Six Weeks Plus a Day Left

December 1

The cats get along really well. Unfortunately, Ethel is not willing to let us hold her. She runs away every time one of us tries to catch her. About the only time we are able to get her is when she is half asleep.

December 2

See, she doesn't look mean - just shy.

December 3

The golf ball in the bottom of the glass is an indentation on the outside of the bottom. This was a gift to Dennis at the OCSGA Christmas dinner on December 3.

December 4

The instrument panel in my car - boring.

December 5

This is a total experiment. Lucy was chasing the reflection of my watch on the wall and we took a video. I captured this frame from the video, so the quality is not as good as a still photo. She was going crazy trying to get this light. Dennis and I were having so much fun watching her that I was late for work.

December 6

Linda was kind enough to lay out her instruments and let me take this for my photo of the day. She really got into it and arranged everything very neatly, including her gloves.

December 7

I live with a bunch of slobs. This empty water bottle was under the end table for several days. Whoever dropped couldn't be bothered to get in and put it in the recycle can. They make me crazy!

The End is in Sight

November 24

I planted these bulbs years ago and they keep sprouting every year. I occasionally get flowers, but not every year and not every plant. There are freesia and daffodils.

November 25

Erin did not know that there was such a thing as wax beans.

November 26

My Two Peas in a Bucket Over 45 Chatter group has a Secret Santa gift exchange every year and these are the presents I received this year. The plan is to open one each weekend beginning on December 1 and open the last one on Christmas day.

November 27

The new campus at work has nice smoking areas and they are kept very neat and tidy.

November 28

I love our bathtub! It is huge. We got a longer than standard tub so that Dennis could stretch out in it. What we didn't think about is that it could be too long for me. It turns out that a tub can be too long for a person. I end up sliding down until my feet reach the end of the tub and then my head is just barely above water. I need a booster pillow to put at the end to stop me from sliding.

November 29

The fireplace had been natural colored fake brick that was looking pretty ratty. When we painted a few years ago, we decided to make it match the walls. I love the candle holder on the wall above the mantle.

November 30

Another day when I didn't get a photo until the end of the day. I don't know what Lucy was looking at, but I love the contemplative look on her face.

Still Doing It

November 17

Our hope is that Lucy and Ethel will be friends. Sitting on the chair together is a good first step. They chase and wrestle each other and I have also witnessed them grooming one another.

November 18

The Sunday before Thanksgiving we picked out our Christmas tree. We will go back later to cut it down and bring it home. We used to go the minute the farm opened on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, but we got tired of the lines. By the time we get to the farm, there aren't that many left, but we always find a pretty one.

November 19

Ethel's safe place - she has plenty of time to escape if she notices any one of us getting down on our hands and knees to try to get her. One of these days she will want to come to me. I hope it is soon.

November 20

My tendency is to pile things on the counter until I get quite a bit, then put everything away. It is always up to me - no one else ever does the dishes. They can use them, but can't be bothered to clean them and put them away.

November 21

The fountain at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach. It was another beautiful day in November that makes me never want to live anywhere other than southern California.

November 22

Tryptophan strikes! Dennis needed to rest his eyes after Thanksgiving dinner. He says he was not asleep and maybe he wasn't in a deep sleep, but he was napping.

November 23

This is at the sixteenth tee at Via Verde and is says 'Carrigan's Alley'. It was put there to honor uncle Pat who played this course a lot. It is a very nice tribute to him.

Almost the Home Stretch

November 10

I spent so much time cleaning the kitchen the day I took this photo. Everything came off the counter top, so I could really scrub it. I even took out the sliding part of the windows so I could wash the outside of them. I washed to floor, too. Natually, it didn't stay this way for very long.

November 11

At this point in time, Ethel had been living with us for a little under two weeks. It took her at least a week to come out of Erin's room. She enjoys free run of the house, but doesn't want people to pick her up. When we do get a chance to grab her, she loves to be petted and scratched and she purrs like crazy. I hope one of these days she will let us get her.

November 12

Lucky me, I have two cell phones. The one on the left is my personal phone the one on the right is the one they gave me for work. Generally, I have my personal phone forwarded to my work phone, so I don't have to carry two of them around with me.

November 13

RATS!

November 14

I have had this plant for years and haven't killed it yet. Lucy has started to jump onto this table and chew on the leaves, so some of them look a little ragged.

November 15

This was considered a beautiful day in Orange County. However, there is a layer of crud on the horizon. My office is on the third floor and this was taken from the end of the hall.

November 16

I like the angle and the lines, but not the dust.

Looking for Inspiration

November 3

...and I was doing so well. I did not miss a day in October.

November 4

I have this candle holder in front of the house and I almost never light any candles in it. Since it is getting dark so early, I have to try harder to do it. It is pretty cool looking.

November 5

I did not understand this sign at the gas station. '3 for $5' and below it 'One or two at regular price' I didn't spend much time sweating over it, though, since I don't drink Red Bull.

November 6

Ethel finally came out of Erin's room and started exploring the house. She is turning into a real love. Once I get her, she cuddles and forces me to pet her by shoving her head under my hand. She and Lucy are exploring each other. So far, there have been no fights and no hissing matches. They do chase each other, but so far no cat cuddles.

November 7

She was watching Lucy from under the dining room table.

November 8

This was a total accident. I was holding the camera in one hand and trying to rearrange something with the other, but somehow hit the shutter button. I love how this turned out. I was standing next to our bed and this view is into the bathroom. The frame has a photos of each of the golf courses we played on our 25th anniversary trip to San Francisco and Half Moon Bay in 2004.

November 9

The people I support do a lot of traveling and sometimes they bring me presents. These came from Taiwan or China, I don't remember, but they are ferocious looking creatures.

79% Complete

October 27

Lucy loves the shower. It is embarrassing how dirty the shower floor is. We have a seat in the corner of the shower and she will sit there while I take my shower. This morning she was very intrigued by the drain.

October 28

After Goofy died, we decided we needed a new cat to keep Lucy company. We went to the animal shelter and met this precious angel. Her name at the shelter was Marianne, to go with her litter mates Ginger, Professor and Gilligan. But since we had Lucy at home, we decided to call her Ethel. Amazingly enough, all five of us agreed on the name without any discussion.

October 29

The leaves are starting to fall off the trees in the front yard. I love all the different colors.

October 30

Jim was Bob's Big Boy for Halloween. He got rave reviews from all of his friends and fellow partiers at the bar.

October 31

We always give out chocolate. It is a must, because that is what I like best. What is the point of having candy that you don't like? There could be leftovers (and we always have leftovers!) and it would be silly to have candy we don't like.

November 1

We had so much fun at the Roxy watching Eric's band play. A lot of people from the neighborhood drove up on a Thursday after work to listen to The Jakes. The traffic at the end of the drive was horrid, but it was worth it to see Eric on stage doing a great job and having such a good time.

November 2

The nice thing about having two active Marine bases nearby was that we didn't get commercial aircraft flying over the house day and night. Ever since the bases closed, more and more flights are routed over our house. I was in the backyard taking this photo. I am very thankful that a new airport at the old El Toro base is not going to happen.

More Random Stuff

October 20

We spent the day with Ed, Pat and Kathy. Ed and Pat were nice enough to take us out on Lake Havasu for a couple of hours. When we stopped for lunch, Pat got out her popcorn and fed the ducks. She really loves doing that and she ends up getting a lot of visitors.

October 21

We woke up to howling winds. There were whitecaps on the lake and no one was going out. This is a palm tree outside of our hotel. We got out of town early hoping to beat the traffic home. We made great time even having to drive through some sand storms.

October 22

This is smoke from the Santiago Fire that started the night before at around 6pm. It turned out to be arson and ending up burning almost 30,000 acres. Several homes were destroyed and it took almost three weeks to contain. We got a lot of smoke and ash the first week of the fire, but our home was never in danger.

October 23

I love this desk. I am not sure how old it is, but we got it used when we got married, twenty-eight years ago. It is currently a dumping spot for things that don't have a home or are waiting to be returned to their home.

October 24

This is the sky when I arrived at work. The smoke and ash continued to fill the air. There were many who chose to stay home because the air quality was so bad. We ran our A/C for several days even though it wasn't hot. We couldn't open the windows because of all the junk in the air.

October 25

I love my black cat candle holder!

October 26

Finally, the air is clearing. It was so nice to see blue skies again after almost a week of smoke filled air.