Back to everyday life, we were off to the gym at 8:15 am. We went through standard exercises and passed with flying colors.
Then we got the news: We will likely shut off your power in the next 4 hours due to wind-driven fire conditions. Conditions could last through Tuesday evening. We are working to reduce the number of customers affected. Weather could also affect shutoff timing, and wind-related outages may occur. We will notify you again if we shut off your power.
That’s just what we need with Colleen coming in tomorrow morning! I will power up the generator. I have decided to charge the power company for the cost of gasoline on the days they shut off the power! The 10KW generator uses about 0.5 gallons an hour under 70% load, so I plan to deduct that from my bill!
I did some research and I can put in a 24 KW generator for about $8k and one more power outage I will do just that!!
At noon, we went to Mary’s doctor, and after that, we came home via Trader Joe’s, where we restocked our wine and got two bags of other necessities.
Mary fixed an outstanding small dinner…stuffed peppers and a fresh salad from the garden!
I heard some noise in the kitchen and went to investigate. Turns out Santa has been at it again! I found him trying to make cookies but mistook the flour for snow and ended up building a mini winter wonderland! I think it’s the first time I’ve seen a reindeer in a snowball fight with the cookie dough! There was Santa watching over all the activity sipping my Gin!
He got into my Gin!!
We crashed around 10:30 pm, literally and figuratively leaving us in the dark! It’s like our power decided to play hide and seek, and I still need to get the memo on the rules. Who knew that losing power would turn us into amateur candle makers? At this rate, if we don’t get the lights back, we might start a new cozy little candlelit book club… or an underground rave with all the glowsticks we can find!
Destination #1 is Gulliver’s at the OC Airport for a festive visit with the Packard International Car Club members, Dianne, and the gang! The parking lot was filled with old Packards, looking like a retirement home for classic cars. I half expected to see them gossiping about their glory days and arguing over who had the best tailfins. One played bingo with a few rusted-out Chevys while a lonely Volkswagen Bug looked on, wishing it could join in!
We saw him last night at the Elks!!
We had a wonderful time visiting with new and old friends! We laughed and giggled for a few hours and enjoyed some great prime rib and Christmas cheer!
Dianne is in rare form!!
At 1:30, we jumped in Precious and zoomed to La Mirada to join the kids at the La Mirada Civic Performing Arts Theater to see Elvis in action. Robin and Bob got the tickets for us, and we were pleased to join them in a rousing two hours of “bring on the house” good ol’ rock and roll!
When he sang “Dixie,” I was brought to tears!
After the show we went to Panda Inn and had a super Chinese dinner! I think we were over stimulated!! We headed home and crashed!
Today is busy with a capital “B.” We rose late today and diddled around the house before preparing for the annual Christmas Carol Play at the South Coast Repertory Theater. This was my 37th year of seeing the play. At this point, I’m pretty sure I could audition for a role—maybe the part of “Person in the Audience Who Can’t Stop Laughing.” The actors probably know my laugh better than their lines! If I see one more dramatic pause, I might start shouting the next line from my seat. At this rate, I’ll need a loyalty card for all the popcorn I’ve consumed—10 shows, get the 11th free!
Just us! Like a two-person band playing with a kazoo and a triangle—I mean, who needs a whole orchestra when you’ve got this crazy duo?
Let the show begin!
We had a glass of wine at the hotel adjacent to the theater.
The gang is here tonight; we are just missing Dianne!
Iris (98 years young) comes to visit!!
What a day! We rolled out of the Elks like we’d just run a marathon, only to collapse at home like a pair of exhausted heroes in a bad action movie. Tomorrow, we do it all over again—because who needs sleep when you have questionable decisions and potential regrets to look forward to?
Posted inHolidays|Comments Off on A Busy Day Indeed!
We were blessed because the power returned at 6:30 am after I determined I would have to start the generator. I tippy-toed out of bed and turned on the heat, racing back under the covers like a scalded hound! It was nearly 50 degrees inside, but thanks to our robust heater, we soon got it to a comfortable 52 (oops, I mean 72).
The day begins on a sad note with us going to the funeral of a dear friend, Mary Capps! We joined many of her friends and family at the funeral held at the Tustin Presbyterian Church at 11:30 am. We went to the Santa Ana Elks Lodge at 1:00 pm for a reception. She was a beautiful lady full of life and fought until the end. RIP, dear Mary!
After the reception, we whizzed home quickly, ran into the phone booth, and changed into Christmas attire for dinner at Rothschilds.
First things first! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ROBIN, wherever you are! This is Robin’s first time unable to celebrate her birthday in a hundred years, but we shall proceed to celebrate anyway!
We will make up for this later in the month!!
She decided to visit her work friends in Arizona. It was a ladies’ weekend! But all is OK; she is flying in Saturday morning to be with us at the Candlelight Theater for the annual Christmas play!
It looks like a happy group!
The weather outside is frightening! There was so much fog that we could not see the mountain behind our home! We’ve got a Weather Alert saying the fog will be thicker than a bowl of oatmeal until at least noon! I guess the sun is sleeping in today—maybe it’s having a lazy brunch with the clouds!
It looked like a scene from “The Birds”… We made Alfred Hitchcock proud!
We departed for the Elks at 10:00 am, stopping to drop off some shirts at the laundry; I must wear red or green for the next three weeks!
We got into storytelling mode at the Elks, and I forgot to take pictures. All was normal; we had Bob Z, George, Will, and Bob C with us today. Iris was playing bridge, and Bill was preparing for the funeral tomorrow. They had a chili size on the specials, and I went for that; it was filling and quite good!
“I am watching you two!”
From the Elks, we went to see my cardiologist and got his reading on the test last week. He says I am good for another 100,000 miles, but I might need a valve job in a few years (no, serious).
When the doctor talked about diet, Mary wasn’t buying my excuses!
We finally got home just before dark. It was cold (in the low 50s), so we got into our jammies and watched TV. The spot top-left is the Moon and it is even cold tonight!
The Sun was setting, and the mercury was falling!
Mary fixed a small dinner for herself—if you can call a single slice of cold turkey and a scoop of mashed potatoes “dinner.” She figured it was all about balance: one food group was technically from an animal, and the other was… well, sticky.
Chef Mary: redefining fine dining, one weird meal at a time!
I was still stuffed from lunch so I went out front and played with the outdoor lighting, and now the red and green travel around the house!
We have lights everywhere!
It’s more telling in a movie file!
We settled in to watch a movie, and then….. the lights went out! I forgot to tell Mary that Edison planned an outage from 8:00 pm until 6:30 am! Oops! My bad!! Mary said, “No, YOU AWFUL!”
We turned on the ever-available flashlights, stared at each other, and headed to bed.
I took Scout outside to search for those pesky elephants before getting under the covers, hoping we would NOT get a blizzard tonight. Scout kept laughing under his breath!
“Ha Ha Ha, I have a fur coat!!”
By 8:30 pm, we were warm and snuggled under the sheets, ready for a cozy night. Our flashlights were ready like trusty sidekicks, just in case Mother Nature decided to throw a surprise party with her midnight calls!
Did You Know? The fatty deposits on a camel’s back are called humps. Camels use their humps to store fat, which they can convert to energy when food is scarce. The size of a camel’s hump can indicate its health, with a more prominent hump generally indicating a healthier camel. When a camel uses the fat in its hump, it will droop and look deflated, but it will return to normal with proper food and rest.
6:30 am, and we are in the office pounding away on the keyboards, sending signals worldwide! We had our coffee and morning laughs before getting ready to go to the hair parlor. We did NOT tell Scout. Otherwise, he would follow us all morning, wanting to get pretty.
Scout stayed in the hallway, ensuring we left with him! We tippy-toed out the door!
At 9:00 am, we were whizzing on our way in the “Little Saint Nick”! Precious needed to go outside and recharge her batteries! Precious didn’t know there was a song about her! Thank you, Beach Boys!!
Just a little bobsled, we call the old Saint Nick But she’ll walk a toboggan with a four speed stick She’s candy apple red with a ski for a wheel And when Santa hits the gas, man, just watch her peel
It’s the little Saint Nick (little Saint Nick) It’s the little Saint Nick (little Saint Nick)
Run run reindeer Run run reindeer (whoa) Run run reindeer Run run reindeer (he don’t miss no one)
And haulin’ through the snow at a frightening speed With a half a dozen deer with Rudy to lead He’s got to wear his goggles ’cause the snow really flies And he’s cruisin’ every path with a little surprise
We whizzed down to Huntington Beach to meet with our beautician (when she saw me, she reminded us that she was NOT a magician!). We had a few minutes to go next door and had a quick breakfast. Mary did an omelet, and I, unfortunately, did TWO bagels.
At the corner of Stop and Don’t Stop were the usual statues of HB kids getting ready to go to the beach, but this time, they had their Santa hats on! Mary persuaded me to leave the shop and walk two blocks to get a photo of them.
The HB surfers were dressed for the season!
While inside the parlor, deciding whether or not to have my beard trimmed, I ran across an old Hollywood site with photos from years ago! This photo is almost 100 years old! It shows the Marx Brothers looking quite dapper out of costume and makeup. Chicago, 1930.
From left: Zeppo, Groucho, Chico, and Harpo.
We departed the saloon all prettied up and headed to see Dr Bill, our friend and podiatrist! I had an ingrown toenail that was giving me fits. He took care of it, and I can walk again!
While leaving the saloon, we got a text from Robin, who was at the airport on her way to spend the weekend with an old friend in Phoenix. December 5th is her birthday, and we will miss celebrating it with her and Bob (and Nick), but we will do it as soon as she returns.
Pre-flight calming liquid!!
From there, we went home to pick up Scout for his doctor’s appointment. He has had a terrible allergy problem and was scratching himself all over. He got a shot, and we changed his diet substantially. I hope that helps! The doctor gave him a thorough exam and was surprised at how well he was doing at the ripe age of fifteen!!
“I am warning you… One more shot, and I shall bite you!”
When we got home, it was almost dark, so we decided to take a vote! Should we work around the house or relax? The ballots were cast, and the result was decisive: 2-0 for RELAXING.
We watched a so-so Christmas movie called “Nextdoor for Christmas.” It was funny, but not in the “A” category! I then watched “Armor” alone while Mary checked for light leaks in her eyelids.
Scout and I stayed up another thirty minutes and followed Mary to bed! It’s been a long day!
Posted inDoctor, Just Us|Comments Off on Hump Day And We Are Off And Running!
When our eyes opened, a little tape recorder began to play. It said, “Should you accept this assignment, we need you to finish decorating your house before the authorities condemn it. This message will self-destruct in three seconds!”
Then, POOF, the recorder went up in smoke! Finish today? Are they crazy? That’s a Mission Impossible!
As we had a 10:40 am dentist appointment, we got ready to go early and decorated until the last minute. At 10:00 am, the Silver Fox was making tracks down the 55 to the 405 to Huntington Beach. Mama, in her kerchief, and I, in my nightcap, sat down in the dentist’s chair for a long winter nap. Then we found out they ran out of Nitrous Oxide!
We had no Dr. Annie today, she was at her doctor’s appointment so we got our toofers cleaned and then saw Dr. Nagel, Senior, her father.
Dr. Annie works with her father and uncle in the dentist’s office.
By 12:15, we were done and on our way to Mary’s painting class. We did NOT have breakfast or lunch, and no time to stop and grab anything before dropping Mary off at the Tustin Community Center for Wayward Watercolor Artists.
As she threw her big red bag over her shoulders, I drove off suggesting she ask the instructor to do the lesson today about Christmas!
Being single-minded, I went right home and went to work finishing decorating. I attacked the bar area, which was a jumble of stuff. I arranged everything so they could be seen and out of the way of things we needed to use, like the Bat Phone (otherwise known as Alexa)!
The bar area is complete!
I did the “Shell Case,” where I carefully placed and arranged my mother’s 60-year-old wine bottle collection, which she made up to be the Wise Men using paper mache and white glue. The product was then carefully painted by Mom.
The picture on the right hand side is a fall watercolor by that famed artist directly from Paris, Mary, la nouvelle aquarelliste incroyablement talentueuse.
The Wisemen are on display!
The phone rang, and Mary said she would be done in 20 minutes. I threw open the sashes and onto the newly fallen snow; the Silver Fox and his 300 tiny reindeer sped down the street, leaving reindeer poop along the way (so we could find our way back!).
As I pulled up, Mary was walking out with her new masterpiece. I framed it with my Framit software,
She has only two more classes in this session, and the teacher suggested she try oil painting. (I offered her my collection of WD-40 cans but the offer was refused?) I suggested she do another watercolor and an oil class; she enjoys it so much!
We returned home, at which time Mary attacked the kitchen with an enthusiasm I had not seen since the last time we went twenty hours without food! She recreated Thanksgiving dinner, and we enjoyed a glass of wine. We had everything from Thursday’s meal, and I had time to savor Robin’s cranberries.
No dilly-dallying tonight—we stormed the house like a pack of caffeinated raccoons!
We even hung the wall decorations. My mother created the piece below in the 1960s by gluing “junk jewelry” into a red velvet-covered picture frame. Over the years, we have added or replaced some of the jewelry because it sometimes falls off. The picture is like me, things keep falling off due to age.
We put up Mom’s “Junk Jewelry” Christmas Tree.
We did not have to add the picture below as it is always in the entranceway, a reminder of how blessed we are to be together and enjoying the twilight of our lives.
Indeed it is!
All the trees are now up and operational; they have new batteries! Walking through the house at night is scary because trees and mooses start playing by themselves.
By the end of the evening, everyone was smiling even Mr. Ugly!!
We watched a movie called “A Christmas Karen.” Summary: Karen is an entitled middle-aged woman whose demanding nature has alienated her neighbors and family. After several incidents displaying her privilege and prejudice, Karen receives an intervention from some unconventional spirits.
It was funny and quite entertaining.
Sleeping Beauty did NOT make it through the movie as she was on the go since 7:00 am this morning without stop! At 9:30 pm, I turned off the TV and got her vertical (no easy task) and headed her towards the bedroom. She was giggling and laughing the whole time reminding me of the squirrel scene from the Family Vacation movie.
Scout and I patrolled the backyard making sure there were no elephants hiding in the bushes!
Honestly, we did NOT have a glass of wine until 9:00 am (It was 5:00 pm somewhere, right?). We began unpacking the boxes and marveling at things we had never seen. Well, maybe when we packed it away last year, but that was a year ago!
As the day wore on, more and more boxes were unpacked, and their contents began to take over the house like an enthusiastic family of squirrels on caffeine.
One minute, it was a standard living room, and the next, it looked like a yard sale exploded—half the couch was now buried under a pile of mismatched Santas, and the kitchen had somehow become a shrine to every goofy decoration you never knew you needed but now can’t live without.
If this keeps up, I’m expecting a sitcom to be filmed in our hallway any minute now!
Fewer and fewer boxes remain inside.
The phrase “Isn’t this cute?” was repeated many times as we made discoveries, and after our fourth Christmas together, it is hard to remember whose decorations came from where! That’s a good thing!
“Where does this go??”
At 7:30 p.m., we stopped and watched two Christmas movies. The first one was a Hallmark movie, which was outstanding, as expected.
Then I was allowed to choose and went for “Christmas Vacation: with Chevy Chase. Summary: As the holidays approach, Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wants to have a perfect family Christmas, so he pesters his wife, Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), and children as he tries to make sure everything is in line, including the tree and house decorations. However, things go awry quickly. His hick cousin, Eddie (Randy Quaid), and his family show up unplanned and start living in their camper on the Griswold property. Even worse, Clark’s employers renege on the holiday bonus he needs.
There were parts of the movie that were a little on the raunchy side but what else would you expect from National Lampoon!
I learned something I was not aware of, Chevy Chase’s aunt provided the voices in several movies.
I didn’t know that!!
Sleeping Beauty went sound asleep so after the movie was over I gave her a kiss and sent her to bed wile Scout and I visited the backyard to make sure we had no elephant sin the garden!
Someone was pooped out by 8:00 pm!
Goodnight house, we will clean you up tomorrow!!! I sounded like the Ghost Of Christmas Future.
On our way to bed we estimated we were 70% done.
After working all day, we crashed and burned with our eyes slamming shut on their way to the pillow!!
Today, we got ready to start decorating by moving thirty-two boxes from the garage into the family room. We failed and only got about half moved!
This will prepare us for the real decorating beginning Monday morning.
For the remainder of the day, we remained in the office until it was time to go to Campus Jax and hear Michael Bubbles, Vicky’s favorite singer! Mary finished off deleting her emails from 2010-2020.
Jax was sold out, but Vicky got tickets early,ets early and we had the best table in the house!
We had a lovely meal and time to visit our friends before the show began.
Everyone at the table are our dancing friends from years gone by!
The show was great, with a lot of Christmas music bringing back memories from yeagoe by!
We were within a few feet of him and the ten-piece band.
The music made your feet want to tap the tune, and we saw many people singing along with Anthony asbelted out the classics! I felt a little old when he mentioned there were “classics” and they were brand new when I was a kid!!
We were decorated for the evening!
We headed home after a brief stop at Aces. It was a super evening!
Posted inDining Out, Friends|Comments Off on Campus Jax Here We Come!
We got to work early, collecting all the remaining fall and Thanksgiving decor and putting it into one spot for packing! Soon, the 28 cases of Christmas will arrive, and we will be decorating like mad, hoping to be done by the 3rd.
Every day during the Christmas season is now filled with activities! Today, Vicky and Jim invited us to a holiday Carpenters Tribute in Downey, and we will dine at Los Compadres in Norwalk. Viva Food!!
Delicious authentic Mexican meals!
The food was so authentic that I took one bite, and suddenly, my taste buds were doing the salsa, and I was spouting off in fluent Spanish.
By the end of the meal, I was confidently ordering in Spanish! (OK, I pointed to my selections). Who knew a burrito could turn me into a multilingual foodie?
Listen to me…. “El come oh to the el table!” Pretty good, huh?
There goes my diet! It looks innocent but behind that exterior is a fire NOT easy to put out!!
As my tongue returned to normal after being subjected to a fiery delight! I managed a smile thinking all the while, “where are the fire extinguishers?”
We were ready to celebrate!
We were so busy talking that I forgot to take pictures of our plates EXCEPT for dessert!
Dessert anyone? The dessert disappeared in a matter of seconds!
We drove about four miles to Downey and the Downey Theater, a 760-seat facility that was quite nice, I half expected the seats to start serving popcorn and critiquing the show!
A trip back in time chocked full of Christmas magic!
The impersonator, Sally Olsen, looked identical to Karen Carpenter. When Sally sang, a video of Karen Carpenter appeared on the silver screen. They even wore the same clothes. The show was truly remarkable. The performances were exceptional, and the attention to detail in the production was impressive. It created an immersive experience that captivated the audience from start to finish.
Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer who was most popular in the 70s. She is known as the singer of the group the Carpenters. Karen had anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder of extreme weight loss dieting. This was a little-known illness at the time. It isn’t easy to believe she has been gone 40 years!
The show was quite impressive.
We took a photo-op at the three in the lobby.
That’s us!
Let us hear a Ho-Ho-Ho from both of you!!!
Mr and Mrs Claus.
Having dear friends with whom to enjoy the holidays is a beautiful feeling.
