Final Friday of 2005

Errands. Apples & Oranges. Neighbors seem a little subdued in a sad way. I sometimes think we'd all be better off someplace else. Oh well--next year will no doubt be better.

Then watched a few Gene Kelly movies. He's such an athletic dancer, it's exhausting to watch ! An American in Paris, On the Town & part of another--forgot which one. I'll edit this if I think of it.

The week ahead is supposed to be full of rain storms. I'm really glad I got flood insurance. We may actually need it--though I hope not. I've got too much stuff near the floor.

Glasses are on the Way

In spite of all difficulties, I finally found and ordered glasses today. They may not arrive for 2 weeks, but the decision has finally been made. They were found locally in Marina at an optometrist's office. They may have cost a little more, but I'm glad the "hunt" has ended.

Break in the Rain

I'll finish errands tomorrow. Today I went to Costco for videotapes, &-7up for Mel. Coca-Cola was on sale. Finally found the ground beef and never found the cheap hot dogs--so I got the expensive ones for Jody. Matt was thrilled with the Lemons. Splurged on dates at approx $3.50/lb. They are better for us than chocolate candy.

I also looked at eyeglasses for the third time--Walmart, Costco, & Sears. One pair at Walmart seemed right. It seems ridiculous to have so much trouble finding glasses.

After I got back, Mel got into the mood to look for her old glasses. She found & gave me the glasses. A little old-fashioned maybe, but her motives were right.

Hanukkah (12/26/2005)

I'm not Jewish, at least in this lifetime, but Hanukkah sounds so much better than "the day after" Christmas... And it's okay to light a candle.

I didn't go out because I had no reason & so many places were closed anyway. Bad traffic day. Etc, etc.

Matt did another Juice Extractor Event. Next time it may be almost normal. Practice makes perfect. The result still doesn't look great in the final result, but it tastes like what it is (carrots, celery, apples, oranges) and still seems to work pretty well as a laxative. ;-)

And emails from Emily's Mike and Jim's Kelley. Appreciated.

Christmas 2005

Matt & I had a low-key, good Christmas. Spiral-sliced ham, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans shared with Mel.

It did help to cook dinner on Christmas eve. Then my brother Jim called about 4pm [on the 24th].

Then calls from Emily (Christmas w/Mike) & Courtney (Chriistmas w/Ted's family) and to my parents [on the 25th].

My Avatar ... via Yahoo!

Today, I tried creating my "Avatar". I look like I'm about 25, but, why not? Ha.

Need New Glasses ?

The eye exam was easy. But choosing the eyeglasses I'll be wearing for the the next year or two was not so easy. Why? Because the glasses used as samples have clear glass. Not magnifiers. So, if a person's eyesight is no good, it is impossible to see how they look on your own face. Sheesh!

So far, I haven't chosen any glasses.

Juice Extractor Day

It started with Jack Lavelle. He was one of Matt's bosses. He and his wife Evelyn founded & operated Sacramento Ambulance Company in Sacramento, California. Jack made his own vegetable juice on a regular basis.

Then Dareld & Bobbie were given an Oster brand juicer. That was about 3 weeks ago. Dareld & Matt tried it out, left a bit of a mess for Bobbie, but enjoyed the juice.

So today we went juicer shopping. I'd been to Walmart, Target, & Mervyn's and looked around the internet. We checked Sears, Penney's, and ended up buying the Oster at Mervyn's.

Then to Albertson's in Salinas. Something to feed the new member of the family. Carrots, oranges, celery, & gala apples. We got 2 grapefruits but haven't used them yet. The juice is pretty good, but the carrots & celery still taste like carrots & celery. However, we now have a use for the rhubarb in front of our house.

The Amerigas Man

Mark the Amerigas man delivered our propane today. But it wasn't just any day. He spent several hours at DMV with his brand new International truck before coming to fill our tank. Very pretty. Cost about $80,000.

I failed to pay attention to the little psychic voice that said "Take a Photo!". Well, heck, I didn't know then that it was a new truck. It just looked very clean. So much for logical thinking.

Mark used to live in Cabin 6 (next to my house), but that was before I lived here. It does make him part of the neighborhood history. When he lived there, it still had the fireplace and 2 bedrooms (now made into one).

His kids lived here part of the time too. His (very pretty) daughter is 18 now & just got her driver's license last week. His son is 14. Mark has 3 older and 3 younger siblings. He's probably about 40 yrs old.

December Dawn ... Salinas Valley, CA

Colden red dawn smiles.
On December's resting field.
Steinbeck Country scene.