Our Son Joe To The Rescue!

We worked around the house most of the day.  I cleaned the garage while Mary went to the gym, and it now looks pretty good!

Mary was shocked when she saw everything cleaned up and much more room to get in and out of the car!  I even fixed the overhead LED lights to go on.  All the battery chargers are plugged in and ready to go!

OMG, there was a workbench under all that stuff!

Scout helped!  Yeah!  He lounged around all day, looking up as we passed,d by, begging for treats!

In my next life, I am going to be a dog!

Joe, our son, came over around 1:3 pm and put a tarp over the top of the solar panels where we had the leaks last week.   I do not plan to repair or replace the roof until we are home between our planned travels, plus I need to decide on the solar panels!

Joe is amazing.  He helps everyone and is very knowledgeable about repairs.  He reminds me of when I was 40; now approaching 80, I do not dare go onto the roof.  I am very proud of this young man and his entire family.

Joe to the rescue!

After he departed, I just sat there and thought about everything we had done together over the years.

We went to what we thought would be a 1950s band at the Elks.  We had dinner, but SOON after that, we departed.  The music was horrible, between 90 and 100 db, enough to damage one ear!  I felt bad.  Vicky and Jim departed with us, and Iris and Will were going to leave after Iris finished her baked potato.   I plan to complain and perhaps go to the health board to get their noise level input.

We left!

We came home, watched our series, held hands, and drank hot tea.  I prefer evenings at home with Mary anyway!

Time to dream!

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Time To Visit The Elks

We went to Girls Night Out at noon at the Elks and had a delightful lunch! When we got home, we again did a walk around the block as part of staying healthy. Mr. Bug always welcomes us.

Mr. Bug lives in our neighbor’s front yard and visits with people who walk in the neighborhood.

We have three basic paths: two are a mile, and this one is our shortie we use when we are in a hurry, or one of our old age conditions begin to act out.

This is our short path!

Back to the Elks at 6:00 pm for a prime rib dinner with Vicky and Jim.  Jim was scheduled to do some karaoke this evening and he did it well!

We got a standing ovation for his efforts, and he was invited back any time he wanted!!  Jim sang in the church choir for years and had a fantastic voice!

Sing that song, Jim!

His audience went wild!

He has a lot of fans!

Jim has his own personal groupie!

Ahhhhh

We had a great time all evening and thought the performances were fantastic!

Just us!

We stayed later than we anticipated because this singing was excellent.  When we finally got home, we crashed.  It was a good evening.

We are ready for bed!

 

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Happy Ballentimes Day!

Valentine’s Day has arrived, and we are ready to celebrate.  First, Mary headed for the gym while I stayed home and cleaned the house to prepare for the house cleaners to arrive.

When I picked Mary up from the gym, we went to the dry cleaners as we had a stack of goodies there needing to be picked up.  On our way back, we decided to go to the Original Pancake House and shared a veggie omelet.  That sucker has 1440 calories hence the reason we shared.

They had brand-new coffee cups, which we enjoyed.

These cups were not cheapies; the pictures and words were raised in ceramic material.

Since she just departed from the gym, I was NOT allowed any pictures until she wrapped up her hair; she always looks fantastic!

“You can take a picture now!”

We did not realize the cups were in different colors.  Now, we will have to look around and catalog the colors.

These cups are indeed a work of art.

Returning home, we finished off getting ready for the cleaning staff.  When they arrived, we went across the street to Jeff’s and visited him for a while.  We knew they were done with our place as Domi came to the door; she does Jeff’s house also!

We watched TV in the afternoon and then prepared for Valentine’s Day evening festivities.

We went to Renata’s at the Orange Circle.  They were busy this evening, but the owner knew we were coming and saved us the best seat in the house, which was inside and adjacent to the plate glass window,

We were ready to dine!

Two college kids were at the table next to us, so we started conversing.  They got a free dinner as Bob and I paid for their meal!

Bob and I worked on our secret plan.  Thursday, Jim is going to sing at the Elks karaoke activity, and when he gets up to sing, Bob and I are going to stand behind him and be his “backup singers,” complete with hand and foot motions (NO singing for us as they would empty the lodge).

Bob is an incredible choreographer.

We thought about having roses in our mouths, but Valentine’s Day will be over.  The song Jim is going to sing is “Feeling Happy” by the Turtles.

Bob looks pretty good with the rose!

We headed home around 9:00 pm, and traffic was busy; everyone was coming home from dinner somewhere.

Chapman was busy.

We stopped at Aces and had a glass of wine before going home.  We met up with Kyle, who sings Sinatra.  He did a pretty good one!

We got home around 10:00 pm and crashed.  Mary was worried she didn’t get a Valentine’s Day present; I surprised her!

Next year, I will get something different!

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Tomorrow Is The Big Day!!

How very sad!

7:00 am came early this morning, and then we realized Mary had a dentist appointment in Huntington Beach at 8:30 am.  She had to hurry because we remembered the dentist’s front door sign: NO JAMMIES ALLOWED!

At 8:00 am, we were on the road, speeding through the back streets to avoid the traffic, trying to get on the freeway.  We were wearing our racing togs, and the scarves around our necks were waving out the window as we broke the sound barrier and a myriad of traffic laws.

Careening into the dentist’s parking lot with thirty seconds to spare, we hit the brakes, lowered the flaps, set the landing gear, threw out the anchor, and slid into a parking place right by the entrance.

Like Superwoman changing into her suit in the telephone booth, Mary sprung into action.  She threw off the racing togs, released her five-point seatbelts, and put on her professional go-to-the-doctor outfit.  We made it with ten seconds to spare; being a doctor, Mary hates to be late!

There might be some truth to that!

Her procedure took less than fifteen minutes!  We returned home, had a small breakfast, and returned to the road at 12:30 pm for a 1:00 pm audiologist’s appointment to see if our hearing had changed.  It seems going to doctors is a large part of our social life.

Upon seeing the office decor, I was totally tempted to place one of my earplugs into the sculpture (I carry earplugs because of the loud music at some of our events).  It was either that or tie a string around the finger as a reminder.

Interesting decorations in the audiologists office.

The office decorations were attractive.

Our results were good, except the term  “Dear, would you …..” is challenging to hear.  Our doctor gave us the test, tuned our hearing aids, downloaded the newest firmware, and matched the aids to our individual hearing curves.

We now have no excuse for hearing each other.

My hearing was about like last year.

It was 1:45 pm, and we were two miles from the American Legion, so it was time for lunch.  We enjoyed a glass of wine with a delicious turkey sandwich and French fries.  Their turkey sandwiches are relatively large, so we shared.  They brought out the sandwich and it seemed a little large plus we wanted it cut in half so we could share it.

It was definitely fresh!

The second time was a hit, and they served the sandwich on two plates with too many fries on each plate.  To avoid an international incident, we ate the French fries anyway!

Sharing a turkey sandwich was perfect.

We tried to resist the French fries, but they were the first to go.

How can something so beautiful be so bad for you?  It is not fair!

The Legion had a lot of people when we visited, which was unexpected since we usually come on Mondays and it is not busy.

As it turned out, Tuesdays are “Jam Session & Taco Tuesday” days, and band members play on the patio in the afternoon.  Today, we saw eight guys playing classic rock and roll music from the 1950s and 1960s.  The music was very danceable!

The bar was pretty busy.

With a little AI, I removed the background, and here we are.  It is always amazing how Mary has fallen in love with an old bald-headed wrinkle sponge?

Go away, background.

With another push of the button, we have a Valentine’s Day present background.

Tomorrow is the day!

It was supposed to be a romantic lunch, but the arrows kept bouncing off.  Perhaps I should try Botox?

The music was a little loud, so being inside was a good choice.  It was toe-tapping music, and we would have danced, but we needed to return to the 55 Freeway before it got too clobbered with northbound afternoon traffic.

There is terrific music outside, with two Rock n’ Roll Hall Of Fame members present.

We got home around 4:00 pm and watched more of Royal Pains until it was our time to walk.  We will walk twice a day for about a mile to help us reach our goal of losing some weight.  At 7:00 pm we set out with our bright jackets and a flashlight.  Normally Scout would join us but he is smarted than us, he is in bed sound asleep!

This street is Cannon, and it is uphill.  If we make it to the top, we are good to go!

On our evening walk.

We made it even though it was cold.  The snow had just melted.   We wear reflective jackets; Mary is in pink, and I wear yellow!

Our short path is 0.8 miles around the school, but we can easily change routes, adding another 0.3 miles when it is a tad warmer.

Walking is a great exercise and is on addition to the 30 minutes on the treadmill at the gym.

Returning home, we looked for Scout; the little bugger went to bed.  We watched more of Royal Pains and hit the sack around 10:30 pm.  Scout had to be woken up so he could do his business, or otherwise, we would get pawed something during the night.

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Two Weeks Of No Exercise!

The year was 1958; high school was excellent, and the music was even better.

We made a good decision yesterday by avoiding the halftime show at the Super Bowl.  After seeing a few seconds of the videos this morning, I was disgusted thinking someone called that noise entertainment.  BARF!  It looked like a Halloween costume party gone very, very badly!  Going back to the Superbowl halftime 30-40 years ago revealed REAL music, performers not dressed like streetwalkers, and lyrics that can be understood.

After the oral surgery, I got a two-week order not to exercise or drink; oops!  I missed the second order and must stop my wine-tasting activities.

Mary was driven to her gym appointment by her chauffeur.

Mary is getting good at levitating heavy weights!

When picked up, we went to the cleaners and left them a bag of dry cleaning.  We returned home and veged for the rest of the day!

We had a massage planned for 2:00 pm, and that was quite enjoyable.  Listening to soft music while getting the muscles poked is a wonderful feeling.

We spent the rest of the lounging around doing nothing!

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Sitting Superbowl Sunday Seemed Silly

Scout is getting lazy!  We got up at 7:00 am and had to step around his majesty sprawled all over his bed.  We asked if he would like to go outside, and we got the “evil eye,” so we tippy-toed around him until his majesty barked, indicating a desire to move.

Mid-morning, we decided to do our errands before the game started,

While we were out and about, we decided to stop at Taco Mesa on Chapman.  Their food is delicious and we use them when we have parties at the house.  We did tacos and burritos; Mary found the hot sauce, and I applied it liberally over everything.  I reminded Mary to get two quarts of ice cream: one to eat and one to sit on. The flavor did not matter!

Mary was being watched over.

Mary walked each aisle, and I followed with my cart.  The cart did pretty well as it careened around corners with the horn blaring and lights flashing.  The smell of rubber tire smoke permeated the market.  The exhaust fumes from both the cart and me left a trail that cold be following by the legally blind.

I hotrod around the store getting the goodies from our list!

We headed home and watched Royal Pains before jumping into the hot water and soaking away our pain.  We stayed in the water for about an hour and went inside to watch the game.

Not being a football fan, I spend a little time finishing off our “Vacations Site.”  I collected several individual locations and moved them under one single location.  I discovered I’d been to Hawaii seven times, I had forgotten two of the visits!

Mary crashed at about 8:00 pm, and I followed about three hours later.

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Off To Campus Jax!

I always wanted to see a Tooth Fairy!

Up early is our motto; just in time to call the neighborhood roosters and wake them up!

The peas are going wild, enjoying the cool weather and rain.  They have reached the top of the trellis, about nine feet tall.  On average, everyone in Britain eats nearly 9,000 peas per year.

Peas are a good source of vitamins C and E, zinc, and other antioxidants that strengthen your immune system.  Other nutrients, such as vitamins A and B and coumestrol, help reduce inflammation and lower your risk of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.

The peas are going wild!

Cauliflower is rich in vitamin C, which is good for skin, healing, and gum health.  It is a cruciferous vegetable that helps prevent colon cancer.  Cauliflower means “cabbage flower” because it is a flower that has not fully developed.  Cauliflower is related to broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and cabbage.

This versatile veggie can be eaten raw, cooked, roasted, grilled, baked into a pizza crust, or boiled and mashed as a substitute for mashed potatoes.  You can even rice cauliflower and serve it in place of white rice.

In another week, we will have fresh cauliflower.

This tomato is still producing after all its brothers and sisters have been gone for months!

The Tomato Plant that would not die!

This little guy was six inches tall when I received it from my cousin upon the weather of his aunt, my mother.  I have kept it with me, and now, 34 years later, it is doing well!

This plant is 34 years old, a gift from my cousin when Mom passed.

Join us at Campus Jax for dinner, dancing, and singing.

Dinner at Campus Jax

He did sound like a young Sinatra in the beginning, but he moved toward the singers of today, meaning he sounded like a cat caught in a trash can with the lid on.

Matt Mauer and a young Sinatra look alike.

We had a table for ten and were next to the stage; great seats, thanks to Miss Vicky!

David and Hilda joined us this evening.

OK, there is room on the floor; everybody up!

We all got up and danced!

We had a wonderful time with our friends.

We danced many dances!

We departed and did NOT stop by Aces this evening.  We watched a little TV and crashed!

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I Was Crowned!

We are going out this evening after the visit to the doctor.

First things first, we needed a visit to our hairdresser.  We had an appointment at 10:00 am in Huntington Beach.   It was great because a bagel shop was beside the salon, so I made breakfast for us.  Mary did an egg and cheese blueberry bagel while I munched on an extra-hot jalapeno and cheese bagel.

The hair has been done, and we have almost an hour and a half to spare.  The surgeon’s office is just five minutes from the salon, so we decided not to go home.  I suggested Matsu, a Japanese restaurant near Mary’s office.  My suggestion was accepted, and we headed off to the restaurant.

A quick bite.

We enjoyed a quick glass of vino (shared) and some appetizers before going to the oral surgeon.

Excellent food and fast service.

After two hours in the chair listening to acid rock “music,” my brain was on fire.

Drill Baby Drill!

We headed to the Elks for Prom Night!  Come visit us at the dance and see all the pictures from the mad-capped adventure.

The place was nicely decorated, and people dressed to the 9s.

Enter if you dare.

We got our picture taken quickly as there was already a long line, and cameras were clicking like false teeth in a freezer.

We are at the Prom.

We meld into the background!  We clean up pretty well.

We got the memo about wearing red.

Damn, that girl is a beauty!

Happy Valentine’s Day indeed.

Everybody cast a vote (without voter ID, I might add), and when tallied up, they announced I was the Prom King.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.

OMG, I was voted the Prom King!

We got to meet Miss Tustin, a delightful lady!

Ladies!

We headed out around 10:00 pm.

Good Night

We stopped at Aces for one drink before going home.

 

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Girl’s Night Out!

Thursday arrived without water, a pleasant surprise.  We decided to take it easy today so we waited around the house for a while before going to Mary’s imaging appointment.   She ws in and out so fast we had time to spare so we returned to the Chinese market and picked up some cried seaweed for Bob to give to Donna.

Seaweed is a SUPERFOOD with lots of nutritional benefits! Rich in nutrients – protein, fiber, minerals, and iodine. Our Roasted Seaweed Sheets are vegan, gluten-free and no artificial preservatives, which can be enjoyed by people of all ages. It is not only healthy food, but it also has low calories.

Snacks for watching the TV!

After visiting the market, we headed to the Elks Lodge where we had a riotous afternoon of fun with our friends. Gail joined us and she brought T-shirts for Bob and Donna.

T-Shirt time!

After lunch, we went to CVS to pick up my new prescriptions. I am getting two dental implants, so I need an antibiotic and some strong painkillers.

We arrived home around 4:00 pm, and after taking my meds, we binge-watched Royal Pains until it was bedtime.

We crashed around midnight and our eyes were burning from too much TV.

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The Rain Almost Went Away; Board Meeting!

It’s mid-week and is starting to dry out, yeah!  We went to our gym workout session at 8:30 am and rode our bicycles for 30 minutes.  I will begin to bring my e-book as the machine gets boring after a while.  Mary and I have six ipads/e-books so I will find mine, charge it up, and take it with me.

Today, we learned six new ways to say “OUCH!” under our breaths.  I will say that doing the stretches/floor work eliminates my sciatica to the point we can begin walking again!

This morning was specially embarrassing as I was asked not to bring my cereal breakfast to the workout.  I told them I did not, and they insisted I did because they kept hearing “Snap, Crackle, and Pop!”

We returned home limping and moaning and barely able to move!  They found two extra muscles that I had not used in years and proceeded to reactivate them.  I have no idea what these muscles do, but I can now scratch my butt without turning my hips?

We managed to get Mr. Hairy into the car, and he got all excited; he knew what was ahead!  Spa Day!  He loves the spa where the staff pampers him!

He wanted to let everyone know he went to the hairdresser this morning.

Mary took a few minutes to fix up her remaining roses from two days ago.  I try to make it a habit of bringing m’lady flowers as a surprise as often as I can.  We are together almost 24/7, so I take the opportunity when I dash over the market for something.

She was very happy and gave me a great big kiss!  Then, she followed that up with a Maryism!

As Mary says, “A kiss without a mustache is like an egg without salt.”

Roses for my Rose!

My iPhone popped up with this image, which I thought was interesting. I watched these men in the 1950s scaring me half to death!

Great actors; what do they have in common?

After dropping Scout off at the hairdresser, we went to the cleaners to retrieve some clothes before they gave them away to the local thrift store.

After sitting vacant for years, the old Von’s market was transformed into a Chinese wholesale and retail service called Rivera Food Service.  It also had Mama Lu’s Dumpling House attached.

We loaded up on strange and wonderful goodies!

With some spare time, we decided to revisit the establishment.  The owners were there, but they were wrapped up in their business. His name is One-Hung-Low, and her name is Wai Yu Mun Ching.  Nice folks!

The local Chinese/Japanese market is fantastic.

We spent a good 45 minutes walking up and down every aisle and filling our basket with $100 worth of stuff that we hoped we remembered what it was when we got home (the packages were in Chinese, but the signs were in English).

The sign was in English, but we have NO idea what it is now!

Whoa, hoss!  What in the world?  Below are actual Daikon radishes.  We grew them last year, but ours looks pretty small compared to these giants.

Diakon radishes on steroids.

Daikon Radish Information and Facts – Daikon radishes are one of the most cultivated vegetables in Japan and are viewed as a purifying food to detox the body and stimulate digestion. The mild radishes are frequently incorporated into everyday meals, but Daikon radishes are also used in Buddhist religious practices to cleanse the body.

Now we know what the delicious white vegetable is they serve with carrots when we go to Yang Ming restaurant.

Carrots and radishes!

In the next bin over was a display of these little radishes!  They were certainly FRESH!

 

My, my little guy!

After filling up part of our shopping basket, we went next door to Mama Lu’s Restaurant, where we ordered more food than we could eat.  I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken, and Mary ordered the Broccoli Beef.  We also shared a serving of vegetable fried rice.  The food was delicious, but we realized we had ordered too much and took home many leftovers.  Some food even went directly across the street to Jeff’s house!  Next time, we will definitely order the smaller portion sizes.

We destroyed a bag of leftover Chinese food last week.  It was an act of won ton destruction.

When I said “Smile,” the red flag went up!  Get this, she said, “My hair is a mess.  We just got back from the gym!”

My little Raghead!

If that is a mess, please do NOT make it prettier, as I might not be able to control myself!

Chinese food is fantastic, but I find it hard to believe that a chicken fried this rice.

Their menu is quite extensive but I felt sorry for the poor fish!

Need we say more?

Caught with her hijab down!

I finally made her smile.

And she makes me smile from the inside out.  It is wonderful to be in love with your best friend; it makes life worth living, and the gym (read torture) a vital necessity!

After returning home, we got things ready for the Starlighters Board Meeting and then binge-watched “Royal Pains” until Bob Z, our fearless leader, came over.

The board meeting started at 6:30 pm. Ed Roberts, Betty, and Bob were hard at work!

The meeting went well, and we did some serious business as we needed a new treasurer since the untimely passing of Leon.

Will gets a plate of goodies for Iris, who enjoys her red wine.  She is our idol; 97 years young and as smart as a whip and totally with it, including some great zingers!

Irish had her glass of vino!

Jim and Vicky were at Rockwell’s when Bob showed up; we told them to come over early next time and visit.

Jim and Vicky joined the group.

The meeting broke up at 8:30 pm, and Bob Z stayed for another thirty minutes just visiting.

Scout, the wonder dog, made his way around everyone, getting his required ten pets per person.  However, he got so excited that his tail knocked over a glass of ice water, spilling it onto the rug.  He thought he was in trouble, but we have knocked over a water or wine glass many times than him!

Scout warmed himself by the fire (and asked for hot chocolate)!

He likes to pose after a trip to the hairdresser and share the newly found gossip, especially about the French Poodle down the street!

He wanted to let everyone know he went to the hairdresser this morning.

After everyone departed, we shared a half glass of wine and watched more episodes of “Royal Pains”; we are in season three now.

Mary went to bed, and I worked on the “Vacations” website.  I realized that I had been to Hawaii seven times, eight if you count our stopover in Toyoko.  I am also creating the pages for this year’s travels, which include ten days in Ireland, two weeks in the Caribbean with Colleen and Mark, and a trip through the Panama Canal.

The rain had subsided, so at 11:30 am, it was “lights out”; we have another full day tomorrow!

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