HISTORY IN THE MAKING!

 Morning in California comes WAY too early.  I just don't understand how you can go to bed at 11:30 and get up at 4:00 and NOT get 8 hours of sleep!  It didn't help that overcast skies followed us all day long.  Mother Nature spit at us in the morning ... like HAHAHA ... it's not Spring YET!!

Unfortunately I had another accounting meeting at 9:30.  UGH ... that is WAY too early for me to be out and about.  A short 2 hour meeting turned into a 5 hour office reorganization.  I'm pretty sure that's not included in the BOOKKEEPING job description.  We ran out of printer ink, which resulted in a trip to the attic to rip the guts out of another printer that no longer worked.  

We ran out of printer PAPER, which required a trip to the store, file labels, staples, paper clips ... I mean if we needed it, we did NOT have it.  Some headway was made however, before I yelled UNCLE and went home.  My sweet Cooper awaiteth!!!

My timing was perfect.  The FEDEX guy knocked loudly on the door.  He needed my I.D.  Really?  To receive a small package I have to show my drivers license?  Not only that, but he had to SCAN it!  Yikes ... who is this from??  Ahhh my accountant.  Ok ... but then he needed a signature!  Good grief ... don't ask for my first born because I don't have one!  We had a good laugh over that one!!

That's when I heard the television.  This is history in the making.  Did anyone watch the lunar landing in 1969?  THE EAGLE HAS LANDED.  I remember that like it was yesterday, watching the entire time as our astronauts landed on the moon.  

Well here we go again ... almost ... and I watched every single minute of it.  Artemis 2 won't be landing this time around, but it will be making a trip around the moon to practice so to speak, the next lunar landing.  Can you just IMAGINE?

This stuff scares the heck out of me ... feeling the liftoff in your chest like nothing EVER ... the adrenaline going crazy ... I just cannot imagine anyone wanting to do this on purpose.

Three brave men and one woman ... Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christine Koch and Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen are on the trip of their lives.  Honestly, 12 feet high on top of my ladder is as far as I want to go.  I did jump off a 60' tower ... ONCE ... and I'm guessing I won't do it again.  BRAVE is all I can say ... these guys are BRAVE!!

I prayed the entire time that nothing would happen as it lifted off into the sky.  I was also glued to my television when the spaceship Challenger was launched in 1983.  

They will be cruising up to the moon, not such an easy task since it includes several major negotiations to get going the right direction, before going AROUND the moon and heading back to land south of me in the ocean outside of San Diego California.  They will be up there 10 days.  It kind of makes you wonder where the bathroom is, YES??

I breathed a big sigh of relief when what they call the launch vehicle broke away and the earth is revealed out the windows.  I cannot imagine their excitement ... or MY panic!!  Just looking at this give me the willies!!!

And so I wish them good luck.  I'll be keeping track of them every day.  Maybe, just maybe, I will get to see another lunar landing on the moon in my lifetime.  Maybe even a colonization ... if they can find enough oxygen!!

I'd rather be right here on earth with NO fire breathing dragon under my butt and lots of air to breathe, cuddling with my "kids".  

This one ... she's always in SO much trouble, in spite of her innocent looks!!!  I got chewed out in spades yesterday because I accidentally closed the bedroom door ... her entry into the house from the doggy door.  I won't translate all those meows and yowls!!

Tonight is yet another Elks dinner.  Though I used to look forward to these, this twice a month dinner/meeting thing is becoming a pain.  The only thing that keeps me going now is that I found a pair of gray Levis to wear instead of the gray fancy pants.  Hey ... they are the required GRAY color, so they can't complain.  They never said what FABRIC they had to be!!!

Another day, another steak dinner!!

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

 Good Morning RV friends from all over the planet!!  It's another BINGO FULL MOON.  What could be better than a gorgeous pink moon on Bingo night with April Fool's Day thrown in for good luck!!

Well April Fools, because OUR moon did not look one little bit like this!  It is however named after the pink flowers that bloom this time of year.

April Fools!!  None of MY flowers are pink.  They lean more to the RED side.  The roses were going great guns until .... APRIL FOOLS yet again ..... it rained most of the night.

Even the bottle brush are blooming, which made the bees happy until the big drops of water started bombing them from above.

This "whatever it is" ... help me out here Nurse Patty ... the name of which always escapes me, is so bright you really can't even see the petals of the flowers.

And so the day began, with me procrastinating about making an accounting stop.  This one is not my problem, so I chose to stand back.  APRIL FOOLS ... it's NOT MY JOB.

Besides, I really wanted to sneak in a nap before Bingo.  That didn't happen, so Cooper took one for me.

Kitters on the other hand, kept me awake all morning.  She just craves attention.  What can I do ... her pink nose and split tan/black chin cannot be denied.

And so in a flash ... it was time for APRIL FOOLS FULL MOON BINGO!  What could be better??

Lucky for me, everyone showed up to work.  Unlucky for me, my cashier is setting her own rules now.  That doesn't go over with the Bingo crowd.  You never EVER change the rules.  Out comes the pitchforks and flaming torches that will follow you around the room like Cooper going after treats!!

Our fire project came out quite nicely once painted and the new ceiling installed.  Only in the stairwells can I still smell just a tad bit of smoke.  Hey, it's better than the smell of skunk weed or even better, the No Shower Eau De OMG.  Not kidding ... that is no April Fools joke.

We weren't too crowded on this night ... about 130 players came to hang out.  It can get crazy running money to the back room to count and make into packets for the first four games.  I put out fires all along the way between the kitchen staff, the kitchen BOSS and the players.  It's the full moon I tell you!!

When I got frustrated, I just went and hid in the safe.  Yessiree ... a beautiful cool quiet cement wall hideaway.  It smells of Sees Candy and paper!  No money is kept in here.  When Sees donates boxes of soon-to-expire candy, it gets stored here for volunteers ... at least for volunteers who are let in on the secret!  If it gets too crazy, you will find me in here stuffing my mouth full!!

It was actually April Fools on us, because mostly the Peasants were pleasant, and only came out to fight twice when a newbie called BINGO too soon.  The numbers come up on four TV screens BEFORE they are actually CALLED.  You have to wait until the number comes out of the Callers mouth.  If you call early, the crowd will definitely tell you how WRONG you were!!!!

At long last it was time to close up.  I sat back and watched the cashier play with the infernal machine.  I truly am not sure exactly what she did, but she kept doing it wrong.  The machine kept locking up.  I just let it go because she knows best.  Did we balance?  I have no idea.  I've no doubt the KING will let me know today.  

Above are the remnants of last nights storm.  It's beautiful outside, the neighborhood smells wonderful, like fresh rain, and Bingo is over for another week.  It's a WIN WIN!!!

Here's hoping your April Fools Day is a GREAT one!  Maybe some Easter egg coloring will take place today, or better yet, a nice LONG nap!!

THE FULL MOON EFFECT

 I knew it would happen sooner or later.  I've been exceptionally lucky with my internet.  All the time I see folks chatting on Facebook about how their internet NEVER works.  I was all ... well MINE works just FINE!  I completely forgot about the full moon effect.

Here it is in all its glory.  Not QUITE full, but close enough.  

Bright and early this morning, I got a message ... my BLINK cameras are not working.  I reset and reset, to no avail.  Well that's not good!  That's when I spotted the ORANGE light on my router.  Not red, like you would expect.  After all, they don't want to really TELL you it's not working, they hope that they can get it back ON before the RED light comes on.  And so I'm on my phone wi-fi.  

Here's an old picture of Kitters ... not THAT old since she had actually gained quite a bit of weight here.

And here's the latest version.  She has lost a lot of the orange coloring.  Maybe this is her "summer" coat?  At any rate, she weighs five times as much as she did when I first found her, and now does not gobble her food down.  She's become quite the  connoisseur of kitty food.

She has also become the Watch Cat.  She will sit here for hours during the day, keeping a sharp eye out for something ..... probably lizards!!

My day began with a nice long run.  Not compared to the old days of 5-6 miles, but over 2 miles total this time.  To be honest, I'm really surprised I can still run AT ALL.  Nothing even HURTS, which is also surprising, though I do run out of air quite often.  

I have one hint for you though ... the LOUDER the music in your ear, the longer you can run.  I tell myself ... you can run all the way up to that mailbox.  That way I force myself to do it.  It really does help with stamina when it comes to getting up and down off the couch the rest of the day!!

It was ugly and overcast the entire day, making for a muggy afternoon that shouted CLEAN THE GARAGE at me over and over.  

Seriously, I don't know why or how this happens.  Maybe because I can barely get out of the Jeeps door.  I have actually disposed of much of the junk, but those boxes of Japanese dishes from the war era just keep hanging out.  What do you do with this stuff?  

A Coleman gas two burner stove ... perfect for horse trailer camping ... a box of Mexican tiles for that tabletop that never materialized ... the hitch from the Jeep ... not one, but TWO Christmas trees probably home to 252 black widow spiders.  I tried to get rid of some stuff, but most of it is too good to just throw in the garbage bin.

This big ladder has been hanging out here for 15 years and has never been used.  Not that I don't use ladders, because you KNOW I do.  This one however is awkward to use and crushes the edge of the gutters as I climb up.  I donated it to my neighbor who puts up 3,000 Christmas lights every year.  He was a happy camper.  Now I can actually move between the Jeep and the truck without tripping over the darn thing.  

THIS mess still needs to be addressed.  It's mostly boxes of old tax records.  Yes there is a company who would be glad to shred them for me, for a measly $400.  Ummm no thank you.  I have a shredding machine in the office, but it would die a horrible death after only half a box.  So they just sit there.

Next to the ladder waiting for retrieval, is the rowing machine.  It's a GREAT one, but alas, not for a bad disc in your back.  I offered it to the neighbors also, but they declined.  I'll put a FREE sign on it at the end of the driveway.  I could probably sell it, but I'm not keen on having strangers come to my house.

This was the best part of the day.  I made another Walmart delivery order (speaking of strangers coming to the house) and picked up THIS.  Anyone remember using these when you were a kid?  These have been around at LEAST 70 years.  My earliest memories of Easter as a kid included PAAS egg dying kits.  There were no stickers or eggarounds, just dye and a little metal thing to pick the egg out of the cup.  

There WAS a crayon to write your name with however.  I was really surprised to find them still available.  Yup ... we are going to dye some Easter eggs for next weekend!!  Let's hope I don't make as big a mess as I did when I was little!!  To make it even better, Wally World gave me a FREE dozen eggs.  I didn't order any, but there they were in the bottom of the bag!!  Maybe that was a full moon effect too!

I ended the night with a half glass of Barefoot Moscato.  Not that I really want alcohol, but it keeps my phone out of my hand for at least an hour!  It's a win-win!!

And so it's DON THE ARMOR time as I try to convince myself I WILL BE PATIENT tonight at Bingo.  As I get older and older, my patience gets thinner and thinner.  It should be the opposite, yes?  

I will get a good jump on that patience idea when my Xfinity Internet is back up and running!!!

IT'S HULI HULI TIME!

I think I just might need a swimming pool.  We got up to a lovely 85 degrees yesterday, not my cup-o-tea.  I prefer the mid 70's, and put in my order for same.  Not that it matters one tiny little bit!!

So I pretended I was in Arizona.  I went from my air conditioned house, to the air conditioned Jeep, to the air conditioned store.  There are two close by ... Wally World and Tarjaaa, better known as Target.  No one goes to Tarjaaa any more, so it's always easy to navigate.  Unfortunately, that means the prices are pretty high.

It also means they don't stock their shelves well at all.  This is just one example.  You would think there was a tornado coming, or maybe the Curse of the Mummy!  But no, this is normal for this store.  I was after Thai sweet chili sauce, which of course was nowhere to be found.  

I was also after those tiny toothpaste tubes to carry in the RV, but they too were elusive.  Mascara they had, tortillas ... yes .. and peanut butter since I used all mine in that ice cream.  The blue thing is a kids shirt, hopefully the right size for Mr. Cooper.  His green one desperately needs to be washed.

This tiny bit of flotsam cost me $45.00, which is why I try NOT to shop Tarjaaa.  On the other hand, Sunday at Wally World is an experience in jammies and rude folks.  Yes, I will pay more not to shop there on Sunday.

The wine?  Oh yeah ... I was after those margaritas Patsy drinks, but they only came in a six pack.  I don't need six ... only one to see if I like it first.  So instead, I opted for my old time favorite Barefoot Moscato.  It's only $6.00 a bottle, but of course the bottle has shrunk considerably over the last year.

Back home, it was time for that job I've been putting off for a month.  Mr. Cooper needs a bath.  See that black spot on his leg?  That is the reason for the PJ's.  If he does not have them on, he licks at that spot constantly.  

And so I cut up that new shirt, which doesn't fit well at all.  Isn't he PURDY after a bath?  It's his least favorite thing to do in the entire world.  

Just for kicks, I took the shirt off to see what he would do.  Surprisingly, he didn't bother that leg at all, but I kept a close eye on him.  He such a sweet boy, but SO demanding when it comes to treats.  Bath time requires THREE.  The good news is he smells as sweet as can be!!

Lunch was easy ... salad.  Since I picked up that ginormas bag of celery at Costco, I've have to eat it every day.

Mr. Cooper and I laid out in the sun for a while once again, to soak up some vitamin D.  Though I can actually see a slight change in skin color, it was WAY too hot and I was not in the mood.  

What a lazy do-nothing day this was!!  I finally got off my duff and fixed huli-huli chicken for dinner.  Huli means FLIP in Hawaiian.  You've probably seen that barbecue gadget they made to flip the chicken back and forth.  

My version is much easier.  Marinate the chicken and air fry it!!  I only ate one piece because that asparagus filled me up.  It's from one of my Elks friends.  You may remember last year they gave me a huge box of "starts" that were quickly eaten up by the gophers.  Turns out that was a good thing because she is now complaining about having to cut this stuff every single day.  They are sick and tired of it, so are giving it all away.  It's a win-win for me!!

That was it for the day.  I tried to get a nice MOON picture, but it went down too soon this morning.  This will be the PINK moon, or Breaking Ice Moon since if you have a lot of ice around, the sun is melting it.  For me, it's just another OH CRAP IT'S FULL MOON BINGO!!  Didn't this just happen LAST month?

That's it folks ... that's all I've got for today.  Here's hoping Monday will be a little more exciting!!  

CRITTERS .........

We're dropping down in Central California.  Slowly but surely, the weather is cooling off.  Not that I'm complaining, but soon we will have a high of 65.  Time to finish up all those outdoor chores!

This is what it looks like every morning in my house.  This is rather subdued and quiet.  It's usually very LOUD and DEMANDING!  It's breakfast time and MOM, I'M HUNGRY!!  I may not have to cook for a MAN, but I certainly am at the disposal of Mr. Cooper.  If I waited, the rug would be completely rolled up.

This one is even worse when it comes to attention.  I thought cats were very independent nose-in-the-air critters.  Not so much THIS one.  She talks constantly and spends more time on this arm of the couch than anywhere in the house. 

See what I mean?  She doesn't care to sit in my lap, but she likes to be touching.  POOF!  Instant cat hair everywhere!  Summer isn't going to be fun, I can tell.

Though I got all dressed up to go OUT, it never happened,  I can't tell you how often that occurs.  Part of it is the Cooper-has-to-go-out constantly problem, and part of it is fuel costs at the moment.  Not that I can't afford it ..... I can ..... but my feet stick in the ground when they jump the price up to $6.79 a gallon the day they open up drilling on the California coast.  It SHOULD have gone DOWN, not UP.

Since I was out of Cooper food, I decided to cook for him instead.  Truly, I cook more for him than I ever do myself!  It's just boiled chicken ... his favorite.  He doesn't get a lot, just a sprinkling over his regular dog food.  If you think chicken is expensive, you should see the price on his DRY food.  Two years ago it went from $35 a bag to $65 a bag.  You would think it had fillet mignon in it!!  It's worth it however, not to have to go to the Dog Hospital with pancreatitis.  By the way, he's been fine since back on his regular food.

My plan was to get this quilt quilted, but as you can see, there's a little problem.  Apparently Miss Kitters the blimp decided this was a nice hammock to sleep in overnight.  It stretched the fabric considerably, so I had to remove the entire thing from the longarm and start over again.  Hopefully the fabric will go back to its original shape with a little misting of water.  

There was actually quite a bit of nice sun left in the afternoon, so I laid out for a bit.  It felt so good I almost fell asleep.  At least I will be able to wear shorts this summer and not blind folks when I walk by.  I admit it's not all that comfortable.  It takes a bit to get my back to bend when it's time to stand up.

I'm never alone, outside or inside.  Kitters is always looking for rubs of some sort.  This is her most favorite.  I have seen dogs love this treatment, but never a cat!  She would prefer this spa treatment continue for an hour, but since I'm spitting out kitty hair the entire time, it only goes on for about five minutes.  She absolutely LOVES it!

OH LOOK!!  Almost a full moon.  Just what I needed for the upcoming Bingo games.  March 31 is our next Bingo day, and April 1 will be a full moon.  This is NOT the sun setting ... it's the almost full moon in my back yard this morning at 4:30.  I think the moon rays are what's making the roses bloom like crazy!!

That was it ... a lazy sit around kind of day.  EXCEPT for one thing.  I caught Miss Kitters looking WAY too intently at something in the grass.  Sure enough ... a baby lizard.  I encouraged it to go to the grass roots and covered it with a heavy towel.  Literally five minutes later, the towel was bunched up and there was the tiny little guy laying on my living room floor.  Big sigh!!!

I scooped him up and took him to the front lawn to hide under a nice bush.  DARN CAT!!  Leave those lizards ALONE!!  At least she isn't eating them, but I really don't want dead lizards under my bed or hiding in the corners of my house!!!  I can hear Kitters laughing at me ............

Critters ... It's hard sometimes to live with them, but I can't live without them!!!

That Cake Was HOW MUCH?

 Sometimes I go outside in the mornings, look up at the sky and actually see stars.  It makes me wonder how those astronauts can fly up there and not run into something along the way.  It also makes me wonder just how in the heck the month of March is already GONE!  How can that be when it was February just two days ago??

Our weather Gods have been playing tricks on us this entire time.  Now we are going from 82 one day to 70 the next, followed by 65 degrees.  The expected rain has disappeared, leaving us heading clear down to an overnight low of 48.  Someone is having a great time with the Weather Button!!

This one right here ... she is such a sweet and happy girl.  She talks to me constantly now, and recently let me know the second flap on the doggie door had fallen down and she could not get out.  No kidding ... she ran back and forth to the door four times before I got the message and fixed it.  There were lots of purrs and rubs that followed.  She just craves attention, which I'm good at giving, but only when Mr. Cooper isn't looking!

Breakfast came early.  OH YEAH ... ICE CREAM!  I mixed up a batch the night before and set it to freezing this morning.  There are just as many good things about being single as there are being married.  THIS is one of them.  No one questions me about making ice cream at 6:00 in the morning.  

I get to eat anything I want, any TIME I want, without question.  I can come and go as I please, no asking or worrying about feeding someone when I'm gone.  I ALWAYS get to lick the beaters, never have to fix my hair and makeup if I don't want to, and I can keep the house temperature at whatever I feel like.  

On the OTHER hand, I have to do all the repairs, take out the garbage, fix the toilets and replace the light bulbs in the 12' high ceilings.  I LOVE my high ceilings, but they can be troublesome when a light goes out or the fire alarm beeps for new batteries.

I have two more of those small can lights over my desk.  Though I rarely turn them on, I was now worried about the bulbs putting off too much heat.  

It took some doing to get the old bulbs OUT.  I had to stick a piece of duct tape on it to get it to unscrew.   Finally it came loose and a new LED bulb was installed.  I have six more in this room to replace.  They went crazy with the lights in this house.

One more thing about being single ... YOU GET THE ICE CREAM MACHINE ALL TO YOURSELF!  Oh yeah ... once most of the peanut butter deliciousness is in the freezer, I get to clean the bowl all by myself!!

There was a bit of a pause before the accountant called, which led to an hour on the phone before thinking about the next event.  This is LOVE INC, a local charity group that does great things in our town for people who need help.  Our Elks Lodge Bingo donates quite a bit to this one.  Anyone in need, whether they are homeless or just need help, benefits from this Christian group of local churches.  

Elks buys two tables every year, so that means some of our bingo volunteers get to have dinner.  It was a little different this year.  Instead of the big charcuterie table, we got healthy snacks.  Trouble was, there were only six little sticks of goodies, and EIGHT chairs at the table.  

In no time, our tables were full of volunteers, awaiting that tri-tip and chicken dinner we usually have.

Or NOT!  This year it was raviolis.  WHAT?  Okay, we should be happy with anything.  To my surprise, the chicken ravs were VERY good!  

While we ate, they talked about some of their programs, which includes giving beds to people with children.  It surprises me how many families are sleeping on the floor.  Our Bingo volunteers stepped up and from just our table alone, we bought five beds at $100 each.  The crowd actually donated a total of $20,000 towards the purchase of just beds alone.  Anyone applying for same has to get a background check and their housing situation inspected, but WOW ... we have some wonderful donors in this town.

They had a raffle, a silent auction and a live auction.  I'm pretty sure they made close to $100,000 in this one night.  Local churches also donate their time and money to Homeless Showers (a portable setup) and Job Education programs.

Dessert was another fabulous donation from our table.  They have a Dessert Dash ... place your bid, and if you are the highest, you get to pick first.  Bingo is always the highest.  Only this time our RV Park donated $1,000 and our Park Manager picked the winning cake.  No pictures ... I was zoned in on trying to get 16 slices out of a pretty small cake.  It was DELICIOUS!  

Here's the problem.  They wait until everything is completely over before figuring out how much each bidder owes.  That takes WAY too long when we are all wanting to just pay and get out the door.  I waited in line for 20 minutes and the BANK door did not open.  They definitely need to start adding things up EARLIER.  People who have no intention of bidding on the big things could pay and leave.

My back wasn't happy at all, and standing was only making it worse.  I even had CASH that no one would take.  I walked out the door.  They have all my information and can call any time.  I will be happy to drop it off in their office.  I mean truly, it was worse than waiting for that doctors appointment that takes over an hour!!

And so I returned home, full to the brim.  No ice cream disappeared on this night.

It's going to be a beautiful weekend and the Van needs a workout.  I'm not sure where I will go, but anywhere will help that little battery recharge itself.  Maybe a QUILT store!!