I was in luck!

I did a lot of mundane things this morning, pay rent, go to the hardware store, stop at Michael's, and then to Target where I usually get cash out of the ATM for my month's needs.  I had my debit card in my hand, but was also stuffing receipts from Michael's into my wallet so I could close it.  All of the sudden I didn't have my debit card.  I walked all the way back to my car and then tried to trace my route to the Target entrance; luckily I glanced to the right in the very spot the card lay on the ground.  I would have been in a world of hurt if I lost that card!  I was really ready to come home and relax.

My granddaughter Autumn's birthday is in the 3rd wk of December, so I shopped at Michael's for her present.  I ended up getting a set of oil crayons and a book with the proper paper to use for the oils.  I'm not sure about them, but I think you draw with them and then can smudge them with your fingers.  I think the result should be quite nice, and I can't wait to see what Autie does with them.  It won't be easy for me to not give them to her the next time I see her!

I'm getting a little motivated to get back to some kind of artwork.  You might remember I did a series of small canvasses of fruits and vegetables.  I have one more to go, and have already drawn an avocado on the canvas - it just needs to be painted in and finished off.  I think it's been a year or more since I've touched anything artistic, and I will be relieved to finish this one.  Then I'll have to decide about what I might do in the future.  I haven't tried water colors yet, or the oil crayons, and they might be something to look into.  I really think I would prefer to stick with the acrylics for now at least. 

I heard this afternoon that an earthquake hit in the Dover, Delaware area and immediately thought of my niece and her husband who live there.  I wrote my brother, and after trying to reach my niece for about 2 hrs they finally got her.  Everything is ok.   

I've always heard that the rocky ground transfers tremors differently than in the west.  Stories abound about the quake years ago that hit the New Madrid fault in Missouri; they said that the ground tremors caused church bells to ring as far away as Boston.  So I don't take reports of quakes in the eastern U.S. lightly (or in the west for that matter).   I've only experienced a slight tremor once in my life and it took me a minute to even figure out what it was.  I was sitting in a rocking chair when I had the sensation the seat was sliding sideways, back and forth.   It wasn't a strong event, but I can at least say I've felt an earthquake from a distance! 

So that's been my day - pretty much like many other  days for me.   But I feel pretty good, and am happy - what more can I ask for?



 

Visitors this morning!

I had a wonderful morning when d-i-l Meg came over with granddaughter Quinn to spend a few hours with me.  Meg brought pastries, and we talked nearly non-stop.  I hope we can do it again soon, and on a more regular basis.

I then went to the grocery and decided to just buy a deli sandwich for my lunch.  I don't do that very often and it was a real treat - pastries for breakfast and made-by-someone-else sandwich for lunch - can't get much better than that!  The Salvation Army was back so all is well with the Christmas season.  This year the bell ringer is a woman, something I've never seen before.  

What a beautiful day it is - cold in my house, as always, but the sun is shining brightly through the doors and windows.  

I've lost track of time today and wondered why the sun was getting so low in the sky.  Take care, and I hope to be back tomorrow.

 

Trip to the DMV

I had an appointment at the DMV this morning to get a new driver's license, and it went very well.  The line of people who don't get appointments stretches out the door, but I didn't have to wait but a couple of minutes.   The photo they took for the license shows how I've aged, but as someone recently said, as long as I'm on top of the grass it's good!

With all the gripes I sometimes have about California, the DMV here is absolutely wonderful.  From what I've heard other people say, it is the same  statewide - Los Angeles, San Diego, etc.  The employees there are always in a good mood, are as helpful and friendly as can be, and seem to really want you to be happy with your visit.   Now if they could only touch up my photo I'd be ecstatic!

I used my recently-cleaned oven today and was shocked to find bits of white baking soda on the floor of the oven.  I guess the heat made the residue come out of the nooks and crannies where they were hiding.  I didn't see any on my baked fish, but since it was only baking soda and water I didn't worry much about it.  Good thing I didn't use a chemical cleaner, which I've been considering since the soda wasn't the best cleaner - I think it will take at least another application or two and I'm not ready to do that right now.   I really don't want to use the chemical cleaner and would prefer to have a few spatters left on the oven if necessary.

I need to go to bed soon as I have an ambitious list of jobs to do around the house tomorrow, plus a visit with my chiropractor in the afternoon.   I  notice that when I relax and start to work the daily crossword puzzle I often get drowsy, but if I can just hold on for a little while, the drowsiness goes away.  It's so much better when I don't need to sleep the day away!  That's about the only benefit I've noticed so far with the thyroid meds and B-12 shot.  I will get my next shot in about 8 more days.

Nothing done today!

I mostly sat around today after not being able to sleep well last night.  I kept waking up with the worst leg and foot cramps I've ever had.   I've been trying to cut back a bit on how much water I drink during the day so I won't have to get up as often during the night.  Also, I hope the salt doesn't wash out of my system.  I'm enjoying the V-8 juice I drink every day as the cardiologist suggested I do because I need a little extra salt.  I don't spare the salt in my cooking so I don't know why I'm low in it.  I think maybe I haven't found that magic spot between too much and too little water, and that might cause the leg cramps.

Ara flew back to Philadelphia last night but will be back in December for Autumn's birthday and Christmas.  It's sad to see her go. 

We've had some heavy rain today so I didn't venture out.  The only time I went through the door was to retrieve my newspaper.   It was packed with Christmas ads and I knew all the stores would be crowded with people looking for bargains.  I'll make a trip to Costco on a weekday morning and should be ok.

Have a good week - next weekend will be here before you know it!

Market day

I haven't been to the farmers' market for two weeks and had only one egg left.  The organic eggs from free range hens are so good I won't even buy them at the grocery store these days.  I also got the biggest bunch of chard they had on hand - it took me a while to clean it and get it ready so that I just have to dip into the bag and pull out how much I want to cook.  (I actually had enough to fill two large plastic storage bags).  I normally don't cook the stems but I cleaned and cut up a bunch of stems as well.   A few grapes, apples, and lemons rounded out my purchases.  There were less than half the normal sellers there today, and no live music from dismal folk singers who try to recreate the 1960's.  I like folk music, but some of that stuff was just plain bad.  I'd rather not have to listen to it while I shop.

Yesterday I wrote about the supposed dangers of eating raw flour, and today there was another article in the paper about it.   And now some study has come to the conclusion that 3-4 cups of coffee a day are good for you.  I've known that for years!  But just wait for a while and the opposite will suddenly appear in the news - don't drink coffee, it's bad for you!  I say use your own judgment because a study can "prove" anything that it sets out to prove (or to disprove).   Be careful of eating raw flour, though!

I don't recall Sacramento having this many weeks (actually months) of such cool weather.  It's cool for Sacramento, at least, with a high reaching about 67 today.

I have often mentioned that I have no trouble sleeping at night, but last night I tossed and turned in the middle of the night and finally got up at around 3am.   I stayed up for about an hour and then went back to sleep.  I wonder how this will affect my afternoon and evening. 

I hope you are enjoying the weekend, and that at least some of you shoppers are patronizing your local merchants.

My chicks are safely home!

They arrived safe and sound and happy yesterday morning.  We all gathered at Jeannie's house, except for Sarah who stayed home to sleep after being awake for 41 hours straight!  Thanksgiving dinner was a feast, especially to me who never cooks anything that takes time or effort to prepare.

The kids enjoyed their week at St. Lucia so much that they booked for next year before leaving.  Donald took a lot of photos which he showed on their huge TV screen.  I think they are all taking the kids next year, and the following year want to go to Jamaica!  They stayed at a Sandals resort where you prepay a set amount and then don't have to pay for anything during your stay - no tips even!  You can eat any time your want, and drink anytime and anything you want.  I would have been inebriated  the entire time, although I would have probably fallen asleep after the 2nd drink!  It looked like fun for  younger folks - street parties every night and a lot of activities.    I miss a lot of things about getting old, but partying isn't one of them - and I loved to party when I was young and single!

The newspaper had a couple of interesting items this morning - "Many say Black Friday has lost its thrill as day of big bargains".  I could have predicted it would be run into the ground after a few years.  But what are people doing in its place?  Shopping online, what else!  Does anyone else remember the old days (before cell phones) when you went Christmas shopping, enjoying the ever increasing number of parcels to carry from store to store?  The Christmas music playing from the speakers in every store?  The friendliness of folks to absolute strangers, and a "Merry Christmas" to everyone you met?  Ah, but shopping online is going to be so much easier and you don't have to leave your house!  That was always one of the good things about it - leaving the house and getting the Christmas spirit!    I lost the spirit of Christmas a long time ago for several reasons, but the sheer over-commercialization of the holiday is what finally did it in for me.

Another article warned that one should never eat raw cookie dough - it seems there can be devastating effects from consuming raw flour???  Flour, of all things?  I remember being warned about raw eggs, but that never stopped me from eating raw cookie dough - especially chocolate chip dough!  I used to make big batches of chocolate chip cookie dough, bake a couple of trays which I let the kids eat as soon as they came out of the oven, and saved the remaining dough in the fridge in a bowl covered with aluminum foil.  Every single one of the kids and I would sneak to the fridge periodically, lift the foil and spoon out a big chunk of dough.  I would always tell my kids sternly that I didn't want them to get into the dough, but we all did it.  I recall once being very careful to be quiet, but the damn crinkle of the aluminum foil must have given me away, as I heard my oldest quietly tell the other kids "She's into the cookie dough"!  None of us ever died or even got sick from consuming raw flour I'm glad to report.

Thinking about the holiday spirit, I made a quick trip to the grocery this morning and realized there was no bell-ringing from the Salvation Army volunteer.  I thought they always began the day after Thanksgiving.  They used to position themselves inside the store, near the exit, but sometime during last season they were relegated to being just outside the store.  I hope no one would complain about them being inside the store!  They certainly are not pushy, seem grateful for whatever you put into their  offering container, and is one organization that gives what they collect to the needy.

I think I've rambled on for more than I probably should.  Happy post-Thanksgiving weekend to you all.

Life at Warp Speed!

I just can't believe how the days and months are passing by so fast.  Tomorrow will be another Thanksgiving Day, and we will be ringing in another year soon.

My kids arrived back in the U.S. early this morning and will be in Sacramento tomorrow morning.  I will be relieved when they step off that plane.  For having been such a world traveler in my lifetime, I hate to see my kids leave the country, or go anywhere by plane for that matter.  Times have certainly changed.

The western sky is so beautiful right now - that last few minutes before the lights go out in the west are lovely.  So many colors and they make a perfect backdrop for the palm trees.

I did a bit of shopping at Target this morning, but my feelings about that store are deteriorating rapidly.  I can't say what it is, but I can no longer find merchandise I want, and I seem to waste a lot of time.  The employees at the cash register are very friendly, which makes the trip end well, and as the old saying goes, "All's well that ends well".

The woman in line ahead of me must have bought some kind of alcohol because they had to verify her birth date, which was in 1974!  I laughed and said they never ask me any more, even in jest.  When I was checked out with a 6 pack of Sam Adams in my purchases, the cashier smiled at me and said he put "1996" .

Have a good day tomorrow!