T.O.P.S.

More fog when I walked Kimball, but it cleared later. Home to change, then to T.O.P.S.
I think my body is telling me something: I weighed in at 129.4, which is a silly .5 less than last week, which was an even sillier .2 or something higher than the week before. I'm beginning to think the message is to just stay at 129.
I told the group I'm not going to San Diego at my own expense to be "honored" by strangers. At that, everybody expressed great consternation, as if I was turning down a Hollywood contract. In addition, the program, with so-called guest leader, Lora, was a horrible bore. Didn't get breakfast until 10:30, which is getting to be the norm on Fridays.
However, things improved after that. Went to WinCo and, among other things, got a nice piece of tilapia and it was on sale, always nice to see.  Better yet, Ralph's had personal watermelons at 2 for $4, which I snapped up, of course.
Best of all, Ellen called and invited me over for Easter lunch; I said I'd bring mixed watermelon and blueberries, a combination I like a lot and eat often. Greg works at 2:00, so we'll eat with him, then take a walk or something. We had a long talk, too; I'm always interested in what she's doing, in and out of the classroom.
Did the town walk, natch, then home.

The IRS And Toastmasters

Walked Kimball in a heavy fog that obscured the hills when I first got there. As I walked, though, it lifted and showed the magic. I love it here. After breakfast, I went to Kimball, then to Wal-Mart for knee-highs. I sometimes wear ballerinas on my feet if I don't want to dress up, but want to skip the sneakers.  I thought I should start honing my talk for Toastmasters last night and did so.  (I had decided to speak on my self-engineered diet regimen, with which I've lost fifty-some pounds.) Called Michelle to tell her my tax refund had been deposited into my checking account, then e-mailed her the form I had neglected to do so before. She'll file an amended return and I assume I'll get more back.
Kept my appointment at Pep Boys to have my tire looked at and yes, it had a nail in it. It was removed and twenty bucks was removed from my bank account, but at least I didn't need a new tire.
Drove to town after lunch for the usual. Read for a bit in the library and stopped at Five Points on the way home to get my little gold chariot washed.
Humor & Drama was enjoyable, partly, maybe, because some of the members are a little kooky, especially Annette. Last night, she was dressed bizarrely, even for her: She wore several layers of clothes that had seen better days and had a rhinestone tiara around her neck. She added lots of other jewelry, including a headband on her grey hair which flows almost to her waist.  I don't know what her living circumstances are, but I know she doesn't live at The Lexington (assisted living)  where we meet. Well, each to his own.
John C. gave an "icebreaker" talk about his grandfather, who became a Benedictine priest after being widowed. That was interesting, but Fern presented a snoozer about Andrew Jackson and his involvement with the Battle of New Orleans.  Does anybody besides a third-grade need to know this?

The Cave With Diane

Ran into Irene at Kimball and she presented me with her card; she's a real estate agent with Re/Max and I'd certainly recommend her.
It occurred to me after breakfast that I had better work up my talk for Humor &  Drama Toastmasters tonight, and I decided to simply present my diet plan with a few flourishes.  Other than that, I tidied up a bit around here and prepared my salad for lunch.
I didn't want to skip my town walk, so went about 11:00, completed same, and drove home.  Ate, then jumped in the shower, washed my hair, dressed, and drove back to town to pick up Diane. I was early, she was early (it must be the age) and we got to The Cave with no problem.  It happened that there was some kind of camera shoot in the main room, so we were asked to sit in the barrel room. I had never been in there before and it was neat: Wine barrels were suspended from the high ceiling and there were related items here and there. Better yet, we sat down right next to the wine dispenser and it was happy hour, so half price.
I used my wine card to treat Diane, but she insisted on paying for our yummy potato chips (made in-house) and truffle French fries (ditto) that came to less than eight bucks and that was okay . We had a great time,  as she's a girl after my own heart--a little kooky and a free spirit, which suits me fine. We were there for two hours, talking and laughing, so didn't leave until 5:00 and I dropped her off back at her place in town. 

"The Leisure Seeker"

Walked Kimball and did the usual other. I was to meet Nancy in town at 11:30 for the movie, which started at noon.  I left early to consult Pep Boys about my tire, as my car was still telling me about "low pressure." The guy put air in, but said I may have a nail, so I made an appointment for Thursday at 10:00.
Got to town after, parked at the museum and walked to the Regency. But what was this? The movie was scheduled for 1:00, not 12:00. I called Nance and she said she had e-mailed me that; looked up what she had sent and that I had confirmed and, yes, she was right. Darn, how could  I have thought it was an hour earlier? Anyway, I went to the library and strolled around until she got there. We saw The Leisure Seeker, with Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland.
I can just imagine the director, writers, and actors sitting around trying to devise the most depressing possible movie that makes you want to take cyanide as soon as you leave the theatre. All right, Mirren and Sutherland were excellent, of course, but the story line stank, no matter how much forced hilarity was injected here and there. One of the things--of many--that bothered me was that I kept thinking of my dear brother in seeing the male lead's character slide into dementia. Shit.
After, my mood lifted when we went to The Blue Agave for our Tuesday wine and tacos. Sat and talked a long time, as ever, and didn't part until 5:00. Stopped at the store on the way home for grapes and lettuce; skipped dinner and spent a quiet evening.

Toastmasters With Postcards

Kimball and so on, then I spent time honing my talk for Poinsettia Toastmasters. I decided to speak on my former deltiology life, i.e. postcard collecting. I sold most of them to the guy who owns Unshredded Nostalgia in Barnegat and boy, I regret not retaining a few more than I did.
It's funny how the mind will trip you up, especially when it comes to memory. I was sure I had sold my collection (which totaled roughly four thousand postcards) shortly before I left for California. I looked back at this blog, and no--I had sold it nine years ago. We had moved to Little Egg, which meant instead of the trip to the Washington Crossing postcard club meetings taking 20 minutes, it took a good hour and a half. Plus, Pat's health was starting to deteriorate and I turned my attention to that. I thought I might enjoy attending a collector club again, I looked on the Internet and couldn't find any closer than L.A. and I'm not traveling there.
Met at 6:30 at Dudley House, with which all attendees were pleased--all seven of us. I did my talk, which was very well received and Fern was the other speaker. Because of a mix up in scheduling--this group isn't what you'd call well organized--the meeting was short and I was home before 8:00.
Movie with Nancy today and she suggested we go back to the Blue Agave. Okay, but next time, I want to resume at The Cave and later, try some new places.

Sunday

The usual--but enjoyable--Sunday morning with Kimball and crossword. After breakfast, I lay down on the couch and incredibly, fell asleep for about an hour. I actually dreamed and at one point, I seemed to be inhabiting the dream world and the real world simultaneously. I wasn't freaked out, I  just found it interesting.
Got up to wash and cut the beets I just bought. Put the bulbs in the big slow cooker and the greens in the small one. Had the latter for lunch, along with my salad; seems to me they're as tasty as spinach. Did some things on the computer and other this and that. After lunch, I left for town, did the walk, and read at the library for an hour. Walked back and bought a scrap book at one of the thrift stores (brand new and for a song, i.e. 99 cents). When I ever get back around to it, I'll continue putting family pictures in such albums. Stopped to get tomatoes and paper towels.
As I was putting things away, my doorbell rang. It was Loretta from Suzanne's dinner party; she said she didn't have my last name or number, so we exchanged them. I invited her in and we sat down and chatted. She and Fred want to move into a  first floor apartment. They're now on the second; their place is laid out the same as mine, but it's not newly renovated as mine way, yet they pay $110 more than I do. I guess the scum of the earth landlords (two brothers who live in Santa Barbara) wanted to be sure to profit from those who were burned out of their homes and lost almost all their possessions. That's capitalism, folks.

Dinner At Suzanne's

Kimball, etc., then I went to Ralph's to get salad fixings for Suzanne's dinner party. I just made an ordinary one, but added goat cheese and grapes for a little more pazazz.
Went over to Michelle's, my tax person, to sign the returns. I was surprised that I was getting more than three hundred less than last year. Why? Michelle pointed out that my income (from TIAA-CREF) fell by $10,000.  And I didn't notice it?  How could that possibly be?  When I got home, I checked on-line and found that I had accidentally provided Michelle with only the TIAA info, not CREF (they're on tax form separately). I called her, but she had already filed electronically.  Not a big deal, she told me to give her the return after the refund is put in my account and we'll filed an amended return.
Took my Dionne video to Wal-Mart to have it transferred to a DVD, but the machines you have to put your info in were all down. However, the clerk was nice enough to mention a place called Dexter's Cameras in town that does the same. Took it there and found the charge five bucks less, anyway.
Went next door to Suzanne's for her little dinner party and had a nice enough time. She served salmon--very good--and rice and I had brought salad, the other couple (I can't remember their last name) mini-bundt cakes. (Since I haven't had cake for a year--literally--I devoured one by myself. Heavenly.)
Fred and Loretta's home (rented) in the hills had been burned to cinders in The Fire and they moved to Ventura Del Sol after that.  I had met Fred before, but Loretta was new to me. She's a pharmacy tech at St. John's where Suzanne works and for various reasons, I found her a little tedious. After dinner, they showed on Loretta's laptop, a video they had made about their place, I think with the help of a professional. They call it "A Firey Journey"--yes, misspelled that way. Fred pointed out that this was an error, at which Loretta insisted it was good, not bad, because it meant there was something was wrong. (I consider myself  a saint for not sticking a fork in her eye.) Unfortunately, they had superimposed full sentences here and there, which were also rift with errors. Most glaring, they had no punctuation at all.
With that said, I'll add that the content was riveting. I had thought they lived in an apartment that burned, but it was a lovely, white adobe-type separate house, with flowering vines over the door and a beautiful garden, way up in the hills. I like living in Ventura Del Sol, but I can understand how much of a letdown it must be for them.