underside was wet and muddy.
Jill made Beef Ragu in the crockpot, so we stayed and had dinner with Ben - two nights in a row - it was quite nice hanging out with him.
Friday, March 23. Forty-four years ago today, we tied the knot. Two teenagers madly in love, we found a way to make it work all of these years - a pretty amazing feat in today's world.
We spent our Christmas gift from Ben and Jill last night, a gift certificate to a restaurant in the city called Range. What a perfect place to celebrate. As we walked in, the bartender was doing impressive tricks with the shaker, so we both started with one of their specialty *bleep*tails - I had today's special called the Apple Jack Rabbit and Mike ordered the Corpse Revivor II. We could just imagine the enjoyment the staff has coming up with these creations. We shared the Seared Scallops for an appetizer and Mike chose the Coffee Rubbed Pork Shoulder and I chose the Oven Roasted Chicken for our entrees. For dessert we had the Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake. Everything was delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening out - we've got to do that more often. Here we are Then and Now.
Sunday, March 25. In the wee hours of the morning yesterday, it started to rain and never stopped until some time last night. It was a steady, persistent rain. Thankfully, the rain boots that I ordered online arrived at our door on Friday, so at least I stayed dry. Poor Frisco, however, was soaked when we got back home. He sure doesn't seem to mind, still sniffs around and takes his good old time.
I hurried off to JoAnn Fabrics in the morning to get some 4" foam to replace the stuff in our dinette seats. Last week I learned that it was on sale at 50% off the regular price and I had a coupon for 25% off my entire order. It would have cost me $140 at the regular price but I got it for $57. It fit great and feels so nice to have a bit more support under us.
We watched 2 episodes of the second season of "Justified" that we are both really enjoying. It is an Elmore Leonard story about U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens that takes place in Hazard County, KY. What a bunch of characters!
Today has been fairly nice all day, starting out cloudy and a cool 52 degrees, it became partly sunny and decent. It was still pretty wet on my walk this morning and I couldn't believe how many snails were perched on the plants along the path. Check out the photos in the gallery.
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March 13 - 18, 2012 - CA
Thursday, March 15. Happy 4th Anniversary to Ben and Jill! What a wonderful vacation/wedding day we all spent together in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. I love you both and am so glad that you found each other.
Guess the week has been busy, as I really haven't had any time to update the website/write in this journal. I watched Charlotte for a few hours on Monday, as Jill had a training class going on at the salon that could only be scheduled on her day off. She brought us both lunch when she got back home and then I headed back home for a nap. Our little girl has mastered the back to belly roll over. It won't be long and she will be scooting along the floor.
On Tuesday, I made a crock pot meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage to share with Ben and Jill. I'm becoming convinced that Martha Stewart doesn't have any bad recipes, this one was from Everyday Food magazine. And then last night I looked at my Costco receipt and realized that the meat that I bought was Kobe corned beef and it cost me $23 - no wonder it was so good. It was so simple too.
More computer woes. I messed things up royally on Tuesday morning when I tried to add a folder for books to my Library. I'm not sure what I did but all of a sudden my documents, photos, and music were messed up. Thankfully, I had made a backup recently, so that was all it took, but it has been a pain. Don't ever mess with the Library section of a PC unless you really know what you are doing.
Saturday, March 17. Happy St. Patrick's Day! I decided to hang out with Ben today, but Mike just didn't want to get up and get moving right away, so he stayed home. When Charlotte woke from her morning nap, we headed out on a walk through the neighborhood, most of it in the Sea Cliff, a beautiful neighborhood with large, expensive houses that borders the Pacific Ocean. I was telling Ben that I saw one of the homes advertised for sale for $7 million - the monthly payments would be $33,000 and he quickly told me about one that was for sale last year for $28 million. Some people have way too much $$$. Those homes are packed in there like sardines, just like any other SF neighborhood - I just don't get it. Beautiful, yes! But those people are fighting over paying a bit more taxes so our country can get out of this mess and maybe the rest of us can continue to just get by.
We had a nice walk, then stopped to pick up a few groceries so that we could bake a Banana, Peanut, Raisin cake. Ben has been trying recipes from one of Maida Heater's cookbooks - she is a prize winning pastry chef and everything he has tried has turned out delicious. Sometimes the ingredients are wierd, but most are easy recipes. While we were in the store, he got a call from Jill telling him that their babysitter for the evening was ill and couldn't make it. Well, I checked with Mike and guess who volunteered to help them out in this pinch. When the cake was in the oven, I headed back home to get a nap in before returning for the evening.
It was so windy that we could hear things flying around and our motorhome was rocking and rolling with the wind. We decided to pull in the slide before we left for the evening - it is so much more stable that way and we don't want to lose the awning that covers it.
Charlotte was in bed when we got there so we snuggled in and watched the documentary "Buck", a master horseman that had a very troubled childhood with an abusive father, but he overcomes that and learns that humans and horses might work with one another. He finds that the ways we communicate with our animal companions offer lessons on how we relate to fellow human beings. It was a wonderful, feel good kind of movie.
Charlotte woke up for a bottle around 10:30 and then Ben and Jill got home shortly after she went back to sleep. The rain has moved out and it was a cold, clear night as we drove back home. The lights of the city and bay area are beautiful.
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March 5 - 11, 2012 - CA
Monday, March 5. I opened the SF Gate website this morning and saw that a 4.0 earthquake hit El Cerrito early this morning. It is just across the bay from us - I didn't feel a thing. There have been times when I wonder if that is what I'm feeling or if I'm just imagining a feeling like that. It is very common around here - people just take them in stride - I think it's kind of scary.
A neighbor in our park, Marta, invited me to join her when she takes her dog, Spirit for walks at various nature trails in the area. I took her up on her offer today and we headed north to Lucas Valley Rd and then to the Las Gallinas Sanitary District, an open area with paths for nature hikes. Notices are posted all along a central lake that the water is not for drinking although the ponds are full of ducks and water birds. That is kind of gross but there were no odors and all we were looking for was a path to walk. It felt good to have a friend to hike with and I'm sure I will join her again.
We were having a nice, relaxing evening until the phone rang and it was Mike's brother Dan calling to let us know that his sister Patty needed financial help again. She and her husband, Hobe, are relocating to Ocala, FL - they got as far as Paducah, KY and ran out of money to fuel their rental truck. So the brothers came to her rescue once again - we keep wondering if she will ever get it together. No home, no jobs, no money. What's next? So my evening was spent researching how to get money to her - looks like Western Union is the answer there.
We watched a couple of episodes of "Justified" and that helped me relax a bit.
Thursday, March 8. Our Tuesday and Wednesday with Charlotte were great. I got tears in my eyes when I saw her for the first time in a week on Tuesday morning. She had the biggest smile on her face when she saw me and reached both arms out to me. And boy, had she changed in a week; dexterity improved, sitting more rigid, put on a couple of pounds, and was giving us this scrunched up nose expression that really cracked us up. I guess that's what a week in Mexico will do to a kid.
Ben and Jill treated us to a Vietnamese take-out dinner on Tuesday night - a delicious rice-noodle dish called Bun (pronounced boon) with grilled beef and a crispy egg roll.
My phone rang at 6:30 this morning, it was Mike's brother Tom calling to let us know that Patty needed another bail-out. This time they were at a Walmart about 200 miles north of Ocala, busted, out of gas - same story but with an added catastrophe of a broken phone. She was bumming phone calls from people in the parking lot.
Mike and I had told her that we couldn't give any more after Monday's donation, but we agreed to do the Western Union thing again but Tom would send us the money. After several attempts and a debit and credit card were rejected (probably because of the multiple attempts and the frequency of Western Union fraud cases), we finally gave up. I did call the Walmart to ask for suggestions and the manager told me about their Moneygram program - so Tom and Karen went to Walmart in Monona and sent her a moneygram. I hope to hell they make it to Ocala and are able to find jobs and get on their feet quickly. What a stupid, irresponsible, inconsiderate, risk they are taking - and getting her entire family involved at that. Grrrr! and more Grrrrr!
I did join Marta for another enjoyable walk with the dogs today, this time we walked the Coastal Trail near the Marin Headlands and the former Fort Campbell. I don't know how long the walk was but we walked for 2 hours. I'm going to have to use more sunscreen, as I can feel it on my face right now, but it sure does feel good.
Friday, March 9. What a pleasant day we had with Charlotte today. After her morning nap and feeding, we headed to Golden Gate Park near the Observatory of Flowers. I took off walking with Frisco and Charlotte (Mike's congestion is getting the best of him) toward the flower gardens, only to see signs that said "no dogs allowed". Instead, we walked along the street until we came to the Rhododendron path that turned out to be a good choice, as the Azaleas and Rhododendrons are in bloom - a few photos are in the gallery. As we first started walking, Charlotte was giggling and jabbering - she really likes the outdoors.
Later this afternoon, we did some Facetime with Pat after I sent him the video of Charlotte that I took while walking. She really performed for him - giving him the eye, making faces, jabbering, and showing off her chubby little bod. I think it made him feel real good and want to come out here for a visit.
By then, Ben got home and got ready to put her to bed for the night. We sure don't see a lot of him unless we stick around for dinner. He is a busy man with a lot on his "to do" list, but most of all, he wants to be a good Dad and to spend as much time with Charlotte as he can.
I love my sons and am proud of the men that they have become.
Saturday, March 10. After Mike's not feeling good again yesterday (his lungs were really hurting), we had decided that he better see a doctor and I woke up this morning feeling like a sore throat was developing. Fortunately, there is an Urgent Care facility nearby that accepted our insurance, so went and learned that I have a sinus infection and Mike's could develop either into a sinus infection or settle in his lungs. We were both given an antibiotic and a steroid to clear the congestion. The doctor told us that allergies are also prevalent in this area right now so that could be a contributing factor. Anyway, we should be on the mend now. We're sick and tired of waking up sick and tired.
Sunday, March 11. Daylight savings time begins today - and then when we get back to Arizona, we will have to adjust to Mountain Time again. That is so strange.
The day was good. We expected it to be a rainy one based on the forecast but it actually turned out to have periods of sunshine and got warm enough that we could open the windows and let the fresh air in. And it was nice to have it be light out until after 7:00 this evening.
I did my monthly Costco shopping and it felt good to get out and browse through a couple of stores. Big excitement, huh!
It was a relief to hear from Mike's sister - they made it to Ocala and are looking for a place to live. In the meantime, their stuff is in a storage unit and they are hanging out in the parking lot at Walmart. We suggested a nearby state park and several places to look for something to rent. I just keep shaking my head - this sounds like something that a couple of 17 year olds would do - not adults. We just hope they find jobs and a place to live and put their stuff (more important that a roof over their heads). What's with that?
By the end of the day, we were both feeling a bit better. The congestion and drainage are clearing but are now feeling the effect of the antibiotic. Oh well, a few more days and it will be back to normal - whatever that is these days.
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March 1 -4, 2012 - CA
Friday, March 2 Here it is the 2nd of March and around here, it came in like a lion. Yestday morning was stormy and rainy but the day cleared up to be nice. I got a workout and a pretty good walk in, so I was feeling pretty good physically. The crud in my head continues, as does Mike's, making us both feel weak and without a lot of energy.
Today is expected to be sunny and mid-60s, so we are going to take a drive south, along the coast and maybe even stop at Pescadero for some lunch. It will be interesting to see how construction on the Devil's Slide tunnel has progressed - a project to create a tunnel through the mountain that redirects traffic from the old US Highway 1 - a narrow, rocky cliff along the coast (The Devil's Slide) that has been under construction since 2005.
It looks as if they are making great progress on the Devil's Slide Tunnel - I tried to snap a photo but there was too much traffic and all I ended up with was a few of the top quarter of one of the tunnels and a long red fence. I believe I heard that it was to open some time this year.
It was nice traveling south on US 1 along the coast, bringing back many memories of the time that we spent in Pacifica and even before that, the many trips from Moss Landing to San Francisco along that stretch of road.
We stopped near the Pigeon Point Lighthouse to snap some photos and breathe the ocean air, feel the cool breeze, and watch the waves hitting the rocks. A drive down that way wouldn't be complete without a stop at Duarte's Tavern in Pescadero for a bowl of their yummy Cream of Artichoke and Cream of Anaheim Chile soups combined together, their delicious sourdough bread, and a piece of Olallieberry pie. I know - way too many carbs and sugars but we couldn't resist. The soup is so yummy - a contrast of the spicy pepper and the creamy, soft taste of artichoke. And it looks so pretty too - check out the photo in the gallery.
Saturday, March 3. Yay! The shower sealing project is finished and it took less than an hour. When we heard that the weather was going be nice and near 70 for the next few days, we decided to jump on it. Mike did a beautiful job of fitting the cove moulding pieces and sealing it all up neat and tidy. It looks so much better than our previous attempts and it should hold for a while. Thanks to Jim, the manager in our park for the great suggestion.
We accomplished a few other projects including a leak that Mike had to fix where the hose connects to our water filter, the rain gutter repaired, and I got one of our roof vents cleaned. Sitting outdoors enjoying the sunshine and taking a walk were also part of our day.
Yes, we are both still under the weather from this crud, although it seems to be breaking. The worse symptom we now have is the headache.
Congratulations to my niece, Stella for starting her own business and today is her open house in Lee's Summit, MO. She will offer art classes to various age groups at her new studio/classroom called The Art Garden.
Chicken breast and sweet potato are on the grill, broccoli is ready to go, and a Tito's Vodka Tonic is going to make for a sweet dinner to top off this beautiful day.
Sunday, March 4. I'm remembering my brother, Rocco, today as it is his birthday and would be turning 63. He and I were only 10 months apart and grew up being quite close. He was a short little guy with lots of spunk, loved sports and dressing in the latest styles. Unfortunately, he got caught up in the hippie era doing drugs and inherited the dreaded alcoholism that plagues my family. He died way too young at age 53 from liver disease. Rest in peace, dear brother.
We cleaned house this morning, as we wanted the glue/sealant to set for a full 24 hours before using the shower. By 10:30 all of our housework was finished - kind of a good feeling.
I had a nice conversation with my brother Bob and his wife, Penny this morning and learned that they are planning to come visit us in Arizona and we can all go see the Grand Canyon together. That sounds wonderful to me and I will look forward to it.
Temperatures reached above 70 degrees today - boy, did that feel good. All windows are open and fresh air is flowing through the motorhome. After an early nap, I got busy with our taxes and got them ready to go except for a final check. We also got a nice walk in this afternoon. All in all, a very pleasant day.
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Created on 03/02/2012 09:46 AM by bridge
Updated on 04/01/2012 09:38 AM by bridge
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