Happy New Year's

Well, like it or not, we are into another year and I'm looking forward to it. The cloud called "Holidays" is gone and the sun is shinning again in my brain. I'm working on my "2014 Year In Pictures" book and today my Bucket List get's updated. Typical New Year's Day stuff for me....

Monday Misc on Dec 29th

Christmas:  I could not wait for the holiday to be over. My decorations were down and put away by 10 a.m. on the 26th! Between my lack of Christmas Spirit and the memories of Larry in December I find the whole month just plain depressing.  I have promised myself that I will go someplace next year for part of the month - I just don't know where yet.  Yes, it is still Christmas but when you are busy doing "tourist things" then the holiday is an afterthought. I saw this at Thanksgiving when I was in San Diego and when Larry and I used to go to Las Vegas or Laughlin over Christmas and/or Thanksgiving. New Years doesn't bother me - it is mainly Christmas.

Car:  I got my vehicle back from the body shop on Friday and it looks like new. $500 deductible later.....

Birds and Squirrels: They are so entertaining!  I put the bird feeder in a tree that is about 15' straight out my office window so I am looking at it when at my desk. Besides the food in the feeder, I also sprinkle some on the ground under it. So far this morning I have seen squirrels, Blue Jays, Cardinals and  little black and white birds all eating but not all at the same time.  The squirrel and Blue Jays are the most aggressive. I saw 3 squirrels at one time on Saturday so the population is growing.  Two was the previous record. The Blue Jay is the only bird that has come onto the patio to get the squirrel's food....

Spam emails:  They are still continuing from when my email was stolen in the Home Depot hacking incident.  I can't believe people fall for some of them - they are so obviously phony. Sometimes I will get 5-10 of them a day. I refuse to give in and change the email address that I have had for over 30 years so I just keep deleting them.

Monday Misc on Tuesday.....

Family Christmas Dinner: What an amazing event! 69 people who are related to each other in one room.  There was 4 generations with ages ranging from a few months to 81 years old. There was 1 person who was visiting so there was a total of 70 people. You can't imagine how much food there was and it was mostly gone but a lot of it did go in take-home plates. Here is the crowd:

Scraped Fender:  Last week I was at Wendy's and when I came out I noticed that the pick-up truck parked next to me was really close on my passenger side and I don't know how he was able to get out of his vehicle.  Anyway, I started to back out and clipped the side of the his truck just before the bumper. I pulled back in and got out to look.  There was blue paint on my car and gold paint on his. No one came out of Wendy's so I assumed the owner did not see what happened.  Yes, I gave serious thought to just driving away! But my conscience got the better of me so I went into Wendy's looking for the driver of the truck. The guy and his friend were shocked that I came in to find them rather than just driving off. There was a small dent on his truck but the paint from my car just rubbed off.  I gave them my name, address and insurance information and we went our ways. I took my vehicle to the repair place yesterday and got a loaner while it is in the shop. I'll have it back in about a week and $932 later for the repair.  Geico is working with him to cover the repair of his truck. His paint on my car probably could have been buffed off and the scratches fixed with touch up paint but I wanted it done right since the car has been so well taken care of so am having it done.

Squirrels and birds: There is the feeder on the patio for the squirrels and there is a bird feeder hanging from the tree outside the office window that my desks sits in front of. The birds have been slow to discover their feeder on the tree but it didn't take the squirrels long to find it. My new entertainment is watching the squirrels who think that both feeders are theirs - no birds allowed. However, this morning I saw a Blue Jay on the patio at the squirrel feeder... I can be so easily amused!

Christmas at Crown Center

After we finished at the Union Station on Tueaday, we walked across the bridge to the Westin Hotel and Crown Center. As expected, everything was beautifully decorated. It was really a fun day!

 

Downtown from the walkway over Main Street. The street construction is for the new street car.

Lobby of the Westin Hotel.  I have always loved that waterfall in the lobby and can remember going there when it opened in the early 70's.

Sign in front of a store in Crown Center.  We didn't go in and get some Moonshine...

T-shirt in a store window. Love it!

Mayor's Christmas tree.

Hall's Department Store had 5-6 trees decorated near their entrance and each one had a different theme.  They were beautiful!

Christmas Decorations at KC's Union Station

On Tuesday, Vivian and I went down to Union Station and the Crown Center to have lunch and look at the Christmas decorations. Lunch was upstairs at the Harvey House in the lobby of Union Station. Food was good, service was not so good but we didn't care because we were busy enjoying the decorations and being serenaded by a school choir.

 

This is the main tree. It is 25' tall and over 25,000 lights are on it. It was beautiful!  The ceilings in Union Station are 95' high.

 

Looking down the Grand Hall where people used to sit on benches waiting on their trains. 

At the end of the Grand Hall is Santa's Workshop and a Model Railroad Exhibit.

 

A portion of Santa's Workshop.

Gingerbread Union Station.

 

The model railroad exhibit covers 8,000 sq ft.  There are 79 rains ranging from the smallest model trains built to the largest. Each train has a computer chip and is programed when it runs.  There are always 18 trains running at one time. The display in the Grand Hall is 60' x 60'. Several model railroad groups in the KC area set up and maintain the display.

The display even includes a street car that goes back and forth along "Main Street".

 

I'll write about Crown Center tomorrow.....

 

 

3 Years Ago Today......

....I lost my guy....  In some ways it has been a long 3 years and in other ways it doesn't seem like it has been 3 years. I feel like I missed a year in there somewhere. After Weight Watchers today, I'm heading to the mall to shop in honor of the person who loved to shop and had 37 pairs of shorts in his closet when he died plus piles of tennis shoes - some bought specifically to go with a specific pair of shorts.

In 2000 at Thanksgiving Point, Utah.

Monday Misc for Dec 15th

O.K....I am ready for Christmas to be over and life getting back to normal.... You can bet that all of my Christmas stuff will be packed up and put away on Dec 26th!  As I said before, I wasn't raised in a home where Christmas was a big deal, it's hard to develop that attitude when you live by yourself for 20+ years and Christmas wasn't a big deal to either my ex or to Larry. So it has never become part of my life.  There is also the issue of Larry dying so close to Christmas which did not help matters any...

Motown:  Vivian and I went to see the Broadway show Motown last Saturday afternoon.  It was probably the best Broadway touring show I have ever seen and I have seen quite a few in different towns over the years. The storyline was a little thin but was adequate to tell the story of how Barry Gordy started Motown, it's growth and led up to the 25th Anniversary TV special. The music is outstanding with 60 songs from the Motown era.  Some of the songs are not the full version but are medleys and some are the full version. The sets were simple but very effective.  Lighting was creative and really made the show and sets. Great show! Several of the actors were in the original Broadway show. It was in the Music Hall that was built in the 1930's. The marble lobby floors and stairs were beautiful. Lots of stairs with only 2 elevators. Seats were close to the row in front with not much leg room.  The main negative of the show was the volume - too LOUD! 

Photo and Movie Editing Class:  I spent last Thursday and Friday afternoons at the local Community College in class. I knew nothing about making a movie let along editing one.  Now I know about frames, fade in, transitions, splitting, adding music, etc. My main goal for the class was to learn how to make a movie out of my still pictures.  I still prefer the paper book but always thought it would be fun to make a movie of a trip - just for the experience. So after many, many hours this weekend, I managed to make a movie out of still pictures. The movie is 3 minutes long, includes music and is complete with credits....  I'll attach it to a blog if I can figure out how to do it correctly.  I tried and it didn't work properly so you may have to wait until I see you to view the next Academy Award winner for a Documentary. The file is too big to email.....

A cat called Crazy

After we visited the Plaza Lights last week, we stopped by the Kauffman Memorial Gardens to see the hundred's of poinsettias in the garden's conservatory. It was beautiful!!!  The resident cat there is named Crazy, had not missed a single meal in his life and has the run of the place. 
 

"Not another bunch of gawkers...It's bedtime!"

 

"I am smiling!"

 

"Maybe they will get the message and leave. I'm tired of being the host. "

 

 

My Christmas Tree

I went for years and never had a Christmas Tree - it was too much trouble, neither Larry or I wanted to mess with it when we were frequently gone over Christmas, etc. Then I went all out in 2012 after he died and had a big tree. I didn't do one in 2013 - it wasn't worth the effort.  I didn't bring the artificial tree with me to the Midwest.  I couldn't decide whether to do one or not this year.  I put other decorations up and around the house about Dec 1st. I even put icicle lights and garland on the patio railing.  I looked for trees and I couldn't find one I really liked or the ones I liked cost more than I was willing to pay to use for 3 weeks out of the year.  Part of the problem is that I'm just not a big Christmas person.  The Holiday was not a big one in my family when I was growing up so and to a degree I still feel that way. Plus I couldn't figure out where to put it that it wouldn't block my view of the outdoors from my recliner and that was more important to me.  Anyway, when I told Vivian that I wasn't going to do a tree she said "But you have to have a Christmas Tree."  Last Saturday she and Pat (her husband) showed up with a little pre-lit tree that they had found at a craft show that morning.

The tree is about 4 feet tall, skinny and doesn't block my view. Perfect!!!! The snowman is soft and attached to the base.

 

So off to Walmart I went the next morning to get some small decorations for it.  The boxes and boxes of ornaments I had from Tucson were mostly too big for it but I was able to use a few of them.. It is pretty to handy to have a tree that you can set on a stool in the kitchen and decorate without having to bend over, etc.

 

And here is the finished little tree.  I love it and it doesn't block my view.... 8-)

Thank you Vivian and Pat!

Monday Misc Dec 8, 2014

There are some weeks I have a hard time finding anything to write about and other time I have a list of topics.  This is a week with a lot of topics and I'm saving some of them for another day this week.

Medical Procedure on my back: Last Tuesday I had what is called a Radiofrequency (RF) Ablation procedure for the back pain from severe arthritis in my lower spine. I do have some mild pain/discomfort from the needles used in the procedure and that is to be expected. I think most of the remaining pain is from that and not the original back pain but won't know for sure until the procedure pain has cleared up. What I feel now is in the area where the needles went in and not so much where the original pain was.  Time will tell...  I was talking to a lady at Weight Watchers last week and she mentioned that she was going to have RF Ablation for her A-Fib.  I had no idea the procedure was used for things other than back pain.

Bird Feeder:  About the time I put the feeder out for the squirrels I also put a feeder in a tree for birds.  The bird feeder has been there for about 2 months and I never saw a bird on it nor has the food level gone down.  I can see it from the office so keep an eye on it.  Last week I did see several birds, including some Blue Jays in the tree directly in front of the office window.  So last Saturday I moved the feeder to the other tree where I have seen birds.  Haven't seen any birds in the feeder yet but one of the squirrels found it yesterday and had a feast. First come, first serve....

Wall Street Journal: I have been having trouble with my carrier for the Kansas City Star newspaper for several months.  Sometimes I miss the paper 2-3 times in a week.  He had been doing better after several complaints. However, this morning I did get a paper but it is the Wall Street Journal and no KC Star....  I used to read the Journal when traveling and haven't read it in years.  What I noticed this morning is that the Journal articles are so much more in-depth and intelligent than most papers. I can't say I am a fan of the KC Star at all - it is fluff and mostly ads - not much news. The Journal has a full page of several articles on the upcoming college bowl games - who is playing, match-ups, who isn't playing and why, etc. Much better than the Star articles.  Not sure I'll complain about today and we'll see what happens tomorrow.  The carrier must deliver both papers. I would get the New York Times periodically when I was here during the summer of 2013.

Plaza Lights: Last Saturday night I took Vivian, Karen and Sheryl down to the Plaza for dinner and some wandering around the Plaza looking at the Christmas lights. We went to P F Changs for dinner which was new to them all.  We ordered a bunch of appetizers and made a meal of them. There was some Chang's Mai Tai's to wash it all down. Unfortunately I was driving so could only have 1 but they sure were good! Sheryl and Karen got complimentary deserts for their birthdays.  The sun set while we were having dinner so the Plaza lights were on when we came out.

The Plaza Lights started with a string of 16 Christmas lights over a doorway in 1925. Today there are over 80 miles of lights that outline every tower, dome and window in the 4.5 square mile Plaza area. Lights on towers are always one color while multi-color lights are along the tops of buildings.  Every light comes down each year and is tested individually on a work bench and inspected for damage. Installation of the lights begin in early August, they shine from Thanksgiving through mid-January. Installation starts in September and the lights are all down by April. Each strand of lights is coded so they know exactly where it goes in the area.  Lights are maintained daily to keep all burnt out bulbs replaced.

Store window decorated for Christmas.

Yes, it was cold!

This was the first time I have seen the Plaza Lights in at least 43 years so it was nostalgic for me.  I don't remember carriage rides back then but there was a lot of them and they were full.

85% of the lights are now LED and to me, they just don't look the same. Maybe it's one of those things that we remember differently than it actually was.....  However it was still a fun experience.

Monday Misc Dec 1st

Can't believe it is December already!!!!! Three years ago I was dealing with Larry's diagnosis and a year ago I was getting the house ready to sell.  Both were memorable times in my life....

I had a great time in San Diego - thawing out my bones, looking at the water and spending time with a dear friend from Tucson. The weather was perfect - low 80's during the day and then cooler when the sun went down. The weather changes  frequently here in the Midwest so it seemed strange to have a week of just nothing but sunshine and warm. Reminded me of how much I would just wish for a cloudy day in the desert.... 

I took the Fall decorations down this weekend and packed them away.  Then I started pulling out the boxes of Christmas stuff. I haven't decided on whether or not to put up a tree this year.  There isn't a lot of room for it in the apartment so looking at alternatives.

There were 2 squirrels for breakfast yesterday so they are multiplying...  I LOVE watching them at the feeder. I put out whole peanuts in shells as desert and it isn't long before the peanuts are gone. They aren't eating them at the feeder so must be burying them or something. I've seen one out in the yard running around with a peanut in his mouth.

I'm off to the eye doctor today for a check on my cataracts.  Then tomorrow I get the nerve block for my arthritic back pain.  I was thinking about cancelling the nerve block since my back has not been bothering me as much but the walking last week convinced me to go ahead with the procedure.



 





Monday Misc for Nov 17th

Weather Update:  Yep, it's COLD!  The good news is that we didn't get any snow over the weekend which surprised me since the weather forecasters here are usually spot on when forecasting weather. However I'm glad they were wrong and we didn't get snow. I'm pretty comfortable driving on snow myself but worry about the other people on the road.  The high today is supposed to be 19 and down to 7 tonight (chill index will be below 0) which will break the record for the coldest day on this date since 1903. The day highs are usually in the 50's this time of year... At least later in the week we should get above freezing...  The 70's in San Diego next week are looking pretty good to me....

Gas Price:  I filled up yesterday with $2.59 gas at a Quick Trip and was really surprised to see gas prices the lowest I can remember in years. Gas is always highest in Calif so it will be interesting to see what we pay there next week.

Years of a big birthdays:  I met a lady in last week's photography class who turned 50 this year.  She was talking about how she decided to do something fun every month during the year.  It has ranged from a trip to Mexico to doing a zip line in Missouri.  Some of the things are just things in the KC area that she has never done even though she has lived here for years.  She wanted some info on doing a book of the year using pictures she has taken during the year.  I kinda like that idea and am thinking I should do something like that for 2015 when I turn 50...

Dec edition of the Quarterly:  I finished the Dec edition of the Quarterly magazine that the Johnson County Genealogy Society publishes.  It is 32 pages long and was quite a chore but I had fun doing it.  After I get it done, I email it to 3 people who do the proofing and catch all my grammar and punctuation mistakes.  I warned the board before I agreed to do it that I was better at putting it together than I was at proofing. Now my impatience sets in when I have to wait on others....  I want to get it to the printers on Thursday.  One of the members did a great article about the "First Olathe Soldier Killed in WW I". Olathe is a neighboring suburb.  She found in old newspapers a letter he wrote to his mother from France a few months before he was killed, a copy of the telegram notifying his parents of his death, a lengthy obit, a poem his parents wrote on the 1 year anniversary of his death and info from the local American Legion what is named after him. She also found an item where he was buried in the Olathe cemetery 5 years later.  In WW I, the bodies of soldiers where were killed were not immediately returned for burial.  They were buried in France or wherever and then some were returned after the war and some remained buried overseas.  She really did a great job an it was so interesting.

Home Depot, Hackers and other stuff

Home Depot:  Remember the issue when they got hacked and files stolen a few months ago?  I got a letter from my credit card saying my card was in the bunch stolen and they were issuing me a new card.  Well that was great but then I had to go online and change the credit card number with everyone from utility companies to Vera Bradley. The new card had the new fangled security chip in it but I have only found 2 stores who have credit card machines that are new enough to use the security chip.. Then I get a letter from Home Depot saying my email address was in a bunch that was hacked!  Now I am getting emails from Ghanda wanting me to help free someone from prison, American Express saying my account was frozen and to "verity" information to unlock the account and the list goes on and on.  I get 5-10 of these a day. Bells went off in my head when I got the American Express email so I called them and sure enough it was not legitimate. I could change my email address but I have had the same one for over 25 years and do not want to change it so will just keep deleting emails for now. At least they didn't make any charges to my old card....

Larry's Mother:  I got a call from Georgia, Larry's sister, yesterday letting me know that their mother had passed away. Barbara was 93,  had severe dementia  and other problems so she is at peace. It's tough on Georgia since she is the only remaining child and the McClelland name stops with her on her Grandfather's line. I'm going to go visit Georgia & Cass in the spring and go with her to take her mother's ashes down to Cambria, CA for burial in the O'Neil family plot of the little cemetery there. Larry and I visited that cemetery a few years ago and it is a really neat place - small, surrounded by woods, up on a big hill with an abundance of wildlife roaming the grounds.

Weather: I know I wanted 4 seasons but this is ridiculous!  It isn't even Thanksgiving yet and the wind chill this morning was 3 degrees with snow forecast for Saturday.  The 10 day forecast doesn't have any days above 40.  The wind is brutal.  Otherwise, it isn't too bad if you are in the sun - it's cold but with scarf, gloves, etc I am o.k. With all the wind, I certainly appreciate the time you ladies in Tucson took to check out the chime sound on wind chimes. 8-)  Sometimes the sound just goes on and on with the wind.  I woke up in the night last night and could hear the wind chimes.

Visitor: There has been a gray squirrel in the yard ever since I moved in here.  He usually came through in the morning while I was having breakfast and I would watch Morris watching the squirrel. A few weeks ago the squirrel was in the yard and came up on the patio. So.....I decided to feed him. I go and get a squirrel feeder, hang it in the yard and waited but never saw him in the feeder and the food level was the same. So....after seeing him on the patio again, I put some food just off the patio in the grass and he ate it.  Then I put some in a dish on the patio and here he is having lunch.

This week is the first time I have seen 2 of them at the same time in the yard.  So I put food out and it disappears but I don't know when they are getting it. Yesterday I changed the seed in the hanging feeder to bird seed and will feed the squirrel on the patio. Easy entertainment.... 8-)

Monday Misc for Nov 10th

Weather:   Yep, weather is getting top billing again this week. Here is the weather forecast for the next 10 days. As you can see, it will be 40 degrees colder in the morning than the high today and the

 

high tomorrow is forecast to be 30 degrees colder than today.  Then in the 30's for the next 10 days and beyond.  I don't mind cold!  However, I didn't expect it this sudden, this soon. Then there is the wind chill which is another whole issue to deal with. We shall see!   8-)  On the other hand, 2 weeks from today I will be on my way to San Diego.....

Photography Class: I have taken many, many photography classes over the years but have never taken a portrait photography class until now. I'm taking it at the community college from an instructor I took a class from back in the spring. I wanted to learn about posing people, etc which is a lot more technical than just pointing a camera at a flower and pushing the button. After our class on Saturday, we had homework assignments to do before the class next Saturday.  So...yesterday my nieces were my subject for part of the assignment. We went out to lunch, wine tasting at a winery and then pictures outside at the winery. I did a bit of tweaking in Photoshop when I got home, added a vignette effect and here is the finished assignment.  

 Karen and Vivian.

 Karen

Vivian

 

Any volunteers to be subjects?  8-)

 

 

Monday Misc for Nov 3rd

Three weeks from today I will be going to San Diego to meet a Tucson friend and will come home the day after Thanksgiving.  I'm really looking forward to the trip.

Daylight Savings Time:  One of the good things I can say about Arizona, other than friends, is that they did not observe this silly, outdated thing called Daylight Savings Time. It might have made sense when it was enacted many years ago but not needed now days. It was a hassle yesterday to have to change all the clocks.  However, they are making new clock radios, of which I have 2 of them,  that connect to satellite and reset themselves so I didn't have to change them. That was pretty cool.... Of course I was ready to go to bed last night before the clock said it was time to and woke up this morning at a ridiculous hour. Oh well..... I guess it's the price I pay for green grass, real trees, etc.

Cookies:  I ran across a recipe a few weeks ago and got around to making them last Saturday morning.  They are Pumpkin Spice cookies with cream cheese frosting and really good. The best part is that they were so easy to make!  I had to get most of them out of the house so took some to Bill and Vida when I went over there on Saturday and will give the rest of them to Vivian tomorrow. I really want to experiment with baking but there is the problem of what to do with the stuff I make since I can't keep it in the house and eat it. I would put those hard lost pounds back on so fast.....

Land's End: I love the plain cotton turtle neck sweaters from Land's End. The Sears in Tucson quit carrying the Land's End products in their store and I prefer to buy something I can see rather than order it online. So last week I went to the local Sears here just in case before I ordered online and found a gold mine.  The local Sears store not only carried a very large selection of women's clothing, they also carry men's clothing , kids and plus sizes - all Land's End!!!! Prices are the same as online.

Have a good week everyone!

Season Change and Pesonal Pictures

Last week it was 85 degrees and this week 45 with a low forecast of 24 in the morning.  I think fall is mostly behind us..... I don't see anything higher than 61 for the next 10 days in the forecast. The chill index this morning when I got up was 22... 8-)   But I am ready!  My sweaters are washed, folded and on the shelves. Turtlenecks are ready although I want a couple of different colors. I have a new fake fur-lined vest from Sam's at a great price. My knee boots are in the closet although I still have to spray them with a leather protectant. Had to look in some boxes yesterday but finally found my gloves and I have a rack full of scarves from last year.  So....bring it on! Of course I may get my fill of it early if it is a long, really cold winter and then I can become one of those annoying snow birds that people in Arizona dread.

On another note.....I have a big appreciation of personal pictures from being the genealogy fanatic I am. It is so frustrating to either not have a picture of someone or only have one when they are 10 years old and none as an adult.  I don't have many of me since I am always the one taking them so I have pictures taken periodically at a studio. The last ones were before I let my hair go natural so decided it was time to get some new ones done, especially with a big birthday coming up.  So off  I went to a local Penny's studio. I have gone for many years going back to when Larry and I would get pictures done with the grandkids at Penny's when we lived in Sacramento. Here is a collage of the ones I had done last week. I HATE having my picture taken so am always happy when someone can get some decent pictures of me.

Monday Misc for Oct 27th

Genealogy Seminar:  I'm glad the JCGS sponsored all day 2014 Genealogy Seminar is over!  All I did was take pictures for the Quarterly and be a chauffer on Saturday for the speaker - someone else picked him up at the airport on Friday and took him back on Sunday. The hotel he stayed at is on my way to the event center so I volunteered.  The seminar over all was very good and the  volunteers who planned and worked it did a wonderful job.  They have done this every year for many years so have it down pat. Now for the speaker.....he may be well know, own a genealogy publishing company, be a certified professional genealogist but I had had enough one-on-one time with him after 5 minutes. The guy never shuts up and most of the talking is about him. I set across from him at dinner and he was still talking...  He has been married and divorced 5 times and is an admitted narcissist.  I was thrilled when I dropped him back at his hotel and very glad I didn't have to listen to him for the 45 minute trip to the airport the next morning.

IKEA: Last Thursday I took my car to the dealer to get the oil changed and ready for winter.  Since the dealer is only 1 exit away from the new IKEA store I had to go check it out.  The store is the 1st one in Kansas and the only one in Missouri except for 1 in St. Louis. People lined up 48 hours in advance when it opened a couple of months ago.  Well, it is pretty much the same as the one in Phoenix that Larry and I went to except the one here has undercover parking which is very smart for winter. And yes, I bought several small things I didn't need as I always do.  Larry loved going there and usually put more items in the cart than I did - especially in the kitchen section.

Fall:  Loving the fall weather but the 85 yesterday was just plain silly.... A front is coming in and they are saying frost next Saturday morning.  I figure that  I can go back to sweaters on Thursday at the latest. Yesterday I went for a drive looking for trees to take pictures of.  Here are some of what I found:

The bottom picture was on the trail in the apartment complex.

TGIF

I really don't know why I look forward to Friday since Saturday is just another day when you are retired.  I guess it is just due to the 40+ years of working and looking forward to Friday and having the next 2 days off work... Tomorrow is the all-day annual seminar for the Genealogy Society and I'm the photographer for the event this year. Our speaker is from back east,  owns a publishing company for genealogy books and is a well know speaker on genealogy.  The specific topics aren't of great interest to me but I'm sure I will learn something. Then tomorrow evening is a dinner at a local BBQ place.

Last Wednesday, Vivian and I went out to the Overland Park Arboretum & Gardens for a walk in the sunshine and to enjoy the fall atmosphere. It was beautiful!   They have a special exhibit of scarecrows along a trail that were made by volunteers - very entertaining and creative.  Here are some pics from the day:

I was surprised that the dahlia plants were still in bloom - I don't remember my mother's being in bloom this late in the year.  Yes, the bottom left flower is a rose but the rest are dahlias.

I was surprised that more trees were not in their fall colors.

The stack of pumpkins was at least 5' high.

 

Some of the scarecrows on the trail. The witch who flew into a tree (bottom left) was cute.

This was our favorite and the one we voted for to win a contest for the best scarecrow.  The painted expression on his face is just priceless. He is looking down at some flamingos that have been spray painted black and brown. The title for this one was "Scardy Crow".  Below is a close-up of his face.

Monday Misc for Oct 20th

Yep, fall is here and I am loving it!  This is the view of the trees across the street from my apartment and what I see from my desk in the office. There is a tree just outside my office window that is almost as pretty. However the 70 degree weather is interfering with my sweater wearing....

San Francisco Earthquake: I was interested in the news on Friday with it being the 25th Anniversary of the last big earthquake in San Francisco since I was there in 1989 when it happened. That was the one where the freeways fell down and one side of the Bay Bridge collapsed.  I was living in the Sacramento area after a job transfer and went over to San Jose for a trade convention to look at bar coding equipment for the company. A co-worker and I had left the convention floor and walked next door to a large hotel to have a drink in the lobby bar when it hit. I didn't know so many people could fit under a baby grand piano.... I remember looking out at a very large chandelier above us and it was swinging in circles while bottles were falling off the shelves and breaking as they hit the floor. It finally stopped and we crawled out.  My glass of wine was still on the table but I needed 2 hands to hold it since they were shaking so much. The convention was immediately cancelled so it was a matter of getting out of there. Our car was packed in an underground garage. They would take 10 people in and count 10 cars coming out before taking 10 more people in.  The lights were out so only emergency lighting was available in the garage so it was hard to find your car. We didn't know the extent of damage until we heard it on the radio driving back to Sacramento.  One of those things you never forget......

Tide Cleaners:  Most people wouldn't think much about finding a good cleaners in a new town.  But to me, cleaners are important and I judge them by how well they do my jeans with the right amount of starch and crease. Any cleaners can do a passable job dry cleaning things. I was not thrilled with the one that is near to me - they either got the starch totally wrong or forgot to crease the pants. So I tried another one last week. I have never seen Tide Cleaners before and yes, they are owned by Proctor & Gamble who makes Tide products.  This area is a test market for them.  The jeans look good but haven't tried them yet..... It's the little things......

Morris and Lizards: This was my nightmare! Not necessarily that he would bring it to bed but that it would get loose in the house and wander into bed. It was such a relief not to have to worry about lizards here in the Midwest. This is the October picture on my calendar.  I have had a calendar over my desk with drawings by Gary Patterson each year for over 20 years.  All the pictures are of a cat doing various things.

Catching up...

It has been a busy week and I just didn't get around to setting down to update the blog...  A friend from Tucson was visiting for a week and we were on the go every day!  She is 10 years older than me but sometimes I had to find a bench to set down on to rest before she did.....  The weather didn't cooperate in that it rained 5 of the 7 days she was here.  We got everything on the list done but had to change a few things around because of rain. Of course the weather has been perfect since she left on Tuesday...  Perfect fall days right now with cool days, crisp nights and leaves changing.

I gotta admit that I did not think the KC Royals would win the Division Playoff let along the American League Championship....  However, I am really impressed with their "non-prima donna" attitude which is very refreshing in today's world of players only out for themselves and money.

I'm missing my little furry buddy but not ready for another one yet - if ever.  The house is awfully empty and I really noticed it after my friend left this week. 8-(     But that's life...

I've been switching out my closet this morning - bringing winter sweaters in from the storage boxes in the garage and taking out summer stuff. I'm ready!

Tidbits for Oct 7th

Louisburg Cider Mill:  Vivian and I stopper here on the way to Ft. Scott last Friday. The hot, fresh cider and cider donuts were wonderful!

Ft. Scott, KS:  Had a great time in Ft. Scott over the weekend with my niece.  We stayed at the Courtland Hotel which was built in 1906 for the railroad workers passing through. It isn't fancy but clean and had lot's of charm.  The furniture was a mix of antiques and stuff from the 50's but the bathroom was current. I didn't realize there was so much history in the area!  Besides a fully restored Fort Scott Military post, there was the Mine Creek Civil War Battlefield and a Civil War Massacre site - all very interesting.

Hotel Courtland

 

Lobby of the hotel

 

Ft Scott National Cemetery is one of the original 14 national Cemeteries that were established in 1862 by President Lincoln.

Company Coming....  A friend from Tucson arrives today for a week's visit.  8-)

Thursday Tidbits for Oct 2nd

Pain Shot:  I call it my miracle shot even if it did only last for about 6 hours...  What I am in the process of having is Medial Branch Nerve Blocks at L3 & L4. Last Tuesday was my first shot.  The way it works is that they do 2 shots of a temporary medicine to confirm that the pain is in fact coming from specific nerves.  If that is confirmed, they do a shot of something that basically kills the nerve which can last for a couple of years or more. This treatment is only for nerves outside the spinal column. So I went in not knowing what to expect other than what I had read on the paper they gave me. The doctor did 6 shots to numb the area on my back by the spine where the shots go.  She said the first numbing shot would "hurt like a bee sting"....well that was the biggest bee I have ever been stung by.....  It hurt and then there were 4-5 more of them.  I didn't feel the big needle when they went for the nerve - only a little pressure inside when she put the medicine in.  They use something like what dentist use that numbs an area for a few hours. By the time I got back to my recliner in another room my back was pain free. I couldn't believe it!  My pain is only in one isolated area so it's pretty clear if it is hurting or not. I waited a few minutes while they watched blood pressure and was discharged with a pain diary to keep for the rest of the day with instructions to "go home and do things that would normally make my back hurt". After about 3 hours of lifting, twisting, bending over, etc I could start to feel some pain starting to come back.  I had to call the diary in to her nurse yesterday before they would schedule the next shot which isn't until Nov 4th due to her being out of town for 3 weeks. The bee stings are worth the end result - at least they only hurt for a couple of seconds.
Results from my CT Scan: I had the scan on Friday and the results were posted to MyChart on the computer Friday night and was there Saturday morning for me. Of course it had a lot of big words but basically by looking them up I figured out that it was "calcified fat cells" and no problem. The doctor called me yesterday and confirmed it.  She said it sometimes just happens and sometimes happens after a surgery.  So no worries.... The also saw the nodule in the lung and it was still the same size as it was  few months ago. So....for the first time in several months, I don't have a doctor's appointment on my calendar for this month! 
Weather: The weather is playing with me!!!!! Last week it was mid 80's. A high of 56 tomorrow then slowly working it's way back up to mid-upper 70's or 80 before back down to the mid 70's.  However, tomorrow is sweater weather and my big decision will be which color of turtleneck sweater to wear....