The Times, They are A-Changin'

Born in 1940, I had mixed emotions when the music changed in the 60's.  Bob Dylan was an example of one whose music I waffled between loving and hating!  Now as 2022 approaches, I appreciate Dylan as I never did before.  The times certainly are a-changin'!   I think I tolerated the changes in the 1960's better than the changes of today, though.

I have really been feeling rotten for the past several months, and the holiday season hasn't been anything to write home about!  I'll be glad when Jan 2 rolls around and we just get on with it.  Who knows what 2022 has in store for us, but it probably won't be much of an improvement!   I'm glad to still be around though, and I hope I can make it for a few more new years' eves.

Rocky and I are home alone this evening as Jeannie and her family went to visit Steve & his family.  I am not interested in going anywhere at all, except maybe I'll attempt a Costco trip tomorrow (if they take me along).  

Speaking of Rocky, he is curled up next to me on the sofa, and with just a few lights on in the living room, his gorgeous black coat is so shiny and pretty.  He's a beautiful dog!  I probably have been too lenient in his training and now that we are living in the same house with others, I wish I had been more consistent with him.  But I love him as he is, and if anyone doesn't like it they can ask us to leave and we will be out the door!

I think the temporary living arrangements are starting to get to me.  Nothing specific with this situation, but just the fact that it isn't my place nor would I choose it to be my place if I had a choice.   We are using some of my furniture and some that was left here.  I shouldn't complain - the owner is a friend of Jeannie's and a woman I really like, and we are fortunate to have this spacious house to live in.  I do have a room of my own, and while it is much smaller than the bedroom in  my rental, it is private and adequate.  I've lived alone for too many years to be able to deal with others around all the time, and especially when they try to tell me what to do.  But I avoid conflict at all costs because if you open the door to it, it can ruin everything in an instant.  I'm especially careful when family is involved and don't want to rock the boat.   But I'd like to scream once in a while!   Donald is so peaceful and everything is calm when he's around, so that is a plus.  We have been talking about plans for gardening at our new house, and although I don't totally agree with all his ideas, I can accept and deal with them because he is such a sweet and calming person, and he will be the one to carry out all the plans, not me.

In just one more month I will mark one year since the pandemic began, although I don't think anyone had a clue about the severity and length of it.  I would really appreciate being able to see my doctor in person because I know the cancer is active again, but all I get are video visits.  Maybe they are better than nothing, but I'd do just as well off with no visits as far as I'm concerned!  I am so fortunate that my symptoms have no pain whatsoever, so that isn't the issue many cancer patients deal with.  The worst for me, is what it has done to my frame of mind and my patience with others.  I know I'm a real b**ch most of the time, and I don't intend to be. 

I don't mean for my post to be such a downer, and will make a New Year's resolution to write nothing but optimistic posts in the coming year!

Boycott!

Every so often I get disgusted with a particular company and I swear I'm going to boycott them forever.  Because they have everything there is to sell, and it's so easy to order from them online, I always go back to shopping with them.  Now, I really want to be done with them. 

This company told employees in their facility near Mayfield, Ky., that they could be fired if they left their workstations to check on their families when the recent tornado was approaching and touched down in the area.  If they must do that to keep their prices low, then I don't need their cheap merchandise!  I'd rather pay more to a company who values its employees as human beings.  I have decided to write them a letter and send it through the mail, to notify them that I will no longer spend my money buying from them.  What kind of people own and operate a business that treats their employees like robots rather than as human beings?  Should we enrich their dirty coffers by spending our money to buy through them?  I'm finished with Amazon!

I've had an absolutely do-nothing day today.  Rocky and I spent the day stretched out on my bed - me reading and Rocky snoozing!

 

Stormy Weather!

The weather is chilly, stormy, and windy!  Not my favorite weather but it's part of winter in this area of California. I really don't mind it because I don't have to go out in it!  Many of our trees still have their leaves, but the wind is going to shake a lot of them loose! 

Rocky has been napping on my bed most of the morning, rising up to look out the window now and then.

Jeannie and her family set up the Christmas tree last night.  They had gone out to a tree farm in the summer and selected the tree they wanted, then went back last week to get the freshly cut tree.  It is now decorated and looks beautiful, as all Christmas trees look - even a "Charlie Brown Christmas tree" looks good to me!

I'm worried about when Tito comes over and he and Rocky get to wrestling, that they are going to topple the tree or at least knock some ornaments off.  When Jeannie and her family were decorating the tree last night I was very concerned about the dogs, but evidently I was the only one who worried, so I went to bed early!  Everything looked fine this morning, but I still worry.  If there is an accident Rocky will get the blame, for sure.

I'll be glad when we finally move into our house and I can relax.  Donald and Jeannie go out to see it every week, and I used to go with them.  Now, I don't really care to see it untll it's nearly finished!  I think they told me that my kitchen cabinets are up, as well as a few other things done.  I really haven't been feeling well lately, so I'm just trying to live in the "now" and not worry or think about the future.

I've let my hair grow for the past year, and it wasn't exactly short when the year began.  Now my hair is way too long to do anything with, but it's still thick, (especially considering my age!) so I just pull it back into a ponytail to keep it out of my face.  I'd like to get it cut short, but of course, I have to ask someone to make the appointment and take me to my hairdresser.  She is continuing her business out of her house, so I feel comfortable that she is keeping everything sanitized and as safe as possible.  I'm too old for this long hair!  I have a lot of gray, but there is still a lot of reddish brown.  I have the feeling that when I get it cut short, the gray is going to be all that shows!

I'll close with something that makes me happy, and that is my collection of house plants.  I don't have many, but what I do have is an extraordinary snake plant (sansaveria), a beautiful spider plant which I've divided many times and have lots of smaller pots of them, an aloe vera, and a pothos, which is beautiful in its simplicity.  When I move I'm going to divide the snake plant so that I have several of them.  The spider plant is from a plant I originally got from my grandmother, who lived about 10 miles from Mayfield, KY (in the news lately).  I spent wonderful summers visiting my grandparents, and spending time with aunts, uncles, and cousins as well.  Going to Mayfield was a treat!
 

Winter Has Arrived!

We are looking at several days of intense rain (off and on), which translates to a lot of snow in the mountains!   One weather report calls for 80" of snow in the Sierra in the next few days.  That's a lotta snow!  Living most of my life in the East, I've had my fill of snowy winters and now enjoy  rainy (sometimes) winters in California!

Donald and the girls put up the Christmas tree this evening.  They had gone to a Christmas tree farm this past summer and picked out the tree they wanted.  It is beautiful, but it's going to be a disaster and Rocky will take the blame.  He and Tito (my daughter's family dog) love to horse around and there is an accident waiting to happen.  I will be so glad to get into our place where I can bring Rocky in and close the door, or we can sit out on the patio and enjoy everyone's company.   Living so close to my daughter and her family as we are now, is very difficult over the long haul.  I'm already tired of it, as I am sure they are, and since I haven't been feeling well lately it is even a more difficult situation. I'd like to be happy and enjoy what time I have left.

The recent disaster that destroyed the town of Mayfield, KY has hit me hard!  My mom grew up near a little farm town about 10 miles away from Mayfield, and I spent a lot of time there during the summers.  Going into Mayfield now and then was a real treat!

More on F.B.

Thank you Cindy, for trying to help me delete my account on FB.  I followed all the directions scrupulously, but I think FB deliberately makes it so difficult to leave, that probably few people ever do.

I mentioned previously that I didn't log into my account for several years.  When I finally did log in, intending to just close the account, I found it had been "taken over" by a person who had a real thing going, with umpteen followers on my/his account.   I was able to delete everything and everyone from my account fortunately.  But I just can't get rid of the darned program. 

Maybe my daughter can figure it out - she also has a FB account but I don't think she ever uses it.  I think the entire program is totally ridiculous and haven't used it for years.  I know many readers use and like facebook, and that's fine.  But I want to close out a program I haven't used in years, and don't understand why FB makes it so difficult.

I'll end on a happier note (well happiER, if not entirely happy!)  Last night Jeannie took me to Raley's supermarket and I absolutely was in heaven being able to walk the aisles and buy stuff!  In the deli, I bought some sliced ham as well as a loaf of bread to have for lunches.  I am slowly getting my appetite back, and I was anxious to have a sandwich today. When I went to make my sandwich I found half a loaf of bread and absolutely not a scrap of ham left!  Someone sure beat me to it.  I would have bought more if I thought they would like it, but they didn't even leave me a crumb!

Facebook

I was reading some of my really old blog posts, including one from December 2010.   I wrote about people taking over my Facebook account and posting their own entries on it.  I could never get removed from FB, as it requires info from when I originally opened my account, which I obviously don't remember nearly 12 years later!  I quit using it because I thought it was such a scam, but couldn't ever close it.  (Hotel California:  "You can check out any time you like, but you just can't ever leave!")  After a few years I went back to look at it, and it had been taken over by a total stranger.  I quickly deleted him and all his friends and posts, but I still can't close the account.  I do check it out periodically to prevent another takeover.

The old blog posts brought back memories - including when I bought a 5th wheel camper and drove it across the U.S. from Virginia to California.  I wasn't a spring chicken then, but now I can't even imagine an older gal like me having the nerve to do that, including driving that rig over the Los Angeles freeways!  One thing I learned was to get behind and follow an 18-wheeler.  I always remembered that if I was far back enough to see his side mirror, then he could see me in back of him.  A lot of times cars would slip in between us and then I would have to drop back a bit.  To this day I don't even like riding in a car on the freeway.  But as long as I was still driving, I tried to get behind a big rig and stay a safe distance behind.  My experience is that they never exceed the 65mph speed limit, so I could smile when I saw police hiding out to catch speeders!  I was "holier than thou"!

As for Facebook (whatta scam!), I still have it and check it out periodically just to make sure there aren't any surprises!  If someone could tell me how to close it and get rid of my account forever, I would certainly appreciate it.

 

 

 

I'm still here!

We are currently staying in a house that belongs to a friend of Jeannie's.  She wants to rent it out but since it needs many repairs, Donald is going to do some work for her in exchange for rent.  He has already made quite a difference.  That man is simply amazing - he can do just about anything he sets his mind to do!

I haven't been feeling well, and just taking one day at a time.  I think I'm doing a little better than I did last week.

Jeannie & Donald drive out every week to see the progress on the house, and yesterday I went with them.  It is really coming along, and now the house is kept locked since all the plumbing and electrical work is in.  Jeannie got the key so we were able to enter and see everything first-hand.  It's beginning to take on the looks of a house nearly finished compared to just a house in progress.  I also was surprised to see that so many of the homes in the new development are the "Next-Gen" model - large house with separate quarters for in-laws or adult children, etc.  So I won't be the only older person there, although I will certainly be one of the oldest!

My son, Steve, who lives quite near to our new location, was there with his two kids; we walked through my unit and talked about various issues and how I can make best use of my space.  It looks a little smaller to me now than I had noticed before the walls were up, but when I really think about it, it's going to be perfect for my needs.

I'm sitting on the sofa while typing this, and as he likes to do, Rocky slips in behind me so that I have to move closer to the edge.  But he stays comfortable and warm,  wedged between me and the back of the sofa!

Windows and Fences!

The kind of windows you can look through - not the Windows on your computer!  My mother was a fanatic about clean windows, and could let other household jobs slide a bit, but the windows were always gleaming. 

Since we've been here in our temporary housing, I've spent some time each day washing windows, inside and out.  My mom is pushing me, and I can definitely feel it!  So far I have done most of them, and Mama is happy.  You know the saying that I'm very fond of:  "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

I'm gradually settling in and getting my room and belongings in order here.  I am really looking forward to only one more move  - my last.  At least after that someone else will have to move me, lol.  I have come to love this house and will hate to leave it.  It's an older house, probably built in the 1950's, but it has such character and a few quirks.  To tell the truth, I'd love to be able to buy it and live here rather than out in the boonies where we will be moving. 

 I haven't been outside much, so I haven't met the neighbors, but I hope to feel better soon and possibly get out for walks with Rocky.  There are a lot of dogs and therefore, dog walkers, in this area.  I could easily meet people if I was in better health.

The only thing I dislike about this entire property is the pool!  It's empty and has probably been empty for quite a while.  It's fenced, but takes up a good chunk of the entire space, although even at that there is adequate space here for Rocky.  The back yard is fenced, of course, as are all California homes that I've ever seen.

It reminds me of the first business trip I took with a team of about 4 others, all from California.  We visited our office in Omaha, and while driving towards the downtown area, the others were all gawking out the windows, simply amazed that there were no fences blocking the views into back yards.  In the west the back yards have tall wooden fences that maintain privacy but also block any views or interactions with one's neighbors.

One feature of the house that I really love is the bay window in the living room.  It is large and has a huge window sill that is holding many of Arianna's and my houseplants!

Living out of boxes!

Although we have some of our furniture set up here in our temporary home, I still have a lot of items in boxes that I should unpack and put away in an orderly fashion.  Yesterday I thought I was out of clean socks and asked Jeannie to pick up some new ones for me when she went to Costco.  She came back saying that Costco was "all out of ladies socks".  It's a good thing because I later checked an unopened box and found more socks than I would ever need!

This move is showing me a bit of what old age is like!  In the past I have been a master at packing up, either to travel or to move, and I was really good at it!  Not so, any more.  Somewhere along the line I lost the knack of being efficient and capable.  And while I feel bad that I'm no longer good at something I was very good at, to tell the truth I really don't care! 

When I went to bed last night I promised myself that today I would get dressed first thing in the morning, and manage to take a walk and explore the neighborhood before lunch.  It doesn't look like I will make it though - at mid-morning I'm still drinking my coffee and sitting here in pajamas!  I can honestly say that life at a slower pace can be sweeter than always rushing to get things done!

I've also come to the conclusion that I like it here in this location, and sort of dread moving out to a new neighborhood quite a ways from Sacramento.  I always loved vacationing in the countryside, but prefer to live in the city!