Gingerbread Houses!! By the Stewarts!!!

Wow, the Stewart Family are becoming pros at Gingerbread Houses!!!

This must be Kristi's?

Bynn's?

Molly

Kate

Ryan

 

Aquaphor

Currently I am having another outbreak of Acitinic Keratosis and it is on my forehead and the sides of my forehead plus a couple spots on the nose.  I just got over the case of it on my nose and they said to come back in six months and here it is again.  Dr had me use aquaphor before and I could not believe it but it did clear it up so I am trying it again but when I turn my head to sleep on my pillow it all comes off on the pillow case so I am attempting to keep the cream on my face so it can do it's work while I am sleeping..  We will see if it heals it this time.  Problem is you have to wash your hair every day cuz hard to keep the cream off the hair line.

Eye Makeup

 So here it is, one eye has makeup and the other does not!!!  The doctor said my eye is not getting any smaller but the skin is closing around it.

Fuchs Corneal Distrophy

When I had laser cataract surgery on my left eye, this was also diagnosed and it will only get worse.

Very irritated eyes,,,don't rub, don't put water on, eyes are especially sensitive to glare and bright lights and should not drive at night.  Can be blurry.  Only thing to help is eye drops with sodium chloride in them.

It is the destruction of endothelium cells in the cornea but not sure why and it is hereditary.  The cornea on the front of your eye swells..

Internet suggests blow drying your eyes with a hair dryer set on low and held at arms length, a few times per day ...but I thought dry eyes were irritating, what is the difference?   I do not know but this helps....on low.

Living Alone or Why Don't You Get Married!

What are the positives of living alone?

The biggest positive is that I can have my tablet blasting out a book or the tv blasting out music without any concern as to how it might bother anyone else.  Sadie can always go find a quiet spot, if she wants one.

You can get up when you can't sleep and watch tv or turn on all the lights and do anything you want like go to my office etc. anytime of the day or night.

You can also sleep as long as you want without anyone disturbing you.  I usually get up in the night for awhile and then sleep longer in the morning.  

You can eat anytime you want, anything you want without feeling you need to make a real meal if you are not in the mood.  Sadie does not care.  Peanut butter sandwiches, why not?

When we lived in a big house, it did not matter because you could usually shut your door and be as noisy as you want and not bother anyone, but these little open houses are not really sound proof.

And if you do not feel like talking you don't have to and you don't have to listen to anyone if you are not in the mood.  And you do not have to listen to someone else's tv or music.

Of course, the biggest negative is you do get lonely!!!

I have been alone more than I have been with family in my life...not sure why that is and people say you could get married if you wanted to, well, not that easy.   

I went to work for SBA four years after Richard passed away.  When I was at work, I was surrounded by men, all of them very friendly, nice, mostly younger than me and mostly married.  The ones who are running around single are not necessarily marriage material...most of them thought I was younger than I was.  In fact, when one of our team and I both came in late one morning the teasing began.  I said, "Hey, I am old enough to be his mother!"  And I guess I was a little loud, the guys in the next cubical were having fun listening, I heard.  Funny thing is we did enjoy running around together later, but there was still that age factor.

And one time on the bus, I was on the way to the mall, and some of the guys were behind me.  It was early evening but the driver from the hotel would pick me up at a certain time so I often went.  There was not always someone to run around with.  One of the guys said, "Hey, who are you meeting at the mall?  Why don't you give us a chance?"  Funny, what went through my mind is that it is strange how an old man who you knew as a teenager always looks young to you, but an old man you never knew when he was young, he just looks like an old man!!

I love the romantic story about James Coburn I think, or one of those old guys.  He had a high school sweetheart who he left and made it big in the movies, but one day when they were older and had both had their other life, he came back, walked in her front door with an empty suitcase and skooted it across the floor and said, "Pack and come with me!"  Or something like that.  Somehow you never forget those early crushes...they never grow old.

Acitinic Keratosis again!

 The older I get the more problems I have with allergies, skin sensitivity, etc. Acitinic Keratosis is what the allegist said I had and suppposedly healed and to come back in six months but it has already flaired up again.

Blames the sun but it has to be more cuz I don't get that much sun anymore..I was reading the ten best foods for good skin and currently I am not eating any of them.  Salmon, Broccoli, Lemon, Almonds, Green Tea, Pumpkin Seeds, Honey, Olive Oil, Apple Cider Vinegar, Yogurt.

Apple Cider Vinegar and Olive Oil can be directly rubbed on the skin as well as taken in the mouth.  And some are pushing pumpkin facials.  All I know is I have had too many break outs in the last few years.  

Foods to avoid...alcohol, no problem there, deep fried food, cheese and other dairy foods will increase oil production and lead to blocked pores, coffee and cold cuts, no problem there, doughnuts and other sugary treats, chocolate, problem this time of year.  Sugar glycates collagen, it stiffens it and ages it prematurely.  Heard of no sugar cookies, fine those. Fruit juice is bad, gluten I have already given up, Low fat yogurt because of the high sugar content.  I haven't been eaten yogurt for the last year because the doctor to give it up cuz of the sugar but maybe the high fat yogurt is ok. Already gave up milk but the ice cream is a problem, pasta I seldom eat, however I just bought a dozen boxes of Annies gluten free shell mac and cheese, oops.  Pizza, bad, have two of those in the freeze.  Soda is bad in fact added sugar is the most aging food we consume. Trans fats are bad and whey protein.

I need to carry a card around my neck with all the have and have nots and see if I can conquer this!!!!

And of course stay hydrated!!!!!

 

Welcome Sign

 When I was looking for a place to hang a Christmas Wreath I found a nail embedded in the pillar and it works very well for the wooden Welcome sign that Maryanne had made for me.

I Love Puzzles!!!

I have done two 1000 puzzles since just before Christmas!!!!!  Maria gave me one for Christmas which was really a luxury to work on and I love having my craft table in the kitchen where there is so much light.  I tend to spend all my time in there and listen to one of my books.  Or watch a show on my Tablet.

  

Linda then brought over another one from Kelly and Collin and I finished that right away, too.  Of course, I get nothing else done!

 

My Rancho Bernardo Rental

It is interesting that the rental I have been in since September has some of the most glorious flowers, items I would have liked to have had and never any just like this.

Three of the most beautiful rose bushes.

A vined fence that has gorgeous flowers on it.

Even a Sunflower!  I have tried to grow those, never successful.

Even growing among the succulents are poinsettias, which should be high and gorgeous by Christmas.  The last time I had poinsettias growing in my yard was when I was a single school teacher and living in Hillcrest, San Diego.

Christmas Card 2020

                                      Merry Christmas 2020

 

Firsts in 2020…

 

·         Longest I ever stayed at one of my children’s home, because of the Coronavirus

·         Most expensive hair cut I ever had, because of the Coronavirus

·         Least I ever ate out, because of the Coronavirus

·         Fewest movies at the theater I have ever seen, because of the Coronavirus

·         Fewest Sundays I have ever attended Church, because of the Coronavirus

·         Least money I have ever spent on gasoline, because of the Coronavirus

 

But because of the Coronavirus, buyers were wanting to move to the mountains and I had equity in my home

And sold it in August and moved into a rental in Rancho Bernardo on September 1^st.

 

And had Thanksgiving at my home with my granddaughter 

Meagan's family.

         

And will have Christmas in my own home this year.

 

And am really enjoying being only 20-30 minutes from my children and ten of my 15 grandchildren and three of my 9 great-grandchildren.

 

And it will be a warm winter in the desert of San Diego, rather than the snow in the mountains at Lake Almanor and though I will miss my friends of 21 years in the mountains, it will be a whole new way of life, closer to family.

 

It is a Wonderful Life…So Thankful for all my blessings of family and the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from 12593 Horado Rd., San Diego, Ca 92128  

Nico is Five

Nico turns five on December 15 and I had sent a rock kit from Amazon for 6 years and up.  Meagan sent this picture and said it was a great gift for him.  He has always liked to play with the rocks I have collected and John has collected and I have them in bowls or in bookcases.

 They must have had a birthday party for him today, a few days early.

A Massey Gingerbread House

 The children did it all themselves!!! 

I have not done one for years, I always thought they were very hard to do!!!

The Little Nisse

Maria sent me a Christmas present in two shipments.  In the first one there was little gnome with a story of his legend.  I put it under the Christmas tree.  

Later Maria and I were talking about the gifts and she asked me if I learned the legend of the little guy.  I said that I hadn't.  She said it was supposed to come in a red box that told his story.  I said it came in a cellophane bag and didn't say anything on it.  She was upset with Amazon for misrepresenting and I believe she wrote a note on their page telling them so.

A few days later I carried some bows I was not using out to the Christmas decoration storage bin and there on top of it was the red box with the story about the The Little Nisse. In my mind I visualized seeing the gnome in the cellophane bag along with a puzzle of Stockholm and a cute little Swedish book about living a balanced life.  I did not see a red box.  It was so real to me.  I must have been so quick to clean up the box stuff the presents had come in I put the red box away for storage until after Christmas to store the little guy in and then totally forgot about it.

This disturbs me a lot because now I know for sure that I cannot trust my memory!!!!  And I will even defend the wrong memory.  I was so sure there was not a red box.  I am officially an old lady who cannot be trusted at all.

 

Eden at Coronado Hotel Beach

 Meagan sent over a picture of Eden posing before a Sand Sculpture on the Beach.  I am not sure who does these sculptures, but they are good.

No Nativity Set

I do not know what happened to my Nativity Set.  I keep thinking of things I thought I brought with me but can't find them????  Anyway I saw this and love it and so replaced the Nativity Thing with this beautiful family.

 

Hardy Family Comes To Dinner

 They came over and brought a lot of left overs and with what I had there was food to spare.  It was all delicious.  Camber wanted everyone to dress in the Elves costumes but I refused so it looks like I have a lot of Elf Helpers.  I like that.

Beautiful Temple Picture

                              Someone sent me this beautiful picture of the Salt Lake Temple.

Thanksgiving at Horado Rd

Linda went with her family to St George and hiking at Zion and Maria's family felt they should stay in quarantine so it was just Megan's family who came for Thanksgiving dinner.  I had bought a turkey at Wal Mart and made the dressing, potatoes (mashed and sweet potatoe), creamy corn, and green bean casserole.  They brought two pies (pumpkin and apple) which Matt and Keira made with the help of the others I assume.  And Meagan brought a delicious green salad.  

I put all the food on our craft table and set the table with the good china and goblets.  For some reason we forgot to take a picture of all of us together but Meagan sent over what she had.  Nothing I took turned out at all!

The food was all delicious and we had a lot of fun!!!

Eden, photogenic as always.

 We had fun playing a game that one of Matt's friends created and it is being sold through Amazon.  It takes a little strategy and these kids are good!!!

Linda and the Virus Plus A Quilt

Linda and Gary were exposed to Tanner on the day he showed symptoms of Covid 19.  They self-quarantined and Linda finished the top of this beautiful quilt!!!  That is using down time wisely!

They had flown to the city he was doing an internship since flights were so cheap and he was away from home.  On the last day, Tanner woke up with symptoms of the virus.

 

Glendive Home

Look closely at this picture of Gabby, Eric's wife.  She is eating at the Greenhouse across the street from where I used to live in Glendive.   At the top left of the picture the home in the background is where I lived from second grade until I left for college, Billings, and then San Diego.

The home was around 100 years old or less when we moved in.  It was heavily remodeled while I was at college.  It is being remodeled again I see.  Until we built a separate garage to the right corner of the house, the only garage was a very narrow under the house garage built for a horse and buggy.  There was only one bathroom and that was upstairs with a bathtub.  A bathroom with just a sink and toilet was added downstairs when I was in grade school.  A shower was eventually built in the basement where a bedroom was actually created for the boys, don't remember the dates.  I remember getting dressed for school huddling around the stove at the top of the stairs before remodeling anything.

Mom originally had a wringer washer in the basement where there was also two wind up Victrola's.  One was a tall standing one and the other more compact.  

The house creeked.  Berta Mae and I used to play a game when she would come over to play and no one was home.  We would sit very quietly with no radio,  nothing on at all and just listen.  And we would soon get ourselves so spooked thinking about supposed ghosts and such we would have to run outside.  Berta Mae had a wonderful imagination and we were always playing fun adventures of one kind or another..  But that house had very spooky sounds if you listened.

The greenhouse was a real functioning greehouse with glass houses of plants and outside gardens.  The rhubarb grew on the edge of the road and we ate many of the stalks.  It has been converted into a restaurant and gift house now..

The trees by the house were not very tall when we lived there.

Walking Around the Block

 This is the view as I am walking back to my house on Horado Rd.  My house is across the street from the house at the bottom and the view is facing northeast toward Ramona.  As I walk up the hill in the afternoon we are looking into the sunset and toward the ocean in the west.  About 30 minutes from the ocean!  

When we lived in Rancho Bernardo in 1988-1996 we were north of the city.  Now the communities have filled in between the first place I lived in North Park and Carmel Mountain, Penasquitos, Mira Mesa, Poway, Scripps Ranch etc are all south of me but there are few open spaces.

I had a Carl Larson picture on a tray which I have used for over 20 years I think but today I broke it on my tile kitchen floor.  No problem I decoupaged it and it is firm and solid and matches the box I use to put all the things I need to walk Sadie (keys, leash, sunglasses.)  I had been using the garage door opener and exiting and entering the garage for our walks.  But I came home to find my garage door wide open (and who knows for how long) because carrying the opener on the waist of my jeans was too sensitive to my movements and who knows when I had accidently opened the garage.  Now I put the keys around my neck and go in and out the front door.

I use the tray when I want to watch tv while eating my lunch or supper.  So far, no spills.  Decoupage is fun and Eden and Kiera and Nico (with Meagan's help) have done a little.

My Doll Collection

For the first time in over 25 years I got out all my dolls...over 26 of them!!

                       I used to have three or four village houses but I only have two left!!!

       Of course I still have all my Shirley Temple dolls which no one can relate to, except me!!!

Cinderella is on the table with Kathy from Germany below.  Kirsten, the American Girl doll from Sweden is by the TV.

             These cute little guys were brought back by Camber from one of her travels.  Just precious.

Of course, Raggedy Ann and Andy.  I made each of the children one so this has to be whose???  Not sure, maybe John's and????

And, of course, my favorite Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which no one relates to but me either.  I remember the paper dolls from when I was five and I would play all over the living room while the my brothers and sisters were at school.

 

My Mauve Christmas Tree

I found the box of old Christmas ornaments from when we had lived in Rancho Bernardo in the late 80s and early 90s and I put them on my tree on the front porch.  I think it looks darling.

 They were mostly handmade and there were a lot of satin fans, too.  Some things I do are really a little weird.

Health Updates

I tried to get a new cardiologist at the Scripps Clinic in Rancho Bernardo.  Dr. Kim's receptionist said she was not seeing new patients but would check and she never called. I then called the other and the receptionist took all my information and said she would check and call me back.  She never called.   I reached out to my primary doctor at Scripps in La Jolla to see if she could help and explained my situation.  Her only response was to call cardiology.  By then I had realized that the closest emergency and urgent care hospital was 5 minutes away and the big hospital in Escondido only16 minutes away but they are under Palomar Health.

I then decided I should try and get a cardiologist in Palomar Health but if they were not accepting new patients I did not know what I would do.

I thought of calling someone in the ward to see if they had anyone who worked with Palomar Health and could help get in but I was also praying for who to call and as I was flipping through the web about Palomar Health I found the ad to call a number for help in getting referred to a doctor.  I called and she did and I was soon talking to the receptionist of Dr. Rod Serry at Arch Healthcare.  She listened very carefully and took down all my information and even my insurance.  Then she gave me an appointment for Monday, November 16 and asked me to get a release on my medical records from Scripps.  He serves Escondido three days a week and here near the hospital on Monday and Fridays.

I am faxing the request but in the meantime I am copying from My Scripps records and will take them with me.

UPDATE: I was fortunate to be accepted by Dr Rod Serry, he has done more TAVRS in the county that any other doctor and I really like him, the way he explains things, etc.  Very happy to make the switch

Health Update

  On Saturday, November 7, the following occurred. Health Update

James and Camber Hardy took me to lunch at Hunan Restaurant in Rancho Bernardo.  When dropping met off it was discovered I did not have the keys to my house and car which was kept on a long blue ribbon.  James’ car and my purse were searched thoroughly.  I had my emergency car keys and keys to Linda and Gary’s house but not the regular set of keys.  James and Camber went back to the restaurant and the owners searched but said they were not there.  James was able to open the kitchen window and Camber climbed through and opened the doors. I had used the keys to lock the front door when I left the house and Camber saw me drop them in my purse.  At the restaurant I took out my phone and somehow must have pulled the keys out and not noticed I left them on the bench or floor.  James called the restaurant again and I left them my name and phone number.  Sometime later the restaurant called and said they had found the keys and I retrieved them and James and Camber went on with their errand.

But the whole incident must have stressed me out.  It was a cool, rainy day and toward evening I began feeling chills and turned the furnace on, however it did not work so when I went to bed, I layered up in clothing and added more blankets to the bed.  However, I was having shortness of breath at that time which only had affected me occasionally heretofore and no matter how I situated myself I could not get comfortable or breathe well enough to sleep.  Several times in the night I had to get up and pee but it came so fast and so much I could not get there in time and even though wearing a pad, had to change my clothes at least three times, the urine appeared darker and I  knew I was not drinking enough water to account for all of that.  (I later read that in chronic heart failure in a shortness of breath attack the oxygen goes to the life sustaining organs and so the kidneys do not function well, I assume that is what was happening.)  My temperature was 100.8 at some point in time that night.  By morning I was able to breathe better and stayed in bed and slept all day except to get up and feed the dog and let him in and out.  It was not until 5 pm that I rose and had a protein drink and watched television for a while. I felt rested and bathroom breaks were normal.  Temperature was down to 99.4. I felt well.

Definitely feeling back to normal.

  

Rose Bush, an Added Plus

With a little fertilizer, trimming and water I have returned the three rose bushes in front of the house to their glory.  Hope I can keep it up, they were all yellow and yucky when I arrived.

 

Tanner and Marissa

Taking time off from work and schooling in Iowa!