Wednesday

Did a load of wash early on, then prepared for my little luncheon today. I was glad Vickie responded in the positive, so it'll be she and Suzanne, Leah's mother, Val (for Valerie? I'll ask), and me. I'll just have sandwiches and a few sides; Val asked what she could bring, so I told her a small salad. Suzanne did the same, and I suggested pickles or something. Think I'll add deviled eggs, so that will be plenty. For dessert, I made y signature ice cream and went over to Von's for heavy cream.  Bought a few more items, but darn, I forgot turkey lunchmeat. Ran into Lorraine while I was there and she asked me to meet for a chat at 2:00, and I did that. We had a nice talk of forty-five minutes or so and I received yet another offer for a birthday lunch. She mentioned Aloha--sounds good. 

Got the turkey breast, came home, and made the ice cream. Looks as if it came out beautifully, but I'll know that for sure in a few hours after it's been in the freezer overnight. Boiled the eggs and straightened up. 

Called Cheryl to learn we don't have T.O.P.S. tomorrow, which is fine by me. Called Stella just to see how she's recovering from her surgery and left a message.   

After dinner, I turned my attention to the chicken thighs I roasted the other day. Had one for dinner and wrapped the others to stow in the freezer. Looked through my placemat and napkin collections (why do I have so many?) and, instead of going with a Christmas theme,* selected pale yellow mats and blue napkins. I'll use the French street scene luncheon plates.  

Aside from all that: Mike and family were at the site of the infamous Donner party cannibalism. However, the first picture (Vivian in foreground) shows them there in 2015; note the commemorative statue in the background. The second picture was taken yesterday, with Violet in about the same spot Vivian was eight years ago. Quite a contrast weather-wise. 

                                         

*Years ago, in one of those vapid women's magazines, I read this: "There's nothing so over as Christmas." Truer than true and now you have to put all the crap away.

Tuesday

This will be sketchy, as I don't quite remember what all went on yesterday aside from packing up and shipping out.  After a greatly enjoyable Christmas season, we more or less went back to normal:  Greg went to work and we loaded up Ellen't car with my suitcases, presents, and extra blankets, then took off about 11:00. I asked El if we could go to WinCo first, as I needed paper towels and other stuff; she did, and stocked up herself. It took us a number of trips from the car to my place, but we got it all in. Had lunch, then Angel Ellen tackled the problem adding entries to this blog.

I won't go into it (I don't even remember what-all she did), but a major part entailed that old situation with my other email address. Anyway, she spent an hour or more trying this and that., until she finally succeeded. As for me, my part consisted mostly of weeping, wailing and wringing my hands--I was a lotta help--but finally, whatever she did worked. However, that seems to have effected my gmail, too, and I'm worried about trying to change it myself. Can't decide what to do, if anything.

I walked El to her car about 3:00 (3:30? 4:00?) with my grateful thanks and we ran into Val, mother of Leah, the young woman who lives above me. She's visiting from Pittsburgh and I've been wanting to have her for lunch. We arranged it for Thursday and I invited Suzanne (who will be back from her sister's today), too. Will see if Vickie could run over; she works at home, but gets of lunch break. It turned out that Leah has to work, so it would just be the four of us.

Now I have to turn my attention to loads of wash, cleaning up a bit, and deciding what to feed tomorrow's guests. I think just sandwiches, maybe a salad, and I'll make ice cream for dessert. 

Monday--Christmas Day

I've been having dreadful technical problems with this blog--all entirely of my own doing, but the result is, it'll be short and really messed up.

We had a lovely day, of course. After a yummy breakfast of Ellen's terrific homemade burritos, we settled down to open presents at our leisure.  Lots of good things were bestowed and received, but, as ever, the best part of Christmas was being with those I love.

Oh, and seeing others I love, too: The Tokyo Trio--Mom, Dad, and ten-year-old--arranged a Zoom meeting, which included, of course, Mike and his family, who marked the holiday in Lake Tahoe:

Later, finding that the Ojai Von's was open (owner must be Ebenezer Scrooge), I walked the mile or so to get decaf coffee which I had forgotten (I make half and half). After lunch, we three gals went for a walk in the hills, enjoying the wonderful Ojai scenery, including some wandering streams:

We saw a peculiar cactus plant that had curled around itself:

Amusingly, one of our party remarked that three woman were enjoying an outing, while a man was slaving away making dinner for them. Yes, while we were luxuriating in California beauty, Greg was making made one of his superb--and original--dinners for us. Got back to El's and were served a salad, plus other sides, and an excellent, creamy (but not from daily, from pureed vegetables), kind of soup/stew. So good. 

To be honest, I don't quite remember what we did after, but I know I went to bed early and slept well after a wonderful time with family. 

Sunday--Christmas Eve 2023

 I hate to disappoint my legions of fans, but today's and tomorrow's entries will be truncated. 

Yesterday, I changed the bed, washed the bedclothes, finished up packing and gift-wrapping, had lunch, and was picked up at 1;00 to be whisked to Ellen's. After admiring El's Christmas decor...

...we took a brisk walk of a mile or so. Home, El put out a cheese plate, she and I indulged in Margaritas, others had water, then we all sat down to a yummy ham dinner. After, we had a great game of gin rummy, a favorite pastime. All this was, of course, accompanied by good talk and great hilarity. 

I don't know how all the following white space got there and I tried and tried to fix it, but can't--damn! 

Saturday

Still very busy. It occured to me that it was stupid to buy as many vegetables as I did, as I'll be a Ellen's probably over two nights. So I blanched the cauliflower to ready it for later roasting; chopped the broccoli and froze it raw; boiled the potatoes, froze some and had some with dinner; froze a portion of the cabbage and had the rest for lunch, and--well, I think there was something else, but can't remember what.

After lunch, I tackled the gift organizing and wrapping. I then realized--AAGH!--the one I had ordered hadn't come yet--and it was for somebody here. What to do? What I did was run over to Hallmark, which has some interesting (and pricey) items. I found something that I actually like better than the one I ordered, so bought it and will return the other. 

Muchie called to wish me a belated and we talked for an hour and fifteen minutes. She said she had run into Alice Wayland, who is now 90. She looks wonderful and I remember her as a kind, sweet-hearted person. I went all through St. James and Holy Spirit with her sister, Cassie, who, sadly, died fairly young--I think in her fifties. How I'll miss Muckie when she's gone, but happily, so far, the cancer is stable and I hope it stays that way for a long time to come. 

Got a nice card from Julie with a "birthday lunch soon promise," so that makes three coming up--from her, Noreen, and Jim. Hey, there's nothing I'd rather do--aside from win the lottery, that is. Also, I'll be picked up today and whisked to Ellen's for Christmas.

Mike messaged that he nd family have reached Lake Tahoe, where they'll spend Christmas; he sent pics of the girls:

                                             

Violet seems to be having fun, but Vivian? Just enduring her kid sister's antics, I guess.

Friday

Well, I had a great time in New Mexico, but now I'm back and, for a time, must keep my nose to the grindstone. Did two loads of wash--whites and colors--and had them dried, folded, and put away early on. That's quick and easy to type, but it took awhile. 

It's amazing how many birthday wishes I--via every avenue available, it seems (in person, regular and e-mail, Facebook, text, Message, phone), and I spent several hours doing my best to acknowledge them all. Called Carolyn Bowman, who had Messaged me hers, and we talked for quite a while, her peculiarities more evident than ever and, considering she's only 62, that's alarming. 

Walked over to Von's to replenish my veggie supply. I surprised myself at all I got, including fresh broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, apples, potatoes, and Kabocha squash. Also picked up some frozen food:  creamed spinach, green beans and almonds, plus something called "antioxidant blend," which simply contains a few veggies in olive oil. Rock cornish hens were on sale, so I bought two of them. I think I'll eat vegan as long as I'm still here and not at Ellen's and, as much as possible, will prepare and freeze what I can.  

As soon as I got home, I cut up the cabbage, apples, and half of a large orange, then put them in the slow cooker. With the ground turkey stir-fry and carrots, I had gotten out of the freezer, that made a good dinner.

Happy day: For the first time in I-don't-know-how-long, I slept soundly. Didn't awake until almost six  and I feel wonderfully invigorated. That's great, as now I have to turn my attention to organizing and and wrapping  gifts, packing for Ellen's, and food for later prep.

P.S. Jeanne Painter sent me the funniest "date gone wrong" video, which I'll try to put on here once I figure out how.  

Thursday--A Day That Will Live--Well, Who Knows How Long...*

Back in Ventura and what a great time in New Mexico! It's a stunningly beautiful state and driving hundreds of miles through it, travelers see lovely vistas all the way.  Here are a few glimpses:

In addition, we drove through areas with hundreds of hugely high wind turbines:

A very interesting part of the drive was this "searching for aliens" station, way, way out in the desert:

I couldn't get a good picture of the huge structures aimed up at the stratosphere, so I'll add theirs:

Stopped in Buckeye, next to Phoenix, overnight and had an interesting experience. After hours of driving, turned in early, but were awakened at 10:30 by the absolutely deafening fire alarm. Called the desk, but got no answer. Were guests going to be incinerated? No, as it turned out, a police officer came into the hallway (where people from other rooms had also gathered) to tell us it was a malfunction and there  was no fire, but we needed to evacuate while they checked further. Quickly half-dressed and waited for twenty minutes or so outside, where this was the scene:

We were then told we could safely go back to our rooms. Did so and fell soundly asleep for the rest of the night. 

Arrived back in Ventura about 2:00 to experience a phenomenon almost as remarkable as the towering peaks of the southwest: rain, and it had been going on for days.  

*That cryptic quote refers to the fact that as of yesterday, it's been EIGHTY YEARS since I graduated from Holy Spirit High School. I've received a multitude of birthday cards, gifts, and phone calls and other felicitations from loved ones, liked ones, and just happily-acquainted-with ones and I appreciate them all. I was taken out for my birthday to Spring Garden Chinese (my choice) and that was good, too. As for any little philosophical gems, nah, not my style.