January 1
Covid has been on the rise, again, and our area has been hit pretty hard. We are still having to wear masks and sanitize, but we are not as concerned as we were because it seems that vaccinated and boosted people are not having serious cases.
We usually stay home for New Year's Eve, but Patty and Bob had a small party with Tina, Laurie and Dave, so we had a nice time visiting with all of them. They bought Pizza Hut pizza, which was very good, and there were lots of snack foods to munch on, as well as candy and cookies. We finally used our ricotta dip and shortbread cookies, that had been living in the freezer for a couple of months. We came home at 10 and stayed up to watch some TV until a little after 11. We heard some of the fireworks at midnight.
Yesterday, we booked two new doggie clients for January 5 to 12. They are shelties and one of them is a bit of a barker, but they are nice dogs and they fit through the doggie door. We have Sam and Squeege and Fox coming in the next few weeks. Fox will be here for most of February.
I am so apprehensive about being an Associate Team Leader. I don't feel that I am at all ready for what the job entails. We will see starting on January 4.
This is the only photo I took of the party.
I have started the Arkansas puzzle that Bryanna gave us. It is too big for our puzzle board, so we have to keep in on the dining room table, and it is too cold out there to work on it right now I got the top boarder done, by working on two TV trays and transferring the finished part to the table.
January 10
My office had to be deep cleaned last Thursday, because Candace came to work with a "cold" which turned out to be Covid. Very irresponsible of her. I went to Disc to work for the day. Friday was back to normal, but we are all having to wear masks again. /
Carmen, who I like a lot, was wearing anchor earrings on Wednesday morning, and I admired them, mentioning that they would be great for a cruise. On Friday she gave me a wrapped gift box with a pair of anchor earrings that she had made. Such a sweet thing to do. I really like them.
Cndace is a TP and she is making my days very unpleasant. I know I have made mistakes, and I have learned from them, but when a mistake pops up in an appointment, she immediately points it out to me, in a very assertive way, even when I wasn't the one who made the mistake. The system has so many glitches that I am constantly trying to work around them to get thigs done. Kathi told me that she has had problems with ATLs in the past, and she is watching for any reason to blame me for problems. One day, I loaded the printer paper and it jammed when she printed a return. She was very quick and vocal about pointing out that "someone put in too much paper." She said it several times, mentioning that it made for more work for her.
We have two dogs at present. Zoey and Emmitt are Shelties and they have been here for a week. They will go home on the 12th and come back for two weeks starting January 15. They are very quiet most of the time, being very content to just be near us.
We got our new rug for the living room. I like it, but it is not lying flat. We hope gravity will do its' job.
Kathy and Bailey drove to Florida last week, to take Bailey's dog to Germaine. The dog needs to be with someone because, since his leg broke, he has to be fairly quiet. It looks like they had a fun trip. They should be home today or tomorrow. Bryanna came over to visit us last Monday - always a pleasure to be able to visit with her. She talked a lot about school and her future plans.
Tony and Anais took us out for dinner last Thursday, to Louis Basque Corner. The food was good, but there weren't many things on the menu that we wanted to eat. I had steak and Bill had salmon. Anais had oxtails and Tony had steak.
January 16
The whole local family came over for dinner for Kathy's birthday on Wednesday. I took the day off, because I had a headache. (wink, wink) It was a good evening. We love being able to get all of us together. Jayce was here, too, It looks like he may be a permanent addition. He is very nice and very quiet, but he did join in the conversation. Maybe he is getting more used to us.
Last night, we went to Susie's for her birthday dinner. Again, we had a good time. Nick and Pierce were there, but not Landon. Nick cooked pork butts for pulled pork. Charlie and Chris brought salad with all the fixin's and homemade cake and ice cream. We made rolls, which came out larger than we planned, but they worked out perfectly for pulled pork sandwiches.
We have Abby visiting with us, today, and we just got a request for a Husky to come over to play for the afternoon. This should be a fun afternoon.
Candace continues to make my days miserable. She has to blame me for anything that goes wrong in Appointment Manager. I have had to make appointments for several former clients, as new clients, because the software doesn't find them in the system. That is what we are supposed to do. Candace makes a big deal about it any time one of her clients is shown as new.
January 23
I made it through another week at work. I don't hate it, but there are some aspects of it that I do hate. The Tactical Tuesday reports are so hard to figure out. And, I have to go to the team meeting every Wednesday as well as other meetings that are announced at the last minute. We have a CSP, now, so I am giving her confirmation calls to make, folders to put together, and campaign calls. That should make my load lighter.
We have Fox with us for the next two weeks. Her mom, Jesika, brought her list of dates with her for the whole year. She will be with us for 118 days for $5,900.00. That one dog will more than pay for our cruise to Spain.
Julianne and Craig Harrison brought their dog, Rocky, over to visit, and to make sure he and Fox will get along, We are going to take care of Rocky in July when they go to Alaska, and they will both be here at the same time for a few days. They didn't play, but they didn't show any animosity, so we're sure it will work out fine.
We have been working on the puzzle Anais gave us to put together. It is really hard.
February 12
Today, we took a ride with Tony and Anais to Washoe Lake to look for horses, but we only saw five or six, and they were in an area where we couldn't stop. We had a nice time, anyway, just being out with them.
I sent Nancy an email early this week, saying that I need to resign, because I am very overwhelmed by the work load. Compounded by the phones that don't work, and Candace being such a bitch, I just didn't see any other way to handle it. She persuaded me to stay, telling me that the two weeks in February are the worst and it will start to taper off soon. We are also going to be getting a CSP, so that will help a lot. Kathy gave me a card that said they all appreciate me, and inside was a gift card for several restaurants, including Cracker Barrel.
The phones will finally be put in this weekend, we think. Then, Candace got sick, and we needed someone there to close with Angie on Thursday, so I stayed, meaning I worked 13 hours. Nancy came in a half hour before closing and helped with it, and she told me she would open on Friday, so I could go in late. I enjoyed staying in bed until 7 and I got to work a few minutes after 8. Bill hurt his back vacuuming so we went to the hot tub after work yesterday. The hot water really felt good, but it didn't help his back.
I've been doing Keto for almost two weeks, and I'm not missing the foods I can't eat, very much. I will always miss sour dough toast for breakfast, though. Bill has been making some great meals, including zucchini pizza and fried zucchini so I don't feel deprived. We have buttered popcorn for dessert pretty much every night. I have lost almost 10 pounds. The popcorn may be slowing thing down. I found out that there are more carbs in popcorn than I thought. We're going to have to cut that down to once a week.
February 20
One night last week, Gloria, the CSP called me at home after 7 pm to say that there was a client there who was asking for their documents. I told her that, if they had come in when I was there, I would have scanned the docs as usual, and given them back. Candace was in the background, loudly repeating, "Well, they don't have them." I repeated what I had already said, and then told Gloria that I would see her tomorrow, and I hung up. The next morning, before Candace got there, I told Kathi about the incident. She asked if I remembered the client's name. I told her, and she said that she was the one who had scanned the docs and that she had given them back to the client. So, again, Candace accused me of doing something wrong, when it wasn't even me who had worked with the client. I don't know if Kathi every said anything to Candace about it. I didn't get a chance to tell Nancy the story, but she is aware that there is a lot of tension and drama between us.
I have been so focused on work that I haven't said much about fun stuff. We went out with Tony and Anais last Saturday to look for horses. We went to Washoe Lake and walked to where there are usually lots of them, but we didn't see any. It was still a great way to spend a few hours. On the way home, we drove up Virginia Street and West on 5th, to see some of the changes that have taken place. I didn't take any pictures, but we saw several new art installations in the Neon section, and we drove by the spot where they are going to build Cracker Barrell.
Last Thursday, the office was closed from 10 am to 2 pm for the new phones to be installed. Nancy took us to Denny's for lunch, partly to celebrate our office being number one in virtual for the last four weeks. It was nice getting together with the TPs and Nancy for an informal gathering. The phones couldn't be installed, because, again, the wrong part was sent. So, now we are using a burner phone. What fun.
We did something a few weeks ago, that has now been finalized, if Covid cooperates. We booked a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, Spain with Craig and Jackie. It will leave March 6, 2023, so we have plenty of time to cancel if we need to. We plan to spend a couple of days in Florida before, and a week after the cruise in Spain, so the trip will be almost a month long. We have a balcony room with tips paid, and unlimited drinking, and insurance.
March 6
I got my largest paycheck, ever, last week, over $1500. take home, for two weeks. That was for 120+ hours so there were 40 hours of overtime. There are only six weeks left in this tax season, and then this job will be over. I'm glad I had it, because it brought in a lot of money, but I will not miss it, at all. I finally have a CSP, which has made my job a lot easier. I can concentrate on the things I have to do when she is there, and not have to answer the phones and greet clients coming in. Candace is still a thorn in my side. I dread going to work every day. We finally got our phones installed, but the system in no different. It still hangs up on people, so we just have to deal with the same problems.
Jeanene is throwing Gary a surprise 70th birthday party at Engine 8 Urban Winery on March 23. That should be a fun time, even though it's during the week. Maybe I'll call in the next morning, with a headache.
Pam and Ed, who used to be in our game group, have asked us to take care of their dog, Charlie, for a week in May. She is a nice dog, a standard poodle, so she won't be difficult to take care of.
We had a little bit of snow last week, and the weather is warming up, again, so the next few days will be nice. Bill has continued to make delicious, low carb, meals for me. His latest is a chicken cutlet, made with almond flour and just a little bit of bread crumbs. It is delicious. He tried it on a port chop, which was also very good. He is going to try it with the frozen haddock we bought several days ago. We didn't enjoy that, but it was because of the way I cooked it, in the air fryer. I hope the cutlet method will be good. I bought Bill a book that we saw on the Today Show, Food IQ. He is getting some good tips and ideas for recipes from it. The cutlet recipe was one of them.
March 20
Nancy took me into the conference room on March 10 and asked me if I would like to take over the front desk at the Disc office, at the same rate of pay, and the same hours. I was stunned, and very happy. I hugged her and said that I had been hoping she would fire me so I could get away from the stress. She said that I was too valuable to lose. The move was going to depend on Hanna, the CSP at Disc. If she wasn't willing to move, it couldn't happen. Nancy texted me that evening, "It's done!" I started at Disc last Monday. I thought the office wouldn't be as busy but I was so wrong. It is a zoo, with the phone and clients coming and going non-stop. We have a lot of walk-ins and drop-offs so I keep busy all day. Their WIPs are terrible, and the appointments weren't being confirmed past two days, so I got started on trying to catch up. I am busy, but it makes the day go by quickly. Debby is still a micro manager of what I do, so I had to let her know that I work for Anne, and I am following the procedures that she wants me to follow.
We had a meeting with the CSPs and ATLs from Nancy's POD at Disc on Tuesday, and Anne mentioned the fact that we don't keep any paper in the offices any longer. I said, I wish that were true. She asked me what I meant, and I said that we have as many paper files in the office as we did last year. She wanted to know where they were, and when I told her they are in the two filing cabinets under the front desk, she and Nancy left for about 10 minutes. When they came back, Anne said that she had spoken to the TPs who were there, at the time, and told them that they have to clean that all up immediately. They have been working on getting their clients in to sign and pay, which is helping me, because I am working on the same thing. We have files from early January waiting for payment.
Covid continues to rear its ugly head all over the world, but it seems to be more contained. We are not required to wear masks, although we still wear them in crowded places, like Walmart and Costco. We haven't been so obsessed with sanitizing everything for a long time. We are, pretty much, back to normal. We are still planning on the cruise to Spain, and feeling like it might actually happen. We have enough money saved to pay fot the whole trip.
Bryanna is home for Spring break. We haven't seen her, but Tony is having dinner for all of us at his house on Thursday, so we will be able to see her then.
Spring has come to us. The bulbs are up and starting to bloom. The trees are growing leaves and there are some blossoms on some of the trees. Now we have to hope we don't get a hard frost that will kill all the baby fruit.
Our dog sitting business has grown so much, that I have made out account on Rover inactive. We are going to have dogs for all of April and most of May. It has proven to be a great source of income for us. Bill saves the cash to make donations of $1000 to $1,500, to our bank account, every couple of weeks.
Bill gave me a big scare last Monday. I came home from work, right at 5 and found him almost passed out on the couch. He was trembling and muttering. My first thought was that he was having a stroke, but I talked to him for a few minutes, and got him to sit up. He didn't seem to be in any physical distress, but he kept saying that he didn't want Gail to die, and he didn't want Bob to die. After almost an hour, I called Tony and told him I needed him because something was wrong, I got Bill to the bedroom to lie on the bed. He kept grabbing the pillows, and pounding his fist and leg on the bed, going between crying and yelling about Gail and Bob. . Tony came right over. He got Bill back out of bed, and onto the couch, and slowly, got him to talk and act normal. He stayed until after 8, and Bill was acting fine. I was afraid to leave him alone the next day, so I took the day off from work, and, after his doctor's appointment, we drove up to Lake Tahoe and had a good time. It was so bizarre. I don't remember him acting like that, even when he was going through all his treatments and feeling so sick and scared.
The party for Gary was very nice. They served cheese, crackers and fruit for appetizers and the main course was BBQ brisket, beans, cornbread and salad from Carolina BBQ. Delicious. Gary seemed genuinely surprised. Dennis and Kaelynn were there. We talked with Sandy and Karen, Gary's sister, who we met a few months ago at an ABBA concert. Celebrities included Sam Shad and a couple of music types. Garrett gave a moving roast and Cassidy was the organizer. We enjoyed spending the evening with Tony and Anais.
Thursday, we went to Tony and Anais's house for another delicious dinner. Tri-tip, macaroni salad from Kathy, macaroni and cheese from Anais, vegies and garlic bread. Bill made brownies to take over, and Anais made a poundcake from scratch, that was the best I have ever had. With them living so far away for so long, we hadn't experienced her cooking skills very often. We always love hanging out with the kids and grands. Bryanna was home for spring break, and Jayce was there. He and Bailey are so cute together, acting like siblings who really love being together.
Today is Saturday, and there are only three more weeks of work. Koda's mom brought him over to stay with us for a couple of days, on Thursday evening. He is such a good dog. I liked that Bill had him here all day, yesterday, while I was at work.
April 19
My time at work is almost finished. Tomorrow is the last day. They plan to keep the Disc office open until the end of April, but I decided I don't want to work any longer. The people help a lot, but they don't make up for the stress of the rude and entitled people.
I had my license renewed this morning. I wish I had remembered about the Real ID, so I could have taken my birth certificate and whatever other documents they need. I want to do that before the cruise.
We have started looking at flights to Ft. Lauderdale and from Spain to Seattle. I also booked a hotel room for March 7 to 9 before the cruise. It is fully cancelable, so if we find something better, we can change to that.
On my birthday, I want to go to the new restaurant on Damonte Ranch Road, called Huckleberries. We asked Tony and Anais to go with us. I like the name and I hope the food is delicious. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Texas Roadhouse for Bob's birthday, with Bob and Patty and Laurie and Dave. It was a fun evening, but I had to work the next morning, so I didn't like staying out late and having to get up early.
We got a new dog, yesterday, Daisy. She is 15, so she won't be very active. Last night was rough, because she woke up to go outside at about 1:30, and I had a hard time getting her to go back in the bedroom where her bed is. After I got her there, she wouldn't settle down. She cried and we think she was missing her parents. When she got here, yesterday, she peed and threw up in the house, so Bill gave her one of her anxiety pills. That made her super calm, so he gave her one during the night, and then he spent the rest of the night on the couch. She slept, but he didn't. The next few nights were just as bad!
Anais parents will be here with them for a few days, and we're going to their house for dinner on Sunday night. It has been several years since we've seen them.
April 28
Today marks one week since I've been unemployed. I am loving being able to get up in the morning, sit with Bill, play our games and watch the morning shows. We have fallen into a bit of a routine since the weather has gotten more spring-like. We get dressed around 9 and start whatever tasks we have set for ourselves. I've gotten the seed down for the lawn, trimmed most of the things that need to be trimmed, and had Bill do a few things that i can't do, such as trimming the peach tree, and staking some of the plants. There is a lot of work, so we will just take it slowly. I don't want to be a slave to the yard.
Anais's parents have been here since last Saturday and they are going to leave tomorrow. We got to visit with them at Tony's house at dinner on Sunday, with Kathy and Rommie and Bailey. Phil and Brenda and one of the twins, Kaitlyn, were there, too. It was a fun evening. Kathy and Rommie picked us up, and Kathy took us home, so I didn't even have to worry about staying after dark. Last night we met them at Mi Casa for dinner, which was much better than the food at Los Compadres has been the last few times we were there. Tony and Anais have been taking them all around to see the sights, especially the horses.
Daisy finally settled down. She spends most of her time close to us, and she sleeps pressed up against my legs at night, but she has stopped going to the front door and crying during the night. Fox got here four days ago. They get along fine except that Daisy doesn't like her getting up on the couch with us. She snaps at her. I have to hold her while Fox gets up and then she is fine.
Part of her issue is that she doesn't do well with sudden movements. Fox is going to go home today, and we will be getting Izzy, Sophie and Max this afternoon. I sure hope Daisy will be okay with three active dogs.
May 12
We had quite a time with Izzy, Sophie and Max. Izzy, a bulldog, has such a smashed face that she snores when she sleeps and sometimes when she is awake. I feel very sorry for her, because she has a skin condition that makes her hair very thin, and she is so fat that she has trouble walking, although she can run just fine. Sophie is a pug, and still a puppy, and she has never learned any manners, so she jumps on everyone and everything, including Max, who is a golden lab, and Izzy. Sophie slept in a kennel the first night, but I left her out with Izzy and Max the second night. Huge mistake. I woke up and checked them in the middle of the night and found poop in several places in the sunroom. After I cleaned everything up, she spent the rest of the night in her kennel. The rest of their stay was okay, but we don't want to take care of them again. Max is a sweet dog, who shouldn't have to put up with a dog like Sophie jumping on him constantly when he tries to walk across the room.
They left on Saturday, May 7, and we had a few days alone with Daisy, whose only issue, now, is that she doesn't like to be left home alone. She cries and barks. So, we are staying home as much as we can. Today, we have Charlie Hix here for trial run, pending a week stay in a couple of weeks. So far, she is very tense, but she has only been here for an hour. She barks whenever Bill walks from the office to the sunroom and back. I don't know if she is going to work out.
David Skulason called me last week, just to catch up. He is still the same, trying to talk about God and his powers to heal. He made work bearable when I was at Reno Sunrooms, but he is not really someone I plan to see, agaian.
Tony and Anais went on their first camping trip last weekend, and they had fun. We went in to check on Hammy one time, and he was fine.
Yesterday, I went to play Bunko at the Villa with Patty. Tina was there, along with a few people that I recognized. I had a pretty good time, and I will probably go again when I have no other plans.
May 20
The weather continues to be very nice. We have been able to sit on the patio to read and just enjoy the yard. We are so glad we got the patio furniture. I wish we had done it sooner, but, at least we got a good deal and furniture we really like.
Today we got Charlie Hix, and we still have Daisy and Fox, They get along fine, and the next week should be fairly peaceful. I went to Bunco again, this week, and had fun. There was a Dan concert at the villa a few nights ago. Not very many people went, but the crowd was fun and we talked to a lot of people.
We had a new garage door opener installed two days ago for a little over $500, and yesterday, we bought a new cordless electric lawn mower that came with a blower, for $329. Our mower was not performing very well, after having it for about 15 years. I am looking forward to using the new one. I think it will be so much easier not to have to drag the cord around with me. 
We have been grilling our dinners a few times in the last couple of weeks. We finally have a good method for chicken breasts - we marinate them and cook them for 8 minutes per side. Perfect.
May 29, Sunday
Bill has taken on the job of manager at the early voting, this time without me. Not only did I not want to do it, but we have dogs coming, and they shouldn't be left alone for such long days, as are necessary to the job. Bill is working at the Career College on Pullman, so he is only about two miles away. It's very good that he doesn't have a long drive every day. He mostly likes the women he is working with, so that makes it good for him.
Our ice maker has gone out, so I will have to call for a repair man after the holiday, tomorrow. I got an estimate on window treatments for the bedroom, office and living room. The bedroom was going to be $1100.00 and the office and living room just over $700. So, we decided to do the bedroom in room darkening draperies, which can be opened to let air and light in, but will be good for keeping the decorative lights in the yard from bothering us, at night. I will call Three Day Blinds to arrange for them to install the ones in the office and living room.
Tony and Anais took Hammie on their first camping trip. He sent us some pics, and it appears that they are having a great time, and that Hammie is doing fine. They were concerned that he would be scared or try to get out.
I had to go to the unemployment office for an interview on Thursday, last week, and I have to go for a follow up next week. I am getting $150.00 per week, and I would like for that to continue as long as possible, but I don't want to have to to on any job interviews. So far, I have been paid for four weeks.
Friday, June 3
Today, I have five dogs. Two of them were sort of last minute and they are only day care dogs, and Fox has left already, so tonight we will only have Scooby and Zoey, Bob and Patty's dogs. Bill only has five days left to work at early voting. Thursday. I just ordered the blinds for the office and living room. They will be installed in about three weeks. We bought a sail topper to hang on the patio to keep out the sun and heat so we can sit out there later than 11:00 am and we bought a vacuum attachment to clean out the dryer. (We took it back a few days later, because it doesn't do what it is supposed to do.) It is nice having some money to spend whenever we want something. Thanks to the dog sitting business.
Kathy and Tony invited us to join them for a pizza afternoon at Stampede this weekend, but, with Bill working, and me having two dogs, we can't go. It makes us so happy that they want us there. They said we can go up another time, because they will be camping all summer.
Gary Russell's mother, Lupe, brought me a cute doggie hanging which I put on the front porch. She said our backyard is like a fair land. That was so nice of her. We had him again a few days later, and she brought us a candle. We like him a lot, and hope to take care of him, again.
June 19
Last weekend, we went to see Monique and Brian. It was a good time as always. We went to Kirsten and Jay's for dinner to celebrate Emily's middle school graduation, and we went to a BBQ restaurant where we played Bingo while we ate. We had a fun. We played games at their house every day. I gave Monique one of the light up hummingbird mobiles for the backyard. She was very pleased with it.
Today is Father's Day and we are going to go to Kathy and Rommie's house for dinner. We are taking a retirement present of a $100 gift card to Sheels for Rommie and Bailey's birthday present of a Zen tray with accessories. I think she is really going to like it.
We have been overrun with dogs for the last week, the newest ones being Ajai and Gary Russell. We also had Kurt and Susie's dog, Ivy, on Friday and Saturday. She is still mostly a puppy, so she has so much energy. She is fun, but when she left yesterday evening, we both just enjoyed the quiet with Ajae and Gary Russell. They are cute and friendly, but both of them pee in the house so we have to make sure to usher them outside whenever they get up and start roaming around. Ajae has spent most of the last four days with us, including two over-night stays, and she will be here tomorrow through Tuesday morning. Then we will be free for a week.
On Friday, we are going to go to Graeagle to stay with Susie and Kurt for two days, and then on Sunday, we will drive to South Lake Tahoe to be with most of the Bendzicks for the afternoon. They are renting a beach house there for a week.
I made reservations at a resort at Mt. Hood for September 19 for one night. We are going to drive to Longview, which is about an eleven-hour drive. This will give us a stopping off point about eight hours into the drive, so we can sleep. In the morning, we will drive north to the Columbia River and meander along the gorge, stopping in little towns along the way. We can take as much time as we want to get to Craig and Jackie's house. A day or so after we get there, we will go to the beach house to stay for a week or so, and then drive home, stopping somewhere along the way to sleep. We could do the whole trip in one day, but it is hard to do that, and we have the time to do whatever we want. We won't have any dogs until October 11, unless we decide to book one. If we get any requests, we'll make a decision about that.
I am so glad we got the patio furniture. We still use the swing, but it is very comfortable on the patio, now. 
We have been spending a portion of every morning sitting out there. We read or play games. We got a sail cloth to put up under the lattice, so we can sit without the sun getting on us. It blocks 85% of the UV rays and it really makes a difference. Bill thanked me for making the house look so nice! Wasn't that a sweet thing for him to do. A lot of men wouldn't even care.
We have been spending a portion of every morning sitting out there. We read or play games. We got a sail cloth to put up under the lattice, so we can sit without the sun getting on us. It blocks 85% of the UV rays and it really makes a difference. Bill thanked me for making the house look so nice! Wasn't that a sweet thing for him to do. A lot of men wouldn't even care.
We have our island very decorated and I love the look of it. I need to get a night photo, too.
We are very happy with the new bedroom curtains/drapes. When we put them up a few days ago, we thought they weren't dark enough, so I ordered some blackout ones. But when they got here on Friday, we put one up to compare, and we like the first ones much better. Our room is brighter during the day without the verticals taking up half the window, and it is plenty dark at night.
June 21
I saw a meme on Facebook regarding neighbors and how we knew more of them way back in the 50s. I wrote the following comment.
To my sister, Joline Lydy Edmiston - This graphic really made me reminisce. I think it is kind of sad that we never really knew the neighbors we had when we were growing up. I remember a toy poodle that belonged to a neighbor when we lived in the apartment on Sepulveda in Panorama City when I was seven. I remember walking to school with you but I'm sure we didn't have any friends. We played in the alley together and I was always stubbing my toes because I liked to run around barefoot. Was it the Colonial Arms Apartments?
The only neighbors I remember were the Strattons, Mrs. Stewart and Kathy Winton who lived on either side of us on Vesper Ave. in Van Nuys when I was about nine. Mr and Mrs Stratton taught me to square dance, and Kathy was near my age. She and I wrote to each other for a couple of years after we moved to Norwich Ave, also in Van Nuys. I think she moved to Hesperia.
On Norwich is where we were friends with Darleen Feinstein Conway's family. I was friends with Sandy Feinstein and she and I would walk to the Mexican store to buy candy. Her mother knew about that, but ours certainly didn't. Did you know what a bad girl I was?
When I was in sixth grade, when we moved to Bircher Street in Granada Hills. That was in 1961. I went to Knollwood Ave Elementary. Either you had already graduated or you were allowed to finish your senior year at Van Nuys HIgh.
In seventh grade, you were already married, when I moved with our parents to Louise Ave. in Granada HIlls. After that, I never knew any of our neighbors until after I was married, and then we always knew and were friends with, our neighbors.
Why didn't we know more of our neighbors? Shouldn't there have been other kids who played in the alley or on our streets? I still have friends that I am close to from Patrick Henry Junior High and Granada High, but I wish I had memories of playing with the neighborhood kids.
The only neighbors I remember were the Strattons, Mrs. Stewart and Kathy Winton who lived on either side of us on Vesper Ave. in Van Nuys when I was about nine. Mr and Mrs Stratton taught me to square dance, and Kathy was near my age. She and I wrote to each other for a couple of years after we moved to Norwich Ave, also in Van Nuys. I think she moved to Hesperia.
On Norwich is where we were friends with Darleen Feinstein Conway's family. I was friends with Sandy Feinstein and she and I would walk to the Mexican store to buy candy. Her mother knew about that, but ours certainly didn't. Did you know what a bad girl I was?
When I was in sixth grade, when we moved to Bircher Street in Granada Hills. That was in 1961. I went to Knollwood Ave Elementary. Either you had already graduated or you were allowed to finish your senior year at Van Nuys HIgh.
In seventh grade, you were already married, when I moved with our parents to Louise Ave. in Granada HIlls. After that, I never knew any of our neighbors until after I was married, and then we always knew and were friends with, our neighbors.
Why didn't we know more of our neighbors? Shouldn't there have been other kids who played in the alley or on our streets? I still have friends that I am close to from Patrick Henry Junior High and Granada High, but I wish I had memories of playing with the neighborhood kids.
Bailey was happy with her Zen tray.
July 7
We went to Stampede to spend the afternoon with Tony and Anais and a few friends, Phil and Eric, etc. on July 3. We had a good time talking with everyone. We walked down to the lake with the dogs, Maddie and Koda. It was very rocky, and Bill fell on his back. Luckily, he wasn't seriously hurt, but we decided that we should go back to the campsite. They made hamburgers, grilled onions and grilled French fries for dinner. It was very good. We took cookies that Bill had made for them, so that was dessert for those who wanted to eat dessert. The weather was a bit cool, but very nice. We left around 6 pm, even though it would have been fun to stay for the campfire, but I don't like to drive in the dark, especially on mountain roads. We are glad we went, and we hope to do it agin. But not with dogs. It was a challenge because they kicked dirt up on the rug and they barked at people and dogs.
Stampede and Boca are in a beautiful place, and we don't know why we haven't gone there before. They are less than a one hour drive. We will be going there to explore as soon as we can. Again, without dogs.
For the 4th, we stayed home. Patty had mentioned having us over for dinner, but Bob hasn't been feeling well, so that didn't happen. Tina called after dinner to ask us over to watch the fireworks like we did last year, but we were settled for the night, so we didn't go. We didn't have any dogs, so the loud noises of local fireworks didn't bother us.
We got Vinnie and Sir Davos on Tuesday morning, and Fox that afternoon. Fox isn't fond of them, barking and snapping when one of them gets too close to her. Also, nights have been a problem, because they want to sleep in the middle of the bed, so last night, I got up and slept in the sunroom with them. I will do that, again tonight, and then, they will go home tomorrow.
Our new blinds are going to be installed in the living room and office today.
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| Before office |
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| Before living room |
July 18
Rocky Harrison came to stay with us last week. He is a very good dog but he is timid and a rather possessive of the couch. Ozkar got here the day after Rocky, and Rocky had been growling at Ozkar whenever he got too close, just like Squeege. Suddenly, on Sunday morning, Rocky started to act playful with Ozkar, but he never got off the couch. He wagged his tail, and ran around while Ozkar did play poses at him. I got a little bit of footage, which I sent to Craig and Julie, who are vacationing in Alaska. Ozkar is going to go home tonight, and Rocky will be here until Friday.
We bought a new recliner sofa at RC Wiley several days ago. It was delivered on Thursday. We are very happy with it. Our air conditioner died last Wednesday, and I was able to get 4 Seasons Air to come out to repair it on Thursday for $389.00. I had called several other companies, but they were several days out. The 4 Season's tech said it would be $10,000. for a new unit, installed. I questioned him about the units I have seen online for $1,500 to $6,000 and he said they are inferior and they wouldn't last long. Bill wanted to go forward, so we agreed to do it. But all night, I had second thoughts. I think $10,000 is way too much. Luckily, Tony came over on Friday, and when he found out the price, he was floored. He thinks it should be way lower, based on people he knows who have had their units replaced. So I called a company that Kathy recommended, and they aren't taking new clients, but they recommended Ross Heating and Air. They will be coming over on Wednesday.
I went to Bunco last Wednesday, and I won $29.00 for most Buncos. Yay for me, Patty has invited several friends to meet at Pizza Plus on Thursday for lunch for her birthday. I said I will go. It should be fun.
Bill is going to Digestive Health on Thursday morning, for a consultation and to schedule a colonoscopy, due to some issues he was having a few weeks ago. It took all this time to get an appointment.
We bought Rummikub and Mille Bourne on Amazon. We used to play Mille Bourne when we were newly married, and we liked it, but when this one arrived, we tried to figure it out, and we failed. The rules are impossible to understand. We can't return it, so Bill is going to try to sell it on eBay. We are enjoying Rummikub.
July 30
Bill got his colonoscopy scheduled, finally, for August 18. Fox will be coming that day, so I will check with Jessica about the timing.
We got our new couch, and it has a wrinkle that concerns us. They sent us another one, but it had the same thing. So, instead, we got $500 off the price.
We are still getting estimates for the air conditioner. But, ours is working just fine, so we don't think we will go forward. The technician, Frank, from Lincoln A/C, told us that our heater, which we had installed by All Hours Air, in 2019, it way too big for our house. The problem is that it is cycling incorrectly and could wear out way sooner than it should. We are going to contact the company to let them know that we are unhappy with the situation, and see if we can get the heater replaced with one of the correct size for no cost. We have decided to put the new A/C on hold. Lincoln's estimate was $7,500, which is far less than the first one, but we think that, since the unit is working just fine, maybe we don't need to replace it. I called All Hours, and they are going to come out to do a fix on the heater, so that should solve the problem of it working too hard.
We went to Texas Roadhouse with Bob and Patty for Patty's birthday dinner on Thursday. We had a good time.
Poppy and Katy have been here for a little over one week. We discovered that Katy is hostile with other dogs, when we had Abbie and Gary Russell here for the day on Sunday and Monday. So, I called the parents of the dogs that we were supposed to take care of yesterday, today and tomorrow, and explained that we couldn't have there here because of the safety of their dogs. I suggested that Bailey could go to their house to take care of the dogs. She was angry, saying that they booked us far enough in advance so there wouldn't be any problems. I said I understood, but the situation couldn't be helped, as Katy was already here, and not going home until Sunday. Her husband did not want anyone in their house. So, I hope they found someone, but this couldn't be helped.
Funny story – We went to bed about 9 last night, and after
the girls went out, we got them settled. Katy sleeps on her bed next to our
closet and Poppy sleeps on her blanket on the floor next to me. At about 11, I
woke up to go to the bathroom. When I went back to bed, I saw that Poppy wasn’t
on her bed. I didn’t think too much of it, figuring that she had to go potty
and had gone out the dog door.
But, I should have heard her come down the hallway to go
back to bed, so after about five minutes, I got up to look for her. I checked our
room and the bathroom, using a flashlight, even looking under the bed. Then, I
left the room, closing the door, so I wouldn’t bother Bill. I turned on the
lights in every room, and looked under the desk, behind furniture, etc. and I
couldn’t find her. I went outside and waked around to the dog yard, but she wasn’t
there. I knew there was no way for her to have gotten out into the big yard,
but I looked, anyway. I went back inside and looked, again, in all the places I
had already looked, but no Poppy.
I went into the bedroom and woke Bill up, telling him that
Poppy was missing. He said, “She can’t be missing. There is no way out.” We
both went through the house, looking everywhere, again. He went out to the dog
yard. We went back in, totally puzzled, and there she was, standing in the
entry hall and looking at us, as if to say, “What the heck are you people doing?”
We never figured out where she was, and Poppy isn’t
talking! Katy slept through the whole thing.
I talked to Bailey, today. She is going to stay at our house when we go to Washington, and she is going to take care of Fox, so Jessica doesn't have to make other arrangements. We are very glad.
Gary called a few days ago, to invite us to a birthday party at their house, for Jeanene. That should be fun. The next night, we are going to the Reno Little Theater to see a play, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." It should be a good one. Then, on August 13, we will be going to the Villa for a Mystery Dinner.
August 4
On Tuesday, Bailey came over to familiarize herself with the house plants and such. After that, she drove us to Red Robin, where Bryanna met us for dinner. We had such a good time, talking with them and finding out all about their plans. Bry will be going back to Arkansas in just a few days, and Bailey will be going with her to help her get settled in her new apartment. She will be living alone for the first time. They are both on the path to success and happiness.
We went to see Dr. Radelesku, our cardiologist, for Bill's light headedness and fatigue. He has Brachycardia, so the doctor had him discontinue the medication that he has been taking for his SVT. He also has to wear a heart monitor for two weeks. If he starts to have heart palpitations, that could indicate that he needs to have a pacemaker. It is concerning, but not terribly worrisome.
Should doctors look this young?
We had a good time at Jeanene's birthday party, last night. There were quite a few people there, so we had lots of people to talk to. We were glad that Tony and Anais were there, as we spent a good part of the time with them. We met Ben, who was just a little boy when we looked at property with Jeanene way back in the 80s.
August 16, 2022
We have another month to wait for our trip to Washington. We are counting the minutes.
We've been passing the summer in a very lazy way, reading, playing games, watching movies and swimming.
Since stopping the heart medication, Bill has one incident. The heart monitor can be taken off in two days. In three days, he will have a colonoscopy, just to rule out any problems.
Kathy and Rommie dropped by last night to bring us the anniversary present that she ordered several weeks ago. It is a beautiful wooden humpback whale. We are going to mount it over our sunset photo near the entry,
When Bryanna and Bailey got to Arkansas, they discovered that Bry's new apartment was in terrible condition. The management has helped them by putting in new carpeting, a couple of new appliances and running a machine that took out a lot of the cigarette smell, but the girls still had a lot of cleaning to do. Bailey will be going to Florida for a few days, and then she will be home next week.
August 27
We went to the Aloha Festival last Saturday, with Patty. It was not as good as past years. The huge tree is mostly empty of leaves and the music didn't start until late. Instead, they had a DJ from Hawai'i talking and playing clips from his show. We got there early enough to get a great spot under a small tree with a good vies of the stage. Patty and I walked went to shop at the various booths, but there was nothing special there.
Bill turned 73 on Thursday. We had a quiet day close to home. We swam in the evening and played Rummikub with Patty. Last night, Tony and Anais and Kathy took us to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. We had a fun evening. Bailey was there but Rommie wasn't because he went to Arkansas to give Bryanna more help with her apartment.
We worked at the C&S Grocery Show, which we love doing. We were were paid $10.00 power your arms we brought home over $900 in food and outgrew merchandise. We got scars of coffee, alcohol drinks and tea. We gave most of it to the kids.
August 29
We have Sam and Squeege for several days. They are good dogs, but they ask for lots of attention.
August 31
We went to a Korean BBQ restaurant with Kurt and Susie last night, for Bill's birthday dinner. It was mostly good. We didn't like the beef, because it was mushy. The fried rice was very good. It had cabbage shreds in it, which made it more tasty than regular fried rice. After dinner, we went to their house for a piece of birthday cake and to play Uno Rummyup. We had fun, but we didn't like the game. We got home around 8:00 and watched TV for a while before going to bed.
Tomorrow, we are going to a Trial Science job, through Robert Half. It is like the job Bill did a few weeks ago, where evidence is given and we discuss it and give our opinions. We are going to be paid $25.00 per hour each, and there is the potential for a six hour day. We are looking forward to it. I think Susie and Kurt are going to come over for a swim tomorrow night.
The trial science focus group was interesting, It involved a miner who was killed when his machine rolled over him. We had to read and listen to a lot of information that will be presented at the trial on Sept 20. Bill and I had the same opinion, that, while the operator was at fault, the incident wouldn't have happened if there had been a simple kill switch on his machine. We will be watching to find out the verdict of the trial.
September 18
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I am extremely mad. Today, this happened.
I just tried to leave a review for a recent purchase from Amazon, and I found a message stating that there has been some unusual reviewing activity on my account. All my past reviews have been removed and I will no longer be allowed to contribute product reviews. I don't understand. I have bought several items during the last few months, and I have left a review for each item to help other potential purchasers make a decision about whether or not to buy the product. Isn't that what the review process is for? Please explain what the problem is with my product reviews.
Billie Garrow.
There is a fire near Colfax, so the air quality has been terrible for several days, Today it is good, so we are able to enjoy breathing. But, the weather has turned chllly, so we won't be going to the last day of the outdoor pool being open. Bailey will be staying here starting tomorrow, after we leave on our trip to Washington. We are very ready for a vacation.
We've been playing cards every day, due to the smoke. We've also been going to the pool as often as we could. We had Sam and Squeege, Fox, Heidi, and Abby visiting with us. Fox will go home today,and will come back on the 24th to stay with Bailey until we come home. We are going to leave Washington on Oct 2 and stay in Crescent City for two nights, just to have some alone time.
Rollie and Donna came over for dinner last Sunday. We made pasta casarole, salad and homemade bread. We all had a very nice time. Bailey came over for a little while to visit. We are planning to take a trip to see them next year, maybe May,
Tony and Anais came over for leftovers on Monday. They stayed until almost 10. We introduced them to Rummikub, and we had a wonderful evening,
Sept 20
The trip to Mt. Hood was fun. We listened to a mystery that I got from the library, and it kept us entertained. We went through Klamath Falls and stopped at the same place for lunch that we went to on our last trip. My French toast wasn't cooked all the way through, so they took it off the bill.
The Cooper Spur Resort was very rustic and looked nice. Because the restaurant is closed on Tuesdays, we were given a breakfast basket. We went to the hot tub for a while to see if we could get the kinks out from driving all day. The water felt good, however, the area was not very pretty, inside a fence with not much view. We didn't get there until about an hour before dark, and the restaurant was very expensive, so we chose not to eat there. The town was nine miles away and we guessed that it would be dark by the time we had eaten, so we decided to have the contents of the breakfast basket for dinner. We had bananas, apple turnovers and Crown Royal Black, which was not in the basket. 
We didn't think that Craig would mind us having some of his gift. The beds were fairly comfortable and we got a decent night's sleep.
We didn't think that Craig would mind us having some of his gift. The beds were fairly comfortable and we got a decent night's sleep.
The next morning, we left early and headed for the nearby town. We discovered that there were no restaurants. Maybe we had the wrong town, but it was all we could find. We decided that we would be able to find a restaurant on the way to the Columbia River, so we started the next leg of our trip. Hood River had a cute little restaurant that was quite pricey, but the breakfast was very good.
We continued on towards Longview, stopping at a few places along the way for photo opportunities. The road followed the river and the view was very pretty.
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| Bridge of the Gods |
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| Crossing the gorge |
Sept 24
We have had a good visit, so far. We haven't done anything much except eat, play games, and drink far more than we should. We are on vacation and having fun. We came to the house at Ocean Shores on Friday. We were going to come on Thursday, but there was a truck accident which closed the only road for several hours and Jackie said the traffic would last for a few more hours. Bill hurt his back lifting a tote so he has been in a lot of pain. Craig adjusted his back, and rubbed some CBD oil on it, which helped, and he is a lot better. We had fish and chips for lunch on Friday, at Beennett's Fish Shack, and we were too full to eat dinner, so we just had a little bit of snack foods, chicken wings, cheese, etc.
This morning, Craig took me out on the canoe. It was fun, but not at all good for a back, so I was glad that Bill choose not to do it.
This is me getting into the canoe.
Videos of the journey
Sept 30
We've spent several days eating, drinking, playing and going to various beaches. Here are some of the photos of our adventures.
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| Cute little place near the beach on the way to Seabrook |
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| Bill on the beach |
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| The cars first beach trip |
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| Damon Point walk |
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| Damon Point walk |
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| Damon Point walk - neat runoff pattern from the waves |
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| Lunch with Will and Maryn at Oyhut |
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| Jackie and Maryn |
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| Pizza night with Jennifer |
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| Canasta view |
On Thursday, Sept 29, this happened.
We were very fortunate that Michael came over from where he was parked with his wife, to see if he could help. He called his brother who came to our rescue with his truck and a tow strap. They pulled us out and we rewarded tham with $100.00.
Wednesday, Sept 28, we drove to Seabrook, a little town about 30 miles north, I would love to live there. The houses are adorable.
Friday morning, Craig had to go back to Longview, because he had a couple of appointments with patients, but we didn't have any need to go back, so we decided to stay for one more day. We had lunch with Will and Maryn after visiting the community center. For two drinks, a pretzel and cheese kurds, we paid $60.00. Later, Jackie told us that her plan had been to split two pretzels between the five of us and have lunch somewhere else that was cheaper. I wish we had known. But, we enjoyed the food, and we tried truffles for the first time.
After lunch, we dropped off Jackie and Bill, and Will, Maryn and I went to walk on the beach. We went to the same beach that we went to on Thursday. But we had a different outcome - no getting stuck in the sand. After walking about a mile, and finding lots of driftwood, we went to Damon Point, but didn't walk very far. We just wanted tp see if there were any treasures to be found.
October 5
We went back to Longview on Saturday. Linda and John came over for a visit so we finally got to meet her, She is really nice. We are friends on Facebook, and we hope to see each other again. They stayed for a few hours, and then we all went downstairs for one more Canasta challenge.
Bill and I left at 9:15 on Sunday morning and had a good trip home. We found a Spaghetti Factory in Corvalis so we went there for lunch on the way to the coast. As always, it was delicious.
The trip took far longer than we had anticipated. I wanted to stop at every beach on the way, but we had to limit it to a few. I would love to go back to stay on the coast for several days, in or near Yachats, Oregon or Florence, California. There was a lot of fog when we got to the Redwood forest in California. It was not so bad that it interfered with driving.
Our hotel, the Anchor Beach Inn in Crescent City, was nice and clean, but the bed was very uncomfortable. We didn't get to the inn until after 7, so it had been a very long day. We drove to the closest restaurant, which turned out to be a good one. Bill had vegetable soup, which was a little too spicy, and I had the kids portion of fish and chips, which was very good. It was the least expensive meal we had at a restaurant, at only $20.00.
Morning walk before getting on the road
We had thought about staying for a second night, so we could explore, but we decided that we wanted to sleep in our own bed after not sleeping very well in the hotel, so we headed for home.
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| T-rex on the beach |
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| Crazy twisty road |
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Bridges we crossed
Some of the beaches we went to
October 11
We got back into our regular routine quickly. Reading, playing cards and taking care of doggies.
Last Thursday, we went to the AARP Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon at David's Grill. The food was good and the entertainer was a comedian who was pretty funny. We sat with Mary Rodriguez and Jason. Patty and Bob couldn't go because he just had his gall bladder removed. That was a good thing, because he is feeling so much better since the surgery.
Gary texted me on Monday afternoon to ask us to go to dinner with them at Mamma Celeste Gastropub. Tony and Anais went, too. We picked Gary and Jeanene up on the way, and we had a fun time. The pizza is super good and not very expensive.
We will be going there, again.
October 26
Anais has been working on the puzzle that Susie gave Bill for his birthday. She had a few neighborhood kids help, and it was finally finished a couple of days ago,
We have come to the end of a legend. We had to archive the geocache that we had hidden at the Legends sign. We found that the area is very overgrown and it was very difficult to search. We were afraid someone was going to get hurt. Here is our cache description.
Geocache Description:
This should be a quick find. We were a bit sorry to see the changes here, and we think they moved the ballpark too far away for most people in the area. The new one, out in Spanish Springs, is very well done, but Sparks kids can't just hop on their bikes to ride over to the ballpark like in the old days.
A little bit of history:
- Mello Sports Complex was built in two phases. The first was completed in 1978 and the second in 1984. The facility accommodated league softball play for the area as well as Pop Warner football games and practices. It was here for so long, and so many kids learned to play here so it was sort of a legend in itself.
- Once called "East Reno," Sparks was known primarily as a blue-collar working-class town, nicknamed the "Rail City" as it grew along the "wrong" side of the Southern Pacific Railway tracks across from its more well-heeled neighbor. "Reno was the city; Sparks was the country. Reno was a big town; Sparks was a small town," said a Sparks native who claims he's still mad about being born in Reno, because Sparks didn't have it's own hospital, then.
- Just 50 years ago, the land where the Legends is being built was a cattle ranch and feedlot well east of the city limits. Later, the 120-foot deep Helms gravel pit occupied the area. Sparks' population has grown 54 percent from 54,310 in 1990 to 83,351 in 2006, compared to Reno's growth of 58 percent from 133,850 to 211,697 during the same period.
- It's a far cry from the 10,000 to 15,000 people who lived in Sparks when Jim Gibbons grew up in a small house several blocks from the railroad in the 1950s and his mother ran for Sparks mayor and lost. In those days, Reno and Sparks residents engaged in an intense rivalry that locals say started to ease only in about the past decade as new development came to the area.
- A new chapter in Sparks history began, thanks to the New Year's Day Flood of 1997. The Truckee River flowing down from the Sierra Nevada poured out of its banks, flooding downtown Reno and Sparks and eventually filling up the pit. After making plans to pump the pit dry, the city changed course with the vision of the 80-acre, man-made lake.
- Today, it is stocked with trout and home to two public beaches, boat rentals, picnic areas, sand volleyball courts, bicycle and hiking trails. Over the past eight years, restaurants and bars have started popping up along with condominiums. The area extends from Howard Drive on the west to Sparks Boulevard on the east.
The rating is mostly for the muggle factor, 'cause the cache should be a pretty easy find. There is plenty of parking nearby. It is a bit harder to find at dinner time when there are lots of people standing around nearby.
Recently, we got a new screen door for the patio, so the dogs can go in and out without us having to leave it open. Some of them take to it right away, while some of them have to be taught how to use it.
We currently have four dogs, Sammy, Riley, River and Jolene. They are very sweet, but none of them obey any commands. They all want to be right next to us whenever possible. Two of them are border collies, and they are so skittish. If we yell at the beagle for barking, they slink off to hide. They go home tomorrow, and we would rather not have them here again, at least, not all four of them.
November 5
At 10:30 on October 26 I was sleeping on the couch, because the four dogs had caused such a ruckus the night before. I thought we might get a better sleep. About 10:30, I heard Bill fall in the bathroom. I was able to pull him our to the bedroom floor but he was completely incoherent. EMS came and took him to Renown. While they were still in our bedroom,, asking me questions, Bill was able to answer the question about his meds list being in his wallet, and before the ambulance left for the hospital, he was able to converse with the paramedic. I wasn't able to reach Tony and Kathy was out of town, so I called Bob, who took me to the hospital just after the ambulance left, and he brought me home about 1:30, because I had to take care of the four dogs. They were going to admit Bill to the hospital, but by that time, he was feeling okay and able to talk to me. When we got to the house, there was a police car parked out front. Diane had called the police because the dogs were barking non-stop the whole time I was gone. I appreciated that she called for a welfare check. The next morning, she said that she knew we never let any dogs bark for more than a minute.
I had just started to go to sleep on the couch with the dogs, when Tony called from his truck in front of the house. We sat and talked until after 8 when we were able to get Bailey to come over to stay with the dogs. Tony and I stayed with him until he left at about noon. I stayed to get him settled in his room, and I left about 2. They were going to give him an endoscopy and a colonoscopy the next day.
When I got home, Tony and Anais were there. We watched a movie and some shorts. I was very happy for the company. After they left, I hung out with the dogs until they left at 6:30, and then Sam and Squeege got here at 6:45. The dogs and I went to bed at 7 and slept until almost 7. I waited to go to the hospital until I talked to a nurse, because I didn't want to wake Bill up if he had been able to get any sleep. He was taken for his tests about 9 and I was waiting for him when he got back to the room. I went home at 3 to be with the dogs, and Bill texted at 3:20 that he was being released. After we got home, he had a light dinner and we went to bed very early.
He has been improving every day. His back was very sore, and he thought it was his kidney, because he wasn't given his Flomax in the hospital, but we went to see the nephrologist, and he ruled that out. He is feeling fine, now.
Halloween night, we went to Tony and Anais" house for trick or treat. It was fun seeing all the clever costumes. We only stayed for about an hour, because of Bill's back, but that was long enough to enjoy ourselves.
Anais and a few of her neighbor kids worked on the puzzle that Susie and Kurt gave Bill for his birthday, because it was really hard. It was finished a couple of days ago.
Last Thursday, November 3, we went to Tony's to pick up some backpacks that he is going to let us use for our cruise. Tony asked us if we wanted to go for a ride. We went to Pyramid Lake, way past the end of the paved road, where we had never gone before. The area is called Willows, or Monument Rock. It is a beautiful area, behind the pyramids. We got lots of great photos. I think the big rock formation looks like a rabbit, so we are calling it Rabbit Rocks.
Then we went to Pyramid City, There isn't anything there except a cave entrance. It would be fun to explore the area looking for stuff. 
And Moon Rocks. 
It was a lovely day. The weather was clear and cold.
We got some snow that night, but not enough to make driving difficult. Yesterday, we stayed home and I worked in the yard. It's the time of year that the yard gets cleaned, and the next day, it is full of leaves, again.
November 25 - Day after Thanksgiving
We had planned to go to Kathy and Rommie's for Thanksgiving dinner, but Kathy woke up with a sore throat and thought she might have strep, so we thought it best to stay home. Bills blood test shows that his immune system is not performing as well as it should.
We put the apple pie in the freezer to have the next time we are able to get together with them. We had crock pot pork chops, dressing, corn and applesauce for dinner, and I made a small apple pie in a bread pan. We read during the day and watched The Equalizer and Moonfall. Both were good movies. Bailey came over to bring us turkey and fixins' and we shared the "pie" with her. She was dog sitting for Kristy, Patty and Bob's daughter, so she didn't have far to go to get home after visiting with us.
This was my Thanksgiving message on Facebook, an oldie from 2012.
Sparks
Shared with Your friends
Thinking of Things I am thankful for:
My husband – without whom, I am sure, I would never have grown into the person I am. He has been my support, my inspiration, and my companion for 44 and ½ years.
Bill’s doctors who have worked diligently to keep him alive and functioning through this very challenging disease. I am thankful that his cancer is being controlled by some amazing medications, that weren’t even available as recently as five years ago.
My kids spouses – they married our kids and make them happy.
My grandchildren – we have been so fortunate to have our lovely granddaughters so close that we know them inside and out. My regret is that we don’t live near our grandsons, who are quickly turning into real people. I’m grateful that the boys are able to see their other grandparents so often. Children learn so much from the older generation.
Joline – my sister is very important to me. Her support has been constant through Bill’s illness. When I get into a panic, she knows just what to say to keep me going. I don’t think I could have gotten through the past four years without her.
Family – this is one everyone is thankful for. I don’t see our cousins, nieces and nephews and in-laws very often, but I’m happy to have them and see them whenever possible.
My dogs – yes, my dogs. All the wonderful 4-legged beings that have graced my life with unconditional love, dedication, unbridled joy, companionship and acceptance almost constantly since I was seven years old.
My profession – I was so fortunate that Bill had a profession which allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom most of the time. The few “real” jobs I had to supplement our income so we could have some extras, never kept me from my main job of being a wife and mom. I’m grateful that, since we moved back to Nevada, I was able to work at one full-time job for one year, and several part-time jobs for five years, allowing us to maintain our way of life even with the economy giving us constant challenges.
Aunt Vera – who finally convinced me that I needed to retire from all those part-time jobs once and for all. My sister and several friends had been telling me to take care of myself but Aunt Vera helped me to see that by retiring, I would be doing just that, allowing me to be more available for Bill’s health needs.
Bill’s dad – I am very thankful that we were able to bring him out here to live near us last October, and that he was healthy and happy in his assisted living home. We were able to see him from five to seven days a week, and we enjoyed being with him up until he got sick. While I miss him, I’m thankful that he didn’t linger once God decided to call him home.
My health – I weigh more than I should, but, despite that, and a few small occasional illnesses, I have enjoyed good health all my life. This is very important to me because it is allowing me to be a full-time caregiver to Bill when he needs me to fill that role.
Friends –we don’t see them as much as we used to when the kids were home. Everyone has their own families and most of our friends are still working. I wish we were able to spend time with them. But, I know that, if we needed something, I have friends I could call on, and they would be there in a flash.
Our house – which is way too small for us. But, at least we have one.
Our neighborhood – it is quiet and safe. We enjoy the amenities we have just three short blocks away, like the pool and gym.
Our condo – we are fortunate that we have been able to hold onto the condo in Maui for 17 years, and we are especially happy that we are able to go to Maui again. We missed going for four years, while Bill was undergoing myriads of treatments.
All U.S. Veterans – And their families. – For giving up all that they do and have to assure me the ability and the right to do what I want, like share this with you.
I'm thankful that I can post this on Facebook so my friends and family can read it. I'm sure I'll look at this later and realize I've forgotten something. If so, I have the choice to add a comment if necessary.
We're taking care of Oakley, a neighbor dog of Tony and Anais. He is afraid of our floors so have rugs and towels on the floor so he can move through the house. 
Dec 9
It has been pretty calm around here. We have had a few dogs, mostly Fox, but none of them were too challenging. Today, we have Abby Caracker and Ivy Johnson. They get along well, except that Abby isn't good about sharing toys. Whenever Ivy picks up a toy, either from the toy basket, or one of Abby's toys, Abby decides that she wants it. Ivy is only here for the day, so the rest of Abby's stay will be calmer. I have gotten lots of Christmas gifts wrapped ant taken over to Kathy's to put under their tree. That way, Christmas morning will be easier because all we will have to take are the monkey breads.
We paid for the cruise two weeks ago, so we are all set. I have bought a few things, such as money belts and air pillows for the airplanes, and a couple of clothing items. I wish I could pack now, because I know exactly what clothes I want to take, but they are things that I wear a lot, so that wouldn't work.
We have had a few little storms, and even a little bit of snow, but not very much. A lot of people have responded to our party invitations so we will have a very full house.
Dec 31
The Christmas party so full, there was standing room only. Everyone had a great time. There was lots of delicious food, and lots of visiting. We have at least one photo of everyone except Jeanene and Gary. They were a little bit late and, unfortunately, they were missed by the camera.
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| Tina, Laurie, and Michael |
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| Michael, NIcci, their kids, Kristin and John, |
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| Rommie, Kurt, Tony and John |
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| Patty and Tina |
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| Me, Greg, Kathy, Lisa, Dave and Shellie |
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| Me, Greg and Kathy |
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| Lisa, Dave, Shellie and Sherri |
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| Karen, Bob and Diane |
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| John, Greg, Bill and Lisa |
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| Heather, Sherry, Diane and Patty C. |
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| Heather, Anais and Diane |
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| Dave, Mickie and Maxine |
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| Dave, Bill, Michael, Tina and Laurie |
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| Jayce, Bryanna and Bailey |
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| Bill, Julianne, Craig and Dave |
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| Bill, Julianne, Craig and Dave |
