December 2018 - Week by Week

December is full of commitments for many of us isn't it? Hopefully yours had some lovely entertainment and time with loved ones too.

Week 1: We tried to go out for dinner Saturday night, but ended up just having drinks as we waited 1 1/2 hours after ordering , but no food arrived at our table!

Monday was a busy day starting with exercise at home, than a "who knows why" vomiting dog who had to see the vet twice (fine now), laundry, a Pet Club board meeting with the new club President too ill to come so I am still in charge (sigh), and a call from our son where I learned the deer tree ornament sent to our 2 year old granddaughter was a big hit (yeah!).

Went to a women's club board meeting to report on progress on a project and got elected to the board which was a big surprise and I'm not sure what it means commitment wise, but I do like these women! The next day enjoyed another interesting discussion about book with the book subgroup of my women's club followed by lunch (shrimp enchilada and salad - yum!)

Week 2: Made 4 dozen cookies for the Pet Club Holiday Dinner dessert potluck. They are White Chip Cranberry Blondies and boy are they sweet! We (the club leadership) managed to pull off a successful party despite ill health on several people's part. Whew.

And then there was my women's club holiday meeting and potluck lunch for 37 people. I made Balsamic Honey Carrots using a recipe from Budget Bytes and they were such a hit that I was asked for the recipe. That has happened before like - never. The trick I think is roasting the carrots instead of steaming or boiling them. Then we had a middle school jazz pop band play for us which brought back lots of memories of sitting through many, many concerts of my musician son. I wore the apron made by my new DIL's mother for each of the women in the wedding party out of extra fabric from the tablecloths. The sunflowers match the club's logo and I was helping with lunch.

We ended the week by having salmon tacos for lunch on the Ventura pier while watching the waves roll in.

Week 3: We are exchanging "stocking type" gifts with our local son and DIL. I packed each of them a gift bag of food, fun and emergency kit items. The dog is "getting" a small Christmas tin filled with poop bags. I'm sure he'll be thrilled LOL.

Hubby's 90 year old aunt called to remind us that she will be going to Idaho for 2 weeks to visit her son and his family. I want to be her when I grow up! Her husband died this year so she took the challenge of traveling by herself having never gone through airport security or taken Uber. She uses GoGoGranny to schedule her ride. What a strong woman. 

And our beloved pier in Ventura was damaged by 15 foot high surf (Photo) and closed until repairs can be done. This historic pier has been damaged by waves or burned many times including having 20 feet of pier ripped off once. It keeps getting repaired although there is no date set for it to reopen yet. Lifeguards also had to use water craft to rescue surfers who couldn't resist trying to ride the waves.

Week 4: A lovely Christmas Eve at our son and DIL's followed by a sick Hubby on Christmas morning so we came home right after a quick opening of gifts and before their brunch party started.  It was fun to meet the Mom of one of their friends from S. America. My son met him when they both lived in Japan for a while. They have such a nice group of friends and throw really fun parties.

And then there was the unexpected. For the first time in 53 years of driving I was on the freeway and my car simply lost all power and with that the ability to drive. I was able to get over into the breakdown lane fortunately but was between a high wall and the end of an on ramp. AAA showed up very quickly and got me and the car off the freeway safely, the car needed a new fuel pump and 7 hours after I left home I was ready to drive back with only a repair expense. I admit I was initially terrified, but now I am only feeling grateful. 

BTW, the tow truck driver said if your car stops in a traffic lane and you can safely remove yourself and get off the freeway that is the best thing to do as your car is definitely in danger of being hit! I stayed with my seat belt fastened so in case I was hit the air bags could help me and I wouldn't be thrown out of or around the car. He confirmed that was the best choice in my situation.

Last 2 Days: Getting ready for a short visit by son, DIL and granddaughter so cleaning and grocery shopping. Spent the early part of the 31st with both sons and their families before bringing the dog and ourselves home for a very quiet New Year's Eve. Hope your year was fabulous!

November wrap up

This was a generally a fun month for us! Granddaughter and Hubby's birthdays a day apart, Thanksgiving with family and generally a cozy California month. It was also a month of further deterioration of my FIL's health (he is 92).

First 3 days: Tough start to the month. Hubby went over to his father's assisted living facility three times to consult with the hospice nurse, assisted living staff and his father after his Dad was found unresponsive twice. His level of care was increased. Hospice is great as is being close enough for DH to help manage care and be there to talk and listen.

On a happier note, our granddaughter loves planes and spots them in the sky before anyone else! Her 2nd birthday party has a female aviator theme and we get to make 150 paper airplanes that will be part of some yet unexplained decor installation. DIL is a non-profit fundraiser and does lots of events and has the best ideas. So on the hunt for red and tan printer paper to fold into planes

Week 1: My father-in-law died Sunday morning at the age of 91 so this week is about arrangements, family support and change. The fires in S. Cal started on Thursday. We evacuated ourselves and dog on Thursday evening to our son and DIL's house in Pasadena so we could be sure to make the funeral on Friday and not have problems due to road closures. The funeral was touching and a celebration of his life. About 10 people couldn't make it because of the fires but the rest of us gathered afterwards at my BIL's house. We went home Saturday to find out the fires had come close to our community but stopped on the other side of a wide dry creek bed. 10 fires trucks were lined up ready to act though. The assisted living facility where my FIL lived was under mandatory evacuation. What a week.

Week 2: It has been all about Pet Club meetings and to do items, finally getting back into FIL's apartment to do some more clearing out work, and then heading to Berkeley for our granddaughter's 2nd birthday party. Nice to turn our minds to happy family gatherings.

Week 3: Way fun to spend time with an almost 2 year old. Singing silly songs, marching around and much more. All the time indoors because the wildfires in N Cal made the air quality awful. The birthday party was a success. Many more paper airplanes were made than were hung but it was really cute! There was even a toy plane cake topper.

Then back home to  get ready to host Thanksgiving dinner. I am extremely thankful that you can buy a cooked turkey, side dishes and pie from Whole Foods and just go pick it up! That way we have salad, scalloped potatoes and an apple crisp coming with guests so all we had to do was clean, make snacks for before dinner and buy wine and beer.

To wrap up this week we finished emptying my FIL's assisted living apartment and may get a partial month refund of his fee to add to his estate. In the end we were able to find people who wanted most of the furniture and decorative items, donated bath/kitchen items and clothing and then had the rest hauled away on Saturday.

Week 4: It only took 19 months after our move, but we now have our CD player, receiver and speakers set up in the living room! Old technology but good quality. The table holding the TV in the den now holds them and a cabinet from my FIL's holds the TV. I have my music again. Now to figure out how to turn on wi-fi on the TV we brought home from FIL's and see if we can stream movies to it.

Hope your November had lots of happy moments.

An InLinkz Link-up

October wrap up

So here in S. California fall is just a little cooler than late summer. I'm determined to get in the fall mindset though. Here is what it looks like from our tiny patio some days - early morning and late afternoon.

I've joined up with Leslie and other bloggers to keep track of the month with a sentence (or more) a day. There's a link up below if you'd like to see what others have done or join in.

Week 1: Not only is it National Pumpkin month but the 1st was National Pumpkin Spice Day. I celebrated with a pumpkin spice latte to get me through a Pet Club board meeting and stocked up on Trader Joe's low cost canned pumpkin for future pumpkin bread.

Started 2 1/2 weeks of cat sitting for a neighbor who is insisting on paying me despite my protests.

Great clouds this week, made the best chicken noodle soup yet, and had a lovely time at my book discussion group.

Week 2: Saw "A Star Is Born" while avoiding our house during a scheduled power outage and it was such a sad ending but Bradley Cooper did such a great acting job and of course Lady Gaga's singing was amazing.

Ended the week with my women's club monthly meeting which was interesting and fun as usual, a local candidates forum, yoga class and then lunch with my son & DIL to see wedding pictures!!!

Week 3: Love this quote: “A party without dessert is just a meeting” ~Julia Child

Tried a new hairdresser and am quite happy with the result. 

It was mid-summer hot again plus very windy.

Did stuff - Yoga class, paid our property taxes, proposed Thanksgiving gathering at our house, helped Hubby pick out the color of his tooth implant (miniscule differences!). 

Offered a small patio table we aren't using to our son with new house. He wants it and we will take up in November.

Week 4: It looks like I can step back and just be Treasurer of the club that was without leadership. We have recruited candidates for the other offices and that makes me happy.

But for another group I have agreed to try to sell a 1932 parlor grand player piano with 30 rolls. It is supposed to be quite valuable. Any ideas? We need contacts in S. California or anywhere if they might know of a buyer.

And I felt very French (ok, very Californian) taking my tote bag to the organic farmer's market this Saturday morning. Even have the poodle to fit in although she stayed home. Lots of goodies including an apple tart to have with my coffee when I got home.

Final 4 Days: Sunday afternoon we went to see a performance of "Into the Woods" at our local small theater and it was great although a much darker story that we expected.

Finally figured out where to get our kitchen knives sharpened: a mobile service that is at the local Joanne Fabric store every other month.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN WITH A TRULY SCARY PUMPKIN!

An InLinkz Link-up

September wrap up

September was all about family and being active!

I've joined up with Leslie and other bloggers to keep track of the month with a sentence (or more) a day. There's a link up below if you'd like to see what others have done or join in.

September
1 - 4
My 69th birthday was on September 1st and I spend that day and the rest of Labor Day weekend with my younger son, DIL and granddaughter at their new house in Berkeley. There was a made to order birthday dinner (chili and strawberry shortcake - much more delicious than it might sound) and a little voice singing Happy Birthday Nanna. Also a visit to a little farm and a little train ride, a trip into San Francisco involving buses and BART followed by a walk along the waterfront and many viewings of "BOATS! WATER!" with much excitement by an almost 2 year old. A visit to the Exploratorium too. Helping with unpacking, weeding,  and general getting the house set up. Reading toddler books, building with legos and making playdough creatures. Wonderful. Then a drive home with another stop at our favorite Pismo Beach cafe (this time for BLAT sandwiches and a large side salad).

A train ride in the park

5 & 6Catch up day of bill paying, laundry, groceries, dog grooming appointment, flu shot, a chat with a neighbor, and there may have been some Chardonnay involved. The next day I pruned the bushes that are our responsibility, returned a plant to Home Depot, took a walk and browsed the internet!

7
Had a lovely time at my Women's Club book discussion group but Hubby is sick so unfortunately he had to reschedule his lunch with an old friend and I was tired so I picked up some ready made food.

8-10
Getting the stuff of life done: washed sheets and towels, mended, filed paperwork, ran errands for Women's Club and Pet Club, emailed my brother details about wedding weekend and visit after, cancelled Monday's massage as am feeling like I am getting sick after DH's 4 day illness (yuck and sigh - I really wanted that massage).

But then DH cooked dinner, I took more Tylenol and felt well enough to watch The Notorious RBG - wow!

11
Sold raffle tickets for a Pet Club fundraiser this morning wearing an outfit that received compliments of "adorable" and "hip" (neither of which I have ever been called since memory began LOL)

Tennies since I had to walk home. The dog is saying those shoes are for dog walking!!!

12
Haircut, more stuff for Pet Club, library, cooked dinner, took a family dog walk afterwards.

13
My women's club started meeting again after summer break so had a chance to get to know more of these lovely women better, eat a delicious lunch and here a live performance of some excerpts from Puccini operas plus all of us September birthday girls got balloons.

14
What a great Pet Club event - a potluck lunch followed by an exotic animal show put on by students in the Moorpark College animal trainer program AND we raised $532 from our raffle!

15 - 17
Errands plus casual dinner out Saturday night. Found out Home Depot can't copy my car key so I will have to go to the dealership, picked up a pair of olive jeans and a top at Macy's, grocery shopped and did some laundry. The dog saw a rabbit sitting still while we were on a walk and didn't know what to make of it until it moved and then she decided it was something to chase lol.

18
Follow up visit to dermatologist and cancerous spot on my nose had another round of freezing and so did another spot.

19 -20
Drove over to my son and DIL-to-be's home to have lunch with them and her parents and younger brother who just arrived for this weekend's wedding. Prepared for dog sitter to stay the weekend.

21 - 23
Wedding weekend! Pub crawl, final venue set up, "I Do BBQ" wedding event, brunch at Santa Anita race track followed by a stables tour and wedding venue clear out. Came home to a coping pretty well dog.

24 - 25
Caught up on household chores and prepared for my brother and sister-in-law to arrive.

26
Took them to the Reagan Library & Museum which is quite interesting no matter what your politics are.

27
Coastal day: Maritime Museum which has lots of ship models and paintings, beach boardwalk and Ventura pier, tacos on the pier and later dinner outside at a wine and beer bistro here in Camarillo.

Korean turtle ship with spikes to keep Japanese warriors from boarding

A ship designed by a king of Sweden that was so top heavy that it sank upon launching

28
Murphy Auto Museum and Heritage Square in Oxnard followed by a great lunch on a patio at a new to us Italian restaurant in Oxnard's Heritage Square.

29 - 30
Catch up on chores and errands.

An InLinkz Link-up

August in a Sentence a Day

Feeling good about how July turned out, but I started August off with a whimper. Thank goodness it got significantly better as the month proceeded!

AUGUST - the almost photo-less edition

1st - Woke up feeling yukky after being up in the middle of the night only to find out Hubby didn't feel great either and then called in sick to swim lesson and read a lot the rest of the day.

2nd - Went to swim lesson to find out I have no muscle or cognitive memory of how to coordinate arms and legs for breaststroke.

3rd - Thank goodness poodle-girl woke up feeling pretty good after having 4 teeth extracted (!) during her dental cleaning and I spent part of the morning with my women's club book discussion group followed by lunch which was great fun.

4th - Had lunch and a good long chat with my older son - just the 2 of us.

5th - Laundry, grocery shopping and dog ear cleaning done - again.

6th - Swimming lesson proved I remember how to do the side and back strokes pretty well.

7th - What a wonderful service the city provides with Dial-a -Ride ($1.50 one way for seniors) which I used to get home from swimming since Hubby had the car to take his Dad to the Dr. - like a private taxi and much less costly than Lyftt although you have to schedule 24 hours in advance.

8th - Cancelled swim lesson due to being very tired, mailed a check to son to become investors in his side business, got a haircut and went out to dinner with friends.

9th - Finished my swim lessons with a much improved ability to swim laps so now I need to get a lot of practice in to consolidate the learning and build endurance.

10th - We took lunch over to friends to check out their new home and to visit.

11th - Cleaned out the linen closet and put an old sheet set and a blanket in the donate pile but probably should donate more!

12th - Enjoyed the strawberry oat muffins made yesterday, baked a batch of soft ginger cookies to freeze for son's wedding dessert potluck (bride's request), did clothing laundry and gave dog a bath while Hubby went to Trader Joe's to buy groceries.

13th - Went lap swimming first thing in the morning, mended the tiny holes that develop in t-shirts right where they hit the belt buckle, turned a cardigan into a top by sewing the front shut so now I have a way to wear an "orphan" pair of shorts, and later wore it to the Pet Club Health Fair .

14th - A walk by the ocean and on the pier, a fish taco lunch on the pier and then strawberry balsamic gelato for dessert at a new place nearer home - perfect!

15th - Lunch with a new friend which ended up lasting 2 hours as we got to know each other better.

16th - Tried on 3 items of clothing that I ordered and none fit although I own other items by the same brand in the same size bought this same season!

17th - Lunch with the President of the Women's Club as I told her about myself so she could write a profile for the newsletter and asked her a lot of questions to get to know her better too.

18th - We planned a movie and dinner date only to find the movie sold out so settled for dinner only at a new to us Mexican restaurant.

19th - Saw "Crazy Rich Asians" this afternoon; what a romp!

20th - A meet up with another new friend for coffee and a nice long get-to-know you chat.

21st - The high today is to be 79 and then the same for 7 more days so back to normal!

22nd - I was in the pool by 7:45 am and there were already 6 other women there doing water walking for exercise and another lap swimmer showed up at 8 am but we all shared nicely although I only managed 15 minutes but that was longer than before!

23rd - Went to a meeting and decided not to be involved further as my tolerance for meetings that accomplish little is less than ever LOL.

24th - Washing day for the 2 of us: laundry, dishes, car, dog.

25th - Cleaned house, hung out, walked - just an ordinary day.

26th - Older son and DIL-to-be brought over a fudgy chocolate cake for an early birthday celebration for me and we fixed a lovely dinner at home while the dogs hung out together.

27th - Nap day.

28th - Took the dog to the vet for her monthly shot and a follow up exam post dental cleaning and teeth extraction.

29th - Pet Club board meeting today and I stayed firm in my resolve to not become the next club President.

30th - Driving north all day to go see son, DIL and granddaughter - yeah.

31st - Day care is closed but the parents still have to work so we go a full day of being grandparents on duty which was a great way to end the month!

An InLinkz Link-up

July in a sentence a day

I've rejoined the group of lovely bloggers (organized by Leslie) who are keeping a diary by writing a sentence a day and posting each month. See what they all were up to by clicking on the links at the end of my post.

JULY IS A WRAP

1st - I had a quiet day at and near home doing laundry, walking the dog and doing all the June month-end financial bookkeeping.

2nd - Kicked off the week right with a one and a half hour yoga class and a Pet Club board meeting.

3rd - Attended a fun Independence Day lunch and show where a quite good trio called The Sweethearts sang songs of the 1940s and 50s.

4th - Cleaned the house thoroughly, washed our clothes, stretched, did some paperwork and made a healthy lunch of poached egg over a spinach salad.

5th - OMG, about 6 months after starting the effort to add DH as co-owner of an online CD I was finally able to do it after they changed their online site and we spent about 2 hours struggling with how to make the changes required online; I followed this success with a one hour massage - happy!

6th - Another OMG as I finally went to a podiatrist and found that the toenail problem I thought was due to a fungus is the result of an injury 4+ years ago and can be fixed but I have been using the wrong treatment all these years!

7th - Finally found the bride and my online style group approved dress for my older son's outdoor "I Do BBQ" wedding where it will be hot or hotter - and it was on sale too.

8th - Tired of being in the house and too hot to hang out outside unless in the pool so I went to the library to hear the AHH! Capella group sing and the AC was out at the library lol.

9th - Sad news this morning as we learned my husband's 91 year old uncle died so we spent part of the afternoon with his aunt and cousin but also made it home in time for me to go to the Pet Club event about raptors.

10th - Had quite a stimulating discussion with my hair stylist about world events, politics and the reason he lowered his prices for short hair cuts for women (to charge the same for women as he does men who have short hair - cool!).

11th - When the highlight of your day is going to the dentist you need to plan better.

12th - We attended an uncle's funeral this afternoon and as our aunt said, "it wasn't sad" but rather uplifting.

13th - I locked myself out of the house without my phone, but security was able to get in through an unlocked window (bonus is that now know are locks are not keyed to the master so need to be changed).

14th - I seem to be getting too good at ordering things that don't fit and then having to return them by driving around as I did this morning.

15th - Met Son and DIL for ice cream as they drove by on the way back from a visit to friends.

16th - Cleaned the house - enough said.

17th - A very fun evening at an outdoor concert right here in Leisure Village with jazz and blues performed by the “Groovin’ Easy Big Band” with friends to chat with and homemade pineapple upside down cake served.

18th - Hosted a volunteer board meeting.

19th - Called my big brother with happy birthday wishes and met with a potential dog sitter for upcoming wedding weekend.

20th - I finally went in my community's pool but kept getting water in my mouth when trying to take a breath - why is that?

21st - A 3 activity day: visit to the modern Port Hueneme lighthouse on a gray day with a good explanation of how a Fresnel lens works and how the old lighthouse was moved across the port on a barge, lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant, and then a 90th birthday celebration for a beloved aunt.

22nd - Latest round of returning online clothing and shoe orders - le sigh.

23rd - Went to sign up for 2 week long private swim lessons starting 7/30 (as my attempt at lap swimming showed me I need a brush up on swim technique) and learned that everyone goes on a wait list until the instructor roster is final and then they call you if you get a space.

24th - It was a tough assignment, but I stuck with it and researched in person the best bakeries in town with justifiable sampling along the way.
Spiced chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, whipped cream, cinnamon dust, and chocolate shavings. Photo from website as mine was eaten before thinking about pictures!

25th - Lunch at a new to me restaurant with a new friend and I would go back again as it was tasty and pleasant.

26th - I volunteered to be the Pet Club rep at the new resident welcome meeting so that was my evening.

27th - We had planned to be driving to Berkeley today for a weekend visit with our son and his family but their house closing was delayed so we have 4 unplanned days to fill.

28th - Saw the latest Mission Impossible movie with my sweetie and then we had dinner at the Thai Peru restaurant and, yes, the owners are Thais from Peru.

29th - It was so satisfying to be able to provide an online friend with lots of recommendations and connections in the part of Atlanta where she is moving.

30th - My first of 8 private swimming lessons was early this morning and I learned a lot to help me swim laps more effectively and I won the picnic basket raffle at my Trader Joes - look at all that and a basket too!

31st - Its a wrap with another swim lesson and the dog's routine monthly shot at the vet.

An InLinkz Link-up

And June was ... better than I remembered offhand!

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about what happened in June is that all of us here were sick including my FIL and dog!

Of course I visited my granddaughter, son & DIL for a weekend (19 month olds are so fun!), read a lot and tried 4 new things plus saw a friend's new home.

I had lunch with a new friend, did a thrift shop tour and lunch with 2 other new ones, started attending a book discussion group associated with the women's club I just joined, and went to an evening program on state legislation in the pipeline directly affecting women put on by the same club. The book discussion group is one where we each talk about what we have read since the last meeting but no assigned reading. We also had lunch at a friend's new house although they haven't moved in yet they wanted my FIL to see it and his health is keeping him from getting out and about at times now. He was able to go and enjoyed himself.

In June I read A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders (a good beach read), Murder in July by Barbara Hambly which was a good historical recreation of 1830 Paris and later 1830's New Orleans but not so great plot wise. I loved Larie King's latest Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes book (Island of the Mad) and decided to reread the entire series in order.

I also read Edison and the Rise of Innovation by Leonard DeGraaf which came from Bill Gates recommended reading list for summer and was interesting but not gripping! Quite different was Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler who talks about how "prosperity gospel" believers approach health and death issues as she deals with her own illness and rejects that approach. It took me back to my Mom's anger and distress over some of the things people said to her when she battled cancer 30 years ago.

There were other books started and not finished, a couple of not worth mentioning cozy mysteries and lots stacked on the table waiting to be read.

I'm back to joining in on Sentence a Day in July but this is my June summary instead.

An InLinkz Link-up

November in a sentence a day - 1st & 65th Birthdays, an Engagement, Thanksgiving ... What's not to love?

Once again joining in with a lovely group of bloggers to journal my days a month at a time. Check out their posts below. Are you ready for December?

One year old already!

1. With my commitment to trying to continue to live as a one car family and to trying new things, I took the free city bus to the library which was a bit time consuming but fine.

2. Another exploration of our new area that included going to the Channel Islands Maritime Museum by the Oxnard marina.

3. Clothes shopping is so time consuming what with all the driving or online searching followed by trying on and finding little to suit you as well as fill wardrobe holes.

4. Looks like I will get my wish of hosting a small family Thanksgiving for 7 or 8 people rather than the massive one for 25 - 30 that was initially envisioned by my Hubby.

5. We walked to the rec center to check out the holiday craft sale and bought nothing, I went to the library and as usual drank too much coffee and ate too many sweets.

6. Received all the documentation needed to act as Pet Club treasurer and will have to plow through it to bring records up to date.

7. Yoga class for 1 1/2 hours left me pretty tired but I did the laundry and read before falling asleep quite early.

8. I'm really liking how my Social Security payment shows up in my bank account each month without my having to go to work to earn it LOL.

9. The shutters we ordered back on Sept. 11th that were supposed to be here in 60 days or less are now scheduled to arrive on 11/30 but that is often the way of home repairs.

10. Checked out the TJMaxx in an adjacent town and will go back to shop there.

11. Beautiful day for a walk so took one to CVS to buy cards for birthdays and engagement celebrations.

12. An overcast day perfect for house cleaning which was rewarded by us picking up Chinese food to take to my FIL at his assisted living facility.

13. This month's muffin making session produced zucchini walnut muffins as part of my effort to use up the too many veggies in the frig before we go out of town.

14. I am finding clothes shopping difficult as I ordered ankle boots, 2 sweaters, 2 long sleeve tops (both in 2 sizes), and a cardigan but ended up only keeping one long sleeve top that aren't quite the right colors and returned the others today.

15. Laundry, car washed, suitcases packed and more so we are ready to head north early in the morning to see that granddaughter!

16. We had good weather most of the way on our drive to Berkeley from Camarillo and were welcomed with big smiles by our baby granddaughter and her parents too before settling in for dinner and overnight there.

17. We pitched in and did a lot of house and yard work to help prepare for the big first birthday party tomorrow, the baby's parents went to work at the symphony including the evening's concert, we went on baby duty including picking her up at day care and then our other son and his sweetie came over to fix us all dinner and help babysit until her other grandma showed up to take over.

18. After a night at an apartment in a Victorian house AirB&B we went back to help finish up setting up the birthday part which was lots of fun and followed by dinner out on us to celebrate the older son and his sweetie's engagement.

Nana loves her granddaughter

Happy Papa & granddaughter

19. This morning was a 65th birthday celebration brunch for Hubby complete with donuts instead of cake and then we all did some clean up and played with the baby before crashing again at her house.

65th birthday donut cake with all his favorites

20. After seeing our granddaughter on her actual first birthday we had another day of driving back to Camarillo so we can start preparing for a family Thanksgiving here.

21. Hubby's actual birthday!

22. Made the cranberry sauce and took the dog to the vet for routine care on a very hot day.

23. Spent the morning and part of the afternoon preparing for Thanksgiving dinner which was a lovely time with 8 of us seated at one table. 

Starting off Thanksgiving with snacks.

24. I crashed and took a 2 1/2 hour afternoon nap.

25. With Christmas wish lists on Amazon and free shipping so much that shopping for the Berkeley family presents was finished in less than an hour.

26. I did laundry, returned some online order items, bought a pretty top, as the new Treasurer I spent some time trying to figure out the balance sheet entries for Pet Club, and then we went out for Indian food as an antidote to too much turkey.

27. Spent the morning working a table to sell tickets to the Pet Club holiday dinner and then part of the afternoon trying to reconcile the books and get on the signature card at the bank.

28. Shopping for baby girl clothes is so much fun and they are sooooo cute!

29. We spent the afternoon helping Hubby's cousin and aunt pack up their kitchen in prep for a move and then took ourselves out for  pizza and beer at our local brewery.

30. Ending the month with a dose of self care by having a massage.

An InLinkz Link-up

October in a sentence amost each day

A lovely group of bloggers is noting their days by writing a sentence a day. Check out what they are up too through the links below. I'm joining in for October with my sentences for most days:

10/1 - We drove to Santa Paula and had a fun time looking at restored small, old planes at the Aviation Museum open house and then had lunch at the airport cafe.

10/2 - The patio redo continues with the removal of the bougainvillea stumps by Hubby.

10/3 - A lovely Fall day so I took several walks around my neighborhood, baked banana nut muffins and made beef stew.

10/6 - Interesting art history class this morning while Hubby stayed home with the handyman service and 3 more things on our home repair and improvement checklist were completed!

10/7 - Went to a 1 1/2 hour Fundamentals of Yoga class with a knowledgeable teacher and may be going back as a paying student.

10/8 - Wow, it is incredibly windy with a tree a few houses up coming down - lots of pine needles are also coming down so there will be no problem gathering enough to mulch the patio beds.

10/9 - Yeah for well behaved grand-dog and dog!

10/11 - It took what felt like forever for Hubby to make up his mind on 3 flower pots for the patio  but he is happy with the outcome.

10/12 - Well what do you know, the new recirculating water pump is not creating "instant" hot water because it was installed backwards!

10/13 - Lunch on the pier and a walk on the boardwalk in Ventura followed by getting 2 more plants for our new patio pots.

10/14 - Plants transplanted to pots and grand-dog getting some cuddles from Hubby on the definitely more spacious feeling patio.

10/15 - Two more pictures hung so we are nearing the end of that task with just a couple to go!

My painting in the small den

My Mom's painting by my desk

10/16 - Handyman rescheduled, bought a new watch, grocery run, washed my dog, read, and went out to dinner which made for a full if rather boring day.

10/18 - I agreed to be Treasurer for the community Pet Club (which has monthly programs and raises money for rescue and wild animal rehab, etc.) and we took dinner to my FIL's assisted living facility again as he really enjoys this along with a visit.

10/19 - Six months ago we arrived at our current home with a rental truck full of belongings and an air bed to sleep on and now we have made it a home.

10/20 - A nice celebration for everyone who volunteered for the Pet Club auction and rather amazing that over $4,000 was raised to split between the local animal shelter and a college wild animal program.

10/22 - Attended a small family gathering for the 1 year memorial and gravestone unveiling for my husband's uncle followed by lunch and catching up.

10/23 - Almost record breaking heat of 106F with winds which felt rather like a convection oven must.

10/24 - Excellent customer service from Spectrum regarding our internet outages which resulted in the replacement of corroded connectors and upgrades of cable splitters.

10/25 - What a difference a good night's sleep makes!

10/26 - Going to a talk about strokes and spine surgery sounds dreadful but the spine surgery segment was really fascinating.

10/27 - Final session of post-Impressionists art history class and a bit of golf on a beautiful S. Cal fall day.

10/29 - Took my son & DIL's dog home to Pasadena and they took us out for a fun lunch and then showed us pictures of their Amsterdam, Crete & Santorini 20th anniversary trip.

10/30 - Pumpkin raisin muffins made so Hubby is happy!

10/31 - With a great yoga studio just around the corner how could I not buy a monthly pass and start classes by attending a 1 1/2 hour Yoga 1 session.

An InLinkz Link-up

September in (Not Quite) a Sentence a Day

Today, I’m excited to join in with a group of fabulous bloggers to share my September in a sentence a day review. My thanks to Leslie who organized the sentence a day link up.

1st - Spent my birthday alone as Hubby out of town but enjoyed the phone calls and messages from family and friends.

2nd - Picked Hubby up at airport and saw the burning hills above Burbank first hand.

3rd - The family all arrived to spend the weekend which had to be the best birthday weekend so far with all my "kids" and granddaughter plus dogs visiting.

4th - We all went out for lunch at a local brew pub and were highly entertained by the granddaughter before going to see her Great Grandpa for a bit!

5th - We all took a long walk to the nearest park just to watch joy on her baby face as she was in the swing for about 3 minutes; then came home, helped them pack the car and said goodbye for now.

6th - Laundry, dishes, remake beds, post items left behind including baby's favorite blanket, credit card fraud called so waiting for a new card, and tired.

7th - Took my new large shopping/beach bag made by my DIL for my birthday with me to make the rounds of the local thrift and consignment stores.

8th - Another very interesting art history class session about Seurat and the post-Impressionists, a way too brief visit with cousins from N.H. as they drove through S. Cal on their way back to the airport, and a good, inexpensive dinner at a new to us tiny hole in the wall local Thai restaurant.

9th - Went to part 2 of the new resident orientation and learned some helpful things about what the HOA allows us to do without approval and with approval.

10th - Phone calls with husband's aunt and my brother followed by a coastal drive to view the ocean.

13th - The best masseuse ever!

14th - The Women's Club in my community put on a fashion show fundraiser with Macy's providing outfits so it was interesting to see what their fashion stylists thought women over 55 in S. Cal would want to wear.

15th - Came home from my OLLI class very happy for having chatted with 3 women I can see as friends and very ready for lunch only to find Hubby in a dither over problems with his computer and did not react well - in fact can say I way overreacted in a not good way - sigh.

16th - Had fun plans but in the end we stayed home with one event cancelled and the other seeming like too much effort after I bathed the dog, walked her and did some house cleaning.

17th - My older son and DIL asked to meet for coffee on their way to do some shopping for items needed for their upcoming trip to Greece and we spent an hour chatting and laughing which is really why we moved back to California to be near family.

19th - Found the most adorable raincoat for my baby granddaughter at the local consignment shop on sale for $3.84 (plus shipping of course LOL).

21st - Fall seems to be here right on schedule so I wore jeans and made veggie soup for dinner along with apple salad and garlic bread.

22nd - I really enjoy having made 2 friendly acquaintances in my art history class and chatting with them each Friday.

23rd - Hubs and I went on a short hike at a nearby city park in the Santa Monica mountains and learned its human history as a Venturano Chumash Indian site and location of a stagecoach stop, saw volcanic outcrops and learned about local plants, great views and generally had fun.

24th - Met a whole lot of bright, energetic, motivated women at the annual kick-off meeting for the local AAUW branch (American Association of University Women) and heard nine articulate, bright, and enthusiastic 8th grade girls talk about their experiences at a week long summer TechTrek program the group sponsored them for so I joined up.

25th - Bought a pair of gray slip on Skechers which I hope will work as casual and around the house shoes in cooler weather.

26th - Car serviced & oil change, grandbaby's jacket mailed, more books from the library and scheduled handyman service so I can check all of those off.

29th - We went to the new Tom Cruise movie and although I thought he did a good job with his role overall I didn't think it was worth seeing.

30th - My first Fall in S. Cal in 20 years and the first one in an (almost) coastal location for 40 years so I am slowly creating a weather and new lifestyle appropriate Fall wardrobe capsule aka Project 333 which led to 3 outfits I liked this week although 2 used the same new top - oh well.

An InLinkz Link-up

August in (Not Quite) a Sentence a Day

Whew, summer went by quickly and now I am 68! So next month I'll be reporting from that new vantage point LOL.

Be sure to go to the bottom of this page to check out all the wonderful bloggers linked in to this Sentence a Day monthly post.

My Best Days in August:

1st: I signed up for an OLLI course starting September 1st and called "After Impressionism" which will be held locally at Studio Channel Islands, an artist collective and gallery and which will give me a chance to meet more people.

4th: I had my second wonderfully therapeutic massage today and scheduled the handyman service to complete their work.

5th: Happy 65th to a dear cousin and a fun party thrown by his daughters and sister.

6th: Same cousin and his daughters over for brunch and had a lovely visit.

7th: Went to the jewelry group's weekly meeting and the people were so friendly and welcoming that I will be going back to learn to make wire wrapped jewelry.

8th: Once again I'm binge reading a murder mystery series and loving it. 

11th: Continuing my "research" of clothing stores in my new hometown and nearby.

12th: Fun lunch seated on the restaurant patio on a hot summer day with old friends who we hadn't seen for 3 years but will be able to see often now that we are back in California.

14th: One of the pleasures of retirement is napping with your dog in the afternoon when you had a lousy nights sleep.

15th: We were so excited to have the installation of a bath vent fan, opening up of a dry walled over window, and repair of many little things to start this morning and then they called to reschedule it all for a week from now and I still missed yoga (sigh). 

17th: Decided to hold off on one home repair that is not essential which saves $425 that can go toward a whole house water treatment system which is essential.

19th: It really is the small things sometimes especially with new to you homes so we finally hung the broom hanger in the garage and then went to see a movie!

 20th:  A few pictures hung in the guest room in preparation for family visits the next 2 weekends!

21st: Bought groceries and then was too tired to fix dinner so Hubby made us beautiful looking and healthy salads.

22nd: We have another window now that the drywall installed by previous owners has been removed.

25th: Had a lot of laughs at the Magic and Cocktails show at a nearby gallery with the great company of our older son and DIL.
26th: Ended up our son and DIL's visit with a trip to the Camarillo Farmer's Market where on impulse we bought giant tamales from a food truck and took them home for lunch - delicious!
29th: Made it to yoga class!
30th: Hubby left on his last business trip before retirement at the end of September.
31st: Getting ready for baby granddaughter to visit as she is now crawling and standing so things put away in preparation.  

An InLinkz Link-up