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 back 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 knelt 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.
So many of our friends were helping and so concerned about Bill. The ones I remember most were Kathie and Nick, Sue and Dave, Ruth, Toni, Cinndy, and Mary. On New Years Day, Kathie brought us 18 red roses from all of them. That was so thoughtful.
January 2
The kids brought Chinese food over for dinner to celebrate Kathy's birthday. It was a fun and relaxing evening. I set up the tripod to get a few pics of all of us, but Bill was cut off. Kathy was able to insert him into the picture using a pic from Halloween. It was perfect.
I made a wacky cake in the morning, so that was a perfect dessert, that everyone enjoyed.
January 8
We have been to three or four Whist practice sessions so we are all ready for the first Whist night at the
Villa on January 17. The game is pretty simple but we still have quite a bit to learn about strategies, like what card to play when leading off. Kathie and Nick came over last night for Karma King, which is quite a bit different than Karma, which we learned to play at their house several days ago. We enjoyed it and had a fun time.
January 10
Tony came over to take us over to the new model homes near Cascades on Thursday, but, unfortunately, they are closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. From the outside and the floor plans, they look very nice. We would both like to have a larger house and a smaller yard, but we don't think there is any way we could afford to buy a new house. He took us to lunch at Salad Works, which is a place he took us to several months ago. We were looking forward to a very good lunch, and the restaurant was gone. But, he found one way over on McCarran in West Reno, so we went there. It was delicious.
We got a last minute booking on Thursday for Lemon and Hawk to spend a few days with us. They are good dogs, who were here once before, so we didn't hesitate to say yes. Every little bit of extra money will go toward the cruises.
January 11
Tony, Kathy, Rommie, Eric and Erica came over to help with the Murphy bed. It took them over an hour to get it out of Bob and Patty's house, because Bob had forgotten that it came apart. After they got it apart, it was broken. When they got it to our house, we decided we had to take it to the dump. So, we have no new bed in the office/guest room. Kathy and Rommie brought the desk that we had bought for Bill's dad when he moved to Cascades for Bill to use until we find a desk for him. We told Bob and Patty that the bed fell and broke, so they wouldn't feel bad about us having to toss it.
January 14
Today is my cataract surgery. I am a bit apprehensive, but I know it will be good when I can see better. I just got a text from Patty Caracker saying that we won't be having Abby any longer. They have a friend with a schnauzer who wants to take care of her. We will miss having her, but she will probably have a great time playing with her friend when they leave her.
The surgery went fine. The IV hurt like hell throughout the procedure, but if I held my arm still, I was able to bear it. I hope the next time it won't be as bad. I could see right away, and I can really see a big difference. Colors things look very bright with my left eye, and not so bright with my right. The next one will be in two weeks.
January 20
Bill's first three treatments went well. I think he has relaxed a lot, and isn't as worried as he was. He said they are really nothing. I hope they keep on that way.
We went to Texas Roadhouse last Thursday just because we felt like having a night out. Dinner was delicious. Friday was Whist night. We had a very good time, and the dinner that Walter and Jean prepared was perfect. They wanted to make tea sandwiches, but weren't able to find small, sliced bread, so they got small sliced rolls. They made deviled ham, chicken salad and cream cheese and pimento sandwiches, with potato chips and grapes. We were even able to bring a couple of sandwiches home for the next night's dinner. Most of the regular game players were there, like Mary Manson, Diane Buck (who brought Larry,) Toni (who brought Joe,) Cee Cee, Cindy, Tina and Patty. We met a few new people who seemed to be very nice.
We went over to see the Silverada houses that Tony wanted us to look at. We like them a lot, and there is one that we could see ourselves living in. But, there are several reasons it won't work. First, we wouldn't be able to afford the payments on a loan of $300,000.00. Second, we have so many friends here, and we would be starting over there. Third, all of our doctors are in Reno, and Pyramid is a terrible road, even after they expanded it.
February 6
Bill's treatments are going well. He is a little bit more than half way through them and he is feeling pretty good. A little more tired than usual, but that was expected. We are trying to not do anything except the necessary things, like going to the store for groceries occasionally, and going to the post office to mail eBay packages.
We went to dinner with Susie and Kurt last week, at BJ's BBQ. It was fun to get to visit with them for a while, and Susie liked the spinner we got for her. We bought dinner because they always buy when we go out for our birthdays. Last Friday was the January social. It was fun and the food was predictable but good We made little tacos in muffin tins and only one was left at the end, so I guess people liked them. We didn't stay as late as we usually do, because we were really tired. We stayed home all weekend and read, played games, etc. Very good, relaxing weekend.
On Monday, we stopped at Smith's in Reno, to get a few things and we found a great sale on Oscar Meyer center cut bacon. It was regular $8.64 for $3.01, because it was almost past it's sell by date. We bought four of them, went home to cook them and realized that center cut is the best, so we then went back to buy the rest, so we ended up with 22 packages of bacon. We gave three to Kathy and three to Anais.
Last Sunday, the 9th, we went with Tony, to the downtown library for a presentation of old videos by a man who grew up in Reno in the 50s and 60s. It was interesting to hear his stories and see movies of areas that we are familiar with.
This week, we've been getting some heavy winds and a little bit of rain. Today, Tony and Anais came over to take us to Bill's treatment and then they were going to take us to Minden for pizza, but as we left Reno, it started to snow hard, and by the time we got half way to Washoe Valley, Tony had decided to turn around rather than drive all that way with the roads being bad. We had lunch at PF Chang and it was delicious. They have lunch specials, which we didn't know about, and the price of those is $12.75, which is a very good price for the amount of food we got. We will go there again at lunch time.
February 17
Bill started coughing last Thursday and it turned into a cold. He has been coughing really hard since then. Saturday, he spent most of the day sleeping with the help of nighttime col medicine. He improved a lot through Sunday and today. Tony was going to take him to his treatment tomorrow so I can go to the Book Club at Toscana, but we don’t want Tony and Anais to get sick, so I’m going to take him unless he’s coughing so much that we have to cancel. I’ve been coughing and sluggish, but I didn’t get as sick as he did.
Bob and Patty had us over for pizza and salad on Saturday, the 8th. We played games after that and got home a little bit after 9:00 PM. Last Tuesday, we went to play games at Sue and Dave’s house. Neither of them seemed sick, so we don’t think Bill picked up his cold from them.
I talked to Bailey on Sunday. She went to the Little Harbor Inn to check it out for us. She said it’s in a very nice area. She is going to go back to see if she can see the inside of #205. Some of the reviews said that it’s very dirty, while others said it is clean and wonderful. I have another place on hold which Bailey said she will check out for me.
February 26
Yesterday was Bill's last radiation treatment. In three months, he will have a blood test to see what his PSA looks like. For now, we wait.
March 1
We continue to recover from our colds. Still coughing, but not as much. I take extra decongestant when I want to go out, but I don't do it often because I know that is bad for me. Tony texted us yesterday to see if we wanted to go for a drive, but we just wanted to stay home and try to get over the cough.
We went to the Social last night, and it was fun as always. The food was good and for the first time in a while, there was plenty of it. Our table got to go first, which is always cool. Lon and Bird presented us with a rum cake that Bird baked in honor of Bill's treatments being over. That was so sweet. We put it in the freezer until we have a reason to eat cake. Sue told me that she and Dave got sick two days after we were at their house, which is when we got sick. We both wonder who gave it to whom? It really doesn't matter, because none of us were sick at the time, so there was no way to know any of us were carrying any germs.
Gary called to invite us to go to their Oscar party tomorrow night. Even though we haven't seen any of the movies, we are going to go, just because it will be fun. Gary said we will have to guess the winners, but that's okay. I read The Nickle Boys, so that is the movie I will vote for.
We had a fun time at Gary and Jeanene's party. There were only a few people there and the only one we knew was Garrett, but they were all very nice. They served Tri Tip, salad (which we took,) lasagna, mac and cheese, appetizers, popcorn, cookies and cake, so there was plenty of food.) Out of 24 categories, I got seven correct so I won a Fandango gift card.
March 15
We've had a new dog, Lucy, this week. She is a pug so she snorts when she is awake and snores when she is asleep, but she is a good girl. We had Scooby and Zoey last weekend. Zoey had been declining for quite a few months, but she was getting really bad at our house. She didn't eat for three days and I was concerned so Bob had Stacy come over to pick her up. She ended up taking her to the vet to be euthanized. The next day, Hammy crossed the bridge, which leaves Tony and Anais catless. That is always so hard, but unfortunately, it is a part of loving animals
We had our taxes prepared by AARP on Monday, and we got our return of $1500.00 deposited on Friday! It has never come so fast before.
Jean and Charles came to visit Anais and Tony for a week. We all went to Mi Casa for dinner on Tuesday night, and they all came here for dinner on Wednesday night (Except for Rommie, who was feeling a little sinusy.) We had a good time visiting with them. I forgot to take any pictures when they were here, but Kathy took some pics of the the parents with Tony and Anais at the river.
We were disappointed when we went to the Villa at 11 AM Monday morning to find out that all the tickets to the Great Potato Bash had been sold between 8 and 9. It's hard to believe that many people got up and went to buy their tickets that quickly. So, we put out names on the wait list, at numbers 12 and 13. I got a call on Thursday that there was one ticket available. I took it, even though I didn't want to go without Bill. But I thought that if another one became available, we could bo, so I didn't want to pass up the chance. On Friday morning, he got the call that there was a ticket, so, our patience paid off.
We had a good time and the people loved the potato tossing. I didn't think it was as much fun as last year, but I think that was because the tossing part wasn't a surprise this time.
We had a nice long phone visit with Monique. We all feel so fortunate to have had such a wonderful lifetime friendship. We asked her to send some pictures of the grandkids some of whom we haven't seen for several years.
Becka and boyfriend, Jordan
Brian with Maddie
Cooper, Eric and/Emily
Emily and Kirsten
Brian and Monique with Jay, Eric and Emily
Haley and Riley
April 3
We had a terrible wind storm a few days ago. Our beautiful bird condo blew down, and we don't think it can be repaired. 
We will see what can be done. Tony came over and moved it off the lawn for us while he was here.
We will see what can be done. Tony came over and moved it off the lawn for us while he was here.
At last our cruise is just a few days away. We have been busy getting the patio ready for the summer. We decided to give the fire table away because we have had it for three years and we have used it only three or four times. We ordered a coffee table and an end table in a wicker look. The end table got here a couple of days ago. We put it together this afternoon. It is cheap, but it should last for a couple of years.
Power washing the patio, didn't remove the stains from the leaves sitting on it during the winter. So, we thought about getting it tiled, like we did the lanai in Maui. We found some tile that was very nice, and it would cost about $1100.00. We had a highly recommended installer come over for an estimate. We were thinking it would be around $3000.00 for the whole job. We were way off. The installation alone was going to be $7,400.00.
So, on to another idea. We bought two camping rugs in a tropical pattern.
We don't think the rugs are going to work, even though they look very nice, because they don't lie flat and we know they are a tripping hazard. We'll look for another solution when we get home from the cruise. Tony suggested paint, like we had on the lanai before we got it tiled. That might work.
Bailey came home for a short visit last Thursday and Bryanna surprised Rommie and Kathy with a quick visit on Saturday night. Kathy brought them over for a visit on Monday.
It was good to see them. We will be seeing Bailey again in two weeks, but we don't know when we will be able to visit Bryanna. Maybe in the Fall.
May 3
We’ve been home from our Caribbean cruise and our visit with Bailey for just over one week. We got back into our regular routine quickly, despite being hit with some congestion issues and some serious jet lag. We were supposed to have Sam with us for two weeks beginning last Saturday, but Victor wrote to say that he was going to have surgery and had to cancel. He said he is going to pay us for the time anyway- $900.00! I wanted to tell him that is unnecessary but he said not to say that. He will be bringing the money soon.
Tony came over for a long visit a few days ago and we talked for hours. You wouldn’t think we had that much to talk about, but he is just so interesting. A few weeks ago, we gave him all of our old photo albums and some papers to go through. He has found some great old photos and, he has started working on our genealogy, uncovering things we never knew about my side of the family. I am anxious to see all that he has discovered.
Last Wednesday, we went to the AARP Appreciation luncheon at the Nevada Art Museum. The lunch was good and we talked with several friends. After lunch, we walked through some of the exhibits. We found one that was especially fascinating. 
We talked to Scott last week about the possibility of going to see them for a few days after our cruise next November. We would love to be able to see Carson and Brendan. We checked all the flight options. It would mean flying home on Thanksgiving Day to avoid the crowds before and after the holiday. We don’t think it’s going to work.
We got a call from Bryanna last evening. We talked for almost 40 minutes, about our cruise, her plans for the future, and everything else we could think of. It was a special time with her. Bailey told us, when we were with her in Florida, that she and Bryanna are thinking about buying a house together in the Phoenix area and living there together along with Jermaine. Bryanna said she would be the perfect roommate because she would be working and traveling with the team for six months of the year, and only home for six months.
May 14
We went to Handel's Ice Cream for AARP Get the Scoop, a presentation on fraud. Only three people showed up, but we were able to hang out with Maria, Betty and Sarah and we took home free ice cream, which is the most yummy ice cream we have found.
May 15
On Monday, May 13, Bill said he hadn’t felt well all morning. He was having chest pains, and he asked me to take him to the doctor or the hospital. I called Dr. McKenzie to let them know that I was taking him to the hospital and why. After a few hours at NNMC, and several tests, the doctor said they couldn’t find the problem. Of course, by then, the pains had stopped. They kept him in the hospital overnight so they could do n echo-cardiogram and a stress test. I left at a few minutes after 6 PM because we had Rocky and Danny. Tony , Kathy, and Rommie got there to visit him just after I left. They stayed for a little while, and then Tony came over to visit me. When he left at 8:30; the dogs and I went to bed. The next morning, Bill had the tests and he was released at noon after finding out that there is nothing wrong with his heart except a minor leaky valve, which we will follow up on with Dr. Vlad.
We aren't going to be able to visit Scott’s family after our November cruise. There are just no connections that will work for us. We would have to spend several hours in various airports. We will have to figure out another way to make a visit.
June 21
It has been a month since I wrote anything on this. We haven't had anything significant gong on. Colleen, Mike, and Maureen came here for Aunt Laura's 100th birthday, which was May 24, the day after Tony's birthday.
We all had dinner at Olive Garden on the first day they were here, but without Aunt Laura. The second day, we had dinner with her at Cascades. And the third day, Tony and Anais hosted dinner for all of us, including Laura. We enjoyed visiting with all of them. Mike invited Bill and me to join them at the GSR pool on the fourth day so that was another fun day.
At our biannual checkups in April, Dr. Mckenzie said my blood pressure was high so he put me on BP meds. Now my blood pressure has been running very low, so low that I feel super tired and I have trouble standing for long periods and being too warm. I will be going back to see him next week. I hope he will want me to go off the meds.
May 29 was the AARP Scam Jam at the McKenzie Arts Center in Reno. Bill, Betty and I served the food. It didn't draw even half of the people they had expected, so we took the unopened food to the Eddy House, and we brought home a lot of fruit, veggies, cheese and meat roll up sandwiches, most of which we took to the May social.
I had a tooth cleaning at Dr. Bank's office, and I needed two crowns replaced. Since they were decayed underneath them it was going to take two to three hours and cost $3,100. Yikes! I had that done two weeks later and I took two Halcion tablets because I was super nervous about the Novocain shots. It went fine.
May 8 was the Cinco de Mayo party at the Villa. There was a food truck in the parking lot, with meals for $15.00 but Bill and I took a taco casserole to share with Bob and Patty, so we had a good time without having to pay a lot.
We have been swimming as often as possible since the outdoor pool opened near the end of May. The first day we went, the pool and deck were very dirty. I wrote a letter to the board, telling them that it is unacceptable for the pool to be in that condition. Pam Ginsberg answered, with an apology, and said they were going to take care of it right away. They did clean it the next day. One Saturday, we went in the early afternoon, and it got so crowded (25 people) that there weren't enough chairs for everyone. When we got home I wrote a letter to the board, complaining about the lack of chairs and tables, and asking what happened to the ones we used to have. Pam Ginsberg answered again, and said they were working on it. We later found out that on that day, when Maria went out to tell people that it was time to close the pool, some of them refused to leave! We are pretty sure it was Pat and John, who were there when we left, with their grand children. They drink a lot, and it isn't surprising that they would cause trouble like that.
Tony and Anais took us to Minden for lunch on June 4. The restaurant was called Cook'd, and it is in the building that used to house Two Guys From Italy. The food is excellent. He said he goes there sometimes with Sean when they are doing the tool route. After lunch, we stopped at Washoe Lake to find horses. We walked to the lake and then a little more, but I was having one of "spells" so I walked back to the parking lot to sit in the shade while the three of them continued to walk and take pictures. We enjoyed our day with them.
When we left, we drove around the lake and found a huge flock of pelicans, which, of course, we had to stop to get their pictures.
June 6, Kathy and Rommie invited us to go to Nevada Beach for lunch. They were camping there for the weekend with Phil and Brenda. It was the day of the private Garden Tour for those people who were featured on the tour, so we weren't able to leave until about 11 AM. The yards on the tour were lovey, although almost everyone was hit by the leaf roller worms, which put webs on the leaves, and cause some of the flowers to not be able to open. We got there in plenty of time to spend a few hours with them. After lunch we walked to Phil and Brenda's site and sat in their chairs where we were close to the lake. We decorated their campfire as a present.
The Toscana Garden Tour was on June 7. The yards were visited by over 80 people.Everyone was very complimentary. After the tour, we went to play Five Crowns at Karla's house. Nick and Kathie were there, too. It was a fun afternoon.
We have gotten to know Cathy Lai a bit better. She likes to go to the pool so I've been letting her know when we go. Merle had surgery recently, so she can't swim but she will be back in the pool soon. We plan to have them over to play Rummikib, soon.
Bill got his PSA test results a few weeks a few weeks ago, but he finally got the official work on June 10, that he is cancer free. The PSA went from 19 down to 3.9, which is well within the normal range.Yay!!! They are going to monitor him to make sure it doesn't go back up.
I have gone to Chair Yoga at the Villa for the last two weeks. I feel that I get a good stretch as well as a workout. I want to work on my balance as well as my strength.
I started taking Contrave a few days after getting home from the cruise, so it was about the beginning of May. I have lost 15 pounds, and I have been stuck for several days at that, but I am not letting myself get discouraged. I can already see a difference in the way my clothes fit. I want to lose 40 pounds more by the end of the summer. That is quite a challenge, but I know I can do it.
Bill saw Dr. Danaready on June 11. His phosphorus is low, so he is taking phosphorus supplements. Low phosphorus is bad for the kidneys.
Two weeks ago, we visited Aunt Laura. I arranged for her to go on a tour on the bus on June 19, but Bill had a dermatologist appointment, so we couldn't go to take pictures of her on the bus. I hope Tony or Kathy went. I haven't found out how that went.
For the next social, we are going to take a big cabbage/ramen salad. That is a good meal for a hot day.
August 4
A whole month has passed since I have written. Mostly, we have gone to the pool as often as we can, sometimes staying for almost two hours so we've been getting a lot of exercise. Quite often, we are the only people at the pool.
July 4 passed quietly. We stayed home and went to bed early.
I have been going to Chair Yoga on Tuesday's and Thursdays, which is a pretty good workout. I think my balance has improved.
I have been going to Chair Yoga on Tuesday's and Thursdays, which is a pretty good workout. I think my balance has improved.
On July 19, Karen found a huge bug in the pool. It turned out to be a Tarantula Hawk Wasp, which has an excruciating sting. I took it's picture before I knew that. 
We have made some money by having several dogs, always a good thing. One evening in July (not on my calendar, so I don't remember the date) we had Patty and Bob, Kathie and Nick, Gail and Mark and Karla and Sandy over to play Five Crowns. It was a fun night with lots of laughs.
Kathy and Rommie went camping for two weeks, first with Tony and Anais and then with the Wild Hawk Gang. They went to the Oregon coast, and they had a wonderful time, taking lots of great pictures. On the last day of their trip, Rommie got a three pronged fishing hook in his finger, which meant a trip to the emergency room to have it removed, which was a gruesome process. When they got home, we all went to their house for pizza and salad. Very fun! We all got a very nice thank you "gift" from Colleen for taking care of Aunt Laura. Tony and Kathy are doing most of the work,
Last Friday, we went to the Chris Costa concert at the Villa. We had a wonderful time, dancing the night away. It was an ice cream social too, so they served ice cream with do-it-yourself toppings. We hope he will be able to come back again, as everyone really enjoyed his musical style.
Yesterday, we drove up to Clio to join Tony, Anais, Phil, Brenda, Eric and his dad, Scott for a few hours. We went to Gumba's for lunch. Always delicious. We bought a pizza to bring home for the freezer. The reason for the visit was that Bill made chocolate chip cookies, and Tony has been deprived for so long, that we wanted to get them to him right away. We had a very enjoyable afternoon.
On the way home, there was a fire at the south end of Cold Springs valley, right on the side of the road. It was about five acres. We later found out that it grew to 75 acres before they contained it.
August 20
We are leaving tomorrow morning for Petaluma. We’ll meet Brian and Monique at the Buttercream Bakery for lunch. Then we’ll go to their house to spend the weekend. On Sunday morning, we’ll drive up the coast to Gold Beach to spend the night, and the next day, we’ll go to Longview, or LaCenter, if Jackie and Craig have already moved to the new house.
We had a fun evening of good music and dancing on zAugust 1. Chris Costa, a local performer, came to the Villa. We had a wonderful time. Yesterday, Toni told me that he will be here again on Sept. 29. We will make sure to get to the office early Sept 15 to buy our tickets.
On August 11 we went to BJ’s BBQ with Patty and Bob for dinner, on the same night as the Villa rib night. We didn’t want to pay $25.00 each for food that we didn’t choose. We had a fun evening.
The Browns and Garrows went camping for the first week of July. They went to Lassen and the Oregon coast. Tony and Anais came home and Kathy and Rommie were joined in Oregon for another week by the Wild Hawk Gang.
Kathy picked up two dinner plate Hibiscus for me and I got them planted right away in the front yard. They look good. 
On August 2, Bill made cookies and we drove to Clio where the Garrows and the Houcks were camping. We had Gumba’s pizza for lunch/dinner.
The Villa was closed for renovations from August 4 to the 15th, so we had chair yoga at Kathie’s house.
We had a small crowd and we had a good time.
The pools were open for most of that time so we were able to swim almost every day.
We have had two irrigation problems in the last couple of weeks. Bob was able to fix the one for the roses along the driveway but this morning, I found that it was leaking under the sidewalk right next to the one Bob had repaired. 
I was sure it was going to be very expensive to fix, maybe even replacing part of the sidewalk. Luckily, Noe was able to come over to fix it quickly. He only charged $120.00. He even reset the irrigation panel for me. We took Bob and Patty out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse to pay for his work.
I was sure it was going to be very expensive to fix, maybe even replacing part of the sidewalk. Luckily, Noe was able to come over to fix it quickly. He only charged $120.00. He even reset the irrigation panel for me. We took Bob and Patty out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse to pay for his work.
Tony and Anais spent a few days in Las Vegas to meet with Colleen and Kirk about Aunt Laura’s estate. They went to the Sphere to see a show and they say the Blue Man Group. Tony said that we would really enjoy both of those. Colleen gave all of us a very generous check from Laura.
The kids came over for meatloaf, homemade bread, scalloped potatoes, corn, and homemade Dutch apple pie last Saturday because we wanted to hang out with them for a while before our trip. We had a great time. 
Bryanna called last night. We had a good talk. She and Bailey had been planning a trip to Switzerland and France, but Bailey decided she can’t afford it. She is working full time at the Guard and part time at Question. She hopes to deploy to What was the place Bailey wants to deploy to Qatar or some such place. She is also still thinking about moving to Phoenix. Bryanna asked about our upcoming cruise and she is going to look into going with us! That would be so fun.
August 21 to Sept 3
We left home to drive to Napa on Thursday, August 21. We met Monique and Brian at her office and then drove to the Buttercream Bakery for lunch. After returning Monique to her office, we drove to Costco for gas. We thought we were only going a few miles, but we ended up at Vallejo, about 30 miles away. The gas was only $3.87, quite a bit less than anywhere else. When we got to the house we talked and read until Monique got home close to 8 PM. Mo had made a delicious chicken salad. After dinner, we taught Monique and Brian to play Five Crowns.
Friday was spent relaxing and playing games. Saturday was the same but we also watched a movie. Kirstin and Emily came over for a wonderful tri-tip dinner. Mo had made a delicious ice cream cake, using Oreo cookies for one of the layers. I’m going to make one soon for a game night. 
On Sunday, we left to drive up the 101 to Gold Beach, where we spent the night on the way to Craig and Jackie’s house. We had a good time, stopping a few times along the way. One stop was in Fortuna, where we ate the chicken salad sandwiches Monique had provided.
Gold Beach is small and there isn’t much to do there. We checked into the Pacific Reef. It looked nice and it was clean. We had dinner at the Porthole Cafe, about two miles away, and we walked around looking at the scenery.
We got back to the hotel and we walked to the beach and spent a few minutes walking and enjoying the sunset. 
We had thought about going to the light show at 9PM but we wanted to get up early to get on the road. We went to bed at 9:30. I started hearing noises from the next room at around 10, after Bill was asleep.
We had thought about going to the light show at 9PM but we wanted to get up early to get on the road. We went to bed at 9:30. I started hearing noises from the next room at around 10, after Bill was asleep.
After two and one half hours of our next door neighbors fighting, yelling, and strange thudding noises, oh yes, three showers after midnight, (yes, the water is so loud that we could even hear that) we finally got some sleep between 12:30 and 6:30 this morning. Who ever heard of a hotel with no night clerk to call with complaints? Bill wasn’t about to get killed, so he didn’t not go over to complain. It was a night to remember. We left the hotel before 7. We drove a couple of hours before finding a town that had a breakfast place that looked good. It was perfect. I had marionberry syrup on my waffle, and the bacon and eggs were cooked just right.
We were lucky that there is no low fog so we have a wonderful view of the shore and the ocean.
September 7
We enjoyed our visit with Jackie and Craig. Their new house is very nice, and much smaller than their old one. It is also only one story and the yard is tiny, which means that it will be a lot easier for them to maintain it.
We didn’t do much more than play games and eat. We had Greek food for lunch one day. I am not a fan. We went to a roadhouse called Big Moose, where we both had a delicious lunch. I got fish, and Bill got a Caesar salad wrap. We both had homemade potato chips. Will and Jenn joined us. On our last afternoon, we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for an early dinner. On the way home we stopped at a bakery for amazing pastries for dessert.
We had stopped by the new house on the way to dinner, and I snuck in the glass I had painted for Jackie.
She called after she found it to tell me that she loves it.
We had planned to stay a few mere days, but we got a text that Bill had an oncologist appointment on Sept. 3. With Monday being Labor Day, we couldn’t call to change it so we left on Monday.
We had a good drive home, stopping at a Best Wester Plus in Medford. WAZE detoured us around traffic, saving us , probably an hour. We had dinner at Abby’s Famous Pizza. We don’t recommend it. We got the laundry done and everything put away before we went to bed on Tuesday.
The doctor said that Bill is doing fine. He won’t need to have any scans until next year. He was able to get in to Dr. Banks. It turned out that his tooth hadn’t broken. He had lost a filling. It’s all fixed for a little bit under $500.00.
Tony and Anais came over Wednesday afternoon to visit. We gave them a loaf of sour dough bread that we bought in Kalama. It turned out to be not so sour after all.
We took the car to the car wash on Thursday, and, for some reason, Bill decided to check under the hood. He found that something had eaten a big chunk on insulation. There was also a white glove stuck in the area. We told Kathy about it. She and Rommie brought over a large trap which we put under the front of the car. The next morning, the trap was gone. We couldn’t find it even after searching the garage. Kathy and Rommie came over that morning to help us tear apart the garage. They did most of the work. We filled the recycle bin and the trash and they took several boxes of records to take to a record store. Our car is loaded with things for the Assistance League and Habitat For Humanity. They put a shelf unit that Bill had been using in the side yard for the storing some of gardening supplies. We had been storing Bill’s mom’s wedding dress. It’s pretty but we have no use for it so it had to go. While we were cleaning, we found a 12” rat. We couldn’t catch or corner it, and it ran all over the place trying to get away. We think it went out the back door, which means it is still in the area. We now have two traps set in the garage, and Clark is coming over again tomorrow.
Oh yes, we found the mate to the white glove in one of the boxes of linen that I had been keeping. All are now gone.
We went to Kurt and Susie’s for dinner on Friday. Because of the traffic, it took us almost 50 minutes to get there. But, once there we had a great time. New York steak, asparagus, salad and garlic bread was dinner. Susie made a cake for Bill’s birthday. We played the game they gave Bill, but we all thought it was horrible, so she is going to exchange it. Then we played Five Crowns, which is always fun.
Yesterday, I went through an old scrap book, finding lots of memories. I had saved a lot of playbills from Reno Little Theater, as well as ticket stubs from performances we enjoyed and trips we took. Good memories.
Sept 12
The Golf tournament was lots of fun, more than last year, because it was in the 70s instead of in the 90s/ We had a three way tie with two other groups so we got a trophy and had our pictures taken.
Dinner was Port O Subs again and it was very good. There were also homemade cookies for dessert. Good. We sat with Heather, Matt, Julie and a couple of others. We had planned to sit with Patty and Bob, but we had seats at a table where we left our drinks to go get our dinner. When we got back, the table was full. We thought it would be rude to take our drinks and leave so Patty and Bob had to sit somewhere else when they got there.. They were just a little bit late because they went home to feed Scooby. Several people entered the putting contest and seven of us qualified for a runoff. I didn't do terribly, but one man made it into the hole, so he won the gift card.
Tony invited us to go to Quantico with them to take Aunt Laura's ashes in October. It will be a quick trip, but it will be fun to go with them. The tickets cost over $4,000 for the four of us. Wow!
Sept 14
Last night Dan played at the Villa. Not very many people went, but it was kind of a last minute thing.
Afterwards, Patty and Bob came over to play Skyjo. Fun.
September 21
We got Lynn and Matt's dogs, Abby and Preston on Thursday, just after Max went home, and on Saturday, we got two of our former dogs, Nala and Simba. All adorable, but Simba is huge so it makes it very difficult to have all four of them at once. In addition, Preston doesn't like the sleeping arrangements, which is for him and his sister to be in the kitchen. He has barked every night, not as much as the first night, but still annoying. Last night, either Simba or Nala barked in the sunroom, so I got up to put them outside. They both pottied, but Simba thought it was time to be up, and it was only 11:50. Preston heard all the commotion, so he barked. I took him out the side door and put him back in the kitchen with the gate up to keep him in. When I got up this morning, he was all curled up on the couch. He must have jumped over the gate. Tonight I'm going to leave them in the living room with Abby in her kennel. Simba and Nala went home at 1:00. Next Wednesday, Oliver and Abby will come over for a few days and Lucy will be here for the weekend. Lucy is timid with other dogs, but I took the booking with new neighbors, Terry and Trina, before I looked at Lucy's papers, so we will have to deal with that.
October 10
The Halloween party at the Villa was lots of fun. They served pizza (Little Cesars - cold) and Alan. The costumes were good and they did a great job on the decorations. 
I found the cruise we are going to take with Rommie and Kathy. June 2, round trip to Alaska from San Francisco. I tried to book it today, but something didn't work on the Costco website so I'll try to do it tomorrow.
October 12.
The cruise is booked. We have Riviera 748 and 750; right next to the Terrace pool on the stern.
The Toscana cruise was last week. We took care of Danny. Aside from having to miss one port due to a hurricane, it seems that everyone had a good time.
Pat and Joe on the cruise
Today, we took a drive to Davis Creek and Franktown Road to find some fall colors. Tony had posted on Facebook yesterday about a man who has been carving animals from some of the burned trees from the September 2024 fire. We found a few of them. We hope nobody messes with them.
Next Tuesday, we will fly to Virginia to take Aunt Laura's ashes to Quantico. It will be a quick trip, and, because the government is shut down, we are expecting the airports to be terrible. But, we will be with Tony and Anais, so there is that.
October 26
We had a good time on the trip to DC and Virginia with Tony and Anais. The flight from Reno took off 40 minutes late because they wanted to add 700 pounds of fuel due to a flight path change. We never got the fuel due to the truck not being available. The pilot announced “we are going to try for it anyway.” That was a little bit disconcerting. Other than that, the flights went well and we made our connection.
Me met Colleen at the airport and got the rental and we were on our way. We had a mini tour of DC, and then saw the new house that is being built on Aunt Laura’s property. It is huge.
We ate dinner at the Italian restaurant a few blocks from her house. Dinner was delicious. Laura’s old housekeeper joined us for a little while. 
The hotel, a Hampton Suites, was comfortable. The next day, we drove to Quantico to put the ashes in the ground with Uncle Denny. Then we went to Fredericksburg to walk a little bit. We had a piece of the most enormous pizza we’ve ever seen.
Gooey and greasy, and perfect. We drove through Anais and Tony’s old neighborhood. For dinner, we went to Pancho Villa for Mexican. Jen, Jake and Dax joined us, so we finally got to meet her. We took lots of pictures.
Gooey and greasy, and perfect. We drove through Anais and Tony’s old neighborhood. For dinner, we went to Pancho Villa for Mexican. Jen, Jake and Dax joined us, so we finally got to meet her. We took lots of pictures.
The trip home was better than the trip there because we all had seats with nobody in the middle seat so we could stretch out a bit.
The after we got home, we has a Barbershop Choir concert at the Avila. We had a good time, but we didn’t know most of the songs they sang.
Tina gave us her blue couch and china cabinet. Tony, Anais, Rommie and Kathy came over to remove our couch and buffet, and bring in the new furniture. They also helped rearrange the sunroom. It looks so good. I already gave the buffet away and I’m trying to unload the couch.
Yesterday, I made five pillows for the couch. I’m trying to tie in the blue with the existing green in the room.
A few days ago, Jackie told us that they are going on the cruise with us in two weeks. That will make it even more fun. We canceled our room at the Ocean Beach Manor, and booked a suite at Best Western Plus where they are staying before the cruise. Princess Promotions had that hotel on their list of available ones, so we have a suite for two days for $32.00.
November 2
The social on Halloween was loud and lively. Lots of people wore costumes, but we just wore Halloween shirts. We didn’t want to wear our ladybug costumes again. There were a variety of costumes but the best ones were Matt and Lynn, who dressed as a priest and a pregnant nun. Ida was very elegant in a flapper dress and fur stole.
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| This is what they were supposed to look like. |
December 4
We had so much fun on our Caribbean cruise with Craig and Jackie. We went our own ways most of the time, with them spending a lot of time in the casino . Jackie was having a hard time walking so she couldn’t get around very well. We played games together every day and we got together for most of our dinners.
The Sunday (23rd) before the last day, Bill started coughing, and at 1:00ish in the morning, he was so bad, that I made the decision to cancel our flights home on the 25th and fly home on the 24th. I went to Guest Services to call United. I wasn’t able to use miles because the fare was more than it was when I bought the tickets, so the miles were reinstated. The cost was $508. each. He did alright in the morning so the trip home was fine. He got bad after we got home so I took him to the doctor. He has bronchitis and was put on an antibiotic, which worked after a couple of days. Then I got it and went to the doctor. Same story. I had two bad days and am feeling a lot better. But, he is getting bad again. I’m going to see if the prescription can be refilled.
Since we had travel insurance, we opened a claim. The hotel was $156.00 and the bags cost $80. They were going to be free with the tickets bought on miles. It’s good that I took him to the doctor right away because they needed a form filled out by him.
December 12
We finally started feeling better, although the coughs hang on. Dr. McKenzie prescribed Tessalon Pearls, a wonder drug, that has allowed Bill to get a couple of good nights of sleep.
We haven’t seen anyone, or done anything more than going to the doctor and the market/pharmacy since we got home from the cruise on Nov 24. Yesterday, Tony came over so we got to talk with him for a couple of hours. Last night was the pre-tour for the people whose houses are on the Christmas Home tour tonight. We were tired, but we had a good time seeing some people and doing something different. We all ended at the home of Jeff and Bruce. Jeff had prepared a gourmet dinner for over 30 people. I think everyone had a wonderful time.
We had made plans to go to the New Years Eve party at the Villa again, and we had arranged for Sue and Dave Lanagan to buy our tickets, because we were still too sick to get them ourselves. Then Jackie called and asked us to spend a week after Christmas at Will and Jenn’s house, to take care of their dogs, while they go on a trip. We had to give it a lot of thought. We’d miss the party; Bryanna will be home; we still don't feel well so what if we are still sick then? But we decided to do it. Craig and Jackie paid for our tickets.
The rest of December
We were sick for almost three weeks with a few days between the bronchitis and what we believe was the flu, so we didn't do much. On Dec 11, we went on the Pre-Tour for the Christmas houses. All the houses were done differently and all were very pretty. After the tour, Jeff and Bruce. They served a delicious homemade dinner at their house, for over 30 people. It was a very nice time to visit with lots of our neighbors. Dec 12 was the tour. We had a couple of hundred people come through, and it was fun, but we felt like we had no time to enjoy visiting with anyone because someone new was always coming in. After the tour, there was a little play at the Villa, but on by Al and Genie, with some of the residents playing parts. It was very cute That was followed by refreshments.
On Dec17, Bill had a prostate MRI, which came out fine, according to Dr. Hald. Dec 18, was the Rat Pack with Chris Costa and two others. It was fun, but not spectacular. The part of Marilyn Monroe was done very well. We were disappointed that we weren't able to dance.
December 21 was our much anticipated family dinner. After being so sick, and not being able to see anyone for a couple of weeks, it was so good to be able to have them over. We included Susie and Kurt. Dinner was baked pasta, salad, homemade bread, apple pie and brownies. Tony and Anais brought Leonardi vinegar that they found at the Leonardi vineyard in Italy.
That was a big surprise. We did a vinegar tasting with bread and the different vinegars. Tony also gave us a Casa Leonardi, Italy sign. That night was our favorite of the Christmas season.
Christmas eve we made monkey bread and sat around relaxing. Christmas morning, we went to Kathy and Rommie's for our Christmas breakfast of sausage, bacon, biscuits, croissants, gravy, eggs, and monkey bread. We stayed for a couple of hours, just talking and watching the news. When we left, we visited with Kurt and Susie for a couple of hours. For Christmas dinner, we had fish, because we wanted to use our lemon before it went bad. We watched It's a Wonderful Life.
The day after Christmas, we packed and undecorated the house, because I didn't want to come home after a week away and have to do it then.
The trip to Portland was good, with very pretty snowcapped mountains peaking through the clouds. I got a good pic of Crater Lake and Mr. Hood.
