Yesterday we drove to our son's house in Temecula so that his wife could go to a doctor's appointment. Yes, THAT kind of appointment. She's 3 months along...
This will be #3 for them. This will be #5 grandchild for us...
Anyway, we got to babysit the 27 month old. Let's just say she's a challenge. We sat and did some art work on a big piece of cardstock I brought and I put stickers on it, but then she wanted her momma and burst into tears. REAL TEARS! And screams! OY! My ears hurt!
So, I decided it was time for a walk. However, SHE decided she didn't wanna go. She was kicking and screaming as I attempted to install her in her car thingie walker. Okay. Plan B...I tried to reason with her. That did seem to work.
An hour later, I was nearly suffering from heat stroke. It was 90 degrees there and I walked all the way down to the far park and stuck her in a swing. BIG MISTAKE. She didn't want to get out. I told her 3x that Grandma was MELTING and I needed to get out of the sun! (I've had skin cancer twice now...) No effect. She didn't care. SHE wanted to swing!
I finally just grabbed her out of the swing and stuck her in her car thing. And, off we went. I was seeing spots about halfway back to their house and I drank 2 huge glasses of water once we got there. AND, that afternoon I took a 2 hour nap.
We had dinner and left and got home at 7:30 or so. I always have conflicting thoughts about driving over the mountain at night. On one hand, seeing all the lights in the desert is a beautiful sight. On the other hand, I'm always scared a deer or a bighorn sheep will venture out onto the road.
But, we made it home okay and I woke up at 5:30 this morning ready to go to the farmers' market.
~Cheers~
Cheryl Ann
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Saturday, March 11, 2017
THE NEWS
My husband is a news junkie. He was a journalism minor in college and was the first PAID intern at the Press Enterprise in Riverside. His college advisor became the major of Riverside. His uncle was a member of the Pennsylvania legislature and from the time he was 4, he listened to his uncle and his uncle's friends discuss politics. He remembers them offering him a swig of brandy at a very young age! In fact, we drove to Pennsylvania right after we were married back in 1972 because hubby had a summer job with the legislature there. Turns out, I was so miserable and we couldn't find any decent housing, so we came home.
ANYWAY...
He watches TV 16 hours... A DAY! From about 8 a.m. until midnight (or later). He watches MSNBC or CNN all day, then turns on MSNBC for the evening shows...Chris Matthews, Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and then the 11th Hour with Brian Williams. Sometimes I even catch him watching them THE SECOND TIME AROUND!
OY!
Sometimes I pull out my hair and just go outside and feed the birds. Other times I get in my car and go for a drive. He is ESPECIALLY tuned in now that his back hurts (week 2). I just drove him back to the chiropractor on Friday for another tweek and twist and pull. He told me his back cracked and something popped down at the base of his spine. He IS getting better, but at his age (67), it takes time.
In the meantime, we haven't driven anywhere except Temecula for over a month now. The wildflowers are at their peak and we are sitting at home....sigh...Waterfalls are running in the Indian Canyons and we are sitting at home. Between his chiropractic appointsments and babysitting the grandkids on Wednesdays, we only have a couple of times each week to actually go anywhere and lately he's been too tired to go ANYWHERE.
Ugh.
I guess I'll clean up my office today. Actually, I need to get up to the horses this weekend and brush them all.
ANYWAY...
He watches TV 16 hours... A DAY! From about 8 a.m. until midnight (or later). He watches MSNBC or CNN all day, then turns on MSNBC for the evening shows...Chris Matthews, Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and then the 11th Hour with Brian Williams. Sometimes I even catch him watching them THE SECOND TIME AROUND!
OY!
Sometimes I pull out my hair and just go outside and feed the birds. Other times I get in my car and go for a drive. He is ESPECIALLY tuned in now that his back hurts (week 2). I just drove him back to the chiropractor on Friday for another tweek and twist and pull. He told me his back cracked and something popped down at the base of his spine. He IS getting better, but at his age (67), it takes time.
In the meantime, we haven't driven anywhere except Temecula for over a month now. The wildflowers are at their peak and we are sitting at home....sigh...Waterfalls are running in the Indian Canyons and we are sitting at home. Between his chiropractic appointsments and babysitting the grandkids on Wednesdays, we only have a couple of times each week to actually go anywhere and lately he's been too tired to go ANYWHERE.
Ugh.
I guess I'll clean up my office today. Actually, I need to get up to the horses this weekend and brush them all.
May TIMESHARE!!!!!
One of my colleagues at school who retired last June has a timeshare for the entire month of May and she has invited me to come down and enjoy it.
I CERTAINLY WILL!
It's down in the Lawrence Welk resort, off Gopher Canyon Road. Now, that brings back memories. My parents' horse ranch was off Gopher Canyon Road, but on the west side of the freeway. They owned it for about 12 years and we would go down there on weekends. I remember taking my sleeping bag and sleeping on the floor in the 2nd bedroom. I always LOVED that ranch! (We never had horses there, of course)! To this day, I always remember that kitchen with its country themed cupboard doors!
There was a water reservoir at the top of the hill there and ...shudder...I remember my dad going up there with his .22 and bringing back 6' long rattlesnakes and warning me to be careful as I ran around all 10 acres of the ranch. I never saw one. However, while riding horses a couple of times (the neighbors' horses), I did see one. Go figure.
Anyway, I digress...
So, I'll be able to go down there (WITHOUT HUBBY!!!! :-)) and visit my friend and do some day trips. I'm planning on going down maybe twice and mid week. That way her daughter and son-in-law can come down on the weekends. AND, then I can stay in Temecula for a night and visit our son and his family! A double bonus! Hubby can stay home with the dog.
Then...MAYBE (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) hubby and I can plan a trip to the Sierra in June. With all the snow this year, we don't want to go any earlier. Of course, we would take the dog with us!
Ripley...she has to go with us. We can't leave her home alone. She has separation anxiety and she's old (she'll be 10 in October). She just sleeps all day in the car anyway...
I CERTAINLY WILL!
It's down in the Lawrence Welk resort, off Gopher Canyon Road. Now, that brings back memories. My parents' horse ranch was off Gopher Canyon Road, but on the west side of the freeway. They owned it for about 12 years and we would go down there on weekends. I remember taking my sleeping bag and sleeping on the floor in the 2nd bedroom. I always LOVED that ranch! (We never had horses there, of course)! To this day, I always remember that kitchen with its country themed cupboard doors!
There was a water reservoir at the top of the hill there and ...shudder...I remember my dad going up there with his .22 and bringing back 6' long rattlesnakes and warning me to be careful as I ran around all 10 acres of the ranch. I never saw one. However, while riding horses a couple of times (the neighbors' horses), I did see one. Go figure.
Anyway, I digress...
So, I'll be able to go down there (WITHOUT HUBBY!!!! :-)) and visit my friend and do some day trips. I'm planning on going down maybe twice and mid week. That way her daughter and son-in-law can come down on the weekends. AND, then I can stay in Temecula for a night and visit our son and his family! A double bonus! Hubby can stay home with the dog.
Then...MAYBE (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) hubby and I can plan a trip to the Sierra in June. With all the snow this year, we don't want to go any earlier. Of course, we would take the dog with us!
Friday, March 10, 2017
Why I am DONE shopping at Whole Foods
I'm DONE shopping at Whole Foods.
Our store opened in September of 2015. I spent the next year and a half shopping almost exclusively there. It was fun. It was new. It was shiny. I bought nearly every bag they ever had. In fact, we have ALL of their little lunch totes. EVERY.SINGLE.COLOR. We have all of their large totes. EVERY SINGLE COLOR. I think there are only a couple bags that I don't have.
I bought chicken kabobs for dinner there. I bought produce there. ($$$$$$) Hubby even bought a couple of bottles of wine there. We bought cheese and visited the olive bar. I bought foods from their deli, their hot deli, and their salad bar.
Funny thing, though....EVERY SINGLE TIME I ate at their fresh salad bar, I got sick. (I'm talking diarrhea here...) EVERY TIME. I finally quit buying their salad bar junk. Then, their hot deli bar. It became so tedious and BORING that I finally just quit. Then, they raised their chicken salad from $12.99 A POUND to $13.99 A POUND. And, when I was working, I would scoot in there EVERY SINGLE MORNING and buy a small container of chicken salad and broccoli salad or their cabbage salad. The problem with their cabbage salad was that it was very inconsistent. Some days it had dressing, but other days it was nearly dry and TASTELESS. Ugh. Really $9.99 a pound for...cardboard? So, I quit buying anything from their deli. So, there went the (1) salad bar; (2) hot buffet; and (3) deli.
Produce? For a market that advertises it's organic products, their produce is MAINLY CONVENTIONAL. Yes. You read that right. "CONVENTIONALLY GROWN". I don't know how many times I went in there looking for organic lemons only to find "conventionally grown" ones. Now, I didn't WANT conventional ones. Those I could buy anywhere. I wanted ORGANIC lemons. When I could find them (or when I chased down the produce guy and begged him to check the back room for organic lemons), they were small and $6.99 a bag. REALLY? $6.99 for 6 lemons? I grew frustrated with that nonsense.
Once a year they have some kind of soap from Africa on sale for $1.00 a bar. The first year I bought 10 bars. It was... HORRIBLE...It was oily, it really didn't smell good, and frankly, I didn't like it. The next year I bought zero. This past year I didn't even bother to go into the store for that.
So, what do I do instead? I've discovered that COSTCO now carries dehydrated apples in a larger bag than the t I would buy WEEKLY at Whole Foods. They also carry organic apricots! Whoo, whoo! I'm noticing that COSTCO is now carrying more and more organic items. I bought 2 bags of Mexico ORGANIC coffee there, too. The price of each bag is HALF of what coffee at Whole Foods was. One time I bought coffee there and it was so OLD and tasteless I returned it (with the receipt) and loudly announced I would NEVER, EVER buy coffee there again!!!! It was NASTY STUFF! The Mexico organic coffee at COSTCO is wonderful and we are enjoying it.
Albertsons now has a wonderful selection of...gasp! ORGANIC PRODUCE! I can buy romaine lettuce, green onions, POTATOES (NEVER buy non-organic potatoes!), celery, cucumbers...almost anything I need for a salad. And, they carry organic berries too. Scratch WHOLE PAYCHECK OFF for that now.
So, really, I have NO NEED to shop Whole Foods. COSTCO even carries organic butter and frankly, I like the taste better than what I was buying at Whole Foods. AND, we are only a block away from Trader Joe's. I buy bread, butter, yogurt, dog biscuits, and chicken (organic, free range) there and save $$$$$ over WHOLE PAYCHECK!
I haven't been in WF now for over a month and I don't intend to return any time in the future. I read that they are starting to close stores. GOOD!
We also have an ALDI market in town. However, so far, I haven't been impressed with them. We additionally have a Target and a Walmart neighborhood market, all within a half a mile of each other. So, there are LOTS of options.
Finally, every Wednesday we have a certified farmers' market. Hubby and I usually stop in there every other Wednesday. It will only last through May, however. But, I can always find them down in Temecula on Saturdays! :-)
Where do YOU shop? Are you happy with your store(s)?
By the way, Trader Joe's is so inexpensive I can afford to buy a bouquet of flowers once a week!
~Cheers~
Cheryl Ann
Our store opened in September of 2015. I spent the next year and a half shopping almost exclusively there. It was fun. It was new. It was shiny. I bought nearly every bag they ever had. In fact, we have ALL of their little lunch totes. EVERY.SINGLE.COLOR. We have all of their large totes. EVERY SINGLE COLOR. I think there are only a couple bags that I don't have.
I bought chicken kabobs for dinner there. I bought produce there. ($$$$$$) Hubby even bought a couple of bottles of wine there. We bought cheese and visited the olive bar. I bought foods from their deli, their hot deli, and their salad bar.
Funny thing, though....EVERY SINGLE TIME I ate at their fresh salad bar, I got sick. (I'm talking diarrhea here...) EVERY TIME. I finally quit buying their salad bar junk. Then, their hot deli bar. It became so tedious and BORING that I finally just quit. Then, they raised their chicken salad from $12.99 A POUND to $13.99 A POUND. And, when I was working, I would scoot in there EVERY SINGLE MORNING and buy a small container of chicken salad and broccoli salad or their cabbage salad. The problem with their cabbage salad was that it was very inconsistent. Some days it had dressing, but other days it was nearly dry and TASTELESS. Ugh. Really $9.99 a pound for...cardboard? So, I quit buying anything from their deli. So, there went the (1) salad bar; (2) hot buffet; and (3) deli.
Produce? For a market that advertises it's organic products, their produce is MAINLY CONVENTIONAL. Yes. You read that right. "CONVENTIONALLY GROWN". I don't know how many times I went in there looking for organic lemons only to find "conventionally grown" ones. Now, I didn't WANT conventional ones. Those I could buy anywhere. I wanted ORGANIC lemons. When I could find them (or when I chased down the produce guy and begged him to check the back room for organic lemons), they were small and $6.99 a bag. REALLY? $6.99 for 6 lemons? I grew frustrated with that nonsense.
Once a year they have some kind of soap from Africa on sale for $1.00 a bar. The first year I bought 10 bars. It was... HORRIBLE...It was oily, it really didn't smell good, and frankly, I didn't like it. The next year I bought zero. This past year I didn't even bother to go into the store for that.
So, what do I do instead? I've discovered that COSTCO now carries dehydrated apples in a larger bag than the t I would buy WEEKLY at Whole Foods. They also carry organic apricots! Whoo, whoo! I'm noticing that COSTCO is now carrying more and more organic items. I bought 2 bags of Mexico ORGANIC coffee there, too. The price of each bag is HALF of what coffee at Whole Foods was. One time I bought coffee there and it was so OLD and tasteless I returned it (with the receipt) and loudly announced I would NEVER, EVER buy coffee there again!!!! It was NASTY STUFF! The Mexico organic coffee at COSTCO is wonderful and we are enjoying it.
Albertsons now has a wonderful selection of...gasp! ORGANIC PRODUCE! I can buy romaine lettuce, green onions, POTATOES (NEVER buy non-organic potatoes!), celery, cucumbers...almost anything I need for a salad. And, they carry organic berries too. Scratch WHOLE PAYCHECK OFF for that now.
So, really, I have NO NEED to shop Whole Foods. COSTCO even carries organic butter and frankly, I like the taste better than what I was buying at Whole Foods. AND, we are only a block away from Trader Joe's. I buy bread, butter, yogurt, dog biscuits, and chicken (organic, free range) there and save $$$$$ over WHOLE PAYCHECK!
I haven't been in WF now for over a month and I don't intend to return any time in the future. I read that they are starting to close stores. GOOD!
We also have an ALDI market in town. However, so far, I haven't been impressed with them. We additionally have a Target and a Walmart neighborhood market, all within a half a mile of each other. So, there are LOTS of options.
Finally, every Wednesday we have a certified farmers' market. Hubby and I usually stop in there every other Wednesday. It will only last through May, however. But, I can always find them down in Temecula on Saturdays! :-)
Where do YOU shop? Are you happy with your store(s)?
By the way, Trader Joe's is so inexpensive I can afford to buy a bouquet of flowers once a week!
~Cheers~
Cheryl Ann
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
Slowing down?
Hubby is now into week 2 of his back issue. My weeks now consist of taking him to the chiropractor 2x a week and then picking up the grandkids at least once a week, usually Wednesday.
Things have definitely slowed down.
He sits in his chair ALL DAY. He only gets up to (1) go to the bathroom, (2) get coffee, (3) fix a cheese sandwich for lunch. That's IT.
He DID get in his car and drive to the store two days ago. I was shocked. I didn't think he could do it. I guess when hunger is involved, he can drive! I was too exhausted from our day trip to Temecula Sunday, which is 90 minutes each way. And, it is over curvy mountain roads.
So, I pretty much just stay home, tend to my garden, feed the birds (I went to COSTCO yesterday and bought 4 bags of seed), play with the dog, read a few blogs, maybe do some housework, or read a book. That's it.
Do I regret retiring? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! I'm LOVING it! Physically, there was NO WAY I could have completed this year. I'm slowing down, too.
And, now for some photos from the archives! Wildflowers from this time last year...
Things have definitely slowed down.
He sits in his chair ALL DAY. He only gets up to (1) go to the bathroom, (2) get coffee, (3) fix a cheese sandwich for lunch. That's IT.
He DID get in his car and drive to the store two days ago. I was shocked. I didn't think he could do it. I guess when hunger is involved, he can drive! I was too exhausted from our day trip to Temecula Sunday, which is 90 minutes each way. And, it is over curvy mountain roads.
So, I pretty much just stay home, tend to my garden, feed the birds (I went to COSTCO yesterday and bought 4 bags of seed), play with the dog, read a few blogs, maybe do some housework, or read a book. That's it.
Do I regret retiring? NOT ON YOUR LIFE! I'm LOVING it! Physically, there was NO WAY I could have completed this year. I'm slowing down, too.
And, now for some photos from the archives! Wildflowers from this time last year...
Friday, March 3, 2017
TOO MANY WEEDS!!!!
I gathered up the weeder and went to town yesterday morning. First I did the back yard, then I moved out front. After all the rain we've had, the weeds were OUT OF CONTROL and I needed to knock them down before they were too tall and too strong to kill with the weeder.
PHEW!
I did the back yard first, since I usually spend my time looking out there. Then I went out front. I do have a few sunflowers poking up through the dirt, so I had to be careful. AND, I have a whole swath of wildflowers out front now and some blue ones are already blooming.
I have to keep the front looking good because CODE ENFORCEMENT comes by a couple days a week now. He always parks in front of our house (giving me a heart attack), but he goes across the street to look into our neighbor's trailer (work trailer). I don't know what he's looking for...
We HAVE been cited before for "weeds". NO, those were WILDFLOWERS. I was ready to explain to him that I have California poppies, lupines, and some things I can't identify coming up out front, but he never came to our door. (thankfully)...
We picked up the grandkids yesterday and fixed dinneer for our daughter and her husband. Pita pockets, a green salad with chicken thrown in, and 2 bottles of a sparkling wine. It was DELICIOUS!
Take care and drive safely.
~Cheryl Ann~
PHEW!
I did the back yard first, since I usually spend my time looking out there. Then I went out front. I do have a few sunflowers poking up through the dirt, so I had to be careful. AND, I have a whole swath of wildflowers out front now and some blue ones are already blooming.
I have to keep the front looking good because CODE ENFORCEMENT comes by a couple days a week now. He always parks in front of our house (giving me a heart attack), but he goes across the street to look into our neighbor's trailer (work trailer). I don't know what he's looking for...
We HAVE been cited before for "weeds". NO, those were WILDFLOWERS. I was ready to explain to him that I have California poppies, lupines, and some things I can't identify coming up out front, but he never came to our door. (thankfully)...
We picked up the grandkids yesterday and fixed dinneer for our daughter and her husband. Pita pockets, a green salad with chicken thrown in, and 2 bottles of a sparkling wine. It was DELICIOUS!
Take care and drive safely.
~Cheryl Ann~
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Not much going on here...sigh...
There isn't much going on here. Hubby pulled a muscle in his back last Thursday and he's been going to a chiropractor every 3 days. He went yesterday and can FINALLY stand upright and walk (after 3 treatments). So, that was good. However, he tires easily, so we are pretty much staying put.
I was putting off signing up for Medicare because I still had my insurance from the school district, so I was negligent in getting that done and when I finally signed up, to my HORROR it wouldn't start until March 1st. That left a 2 week gap between when my work insurance stopped and when Medicare started. So, I pretty much hibernated those last two weeks. However, I DID have to drive hubby to his chiropractor appointments, so I drove VERY CAREFULLY. I am now completely covered by Medicare. Phew! And, we both managed to get one last 3 month supply of our medications under my old insurance and COSTCO. Cost? $0.00! So, we are set for the next 3 months regarding our medications. Another big "PHEW"!
I need to take the weeder out front and back this morning and get rid of the MONSTER WEEDS which have sprouted due to all our rain! I've never seen so many and so many that are tall and healthy! If I don't get them knocked down today or tomorrow, I won't be able to get them with the weeder!
My vegetables, however, are doing just fine. I'll go out this morning and take photos and post them here. They are HUGE!
Take care and drive safely.
~Cheryl Ann~
I was putting off signing up for Medicare because I still had my insurance from the school district, so I was negligent in getting that done and when I finally signed up, to my HORROR it wouldn't start until March 1st. That left a 2 week gap between when my work insurance stopped and when Medicare started. So, I pretty much hibernated those last two weeks. However, I DID have to drive hubby to his chiropractor appointments, so I drove VERY CAREFULLY. I am now completely covered by Medicare. Phew! And, we both managed to get one last 3 month supply of our medications under my old insurance and COSTCO. Cost? $0.00! So, we are set for the next 3 months regarding our medications. Another big "PHEW"!
I need to take the weeder out front and back this morning and get rid of the MONSTER WEEDS which have sprouted due to all our rain! I've never seen so many and so many that are tall and healthy! If I don't get them knocked down today or tomorrow, I won't be able to get them with the weeder!
My vegetables, however, are doing just fine. I'll go out this morning and take photos and post them here. They are HUGE!
Take care and drive safely.
~Cheryl Ann~
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