school history and horses

So I am back in school and it is feeling better. the course this year is Hist374 - Russian History of the Tsars.  Serhy is my instructor and he is pretty cool.  He is from the Ukraine and definately has some opinions.  There is lots of reading and it really tries my comprehension to understand all the Eastern European names.  But it is early and I am prepared to try hard.

Our other course is that Marla and I are taking horseback riding courses from Connect and Ride.  Carmen had to cancel today's ride which was a bit of a bummer but all in all it wasn't a bad thing because today was terribly hot. We actually set records today for Victoria being the hottest day since 1975.  I think it may have been too hot for the horses to hump us about.

Yeechy things happening in the house.  Our fridge sucks, it has since we bought it but seeing as the dishwasher decided to do its impression of a waterfall and we have to get the service rep out for that we might as well get the fridge looked at too.

On the good side, Trev from Arbour Renovations came over and fixed the back door.  He does a good job.  So I am going to get him to fix the back deck or build us a new one.

Yeehaw

Well just a little bit of a yee haw.  Marla and I started our horse riding course on Wednesday.  We went out to Connect and Ride to get started.  Last time Carmen said to come a little later - the week before we were really early.  This time she said we were a half hour late.  So next week we are going to get there 40 minutes early and see how that works.

We got out to the stable and the first thing we did was to go out to the paddock and get our horses.  I got a brownish gold mare named Sam and Marla was to ride a little gypsy horse named Vixen.  We put the halters and leads on them and brought them down to the stable.  Once we 'tied' them up to the fence we gave each of them a good brushing.  Then we scraped down their hooves.  We put on their saddle blankets, saddle pads, and got the saddle up.  Sam stands about 6ft high and it is a tall lift to get the saddle up on her.  We don't use a halter with a bit in it - the kind we use is called a hackamore.

We went out to the riding ring.  I was able to stretch up my stirrup and get my left foot in, I work my steeltoed boots rather than cowboy boots but they were just a little too wide.  Sam goes forward with a little click of the heels and a 'che che' sound.   "whoa" stops and sometimes goes into reverse.  To go left hold the reigns a little high and to the left, right goes the same way.  Actually the hard part was dropping down out of the saddle.  Rather than staying in the stirrup I take both feet out and slipped down to the ground.

The horses get another brush down and clean hooves.  I felt a little bad for Sam because I am so big but felt totally awesome that I am small enough to be able to ride.  Even if it was just circles in a ring, it felt great.

Bleh

I was so sore.  I woke up feeling really stiff, sore and generally yeechy.  Not only that, I was waking up at 6am on a day when I could be sleeping in.  But first lets go back to the out of Stomp.  It was a really good out.  The show started at 7:30pm and we were ready to take down the show at 9:30pm.  Our guys were expecting a three hour out, instead we had them out the door with the truck doors closed by 11:30.  We give good out.

Colin and I were doing a whole bunch of cleaning up.  There was a ton of sand and dust left from the show.  But we did our best and left the theatre cleaner than when we found it.  So I wasn't that hard worked from the night before.  And I happily went to bed before 1am.  So what I am doing up at six.  Well I am feeling really bad.

On the sideboard by my bed is my bookcase, alarm clock, a glass of water and two tylenol t-3s.  They are a pretty heavy duty pill that I have used in the past to help recover from surgery, cramps, and other bad stuff.  So I took them.  Within a few minutes I was rolled up in a ball on the floor.  I totally hurt.  I had not experienced pain like this since my surgery.

I was trying to decide if I should let it pass or go to emergency.  Emergency would mean waiting a couple of hours to see what is going on and I could do that or wait and see.  I elected to wait and see.  I felt terrible for two hours and it passed.  I guess the issue really lies with taking the NSAID.  The T-3 may have been too much.  So I think I will stay away from them.

As the day progressed I got better and was happy to spend quality time with Marla.  We watched the Labour Day Classic game between Saskatchewan and Winnipeg (why isn't it Manitoba?).  The Roughies won and the day is good again.

Its Showtime

It has been a busy week.  The national touring company of Stomp is in town and I have been working backstage on the crew.  Eight shows in five days is a bit of a tear up and really messes with the exercise schedule.

But going back a little further, I have completed my Ceramics course at University.  I got my usual mark, B+.  I am okay with that and will keep at it.  I was thinking that I may take the follow up course in January.  But I am also toying with the idea of taking the semester off.

Anyways, back to Stomp.  It was a really good show to work on.  The road crew was a fantastic bunch.  Graham (the head carp) and Sam (head props) were the guys that Colin and I worked with the most.  Doing props for the show is a nice active job.  The performers were also nice to work with.  They were funny and polite which is always a plus.

My eating has been a little all over the place.  Mostly because of working this schedule but also because I am drifting a bit.  I am being led astray by some of the 'treats' around the house.  So the best thing is to  get the bad stuff out of the house and stick to the good stuff.

The pear tree's fruit is ready.  It is really nice to go out into the back yard, pick a pear, brush it off and enjoy a healthy treat.  They are very sweet so it is a good thing they are small.

I have been pre-reading for my fall UVic class.  This time around it is Russian History.  I think it is going to be a lot harder getting the names right.  But I am ready for a challenge as much as I am ready for a holiday.

With Classes this summer and shows in September, Marla and I haven't been able to get away.  We are in serious need of a road trip but I don't see any available time until late September or early October.  Even a trip to Portland would be a good break.

But now things are on the way to returning to normal.  Two shows today and an out.  Horse riding on Wednesday and maybe a photo shoot for Camosun, UVic on Thursday and a concert on next Sunday.

Whew.

An evening with Ty Cobb

Well today was a fun day.  Chris, Precious and I had a nice morning walk along the ocean.  The weird part was that the Map My Walk app only measured half the distance and all the time.  So where I think we walked about 8km we only walked 4.  Still it was a nice walk.

I came home and Marla and I watched the Blue Bombers lose to Hamilton TC.  Then we watched a really good game between Saskatchewan and Edmonton.  I can say it was a good game because the Riders won.

Paula invited us over to her place to help celebrate Susan J's birthday.  It was a nice gathering of people.  We didn't eat anything there because we were going over to John's Place to watch a one man show about Ty Cobb.

My eating was pretty good at John's.  I caved and had a little of their bread.  Each time we go there I have a smaller amount.  I tried their Southern Fried Steak but could only eat about a third of it.  It will reheat okay.

Tomorrow is a rest day.

day by day

I had a rough weekend.  I felt like I had a kidney stone coming on.  That sharp pain in my back is very familiar.  So I decided this would be a good time to get rid of some of the lab requests I have stockpiled and go get my blood tested.  Yup, I am anemic - again.

Aside from the stabbing pain in my back every now and then Marla and I had a great time being artsy craftsy in the afternoon.  We went downtown to see the Fibrations show on the lawn of the St. Ann's Academy.  It was all really interesting.  Marla got to try out spinning - It is definately a learned skill.  I don't think she will become a spinner but she had fun.

It was also nice bumping into a bunch of people who we know.  Dallas from the gardening crew and Susan B among a whole bunch of other Camosun retirees were there.  Something I really liked was all the bright colours of the wool and the fabrics. 

Monday was a bit of a down day for me.  I did a few kilometre walk but for the most part I just hung out with Marla.  Any day hanging out with Marla is a good day.

I spent a lot of time doing my homework, I have a presentation for Tuesday to do.

Tuesday,
Well my presentation went very well.  I was very comfortable and worked my stuff.

I walked home from the University 8.1 Kms  and on this very hot day it was a really nice walk.

In the evening Marla and I went down to Centennial Square to check out the food trucks and the start of the fringe.  It kind of sucked, so we went to Shari's Halibut House for fish and chips.  But instead of Chinese food we actually had fish and chips.  It was okay, but felt kind of manufactures.  I think I prefer Brady's.

We came home and ended up giving Precious a bath.  She is really good in the tub.

putting one foot in front of the other

I was up early, about 6 and thought this is a good day for a walk.  My friend Christopher was busy this morning so we couldn't do our usual walk.  And Precious the Pooch has a sore foot, I think she has pulled a muscle in her foot, so I decide that today I would go solo.  I started my walk about 8am after my usual breakfast and headed off into the Victoria morning.  Best of all, I was walking with my new shoes.  I am back in Aasics - my favourite style of shoes and a little smaller now - I can wear size 11s.

My normal walk is to go from home to downtown Victoria and see the Inner Harbour.  It is about five kilometres away and it is a really pretty walk.  The walk was really nice, except I forgot my water bottle, and when I got down to the Inner Harbour the Dragon Boat races were underway.

I walked all around the Inner Harbour and continued through James Bay to the breakwater at Ogden Point.  It is quite nice walking out on the breakwater now with the railings up on it.  I didn't think I would like them but they are quite nice.  And it does open the walkway to people with physical challenges.

From there it was the usual trail that Chris and I take out to Beacon Hill park and what was once the world's tallest totem pole.  By the cricket pitch and up to the Christ Church Cathedral.  Finally I scooted over to Chinatown, through Fan Tan alley and then retracing my steps to home.

When all was said and done I walked 21.4 Kms or half a marathon.  I did it in just under four and a half hours and when you discount the twenty minutes when I watched the dragon boats, I think I am in good order to do the Goodlife half-marathon in October.

It was a pretty good walk and I felt great after it.  The rest of the day was wonderful.  I hung out with Marla and we watched two CFL games.  Both games were awesome, but best of all was that Saskatchewan won in the final plays of the game.

I had a good day.

I think all I do with my blog is catch up

So it has been three months (May some time) since my last blog.  Here I am and it has been quite a summer.  Looking back, shortly after the Burton Cummings concert in Bow, Wa, Marla and I caught the Golden Princess to Alaska from Seattle.  It was one of our best cruises we have ever been on and I promise I will write about it at another time.  It was an awesome trip.

I started with doing a week's run of Beauty and the Beast at the Royal on follow spot.  It was a very good show and it was just too bad that there was no advertising for it and the audiences were very small.  Then it was working at the College for a photoshoot and a video shoot.  It was nice working there for a while.  I even came back and worked for a while filling in as an AV Assistant.  

In July I was back in University - this time taking courses in Ceramics AE303A.  It was an Introduction to Pottery and I really enjoyed this course.  Opportunity knocked with another course.  Sylvia Hosie was going to teach her last beginner tap course.  I am finally small enough that I cannot hurt myself or others so I decided to take it.  It was a hoot.  Sylvia is a wonderful teacher and I had a great time.

Most of all I just enjoyed the summer as it raced past at lighting speed.  Marla and I took in some festivals (the Car Show, and the Buskers) but also we just enjoyed each other.  I puttered around the house.  Got used to my new MacBook Pro.  I walked - a lot.  Marla worried that I would wear out Precious going on these 10, 15 and 20 km walks from home to downtown.  

So in a nutshell - that was my summer of 2013.  So far it was a pretty good year.  Now if I can just keep remembering to write in my blog.

Once more unto the breech - well really just checking in

May 2013 - I started the month off working on a week of shows for Disney's Beauty and the Beast Musical at the Royal.  It was a very good show with the exception that they did no advertising so the audiences really sucked.  Most of the time it was less than half full. 

May 16 we took off to Sidney to catch the Washington State Ferry to Anacortes Washington.  Then we took off for the Skagit Valley Casino. 

 

 

The reason for this trip was that last fall I worked on the Burton Cummings concert at the Royal and I thought that it would be really cool for Marla to see the show.  So he was playing at the Skagit and I got tickets for us for a Christmas present.  We got to the Skagit and while we were unpacking the car a bus came in beside us.  I hustled us in to get checked in before the bus.  Marla went in to check out the room and I got the luggage.  As I was coming back I discovered it was Burton Cumming's bus so he and I had a nice chat for a while.  I told Marla about it and she was a bit ticked that she missed him.

That was the theme of the weekend, I bumped into Cummings a couple times when we talked about hockey, Victoria, and basketball.  Marla missed each time :)  I had a couple of great walks and runs at the Skagit.  they have my favourite hotel swimming pool.  We did a bunch of shopping at Freddies and then caught the concert the next day. 

 

It was a really good show.  Great music from the seventies.  The theater at the Skagit feels like a high school gym.  We had a really really good time. 

 

Then we took off the next day for a night at the River Rock Casino.  there are a few nice things we like about the River Rock.  Of course there are the beds, the view, and the room where you can watch airplanes landing at YVR.  The other cool thing we did at the River Rock was to slip next door and see the Richmond Night Market.  It is kinda tacky and cheap, not to mention cheesy but it is fun and I like the cultural exchange.

 

 

 

To be continued.

 





WLS 18 month check in

Mea Culpa -
It has been ages since I posted anything so this will be the start of a collection of posts.  But first the overview.  Seeing as this was originally about my weight loss journey here is how I have progressed.  From my heaviest weight of 339 I am down to 234.  That's 105 pounds!  I feel great.  I have gone from where size 48 pants are comfortable to where size 36 pants fall off.  My eating sucks.  Dr. Amson said that after my surgery I could eat anything - just not a lot of it.  He was right.  I can eat just about anything as long as it is only in a small amount.  So I graze. A lot.

What I can eat -
Soups - especially ones with meat in them.
Meat - if it is rare
Veggies - cooked
Veggies - raw but only if massively chewed.
Eggs - best if they are poached and not overcooked
Shrimp
Nuts
Beef Jerky

What I can't eat -
Ice Cream
Raw Veggies
Pineapple
Apple - raw
Oatmeal
Mayonnaise
Most Salads
Salmon
Doughnuts
Chow Mein


What I shouldn't eat but sometimes have a bite
Bread - the only bread I will have is when we eat out at Pag's or Olive Garden.  And where I used to have 10 pieces now I have one or two.
Peanuts - devil temptation food
Pizza

Things that have been great since my surgery - I have really got into doing exercise.  I especially like walking.  I regularly work out and try to get two or three 10k walks a week.  I am even at the point now where it is difficult to rest for a day.

I wholeheartedly recommend having this surgery but whoever gets it done has to know that they cannot return to their old life without gaining the (or at least some) weight back.  Weight loss surgery is only the tool - most of the changes have to happen in your head.

week two of this retirement thing.

Well I made it through my first week of retirement.  So far so good.  On the bad side, my plan for getting up and going for early morning walks got a little thwarted first of all that it is bloody cold outside in February, dark too.  Also, I got busy.  On the good side, I have been pretty relaxed.  I have been enjoying my time with Marla.

Today was nice, I went out for lunch with Anne and Kathy.  It was great to share some time with old workmates and friends.  I think seafood chowder or clam chowder is becoming my favourite soup.  I tried making fresh tomato soup, which was really good, but only made 1.5 cups of soup.  I have to try thiagain.

I worked on a couple of Royals Hockey games.  Good games and good times.  my downfall is the buffet of cookies they leave out.  I have got it down to a limit of four per night.  One before the game and one ofter each mid-period commercial break. 

Tomorrow I am working on the Tenors and then I have a week or so off.  Most of it I should be using for my studying.  I have been working of making my memory right.  So I am trying to learn some Shakespeare speeches.  I am starting with All The World's A Stage - Jacques' speech from As You Like It.  It took three days but I think I have it -
All the world's a stage,
and all the men and women merely players.
Their acts being seven ages.
They have their exits and their entrances
Each man in his time plays many parts.
First the infant, mewling and puking in the nurses arms.
And Then the whinning school boy with satchel and shinning morning face
creeping unwillingly to school.  Then the lover, sighing like a furnace,
with a woeful ballad made to his mistresses eyebrow.

Then a soldier, full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard. 
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel
seeking the bubble reputation, even in the cannon's mouth.

Then the justice, with fair round belly and good capon lined
eyes severe, with beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances, and so he plays his part.

he sixth age shifts to the lean and slipp'red pantaloon. 
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
his hose, well saved, a world to wide for his shrunk shrank,
His big manly voice turning again to childish trebles, pipes and whistles
in his sound. 

The last scene of all to end this eventful history is that of second
childishness and mere oblivion.
Sans teeth, Sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Retiring - ready, set, what - go

An now I am retired.  I think if you ever want a self validating experience resign after working at the same place for 33 years.  I felt absolutely gluttenous from the week long of splurge of saying good bye, hugs, and wishing good thoughts.  There was a departmental party where there must have been about 80 people dropping in to wish me well.  I felt so focused.

It was a wonderful send off.  The week wasn't all that much fun from the transition point of view.  The guys were a bit unhappy about how my leaving will affect them and I had a lot of catching up to do despite my planning.  But it is all done.  I am sure the department will carry on well without me. 

So now I have started my retirement phase.  I wonder what it will bring.  My standard answer is that I will: 1) return to school to complete my degree in history 2) continue with theater and stage work 3) travel and 4) write.

I have secret desires too.  I think I would like to act - maybe I will audition for a show to see what happens.  The other thing I want to do is exercise more.  so precious the pooch is in for a lot of walking.

I will tell you more as it happens.

two weeks to retirement

Wow, the time is coming close.  In two weeks I will retire.  I feel like I am closing a chapter on Camosun College but after being there for nearly 34 years it truly is a part of me.  I am very thankful for my time there; it has provided me with a future.

But as I write this I am more focused on just being sore all over.  Yesterday Megan worked our buns off in the My Large Friends workout.  I really pushed it even to the point of running in  my cardio set at the fastest I have gone for five minutes and at one point I went for 30 seconds at level 6.0  I was exhausted and got my heart rate up to 155 pbm.

Today, Friday Jan 17, Marla and I went out for Lunch at the Japanese Village.  We tried going to Sauce first but it was closed.  Looks like their renovating (again)  that makes me a little worried. 

I had a very nice but sore walk this morning with precious.  this time instead of walking towards cattle point we walked along the lower breakwater.  Precious didn't like the idea of jumping on the concrete blocks but we had a good time scrambling about on the stone.

Precious will feel better when we walk tomorrow and go on our usual route.

Back for more - this time a class about English Royalty

So I didn't sleep well last night at all.  I wore my fitbit and it reported what I really did which was tossed and turned.  Today I had a very very stiff neck.  Maybe it was I really didn't want to go into work.  I know, I know, I am on the home stretch of my time at the college.  But I did have stuff I need to do.

I was having a bit of difficulty with my exercise for today. Today was the first day in five that I did not get out for a long walk. today was the day that I had to be at work at 7:30am; worked through lunch; rushed home to get organized and go to my evening history class. But I did do my walking tricks. I parked as far away from the office as possible so when I walked into the college it had a misty fringe to it as the rain tried to convince itself to drop from the sky. Then whenever I went out on a trouble call I made it a point to take the stairs up to the top floor of whichever building I went into once the job was done. Finally I walked quite a distance from the parking lot at UVic to my class in the clerehue building by the library. Walking through the University at night makes me feel very vulnerable. I was glad I had my big bright yellow jacket and it was useful as the cars actually did stop for me - glad to know the reflectors work.

 My class sounds really cool but I always enjoy the first class of the semester. Lets see how this goes, I have lots of reading to do.

January 5, 2013

Saturday

I got up and was all set to go walking with Christopher at 7:30am but it was piddling down rain.  I unlocked the door and let Precious out for a pee in the downpour.  No Way.  She wasn’t moving.  So I convinced her to at least go out – part of my accident prevention policy – and then called Christopher to cancel our morning exercise.  I had planned on going to the WLS meeting this morning but about the time I got ready to go it cleared up and I felt that both Precious the Pooch and I needed the walk.

We took off and walked what I am going to call the great circle.  It goes from our house to Uptown all the way up to Admiral’s Road then all the way to the Gorge and down to Tillicum then home.  All in all it is about 10 Kms.  Precious apparently liked the walk even though she was on the leash for the whole time.

In the afternoon Marla and I went to Costco to return some stuff.  Even when we return stuff there it costs us money.  But we got some good stuff.  I was putting some laundry away and I found my replacement or placeholder ring.  After it fell off my finger I couldn’t find it.  But it must have got caught in the sheets when I put them in the laundry.  It went through the wash and dryer only to fall out as we folded up the sheets.  After a nice afternoon at home I headed off to work at the arena.  It was a really good hockey game where the Royals won 5-2. 

January 6, 2013

Sunday

I was up early to undeck the halls.  It was time to put away all the Christmas stuff.  So I went the extra step and packed up everything neat, clean and tidy.  I got rid of a lot of junk and trash and even created an empty box.  Once done that Precious and I went out for a walk.  We repeated most of our path from the day before.  I extended my walk to the overpass past Admiral's Road, and all the way down to the Craigflower School.  It was a very good walk.

Marla and I spent a quiet afternoon at home which I quite liked.  We did slip out to some shopping at XCESS Cargo and Canadian Tire but mostly it was just nice to be home.  This marks the last of my 16 days off work for the Christmas holiday.  It was a joyous time and I am looking forward to the changes on the horizon.

Last week posts

Catching up on my Journal

Thursday January 4

I started the day off driving Marla down to her volunteering at Beacon Hill Villa. Marla wasn't feeling all that well but she was ready to give it a try. I took the opportunity to take Precious for another walk along the ocean. We just got started when Marla called. It turns out that the people she would be working with were also not feeling so well. So she was going to take the day off. I forgoed my walk with Precious and picked up Marla.

We had a great morning restricting ourselves to knocking off some chores. We started off by going out to Costco. I had to get the tire bolts re-tightened on the truck. It is a free service with quite a cost to it. Since we had to pick up some stuff (Marla's eye drops) we took the repair time to do some shopping. The first thing we found, well I found, was a WD TV Live box. It is a little box that allows users to access the internet without a computer and also play AVI, MP4, and other files. I was looking to buy one of these anyways to fix my issues with the DVD playback and this was only just a little more expensive so I gave it a try.

I was also doing some more shopping, apparently just for me, I got a new shirt (Maroon size L), some new waterproof gloves, and other treats. We found a spank type of outfit for Marla. She picked larger than she really is so we will have to take her stuff back. In the end our free tire repair cost $300 but we got some good stuff along the way.

Our next stop was down to Dr. Poon's to get Marla's eyes checked. I took the opportunity to go take a walk while Marla was getting checked out. When we finished up we were going to go to Smokin' Bones for lunch but I checked their menu while I walked and it kind of sucked. So instead we went over to John's Place – a choice that Marla much preferred anyways.

Lunch at John's is one of our favourite things. I don't think we could be called regulars but we are there often enough that some of the staff know us. Rodney and Deb provide great service in a delightful atmosphere. Marla had her usual Belgian Waffle with cream cheese, whipped cream and strawberries. I went for the meatloaf. It usually comes with awesome garlic mashed potatoes but taters are off my diet. So I checked with Deb and she said she could do a substitution for me. I chose to have more mushrooms and it was a good decision. They were great. I have some eating issues where I am unable to eat very much. I end up doing things like ordering a senior's smaller dinner and bringing half of it home with me. It will be a good supper at one of the hockey games this weekend.

When we got home I was gathering up stuff to take into the house and I looked down into the seat well beside the drivers seat. Low and behold, there it was, my fitbit. I had lost it months ago and felt really bad for missing it. I thought it was in the house somewhere but all the time it was here in the car.

Before we settled into the evening I headed out to the treadmill and walked on it for about an hour. It felt pretty good but I don't feel like I am ready to push off on my leg into a run. I run now and then on the treadmill's at the gym. But it is a little tougher to get going in the garage.

We decided to have a nice quiet evening so we stayed home and caught up on some tv. We enjoyed the night.

Friday January 4, 2013

We put new fuzzy sheets on the bed and I really really like them. So after a very comfortable night I was up and ready to go. I started my day with programming the logictec harmony remotes for the DVD and the WD TV Live player.

I spent a bunch of the morning trying to figure out, of all things, how to dry a rug. I finally got it dry enough that I could run it through the dryer. I also took the morning to go on a long walk with Precious. We walked from home to the Gorge, then down by the soccer field and then finally over to Wal-Mart. Precious did really good going through tunnels and over bridges. It was a good hour and a half walk.

When we got home I still had bunches of energy so I put it to use taking down the Christmas lights on the house. Sunday all the inside decorations will come down.

After all that, I had to go see Dr. Amson this afternoon for my 14 month check up. I think I have gained a couple of pounds but I feel great. I think I am coming to terms with my new size. I enjoy who I am, how I look and how I feel. I can move, walk, run (a little) and work. My check up was okay and I am doing as I should. It is like a regular visit to the dr's office for the average 50+ man – exercise more, eat less, keep on track. So all is good.

I was off to work at the Arena for the Royals game against the Tri-Cities Americans. It was an excellent game until the Royals lost in overtime. A shot slipped by four players to get by the goalie in the last .3 seconds. ACCCKKKK!!!!

Happy New Years

My head hurts.  We were up until two in the morning drinking champagne and watching James Bond movies until two in the morning.  A little wine goes a long way with me and I started the new year off with a very good sleep. 

I was up early enough to go for a walk but frankly I felt so yucky that I opted to stay in and watch the Rose Bowl parade.  We also have a backlog of stuff to clean up and seeing as I am off work for the next few days I thought this would be a good opportunity to get some of the chores done that I have been procrastinating.  Tomorrow, must walk.

I had a good day with Marla who also was not feeling so well today.  We had a delightful time catching some shows and cleaning up.  I am far from a whirlwind when I clean up but I did get some stuff done and that was an achievement.

In the evening we watched a really interesting shows about Jews in musical theater.   It was very interesting.  It also makes me wonder.

2013 has begun.

the last day of 2012

Another year is wrapping up.  We started our day off by taking Precious out to the vet.  It was time for her shot.  So we drove out to Brentwood and had a nice chat with Neil's replacement again.  Then we took off for breakfast at the Homestead but when we got there it was closed.  So we went over to the spitfire grill on the other side of the airport.  I enjoyed it.  Instead of having toast and potatoes with my eggs and bacon I had mushrooms.  It was the special.

We drove home and went out again but this time to the bank where we checked on the safety deposit box.  It was the first time I had checked it out so I photographed the contents and put in a usb with a collection of my photographs from 1986 to 2011. 

Then it was off to pick up some champagne for new year's eve and then to home for some exercise.  I got on the treadmill for 45 min and then came in and immediately fell asleep.  Marla even got a picture of me sleeping sitting up.

We passed our evening by watching James Bond movies and sharing times together.