The Royal Oak

Dave's mom treated us to dinner tonight at the same restaurant where Dave and I got engaged 18 1/2 years ago! It's family-owned by the same people who were there on my birthday in February 1990. They brought us a free sundae for dessert. Sweet!

Jane, you ignorant s*&%!!

Jane is my GPS receiver. She is named Jane because she has been known to take me on the occasional goose chase, and then I can say to her, "Jane, you ignorant s*&%!!" (Remember SNL's Weekend Update with Jane Curtain and Dan Aykroyd? They did a parody of 60 Minutes' Point/Counter-point. She would give the liberal view, and he would give the conservative counter-point, often starting off with, "Jane, you ignorant s*&%!!")

Dave and I took Jane with us on a hike today. She has not only the motor vehicle navigation mode, but a topographical mode for hiking. She can track where we go, and then we can put her on "backtrack," and she'll get us back to our base camp. I like that, because then I'm sure we won't get lost. For the most part, she performed as expected today, and we didn't have to call her any nasty names. :) We hiked through an area that burned up in the fires last October, and it was good to see how well it was recovering. There's a lot of new growth.

Now where's the gizmo that keeps us cool and refreshed as we hike? Whew, was it hot! We had to settle for a Klondike drumstick on the way home. Nice.

Hot!!

Wes and I made it to Lake Arrowhead yesterday, but not without mishap. We were on our way to join Dave, his mom (Grace) and Connor, who left the day before to check in at the timeshare where we're staying. We had to wait a day because I needed to pick up high school registration stuff for Wes, as well as to turn in a first-come-first-served application for a locker for him (there's a limited supply, and not everyone will even get one!). I figured we'd hit the road after Wes got home from Jr. Lifeguards, and we could avoid traffic.

Now I really do like my Mercury Villager minivan. It has served me well for something like 15 years. But last month the AC went out. Okay, it's an old car. But ya gotta have AC, so we got it fixed. So Wes and I had set out yesterday, and I noticed that the AC was intermittently not working. GRRR! We just got it fixed!! I wasn't excited about driving to Arrowhead without AC. It was HOT! Oh, well, c'est la vie.

There we were, flying along the 55, almost to the 91, with the windows open, and it was HOT! As I wiped sweat out of my eyes, I glanced down at the temperature gage. YIKES! It was above the very top line, above the "H!" As the adrenaline kicked in, I cranked the heater to full blast, turned on the hazard lights, and tried to coast to the next exit. I got off the freeway with my heart in my throat, fully expecting the engine to burst into flames. It was the Lakeview exit, and I turned right, only to find a long road with nowhere to turn off! We coasted along close to the shoulder, praying for a gas station to appear. About a mile later, we came to an intersection, and praise God, a gas station! I pulled in, and stopped right in front of the air/water machine.

I'm embarrassed to say I know nothing about cars. I opened the hood and called Dave, who was already in Arrowhead, on his cell to ask what the radiator looked like. Okay, yes, I'm embarrassed. Are you happy? It felt like a blonde joke in the making as I walked into the mini-mart to ask the cashier if he would mind showing me the radiator. He rolled his eyes and came out to help. He was very nice as he poured most of the Inland Empire's water supply into my radiator, which he said was "empty." No kidding.

Everything seemed like it was going to be fine until it was time to put the cap back on the coolant container. I had taken it off before the guy came out because Dave said I should put water in there, as well as in the radiator (which I definitely "should not touch until it was cooled off." I remember setting the cap on top of the coolant container, thinking I would be able to see it there since the cap was black and the plastic container was white. Well, when the guy put three wet towels on top of the radiator to unscrew the radiator cap, I believe the towels dragged the coolant cap from where it was sitting, down into the engine somewhere. We searched everywhere. It was gone. Poof. So the nice guy went back in the store and found a makeshift cap from some bottle. It was too big, but he wedged it on with some plastic to hold it in place.

I tried to give him some money, but he just smiled and wouldn't take it. I'm sure he was thinking, "dumb blonde!" If he only knew it wasn't really blonde! Ha.

I found out later that one of the freeze plugs in the radiator has been leaking for some time, which is why the radiator loses water, albeit slowly. They would probably have to drag the whole engine out and charge a fortune to fix it. I won't ever go on a long trip again without checking the radiator first! Hey, I'm learning.

By this time, needless to say, we were no longer able to avoid the traffic. On the bright side, the AC worked like a charm.

Boy Scout Summer Camp

Scoutmaster Dave, Wes and Connor just got home from a week of Boy Scout Summer Camp at Emerald Bay on Catalina. It sounds like they had a fabulous time!! Since Wes is already scuba certified, he and Dave got to go on a night dive, where they came face to face with leopard sharks, lobsters, stingrays, bat rays, and much more. Connor went scuba diving in the ocean for the first time. They all completed the mile swim after getting up at 5:30 every morning to prepare for it (wow!). Dave got up at 3 a.m. on the last morning to go with one of the scouts on a hike he needed for a requirement (it had to increase in elevation by at least 1000 feet). Now that is dedication. They were actually in a cloud at the top. Dave says it was the best week of summer camp they have ever had, with a great group of kids and fantastic adult leaders. Here are some pictures to give you a flavor of the experience.


At the campsite


Cool tent setup!


Wes hangin' out


Connor working on the Rifle Merit Badge


Connor working on the Pottery Merit Badge


Getting ready for a dive!


Practicing for a flag ceremony


Wes on a snorkel outing


Wes in the surf


Dutch Oven cooking


Wes in his cool outback hat


More pottery


Ready for the mile swim!


Beautiful sunrise for the mile swim


Wes


Yummy nachos!


Out kayaking


Wes coming back from his mile swim


All the guys!


Wes, Dave and Connor

JoJo

We've had our cat, JoJo, ever since I was home on maternity leave to have Wes. She was a stray, and so sweet! I'm allergic to cats, so we weren't going to keep her until we realized that she was pregnant. Poor thing! Next thing we knew, we had a new pet. She had to stay outside, but she's always been a homebody, never going far from the backyard.

JoJo is about 16 years old now. She's been losing weight, and is just way too skinny, so I took her to the vet. It turns out that she has a high white blood count, indicating some kind of infection. She is also anemic, and has protein and kidney imbalances. First we’re taking care of the infection and anemia with daily antibiotics and iron for two weeks. Then they want to re-check the blood so make sure it’s better. At that point, they we can decide what (if anything) to address. The doc said it could be inflammatory bowel disease, which seems consistent with her symptoms. She has had diarrhea and vomiting off and on for quite a long time, but just sporadically, and not often. We thought it was from hairballs. But the only way to diagnose that is with a biopsy (expensive), and it’s a chronic condition that is expensive to treat. It can be somewhat controlled, but not cured.

They said if I had trouble getting the pill in her, I could take her to the office and they would do it. I tried and failed, so I took her in. The girl there made it look so easy. Okay, I can do that, now that I know how (I think). She’s supposed to have the pill once a day, and the liquid iron twice a day. Ugh.

All of this reminded me of something I read a long time ago (I have no idea who authored this):

How to Give a Pill to a Cat and Dog:

CAT:
1) Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As the cat opens mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

2) Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process.

3) Retrieve cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

4) Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

5) Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

6) Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and vigorously rub cat's throat.

7) Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make a note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

8) Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

9) Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

10) Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

11) Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of your last tetanus jab. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw tee-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

12) Ring fire brigade to retrieve the friggin' cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

13) Tie the little @#!*#^~!'s front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining room table, find heavy-duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

14) Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room, sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

15) Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and ring local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

DOG:
1) Wrap pill in bacon, cheese or peanut butter. Make him beg.

Brilliant.

Stealth footage...

I was sitting here at my computer, and looked up to see an amazing sight outside the sliding glass door. In case you don't believe that teenagers ever actually work hard, I am here to attest that they sometimes do! I had no choice but to record the moment for posterity. See it. Believe it.

A feel for how it was...

If you love choral music, just close your eyes and imagine listening to the Troubadours in one of these amazing French cathedrals...

Gonna Sing 'Til the Spirt Moves in My Soul



It Is Well With My Soul



Salve Regina



...After the Flowing Streams...

The women in my family...

My sister Patti is so creative with pictures! Here's something she shared with us today, depicting three generations of women.

9 to 5, a working woman once again...

Well, after being fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home mom for the last 13 years, I'm once again a working stiff! Luckily, though, I'm a stay-at-home working stiff. My good friend Pari brought me on as a medical transcriptionist for a psychologist. Thanks to her (training me on her own time!), now I am actually contributing some to the family income! I'm grateful for this opportunity because it's work I enjoy, and I can still be home to chauffeur the kids around and referee their scuffles (not really, they're angels who get along perfectly all the time -- NOT!). It's flexible enough that I can still homeschool Connor for his last year before high school. Hopefully, I'll make enough money to pay for gas! Ha ha!

Here's Pari, my 9-to-5 buddy, who is also my 24/7 friend!