POOF - HALLOWEEN IS GONE!

 And JUST LIKE THAT!!!!  Halloween is gone.  Time to take down the ghosts and witches so I can put up Christmas decorations.  Yup ... I just jump right on over to Christmas with no hesitation.

First things first.  A walk with Mr. Cooper.  Having discovered that I was late to the party when it came to monitoring his food, we are now BOTH on a diet.  Unlike me, he's still in the OH NO stage, and not up to Rolly Polly.  Of course he's not the least bit happy his food has been cut in half.  Not all at once mind you, I'm not THAT terrible.

After a couple of morning chores, I took off for MY session of exercise.  It's always a hassle getting out the door, but I love it when I'm on the road.  There are a couple of hazards trying to get it out of the spare bathroom where it lives.  It's a 90 degree turn right out the door.  No worries, those black marks on the wall will come off, right?

On my return, I got to work cleaning up the rest of the tomato vines.  YES!!!  They are finally GONE!  And yes, probably 20 small tomatoes were hurt in this endeavor.  Into the bin they went.  I'm going to think twice about doing this next year.

About halfway through the afternoon, I decided to try on the witches costumes and see which one was the most comfortable.  Hanging out in one of these for three hours would turn out NOT to be the experience I was hoping for.  This is actually a vampire costume, but no one will know.

Here's the second one ... similar to what I wore to one of the last Halloween days at the County where I worked.  It was an easy choice.  Even with the extra high RUBY RED SLIPPERS I was wearing, the top one was a no-go.  Apparently vampires are 7 feet tall because I tripped over the dress four times just getting to the mirror.  

Let the door bell ringing begin.  Actually, I decided to sit outside in my rocking chair, not moving, then scare the kids when they came up.  That lasted all of 30 seconds when I got bitten by at last a dozen mosquitos.  

Instead, I sat inside watching what I hoped would be the final World Series game.  Sadly, Toronto lost, so now it's 3 to 3.  One more game today.

Alas, there was only ONE door bell ring.  Even my usual neighborhood kids didn't show up.  We got one trailer full of the cutest kids ever, one who was fascinated (and possibly very scared) by the ghosts flying on the house.  Mom tried to explain, but it was a no-go.  He headed straight back to the trailer.  

In all I had only NINE trick or treaters.  TEN if you count the one snickers bar I ate to sooth the mosquito bites.  Oh yes ... it works.  Okay, no it doesn't.  The worst part is I now have 38 large snickers bars to eat.  I think I'll take them to Bingo and give them out to jackpot winners.  Cooper slept through the entire thing.

So here's where I'm at with Kitters.  She came back in the afternoon, apparently feeling much better.  She rubbed a little and purred almost like normal.  I offered food, but she didn't eat it, nor was I able to catch her.  

Surprisingly, she was in her sleeping box this morning, almost back to her old self.  She was rubbing up against my legs, purring like normal and even wanted inside.  Okay, we're making progress here.  The bad news is now she's limping.  Good grief ... this kitty is going through it.  I've no idea what happened, but she's limping on one hind leg.  Not terrible, but limping nonetheless.

I'll leave her inside as long as she wants.  Hopefully she stays for the day so her leg will get a little better.  She's an outside wild kitty and I'm not going to be able to change that.  Best I can do is keep her quiet as long as I can.  I will tell you one thing though ... no more shots for this one.  I can't take the stress!!

Lastly, I had a horrible night and it involved the Sheriff.  I'll relate that story tomorrow.

So who's up for taking down Halloween decorations?????

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEEN!!!

 It's my favorite time of year.  I've no idea why, other than I got to dress up and pretend to be someone else.  Maybe it's the actress in me.  HA!!  I've been everything from the Wicked Witch of the West to Captain Hook, dragging an 8' stuffed crocodile behind me.  I think that was the best costume ever.  

Sadly, I loaned that costume out to someone who returned half of it three months later.  At least I still have the crocodile in a box in the garage!  Pretty sure I even have the hay hook I made into a hand.

I'm pretty much too old for that stuff now.  So let's bake up that recipe everyone is talking about.  At least everyone around HERE.  Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, covered in cream before baking.  Sounds terrible to me, but maybe it makes them more moist?

I was a little surprised that the can only held FIVE rolls.  I swear there used to be SIX.  Seems like there also used to be a LOT more cinnamon!  I pulled them out of the oven and smeared on the frosting.  An entire CAN of frosting might have made them better.  The cinnamon was barely visible and could barely be tasted.

But of course you know I ate one anyway.  I admit, they leave a lot to be desired.  The smaller ones Patsy baked for Bill and I last summer were a LOT better.  Note to self ... next time buy the little ones, not the GRANDS.  I would pass on the cream if I were you.

Here's the makeup for my candy-giving-out costume.  I tried it on my hand first, to be sure it would wash off.  Hmmmm not so much, so we will see how THAT goes.

I also gathered up my costume, including the Ruby Slippers, though I'm not sure I will have time for it.  I'll explain below.

There were lots of honey-do's to get done, including airing up the Jeep tires.  Two vehicles could not be more different.  I have to air up these tires at least once a month.  ALL of them.  Though I check them often, I rarely ever have to air up my truck tires.  

I have a huge compressor for this job, but it's scary.  I expect it to explode at any second.  Thus the mini one I used to carry in my Class A.  This works like a charm and is small enough to carry from wheel to wheel.

So here's my pressing problem.  Kitters disappeared for a couple of days.  I thought she had eaten since the food for the night had disappeared.  Last night, I caught another cat eating it.  A very healthy one that ran away.  

Very early this morning, my Blink alarm went off.  When I checked, it was Kitters going into her carrier to sleep.  I locker her in and will try to get to the Vet this morning.  I've no idea what's going on with her other than the shots.  She's definitely sick from something.  She's not even purring.  That's a bad sign.

Wish us luck ...........

HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEN!!!!!

Update:  That didn't work like I planned at all.  Kitters escaped and ran for the hills.  I actually think she is better this morning, though still not interested in the food I tried to lure her back in with.  I'll just hope for the best and see if I can catch her once again ... if she comes back.

Another Fun Filled Day!!

 It seems winter has taken a vacation in Central California, which is perfectly fine with me.  We sticking with high 70's and sunshine for the next week.  At least there is something good to be said about living in the highest cost-of-living state in the Union.  Fuel has not come down and eggs are still at $10.00 for 18, if that's any indication, unless you know where the discounts live.

Miss Kitters ... I think she's just happy to be here.  At least she was.  She acts like she's sick since getting that last set of shots.  She wasn't at the door like normal.  After calling her, she finally came across the lawn, walked inside and parked on this chair.  She slept the entire day.  No food, no purring, no petting, no walking around.

She disappeared when I let her out and didn't come back to eat.  She finally reappeared at 3:30 this morning and hung out in her "house", which she has never done before.  She is once again here on the chair.  No purrs, no rubs, but it looks like she ate a little since her food bowl is empty.  Its worrying.

On the other hand, THIS guy ... he's on a mission to eat everything in the house three times a day.  We have been going on walks more often, though not far, to help get his figure back in shape.  This is his WHAT?  I CAN'T BE UP HERE look!  

Yeah, caught you didn't I!!  He jumped back down.  In his almost 17 years, he has never been a couch-back guy.  I'm not sure where this is coming from.  Maybe the better to see who drives by.

By 9:00 I was out the door for the last brace of accounting.  What a big relief!  I finally finished up balancing all those major accounts.  The bad news is I found three more they didn't even know about.  At this point, even the bank said there were no such accounts ... except for that part where they send out a statement every month which I was holding in my hand.  

Yay ... just in time to head back to the sweet 92 year old friend with eight rentals.  As you can imagine, I'm pretty busy towards the end of the year.  The good news is I can now access everything on my computer, even when I'm not home.  OH YAY!!

Next up I called Moen about this faucet.  She asked for pictures.  I can do that!  Oh she said ... that's a DELTA!  Well it didn't SAY that!!  Okay, I'll call Delta.

This one however ... it IS a Moen because I bought it at Home Depot.  To get the screen out, you lay a knife in the slots and turn.  It broke off the plastic so it now can't be turned at all.  Wasn't I shocked when she said she would send me a whole new sprayer FOR FREE.  I told her how old it was (though I suspect she already knew by looking at it) and that I bought it at Home Depot.  

No receipt required she stated.  We will even pay shipping.  WOW!!!  That's crazy ... but then again, the dang faucet was $300.00.  I appreciate their service.  Hopefully the next one will come apart easier, whereupon I will rip out the water restrictor thingy!!  Don't tell anyone!!  I mean really, you use up twice as much water trying to rinse things off because water barely comes out!!

There was no rest because just as I hung up the phone, my Elks friend showed up with this gate lock.  Truly, it will only keep the honest folks out.  It's better than nothing however and I greatly appreciate the help.  It was also cheaper than the $5,500.00 fix the gate repair guy wanted.

That's when I crashed on the couch.  I hate doing that because it usually makes it hard to sleep at night.  Dinner was apparently less than spectacular since I don't even remember what I had.  Well actually, I do.  Here's my tip of the day.  Never EVER try to make chili out of leftover Italian meatballs that were terrible in the first place.  I forced down a few bites before tossing it.  If nothing else, it's a great DIET idea because you won't eat any of it.

Kitty had not returned, which was worrisome.  She is definitely not feeling good, though there are no symptoms other than just sleeping all day.  No pets, no purrs, no nothing.

At the appointed hour, I went outside to set up for Halloween.  Here's my ghosties floating around.  What an easy, cheap decoration that turned out to be.  My plan is to be Witchy Woman, sitting on the porch in my rocking chair still as can be, with a big box of candy on my side table.  The better to scare the kids, if in fact they show up, and if I still feel that way tomorrow night.  I love Halloween, but I'm wavering on the getting-dressed-up part.

Today's plan was to drive west for 90 minutes to a lovely quilt shop.  I'm teetering about that ... great plans seem to disappear into the fog these days.  I never EVER thought that staying home would be just a lovely idea!!!

IT'S BINGO TIME!!!

 I'm extremely slow on the uptake this morning.  I don't FEEL like I did that much, but apparently I'm wrong.  A long day and no sleep get me every time.  

We started off on the right foot, or maybe it was the left.  Kitters is not her normal purring running around self.  It's a worry.  I left her alone sleeping in the sunshine outside.  I seem to be right behind her, just tired enough to do nothing.

At last I got up the gumption to load this quilt on the machine.  This is about half way through.  I discovered I have no orange thread, and can't figure out what color to use.  Nor do I have a pattern.  Hmmm maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.  I'll look on-line for a pattern today ... if I have time.

After a quick lunch of leftover macaroni, trying to use it up and not be wasteful, I discovered that and muffins are bad for you.  Yup ... put on THREE dreaded pounds.  I would like to say I gained three pounds of muscle from bike riding, but I know better!!  

Once I squeezed (and I mean SQUEEZED) into my only clean pair of Levis, I was off to the Magic Castle.  Note to self ... DO LAUNDRY.

I decided it was not my job to do EVERYTHING.  Someone else around there needs to step up in the back room.  I'll set up MY stuff and the Bingo Machine, but it's THEIR job to set up their entire section.  Weren't they surprised when they came in and nothing was done!

"How come we aren't ready to go?"  And then the kicker ... the gal who was running it for the night didn't come in until 4:30 which is when we start.  How do you set up, count the cash box and prepare the games at the same time we are supposed to start selling?

So of course I at least helped get the games for them.  Two of these ... yes someone will win $500 from each box.

They play two of these games (another two $500 winners), one $1199 game (not shown) and three strip games, all of which have $500 winners.  Now you know why they play bingo!  For a measly $34.00 buy-in and maybe $40.00 worth of these games, they just might be RICH.  I wouldn't mind winning $500 myself ... even better, the $1199 bundle would fit nicely in my purse.

Alas, volunteers are not allowed to play.  One night someone had a regular bingo player mark cards they bought themself.  They won.  If they had kept quiet, no one would have known, but they ran out and yelled I WON I WON!!  The knives, pitchforks and flaming torches came out like never before.  

The volunteer was chastised by the King and threatened with his life if he EVER did that again.  It's not allowed because naturally, the peasants think he cheated.  

Otherwise, it was a rather quiet night, even if the kitchen wasn't.  I was accosted several times regarding lodge problems before making sure the kitchen was running like a clock.  Someone must have thrown a dart and hit the bullseye, because they were far far behind.  

The new taquitos left too much flotsam and jetsam in the oil, which had to be cleaned out.  The new chimichangas tasted TERRIBLE.  We are always looking for something besides hamburgers and hotdogs, but so far have struck out.  Anyone have any ideas about what we could serve?  Preferably something we can pull from the freezer and cook quickly.  We also have corn dogs and chicken fingers, which seem to be the only other alternative, but folks are getting tired of eating those!!

Luckily I had a cashier on this night, but alas, she did not clear out the cash register's brain from the last trip.  My tired accountant brain had to think about that one for a long time before being able to pull out what we brought in on this night, in order to figure out what to pay out.  

And so I learned there is a BIG difference between an accountant's brain and a nurse's brain.  Next time I will write down every step for the Nurse.  The good news, after I was finally able to figure it out, she balanced.  YAY!

Might be nice if I explained this picture.  I pass this old hotel on the way home every week.  In the very old days, my family used to visit the couple who owned the top floor.  We bough our ranch from them.  Quite well off they were, even having an apartment at the top of Harrahs Casino in Reno.  

It was recently remodeled into expensive rooms with expensive food ... as in $75.00 for dinner.  I've never gone back, but I love the lights they put on top.  They change color almost every night!!

I didn't get out of there until after 10:00.  These long days ending in little sleep, turn me into a zombie.  And so I bid you farewell on this day as I try to recover fast.  I've got accounting to do today AND my Bingo Man-of-all-trades is coming by to install a lock on my gate.  

MORE COFFEE PLEASE!!

Overloads!!

 Wow ... Halloween is just a few days away and winter has arrived.  Fog is creeping around every morning and keeping it quite chilly on the patio.  

On this day I made a discovery.  Kitters has been gaining weight like crazy and I thought maybe she was getting food from elsewhere.  We call them overloads in the construction business.  On THIS morning I kept her inside to see just how much the automatic feeder was spitting out.  OVERLOADS!

OH GOOD GRIEF .... apparently when the power went off, it jumped up the amounts to TWICE as much!  She has been pigging out every day.  WHY?  Because I bought the batteries, but forgot to put them in.  She's been getting, and apparently EATING, over two cups a day.  I'll fix that this morning.

The WIDE BODY ... and Cooper.  Both of them need a LOT more exercise!

I putzed around doing nothing all morning.  I looked at fabric four times, but it wasn't happening.  Having sore legs is a buzz killer.  In a flash, it was time to head out to the Lunch Meeting.  We have been making this meal for the seniors at this apartment community for I think six years.  

Thankfully, last year the Management changed, as did the lady in charge.  Now we have a nice young gal who we work well with.  Generally, the menu is the same every year.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, dressing, veggies, cranberries and pie.  

Wasn't I shocked when this year they asked for EGG NOG ... with BOOZE!!  Woohoo!  We cannot actually DO that, but she can buy it and we will find someone off the street to hand it out.  Anything for our seniors.

Unfortunately, their choice of vegetables was roasted carrots.  Not my favorite, but easy peasy to throw in the oven with some olive oil, then when almost done, throw a ton of butter on top to melt.  

I try hard to make these meals simple to prepare, especially since on this day there will be a huge lunch for 60 people at the lodge, followed by a bigger DINNER for 100.  We have to cook our meal for 100 in between. 

Back home I was starving, with little to eat in the fridge.  I air fried a package of bacon, even though there were no tomatoes to be found.  Love how they package bacon nowadays.  Twelve ounces instead of sixteen, so thinly sliced you can barely get it out of the package ... and then it shrinks up to less than HALF the size.

I whipped up a grilled cheese and added bacon.  Couldn't taste the bacon AT ALL.  What a letdown.

Though I did spend a lot of afternoon couch time, I had some cream that wasn't going to last much longer.  How about lime cheesecake?  The recipe is easy peasy, and I put it in these ramekins for portion control.  I cannot be trusted cutting up small pieces of anything.  Into the freezer they went.

The last act of the day was laundry.  Here's the problem.  I have a hot water system that heats as you need it.  In other words, no hot water heater.  You have to run the water first to get it hot enough to do laundry.  Otherwise, because of the low water use washers, it never gets hot before the cycle is done.  Whoever thought this up was a man!!  Just kidding ... kinda.

HOWEVER ... this faucet that I turn on for that purpose, is not letting any hot water come out of the faucet.  Turn it to the right (cold) and water comes out like normal.  Turn it to the left and it's just a trickle, which never lets the unit turn on to get hot.  What's up with that?  

My guess is it needs a cartridge, like every other faucet in this house.  They sure don't make them like they used to!  Ugh .... it also needs to be cleaned.  This is the back porch ... only used for hand washing ... faucet.  So do you think I am correct in my guess?  The problem will of course be FINDING a cartridge for this 2005 model.  I don't even know where to start. 

That will be this mornings project, though I plan to do a lot of couch sitting.  It's GEAR UP FOR BINGO day.  The good news is I get to leave early because the King never showed up for the FOOD meeting with the seniors.  "I forgot" he said, not that I believe that.  

In the meantime, I could not be more SORE!!  Note to self ... don't try to outrun the young-uns next time.

Oh My Aching Legs!

 Good morning from sunny California.  It's not sunny, but the weather is still very comfortable.  I'm lucky to live in a good-weather area where we are not hit with tornados, hurricanes or massive show storms.  My thoughts are with the people of Jamaica.  I'm praying the weather guessers are wrong, that this storm will  not completely demolish the islands buildings and infrastructure.  Pray for Jamaica.

Around here it's just been overcast.  No rain and not the least bit cold.  That makes Mr. Cooper a happy camper as he sits on his throne.  He makes me EVER so nervous when I come home from an event and he's laying on the top of the back couch cushions.  I'm scared he will fall off.  All the better to see you come home MOM!!!

THIS one ... she has become something of a pest.  She sneaks in the door every time it is open, then slinks around the house in the shadows, obviously looking for food.  If she would just lay down and relax, we would all be happier.  

Thankfully, it was another do-nothing day.  I'm beginning to like those more and more!!  Truly, I feel I should do SOMETHING on those do-nothing days, but thus far that didn't happen.  I did however go out to the van, swing open the bike rack and fully open the back doors, just for practice. 

Actually, the inverter control is back there.  I turned it on, then turned on the control panel inside to check the house batteries.  They were charged at 100% in spite of the cloudy skies.  I leave the solar charger on all the time to keep them up.  YAY ... it's all working!

I had chicken rice soup for breakfast before contemplating a bike ride.  No ... you should probably rest up since I could feel my legs were ouchy from the last one.  Yeah, that didn't last long.  I was out the door and headed down the street 15 minutes later.

That's when I ran into the brats that have been the subject of many a Facebook post.  There's six of them, maybe 13-16 years of age, riding electric scooters and electric bikes 30 mph down the middle of the street, yelling at everyone they go by, flipping them off and adding in some foul language.  WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?  If this is how their kids act, it's no surprise they let them go so they are out of the house and out of their hair.  Obnoxious, rude and in need of a whooping!!!

No kidding ... when they raced by the poor lady with two dogs, they were within inches.  They didn't get near me ... I'm guessing they could feel the AURA ... because I would have knocked them into next Sunday.  I made a quick right turn and left them in the dust.  

That probably wasn't my best idea this week.  In a flash I realized just how tired my legs were, but I kept going just to be out of their neighborhood.  By the time I got home, my legs were screaming.  I bet you can guess ... there will be NO bike riding today ... or tomorrow, for that matter.  

Rather than sit too long and stiffen up, I headed to the tomato hedge.  Time to chop up another chunk of it for the garbage can.  I found quite a few small tomatoes, but they were all split on top and pretty moldy.  

The bin is now 3/4 full.  I'm hoping it dries up and squishes down before the gardener gets here.  This is what's left ... still another bin full.

That's when I realized the lawn was overtaking the flower beds.  Not that I needed anything else to do, but the weather was cooperating, so I got out my smaller sprayer.  I've never used it before, so it was time.  I mixed up a batch and went to spraying.  It worked fairly well, but I kept having to set it down and pump it up.  

It was harder to use than my backpack sprayer.  Suddenly it started leaking.  WHAT?  The line hooked to the handle, held on with a zip tie, came loose enough to soak my hand and leg.  Good grief!  I ran inside and jumped in the bathtub, clothes and all, to wash it off.  Not that I'm that paranoid about it, but I did a good scrubbing.  The sprayer went in the trash can.  I don't have the temperament to deal with cheap products that don't work right.

That was it for the day.  I watched the 49'ers lose and Green Bay win.  A little football is good for the soul.

Today I'm headed out to the local live-in Senior Citizens Center where we will discuss Christmas dinner.  A few of us from Bingo cook up a big feast of turkey with all the trimmings for about 100 folks who live there full time.  

I have to come up with a menu ... mostly what vegetables do you want because we all know they love our turkey and mashed potatoes.  One year we tried ham ... they hated it!!  Hopefully I'll be back by noon to snuggle with Mr. Cooper.

A Nail Trim and A Night Out

 Oh MY GOSH!  It's almost the end of the month ALREADY!  I think I said that two days ago.  In the blink of an eye it will be November.  How could that be?  Never EVER have my days passed by this fast.  

I was met this morning with a nice sunrise and 53 degrees.  It doesn't get any better than that.  I hang outside each morning to get a nice dose of QUIET.  

Then the "where's my snack" barking begins.  Mr. Cooper is pretty demanding, to my dismay when I have company.  That 4:00 bark wakes up the entire house.  Now that includes Kitters who parks right outside the door with lots of meows.  

I've really no idea how much to feed a cat.  No surprise she always acts like she's starving.  She gets about 3/4 cup a day, split into two servings.  Add to that a couple of tablespoons at least three times a day that I use to get her out of the house.  Truly, the difference in her is startling.  PLUS she's a purring machine!!

My bike ride got waylaid immediately with uncalled for and unpredicted rain.  Actually, I like it a LOT since it's my excuse to do nothing.  Almost anyway, since I had to take Kitters in for her second set of shots.  

It all went good ... she actually went in the carrier herself ... shocker.  We didn't even have to wait long for them to come out.  The gal lifted the cage and said she would be back.  Wait ... I can't go back with her?  NO.  She's just getting shots and a nail trim.  

Um that would be a no thank you.  You did that last time without asking and I don't want her nails trimmed.   She's an outside cat that catches gophers and mice.  No trimming please.  WELL she stated ... I'm not having MY VET get scratched.

I stated as nicely as I could that I didn't want them trimmed.  She literally said too bad.  WELL I said ... I'm not having my cat's nails cut.  If your Vet doesn't know how to handle a cat and not get scratched, I better find another Vet.  She wasn't too happy, but neither was I.  Three shots and $200.00 later, we were out the door.  I won't be going back.  I've never heard of such a thing and I've had a few cats in the past.  by the way, they think she is two years old.

Back home, Kitters disappeared outside.  No surprise.  Since it was still spitting rain, I began to clean out the freezer.  That 30 pounds of chicken I got a few months ago needed to be sorted through.  Although supposedly ICE frozen, it was getting quite freezer burnt.  

I cooked a couple of pieces for Cooper and Kitters, then decided to make chicken taco soup.

Truly, it's a good idea to make SURE you have the ingredients.  When it came time for the Ro-Tel tomatoes with chilies, there was none to be found.  I actually found two not-so-nice tomatoes on the vine that I still haven't cut down.  In the end it was WAY too salty, probably due to the plethora of chicken stock I used.  I added in a little rice to smooth it out.  Turns out it's now chicken RICE soup.  

It's certainly not the most flavorful, but it's food, and I'll eat it ... maybe ... sooner or later, because you know there are starving children in the world. 

Unfortunately, watching the second World Series Game was off the list.  Bingo donated quite a sum of money for the Girls Cheerleading Championship to be held in Florida.  Our local group has gone to the National Finals every year, with our help.  A LOT of help.  

That means we get Golden Tickets to their event.  Each ticket comes with TEN ... count them ... TEN drink tickets.  As you can imagine, these kids don't know how to POUR drinks.  I stuck with Pepsi, but one gal at our table was feeling it after ONE drink.  It was almost pure Jack Daniels.  I saw her get three more, so no doubt she was dancing on the tables by the night's end.

Add to that, we were the first people served this amazing dinner.  I don't say that often about these events we go to, but this was the best tri-tip I've had in years.  The green beans had bacon, onions and red potatoes, and my all time favorite Mac 'n Cheese that was some the the best I've ever had.  Whoever cooked this gets a Gold Star!!

Unfortunately, the DJ's music was so loud you couldn't hear yourself think, let alone talk to your neighbor.  That was fortuitous because I got to watch the World Series game on my phone.  Sadly, the Dodgers won 5-1.  I'm rooting for Toronto all the way!!!

Four of us finally left because the music was just too loud and two had a 6:00 morning call to work. Not me ... I've got NOTHING on my menu for today.  

Nothing but football that is.  But first, another bike ride to wear off the second day soreness that has beset my legs.  I'd forgotten just how irritating that part is!!  Oh well ... no pain, no gain!!

The World Series

 Good Morning from sunny California!  Mostly anyway.  Though we seem to be a little cloudy every day, the rain and snow swirling all around is missing us.  We are still running in the 70's during the day, but on this day I had to get my Levis out of the closet.  No boots yet, but it is cooling off.

Feeling sorry for Miss Kitters, I let her stay in awhile and warm up.  She really seems to like the company.  I can't believe the change in this cat.  Though she's still quite skittish, she likes to sit on the coffee table.  Apparently it was bath day and she spent an hour cleaning her fur.

She has become quite the beauty, even with the weirdest markings ever.

Whereupon she promptly laid down for a 30 minute cat nap.  I don't think she has ever been an inside cat.  She tromps all over everything and thinks the higher up the better.  Think kitchen counters, on top of my desk shoving everything onto the floor ... in order words, a pain.  Out you go pretty girl.

Company left rather early I thought, though turns out it was 10:00.  I didn't want to miss my bike ride, so off I went down the street on the trail bike.  I quickly figured out which way to go so I didn't have to make any left turns.  I don't have a rear view mirror and don't know if anyone is coming.  Looking that far around is dangerous at this point.  I might fall over!!

I met this guy hanging out in the neighborhood.  I guess Halloween isn't what it used to be.  There were few decorations this year.

I went a total of five miles this trip, finally getting the gear shifting down.  It's interesting to note the places where you have to shift down.  It seems the roads around here are not flat after all.  You can definitely tell when on a bike.  

When my legs started screaming, I decided it was the better part of valor to turn around.  I didn't want to "walk" my bike home.  I'm so surprised I can walk this morning.  I figured I'd be MUCHO sore.

So here's the bike rack in action.  Loosen one big handle and it pulls away.

Pull up on the next little handle, and it pivots out part way ......

Or all the way out to the side of the van.  Cooper thought it was cool.  Access is easy, but watch your knees.  Pull up on the two turquoise knobs and it all folds back up.  I guess next on the list is a bike cover and a motion detector alarm so if it moves at night, I can shoot whoever's trying to steal it out the back window.  Just kidding ... I think my bike will sleep inside with me at night.

That pretty much did it for me.  I just could not get motivated.  I think I was so happy that company took the shop vac, the old house vacuum and is going to come back for the rowing machine, that I just sat on the couch relieved to be rid of the mess.  

I did however, finally drag that filing cabinet in the house.  I had two, and with a door laid on top, it made the perfect desk for years.  I've no idea what happened to the second one, but this one just became a storage cabinet for fabric and patterns.

Not much went on after that except THE WORLD SERIES.  Oh yeah, even though none of my favorite teams are playing I watched just to see if the Dodgers would lose.  WHAT A GAME!!  Toronto ROCKS.  They beat the Dodgers 11-4.  It was of course the Dodgers bullpen that lost for them once again.  

Truly, I've known their Manager for many years having been a season ticket holder.  He used to play for the Giants before becoming Manager for the Dodgers.  They still haven't figured out how bad he is when it comes to the timing of the bullpen, or who to call up.  They may get it together as they sometimes do ... there's lots of games left to play, but CONGRATS to Toronto for their first day win!!

While that was going on, I made up a batch of carmelitas.  Not my best adventure.  I tried to melt real caramels, which was pretty much a disaster.  These will definitely stick your teeth together!!  On the other hand, they are quite tasty once you can actually CHEW them.  Caramels, chocolate chips and lots of healthy oats!!  Oats make the calories go away, don't ya know!

I can't believe we are already at the end of the month.  Halloween is upon us!!  It's also OH NO day for Kitters.  Her second (and hopefully the last) set of shots are due this morning.  And so I'm OFF to the Vets Office.