Monday Has Arrived

Posted on Monday, January 27, 2025 by Paul

My eyes finally popped open at 7:30 am—like a can of soda that’s been shaken too much—unusually late for me. Then it hit me: Scout had been up and down all night, turning our house into a midnight racetrack. Honestly, I’m surprised there weren’t tiny “Caution: Dog Under Construction” signs everywhere!

I tippy-toed out of bed and was successful in not waking my patient. I half expected Mary to yell, “Nurse Ratchet, where is my orange juice?!”

We made our “coordination calls” by 8:00 am.  We gave our Segerstrom performance tickets to Vicky and Jim, and we confirmed we would NOT be at the gym. Mary called a friend who is a chiropractor, and he is sending in a prescription for an x-ray and will call a walk-in x-ray facility near the Spectrum for us to check Mary’s condition.

We made a pit stop at Taco Mesa on the way home, and let me tell you, that place is like a treasure chest of flavor! I snagged two hard-shelled tacos for myself—crunchy, delicious, and basically a party for my taste buds. Mary got a burrito the size of a small child. This thing could double as a weapon in a food fight! It was such a winning lunch that I almost thought about getting my food a trophy. It turns out the real victory was the nap I needed afterward!

The cleaning crew showed up at 3:40 pm, and Mary moved to the TV Room (Living Room) and sat in one of the theater chairs.  I worked in the garage and set up Mary’s old PC on the workbench (I might as well use it for something!).

Dinner time came, and I headed to the freezer and found a Vicky-provided enchilada and discovered some lamb vindaloo from Trader Joe’s.  A few minutes later, with the help of a can of small oranges, we had dinner. We dined in the patient’s hospital room while we watched “Northern Territories.” I

Summary: There’s money to be made in the fur trade in the 1700s, which is why Declan Harp is trying to get a piece of it. The outlaw trapper is leading a campaign to breach the Hudson’s Bay Company’s monopoly on fur in Canada. Lord Benton, on the other hand, is bent on restoring the company’s stranglehold on fur and is on a mission to stamp out Harp, who turns to an old ally when bounty hunters close in on him. Harp eventually devises an elaborate scheme to plunder Hudson’s Bay and set a trap for Benton.

I have already planned tomorrows lunch!

We crashed about 9:30 pm!

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Rainy Day; Good Time To Recover!

Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2025 by Paul

Mary is still recovering and it is probably a broken rib.  In most cases, a fractured rib will heal on its own in about six weeks. Doctors no longer prescribe compression wraps for rib fractures, because they can restrict breathing, leading to pneumonia, or even a partial lung collapse. Pain management is important, especially in the first few days after an injury.

We have two new rules in the house: 1) whenever we get up in the middle of the night, the lights come on, and 2) we charge the Scouts lighting system one hour before bedtime so it will glow all night long!!

We spent the day doing very little!  Mary was horizontal most of the day, working on thank-you notes and other tasks requiring low energy.    I spent time cleaning up my website in the office and straightening things up!

I fixed a nice breakfast of egg bites (from scratch) and a dinner of beans,  peaches, and freshly baked bread!

We watched TV and finally crashed around 9:00 pm!

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The Rain Is Coming!

Posted on Saturday, January 25, 2025 by Paul

Mary’s back is still very sore after tripping over Scout two days ago and hitting the wall on the way to the ladies room in the dark.  She no longer laughs at me as I shuffle my feet across the floor like a 100-year-old man in the middle of the night.  When Mother Nature calls and I have to get up in the dark,  I move slowly, and my toes are trained to feel dog fur.  When Scout is felt, I immediately slam on the brakes and cease forward motion!

Scout heard us talking about his ability to make us fall and how we said we might consider firing him as our baby!  A few minutes later, I got an email from Scout using his new email address: SCOUT@YOU-GOTTA-LOVE-ME.COM.

The message contained a short video reminder about how amazing he is.  After some consideration, we decided to keep Scout, BUT we are going to put lights on him at night so we can tell where he is and in what position.

The navigation lights will be as defined below. We have to remember to plug him in for an hour before bedtime!

Red: Located on his left side
Green: Located on his right side
White: Located on the tail
Flashing Blue: Located on his head

Mary stayed in the bedroom all day, sorted jewelry, wrote thank you notes, and watched movies… things that did not require her to move.   I worked in the office and went to the Villa Park shopping center to notify our gym people that we would not go on Monday.  While there, I went to Ralph’s Market and got some goodies!!

One of the goodies was Jeff’s favorite ice cream, Tillamook Original Vanilla. When I first looked, it was not there, but I did a second look. After getting down on my hands and knees, I spotted two cartons way in the back of the freezer compartment, and I dug them out with the help of a long-necked wine bottle!

We cleaned up around 4:00 p.m., as we had a birthday party to attend. Fortunately, it was across the street at Jeff’s home.

We had a wonderful dinner with Jeff’s family, a neighbor, and a couple we had met before.  Pam did a fantastic job recreating Jeff’s favorite meal, including a chocolate cake to die for!

Everyone says the same thing about me!

Cakey-Pie time!  The fire department said we could not have 80 candles due to the danger of fire.

Happy Birthday, Jeff; he is now officially older than dirt!

Jeff turned 80, but you would never know it; he does not look like a day over 95.  Jeff is a good friend and fantastic neighbor.

Keep the flame away from the oxygen!!  I asked myself if this might become a flame-thrower situation.

We had dessert, and it was terrific: a family-secret recipe! I can’t tell you what was in it, but let’s just say it involved chocolate, a questionable amount of whipped cream, and a dash of “if you tell anyone, I have duct tape and a shovel and you might end up in the family garden!”

Jef and I remember these!

At 10:00 p.m., we wandered back across the street as the sky began to drizzle moisture on our heads. To our amazement, Scout was in our bedroom, sound asleep!

I got Mary into bed, but her back was killing her!  She took her pain meds and we could hear the rain coming down when we turned out the lights—we had dodged a bullet!

Bring on the rain, PLEASE!!! I’ve got a whole collection of umbrellas just waiting for their moment to shine… or should I say, ‘splash!’ Plus, my plants are starting to think I’ve abandoned them, and I don’t want them filing for custody!

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Fridays Comes From Norse Goddess Of Love, Marriage, And Fertility

Posted on Friday, January 24, 2025 by Paul

We worked around the house, with Mary going through her jewelry boxes. I put away the generator and cleaned up the garage/workbench! Things are looking pretty good. Our landscaper rainproofed the backyard, as we are expecting on Saturday!

Our car wash feller arrived, and we now have two brand-new cars. They look showroom-new, so it will surely rain this weekend! Precious has already gone undercover; she does not want to risk a leak in the garage or splatter when the Silver Fox pulls in!

Next week, we are going to Old Ranch and go back to golf, but mention that we will play once a week, only in the late afternoons, and probably only nine holes, so make us a deal!

We plan to make an offer they cannot refuse!

Mary went through her many jewelry drawers for the rest of the afternoon. I worked in the garage, putting away power cables, restoring the generator to its proper place, topping off the jerry cans of gasoline, and putting tools in their correct locations. I am almost able to find anything now!

My Pulmonologist   (Pulmonology, pneumology, or pneumonology) is a medical specialty that deals with respiratory tract diseases. It is also known as respirology, respiratory medicine, or chest medicine in some countries and areas. Pulmonology is considered a branch of internal medicine related to intensive care medicine. Pulmonology often involves managing patients who need life support and mechanical ventilation.)  he came through with flying colors. Since he was a study founder, he got the insurance company to fund my new meds, hopefully keeping me from having bronchitis again.

The prescription costs $100,000/year without insurance, but I paid less than $100!!! YEAH!!! If it works, I will have no more bronchitis.

The cars are back inside where they belong, as the generator and cables are put away!  I even filled his tummy with gasoline when I went out for lunch (we decided to keep working, so In-N-Out was needed) to avoid having to stop and fix lunch!

The Silver Fox was happy to be inside where it was warm (and next to Precious)

Precious was NOT wearing her fur as it was NOT that cold today for tonight.  I can hardly wait for her to honk, which means, “Daddy, get out of bed and bring me my fur!”

Precious was shivering under her covers!

I have three projects underway to make it spotless. Project 1: Put up some pictures on the wall; Project 2: Replace the LED recessed light in the hallway; and Project 3: Go to the locksmith, open the gun safe, and transfer the 45s and ammo to the new gun safe so we can get to it quickly! (The old gun safe lost its keys, and its battery died!)

The workbench was looking pretty good!

Across from the main workbench are the air compressor, drill press, and many more tools!

The took boxes are now labeled and stuffed to the gills!

All my hand power tools are 18V Makitas, so I wanted to have a supply of batteries.  I have about 15 power tools, from saber saws to small air compressors, 3/4″ impact drills, rotary saws, and many more.  I am equipped to fix anything; all I need is time!

I finally got four more 18V Makita rechargeable batteries; no worrying if I have enough now!

We got ready for dinner at Vittorio’s Italian Bistro, Bill Capps’s favorite hangout. After losing Mary a few months back, he wanted some adult company this evening, so we went to show support for a great guy!!

Great food and atmosphere!! Our favorite piano player was here this evening, tickling the ivories!

I ordered the spaghetti and meatballs because Scout wanted them, and I had to comply.  Mary had the Veal Piccata.  Two other couples, people we had previously met, came along this evening, and they showed up even though Bill warned them I would be present!

My favorite dish!!!

I put some spaghetti on his food, and he gobbles it instantly.

Scout will be dining on this for several days! Little does he know I took one meatball before we packaged it up!

We stopped at Aces on the way home and had a glass of wine.

Someone was sleepy on the way home!

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Thursday Was A Good Day!

Posted on Friday, January 24, 2025 by Paul

Mary and I were moving before 7:00 am and feeling pretty good.  My nose has stopped running, and Mary’s back seemed OK after tripping over the dog again!

We spent the morning in the office tackling a mountain of mail and bills—because nothing says “exciting day” like sorting through envelopes! It was like a boring episode of a reality show titled “The Life of Office Supplies.” But hey, we powered through because the real fun was waiting at the Elks! There’s nothing like trading the thrill of checking statements for the thrill of… well, trying not to start a conga line during lunch accidentally!

We had to find a target to pick on, and today, it was Bill who wanted an egg sandwich, but he said. “They are so messy”.  We helped with suggestions such as: 1) ask for the egg to be fried hard, and 2) ask for Rooster Eggs.    We are always helping Bill!

Teaching Bill how to eat an egg sandwich was fun!

We separated from the Elks after much giggling at 1:00 pm. We were happy that Dianne joined us today and saw what “Girls Night Out” is all about. We hope she continues to join us every week; she would be a welcome addition!

We went home via the dry cleaners and Walgreens.

The wind was whistling, but the weatherman said Friday would be still, and we may get rain on Sunday.

At 3:30 pm, we departed for Benji’s for a surprise party for Ed Roberts, who turns 81 today/  Mary and I went a little early and went to the bar in the back of the restaurant to await Ed’s arrival.   Mary’s new hairstyle, courtesy of the 30 mph winds, is called “Explosion In A Hay Stack.”

What I want to know is how she can be so pretty after walking through a windstorm, and when I do that, I have to chase my toupe two blocks down the street.

We hid in the bar which was out of the wind!

I got the signal: Ed had arrived and was NOT expecting to see us!

Mary gave me the signal. Ed, it is here!

Dang, he is as old as dirt!

When he saw all of us he said, “Holy guacamole!” and “Did I just win the lottery without buying a ticket?”  He was surprised!

We all sat in an expanded booth, and Ed opened his gifts. He was most attracted to the wine. He received several great presents and seemed very happy!

Surprise!!

At the end of the meal, I suggested the men have a “Man’s Dessert,” which means a Root Beer float!! (I can’t spell sas-pa-rella)

The root beer float, also known as the “Black Cow,” was invented in 1893 by Frank J. Wisner, the owner of Cripple Creek Brewing Company in Colorado. Wisner was inspired to create the drink after seeing the snowy peaks of Cow Mountain, which reminded him of ice cream floating in soda. National Root Beer Float Day is celebrated on August 6th. A reverse root beer float is made with root beer ice cream and vanilla soda.

Ed attacked the root beer with a gusto not seen in years!

Your bathroom scale will tell you what you are doing now in the morning!!

Thank you, Bob Z, for taking the picture with “The Good Camera”!

The gang’s all here! We have left-to-right, Jim, Vicky, Mary, Paul, Will, Iria, Our Birthday Boy Ed, and Berry.

Our excellent waitress took a shot and did well capturing everyone!  We had a swell time, leaving wonderful memories.   We remembered that on this day, a few years ago in 1848,  Carpenter James Wilson Marshall found nuggets of gold in California’s American River near the site of a sawmill he was building for John Sutter, ushering in a gold rush.

Root Beer float, it’s a guy thing!

My pastrami sandwich was too big for me, so half of it came home to Jeff, our neighbor.  The half-sandwich looked lonely, so we added soup  and a root beer float to the “care package!”

Oh my… Half is going to Jeff!

I have no idea why we went to bed at 8:00 pm, but it probably had to do with our tummies being full and the house being cool.  By 8:30 pm, we were sound asleep.  Scout wanted out at 11:45 pm, so I went to the patio with him.  After that, I slept solidly until almost 6:30 am.

Good night, Ed, and Happy Birthday!

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We Are On The Move!

Posted on Wednesday, January 22, 2025 by Paul

The gym was ready, with the front door looking like its mouth was open and teeth showing.  We felt like lambs being led to the wolves!  We got beat up for almost 60 minutes AFTER riding the stationary bike for 30 minutes earlier.  I plan NOT to go to the next session; instead, I will hit myself on the back for an hour using a meat tenderizer!

We wobbled back to the car, plopped ourselves in the front seat, and, with a great burst of energy, told The Silver Fox to take us home.  We zoomed home, a whole 1.1  miles away from the gym!

Home is where the work starts!  We cleaned, organized, and prepared the house for Domilita and the crew who will arrive around 2:00 pm.

At 1:00 p.m., our friendly technician, Len, stopped by to install Windows 11 on Mary’s brand new computer. She was running on Windows 2, and when she attempted to install the latest OS, the machine said…

So Mary now has a new Windows Eleven-powered PC, complete with a 27″ monitor,  and all the bells and whistles!  Now, all we have to do is retrain her!  Oh my!!

So neat and organized, I did NOT recognize it.

Len left around 5:00 p.m., and we cooked another steak with mushrooms; we are getting this down to a science!  Today we split the steak and that was plenty for both of us.

We’re diving into bed early tonight because tomorrow is another action-packed Thursday! You know, the kind where we tackle the daunting tasks of laundry, going to lunch, going to a birthday party, and trying to remember if we locked the front door! It’s basically an Olympic sport at this point!

As we sent to bed, we got an email from good old SCE saying “we may turn off your power at anytime because of high winds”.  All we can say is, GREAT!

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I Feel Much Better Already!

Posted on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 by Paul

We love our mushrooms!

It was lovely to wake up with headlines revealing that Trump is keeping his promises!  We love to see the fur fly and the leftist get tossed out on their ears!  Bring back common sense!

We worked around the house until it was time to attend the art class at 1:00 pm.  This will be Mary’s second class of the second session, so I am excited to see what she will be doing.   She bounced out of the class like a second grader waving her artwork, and I was taken aback because this assignment was NOT easy!

The teacher slowly but surely moves the students toward making human faces.

Hello Mr. Giraffe!

We stopped at CVS on the way home to pick up some meds and then went VFR to the house were we relaxed most of the afternoon.  My nose was leaking like a small river! It was not a cold but a pesky allergy, something I never had until I turned 80.

We decided to do a nice sit-down dinner of marinated steaks and some mushrooms.

I added several “secret ingredients to the mushrooms,” including a drop of Italian dressing!

While I prepared the steaks, Mary picked peas in the garden and fixed them up as vegetables.  Nothing is better than fresh veggies right from the garden! Unless, of course, you count the sheer joy of discovering a tomato that’s been sunbathing a little too long and has turned into a squishy, salsa-ready surprise!  It’s like nature’s way of saying, “Surprise! You’re having a salad explosion for dinner!”

I love our flat pan with the grooves at the bottom, which leave the steaks marked perfectly!

Did we say steak??

We had a wonderful dinner and watched a little TV before crashing.  We even watched the news, which we normally do not do when Biteme was “president”; it was too sad to watch all the stupidity that went on!

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An Amazing Day; A Breath Of Fresh Air!

Posted on Monday, January 20, 2025 by Paul

We are off and running!

We listened to the inauguration activities from early in the morning until we departed.  After these past four reckless years of sleepy Joe and his clowns, his speech almost brought me to tears.  Common sense comes back!  There are ONLY two genders!  People will NOT be let into the country willy-nilly.  The silly DEI crap will finally go away!

We got ready to go around 3:30 pm to the Long Beach Republican Club’s inaugural ball help at the Grand in Long Beach!

I will drink to that!!!

We got there about 45 minutes early but were welcomed by the board members.  We had a drink and awaiting the party to start!  We had a reserved table courtesy of Dianne and it was a perfect location!

The ball was opened with patriotic music; we all sang!

Mary and Dianne were doing a solo!

Looking good!

This was our theme song tonight!

We walked around and got pictures with our new president.

Mr. President, we have to additional cabinet suggestions for you!

We met several new people at our table and had excellent conversations.  When the music began, MAry and I started dancing.  We had the floor to ourselves.  Larry Fresch and his band made beautiful music.

We were dressed for the occasion!

We loved the backdrop.  HAPPY DAYS are indeed here again!

They have several places to have your picture taken to celebrate our new president.

We had a nice dinner and decided to head for home around 9:00 pm.

Mr. President, it is a pleasure to meet you!

It was a glorious affair and everybody was so excited and happy!  We crashed early.

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It’s Cold!! At 9:30 AM It Was 49 Degrees Outside! Brrrrrrrrr!

Posted on Sunday, January 19, 2025 by Paul

We did not wake up until a little past 7:00 am.  We heard the roosters giggling because they were up first!

In the afternoon, we did some chores around the house, and I fixed a big steak for brunch because we are dancing tonight at the Starlighters.

It was 4:30 p.m., and we were ready to go! We arrived at 5:00 p.m. to help set up; we are on the board of directors and have duties ahead of each dance!

The theme was “Putting On The Ritz,” and we definitely put it on this evening.  We expected 104 people and at final cont, we had 102 members and guests this evening.  The Elks put on quite a show!!

We rocked the room!

We are ready to dance!!

Our favorite aunt (or Mom) was with us this evening. Irene is a magnificent lady; we all enjoy her, especially Scout!!  Irene, Vicky, and Jim make all the centerpieces.

Irene

The centerpieces always follow the theme; this time, it was a 1920 automobile with champagne glasses all lit up! These little gems take hours to assemble and set off the table nicely!

The club’s board of directors [pictures were on display, but I noticed Mary and my picture were from 2018 the Christmas Play in 2018, two years before our first “date.”

We all work hard to make the dances nice for everyone!

Bob and Donna are special friends! You know, the kind of friends who share everything—except their snacks. Bob claims he’s on a “see-food” diet: he sees food and eats it, while Donna proudly sticks to her “nothing outrageous” diet, meaning she only eats outrageously good food. They once tried a cooking class together, but let’s say the fire department wasn’t thrilled about their “flambé” technique! Now they stick to microwaving leftovers and calling it gourmet.

They brighten up the room, especially as they glide across the dance floor with such aplomb.

Dancing wizards!

Of course, Vicky and Jim were there. Vicky picked the theme, and Vicky and the crew worked hard to make it nice for everyone. We had a five-piece live band this evening, and they were terrific.

Jim and Vicky had the table in the rear so they could watch everything.

Mary and I took pictures and posted them on the Starlighters Website for everyone to see (Click the link!).

Just us!

We headed home around 10:00 p.m. to visit our baby, who was outside, keeping the elephants at bay!

 

 

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Sad-A-Day Done Arrived!

Posted on Saturday, January 18, 2025 by Paul

Breakfast Is Served!

The world keeps spinning, doesn’t it? Today was no exception! We were up and cleaning before the sun was fully awake—by 7:00 am, we were on it. It’s just another busy day, but who doesn’t love a little chaos?

Dru was joining us for “Orientation Day” at the Elks, so we prepared ourselves for that big event at noon. Mary and Dru headed off to the meeting while I drank two Hot Toddies—hey, someone has to ensure the house is safe from boredom! After our so-called “meeting,” we had some lunch, which was homeward-bound.

In the afternoon, Mary worked in her closet while I napped.  4:00 pm and we are on the road again, back to the Elks for an 85th birthday party!  Larry Collier was celebrating this evening.

We dined and danced and watched the video of Larry growing up in Downey, California!!

We rocked the room!

Dinner, dancing, and a nostalgic video of Larry growing up—we were living our best lives! And let me tell you, we rocked that room with some impressive moves. Our table was filled with The Z’s, the Kuhns, and another lovely Starlighter couple, making it quite a lively gathering.

Just us! (I get surgery next week for the facial spots)

Just a heads up, I’ve got surgery next week for those pesky facial spots, so I was soaking up the fun tonight. We wrapped up the evening around 9:30 pm, exhausted but happy, knowing we’ve got Starlighters to look forward to tomorrow!

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