On The Go Again!

Posted on Monday, November 14, 2022 by Paul

Fact: Question: A Thanksgiving turkey mix-up inspired what popular meal trend? Answer: Frozen TV dinners

In 1953, a Swanson employee accidentally ordered a colossal shipment of Thanksgiving turkeys (260 tons, to be exact). To deal with the excess, salesman Gerry Thomas took inspiration from the prepared foods served on airplanes. He came up with the idea of filling 5,000 aluminum trays with the turkey – along with cornbread dressing, gravy, peas and sweet potatoes to complete the offering. The 98-cent meals were a hit, especially with kids and increasingly busy households.

I can’t remember if I told you or not, but I am home-schooling Scout, The Wonder Dog.  Today’s lesson was about how to tell the girl dog’s and the boy dog’s restroom apart when we go out to dinner.  It took quite a while, and I am not sure whether he got it.

“Dad. which one is me?”

Christmas seems to be everywhere. The Home Depot was playing Christmas music already.  We looked at the decorations, but we have so many already; another one would tilt the house over.

We did see Santa, and he seemed confused.

Santa is confused!

We departed for Los Alamitos a little early so we could stop by H&H and do some shopping; we needed Sweetpeas!

We saw doctor Rucker first, and since we were in Los Alamitos, the Fish Company seemed an excellent choice for lunch.  We both did Idaho Rainbow Trout Farm-Raised.

Lunchtime! But wait; Mickey lost an arm!  Mary explained the small arm was UNDER the big arm!

The Fish Company is about two blocks from the Los Alamitos Medical Center so it took us jew a few minutes.

The place was well decorated.

We are both suckers for bread, and they have the best-baked bread in town.  We devoured the bread almost instantly.  How does the bread court his sweetheart? With lots of flours.

Mary at the Fish Company, after a meal of Rainbow Trout!

I am addicted to Dr. Laura, and I was reading her book called “Care And Feeding Of a Marriage”   I had to snap a picture of this page; it is so true.  Mary just finished the book a bout two months ago!

Dr. Laura strikes again; she is so right on!!

Right after lunch, Mary took me to the Boot Barm, where she was looking for a duster for me.  I have always wanted one. She is always thinking of me; it is so very nice!

Since 1983, the Outback name has come to mean fine oilskin apparel. Using premium fabric and skillful craftsmanship, Outback offers the best waterproof oilskin apparel to fit any lifestyle. Oilskin is a cotton fabric that is infused with oil, thus leaving you with a durable material that repels water; “water and oil don’t mix!” Since the years of the Wild West, Outback Trading has evolved the oilskin fabric into fashion-forward garments without damaging the integrity of the fabric!

No! It is not me; I would be slightly more handsome than this guy (for those with terrible eyesight)

After Mary’s shopping spree, we headed to Huntington Beach, where Mary finally had a doctor’s appointment.  She has a dental implant that is acting up.   She was in the procedure room for almost two hours.  Every few minutes I would get a text something like, “They are about to do a CT Scan” or “They are doing another X-Ray.”

Within a few minutes after the text, the windows would rattle, the lights would go dim and flicker for a few seconds, and then everything would return to “normal.”  It was like being in a terror movie!

We then headed to Dianne and David’s to do a fly-by as we had some of David’s favorite clam chowder from the Fish Company.   When we got the chowder at lunchtime, they gave us a large bag of ice, and we put it in the insulated cold bag we keep in the trunk of the Silver Fox.  It was still very cold when we arrived at David and Dianne’s.

Yes… David is fron New England!

From there, we went home but only for five minutes; Scout needed to see us, and we needed to drop off our new veggies and pick up some Beef Stroganoff for Jan.  Off to Jan’s we went in a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver!

We enjoyed a bottle of wine and visited for quite a while since we also brought her the fruitcake we got at the Christmas boutique.  The three of us killed the bottle of wine and one pound of fruitcake off!  BURP!!!  BELCH!!!

Our Friend Jan!

Finally, we arrived home and headed for the TV, where we enjoyed the first three episodes of Yellowstone.

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Oops!

Posted on Sunday, November 13, 2022 by Paul

Fact: Alexis Bledel hates coffee; unfortunately for her, Rory loves it.  Since Rory chugs coffee in almost every show episode, so the props team substituted Coca-Cola. 

It has become obvious my sense of humor needs some adjustment!!

We were up early again as Scout, The Wonder Dog, was giving us the indication that he wanted out.  He wanted to water our new grass before the automated sprinkler did!

We walked the new Casa Valencia Gardens, now officially established.   I noticed I was a little slower than yesterday, so I checked my trusted iPhone.  Dang, almost 9,000 steps yesterday, and we hardly left the house.!

No wonder I was tired!

We got ready to go to the Elks and arrived at 10:45 AM.  We decided to have breakfast, and that was super.  At breakfast, my wife: Honey, you forgot the French toast.  Me: Oops. Sorry. *raising glass* VIVE LA FRANCE!

Mary usually has peanut butter toast for breakfast, but this morning we were out of bread, and she’s been grouchy all day.  I never knew she was lack-toast intolerant.

While almost done, Bob popped in with Donna, who was already walking around the boutique.  Mary, Bob, and I visited for a while.

Santa Ana Elks Christmas Botique

We walked the boutique and found nothing that hit the spot!  I picked up a new type of fruit cake that the seller said, “This is fruitcake for those that hate fruitcake!” I could not pass it up.

Returning home, Mary and I worked around the house, with Mary concentrating on the house and patio and me moving the leftover conduit and pipes from the garden to the side wall.

It was getting dark, and I decided the new sign had to go up!  Mary did the Vanna White thing; the garden is now open for business.

Casa Valencia Gardens is now open to the public; well, kind of, anyway!

I was thinking about my folks, and I ran into this picture Colleen had posted to Facebook.  This photo was taken in 1954 at a party thrown for my dad after twenty-five years with Ralph’s 5, 10, and 25 Cents Store.  Yes, that is me on the far right.   Everyone except me is gone now, and I am next to go, but I hope that is 20 years away!

I am waxing nostalgic.

Mary fixed dinner at 6:00 PM while we finished the last five episodes of 1883.   We now know how the family got to Yellowstone.  We talked to Colleen, and she said seeing Yellowstone was a must.

It was 10:15 PM when we finished episode ten!

Yellowstone is a series that follows the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in Montana, the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, commonly called “the Yellowstone.” The plot revolves around family drama at the farm and the bordering Broken Rock Indian Reservation, national park, and developers.

We crashed at 10:30 PM; tomorrow is a long day!

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Another Busy Saturday!

Posted on Saturday, November 12, 2022 by Paul

Fact:  Liza Weil originally auditioned for the part of Rory.  Even though she didn’t get the role, the producers liked her so much they wrote a part for her: Rory’s arch-nemesis turned friend, Paris Gellar.

It’s a birthday day!  Cassandra, our granddaughter, is twenty-eight years young.  OMG, that makes me older than dirt!

Granddaughter Cassie with her hubby and my first two GREAT grandchildren.

Prepare to be scared!!

Calhan and Logann, our great-grandchildren!  (Yes, I said GREAT)

Oh, yeah, I forgot, they were young once upon a time.  That’s me below with my oldest grandson Jonathan with his sister Cassie.

See!  See!  Did you notice that once upon a time, I had hair!!!

We got up early, went down the road, and banged several trashcans together right in front of the chicken coop!  We scared the hell out of the rosters!  He darned near wet his feathers.  He came running out in his jammies; it was downright scary to behold!   Payback is always fun!

I had to ask Mary, “If chickens wake up when the Rooster crows, then when do ducks wake?” There was a bit of a pause, and Mary replied, “At the quack of dawn.” This chick is on top of her game.

Then, Mary laid it on me.  She went to Ikea and bought something for us to work on together!

Mary Bought Us A Log Cabin From Ikea!

Oh, dear!!  Where are the instructions?

We decided to go to breakfast to get a quick start to the day.  We went to Rockwell’s and got our coffee and a plate of delightful food.  The day can officially start now!

Home Depot, our favorite place, was on the agenda.  We got more iron fence posts, some other plants, and one more box to stow away the rest of Halloween.

We then stopped at Trader Joe’s and got supplies for the rest of the week!

Did You Know?  There are 559 Trader Joe’s retail stores in the United States as of October 17, 2022.  The state with the most Trader Joe’s locations in the U.S. is California, with 192 retail stores, about 34% of all Trader Joe’s retail stores in the U.S.

Returning home, I hit the garden whilst Mary worked in the house.  She did laundry, reset the table with Thanksgiving-colored tablecloths, and started what turned out to be a terrific dinner!  Mary whipped up a batch of Beef Stroganoff!

Did You Know?  Beef Stroganoff is a Russian dish that became popular in the U.S. in the 1950s.  The dish was said to be created by a French chef who worked for a wealthy family in St. Petersburg; he entered it into a cooking contest in 1891 and named it Beef Stroganov.

Beef Stroganoff consists of pieces of beef fillet sautéed in sour cream sauce together with onions and mushrooms.  The dish was named after Count Alexander Grigorievich Stroganoff, who lived in the late 19th century in St. Petersburg.

Before going outside, I finished resetting the clocks to the new time.

It was NOT an easy task, but someone has to do it1

While Mary was being creative in the kitchen, I put up another net for Mary’s sweetpeas, planted about 100 onions, moved the remaining pipe and vertical supports to the back of the garden, and replanted about twenty small ferns under the trees along the back wall.

Mary loves the sweetpeas, and we found a perfect place for them!

Did You Know? English gardeners call sweet peas “the Queen of Annuals.” These charming annuals are unique among garden flowers with their vivid colors, fragrance, and length of bloom in the garden.  The flowers have an air of romance in their scent and appearance.  The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae, native to Sicily, southern Italy, and the Aegean Islands.  It is an annual climbing plant, growing to a height of 3–6 feet where suitable support is available.

Then I attacked the patio, and I was moving things back to their pre-rainstorm positions.  It was dark when I finally came inside.

The net is up for Mary’s Sweetpeas!

Dinner was almost ready, and Scout and my noses were twitching at a much higher-than-normal rate.  Mary had been cooking up a storm.  Scout and I took a vote; we will rename dinner “Beef Côté,” a befitting name for such a delicious meal!

Again, taking my life into my hands, I asked Mary, “What happened to the lost beef shipment?” Quick as a bunny, she replied, “A: Nobody’s herd.”

The beef was ready, and the noodles (which turned out to be angel hair pasta) was three minutes away!

The Dutch Oven works well, and this one is special!  Tomorrow I plan to make bread in the put!

The mushrooms were perfect!

To the table, we went.  While Mary put on the finishing touches, I set the table, poured the wine, turned on the T.V., and turned down the lights.  We have another romantic dinner at Casa Valencia!

I died and went to heaven!!

Halfway through the meal, I noticed my feet were getting warm.  Hot flashes?  Nope, it was the doggie proper directly under me with his chest on my feet, waiting for any loose morsel to bound down my shirt, roll across my leg, and drop to his awaiting mouth1

Scout found a spot directly under the table, hoping I might drop some; silly dog!

We watched a movie, and then I started her on a series entitled 1883 with Sam Elliott.  1883 is an American Western drama television limited-run series created by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on December 19, 2021, on Paramount+.

The series stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen, and James Landry Hébert.

The series is a prequel to Sheridan’s Yellowstone series and follows the story of how the Duttons came to own the land that would become the Yellowstone Ranch.  The series consisted of ten episodes and concluded on February 27, 2022

We got to episode #3 before the eyes turned to lead, and we had to crash!

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Happy Vetrans Day!

Posted on Friday, November 11, 2022 by Paul

Fact: There’s no apostrophe in Veterans Day.  The lack of an apostrophe in “Veterans Day” implies that the occasion doesn’t belong to veterans.  Rather, it’s a day that honors all soldiers who once served their country, both dead and alive.

I am happily married to a veteran.  Captain Mary A. Côté, MD.  I am so very happy she is on our side!

We were up early and heard the “crack” of dawn.  Why?  Who knows? We are just early birds.  Ah ha, maybe that’s why we go outside in the morning and attempt to catch the worms?

We walked out to the South 40 and walked the fences to make sure all was well.

Early morning visit to the garden.

We had a noon appointment with my doctor in Los Alamitos, so we decided to “Go To The Club” for breakfast.  The meal was fine, and we got to see Miss Charlotte, who was making the turn.

After breakfast, we went to H&H Nursery and went shopping for goodies.  Mary and I filled the cart with new veggies to plant this afternoon!!

Shopping we will go!

I got to pick out some veggies also!

A little of this and a little of that!

After arriving home, with a slight pause at Jan’s house to bring her sleeping socks, We loaded our new treasures into Daddy’s cart and went to work in the backyard; we planted the veggies, watered them, and then finished off the job with straw mulch.   We are finding some of the worms have moved quite a bit from their original location; this is good.

Very soon, we will be loaded with goodies!

Our two carts (two-wheeled wheelbarrows) are just right for the garden.   We are constantly watching out for weeds.  A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.

We will perfect our vegetable garden beds through a process of trowel and error!

We bring our carts to the garden!

We worked until it was getting dark.  Mary went inside to make dinner, and I finished cleaning up and bringing in the tools.

Farmer Paul is ready for dinner as the sun sets in the west.

We had a delightful dinner and watched a movie on the roll-around TV.  We finally crashed at about 8:00 PM after talking to Robin and arranging fSunday’sy’s putting.

Posted in Holidays, Just Us, Vegetable Garden | 1 Comment

Thursday; Traveling The Freeways!

Posted on Thursday, November 10, 2022 by Paul

Fact:  Water makes different sounds depending on its temperature!  If you’ve listened to boiled water being poured, you’ll discover it makes a different sound to cold water as its energy molecules move around much faster.  Cold water has a lower-pitched tone and sounds heavier for some reason.

It was as cold as a well diggers butt this morning!  Thank goodness for the down comforter Mary found tucked away!

I love the iPhone as I can turn on the heat from my bed!!!

It is Thursday, and we were going to Girl’s Night Out, but a doctor’s appointment got in the way.  Luck have it; we were on the freeway bouncing along a 0.8 MPH when I called the doctor’s office and said we would be about 40 minutes late.  He did NOT want to miss his lunch, so we rescheduled.  Yeah, we did a 180-degree turn and headed to the Elks.  Sometimes traffic is OK!

We had a wonderful meal at the Elks! We brought Jan some “sleeping socks” on our way.  I bought Mary way too many, so she shared her warm feet with Jan.   We had a glass of wine with Jan and enjoyed her company!

Friends for twenty years!

After arriving home, we put out the trash cans for the Friday morning pickup and worked in the garden for a few minutes.  I found some wooden skewers, and carefully I cut a slit into the top of each one.  We then found the little plastic labels that identified our crops and slid them into the slot.  From there, a little super glue and some Krylon clear spray, and we have neat veggie identifiers.

We enjoyed a nice dinner and hit the sack at 6:30 PM.  Mary watched TV, and I watched the inside of my eyeballs.  Being attached to this bad is a pain in the rump!

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Here We Go Again!

Posted on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 by Paul

Fact: In Rome, the first hospital was built in the 4th century AD by a wealthy penitent widow, Fabiola<.  In the early Middle Ages (6th to 10th century), under the influence of the Benedictine Order, an infirmary became an established part of every monastery.

Morning is lovely, and its only drawback is that it comes at such an inconvenient time of day.  I told Mary, “Keep the dream alive: Hit the snooze button.”

We are getting to be farmers!  Up at 6:00 AM and working in the fields.  OK, up at 6:30 AM, coffee at 7:00 AM, and the garden soon after.

Every morning I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I’m not there, I go to work in the garden.

We expected our house cleaners to arrive at 3:00 PM, but they surprised us at 8:30 AM.

We just started a garden tour to see what the rain had brought.  Everything looked so fresh and clean; the rain did quite a job!

After last night’s rain, the sky was beautiful, and everything was clean!

The garden beds were still quite damp, but the straw kept mud from getting onto the leaves.  Mulch is a good thing.

The straw served its purpose.

The strawberries are ready to get planted.  Looking carefully, you might see two worm containers, each housing about 300 worms.  Eisenia fetida, known under various common names such as manure worm, redworm, brandling worm, panfish worm, trout worm, tiger worm, red wiggler worm, etc., is a species of earthworm adapted to decaying organic material.  These worms thrive in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure.

Dig a small hole, drop one hundred in, and then yell, “Lunch time!”

These little guys will be sprouting berries in no time if the varmints do not get them first!  But we have a plan; bring in the chicken wire.

The worm containers were under the straw.

There was dew on the leaves from last night’s rain.  The straw supports the leaves and keeps them facing the sun!

There was dew on the leaves this morning.

The yard was a mess after the contractor departed, but with the help of Carlos and a few yards of excellent soil, the grass is starting to return to the area.  We will have weeds to deal with, but the grass should be solid in another month.  We will have a 40′ x 60′ plot of grass for Scout, The Wonder Dog, to water at his leisure.

The grass seed has germinated; the rain was perfectly timed.

OK, not quite a nudity butt close enough.  My wife was afraid of the dark… then she saw me naked, and now she’s afraid of the light.  I wore my robe to the garden because a) it was warm and b) I was too lazy to change.

I love this quote: “One morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas.  I’ll never know how he got into my pajamas.” — Groucho Marx.

Gardening in my jammies!

We are going to plant peas, and they need to be able to climb.  Peas have both low-growing and vining cultivars.  The vining cultivars grow thin tendrils from leaves that coil around any available support and can climb from 3 ft 3  to 6 ft 7 in high.

Did You Know?  Peas are annual plants with a life cycle of one year.  They are a cool-season crop grown in many parts of the world; planting can take place from winter to early summer, depending on location.  The average pea weighs between 0.1 and 0.36 grams.   The immature peas (and in snow peas, the tender pod) are used as a vegetable, fresh, frozen, or canned; varieties of the species, typically called field peas, are grown to produce dry peas as the split pea shelled from a matured pod.

I used the 5 pounds shop hammer to drive the iron fence posts into the ground.  It looks like overkill but wait until the peas start to grow!!  They get heavy!

Up goes the wall!

The wall is up; let’s have a party!  In six weeks, the net will be full of pea and time to begin to harvest them.  We planted three kinds of peas, including Oregon Giant, Snowpeas, and Little Marvel.

The peas have a place to climb now.

It almost took the hands of a surgeon to tie off the tiny nylon strings, but I managed it anyway.

Some  Pea Trivia:

One serving of peas contains as much Vitamin C as two large apples, more fiber than a slice of wholemeal bread, and more thiamine than a pint of the whole meal.

It is estimated that over 9000 peas are eaten per person per year in Britain.

Seven thousand one hundred seventy-five peas were once eaten in a minute with chopsticks by Janet Harris of Sussex.  This was a world record!

The proper etiquette for eating peas is to squash them on the back of your fork.

Ready, set, go!!!!

We will have to measure the growth every day.

All the strawberries and peas are in; time to go to lunch!

Get going; it is almost 11:00 AM.

While I got cleaned up. Mary finished off the last flat of berries and took her wheelbarrow and the tools up to the patio and put them away.

We jumped in the car and were heading to the Elks when the darned phone rang, and it was the doctor’s office telling us that there was a 2:00 PM appointment for me to get another CT scan.  GREAT!!!  We had dentist appointments at 2:00 PM.  Mary made a command decision; we returned home.  Mary went to the dentist, and I headed for Los Alamitos.

I waited in the hospital lobby for nearly two hours before they took me at 3:45 PM for a 15-minute procedure.  I had nothing to eat since yesterday’s dinner and was famished!  I was so anxious to get back to Mary I didn’t even stop for a burger; I finally arrived home at 5:00, and it was getting dark.

We had a simple dinner and watched some TV.  By 6:00 PM, I was dozing off, so we went to bed.  By 7:00 PM, I was sawing logs sounding like a sawmill.  Mary watched two Hallmark movies.

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Today Was Busy!

Posted on Tuesday, November 8, 2022 by Paul

Fact:  Goldfish lose their color if kept in dim light. Similar to humans, they need sunlight to keep their pigment.

The rain was coming down like a cow peeing on a flat rock!  We turned on the heat and had a hot cup of java to get our hearts started.  The rain measuring device was placed in its proper position so tomorrow we will see how much we got.

Before we cleaned up, we watched TV and had tea.  There is nothing like a spot of tea n the morning on a cold wet day!  This blend is from Robin.  I know a dentist who doesn’t like tea. His sign out front in the office reads, Denis.

Tea for Two!

The tea was outstanding.  I put honey in it and it even tasted better. As they say, “Sip sip hooray!”

It was excellent!

Mid-morning, we got cleaned up and headed to Irene’s house to drop off the van because Irene’s car had died.  While there, we decided to go to El Torito for lunch.  The restaurant was a little dingy, but the food was pretty good.  While we were inside, there was an amazing downpour!!

From Long Beach, we went to Los Alamitos and visited Dr. Rucker, where the local vampire took my blood sample to analyze the Creatinine levels.  From there, we went to the hospital and found a wonderful nurse who took us in, changed my dressings, gave us some supplies, and changed out the leaky bad.  Her name was Dianne, and she is getting flowers as soon as we go out tomorrow.

We got home, and it was dark, so we headed to the TV and The Hallmark Channel.

Mary found a great down blanket, and we put it on the bed.  We will sleep warm tonight!!

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Monday And All Is Well!

Posted on Monday, November 7, 2022 by Paul

Fact: On Venus and other moons and planets, rain is made of sulfuric acid or methane. Even stranger: On a world 5,000 light years away, scientists found raindrops made of iron rather than water.

Monday was slow, and that was good. We are attempting to stop the draining, and resting may help!

We wandered outside between rain storms and visited our plants taking inventory of what else we needed.

Spin and scare the birds away!!

We want to get the peas in the ground, so we plan to visit Home Depot and get some iron fence posts. \

The mulch is in three of the beds now.

Around 11:00 AM, we took the van to the smog-measuring man, and he passed gas, waived some strange-looking feathers, and shouted long-lost South American war chants; he pronounced the van safe to drive.

While the smog was being checked, we crossed the street and went to the Original Pancake House for breakfast. Breakfast was great, and we decided to take an order to Jan’s house, which was on our way to Home Depot.

My breakfast buddy!

We stopped at Home Depot and got the iron fence posts, strawberries, and several types of fertilizer. Then we went to Orange County Farmers Supply and got some goodies, including 600 red worms.

The most popular worm that’s used for wrapping gifts is the tapeworm.

Arriving home, my phone rang with an announcement that provided us with a memory of one year ago!

One year ago today, we had a small dinner party with Iris & Will, Sydney, and her folks!

When we finally got home, it was raining, so we left the goodies inside the van!

We had a nice dinner and watched The Hallmark Channel.

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A Day Of Rest; Yeah, Right!

Posted on Sunday, November 6, 2022 by Paul

Fact: Rest comes in four flavors:

  • Sensory rest: This refers to the state of giving your senses a rest from the experiences of the physical world, for example, closing your eyes for 1-2 minutes after sitting in front of a computer for long hours.
  • Emotional rest: This type of rest is often confused with mental rest.  Emotional rest refers to the state of denying oneself to be overwhelmed with the feelings of others and creating a space or balance.
  • Mental rest: This involves stopping the mind from thinking by creating space between one thought to another without overlapping them.
  • Physical rest: This type of rest involves the relaxation of the entire body.

We are happy to announce we didn’t get any rest today!  We are just too active.  The smell of that delicious elixir, coffee, wafted through the house at 6:30 AM, signaling we better get into gear.  We did our morning thing and sat at the breakfast table, discussing the plans for the day.

After a quick check of the calendar, it was obvious Halloween needed to be put away for another year.   We got the storage containers ready and merrily pranced around the house on a search and seizure mission.  By noon, 90% of Halloween was safely tucked away.

We finally sat down after our collecting-packing duties were completed!

Scout sniffed out the hard-to-find decorations and then sniffed every box several times, committing the contents to memory.

Scout, The Wonder Dog, assisted us!

We are ready for Thanksgiving now!

Bring it on!!  (BTW, Paul is now 196 pounds, on his way to 190!!)

Robin planned to come over at about noon.  While we were in the backyard placing mulch into the new garden, we got a call.  That little sweetheart stopped by Subway and asked what we wanted for lunch!  Mary got a turkey (NOT ME), and I did the veggie.  Robin brought Gatorade to ensure I was getting electrolytes as I was still draining.    We had a terrific lunch!

Robin joined us in the garden and got a worm’s eye view of the interworking of the watering system.

Next job, did in the perlite!

The south wall now had a layer of soil as we had too much for the garden itself.  It looks terrific, and even the deer approves; he decided to sit on the rock and NOT get his hoofs muddy!   What do you call an eyeless deer?  I have no eye-deer.   Where did the deer go to fix its tail?  The re-tail shop.

The south wall looks wonderful since the lower limbs have been trimmed and taken away!

The straw mulch keeps the soil, the, therefore, the roots of the little plants from drying out.  It also serves to keep the water from evaporating hence conserving water.

When we were done, we had to go to the garage and use the air compressor to remove the straw from our clothes.

Spreading the straw; is so easy with two doing the work!

The little plants we put into the group two weeks ago are growing.  We lost two strawberries, but that is not too bad.  We will replace them Monday if it is not raining too hard.  I asked Mary, “What do you call strawberry jam that plays the trumpet?”  While jogging back to the patio, I yelled, ” Tooty fruity.”  Something whizzed by my head immediately after that.

Beneath the straw is three watering lines for the little veggies.

Robin departed for home, and we looked at dinner options.  Prior to dinner, we completed the Halloween packing and watched a movie.

Dinnertime and Mary makes a fabulous dinner.

We needed straw, and Amazon has everything, so I ordered two bales of straw; it will be interesting to see how it gets delivered!  Mary said, “Don’t order hay for your horse off Amazon!  After a few days, they’ll ask for your feed back.”

The cost was a little high, but after factoring in the delivery to the driveway, it was worth it.  Two additional bales will last for the rest of this year!

We needed straw; we ordered from Amazon!!!

We had dinner and watched the Hallmark Channel and a movie entitled: “A Beautiful Place To Die.”  Summary: A retired Boston PD detective and the acting medical examiner at Martha’s Vineyard work together to solve the murder of a mysterious young man.

We watched a movie using our handy-dancy portable TV roll-around. 

It kept us awake for a while.  We had planned to go to the Skegg’s birthday party, but I was just not up to it because of the draining that was underway.  The energy level is about nil; time to talk to the doctor.

We crashed at 9:00 PM and awaited the arrival of the rain.

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Moving Mountains Again!

Posted on Saturday, November 5, 2022 by Paul

Fact:  Tablespoon of soil has more organisms in it than there are people on earth

The day began early as we readied for the guys to move the seventeen yards of soil in our driveway. The rolling started early, and Carlos worked on the sprinkler/drip system.

The drip lines stay beneath the straw.

While the guys were working, Mary and I ran off and did a hairdo day! After my haircut, I returned home via the market and brought the guys a dozen donuts.

The magical thing about home is that it feels good to leave, and it feels even better to come back.

At noon Mary called, I picked her up, and we went to a local beer bar. We had a super lunch, more than we could eat, plus a glass of wine.

On the way home, we got to talk to David and Dianne, and the prognosis is looking better than initially anticipated. We are pleased about that!

We talked to Jan while at lunch.

What I love most about my home is who I share it with!!

We decided to go first class and have a buried valve container in each bed, complete with a spigot for a small hose should we need one. Now we can control the water flow down to a nats-ass remotely. The system even talks to the internet and increases or decreases watering times depending upon the weather!

Each planter has its own valving/pressure regulator system, which can be controlled individually from the phone!

The guys did not finish until about 4:00 PM, and we spent another hour cleaning up the boxes we had received from Amazon. By 5:00 PM, we were officially pooped, and in fact, we hit the sack at 7:00 PM after talking to Robin and Lisa C.

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OMG! No ER Today!

Posted on Friday, November 4, 2022 by Paul

Fact:  Emergency medicine is a specialty.  Yes, we did residency training to learn how to work in the ED.  This training lasts three to four years after medical school.  It is sometimes followed by another one to three years of additional training for subspecialty certifications, like pediatric emergency medicine, toxicology, and hyperbaric undersea medicine, to name a few.

We were up and going at 6:00 AM, but then we looked at each other and said, “Why?”  It was 6:15 AM, which meant coffee time, so we sat in the kitchen and called Colleen; she was amazed; we called at 9:00 AM her time!

Today we again stayed close to home and just worked in the office.  Carlos came by, and we discussed where to put all the dirt!  He also moved the bale of hay from the van to the backyard, and Mary and I spread it on the first row.

We will need three bales every time we mulch!

The straw keeps the moisture in and prevents the soil from drying out.

We visited Jan towards the end of the afternoon to say howdy!  After that, we returned home and watched TV.  I am still favoring the knee, and draining like mad!

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Finally, Relief From The Knew Pain!

Posted on Thursday, November 3, 2022 by Paul

Fact:  Your brain interprets pain but can’t actually feel it.
When you sprain your ankle, nerve fibers send a signal to your brain, which recognizes the sensation as pain, explains Josie Znidarsic, DO, a physician in the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative Medicine. But when something that would otherwise be painful—let’s say, surgery—happens in the brain itself, it’s a different story: Nerve fibers in the brain might send out the same types of signals as for a sore ankle, but there’s nowhere for them to go to be processed. That’s why, creepily, patients are often awake during brain surgery (and not in agony); surgeons can actively stimulate brain areas to make sure the procedure is going as planned without fear of hurting them, says Livovich.

We took it easy in the morning and headed to Girls Night Out at 11:15 AM.  It was a delightful lunch with the gang.  We returned home to take Scout outside before leaving again for Los Alamitos.

We headed west at 4:00 PM to get a 6-month pass for parking.  When it acts up, the knee does not allow me to walk very far.  If they can cure it, we will give the pass back to the DMV.

From there we went to Old Ranch for Comedy Night and it was fabulous.

Good Clean Comedy; Something hard to find these days!

Juan was happy to see us.

Asleep as usual.

 

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Finally! Two Docs In A Day!

Posted on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 by Paul

Fact: Hippocrates (460–377 BC) is commonly called the “Father of Medicine” or the “Father of Western Medicine.” He is thought to be one of the first physicians to treat disease as being a result of natural rather than supernatural causes. He also founded the Hippocratic School, a medical school that focused on the healing power of nature as well as the importance of physical observation and the act of prognosis.

We were up early and Mary had the challenge of washing me without getting the wound wet.  Thank goodness we have an extra large shower for two.  I was so happy to get my hair washed after a week that I danced the happy dance in the shower.  Mary washed up as far as possible, and I washed  “possible.”  I got out clean and with dry bandages; it was a miracle.

I was in so much pain that I would not drive so Mary took the Silver Fox for a spin; the poor guys didn’t know what to do since I it was going over 65 MPH.  I strapped in using the five=point safety belts; closed my else; we were off… I swear I thread someone counting down   T-5, T-4, T-3, T-2, T-1, BLASTOFF!!

We arrived in Long Beach 35 seconds later, according to my watch.  After parking, I checked the watch again, and it went back to normal; it took 40 minutes, apparently when traveling at “Mary Speed,” the clock stops!  This was an amazing visit; I watched the doctor remove a little cyst from Mary; usually, it is Mary watching the doctor remove large amounts of skin from me!

After this short procedure, we went to Old Ranch; my knee was just south of not working, but I managed a “Dr. Mary” and a glass of wine.  I ordered chili, but my eyes were bigger than my tunny, I took it home.

Mary had a salad, soup, and hot wings.

Lunch was done just in the nick of time; we went to the bone doctor getting there right on time at 2:30 PM.

The PA made the appointment, and she saw nothing but recommended the removal of some more liquid and she inserted a pain killer and some other goodies into the join.  I had almost instant relief. First time in almost a week that I could walk easily.

We stopped by Jan’s on the way home as she was worried about us.  We killed off some wine and half of a cranberry-cheese roll.

By the time we were home, the knew was doing pretty well.  We went to bed and I got a good night’s sleep!

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We Are Becoming Experts At Waiting

Posted on Tuesday, November 1, 2022 by Paul

Fact: How do abdominal drains work? A surgical drain allows the fluid to flow out. The doctor puts a thin, flexible rubber tube into the area of your body where the fluid is likely to collect. The rubber tube carries the fluid outside your body. The most common type of surgical drain carries the fluid into a collection bulb that you empty.

Mary was up so I knew Dr. Scout was up; I checked the security camera!

He pretends to be asleep so he can bite the burglar in the butt!

We are STILL in the ER after a long night.  Finally, the IR guy comes by and says the procedure will begin soon.  IR is Interventional Radiology.

Did You Know? Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound.  IR doctor performs both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures through very small incisions or body orifices. Diagnostic IR procedures are those intended to help make a diagnosis or guide further medical treatment, and include image-guided biopsy of a tumor or injection of an imaging contrast agent into a hollow structure, such as a blood vessel or a duct.  By contrast, therapeutic IR procedures provide direct treatment—they include catheter-based medicine delivery, medical device placement (e.g., stents), and angioplasty of narrowed structures.

Fortunately. today’s procedure involved him looking at the tummy through an ultra-sound  only.  After a few hmm’s and ah-haw’s, he got a syringe and extracted 120 mL of fluid and a piece of lymphocele that was blocking the drain.  The leak was caused by the loose material, and the fluid went around the drain! After that, the drain worked fine!

The ultrasound was an easy teat!

Except for the knee, I wanted to go home.  We called the bone doctor,  and he sent his PA, who recognized the pain when she saw it.   I was hanging by the overhead lamp screening at the top of my lungs!  The knee was very painful.  Due to extreme self-control, I avoided the explicatives but I was getting close!

They brought in a portable X-Ray machine so I did not have to move.  After she saw the X-Ray, she ordered an MRI, so we had to stay until almost 7:00 PM.  Thank goodness Mary found a supply of oxycodone and a bottle of extra-strength Tylenol.   That wonderful woman of mine makes a mean cocktail!  I name the drink “Doctor Mary”.

Yummy when you are in pain!

I was loopy!  Obviously, Mary drove home.

The pain was so bad that I did another cocktail and got some sleep; I knew I had an appointment with the doctor at 2:30 PM; three hours after Mary’s appointment in Long Beach.

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Boo; It Is Halloween!

Posted on Monday, October 31, 2022 by Paul

Fact: The dancing skeletons you’re so used to seeing at Halloween may not seem so scary – they’re often downright friendly, but things get a little darker when you start to think about that imagery.  Halloween has roots in the pagan festival Samhain, the feast of the dead.  And it doesn’t get more dead than skeletons.  They are literally what’s left after your skin rots off and everything else decomposes.  Pretty creepy when you think about it, and no surprise that they’re associated with several holidays honoring the departed.

We had our morning coffee, a requirement to get our hearts going.  Mary got cleaned up early and headed for UCI to be with Dianne while David was getting a biopsy.  I stayed behind, licking my wounds and doing small chores around the house.

Around mid-morning, I noticed a “leak” or, perhaps better stated, a drop of fluid on the top of my foot.  I looked down, and nothing was obvious.  Then I spotted the bandages around the wound were “soggy,” and I spotted another tiny drop; great, the wound is leaking.

At my age, do I call a doctor or a plumber?

Houston, we have a problem!

I called the hospital and told the Radiology Department that we had a leak, and they said to call the doctor.  So.  I called the urologist and explained the issue, and he said, “go to the ER immediately!”  Mary was home by then, and after a short panic intermission, we were on the way to Los Alamitos ER.

The ultrasound was an easy teat!

We checked in at 4:00 PM, and it was COLD!  We stayed in the waiting room for about 30 minutes, but the door kept opening and closing; I was freezing.   We moved around the corner, and I requested a blanket; finally, I warmed up a bit.  We went into the ER room at about 4:00 PM and stayed in the ER until the next day at 5:00 PM!

I wanted to go trick or treating, but I am locked in the hospital.  The good news is that I am with the most beautiful witch ever.

I got scared because I looked in the mirror!

Mary headed home at about 10:00 PM, and I stayed in the ER all night.  I watched the Science Channel and Fox News until 6:00 AM, when I was notified that Mary was up and moving.

Halloween in the hospital?  I just went over to see if they could fix the wounds around the dressing!  The staff had me a bit worried!

The hospital was a little confusing today!

Long night!

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Oh Dear, It Is Time To Get The Knives Out!!

Posted on Sunday, October 30, 2022 by Paul

Fact: After pumpkins and candy, apples may be the food most seen around Halloween, whether for bobbing or in a witch’s hand. Though we make the more modern link between apples and witches (Snow White, anyone?), the apple’s connection with this holiday goes much further back. Apples were associated with Pomona, the Roman goddess of abundance, and when the Romans invaded Britain, they brought their beliefs and their apples along with them, which is where apple bobbing came from.

But there’s also a scarier side. When you slice an apple open, the seeds form a pentagram, a symbol associated with witches – so be careful apple bobbing.

You can see the entire event right here but beware, it is NOT for the faint of heart1

Robin and family showed up about noon, and they went to work with the boys setting up everything and Robin assisting Mary in the kitchen.

Eyeball drinks being prepared.

Into the caldron went the ingredients, including the eye of neut and bats wings.

We found dry ice!

We found dry ice at the local Albertsons Market, so we have fog exiting the eyeball punch bowl all afternoon.

Did You Know? Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is commonly used for temporary refrigeration as CO2 does not have a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure and sublimates directly from the solid state to the gas state. It is used primarily as a cooling agent but is also used in fog machines at theatres for dramatic effects. Its advantages include lower temperature than that of water ice and not leaving any residue (other than incidental frost from moisture in the atmosphere). It is useful for preserving frozen foods (such as ice cream) where mechanical cooling is unavailable.

Nick was brave and took the first drink; he was fine after his head did two 360s, and smoke came out of his ears.

The first guinea pig; will Nick survive?

Meanwhile, at the dining room table, stories were told, ghost stories.  I had to leave; it was too scary!  I asked Irene, “Why did the ghost starch his sheet?  He wanted everyone scared stiff.”

A house near me is haunted by a ghost that only moves horizontally. It’s a spirit level.

Irene and Robin exchange stories.

The boys went to town, but since they knew the drill, after almost fifteen years of this tradition,  they were on automatic.  The electric drills and egg beater blades did a terrific job of cleaning out the punkins.

Nick told me that a ghost always plays the Ghoul-keeper in soccer?

The guys set everything up!

The bag ‘o bugs were popular, and the girls tried them.  It was funny to watch.

They are eating dried crickets!

The serious slicing and dicing got underway, and we were also awaiting the pizza delivery.

What do you call a little ghost with a torn sheet?  A hole-y terror.

Carving gets underway!

We ordered four pizza’s from First Class Pizza, and they were terrific.  We had a veggie, a Hawaiian, a pepperoni-mushroom-olives, and a pirate combo (the kitchen sink).  They were quite delicious!  Robin brought a unique dessert, apple “pie.”  It was mouth-watering.

Paul did not do any carving; he was in charge of drinking.  The cup kinda looked like Paul!

I drink from your skull!

The pumpkins came out just fine!

The artwork looks amazing!!

The kids departed for Disneyland at about 5:00 PM, and we got horizontal for a while, I was very tired.

We missed Michele & Franklyn and Theo  (soccer game), Joe and family (COVID), Zack and family (Flu), and the Chartiers (who stayed close to home).  But there is always next year.

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Saturday Morning; I Was Up At 3 AM And Ready To Go!!

Posted on Saturday, October 29, 2022 by Paul

Fact: Jimmy Carter was the first president born in a hospital.

This is what I look like at 3:00 AM; it is frightening!  I could not sleep, so I watched the Science Channel, which was very interesting.  At 4:00 AM, I got up, brushed my hair, and did ten laps around the ward, hoping it would make me want to sleep some more.

I was ready to go as soon as I awoke at 6:00 AM, but unfortunately, everyone else was asleep.  I considered pulling the fire alarm but thought better.  At 6:30 AM, I  did five more laps around the ward naked, and no one even noticed, although I did get stopped by a nurse who asked me to put on a mask; that was embarrassing!

My iPhone did the dance of the seven veils moving across the hard table ever so slowly, just like a reptile on the prowl.  It was the security alarm; someone in the house was awake.  Mary was up at 6:54 AM!

Then my security camera alerted me that someone was in the backyard garden, so I looked at it, and it turned out to be Dr. Mary.    At 9:30 AM, she was watering the little veggies.  I’m sure she’ll be on her way to the hospital after completing the watering.  She was probably concerned about her little worm friends.

The babies get a drink!

Mary showed up just as Dr. Rucker was visiting, and they went out of the room and clarified some things making sure we had the proper order for the liquid analysis; Mary got copies of the recent reports.  Poor Dr. Rucker, he was hit by a buzz-saw.

We began the discharge process around 9:00 AM and finally escaped with our lives at 12:30 PM.  We headed for the Fish Company, and we called Vicky to join us on the way.  We had a super meal starting with Ostyers Rockaller, followed by Rainbow Trout.

So good!

Lunch with Vicky was excellent, and we all had a good time.  Laughing is a great medicine which means the three of us with be well for the next several months.

Lunch was perfect!

Did You Know?  Oysters Rockefeller was created in 1889 at the New Orleans restaurant Antoine’s by Jules Alciatore, son of founder Antoine Alciatore.[3] Jules developed the dish due to an escargot shortage, substituting the locally available oysters.  The recipe remains unchanged, with an estimated three and a half million orders having been served.  The dish was named “oysters Rockefeller” after John D. Rockefeller, the then-wealthiest American, for its extreme richness.[3] It consists of oysters on the half-shell topped with a green sauce and bread crumbs, then baked or broiled.We got some soup for David and stopped by the Reidy’s on our way home.  He loves the Manhattan Clam Chowder from the Fish Company.  We got some bad news, although we do not know any details yet.  David has been feeling poorly for the past three weeks; we thought it was the flu.  David’s recent scan showed some unknown growths, so he is going in for more scans and tests this week.  We visited for a while before coming home.

At home, Robin and her family were putting on their costumes’ last touches.  I wanted to go to the Elks, but alas, I took Mary’s advice and stayed behind.  Two days in the hospital wore me out.

Scout was so happy to see me that he said he did not ever want to be separated again, so that begged the question, “Can I go on vacation with you guys, and can we fly?”

Please leave it to Scout to ask the impossible questions.

Kayla, Nick’s lady, was doing her makeup for the party tonight.  They are going as the stars of Corpse Bride.

The kids look fantastic!

After the makeup, she donned the black/blue wig and the hat!  It was scary.  We found Scout out in the He-She, cowering in the corner.

We are getting ready for the big evening.

Corpse Bride was their theme, so she had to look morbid, which was impossible for Kayla, but she tried.

She was looking sad and hard to do.

They made a great couple.   Nick borrowed one of my ties, and he was ready to go!  It is too bad the Elks members did not know about the movie, or they would have won a prize.

Did You Know?  Corpse Bride premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2005, and was released on September 23, 2005, in the United States and October 13, 2005, in the United Kingdom.  It became a critical and commercial success, grossing $118.1 million worldwide against its $40 million budget, and received praise for its animation, characters, songs, and humor.

Perfect couple.

Robin was Magnificent!  OK, she was Maleficent: Mistress of Evil from the movie. 

Did You Know?  Maleficent travels to a grand old castle to celebrate young Aurora’s upcoming wedding to Prince Phillip.  While there, she meets Aurora’s future mother-in-law — a conniving queen who hatches a devious plot to destroy the land’s fairies.  Hoping to stop her, Maleficent joins forces with a seasoned warrior and a group of outcasts to battle the queen and her mighty army.

Robin was an excellent Maleficent, Mistress of Evil!

A family portrait with Bob being the Traveler from the 2010 SciFi Horror film.  At the Elks, everyone thought he was portraying someone from a car accident; too funny!!

Just us!

Please do not ask where my tail is!!!  I had to keep it in place for the picture.

“I have been forked”!!!  Mary got me for being “bad.”

MARY!  You stop that!

They are on their way to meet up with the gang.  Mary and I stayed behind, and I rested.  We watched Gilmore Girls before laying down to rest.

Sorry, we had to stay home.

We did NOT make the party, but we were well-represented by Irene, who won a prize!  We got a text message with the winning picture.

OMG, she was terrific.  Where did she park her broom?

After the dance, the kids returned to our house, and we got the run-down.  We shared a drink, and they departed for home.  Michele and Franklin also came by afterward.

Kayla met some of the gang this evening.

Michele was Rapunzel; perfect costume!

We crashed at 11:30 PM.

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Friday Morning; Where Am I?

Posted on Friday, October 28, 2022 by Paul

Fact: Total Number of All U.S. Hospitals is 6,093

I had an OK night at the Hospital, sleeping on and off.  The alarm went off on my phone, and I knew Mary was up and about at 6 AM.

I got a great picture from Colleen first; she and her family are ready for Halloween.

The gaggle is ready for Tick or Treating!

At 8 AM, the doctor from the radiology department came in and told me about the procedure they were going to go to.  He said the process would be in the next couple of hours, and they would put a drain in the area where it’s collecting fluid and remove it.

At 10:30 AM, they came to the room, and we were down to radiology when they strapped me to a bed.  I felt like Frankenstein as the ceiling was painted like a stormy sky, and I was waiting for a lightning strike on the wire connected to the bolt in my neck.

After numbing the skin, a small needle will be directed into the fluid using ultrasound, allowing the radiologist to follow the needle’s path and see the liquid in the abdomen.  The fluid will then be removed through this small needle, and the doctor will send a sample of the abdominal fluid to the laboratory.

If the fluid comes back or multiple drainage procedures are needed, the doctor can place a small catheter into the abdomen using ultrasound and live X-ray (fluoroscopy) for guidance.

The procedure took about 45 minutes, and at the end of it, they had collected 1200 mL  (about a quart) of fluid which they were going to analyze and see what it was.  We are hoping there is no urine in the contents!!  It was painless.

Mary said I would get better if I walked well; this was taken on our 1,567th lap around the floor.

I love my doctor!!!!

Mary stayed with me all day, and Robin showed up around 4:00 PM.  We sat and talked for a while and decided we would send Robin to taco surf for dinner.  Robin returned with three bags of goodies.

We had tacos and burritos and salads and beans and rice galore.  It was a wonderful dinner.  Finally, around 7 PM, I told the girls to go home and visit the doggy, and scout would probably be missing us.

After they departed, I watched the news for a while, and by 830 PM, I had fallen asleep.  I finally woke up the following day at around 4 AM and watched the science channel.  I am ready to go home!

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Girls Night Out And The Doctor!

Posted on Thursday, October 27, 2022 by Paul

Fact: The Oxford English Dictionary reports usage of the words beginning in 1580 to describe a meal that was eaten between more substantial meals.

We took the opportunity to do several errands before going over to see the doctor in Los Alamitos. First, we dropped by CVS, then we headed to the Elks for Girls’ Night Out.

The lady is beautiful!

From the Elks, we went to Huntington Beach to pick up my new set of glasses at Mary‘s office. After that, we went to Old Ranch country club and had a little bite to eat and a glass of Vino. Then we went to Long Beach to visit the doctor. On the way, he picked up the results of the CT scan.

I am a lot of trouble!

Mary checked in and carried the current medical history with her.

The doctor looked at the CT scan and told us to head for the emergency room at Los Alamitos hospital as they were going to have to drain some of the liquids that have accumulated around the surgery won’t.

We were smart and stopped at Paul’s Place for a big juicy burger. We hit the ER at 6 PM, and I finally got settled into room 202A at 11:30 PM that evening. Mary stayed with me and headed home at midnight.  I do not know what I would do without her!

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Girls Night Out

Posted on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 by Paul

Fact: The abbreviation “lunch” is taken from the more formal Northern English word “luncheon”, which is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word nuncheon or nunchin meaning “noon drink.” The term has been in common use since 1823.

Scout is such a smarty pants!

We worked around the house this morning doing some repairs to our Halloween hat decorations since the big windstorm yesterday. We left for girls’ night out at about 11:30 AM and met up with the gang at noon. After girl’s night out, we returned home, made arrangements for the CT scan, and took it easy the rest of the day.  Out coordination was between Ryan, who is in Korea, and our local doctor and hospital.  We finally got a time for tomorrow.

We continued binge-watching the Gilmore Girls.

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