Feb weeks 2 & 3 - Berkeley trip, dog stuff, massage & voting

The first few days were spent on getting ready to take our trip to visit family in Berkeley. You know how it goes - eat down the frig, do laundry, arrange mail pick up, etc. I squeezed in a lunch with a friend at a new nearby Mexican restaurant and got the dog groomed. Hubby took all of our tax stuff to the accountant as well as attending his weekly OLLI class. Go us.

Had a great visit but all 3 of us are very tired (I'm including the dog here!). Our granddaughter was our Valentine's Day dinner date while her parents got a night out.

Came home to the usual stuff like laundry, grocery shopping and monthly vet appointment for shot for Addison's disease. Found out we owe quite a bit to the IRS which makes me wonder why the accountant couldn't have come up with a better amount for us to pay in estimated taxes! This is the final year we are using him. Too expensive and too careless it seems.

Had my monthly massage appointment which was great and a dermatologist check up with 4 spots on my face being "frozen" off. Glad I enjoyed laying by the pool in my bikini when a teen as this is the outcome.

We finally finished up the leftovers from our party that I had put in the freezer! I do love being able to pull a ready once thawed and heated main dish from the freezer.

We started to look at the 23 page document sent by the earthquake insurer saying our policy had changed and the only change we could see noted in the first 2 pages was that the premium was reduced by over half! We called the agent rather than reading the legalese on the other 20 pages and that was the only change. We were able to improve our coverage and still have over 25% less to pay for a savings of $254. Grateful!

Also I went to Vons to pick up ground turkey on sale for $1.88/pound instead of the usual $4.99 to $5.99/pound. They had a limit of 2 per customer so I thought I would get 2 pounds but it was the 3 pound packages on sale so now we have 6 pounds to divvy up and freeze. Not complaining lol.

Received 2 tops and a cardigan I ordered and am happy with them. That makes 4 clothing/accessory items purchased so far this year out of my maximum goal of 20! The second top is the color of the cardigan but in a crinkle knit for some texture interest. I wanted some new tops and a new cardigan for Spring weather and these fit that criteria. No makeup or accessories as I was on my way to the dermatologist.

Not showing as much restraint on books as I am up to 13 of 40 although mostly secondhand from the Friends of the Library or Kindle books there are a few print books in there. Still piles coming home from the library too. My latest real book purchase is about how to use all of the fruit and vegetable pieces in your cooking. Part of my living lighter efforts.

We had an outing on Friday with a trip to the Ventura pier and boardwalk that included the best tacos for lunch at a small spot on the pier. Then we checked out the Museum of Ventura County which has Chumash Indian artifact exhibits and a special exhibit on the early Cal Modern architecture movement including an interesting video about Charles and Ray Eames. Visited the archaeological museum dedicated to artifacts and info about a 1970's era excavation of some of the original mission site that later was home to Chinese settlers. Also walked around an peered into the only surviving adobe house left in the City of Ventura. As usual am in awe of how a couple and 8 children lived in a small 3 room building. Was a really fun afternoon.

Then Saturday afternoon we went to a Science Cafe talk at the library on "Climate Change: What to Expect and What Can Be Done". I have to join in with Elizabeth Warren and say "I believe in science!"
Hope you have had a great couple of weeks!