Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Hoping this slips in before the network OH is on goes down again...

117.2 - 3rd day in a row. Weird what the body does.

Thanks for the Safari advice. It does sound like it might be worth the expense but I don't think we are ready for a multi-week trip next year. We may see if we can get on the list for the following year (this organization does one per year and will take up to 20 people each time). At least one other couple (one of the ones we went on the charter with earlier this year) might be interested in going in 2027 so that would be fun.

We had our bucket list meeting yesterday. We threw out one destination (too far away from anything else and not enough to do there). The rest we kept and categorized. Obviously the Safari trip bubbled up. We categorized the trips into inexpensive/easy to get to (Bermuda, Bahamas, etc); expensive but definitely worth doing (Safari, Greece); and opportunistic - worth doing if combined with something else or if a good price/trip with friends comes up (Napa Valley, Alaska, etc). So we may knock off one or 2 of the easier ones in a year when we aren't too busy, then work toward the ones worth it. Gives some structure anyway.

Today after DH has his PCP appointment we are going to the beach club, then home to clean up and back there tonight for the Welcome Back party. It has a Margaritaville theme. Should be lots of fun - anyone back for the season is going. DH wants to talk with his PCP about what his ideal weight should be. All his test numbers are great for cholesterol, BP, etc. but he is still in an overweight BMI category as he is not very tall but has a lot of muscle in his legs and arms (not so much in his core). I think normal BMI would have him at about 165 which I think would be terribly thin for him (he is low 180s right now).

Our club is sponsoring a fundraiser for people in Jamaica. We have several employees from there whose families and friends are affected. They need food, water, electricity, you name it. One of the employees is going to coordinate getting all donations packed into barrels and will bring them personally to Jamaica to distribute (our Club will pay for the barrels and transportation). Makes it feel like a more directed donation in a way?

Time to get motivated for our long Justice walk. He is ready! Have a tippy Tuesday!

2027 sounds like the perfect year to go on the Safari. I like your club's hands on approach to getting donations to Jamaica. There are lots of great organizations, but it's always encouraging to know someone will personally see that donations get to the people who need them. Our Argentinian friends did the same during a crisis in their country. Their ex pat group here also started a monetary donation chain, and when one of them went to Argentina to visit, they brought the donated funds, and bought supplies there to disperse. Again, I think there are many charitable organizations who do good work with their donations, but there is a comfort in eliminating the middle man and knowing donations are going right to the hands that need them.

Possible snow predicted, but nothing here. Weak sun, and cold, but not bitter cold. Paula, no doubt not missing it for one minute : )

Today is working out, decluttering some spaces, and reading. When I finally got out of bed at 9am, after laying there awake for awhile (the house was cold is my excuse, we need to reprogram the thermostat so it doesn't set back again at 7am) I thought, wow, 2nd hour is starting at school. This is very,very, nice.

We started watching the American Revolution by Ken Burns on PBS last night. The first episode was aired Sunday, so we back tracked and watched that one on the PBS app. Each episode is about 2 hours long. But if you can'****ch it as it is broadcast, the app worked great. We enjoyed it. One of the historians framed it as our first civil war: the patriots vs the loyalists. Interesting thoughts. Actually , lots of interesting information. We will finish the series.

You are right, I'm not missing the cold and snow at all! Several friends sent me pics of the snow we are "missing " today! Sunny and 80's today without humidity, picture perfect weather in my book!

Glad you got to sleep in, that is a treat indeed!

You all planted the pot roast idea in my head and I made one last night. It's so good, but I forgot how much I HATE my house smelling like long braised onions! I must have woken up 15 times thinking, "ugh, onion stink!" And it's too cold to air the house out, but it's clinging to every air molecule. I failed to think this through... AND if I had a KITCHEN VENT, this wouldn't be as much of an issue. Kimble'd again!

Raining and the "feels like" is 40. Brr. But I have a dog on my feet - his preferred napping spot.

No outside plans today. I need to write the neighborhood newsletter, which I always procrastinate, but looking back it feels good to have done it.

I just sent off the follow up information needed to the Trex people. Despite them paying for part of the materials of this adventure, it's still a 5 figure fix (on top of the 5 figures I already paid for the roof repair). This house...shaking my head. But I'm water tight today, so it's not all bad.

I think I need to go wipe down every surface to try to assist in the onion removal...

Have a great day!

You really are having house woes! Boooooo!

I like pot roast but DH doesn't, so none for us!

Greetings all

Mixed weather today but mostly nice. I drove to Eureka for scrabble this morning and drove over the new freeway overpass that has been under construction for years. Wow what a view! It borders Humboldt bay and really improves the visual. Only southbound is complete. There was a big stink when they decided to build it but now it appears to be a good thing. There used to be a non controlled intersection with a smaller road there which was accident prone. So I won two of three games today including an 80 point play. Lost to the Shark as usual.

Well Liz I hope the safari works out. And don't forget the redwoods for your bucket list. Really worth a view. People come here from all over the world. Ditto all of you. And hope your DH is not too fixated on BMI. Not a good thing. Nice that your club is helping Jamaica.

Onion smell CC!! Guess that is a side effect of pot roast though I suppose you could make it without onions. You could also simmer a pot of cloves and cinnamon to replace the onion smell. That is what i did when I was selling a house. Hope the roof woes end soon. If you write the newsletter you can at least control the porta potty narrative.

DD ain't it great to wake up but not have to get up. I have never understood the idea that you must get up when you wake up. Says who? DH wakes up and immediately gets up. Not me. Morning dozing is sort of a meditative state for me. I am "one" with my mattress.

DH has managed to apply a lubricant to our treadmill so it is working better and he is actually using it. It has only been sitting here 22 years.

Gallery meeting tonight but I am skipping it. Nothing important that I am aware of. It would mean being out after dark. No thanks. Plus I have a studio board meeting first thing in the morning. Can't be over-meetinged.

Studio remodeling continues. Our staff are really wizards at space design. A series of shelves and ware carts have been rearranged and redesigned and it is as though the room is twice as big. This was all possible due to the relocation of the glass studio and resulting space for member storage. Space allocation makes a huge difference!

More bbq tonight.

Diane S

Will you venture on your treadmill at home or do you prefer to go to the gym? My first choice is outside exercise but I do prefer home instead of the gym otherwise!

80 points for a scrabble word! Impressed. I just quickly lay down a word without much strategy. Do you guys impose a time limit to get a word on the table? I hate waiting for slow pokes!

Well I still like the gym treadmills because they are smoother and I just like going to that nice place. But the home one will work in a pinch. Thats what I started on,

The scrabble group has seriously good players who have played tournaments. Those have time limits with a timer similar to a chess clock. 25 minutes each side. We don't use them for our play because we all like to move things along. We allow use of dictionary since we all want to learn new words, Its fun.

diane s

I'm missing my scale! I don't think I've done too much damage but one never really knows if not monitoring!

Our second day in our new house and all is well!

My Amazon card is blazing hot from all the ordering I've been doing. Tomorrow we will go grill and sofa sleeper shopping locally! I still need to get a desk for my office, a file cabinet and storage cabinets!

Bella dog took her first unintentional swim today. I had just gone outside to sit poolside and the pool cleaning person entered the pool area and Bella being the good guard dog that she is, went chasing after her and decided to take a short cut over the spa but of course fell in. Our dogs have never swam before. She was actually able to keep her head up out of the water and the pool lady quickly scooped her out if the spa. Thankfully it wasn't the big pool. I would have had to dive in fully clothed to get her. Note to self, order life jackets for dogs ASAP! I had planned to already but need to measure their chests for sizing and my measuring tape is in a POD somewhere between WI and FL.

Bug guys also stopped by. We are now signed up for pool service and pest control!

A few neighbors stopped by in the early evening to be the official street welcoming committee and they invited us to the street's annual Christmas party. We probably have 25 houses on our street and I guess a very generous and obviously wealthy neighbor rents the clubhouse for the party and has it catered for the party along with providing an open bar! Every household brings a gift valued around $40 to exchange! How fun is that? They also gave me November's calendar of events and there are so many fun things to do - Nine and Dine like at Liz's community, comedian with buffet dinner, karaoke night with dinner, Lanai Ladies which I guess ladies visit each other's lanai's and have snacks and wine, this Friday there is a Decades dance and buffet and they even have a Community Thanksgiving dinner catered! Every weekend they have brunch specials at the Clubhouse on both Saturday and Sunday. The bus wouldn't even have to go very far! I'm so excited about all the things there is for us to do!