Halloween.

This morning I finished washing the sheets, and I found that the pillow cases from the back bedroom were missing. Then I found that the pillows were, too. So, I will get some new ones. I started to do some mending on the sewing machine, but the light wasn't good enough, so I decided to wait until afternoon, and see if the sun came out. It didn't. This afternoon we took Ona Willet to have her fractured shoulder X-Rayed. Her doctor is close by the Tri-City Hospital, near here. On the way to her house earlier, we found where the new Kaiser Clinic in Oceanside is. The only trouble is that our doctor is still at the Carlsbad Clinic! Oh well, maybe we can go here when he isn't available. I guess we will have Halloween candy left over; we've had only about 15 children come by.

Things are looking up.

The main thing that we did today was to go to the Kaiser Clinic in Carlsbad and get Russ' blood test and then our flu shots for this year. There was no big lineup this time, there were only two people ahead of us. It was over in a few minutes. We stopped at Wal-Mart and got my eye ointment, and at Boney's grocery we got fresh vegetables. We came home, and the then the gardener came and did his blow-and-go routine. I wish we had a more thorough man, so Russ wouldn't have to do the pruning and special treatments, or I could do it. I've never been a gardener, but maybe I can learn. Kaye sent a new cell phone to replace the one I lost and then found. This new one is much better. I'll finish up the minutes on my old one, and when Kaye comes down I'll learn to use the new one.

Busy.

I didn't do any washing when the Longs were here, so I had quite a lot today to do. Roy came and he cleaned while I did the washing, and Russ watered the plants. We thought about going to the grocery, but instead just had lunch. Then my visiting teacher came, (after calling, of course). When she left, Uncle Al came over and stayed a while. He seems to be feeling a little better, but refused a cookie to go with his decaf coffee. He says he's hungry about 10 p.m. each night! After he left, we went to Taco Bell for supper; then we read and listened to the Book of Ephesians for our family home evening. Now we have bread in the oven, and when it's done, we'll finally rest a while. Showers were forecast, but they didn't come. The fires are almost contained tonight, finally.

A quiet Sunday.

We went to church this morning, and it was one of the best Sacrament Meetings we have ever attended. There were two talks, and one man told of his conversion, and ultimate activity in the church. The other was a powerful talk by the First Counselor to the Bishop. He is certainly a scriptorian. The Relief Society reported on all the supplies and help the Church is giving to the victims of the fires. By the way, we talked to the Longs, and their house wasn't in as bad shape as they feared. Of course some of the food was spoiled, but the cat was alive and well. After church we went to see Ona Willet. She has a fractured shoulder, but isn't in a lot of pain. We talked to Juanita Jensen, and she has two weeks' off work to heal her bad back.

Things are look up.

The fog did come in, and the moisture and lack of wind really helped the firefighters. The Rice fire that was burning in Fallbrook never did get to the Long's house, so they were able pack up their things and go home just before noon today. I was getting a perm, so I wasn't here when they left. But we had said our goodbye's before I left. When I got home, we had our lunch, and then we read the paper and rested. We are alone again, until Kaye arrives. She has postponed her trip two weeks, so the air will be better and the hot weather will have gone. I think that is a good idea. Our grand nephew, Gabe Harris called, and he is at Camp Pendleton for a few weeks. We will see him next week.

Still some smoke in the air.

I missed writing yesterday, because we were watching a movie until late. That seems to be a good way to entertain Harriette Long. Her husband likes to work on the computer. Anyway, nothing remarkable happened. They couldn't go back to Fallbrook yet. Today we read that some people in Fallbrook could go back, so their son from Lakeside where people could go home, went to Fallbrook, and somehow got past the guards and checked out the Long's house. It's still there, but the electricity is still off, and the water isn't drinkable, So, they won't be going home for a while yet. We went out to dinner tonight, and that was a nice break. The smoke is begining to clear out, and the fog is supposed to come in tonight. That will help.

Another day of waiting.

Today has gone by pretty much the same as yesterday. We have stayed inside, though, and have not gone anywhere because of the breathing problems outside. The smoke is everywhere. We have been watching old movies on TV in the living room, and the fire reports on the TV in the family room. Karen came over, and since Harriette Long wants to buy a ring, Karen brought samples of stones and catalogs of settings for her to look at. That took up a little time. I hope Karen stays inside tomorrow, the smoke in the air won't do her any good, either. The Long's son will be over as soon as people are allowed to go back to Fallbrook, and take Don to check on the house there. That is, if the fires don't change again and go to where he lives in Lakeside.

More waiting to hear about the fires.

We all sort of slept in this morning. Russ and I had breakfast before the Longs came out. Then we gave them breakfast. After talking and watching the news a while, we showed them the first Harry Hotter movie. They hadn't seen any of them. We went out to an early dinner at the Hometown Buffet, and then we came home and watched another Harry Potter movie. That, and watching more news about the fires on TV, everyone is ready for bed, including me. We tried again to reach Lenon Bezzant, but we just got her answering machine. Since there are Lenon, her daughter and two grandchildren in the house, I imagine they are with family somewhere near here. All of Fallbrook is evacuated.

Fires all aound, but we are OK.

The fires are still burning around the county, and we have Harriette and Don Long from Fallbrook here. They had to evacuate their home, and we invited them to come here. What would only be about a 30-minute drive, turned out to be over three hours! Harriette had a heart attack about a week ago, and they did an angioplasty on her, and she still doesn't feel very well. We gave them a late dinner, and now they are going to bed. Don is now bringing some things from their car, that they packed up in a hurry. They had just put $20,000 improvements on their house, and we are all hoping it doesn't burn down. We tried to reach Lenon Bezzant, too, but she must have already evacuated.

Russ woke up with a bleeding nose, but he soon got it stopped. So, we had our breakfast and got ready and went to Church. We were there for the Sacrament Meeting, and a returned missionary and the Stake President spoke. I'm glad I went. Karen took Russ home, because his nose was bothering him again. I stayed for the other two meetings. I drove myself home, and I didn't hit any other car, so my confidence is returning. We had some lunch, read the newspaper, and watched a news show. We both cooked dinner, and then had ice cream. Then we saw two mystery shows on TV. I have questions about the S.S. lesson, so I'll have to read again the Book of Hebrews.

This morning I had my hair done as usual, and then we got some supplies and came home. All things were in anticipation of going to church tomorrow. We read the lessons to be given, and proceeded with he rest of the day, watching a little TV, making bread and baking it. Then we got ready for Sunday, just like the old Primary song says to do. Part of that is getting into the right frame of mind, and I think the scripture reading and listening to, does a lot to promote that. During the week, we sometimes forget, and we have to read more often. Also, I'm still reading Karen's Book, and I must soon finish it and get it back to her.

The sun came out and stayed out all day, quite a change from what we have had. I wanted to go walking, but we never did get to it. We did go shopping, though, in Wall-Mart, and that takes a lot of walking! We got a new remote control for our TV, and it's nice to have it, and not have to get up from a chair to change things. We also bought some frozen fish fillets, that I cook for dinner tonight. I read some more in Karen's book on Christ and I still find it very interesting. I get a clearer picture of the times in which he lived and a better understanding of the Scriptures. Tonight we listened to Bill Moyer's Journal and got a thorough picture of "Blackwater", from the author of a biography of the CEO of it. It was pretty devastating.

A good day to drive, but a little crowded..

We went to the Temple, but the traffic was heavy so we were too late for the 10 o'clock session. We waited for the 10:30 session, and that was all right. My knees gave me a little trouble when I tried to stand up each time, but with Karen's help I managed. When my knees are better, I want to go again. There are some changes in the program I want to see again. Afterwards we drove back to a town about half way home and had lunch there. At home we watched some TV, and I sewed again as I watched. We had our dinner, and now as soon as I'm done with this, I will read some more in Karen's big book on Christ, so I can give it back to her soon.

It's nice to be well.

This morning we went to the Kaiser Pharmacy to pick up a refill, and then since the clouds had broken a little, we went for a short walk at Tamarack Beach. At home again we had lunch, and then watched the History channel on TV. Then I did a little sewing. About 4:30 we went to Karen and Terry's for dinner. We spent about an hour looking at the picture book Terry had made of their trip to see the autumn leaves in New England and Canada. Then we had a very nice dinner Karen prepared. At home again we got ready for our Temple trip tomorrow.

It has been an iffy day, threatening rain, but it never did materialize. I spent the day doing the washing and mending, a good thing to do on a cloudy day. We talked to all three daughters, and they were our only outside contact, except for the gardener and his crew. And they stayed about 15 minutes; they cut a little on the shrubs, blew the leaves around, and left. Then we talked to Beth and Tom Wieland. They are in their mountain home in Utah. John and his family are in Salt Lake City, but he is often gone, leaving Kathy and her little boy there. Beth and Tom can see them more often than they did for a while. We are going to watch more of the old Star Trek tonight.

A misty day.

Roy came to clean the house this morning. While he was here I did some mending, went to help Russ with the watering, but he was done. So, I just picked some roses and came back inside. The sun never did come out; so it was easier to stay in the house for the rest of the day. I called about my cell phone to the Hear-X clinic where I got my hearing aid on Friday, but they couldn't find it there. Roy looked all around the house while he cleaned, but didn't find it. We watched another of the old "Star Trek" series, the the news on TV, and Rick Steves' explaining how they taped their trips around Europe. But they did show scenes in Milan, including "The Last Supper" painting, and the beautiful Cathedral. I'm going now to look at catalogs to find more of the satin sheets. They are easier to get yourself on and off the bed.

A quiet Sunday

We went to Fast and Testimony Meeting this morning, but we didn't stay for the other meetings. Russ didn't feel well, so we came home. We studied the Gospel Doctrine lesson at the computer, with the CD on. So we are up to the class in the New Testament. We watched a little TV, and then the Bishop, our home teacher, called and said he would be over. He was here in about 15 minutes, and he told us about his and his wife's trip to Branson, Mi. It is a small but unique town, there are churches everywhere, and over 6,ooo,ooo visitors a year. They support the churches and the country and musical shows that are there. It's on the "Bible Belt". Tonight we will watch a couple of mystery shows on TV.

Lost cell phone!

Today was another good day. I drove us to get my hair set, and I wasn't nervous at all, once I got out on the road. And I drove back home later, with no mishaps. The only trouble was that I have lost my cell phone! I called both places I went to yesterday, and they didn't have it, and it's just not around our house. But I'll keep looking. It rained a little over the night, but we had partial sunshine this afternoon. Tomorrow will be cool but no more rain, and we still need it. Tonight we watched our Brit shows on T. V. and that was the sum of the day, mostly good.

My hearing is better.

We got a slow start this morning, but we were ready when Karen arrived to take us to my appointment to pick up my hearing aid. We drove to Hear-X in Vista, and they put in the hearing aid. I thought it was OK, but when I got home I found it was too loud. When Russ takes his in to have it adjusted, I will have them turn down mine. We stopped for lunch on the way home, and we heard about Karen and Terry's trip to see the leaves in New England and Eastern Canada. They enjoyed it, but came home not too well. However, Karen is improving, and I hope Terry will soon. We spent a quiet afternoon and evening, after our first adventure out of the house together this week.

A quiet day at home.

This morning Russ watered the amaryllis and cactus in the back yard and also the lemon tree. I watched him. We discussed moving the palm tree to the front patio, in the place of the dead shrub on the north side. If we don't soon get some rain, there won't be much plant life left in So. Calif. Later we listened to all the news on the TV, and then we analyzed it, and decided that things are really in a bad shape in the world now. We did learn that the Nobel Prize for Literature has gone to a writer whose work I have never come across. And she and I were contemporaries in the 20th century. I guess I just read from the old familiar authors. And I thought I was up-to-date!

We went separaate ways.

Karen came over this this morning, to take Russ to get their blood tests. They seemed to be happy with the arrangements, so I decided to to go with Lind Shelden to the AXO alumnae meeting. Linda got here about 10:25, and we drove to the meeting in San Marcos. For the first 45 minutes the women all talked and drank either wine or fruit juices, then we had our lunch. Then Dr. Burton, husband of the hostess, talked to us about the founding of San Marcos. He and Marilyn moved there in 1960, when there were only 1,000 people, half living in mobile home parks. He was very active in the city, as mayor for several years, and got the mobile people to buy their lots, the city to buy up land to lease to businesses, and now there are 80,000 people there, and lots of businesses. I expected him to talk about something medical, but he didn't.

Our third day staying home.

We talked to Karen, Kaye and Carla today, and that was good. Russ is feel better today, and he is looking forward to getting his blood test tomorrow, with Karen, who also needs one. I can't make up my mind whether to go with them, or go to the Alpha Chi meeting with Linda Shelden. I'll have to decide tomorrow morning. I did the watering of the plants today, with Russ' direction. It was hard to keep him from doing it, but he is still weak. And I am the healthy one now! Although he's doing fine. Today on the History channel we saw a great history of the earth, including how it was formed. It took about two hours, and it was worth it. It straightened out some ideas I had about how it went.

Another good day.

Things are still improving; both Karen and Russ are getting better. They will have their blood tests later in the week, and I will get my hearing aid back. That's real progress. We have spent our Columbus Day quietly. We have watched the TV shows on that and on other topics we are interest in, like the history of water in the U.S. and other historic events. Tonight we will see a special on Columbus and his last voyage, after we have read in the big book on Jesus Christ and the history of that period that Karen lent us before she went on their trip. I'm going to try to get a copy of it; it's huge and heavy, but there's a lot of information in it. And it's up- to- date on the Dead Sea Scrolls and everything.

Things are looking up.

I just noticed that I have just been telling about bad things happening, I will stop that and be more cheerful. Karen and Terry are improving, and so is Russ. We watched both sessions of General Conference, and that was uplifting. I really feel we are a part of the whole of the Lord's children. President Hinckley is still speaking at Conference at the age of 97! He is truly amazing. I feel so fortunate that things are looking up. We are enjoying our home, and when the woman at Fair Winds Retirement community called, I was tempted to say, Please take our names off your list. But someday we may have to move somewhere.

Not so good.

The day started out as usual. We had breakfast, then I went to get my hair set while Russ did a little shopping. When we got home Karen called, and she and Terry both had colds and wouldn't be over to watch General Conference with us. We watched it, and then had some lunch. Then things started to get a little bad. Russ got a fever and was not up to doing anything but sit and watch the rest of Conference and then other things on TV. He didn't want dinner, so I had some by myself, while he had a cup of decaf tea. Later we watched more TV, then he went to bed. But he didn't stay, but got up, with a bleeding nose, and threw up. He's in bed now, and seems to be a little better. I'll go join him, in bed, I mean!

A usual day.

Karen called this morning, and she thinks she's coming down with a cold, so she won't come over today, but will come tomorrow to watch General Conference on our TV. I didn't accomplish much today; I meant to sew, but my machine is in the back bedroom now, and it was cold there, and there's a TV on top of it. I meant to change it when it had warmed up in there, but I didn't get to it. Instead I read a while, and watched some interesting things on TV. We went out to lunch at Jack- in-the-Box, where we had good fish sandwich. Then it was back to reading and TV. The news wasn't too good on TV, and the book I was reading wasn't good either. But there was some good news, we got Kaye's itinerary to come down to visit at the end of this month! That's a good thought to go to bed on.

A little busier.

Karen just called to tell us she and Terry had arrived in San Diego. They will drive home and go right to bed, because it's now 11 p.m. for them! I was glad to get her call. We'll talk tomorrow. We went to lunch with Al, and Marge and Mac McKay, at his retirement house. It was nice to visit with them all. Marge and Mac spent 9 months in a retirement home, and they didn't like it and are back in their Mira Costa house, where they moved to, from their house near us. From Al's place we went to the Kaiser Pharmacy to pick up 2 refills, and then to Wal-Mart to pick up a few supplies. At home again, we watched some more of "Star Trek", the 1st Generation, and talked to Kaye. Then I called all the Alumnae Alpha Chi's in my area to tell them about the meeting on Oct. 10.

It has been a quiet day. I stripped the beds Bianca and Andrea used, and later put the sheets and pillow cases in the washer and even later, the drier. We watched a couple of the old "Star Trek" episodes on the disk Kaye and Race sent us. We decided we like them because they always have a happy ending, and you can't say that about a lot of the stuff that comes on TV now. I want to be cheered up, and not depressed, by what we see. We did get some interesting ads in the mail today; one was from Carl's Jr. restaurant. We decided we'd go and see what the new dishes are like. The only problem was that we missed the sunset. Last night it was so clear we could see it, and also a peek of the ocean, where three trees are losing some leaves to beetle infestation. I hate to say it, but I hope the beetles get all of the three, then maybe we can we see the ocean again from the house!

A sort of busy day.

We did our washing , and it took most of the day. After it was done, we drove to Carlsbad to visit Harold and Elynore Rogers. But they had left there this week, and are now at their daughter's house in Ramona. We went to the Kaiser Pharmacy and picked up a refill, and then we stopped at Tamarack Beach and went for a walk. I took the big walker, and I managed to keep up with Russ, as we went along the seawall from one lifeguard station to the next and back to the car. At home we rested a while, then put away the clothes. Bianca and Andria (I called her Amanda in one of my blogs, sorry). Anyway, they got here about 6 p.m. Andria picked up her car and left, and Bianca stayed a while to visit, then she left. She called when she got back to her apartment. We talked to Kaye, and she is doing well, she says, resting up from the trip to Albany, Or.

Back to the usual.

The girls left early this morning, before we were awake. They will be back Tuesday evening. We enjoy their being here. It's been lonely with Karen away. Roy came this morning, just as we were finishing breakfast. He worked hard, until 11:30, and he really cleaned the kitchen floor. It needed it, I guess. Russ watered the plants, and I went out with him. It hasn't rained for so long, things are really drying up. I read in a Nature magazine that the flowers at Waldon Pond are blooming a week to two weeks earlier than they did when Thoreau wrote about them in the 1800's. Global Warming! Our family home evening was again reading in the New Testament. We also had ice cream.