January 5
We had Bob and Patty over for dinner on New Year's Eve. We just wanted to do something. There was a party at the Villa, but we didn't want to pay $80.00 to go to it. We served pasta, salad and garlic bread because that is an easy meal to fix and everyone likes it. We played Five Crowns, Rummikub and Sequence. They stayed until a few minutes before 10 PM. Because we had Bodie and Kalua with us, we stayed up until after midnight for the first time in a long time. There were fireworks that started early, and Bodie was fearful so we didn't thing there was any use in going to bed early. We watched TV and didn't go to bed until 1:30. Bodie went home the next morning, and Kahlua stayed until evening.
Kathy had her 50th birthday on Tuesday. Our youngest child is middle aged! She has had a couple of parties put on by friends, We will be going to dinner tomorrow (Saturday) at Marcolinos in downtown Reno. The dinner was cancelled due to a big snowstorm being predicted. We had a little snow, but we really could have gone. We got a lot of snow a few days later, around 8 inches. Our snow blower was put to good use.
Bill was supposed to have an endoscopy on January 4, but he wasn't told to stop his blood thinner a few days prior to that, so we had to postpone it until we can get Dr. Hansen to ok the procedure. We really need to find out about the polyp in his small intestine.
Bailey got home from her trip in Early January, and we got together for dinner at Black Bear Diner to find out about her cruise. She had a good time but it wasn't as much fun on the ship as she thought it would be. She thinks she would prefer a trip to a resort where they could hang out by the pool and ocean more.
Bill had his endoscopy a couple of weeks ago. The results are good - no cancer or irritation.
We had a Paint and Sip at the Villa on January 12. It was lots of fun, and a lot of people want to do it again. I was there to help, but David insisted that I paint, so I got to paint for free.
I signed up to be a facilitator/greeter for the AARP tax program at Spanish Springs Library. The training was tedious, because most of it doesn't apply to what I will be doing, but it will only be two days a week, when I'm available. My first day on the job will be February 12.
Our trip plans have changed a little bit. Colleen and Kirk have cancelled their trip in March, so we won't be going there to house and dog sit, but we will be going to visit them for about a week. Then we will go on to Holland to see Rollie and Donna. On the way home, we will stop at Colleen and Kirk's house for a night, because it is a three day drive. They are in a perfect spot to stop for the night.
Bill woke up with a very red eye on Jan 21. It didn't hurt, but it looked like it should have. We were able to get in to see Dr. MacKenzie the next day. He said it was a burst blood vessel and would go away with no treatment. It did.
Tony has started a group called the Human Trafficking Prevention Alliance, along with two women who have experience with helping trafficking victims. Kathy is the CFO and Tony is the president. We have gone to two meetings. Neither of them were very well attended, but they are trying to get the work out. We went to one yesterday, which had some people who also have experience, and they put out some very good ideas. We watched the movie, The Sound Of Freedom a few days ago, which is very eye opening regarding the problem of children being trafficked.
February 4
I posted my first rant of you year a couple of days ago.
You were all waiting for my first rant of 2024. Here is is.
We're watching the senate hearing on Social Media and Child Safety. People who have lost children to online trafficking, bullying and harassment stood up to show pictures of their children who died as a result of online activity. The CEOs of Discord, Snap, Meta, X, and Tic Tok were verbally attacked by the senators for not making their platforms safer. I agree something needs to be done. No question that children are vulnerable and people need to know that as many safety features as possible are in place when they go online.
HOWEVER, any child who is given access to an electronic device must be monitored by a parent or guardian. They are the ones responsible for their child's safety. You don't give an eleven year old a phone without safety and security features. It isn't an invasion of the child's privacy to monitor their online actions. You don't give anything to an unsupervised child without making sure they have the mentality and maturity to use it safely and properly. &
When an automaker designs and builds a car, that car has multiple features to make is as safe as it can possibly be. You teach a 16 year old kid how to drive the car before you let him drive it on the road alone. But if that kid drives that car without proper training, and crashes it into a tree, the automaker is not responsible for him being injured or killed. After learning how to drive, and having hours of practice, then that kid has the knowledge to drive the car safely.
Internet use is no different.
We went to Kathie and Nick's house last night (Feb 3)with Bob and Patty. We drank, ate pop corn, pretzels, cheese and crackers, and Bill's brownies. We played Skipbo and laughed more than we have in years. It was a wonderful night.
We woke up to an inch of snow. It has been snowing lightly for two hours but it is only about two inches deep.
February 11
We went to see Dr. Barbara, Bill's Digestive Health person on Tuesday, and Dr. Kos, Bill's endocrinologist, on Thursday. Dr. B said that he is doing very well but wants to do an ultrasound of his abdomen because his stomach was sensitive when she pushed on it. Dr. K and her staff are so friendly! Her nurse, Kim, hugged us and said how wonderful it was to see us, and when Dr. K came in the room, she did the same thing. It was only our second time seeing her. She said that his numbers look good, except his vitamine D is a bit on the low side of normal, so he needs to take it five days a week instead of three. She wants to see him again in two months. We asked why he needs to see her and she explained that it is because of an adrenal insufficiency. We also found out that he has Hasimoto's Disease, which Kathy was diagnosed with several years ago.
Friday, we went to see the Retro Radio Dolls at the Villa. They were fun entertainers, and most of the songs they sang were ones we liked. That was followed by Dan singing. There were 90 people there for the Dolls, and about half of them left when they were finished, so we moved the chairs against the walls, so we could dance, and we did dance a lot for almost two hours. It was a very fun night. Bob and Patty, Kathie and Nick, Tina, and several other people we know were there. Bob is going to ask David from the painting party if he will come to the Villa for a party because everyone had so much fun dancing.
I'm going to go to a Scam and Fraud seminar at the Convention Center with Tina, Patty, Laurie and Barbara on Thursday. I think it should be interesting.
We went to see a matinee of While the Lights Were Out at the RLT. It was afa4ce of an Agatha Christie mystery. The play was very funny and the actors were very good.
Nick and Kathie are hosting another game night on Feb 17 so we have something fun to look forward to.
February 20
Last Monday was my first time to work at the Spanish Springs Library as a Tax Facilitator. The woman I work with, Loretta, is friendly, and we got along well. The job is very easy. We just check people with appointments in and give them forms to fill out if they haven't already done so.
The Scam and Fraud seminar was interesting. There were a couple of things I didn't know about some of the ways the scammers operate. I was surprised that there were a couple of hundred people there. Tina and Patty do use with me.
Last Saturday, we went to Kathie and Nick's house. Gail and Mark were there and we had alot of fun. We played Sequence and Five Crowns. Patty and Bob were supposed to go but one of them wasn't feeling well.
We finally broke do down and called a repair service for our oven, which has been giving us trouble for several months. The F9 message, was an indicator that the circuit board was bad. Although the stove is only six years old, we decided to replace it rather than pay several hundred dollars to repair it. The new one, a Samsung from RC Wiley, will be here on Thursday. On the way home, we stopped to buy four new tires. Bill didn't want to take a trip to Texas with the old ones.
February 22
We went to Red Robin for dinner on Thursday night. Yummy!
February 23
Update on The Saga Of the Stove.
Saturday morning update on the update.
Eddie, a Customer Service manager, just called, apologizing for the problem. He took the blame, but did say that it wasn’t communicated to him until this morning, that we wanted a call from him. He said, because the normal installation is to a 1/2 inch pipe, it is true that the installers didn't have the conversion fittings. But, since the sales person didn't tell us that, he wanted to send a plumber, without any cost to us, to install the stove on February 28. We appreciate that he called with a good and fair solution, but we turned down the offer, because we really like new stove #2 better than new stove #1. We're happy that to know that RC Willey has people who care about the customer, and we will be willing to shop there again. They have a very good selection of products, and good prices. He said he hopes we will continue to be customers, and asked us to ask for him the next time we shop there.
This should be the end of the story.
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Friday afternoon
The store knows that they aren't getting paid. Bill spoke to them again, this morning, and they will not send someone to install the stove, nor will they pay us back if we pay someone to do it. So, we just got home from Home Depot. We bought a stove we like better. They use an installation kit that has adapters so they will be able to install the new stove with no problem. The wonderful lady in the Appliance Department, Gretchen Vasquez, is knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. She commiserated with us r1egarding our experience and she took the time to explain so much more than we thought we needed to know about stoves. She helped is to pick out a stove that will fit our needs perfectly.
Unfortunately, it won't be here until March 1. RC Willey will pick up the one in our kitchen in the "next few days," "when they have a chance." I told Bill to tell them it will be waiting on our driveway. He didn't say that. I sure hope the one taking up space in our kitchen won't get scratched or dented, before they get around to stopping by to pick it up.
I submitted a complaint to the BBB. We want a full refund, and we want the store told that they have to fulfill the terms of their contracts.
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Original FB post ....So, we bought a Samsung range from RC Willey. We bought a new gas line because the salesperson said we had to have a new one. We paid $99.00 for delivery and installation. The range was delivered at noon today. The hose they brought didn't fit the gas outlet coming out of our wall. One of the delivery men said to call a plumber and they left. If I had been home they wouldn't have left but Bill isn't as mean as I am. I got home a few minutes later to find a range in the middle of our kitchen.
I asked Bill to call the store to tell them that they needed to install the stove as agreed. They came back an hour later to bring the old hose and they left saying they couldn’t do anything since it didn’t fit. I called customer service at 1:10 and we are still waiting for a call from them. I called the salesperson who sold us the stove and she said she would have to talk to her manager.
Our plan is to tell them to get the stove installed or we are going to open a dispute with the credit card company because we didn’t receive a working product. We have a repair man who can install the stove, but we shouldn’t have to pay someone to do what was already paid for in the sales contract. Maybe we'll go out for dinner and present them with the bill. We certainly can't cook our dinner.
The social last night was fun. The food was good and we enjoyed visiting with lots of people.
We have two mini Dachsunds, Ginger and Pebbles. They are really cute and not much trouble, but they don't react to commands, like so many dogs lately.
While I had them in the sunroom, so we could clean the house, I looked out the front door, and saw Pebbles coming up the front walk! She had dug out under the gate. We are going to have to fix the hold before we have any more small dogs.
We're going to the Sparks Water Bar, a super expensive restaurant, with Bob and Patty tomorrow for dinner. It's one of those dinners where all you have to do is listen to their presentation after dinner. Bill hates those and we usually don't go to them, but I really want to go there since we would never pay to go.
February 28
The meals we had at the Water Bar were so good! I had a bacon wrapped filet with mashed potatoes, asparagus and gravy, and Bill had salmon with rice and green beans. we ate every bite. The presentation was fairly interesting, about energy savings, but we had no trouble resisting. The sales person wasn't ushy at all.
We had Heidi here for a few days. She is a good girl and we had no trouble, except, on Wednesday, Patty came over, and when she left, she opened the screen door all the way, and Heidi escaped. She ran all the way to her house with me chasing her. I was able to scoop her up on her porch. Patty didn't even call to find out if I was able to catch her.
March 2
We finally have our new stove, installed and working. It is perfect. I made pasta fagioli for dinner, yesterday, using the crock pot, because the stove wasn't going to be there until late in the day. We had Kathie and Nick over for dinner, and Five Crowns. They walked over since it was supposed to snow last evening, and their car won't go up their driveway in deep snow, but it only rained. They stayed until almost 10:30. It started snowing sometime during the night and we had about six inches when we got up. It snowed all morning, but very lightly, so it didn't get very deep.
March 5
We had a Meet and Greet with Tanji, a friend of a friend of Kathy's. She will be having surgery in May, so we are going to take her two labs for four weeks. It's good to know that we will be making some money in the next few months, because, with the new stove and having to buy new tires, we have been spending more than we usually do.
March 18
We had a wonderful time during Scott's visit. He was here from March 5th to the 10th. On Wednesday, the kids and Bailey, came over for homemade pizza and salad, and we had a great evening of just talking and laughing. Thursday morning, Bill, Scott and I rode with Kathy to Blairsden with Tony and Anais in their truck, and we split a Gumba's pizza.
It was the second day of business since the devastating fire. We took Highway 89 to Truckee and walked around, tasted some oils and vinegars in a shop. We drove to Lake Tahoe, via Palisades where we got a couple of pics of the kids showing the snow depth.
From there, we drove to Incline and then took Mt. Rose Highway, stopping at the overlook where Bill and I needed a little help getting down. It was very foggy driving through Tahoe Meadows, but the rest of the way was sunny and clear. We ended up at Mi Casa II for dinner with Rommie joining us. We had a great day with all the kids.
On Friday, they did their own thing for most of the day, but stopped by to see us before the party, because Monique and Brian came over to join us from Petaluma. They brought their long-time friend, John Claude, who is a friendly and interesting man from a small town near Paris, France. Patty and Bob stopped by to bring a towel that I left at the social the week before, and they got to meet Monique and Brian, but Scott and Kathy had left just before they got here.
The party was wonderful. So many old friends and everyone talked and laughed all night. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of the table when it was loaded with food. We had meatballs from Anais, mozzarella bread from Kathy, cookies from Monique, fruit and cheese from Liz, and various other things including brownies, chicken and mini hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls from us. The party broke up around 10 pm. Monique and Brian and Jean Claude left town on Saturday morning, taking Mt. Rose Highway to drive south to Highway 50. They had a beautiful drive, but for the three days following their departure, there were chain controls on Mt. Rose, so they made it through just in time.
I worked at the Spanish Springs Library on March 11 and 14 as a tax aide. Loretta, who has been the facilitator for several years, was nice and fun to work with. She won't be returning next year, and she was hoping that I would be taking over, but I don't want to do it again. It was not a hard job, but I didn't like having to be somewhere two days a week, and six hours of volunteering gets rather tedious.
We swam four days last week, trying to get in better shape. On Friday, we had just finished swimming with Bob and Patty and Tina, when Kathie and Nick came to join us. They invited all of us to go to their house to play Three Crowns. Bob and Patty couldn't go, but we went with Tina and we had a fun time. We decided that we want to start a Three Crowns group at the Villa.
We are getting ready for our St. George and Texas trip. Donna and Rollie called a few days ago, and told us to get there several days before the eclipse, because they are expecting over a million people to converge on the area. We made a reservation at a La Quinta Inn in Santa Rosa, New Mexico for April 1 and April 11.
March 24
Friday night was the Toscana Social. We had a good time. The food was not as good as usual, but we both had plenty to eat.
Yesterday, we went to Cascades for Easter Brunch with Aunt Laura. Kathy, Tony and Anais went, too. The food was good, but everything was cold. I think Aunt Laura enjoyed it. Last night, Dave and Sue came over for German Chocolate Pie and Five Crowns. We had fun and they raved about the pie, which was, indeed, delicious.
Finally, the trip is almost here. We will be leaving tomorrow for Utah. Sam and Squeege arrived a few minutes ago, and Bailey will be staying here with them while we're gone.
April 16 - After the trip. This is how our Eclipse trip went.
March 25 - Apparently, the extra terrestrials are not hanging out today, because we only saw a cutout of one. We were going to get gas in Mesquite, because it's $4.09, the cheapest we've seen since Fernley. Then I checked gas buddy and found that we can get it for $3.55 in St. George.
- We have 34 miles to go and the car says we can go 94 miles before getting gas. We'll wait. We were going to come into St. George from the north. I'm sure that would have been beautiful, too. This route, along the I-15 has spectacular views. My pictures don't capture the beauty at all, but here they are. We're almost there. Verga followed us all the way from Walker Lake, but it never rained on us.
- March 26 - Bill's cousin, Colleen, took us to such beautiful places today, and that was no more than 15 minutes from where they live. We did a minimum of hiking and maximum of pictùre taking. Here are a few.
March 27 - Today we went to a part of Zion National Park. We went for a small hike that seemed to be a half mile straight up. Again we had awesome scenery to enjoy. Kirk had plans for the evening, so Colleen took us to their club for dinner. The halibut and the salmon were amazing. \\
- March 29 - At Snow Canyon and at Zion. We went to the St. George Art Festival. It was huge. Colleen Kvetko loves to take Tiffany and Lexie with her whenever possible and so many people stopped to visit with them.
When we got home from the Art Festival, we had a lovely soak in the spa. - March 30 - Bill and Colleen Kvetko. We went to see a performance of Legally Blond at the St. George Musical Theater last night. The performers did a wonderful job.
We met Bill's cousin's daughter, Caryn Garrow Magnesun,, for a hot cocoa this morning. She and her family live in St. George. It was such fun to catch up. We hadn't seen her since she was a little girl in the late 70s. Bill and Kirk decided to have a little guy time. They have been there for over an hour. Lexie is supervising. - March 31 - Easter Sunday - Last night, our hosts took us to see Trailblazing Women Of Country. What a wonderful show! They had everyone singing and there may have been some dancing in the aisles. We also went through an art gallery to see some awesome art pieces. We have had a lazy day. We made meatballs, packed and read our books for dinner while Kirk and Colleen went to church. Bill and Colleen have spent the last hour going through some of Aunt Laura's treasures to see if anything can be sold. And then they played Barbies.
- April 1 - We left St. George at 6:30 am and were treated to a beautiful sunrise in Hurricane, Utah.
We saw some beautiful rocky mountains on the way to our next stop, Santa Rosa, New Mexico. We stopped a few times, but we didn't want to linger too long, because we new we were going to be really tired by the end of the day. 
- April 2 - The hotel in Santa Rosa was pretty good. The beds were comfortable, and that is really all we wanted. The breakfast was ok, but we both had just cereal and fruit. We got on the road at about 7 am. About two hours from Holland, we stopped along Highway 84 for some shots of the beautiful wildflowers and one butterfly. Just as we remembered,
Texas is mostly never ending sky and flat land. The drive was uneventful and we saw lots of pretty. but unremarkable, scenery. We got to the Bar Bell Ranch at about 8:30. They had dinner waiting for us. It was so good to see them after such a long time.
- April 3 - Rollie and Donna have such an adorable haven in Holland, Texas. Their ranch is on 15.5 acres. Here are a few pics of their house and land.
- April 4, 5, 6, and 7 - We spent so much time talking, playing cards and dominoes and eating. Rollie showed us around his workshop and we visited the cows. He took us to Saledo one morning, while Donna put in some volunteer hours at the food bank.
We bought the ingredients to make pizza for them. We are going to do that on Eclipse Day. I got to use the riding mower to mow a couple of strips of grass. I found that it isn't as easy as it looks.
Bill and I stayed home on Sunday, while
- Rollie and Donna went to church. We got the pie made for Sunday dinner. Eduardo helped.
Judy came over for dinner after church but they watched a basketball game, so we didn't spend any time talking. That was disappointing. Dinner grilled hamburgers, chips and fruit salad. Judy left before we served the pie, which was delicious. Their new pastor, Jeremy, who staying in their annex stopped by to visit for a little while.
- April 8 - The big day! - We were very concerned, because heavy rain was predicted for the afternoon. We watched the eclipse coverage on the weather channel and just before the event, we were ready with our glasses and chairs. The clouds kept covering the sun off and on throughout the eclipse, but, just before totality, they moved away so we had a great view of the whole thing. It was amazing to see it covered all the way, with only the corona showing. The day darkened, and the birds stopped chirping. We got some good pictures with our phones. Before totality, we covered our camera lenses with solar glasses, but took them off during totality. After it was over, Rollie has to leave to meet his dad at the hospital so he missed the pizza we made. He got home late and was able to have a piece before going to bed. He is very nice. He brought his dog over while we were sitting on the front porch and he showed us how well trained she is at only three months.
- April 9 - We got on the road at 7 am and had a very long day because it rained for a good part of the morning, At least, we didn't have hail like the Bells did. They said the storm was fierce. The hotel in Las Vegas, a Travelodge by Wyndham, was not very good. The bed was comfortable, and it seemed clean, but the heat didn't work, so our showers were very quick. I did a review on booking.com that was not complimentary.
- April 10 - Breakfast was not what we expected. They had hostess mini donuts and coffee. We chose to leave, get gas and head north. We stopped in a small town after about five hours, to have breakfast at a country restaurant.
The food was good and we had a few minutes to read our books. After getting back on the road, the trip was fine. The rocks were beautiful.
We listened to lo Old Time Radio and to music and had a good drive. There was some new snow on the sides of the road, but we had great weather all the way. We got to Prove at around 6 pm and found our next hotel quickly.
The Sleep Inn was a pleasant surprise after the one in New Mexico. Clean, very comfortable and fun staff. We walked to Arby's for a roast beef sandwich and went to bed at about 8:30. April 11 - We had a great sleep. We went to breakfast at a few minutes past 6 to find a full meal waiting for us. They had cereal, fruit, yogurt, bacon, eggs, and waffles. After breakfast we filled our coffee cups to the top, and hit the road. The traffic was heavy from Provo until we got several miles past Salt Lake on I-80, but there were no delays, We enjoyed the sights, although, once we got into Nevada there was nothing new We passed the Bonneville Salt Flats and the Great Salt Lake.
We got home by 4, unpacked, did the laundry and were catching up on our TV watching by 7. It was a good trip altogether. But, we won't plan any more trips where we have to drive so many miles three days in a row, again. It would have been better to do the return trip in four days.
We got home in time to go to the Bake Potato Night at the Villa. It was so much fun. There were so many delicious toppings for the potatoes and after everyone was done eating. someone threw a potato, and that started a free for all potato fight - but with foam potatoes. Such fun.
April 18
Last Saturday, we went to the South Meadows Renown to have our blood drawn for our upcoming doctor visit. We had a special technician.
While we were on the trip, we saw this post from Tony -
So, when we were in Saledo, we went to a couple of antique and gift stores to see if we could find an armadillo. We found Eduardo. He is about 12 inches across, including the state of Texas. On the bottom, it says, "Made in Texas by Texans."
Ready for the Eclipse
We gave him to Tony yesterday. I think he was happy with his new son. Except, he has been renamed Armando because Tony decided that Eduardo is not a good name.
April 29
I haven't felt like doing much of anything, including writing. We have been to a couple of Bill's doctors and he has had some MRIs and ultrasounds of his abdomen. The cyst on his kidney might be something more than a cyst, and there is scar tissue on his liver, which might be something more than scar tissue. Dr. Hald, who is not the one Bill usually sees at Urology, Nevada wants to see him, and an appointment was set up for October. I called and spoke with Jeremy, who is the PA that Bill does normally see, and I said I want Bill seen sooner than that, because if he has something that needs to be treated, we can't wait for five more months. So, we have an appointment tomorrow.
We went to the social last Friday. It was fun, as it always is, to visit with some of our friends. One person, Helen, yelled at Bob for saving our seats, and she said that the purpose of the socials is to meet new people. We ignored her. We will visit with whomever we please.
Kathy and Nick, and Patty and Bob came over Saturday night for Rummikub and snacks. Bill and I made a coconut cream pie, which was so good, but we forgot to take a picture of it. Everyone raved about it.
We have had Sam and Squeege here since Saturday afternoon and they will be here until Wednesday. Victor and Lori went to see their Air Force son off to his training.
This morning, we went to see Dr. MacKenzie. We both have good numbers, except for Bill's kidney function, which is always in the wrong number range. Other than that, he is doing well. I told him that I am not happy that I can't seem to lose weight. He asked me what I'm doing about it, and I had to admit that I haven't really been trying, so, I guess I'm going to have to work at it.
We went for a short walk after dinner. It's a start.
May 1
We saw Dr. Hald yesterday. The liver and kidney look pretty good, but there is a concern about Bill's PSA being 15 when the high safe number is 7, so he is going to have an MRI of his prostate and possible a biopsy. We will have wait to be contacted about the MRI from Reno Diagnostic Center.
In January, we signed up for ATT cell service, after having Verizon since we first got phones, and Verizon was called Air Touch. We were offered a promo reward of two gift cards for $100 each (we think that was the amount.) We still haven't received the gift cards, so I called the Visa rewards center this morning. The representative said there are no rewards attached to our account, so I left a message for Anthony, the man who sold us the plan, to call me to see what we can do to get the reward we were promised.
May 17
The ATT gift cards aren't going to be coming after all. I tried calling several numbers, several times, but nobody could help. The last thing I was told was that the promotion ended last year. Rats.
The kids went camping at Zephyr Cove for a few days and were treated to two nights of the Aurora Borealis, which I have always wanted to see. We could have seen it here if we had known about it. They got a couple of beautiful pictures of it.
We've had a busy couple of weeks. On May 6, we went to David's Grill with Kurt and Susie for my birthday dinner, the last one of this year. The fish was tasty, but not crisp and my fries were not crispy. Bill had a different kind of fries and his were crisp, so I ate some of those. After dinner we went to their house for cake and to play Left, Right, Center, which was a mindless, but fun game. We had a good time.
We worked at the Reno Business Expo at the Convention Center with Janet giving out information about the HTPA. The convention had a lot of booths and a lot of people attended. It was fun, but our booth wasn't very crowded.
May 11 was Sheri's retirement party. We had a good time visiting with Greg, Shellie, Lisa, Dave, Greg and Heather, who is living with Sherri temporarily. The party was fun and the food was very good, pulled pork, salads, vegies, cheeses, and bundt cake.
On May 16, we went to the AARP breakfast meeting at Cafe Belini at the Peppermill. The food was very good, and we were glad we weren't paying for our own breakfasts, because it was very expensive. $21.00 for the French Toast, eggs and bacon meal, which we both had. They gave us lots of information about upcoming events. After the breakfast, we went to the market and bank, and I got home just in time to go to the Events Committee meeting at the Villa. I was able to get my name on the list for the Garden Tour on January 29. They talked about the last few events, including how much fun everyone had at the Baked Potato Night. There is going to be a pool party July 12, which should be lots of sun. That night, we went to Stamp Out Fraud at the Coconut Bowl, and we had a good time. We both bowled, although I only bowled one game,
After bowling, we went to the hot tub to try to keep our bodies from hurting too much the next day. The hot tub was very hot, so Patty and I only stayed in for a few minutes, but we went over to go in the pool. The lights were off in the room and in the pool so it was so relaxing to float around, just moving my arms and kicking a little bit for almost a half hour until the pool was about to close.
Friday was the AARP Caregiver's Luncheon and we worked at that, serving the food. They had three kinds of salad, fruit and cheese plates, turkey, ham, and roast beef sandwiches a pinwheels, and brownies, and cookies. There was so much fruit, that we were able to bring home several sandwiches and all three kinds of salads. We had already arranged for Kathy and Nick to meet us at the pool at 5:30, so I texted her that we were going to take dinner for everyone. So, we had our first pool dinner of the season. Kathy brought a strawberry cake. Tine, Bob, Patty, and Hank joined us for part of the time.
May 18
We're all invited to Kathie and Nick's for pulled pork sandwiches tonight. We're going to take the last of the salads. We don't think Hank will go, but Tina said she will go. We don't want to stay out late, because we haven't been spending enough time at home.
We had fun at Kathie and Nick's. Bob and Patty and Tina went and we played Five Crowns. We had planned to go home early, but the game was slow so we didn't get home until around 10.
May 27 - Memorial Day
I went to the Garden Club meeting on Tuesday. There were close to 20 people there. They give out lots of information about local nurseries, as well as information about different plants. She was able to get me on the garden tour in a few weeks.
Last Thursday was Tony's birthday so we went to Olive Garden with Colleen, who came here for Aunt Laura's 99th birthday which was May 24. We had a good time and we were glad we were able to get together. We sometimes don't get together for birthdays because of everyone's schedule.
The next night, we had planned to go to Cracker Barrel with Aunt Laura and Colleen, but when we got to Cascades, we found that they had a very busy day and Laura was not really up for going out, so we ate there. She is so argumentative that it isn't really fun to spend time with her, but we had a good time visiting with Colleen. Saturday night, we went to David's Grill. Bill got a pizza and I got the Teriyaki Rice Bowl, which was good, except there was too much sauce. I had steak on mine instead of the chicken, and the steak was lean and delicious. We ate on the patio, but we were sorry, because the wind made it pretty cold. I had my sweater, but Bill was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt, so he was cold.
We've been going to the pool every day to workout and we've been trying to make healthy choices for our meals. That all falls apart when we go out to dinner, though.
We have had three labs with us since last Wednesday.
They are all good dogs, but three labs is a lot of dog. They are all typical in their need for attention. Lemon and Max are brother and sister, and Max is a dog we had a couple of years ago, with his sisters Izzy and Sophie. He is a problem for a fe reasons. They give him stinky canned dog food, which make his poop smell especially icky and runny, and he is a walking pooper, making lots of gooey plops to pick up. He also howls when we go out. Last night, we went to the concert at the Villa, and I got a text from Diane asking if we were alright. I immediately knew that there must be noise coming from our house, so I called her. She said there was some howlong, but it wasn't bothering her. She had just noticed it and wanted to make sure we were okay. Nights are a problem, too, because he starts to whine during the night, if Hawk is laying on his bed, The first three nights they were here, I spent the last few hours of the nights on the couch. He will be going home in two days. Yay.
We are planning to spend today at home except for a quick trip to the pool this afternoon.
June 25
Lemon and Hawk were good dogs, but they are so big and they have so much hair. When they left after three weeks, we were so glad to be able to thoroughly clean the house.
Dr. Danaredy
Dr. Lamerson for biopsy. Nevagive.
Shred Event
HTPA at GSR with Tony.
Toscana BBQ.Mickie, Maxine and new neighbor, Marlene went with us. We ate at the pool with Patty and Bob. We swam after we ate. We had a good time. Several people came down with Covid after that.
We went to the AARP Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon on June 18. The food was okay, but not as good as it usually is at those kinds of luncheons.
On the way home from the luncheon, Bill asked me to stop at Dr. Mackenzie's office because he had been having some chest pain for a couple of hours. The doctor said to go right to the ER to fund out what was going on. We went to Northern Nevada on Prater, and we were there for a little over four hours/ They gave him several tests, and said he was fine. He had probably pulled a muscle. The doctor asked if he had been working out hard or coughing. We work out every day in the pool, but not that hard. Bur, he has been coughing really hard at times. So, at least, we know his heart is healthy.
He had had several tests over the past couple of weeks. Liver MRI. Kidney MRI. Prostate MRI. The prostate one said that there is ahigh probability of cancer, so we will be dealing with that.
On Sunday, June 23, we went to the HTPA movie that the Sound Of Freedom was based on. It was very interesting. We won two raffle prizes after spending $100 on raffle tickets. The prizes were valued at $100.00. Tony invited us to go to Boulevard Pizza with them all for dinner.
We've been looking forward to the MFG for this month. It is Thelma, about an elderly lady who wants revenge for being scammed. We went to see it, yesterday, and we had a good time. The movie was fun.
We swam last evening. We're trying to swim every day.
Several people in the neighborhood have caused them to cancel all indoor events for the net several days. So, the Garden Tour was canceled, or, as they say, postponed." We'll see if they are able to reschedule it.
Last Sunday, Tina fell at her sister's house in San Jose, and broke her hip and femur. She had to have immediate surgery. She went into rehab yesterday. She might be in the rehab center in San Jose for a few weeks. We were watching her dog, Sanny, while she was gone, so we might have him for quite a while. Her house was a bit cluttered, and we wanted it to be safe for her when she comes home, so we, along with Patty and Bob, have gone over to straighten up a vbit. We cleaned the kitchen and did a lot of laundry. We don't know how long she will be gone. It's kind of a mess, because her daughter hasn't been treating her very well, and we hope she won't make decisions for Tina that aren't in her best interests.
Bailey and Jermaine are going to come over next Monday k;lto have dinner, swim and play games. I am so looking forward to that.
June 30
Tina called last night, to let us know that she is going to come home tomorrow. We were very surprised, after believing that she was going to have to be in rehab for several weeks.
Bob came over yesterday to pick more cherries. Our freezer is bursting. Scooby came over with him and he and Nala had some play time.
Yesterday morning, we picked Kathy up at her house and drove her up to Stampede, where she had left her camper the day before, when Phil drove home. It was a pretty drive with no traffic. We spent almost an hour there, taking a walk down to the lake and visiting with Forest, and Eric and their wives.
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Eric, Vicki and Kathy all
pretty for camping |
Bailey and Jermaine came over for dinner last night. We had such a fun time. We went to the pool to play Rummikub after dinner, and then came home for apple pie. They left by 7:30 because Bailey had to be at work at the National Guard at 5:30 this morning. After they had been gone for just a few minutes, I realized that we hadn't taken any pictures! I am so mad about that.
July 29
There hasn't been much happening. We enjoyed the 1st Annual Luau/Pool Party on July 12. The food was good, pulled pork, chicken, cole slaw and a few other things. Dessert was a tropical gelato served in half lemons, oranges and cocoanuts. The wind wreaked havoc on the pool umbrellas and three of them broke, beyond repair. There was no swimming due to the pool being super dirty after the wind.
We went to see Dr. Hald about Bill's prostate. He will be having a biopsy on August 22. We also saw Dr. Barbara, who ordered a special blood test to check for Cirrhosis of the liver. She doesn't think he has that, but she wants to rule it out.
We went to stay with Monique and Brian on July 18, a Thursday. We stopped at the Old Spaghetti Factory for lunch on the way. Yum!!
We had visits from Jay, Kirsten and Eric on Thursday night, and Michelle and Riley on Friday. It was fun to see them all and we had good dinners as always,
Saturday, we drove to Jenner, a small town a little bit north of Bodega Bay. We walked on the beach, had lunch in the car, and went to visit Ft. Ross.
Yesterday, was Sunday. We had a totally free day. We went to the pool at 2, and stayed until almost 5. We have never seen the pool so crowded. We spent a lot of time talking with Merle and Kathy, and Karen and Bob. Patty talked with Leslie for most of the time. It was a good day.
August 22
We've taken care of Oreo and Sugarplum, Stella and Finley, and Rocky Harrison this month. We really haven't done much other than swimming almost every day. We went to Nick and Kathie's August 2 for a game night, and that was fun. Leslie and Karla along with Bob and Patty rounded out the group.
Bill had his prostate biopsy this morning. He said the shot hurt but other than that, he feels okay. We got up at 5 am, so we are a little bit tired. We will do nothing today except read and swim. Rocky is such an easy dog to take care of. He will be here for another week.
Bill will be 75 next Sunday. We're going to go out to dinner with the kids on Monday night.
The next social is going to be August 30. We're going to take piecrust pinwheels. Nick and Kathie are having a bunch of people over for Labor Day. They are serving hot dogs and everyone will take a side dish. We will take dessert.
September 5
Bill started in with a bout of diarrhea on Wednesday, August So, we missed the Social but he felt better late Saturday afternoon, so we were able to go to Nick and Kathie's Labor Day party. We had a good time, but, shortly after we got there, I started feeling faint while sitting at the table in the backyard. I had been to the pool for an hour in the early afternoon, and it was very hot, so I think I just had too much heat. I sat inside for a little while and felt well enough to go back out to join the others. Some of us played Corn Hole, and a few of them played Taboo and Left, Right, Center.
I think everyone had a good time. Bill ate two or three bites of a hot dog, and a little bit of corn on the cob. We went home around 9.
Sunday morning, he felt awful, again. By Monday morning, he could hardly make it from the bed to the couch and from the couch to the bathroom, so I took him to the ER, so he wouldn't end up in an ambulance. We were there for five hours, and he came home much improved. Bob said that the paramedics will come out to the house, evaluate him, and give him fluids for dehydration without having to transport him to the hospital. The next time this happens, I will call 911 instead.
Bill does have prostate cancer, so we will be going through some stuff for the next few months. The prognosis is very good, thank God.
We were supposed to work at the Senior Fest on Tuesday, but Bill couldn't have stood for that long, so we bowed out. Yesterday, we went to the AARP Volunteer Luncheon at Cafe Milano, which is where the breakfast was a few months ago. Bill ate a waffle and I had chicken fried steak, which was good. It was fun to get out and have an expensive meal for free.
September 14
We've had Sam and Squeege with us for a week, with one more week to go. They are such good dogs but so clingy. We always have at least one dog up against our legs when we are on the cough. At least they are very good sleepers, one on each side of our bed, protecting us.
On Wednesday night, we spent a pleasant evening at Sue and Dave's house playing Five Crowns. They showed us a video of their house problems when they lived in Somerset several years ago. Dave narrated it, and he made it so funny, detailing the problems and saying that the builder was not at fault. They also showed us their photos from their trip to Ireland.
I got the island cleaned up in the yard. I dug up over 100 ryzomes of Iris and Gladiola, and, after removing other dead or unwanted plant material, I replanted only 25. I will give the rest of them away. Kathy said she will take some of them.
Yesterday, Friday the 13th, we took part in the 2nd annual Toscana Golf Tournament. The time was 4 to about 7, and it was 85 degrees. We teamed up with Bob and Patty. After about eight holes, I started getting too hot, so I went inside before I passed out. After I cooled down, I went back outside to watch the fun with Mary Manson. After everyone was finished, we went back to the Villa for Port Of Subs sandwiches and cake. They didn't buy enough sandwiches so we were only supposed to take one small one, but they didn't tell us that until after I took two for Bill. I put dill pickles, pepperoncinis and olives on his, so he really enjoyed his dinner. The cake, which they got from Costco, was delicious. After dinner, they had the putt off contest. I told Bill and Bob that they should enter it, so they both went over to the bocce ball court. After ten minutes or so, I decided to go over to watch the end, because there were two people who had each gotten two balls in the cup and I thought it would be fun to watch the putt off. There were still a couple of people who hadn;t putted, yet, so I decided to go for it. I sunk two balls, so I was in the putt off with the other two people. I didn't have any hope of sinking a putt because the distance was about 20 feet, and the bocce court isn't exactly smooth. I did it! The other two people missed all three of their putts, but I got my first one in the cup! The prize was a $50.00 gift card for Red Hawk Golf Resort. We will be able to ave a nice dinner for that.
Tonight, we are having Kathie, NIck, Bob and Patty over for dessert and games. We asked Joe and Pat, but they are busy. We also asked Karla, Diane and Larry, who will let us know today, if they can make it.
We had a really fun time. We decided to ask Dave and Sue over, too, and they rounded out the group perfectly. We played Blank Slate. Sam and Squeege were annoying, but not too much.
September 29
On Sept 20 Bryanna and Bailey surprised us with a visit. Bill was coughing so they didn't get near him. That turned out to be a good thing, because the next morning, Bill test positive for Covid. I took him to the hospital, just to see if there was any treatment that he could have. They said the treatment was too harsh and he would just have to tough it out. He should go back to the hospital if he had trouble breathing or if his fever got too high. I got it the next day. It was four days of misery followed by three days of feeling a little bit better every day. We are back to normal except for a cough and brain fog. We never lost our senses of smell or taste. Bob brought is some food. Kathy and Rommie brought food, did some errands and mowed the lawn.
October 7
We have recovered from the dreaded Covid, but we still have a little bit of a cough. We are back to our regular routine. We've been going to the pool every day. It will be closing October 16, and we will have to use the indoor pool. We just wish they would lower the heat in the pool room so it would be more comfortable.
Saturday night, we all went to Kathy and Rommie's for dinner. Spaghetti, meatballs, salad and garlic bread, A perfect dinner. I didn't take any pictures, though. We watched the Nevada versus San Jose football game after dinner, with the sound turned down low, so we were able to talk and have fun.
We made cannoli and everyone approved. We probably won't make them again, though, because they are a pain to do, and Casatta is so much easier and tasty, too.
Bill will be going to Urology Nevada in two days for a PET scan. After that we will be able to decide on his treatment for Prostate Cancer.
October 22
Bill will be having radiation for 45 days over nine weeks beginning sometime in December. His prognosis is excellent. There should be few or mild side effects, probaby fatigue, which is nothing new for him, so we will deal with it. We will have to drive to Double R every day except for weekends. We would rather not have to go so far, with winter coming, but it does beat having to go to San Francisco.
We had an impromptu game night last Saturday. We asked Julie and Craig Harrison and Kathy and Nick Poronowitz, along with Bob and Patty, but only Bob and Patty were able to come. I made pound cake and formed a sort of Casata cake.
It was good, but the pound cake was a little bit dry on the bottom. We planed Five Crowns. We had Kahlua for four day, with Heidi coming on her last day. We were concerned about Kahalua, but it went very well. Kahlua and Heidi ignored each other. That is perfect.
Yesterday, we took a walk at the Lazy 5 Park, after dropping off our ballots at the library.
The weather has been very good, with Fall coming on pretty gently, so far. We are expecting rain next weekend, with snow in the mountains. We have been trying to get ahead of the yard work by trimming lots of the plants with our new Craftsman trimmer.
Craig and Jackie will move to Kauai, or St. George, if Jennifer gets her transfer with Edward Jones. They are going on a trip to St. George on November 11. I called Colleen and they are going to get together to talk about the area. Colleen is very much a people person, so they will get along well.
November 17
The schedule for Bill's radiation is still not set, but he will go in for the procedure to insert a balloon to protect his bladder on November 20. We hope the treatment will start within a couple of weeks.
We had our six month check up with Dr. MacKenzie on October 28. Both doing well, except my blood pressure was high. He said to check it more often. We went to our opthamologist, Dr. Gamet, last week. Bill's eyes are really good, and my cataracts are getting worse. He said I should think about having the surgery to correct them in the next year or so. Bill saw Dr. Vlad, our cardiologist, on Thursday. Everything looks good.
We went to Sue and Daves with Bob and Patty for games on October 20. It was a fun night. On November 9, we went to Nick and Kathie's for games and snacks, which turned out to be enough to have made it a dinner. Leslie and Karla, and Bob and Patty were there, too.We laughed so much at Taboo and Five Second Rule. What a fun night it was.
We spoke with an insurance man that Craig and Jackie recommended, to see if we could get better coverage or a better rate. He told us that he can't even come close to what we have with ATT-United Health Care.
We had dinner at the Brown's last Sunday. Rommie and Bailey made chile. It was very good along with cornbread. Dessert was apple pie and ice cream. We played Five Crowns after dinner. Their neighbor visited with her little boy, Emmet. He is very cute and minds his mom well. They have become good friends, so the girls are getting a good taste of what little kids can be like. We also went to their house for Bryanna's birthday a couple of weeks ago, after getting together for dinner at Outback. Bryanna made her own amaretto birthday cake.
The plans have been made for both girls to move. They will all drive to Phoenix in three cars on December 21. They will get Bryanna settled in her new apartment. They Kathy, Rommie and Bailey will drive to Tampa in two cars. They will get Bailey settled in her new apartment with Germaine. They Kathy will fly home. So, none of them will be here for Christmas. Rommie and Bryanna will be going to Maria's for Thanksgiving. I don't know what Bryanna's or Kathy's plans are. Tony and Anais always go to Phil and Brenda's for Thanksgiving. So, I'm thinking of seeing if any of our friends who are also at loose ends want to get together for dinner.
Thanksgiving week
Things for which I am thankful on this Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 2024
My husband, Bill – 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 57 years. We are each other’s best friend and love being together, no matter what we are doing.
Bill’s medical team, who worked diligently to keep him alive and functioning through his very challenging disease and all its complications. I am thankful that his cancer was controlled by some amazing medications, that weren’t even available when he was first diagnosed with melanoma. He has been in remission since 2012. He is healthy and strong and I am grateful.
Our kids – who despite growing up at a time when many became druggies and despite not always having the advantages that might have been available to many others, turned out to be competent, productive, responsible individuals and people with whom we enjoy spending time. We are fortunate to have Kathy and Rommie, and Tony and Anais, all living just a few minutes away.
Our kid’s spouses, Anais, Jennifer and Rommie – they married our kids and make them happy. What more could we ask?
My parents, Josephine and Bill – they did their best to raise two happy, independent women, and I think they did a great job of it.
My sister, Joline, who has been my inspiration all our lives. We have had our disagreements at times, but once she admits that I'm right, we are the best of friends. Early this year, she lost her wonderful husband, Bill, who was a great dad and grandfather to her girls and their kids. I'm grateful that she has coped with the terrible loss admirably.
Bill’s parents, Margaret and Stan, who raised Bill and his brother, Mike, to be a responsible, loving people.
Our grandchildren – we have been so fortunate to have our lovely and intelligent granddaughters so close that we know them inside and out. Bryanna graduated from UNR and went to Arkansas for her master’s degree in Kinesthetics. She went on to George with the Bulldogs, and then, after she got her Master's, she moved to Phoenix to work for the Seattle Mariners. That job ended a couple of months ago so we got to see her a few times over the summer and fall. She will be moving back to Phoenix, as she has been picked up by the Mariners, again.
Bailey has been in the Nevada Air National Guard for over six years and has also been working as a hematologist at Renown, where she has expertly drawn our blood several times for various doctor visits. She will be moving to Tampa to take up housekeeping with Jermaine. We will miss them both so much. And, so will Kathy and Rommie.
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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 I have been able to find several temporary and part time jobs that have allowed us to maintain our way of life even with the economy giving us constant challenges.
Our health – we have been fortunate to be healthy, except for a few years when Bill was not. Every day we wake up and can get out of bed is a good day. We are both well and able to do almost anything we want to do. We have been able to avoid this horrible pandemic that has devastated so many families. We are grateful that Covid vaccines were developed to help us to stay healthy. We have had three doses, and we are still maintaining precautions. He is dealing with prostate cancer, but with his medical team, we are confident that he will be fine in a few months.
Our friends –We have made many forever friends and we are blessed to be able to pick up the phone and call them at any time. They have enriched our lives. Some of them date back to 1964. We have lost a few friends over the last few years, making us realize how much our friends mean to us.
Our next-door neighbors - Micky and Maxine were the first ones to welcome us to the neighborhood when we moved here 19 years ago. They are among the best neighbors we’ve ever had. We can count on them for anything. They are not only neighbors – they are lasting friends and an important part of our lives.
Our house – which we wish was a little bit larger but we are lucky we have a comfortable home, something we tend to take for granted, but we know that many people aren’t so fortunate. The yard continues to be my joy and agony. I love having it to enjoy, but it takes so much work to keep it the way we want it.
Our neighborhood – it is quiet and safe. We enjoy the amenities we have just three short blocks away, like the pool and gym.
Our travels – we loved having the condo in Maui for 21 years. We spent so many wonderful times there, and we made many memories with Bryanna and Bailey and several friends. In 2016, we knew the time had come to let it go, and we have been enjoying different kinds of vacations since then. We have been fortunate to cruise to Spain, the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Alaska. We’ve traveled to Amsterdam, Florida, Texas, Washington, Oregon, and California in the last few years. We have found that, while we have so much fun traveling, there really is nothing better than coming home.
All U.S. Veterans – and their families. – For giving up all that they do and have to give me the ability and the right to do what I want. Veterans in our lives include our dads; several uncles and aunts; several cousins; our brother, Mike; brother-in-law, Bill; our son, Tony; daughter-in-law, Anais; son-in-law, Rommie; and out latest veteran, our granddaughter, Bailey.
The United States of America – Yes, it has its challenges, even more so in this year of 2024. It is still the best place to live, and we are fortunate to call it home.
Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. Patty and Bob bought all the food and she prepared the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sausage stuffing, and sweet potatoes. We cooked the turkey and our stuffing. Patty's friend, Linda, brought a pumpkin cheese cake from Costco which did not disappoint! It was a nice evening.
December 13
We finally have a start date for Bill's radiation - January 15. That same day, I will have cataract surgery on my left eye, followed two weeks later by surgery on my right eye. Everyone who has had it done has said that it improved their vision enormously.
December has been a pretty busy month. Somewhat reluctantly, we decided to give away our big, beautiful desk and put in a Murphy bed that is a desk when it isn;t a bed. We will be able to have overnight guests again. We tried to sell the desk, but nobody is buying large furniture any longer, we think. Patty found some people, Kristy and Paul, who came over, took the desk apart, and hauled it away.
They also took several of our Christmas decorations, so that made Bill happy. The bins won't be so heavy to lift.
We visited lots of doctors this month, including Dr. Kas, and Dr. Danaready, who said that Bill is doing very well.
December was the AARP luncheon at the Peppermail. We had a good time visiting with everyone, and the food at Cafe Milano is always very good.
December 6 was the Santa Surprise at the Villa. The surprise was that there were three santas. The Villa choir performed several Christmas songs and they served punch and cookies. It was so crowded that, even after we put out several extra chairs, quite a few people ended up standing. The organization of those things isn't very good.
Walter is teaching several of us to play Whist. We are enjoying it, and we plan to play when they start up the games in January.
Julieanne and Craig came over for dinner Tuesday night. We made chicken parmesan, broccoli, salad and pasta. For dessert, we served cherries on pound cake with whipped cream. After dinner, we played Rummikub. We had a really fun evening.
We took Wednesday off and on Thursday, Susie and Kurt came over for dinner. We served the same food except for the broccoli. They brought garlic knots. Yum. Another fun evening, but we talked instead of playing a game. Kurt gave us some phone tips for our new phones.
Christmas morning
Christmas is very different this year, with Kathy, Rommie, Bryanna, and Bailey all away. They went to Phoenix to take Bryanna to her new home and job,and then Kathy and Bailey left for Tampa to take Bailey to her new home with Jermaine.
They made a stop at the Grand Canyon on the way. Right now, they are somewhere in Louisiana with plans to spend the later part of Christmas day in New Orleans. I plan to call oth of the girls later today.
The social last Friday was very festive, with many of the people dressed up for Christmas. We met four new people, who sat at our table, along with Tina, Patty and Bob. It was a nice night. We put together a charcuterie board candy cane with salami, different cheeses, tomatoes and pita crackers. It didn't turn out as pretty as the photo I modeled it after, but it wasn't too bad.
We went out for dinner at Bertha Mirandas with all the kids except Bailey last Monday. The food was surprisingly good so we will go there again. We had a very good time with all of them. Tony gave Bill a book, called Stupid Dad Jokes, by Bill Garrow, He gave several facts about Bill's life to a company who put them together to make an autobiography. The book is totally inaccurate, but very fun, and we are enjoying it.
We had a last minute Rover request for a dog from Dec 21 to 27 because the sitter they had lined u cancelled on them. Since we had no other dogs, we took her. Her name is Tanaya and she is a bit of a dream dog, much like Kahlua. She loves hanging out in the yard which is a bit difficult with the cold weather. We would like to have her stay with us in the summer. She lives in Mammoth, so we probably won't have her again, if at all.
Yesterday, we received a gift card for Applebees from Sam and Squeege. That was so nice and very unexpected. When they were picked up last week, Victor gave us an extra $200. They really do appreciate us.
We spent Christmas eve making cookies, apple cherry pie and doggie treats. It has been raining, but it's warm so there hasn't been any snow. We sold both of our old Samsung tablets on Facebook Marketplace and made $250.00. We met both of the buyers at the police station for safety.
Today, Tony and Anais are coming over for Christmas dinner. We are having chicken parmesan, garlic knots, corn and salad. I told them that if they had any friends who don't have family nearby, they could invite them to dinner, but they said everyone has someplace to go, so it will be the four of us. I know Tony will have fun playing with Tenaya.
Christmas morning was strange because we didn't have to be at Kathy's house with monkey bread as we have for the last several years.
After we finished breakfast, we took Tenaya over to visit Aunt Laura for a little while. In the afternoon, we finished the dinner preparations and read our books.
Christmas evening was wonderful. Tony and Anais came over around 4:00 pm. We talked for a while as we were putting the finishing touches on dinner. We served the chicken parmesan, salad, corn and garlic knots, and they enjoyed everything. I had made an apple/cherry pie for dessert.
They brought a game, That's It, for a little while and then changed to Racko. It was really fun. Tenaya was good, and she entertained us with her playfulness. They stayed until about 8:00 and they took some leftovers for the next day.
The day after Christmas was busy. We undecorated the house, and went to Walmart and Costco to get everyday things to the tune of over $225.00 because several of them were on sale at Costco. Today, Tenaya will be going home,, and Kahlua will be arriving for a two day visit.
We spent a good part of the morning changing several of our passwords. We sold both tablet on Facebook Marketplace ($250.00 total) and Bill sold my phone on eBay ($100.00) so, even though we did factory resets on them, we thought it would be a good idea to make our banking and shopping apps more secure. We don't know if the sim cards retain any information that a new owner could access.
We bought ticket for the New Year's Eve bash at the Villa. Then we found out that there will be no dinner served, only appetizers and drinks. Several people including Patty and Bob, and JOe and Pat, encouraged them to join the fun at the Grill at Legends Bay, but we decided to stick with our original plan. There will be lots of friends at the party, and we will be able to dance. If we went to the Grille, it would just be for dinner and visiting and it might be frowned upon if we danced in the restaurant.
December 29
Kathy and Nick had us over, along with Mark and Gail, for games. They had a new one, Karma,, which started out to be rather hard to play, but we figured it out, and we loved it. I have already bought onf for us. We had such a fun time. They asked about having a game night every couple of weeks, or every month, but we said we would rather keep it spontaneous.
This morning, while we were playing Wordle, Bill heard the larger hermit crab rummaging around in his kennel. It appeared that he was going to change to a different shell, so I set up the camera, with the tripod that Susie gave us, and we were able to catch the move on video. It's too large to put on this, but it can be seen on my youtube channel.
December 30
Yesterday was a warm day, but we just enjoyed staying home and reading for most of the day. In the early afternoon, we went to Bob and Patty's house so Bill could see the Murphy Bed they are giving us.
We decided to use our Applebee's gift card from Sam and Squeege because Bob and Patty had one, too, so we went there for dinner. I had the clubhouse grille and Bill had a hamburger. Both were very good.
New Years Eve party at the Villa
We had such a fun time at the party. We sat with Kathie and Nick, who had saved seats for us, Walter and Jean, and Kathy and Marv, who we met there. They were very nice. All of our friends danced most of the night. We found that, after a couple of hours, our legs and my hips were hurting, but that didn't stop us. It got very hot in there, too, but we took care of that by opening the door near the bocce courts. The food was better than we had expected because we knew that there was going to be shrimp and seafood salad, so we were afraid there wouldn't be much else. There were sliders, fruit, bread with artichoke dip, chocolate covered strawberries and brownies. I took a bottle of Moscato and Bill took a flask of Crown, but he drank from Nick's bottle instead. It was just wonderful until..
We were heading out to the dance floor at about 10:30 when Bill said he had to sit down. We sat and I talked to him for a couple of minutes. He said he felt fine. But then I saw that he was just staring at the dancers. Ruth came over to us and said Bill didn't look very good on the right side of his face. I didn't really see anything wrong, but his eyes were very bloodshot. I asked him if he was alright, and he mumbled incoherently. That worried me, because that's how he gets when he is dehydrated and headed to the hospital. Toni came over and between us, we decided that he needed to go to the hospital. He was a bit slumped in his chair, and we tried to sit him up, but he started sliding down so several people helped to get him to the floor. Kathie knealed down at the top of him with his head in his lap and she was soothing him and rubbing his head. It was very sweet. Things happened very quickly after that. The paramedics came in and got him on the gurney and out the door and into the ambulance. I went home to change my shirt and get his pillow and I went to the hospital. I was so glad that they agreed to take him to Northern Nevada since it is only a mile away. Arvid came over to take me to the hospital. He waited with me until he found out that Tony and Kathy were on their way.
Tony, Anais, Kathy and Rommie got there even before I was allowed to go into the room. They were all very upset. I filled them in on what had happened and finally, I was able to go in to him. He was curled in a ball facing the wall, and when he heard me talk, he turned over and started crying and grabbing me. He thought I had left him all alone. It was heartbreaking. He was very agitated and disoriented. Tony came into the room with us after 20 minutes or so, and was able to get him calmed down. I found out that they had given him an MRI before I went in. When the doctor finally came in, he said the results of the tests were inconclusive but they were going to treat it as a stroke. Suddenly, there was an announcement that there was a stroke victim in Room 14, which was his room. Tony ran out to let the others know that the announcement didn't mean anything. I was asked to step out of the room, so I went to the waiting room for a few minutes. When I was told I could come back in, Tony and Kathy came in with me. A neurologist was summoned via a monitor and he had Bill do some routine movements to evaluate him. He didn't have much of a bedside manner and Bill said afterward that he had been very mean. It was decided that he would be given a bag of saline and an anxiety medication to calm him down. I told the kids that they should go home because they were all very tired. Rommie had driven home all day from Phoenix so he was drooping. Kathy and Rommie took me home to get the car, and when I got back, Tony and Anais left. I went in with Bill and he was already on the IV. He said that they had been brutal and were hurting him. I think his veins didn't cooperate with the IV stick. He started to feel better after i/4 of the bag had gone into him, and by the time it was finished, he was fine and anxious to go home. The nurse, Haley, unhooked him, and had him walk a little bit, which he did with no problem, and at about 4 am, he was released. We got home, I took care of Abby, and we went to bed.
Abby got me up at 6. Poor thing had been alone all evening, and then, when we got home, she was justled into her kennel with a treat but no play time. Bill slept until after 10, and was very tired all day.
We got home by 4, unpacked, did the laundry and were catching up on our TV watching by 7. It was a good trip altogether. But, we won't plan any more trips where we have to drive so many miles three days in a row, again. It would have been better to do the return trip in four days.
Ready for the Eclipse
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