My favorite place

As most of you know Barnes & Noble is one of my favorite places to browse, especially with grandchildren.  I had never taken Liam and since his birthday is coming up  real soon, we went birthday present shopping.  He realized very quickly how easy I am when it comes to buying  books, and he made a haul.  Add to that the two books I brought back from Alaska that he can read to his baby sister when she arrives, and he is all set.  Liam is 5, soon to be 6, and reads like a child much older than his years.  I found a really good atlas of the U.S. for kids that has so much good info in it, but couldn't find a World Atlas.   He has enough to keep him busy for a while.

After selecting the books we went into the Cafe; he pointed out some scones on a plate and I got one for him, after which he told me he always eats three.  So back to the counter to get two additional scones.  I don't know what beverage to get a kid at Starbucks, so he ended up with something called a frappucino.  He noticed somewhere on the cup the word "decaffinated".  I thought, Oh lord, don't let me be giving him coffee at his tender age!  A sip or two would be ok but this was a big cup of frozen slushy goodness with a shot of chocolate on top.  He drank every drop of it!

After enjoying our refreshments and driving back to my house, he read me part of one of the new books.  Then he wanted to get the kids dinosaur site on my computer and play some of the games and quizzes.  The kid is really knowlegeable and good at it.  When his dad finally came to get him I think I was ready for a short nap!  What a fun day.

I'm debating going to the gym this evening for my walk, although I have been walking around my neighborhood in the evenings, and always meet a man coming in the other direction who tells me I am good looking!   His eyes are worse than mine, evidently.  He is one of the few people in the Park that even speaks to me.

Dental Visit

I sure am glad to have that over with until my next cleaning & check-up.  He filled one cavity on a front tooth (gratefully they use a white filling in front rather than the metal kind), and you can't even tell it's there.  As for the molars that I was going to have pulled rather than undergo getting crowns, it was decided they would check them in 6 months and as long as nothing worsens, we'll just leave them as they are.

I've never met a dentist who didn't want to reduce or eliminate the space between my front teeth, and I think he sort of moved one of the teeth although I don't know how.  I told him that the space is what makes me look like me, and that if I ever have to get a full upper denture I'm having a space between the front teeth!    I was always self-conscious about it as a child and even a young adult, but one's ideas about your looks changes somewhat as you get older.     Now I appreciate the uniqueness in people and am content with my own quirks.  I'm glad I preceded cosmetic dentistry although I'd have a better smile if they'd had it back in the day.
  
I was up early and ready with some time to kill before Joe came to pick me up, so I looked at the box containing the new Swiffer.  I had planned to ask one of the boys to assemble it for me, but then I thought,  damn, I can do it myself!  I did and then it wasn't long before I had a wet Swiffer pad attached and began cleaning the kitchen floor, which really needed cleaning .  The pad kept slipping off and I ended up using the old mop which I'm glad I didn't throw out!

I also assembled the fluffy venetian blind duster, and what a waste!  When I got home from the dentist I filled a bucket with Pine Sol and water grabbed a rag, and went to work on one of the venetian blinds.  There are two fairly wide sets of mini blinds and I just cleaned one of them but the difference is so striking i'll have to do the other one in a day or two.

Not tomorrow though.  Tomorrow I'm taking Liam to Barnes and Noble for his turn.  We have a coupon for him to get a birthday treat at the Starbucks Cafe, and I'm going to let him browse the books to his heart's content and get what he wants for his birthday.  Meg told me he is very interested in maps and geography now - a man after my own heart!  He will be turning 6 on Saturday.  (I am still pulling out my Alaska map periodically to try to figure out what I want to see on my next trip!)

I slept for a while after the attempt to clean the blinds and feel pretty good.  I have never yet met a dentist who has such great equipment (and is so good at using it) that you cannot feel the novocaine shots.  Usually getting them in the front part of the mouth is excruciating, but not so this time.
 
 I think I'll take it easy for the rest of the day.  Going to the dentist is always a little traumatic, and I'm glad Joe could drive me and pick me up.

Sleepy-Time Gal!

I hope it's just the residual effect of the floor cleaning I did the day before yesterday, but I'm feeling tired and totally devoid of energy.  So much so I just got up from nearly a 2-hour nap.  The only thing I did this morning was to walk a little over a mile and a half!

I called the dentist office this morning to ask about making another appointment, as the only appt. card I came home with is the one for my next cleaning 6 months from now.  After making arrangements for next week I had only hung up for a few minutes when they called me back to let me know I am scheduled for tomorrow morning.   I emailed Joe to see if he could take me and pick me up, and he will.  After the strong effects of either the antibiotics or the valium -  probably the combination - I'm afraid to drive myself.

That ruined the rest of my day as now I can spend it fretting about having to get numbed for whatever he decides to do.  He has me down for an extraction, but I want to get the easier work out of the way and talk to him about the extraction and what it will mean, will I have to get a partial lower, or what.  I'm not crazy about that idea, but I'm not crazy about the cost of a crown and the work that precedes it, especially at my age.  The way I feel today I wouldn't live long enough to enjoy it.

I think I'm just grumpy because yesterday I ate the last of my ice cream sandwiches that I had stashed in the freezer, and it's way too early to drink a beer!   I had planned to spend this afternoon trying to use the leaf blower, but fortunately something always arises that overrules that idea!

Restless Night

I usually don't have a problem falling asleep or staying asleep, but last night wasn't a good one.  I feel sure it was from two days of cleaning on my hands and knees - since my gallbladder was removed it isn't good for me to be facing downward for any length of time.  It even affects gym exercises and yoga poses, so it's no wonder I had a difficult time.  I had to get up and drink some apple cider vinegar in a glass of water, which ultimately got rid of the indigestion but not the sleeplessness.  This morning I didn;t wake up until 7:30 am, so I made up for a little lost sleep.

I am back to the treadmill, and since I drank my protein shake before going to the gym I went immediately to Costco and Target from there.  I think the shakes have something to do with the fact that I'm not getting leg cramps, although I'll probably jinx it by saying so.   I first went to the Photo department at Costco and selected the pictures I wanted to print.  They told me it would be a half hour or so, and I decided to walk the aisles I usually never see - the housewares, luggage, etc.  I can't believe how many different ways they try to sell you storage devices - boxes, bins, plastic, steel, cardboard - you name it..  I think the best thing is to try to get rid of most of what you need to store, and then quit buying stuff that you need storage devices for!  Having a small house helps because I'm sure if you live in 3000 or 4000 sq ft., you'll be sure to fill it with something.

I did allow myself to walk through the women's clothing but decided there was nothing I really needed.  They have a new style of pants for cold weather (cold, as in "California cold", not "Northeastern cold".  I held a pair up to me and though I liked the color, fabric, length, etc., the waistband really irritates me.  It looks as though it sits at the waist in the back of the pants, but slightly dips in front.  Maybe the really young women like their pants slung a little lower, but for my age it only accentuates the belly!  You can't very well pull it up so that it covers a little-too-large belly, but if you wear it below then you risk the pants falling.  Do men have such problems?

I did buy a new Swiffer which includes a fuffy wand for dusting venetian blinds.  You will know that I've finally lost it when I write that I've dusted venetian blinds all morning!

Driving home from Target I realized I needed to get home soon - I made several dumb moves in my driving - nothing dangerous or accident causing, but just stupid mistakes caused by tiredness.  

That healthy cookie recipe turns out to be a gift from heaven!  I had one ripe banana this morning, to which I added a 1/2 cup of steel cut oats (with a few chocolate chips thrown in).  I made them smaller than last time so I still got 15 cookies, and I ate every one.  When you think about it, I ate 1 banana and half a cup of oats - is that a healthy breakfast or what!.  There is nothing to feel guilty about in eating 15 of these cookies for breakfast - not that I'm often plagued with guilt.

Free vs. Free-to-Try - UPDATED!

That's what they said when I went online to download ccleaner.    I heard most of the pitch before I realized it was for Windows, but the version for the Mac is the same.   A perky voice explains that there is a difference between "Free" and  "Free to Try", so it turns out that you can only use it free for 30 days.   Maybe most of you who use it acquired it when it was truly free.    The video that I watched a part of really didn't make me want to download the trial copy because of all the disclaimers and warnings of what it leaves on your system.   Before long I will no doubt be needing a new laptop, or service on my current one, and I will ask if they have a similar product that they will give me.   Otherwise, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, as my computer runs much faster since I started deleting cookies and most of the history every day.   Maybe if I get tired enough of doing that I'll quit spending so much time on it.

I'm hoping the art classes will give me something else to occupy my mind and my time.   To that end I am looking for possible subjects to draw and/or paint, and have selected a number of photos from my Alaska trip.   I had about 10 of them printed and have selected at least that many more for my next trip to Costco.   I'm more likely to look at and enjoy the memories of my trip if I have photos to view, rather than having to look at them on the computer screen.

Well, I stuck to my intention to finish cleaning the floor and got right at it this morning after breakfast.   It is truly a PITA to do it, moving furniture around, trying to keep my knees off the hard floor, and all.   I also notice that when I lean forward for a length of time I get indigestion.   The floors look pretty good, and I did the hallway as well.   I could see that I need to continue with the floors in my bedroom and the "catch-all room" at the end of the hall, but that's for another day.

I have an important item to put into the mail, plus there are a few things I should pick up at the grocery.   I don't remember when I've been out of butter for one thing, and that's how I fry my eggs when I don't have bacon  grease.   But I just don't feel like going anywhere - didn't even get to the gym this morning

I'm so happy to see my hummingbirds back.   I don't know how many visit my feeder, but I notice a larger one and a smaller bird, and there may be more.  

Does anyone have any experience with setting a bird bath under a tree?  Every bird bath I see in this Park hasn't had water in it since I moved here, and I wonder if it's a problem with the feral cats getting them.   If that is the case, then I would try to put it more into an open area where predators can't hide and pounce on the bathing beauties.   My tree is a small flowering tree, and for the life of me I can't remember the name of it.   It has beautiful pink flowers that drop seeds early in the season, and then the small pink petals fall everywhere.   I'd like to cut the damn thing down because no matter how pretty it is, it's the messiest thing I have ever seen.  My next door neighbor has one as well.    So the branches are low lying,  and I suspect they could hide danger until it's too late.


I think I've made up my mind to do my running around after I walk at the gym, and before it starts to warm up for the day.

UPDATE:
I found a "free" program called Clean My Mac, downloaded it and studied it, then ran it.  It ran just so far and then wanted me to buy the program to continue to clean my Mac.  I deleted the program and all references to it, but don't know if it left anything on my computer or not - I'll have to check.  These "free" programs are just scams, in my opinion, as what they really want to do is to sell you a $30 program.

It did show me on a line graph how much space I'm using for what  programs.  The most space I use is for photographs, but I'm no where even near a quarter of my total space used.  I think I'm doing ok, doing what I'm doing, and that is just deleting unwanted history and cookies on a daily basis.

Slow Saturday

As usual I awoke way too early this morning and decided to stay up.  I like to have a leisurely breakfast and enjoy my coffee in the early hours.  

I started to tackle the cleaning of the laminate floors, which I do on my hands and knees.  I have a study foam pad of approx. 12" x 14" that I kneel on, and raise myself up a bit on my hands, and then sort of "scoot" the pad when I need to do a new section of the floor.  I know there has to be an easier way but would probably require buying some type of mop or device that I don't have room to store anyway.  I don't intend to do this very often.

This morning's effort required moving a huge recliner to the other side of the room, and also to move the HEAVY coffee table off the area rug it is on so I could vacuum the rug and pick up the crayon pieces that were under the table.  When everything dried of course I have to move it back!  Now I have a little more than half the room to clean and I just don't know if I want to start it this afternoon.  I took time off for lunch and a nap, and my momentum is completely gone now.

I wanted to look up a medical condition on Google, so after I checked out a couple of sites I went to delete the history of visiting them.  I can't believe how many unwanted records are there - anytime I click on history I see a complete record of everything I've done on the computer, including writing my blog, reading blogs, etc.  Now I check it several times a day and delete eerything but the bare minimum.

Worse than History, is Privacy, specifically cookies.  I had cleared all the unwanted cookies but after checking the medical info I wanted to look at and then going into cookies, I found some for Facebook and quite a few other social media sites, plus some I don't have a clue why they are there.  So now I'm going through them several times a day and deleting the cookies I don't want.  Do you know when you read my blog you leave a cookie on my system, as I am sure I leave cookies on yours.  Those aren't a problem to me although I delete them when I see them, but I'd just like to know WHY are they even there!  I wonder who has access to them besides me.  I know someone else must be able to find them or why would they even be there in the first place, certainly not for my benefit.  And if stuff on my computer isn't there for my benefit, then whose?

It's not quite as hot today, "just" 81 at 2:30 but going up to 91 before it starts the downward descent to the low of 59 tonight.  We should be hanging around the 92 mark for a few days, and I am looking forward to when the normal daytime temperature is in the area of 72!

I'm going to get the mail in and then return to my floor cleaning job.  The sooner I get it over with the better I will feel.

 

Breakfast cookies

Yes, you can have cookies for breakfast, especially when they are sugar free, gluten free and dairy free.   I made a tray of 15 last night and ate 7 of them warm from the oven.  I will give the directions at the end of the blog.

I don't know why, but I was up at 5:45 am and decided to get started with my day.  Back from the gym  by 9am, and with an hour to kill before Costco opened I washed two loads of laundry and got them hung on the line!  I didn't get much at Costco but I did have some 5x7 reprints made of 10 or 11 pictures of my Alaska trip.  Unfortunately I didn't print a couple that I really wanted.  It is fairly inexpensive so I might just go back and get some 4x6's of some others.  I thought I picked out some I thought might make good subjects for painting/drawing classes.   I can include objects from the photos and add my own creations if I want.

I've noticed driving back home from my outings that two mobile homes have been dismantled and moved out.  One seemed to be falling apart but one might have been salvageable.   I think it's odd that they both occurred at the same time, but it could have been illness or death of the occupants, and the condition of them makes it unlikely they are salable.  I think the Park ownership wants to spruce everything up and probably hates older models such as mine.

My haircut looks as good today as it did yesterday, and that is even with sleeping on it overnight.   I might have one of my kids take a photo if anyone shows up this weekend.  The selfie puts me too close to the camera and I think I'd look better at more than arms' length away!

I've been wondering:  whatever happened to "elevator music".  All I hear anymore, in any place, with any age people around, is rock - some old stuff and some new.  I can't stand either one these days.  It wasn't so bad when there was more diversity, but now it's only rock and most of it isn't worth crap.

Here is the recipe for breakfast cookies:
Ingredients: 
2 ripe bananas
1 cup steel cut (or quick oats).
(Note, I found Red Mill steel cut oats to be much cheaper in the baking section rather than in the cereal dept.)

Directions:
In a bowl, mash bananas well.  Mix with oats.  They will be very moist (but not too runny - if so lightly add more oats).
Spoon into cookie size portions.
Bake 350 for 15 min.

Makes 12-16b cookies (I got 15)

Fun additions: 
 Walnuts
Pecans
Unsweetened coconut flakes
Almond butter or hazelnut butter
1 Tbs flaxseed and 1 Tbs Brewer's years (great for pregnant or nursing moms)
Dried fruit
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Dark chocolate chips

I think anyone who reads my blog can probably peg me as a lover of walnuts/chocolate chips.  They made a delicious addition to the cookies.

In retrospect I should have made them first thing in the morning as they are super delicious just out of the oven.  They are great left overnight as well, but I'd probably have eaten all 15 at one go this morning if they were hot.