We had a dramatic ending to our  marvelous vacation. A car called for us early this morning to take us to the airport. Phyllis, Henry, Barney and I were in the cab, almost at the airport when Barney asked if I knew where his jacket was. I looked at him in such surprise at that question. What jacket? He said he hung it in the closet, but he forgot to take it when we left our room in the hotel. Our passports were in a pocket of that jacket.

While we kept driving the driver and Barney decided to leave me at the airport while they  would drive back to the hotel for the jacket. Everyone was being processed, luggage checked, while I waited. I was very nervous but stayed seated on a bench. There was some talk by the Tour people of  holding up the departure of the plane, if necessary. What a relief when Barney showed up with his jacket and the passports, with only minutes to spare.

The trip back was great. We  made a stop in Copenhagen but we weren't allowed to leave the Copenhagen airport. W must have been there about an hour, and then back  on the plane to continue on to New York.

Renee and Charlie met us at Kennedy Airport and our unforgettable trip
to Israel was over.
 

I went down to breakfast alone today because Barney wasn't feeling very well. He had no breakfast at all. I wandered around the hotel for awhile then went up to our room to check on him. I stayed there and read until Barney felt a little better.

We had a light lunch, then took a walk through a lovely park, walked into a nearby school to see what it was like, then back to the hotel. Barney went up to lie down again and I sat near the pool and relaxed with my book and continued reading.

In the evening we went to dinner with Izzy and Pearl and then took a long walk along Dizengoff Street which was very surprising. It was a well lit street, with many stores and throngs of people strolling along. All the food stores had tables and chairs outside. We walked back to the area of the hotel and had icecream at the Atrium, a plaza near the sea, where we sat and talked in the cool beeeze. It was delightful.

We said goodbye to Izzy and Pearl, told them how happy we were to meet them in Israel, and we would be seeing them back in New York.

We had to get up very early to leave for the airport.

How nice to awaken to the bright rays of the sun. I get up feeling great and look forward to the day.

We met Izzy and Pearl after breakfast and and walked along the Mediteranean beach front, lined with tall concrete hotels. It almosst looked like Miami beach. The beach was very crowded, more so than any New York beach on a hot Sunday, therefore we spent our afternoon at the hotel pool which was pleasant and relaxing.

Izzy and Pearl agreed to go to Jaffa with us and we decided to have dinner there. We ate at a lovely picturesque restaurant, on a balcony  overlooking the Meditanerean. As we ate our delicious dinner we watched a magnificent sunset, a  deep orange ball gently
disappear beyond the sea.

Then we walked through the narrow twisting streets browsing through the shops. The streets were crowded with people doing what we were doing.

After  we got  back  to their hotel, we had coffee on the terrace and talked, just exchanging thoughts, what we do, and think about. It was so very pleasant.

Such a  lovely day, and meeting up with Izzy and Pearl added to our pleasure. 

I felt fine this morning. I slept well and had a good breakfast. Since we were on our own now, we decided to take a walk and see a little of Tel Aviv. We walked to Town Hall, after asking for directions, which was a long walk. We went in to  sit awhile and cool off, then walked back.  

After that much walking we decided to go to the beach for the afternoon  which was right outside our hotel. It was such a restful, beautiful afternoon. The water temperature was perfect. the mild waves just right.

We walked to the center of the city for dinner. The buses don't run Friday nights or Saturday so we had no alternative but to walk. During dinner we discussed walking to the ZOA (Zionist Organization of America) which we read about in the daily newspaper. On Friday nights they have folk dancing and singing. We walked into the lobby and I gasped! I saw my cousin Izzy and his wife Pearl! I knew they were in Issreal, on vacation, but I didn't know where they were staying.It was a miracle in Isreal. We were so astonished to see each other.

The singing and dancing were beautiful. Then the master of ceremonies said he was going to ask two questions, in Hebrew of course, and the person who answered them correctly would get a prize. I told Barney he would win because he was a former teacher in Hebrew classes and he was smart, and he did. He answered correctly and won a bottle of wine.

Then we started to walk back. It turns out that the hotel Izzy and Pearl  were staying in was close to ours. We are meeting them tomorrow morning and spending the day together.

I had a bad night, couldn't sleep all night. I was fearful of going on  a trip so I went to the nurse on the kibbutz wo gave me some pills and told me not to eat all day. So I had bread and water for breakfast and rice and tea for lunch. I managed the trip quite well.

We stopped at Safed, an artist colony, which was fascinating. We met some of the artists as we visited their individual gallerys where they not only exhibited work, but where they also work and live. One of the artists, Naomi Schindler, did some beautiful sculptures. At another gallery I bought a framed reproduction of the artist's paintings of Jerusalem.

We continued to Tel Aviv going along the Mediteraneum, through large olive groves and through the city of Haifa. By the time we  got to Tel Aviv, I was exhausted. We said goodbye to Mony, this was the end of the tour with Mony, and we were now on our own.

Our  original group got together this morning, the other couple,Phyllis and Henry Hersh, and our guide Mony. We were on our way to lower Galilie and took our luggage with us because we were leaving Jerusalem.

We drove along the Jordan river through the valley of Levona, which was agriculterlly cultivated, and was green and lush which was a striking contrast to the bare rocky hills of Judea.

Our first stop was at Megiddo where we climbed stone steps to the top of a Tell and saw the excavation that uncovered King Solomon's stables, the grannery and a huge alter about four feet high, built stone upon stone. To get water they built a tunnel straight down, through the hill and we entered the tunnel and decended the narrow stone steps in the dark, cool tunnel and saw the fantastic achievement.

Then on to the Sea of Galilie where we had our best meal yet, St. Peter's fish in a magnificent setting overlooking the water. After lunch we had an enjoyable swim (not like the great swim in the Dead Sea) Then we drove to see the ruins of a Hebrew Temple with magnificent Greek columns.


We drove to a kibbutz built  in the midst of beautiful trees.The sound of thousands  of birds chirping loudly from tree to tree was absolutely delightful. and though it was fairly hot during the day, it was pleasantly cool in the evening.

After dinner we heard a group  of Dutch tourists singing Hebrew songs in a room off the lobby and joined them for a little while.

We continued on to our room. We were staying there overnight.

After our day of relaxation we decided to  continue our trip w ith an tour. We signed up for a tour with a local company, in an air-conditioned bus and a guide, with a schedule to Metsada and the Dead Sea.

We drove through the Judean Desert which is awsome, with its huge deeply scalloped hills with colors  of bleached sand to a pink-orange. An occasional hill was tinted pale green. We stopped and visited the Qumran Cave where we climbed, in 120 degrees, up a steep, rocky mountainside until we came to the Spring water which is considered a miracle in the desert.

Got back on the bus and continued to Metsada. We stopped and got off the bus. There was a cable car that took the group across a gorge where the  group then climbed 88 steps (the guide told us that) to see the palaces of King Herod. Also saw the mikvah (the ritual bath) and synagogue. I passed that up, the climb, because I didn't think Icould take that climb of 88 steps in that unbearable heat. I sat in the cool bus and wrote post cards. When Barney came back he described everything he saw.:)

Lunch was the next step on the agenda and then we headed to the Dead Sea. That was a most interesting and enjoyable experience.There was a shack where we changed into our bathing suits (we were told to bring them) We went into the water  which was very warm. We actuallyfloated in the water, on top, our legs up, really floated. The water felt very oily to the touch and  when we got out of the water, after  15 minutes or so, my skin felt wonderful, so smooth. The beach itself was rocky and beach chairs were placed along the waters edge. I loved being there.

Then back to the hotel. A very good day.

We decided to relax at the hotel today. We have been going on tours since we got here and we are kind of tired. So today, no tours, just relaxation. In fact, I thought I would do some sketching. Well, we will see how that goes.

Barney was on his own while I walked a little while until I got to a hill with a view of rolling hills of stone. I sat down and settled myself with my large sketch
pad. I tried to capture the flavor of Jerusalem on its rocky terrain and it's many colors, white, black, grey, orange, and even bits of green. Kept sketching, using more paper when I didn't like what I did. After about an hour or two , I gave up  for the day.

I went b ack to the hotel, got into my bathing suit and went to the pool. Barney met me there, He had gone looking for a Hebrew newspaper, but had no luck. After lunch we went into the city via public transportation to go to the museum. Unfortunately, we got there a half hour before closing and didn't have time to see much. But we did enjoy walking around the busy city.

And then, back to the hotel.

Our group of five dwindled to four. The young lady  who was with us in the beginning left our group to  visit with her family or her friends. That's why she came to Israel. I guess the Brooklyn College tour was the less expensive way for her to go. Mony, our guide, picked us up at the hotel in the morning and we made todays tour with him.

He told us we were going to the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus,, and again t o the Dome of the Rock, baut today we were able to enter. The drive wasn't very long and we soon were at the entrance of the Dome of the Rock.

We took off our shoes and went inside to a large spacious ornate shrine. The floor was covered with many brilliantly covered rugs. The windows were magnificent stained glass windows. While there we noticed an Arab kneeling on a rug and praying.

Another point of interest during our tour was the Knesset, the parliament of Israel. It was not in session abut the guide descriabed the machinations of government very well (but I don't remember a thing he said).

We also visited the Hadassah hospital and most interesting were Marc Chagall's designed stained glass windows in the hospital synagogue. In fact I bought gifts for our children which are replicas of the windows. And that was our tour for the day.

We were back at the hotel and got ready to go out for dinner.We were tired and hungry and decided to take a chance on any restaurant we saw, which we did, and we saw a sign on a wall and that's where we went. We were ushered up a flight of steps, dimly lit, and into a room with covered  walls and ceiling, both covered  with red patterned material, giving the impression of a brothel. There were no other diners in the room. It was a little scary.  After we were seated , we ordered our dinners, I don't remember what, but the food was very good, the waiter was charming, and the entire dinner was an interesting experience.

At breakfast this morning I met a pleasant couple who had been in Israel before and we agreed to tour Old Jerusalem together.

Our first stop was at the Jaffa Gate. Our transportation was the hotel shuffle bus. We walked to the Wailing Wall, a huge stone Wall. I have read about the Wall, I have seen pictures of the Wall, but the thrill of seeing the Wailing Wall in reality, and the many people, Israelis and tourists, standing before the Wall in prayer was a most impressive sight.

We then walked through, at least a part of the old city through a maze of narrow, dark crowded corridors. I wouldn't call them streets. They were very dirty, but also very colorful as the Arabs hawked their wares. Then on to King David's Citadel. We were awed at the strength of this fortress.
The hills of Jerusalem and the building of this city on these hills of rock are a magnificent sight.We went back to our hotel and decided to go swimming in the pool.

After we relaxed in the sun, the four of us decided to meet for dinner. We went to a fish restaurant in the city and had a most fantastic sole in orange sauce with dates and nuts. Roz and I thought the preparation of the fish was so unusual and delicious we asked the owner if he would give us the recipe. He did better than that, When we finished eating he took us, Roz
and me, into the kitchen and showed us how it was made. But I never did. :)

It  was a very lovely day.

With our vacation coming up in the summer of 1976, we discussed our plans about what to do, where to go. We didn't have to  have a long discussion. Barney suggested a trip to Israel and I agreed happily.

We made arrangements through Brooklyn Colleage. A couple of weeks later we had our tickets. We would be leaving July 9, 1976. Our flighat was scheduled to  leave Kennedy Airport at 7:ooP.M.. We didn't  leave until 8:40 P.M. I didn't expect to see so many people on that flight.

It was a ten hour  flight. After an hour or so, I got up to walk around a little.
And after about four hours I tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I think I finally fell asleep for awhile, but was up when the pilot said we would be approaching  Israel  soon. That excited me and I looked out the window waiting for that moment. My eyes were glued to the window and suddenly I saw my first sight of the land of Israel. That was quite a thrill.

When I took my first step out of the plane I was hit by the intense heat. Wow! We met our guide, a very young man, about upper 20's or thirties, and his name was Mony. We got our luggage and Mony drove us to our hotel. I was shocked that there were only three other people in our tour.

I was very tired, and after we unpacked Barney suggested walking around for awhile and I said I couldn't. I was just too  tired. However, when he suggested a dip in the hotel pool, I agreed. So we went to the pool and I found it refreshing. By the time we went up to our room and got dressed
it was time for dinner.
 
And after dinner it was time  to go to sleep.

 

We were on our way to the Grand Canyon. I don't remember exactly what arrangements we made while we were in San Diego,  but I think we  flew because it would have been too much of a trip to drive, and take too long. But we got there.

The canyon is HUGE, both wide, many miles, and deep. There were places along the top that had strong metal around certain spots so that the people could look over the top near the edge and look down. When I looked down I could see the Colorado River flowing at the bottom. It was so far down that the river looked like a thin stream flowing by. The rocks were huge and in many different shapes and colors. It was a magnificent sight. We walked around looking at those different shapes. We must have been there about an hour. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera. It looked like a huge mountain had split forming this gorge. What a sight!

When we were leaving we walked along a dirt road and passed an Indian woman  at the side of the road making small rugs. I went over to look at them, bought one, about 2 by 3 feet, which was very colorful. I know I had it around for years but I have no idea where it is now.

We went to a hotel for an overnight stay and then home.

We had a tasty bareakfast and then left the hotel and on the bus again. I don't know how many miles it was to the zoo baut after the long drives we had  the previous days thiis one was much shorter. 

I was surprised to see how huge the zoo was. It seemed like miles of green grass. I guess I expected to see lots of cages with animals enclosed in them. Instead. there were large animals strolling around.  I saw a group of giraffes and such long, long necks. Huge elephants wading in water, tigers staring at the people who were watching them. And lots of animals that I had no idea of their identity. I recognized the bears. :)

We also saw a lot  of different kinds of birds. Pretty large ones. Too bad I didn't have any idea what kind they were. We continued riding around and seeing so many different kinds of animals. We had some leaflets explaining
what was what and who was who, but I don't have any of that anymore.

We must have spent about  two hours at the zoo. I thought it was enjoyable, especially that it was so large with so many different animals. Someone said it was the largest zoo in the states but my husband didn't agree. He said the Bronx zoo is larger. He is a faithful New Yorker .

After we all sat comfortably in our seats, the driver started the bus. We were driving south, the weather was sunny and warm but the  bus was air-conditioned.  I don't know what towns we passed but after  an hour or more, we started driving up, like climbing a mountain. That was a little scary. Eventually we were on wider road. We drove for about two hours or maybe more and the bus parked in a parking lot. We were stopping at a lovely restaurant for lunch. I don't remember what else was on my plate but I had lobster. It was the most delicious lobster I ever tasted then or since.

When we got back on the bus the driver said we would be going to Hollywood. I sure perked up then. I guess I envisioned seeing all the actors and actresses just calmly walking around. That's not exactly what I saw.
When the driver stopped the bus about  an hour later we all got off. We were at the place, I don't know exactly where, the hand prints of the stars
were on a huge cement  floor. So we walked around looking at the names of the actors  hand prints. It was something to do but not very exciting.

When we got back on the bus the driver told us he would be driving around in the neighborhood where many actors and actresses live. We drove to a very lovely, well-kept area, and every once in a while the bus driver would name someone who lived in that house, or that one, etc. Personally, I wished one of the actresses would be walking out of the house with the garbage.
No such luck.

When we got back in the bus the driver said he was taking us to a hotel for the night.  The next day we would be on our way to San Diego.

I have been thinking about Live Journal. I never have much to write about. At 89 years of age, I don't go anywhere, and so what should Iwrite about? I finally came up with something I hope you will find interesting.I am going to write about, whatever I can remember, the trips we took and the different countries we visited.Let me know if you will find this kind of story interesting. Give me at least a week or two.

We both retired in l978. It was summertime and we decided to go to Californis. We landed in San Francisco. We would be there about two days.We checked in to a hotel and decided to walk around the city. It was a little cool and so the first stop we made was a big mall. I stopped in to buy a sweater. The city reminded me a little of Manhattan, full of people walking around, hurrying to wherever. We were pretty tired so we went for dinner and called it a day.

The next day we spoke to a few people who were with us on the flight to San Francisco and they were going on the same tour we had arranged. We met at the hotel the next morning and we were off to ride down the coast to San Diego. A long trip.

That's for tomorrow.

I didn't do much today, but at least I got out and it was sunny. Although the sun felt great, it was a little too cool for me. But I did sit outside and read for a little while. I am almost finished reading my current book and will have a day or two to decide what to read next.

In the early  afternoon we went food shopping. I like that. As soon as we park Gary gets me a shopping cart and I am off.  I can't wait to get in to the store and walk around, fast, getting my exercise. Besides that I pick up some things I enjoy, like dark chocolate covered raisins. :)

When we got home, after I had a snack, I did a little more reading. It was too cool for me to feel comfortable to read outside.

The reat of the day I usually watch TV and listen to a little politics. Then I try to find a movie.  Sometimes I do, if I am lucky. 

It was cloudy today but that didn't stop me from going out back, sitting on my swing and reading. I am reading a very unusual, but very good book,  The BooK Thief, by Markus Zusak. I stayed out for about 2 hours. Very pleasant even though there was no sun.

My great-grandson Noah called me to thank me for his birthday gift. He is 9 years old. I was so pleased with his calling me. That's a first. Then Viv reminded me that we were going out to dinner with Randy and Sarah. I had forgotten all about that.

We went to a kosher deli that Sarah and Gary had gone to and they knew I would like that. And I did. I ordered a corn beef sandwich. Gosh, do they pile on the corn beef! Naturally I only  ate half of it and took the other half home. I am already looking forward to tomorrow. We also ordered a potato knish and a spinach knish. They were very large so we just cut them up and we all ate some pieces. I only ate a piece of the potato knish. I was already getting too full eating the corn beef sandwich. But not too full for this -- halvah. When we were leaving I noticed the halvah on the counter and bought two logs of that!

All in all we all enjoyed the dinner, and it was a very pleasant evening.

The weather was good and not so good.

We went shopping in the early afternoon. When I first walked outside I w as surprised that it felt so warm and humid. At least it wasn't raining then.
Usually, after sitting for  more than 10 minutes it feels difficult to get up and my bones ache. We were headed to the supermarket  and when  we got there and parked, I got out of the car, shufling, while Viv got me a shopping cart. As soon as I had that I felt I could fly. When we got into the store, I walked fast and took long strides. What a difference having the cart to lean on makes. I had a sudden yen for gefilte fish so I picked up a jar and put it in the cart. And that's how I get my  exercise, spending time walking aroung for about an hour. I enjoy that a lot.

Adam, Lark and Max came over and stayed for dinner. It's Max's birthday Monday so we got him a beautiful chocolate cake with his name on it plus happy birthday. We sang happy birthday to him after he blew out the candles. He will be nine on Monday.

Then Max and I went bowling on the Wii. That was fun I won one game and he won one. By that time I was tired. That's a lot for me to do in one day.

I went in  my  room, put on the TV, and watched a movie, a very old one and it was very enjoyable. It was My Man Godfrey with William Powell and Carol Lombard. I was surprised to see that movie was on. I knew they would have a movie at 9:00 but I didn't know what. I lucked out on that one. Then I got another surprise, The Golden Girls was on and I didn't exxpect that. Anyway, it turned out to be a very pleasant day and night for me.
 

What a day. Gary had his barbecue, with some people from his office, about 8,, and then all the children, another 8, and his daughter-in- law's  mother and brother. So it was quite noisy, lots of laughter, and LOTS of food, delicious food. One of his co-workers knows I like chocolate so she  brought me a box of good Russian chocolate.

There was quite a bit of left-overs. Some I didn't even notice, but the kids took some of it home. Tomorrow I'll find out what's been left over.

Unfortunately  it was too warm, I should say Hot, to be outside. Even though it was crowded everybody seemed to be having a good tome. I stayed in my room from time to time. It was a little too much for me. But I did stray whenever I felt like trying some of the food. There was a lot of fruit which I enjoyed very much, and very large peaches. I'll try that tomorrow. The chicken, which Gary grilled was very good. In fact everything I tried was very good. :)

It was a very nice day.

It was much too hot today to sit out back and read - 92 degrees. And very humid. I went back inside, to my room which was air=conditioned and read
there until it was time to eat dinner.

This evening Randy and Sarah came over and we  had dinner together. After we all tallked for awhile I went to my room to watch Seinfeld and then to my computer to see if there was anything for me. Nothing. After playing free cell I tried all the channels ato see if there was anything interesting and there was nothing left for me except politics. Then lo and behold I found The Golden Girls. It was 9 o'clock at the time so of course I  stayed with that and watched. And watched, and watched, and watched. It closed at 1 a.m.
I'll have to  see if it will be on tomorrow night too. :)

Well today was busier than usual, and I loved it. We went shopping to Target for some new towels for our new bathroom. After all, I need to change towels sometimes so we bought a couple of new ones. I haven't put them in the bathroom yet, but I like them very much.

Adam, Lark and Max were here, and I went in my room to doodle around and then had lunch, Brian and Michelle came over shortly after that. I went outside for awhile and did some reading. It wasn't a particularly sunnyday  so I went in and continued reading in my room. Before I knew it, Gary told me dinner was ready.


Brian asked if I  would like to bowl (on the Wii) and I jumped at the chance to bowl with him. He won the first game by about 4 points and I won the second game by about 20 points! That was my  exercise for the day. :)

After that we, Brian, Michelle Gary, Viv and I, watched a movie,
Defiance. What a movie! It was based on a true story, World War 2, 1941.
That was kind of tough to watch, but very well done.

Well, that knocked me out, but it was a good, busy day.

It was very warm and sunny today. Michelle and Brian came over and Vivian decided it was a good day to go in the pool. And Brian and Michelle joined her. I waited in the house for the shade to come on the deck and then went out with my book and read until it got cloudy.

Brian had to go to the pharmacy to pick up some medication and so I went with him and went to my bank and took out some money. I don't know why since I rarely use cash when I
buy anything. I use my card.  But I liked getting out. :)

In the evening when Gary came home from work Vivian decided on Chinese food. She did that for me because I had mentioned wanting Chinese, meaning  let's go out to eat, But Brian and Gary went out to bring it in, and it was delicious. I don't care if we eat it at home or in the restaurant, it's delicious wherever.

I watched TV the  rest of the night, nothing special. Now I'll put on Frazier and get ready  for bed.

I woke up a little earlier than usual, got up washed and made my  breakfast, a bialiey with some white fish, a cup of coffee. I  was too tired to stay up so I lay down for a little nap and fell asleep - for   2 hours. :)  I was much too tired to go to Randy's barbecue. Vivian and Gary went. I lay down again, took a secong nap and when I woke up found Adam, Lark and Max here. They stayed for about an hour and then said they were going to Randy's.

I watched TV for awhile, until Vivian and Gary got home. Vivian went to her typeewriter to work but the next thing I knew she was sitting in her favorite napping chair, and was napping.

They both went up to sleep early. Well, Gary has to go to work tomorrow and he gets up very early. It was a fun weekend but very tiring.


And that's just what I will do now. Goodnight.

It's been a hectic,  satisfying day.  We had lots of company and lots of delicious food. Bagels, lox, cheese, white fish, herring and a lot of other things that I don't recognize. Then there was coffee or tea, and many sweets.

It was a lovely, sunny day and most of those who were here changed into bathing suits as soon as they came. They were in the pool for a few hours. Jodi, Adam, and his parents were in the pool enjoying it too. I sat outside in the shade enjoying everything. When  everyone was hungry we  all
went in, they changed into their clothes and we sat down to eat.

Randy took some pictures, Jodie took some pictures and I hope I get a few. Everyone started to leave a few hours after a lot of talking and eating. Except Randy and Sarah stayed until about eleven. Tomorrow we are going to a barbecue at his mother-in-law's house. Randy is preparing the grill there so it will be an outdoors party. I hope we have the  same wonderful weather we had today.

And now I will get ready for bed. I am tired.

The rain is back. Ugh After breakfast I took a shower in my beautiful new shower. It sure felt good.
And I felt so tired after I got dressed that I lay down on my bed and took a nap. What a crazy life I live.

As you can see, it was a very short day. I spent the rest of the day reading. Brian and Michelle came over tonight and after saying hello I went back to my book. I finished reading it tonight. Now my next book will be a mystery. I don't think I will be reading this weekend because we are having company tomorrow. I hope it will be sunny because my daughter is looking forward to going into the pool.

My Florida neighbor sent me a terrific email, video,  of the violinist Yitzhak Perlman, and the music was wonderful. I watched him playing his violin and it was delightful. I am going to keep that on my computer.

And now I will say goodnight.

I think I am back to Live Journal! I am in my room with my own computer and TV.
We had rainy weather up to today. It was sunny and comfortable for me and I sat outside reading.
That's my pleasure. I finished reading A Civiv Action, which was a lawsuit  against the industries surrounding a river which  caused a lot of sickness for the people in their  small  town. The story was based on true facts, not fiction. It was a little too drawn out for me, but still interesting.
Now I am reading about a Chinese girl, a biography, and I like it. It's a nice change from the mysteries I usually read.

I  haven't done any painting for a few weeks. I think I  just felt too tired this week from the crazy past two weeks. I am almost  finished with my  painting and my grandson, Randy, who was away last weekend with his wife, said he took a lot of  pictures. I hope there will be a few good ones for me to pick one for my next painting.

Well, goodnight to all my friends.

Well,  the bathroom isn't finished. In fact, the worker didn't show up today. His boss had to go to a funeral and no one was told to go to work today. I am so disappointed because it is another day to go upstairs to sleep, and then to come down for the day. At least I don't have to go up and down to go to the bathroom.

I hope they show up tomorrow but I am not going to try and guess when they will be finished.

The  weather today was rain and cloudy so I didn't get a chance to go out. It hasn't  been a fun day.
Time  to go up to sleep.

It wasn't the kind of day I was looking forward to.  The door to the showe.r was installed, and took hours to do. So it will be worked on again tomorrow to put in the cabinet above the sink. Will that be the end? Who knows.

I didn't sleep well last night and took a nap this afternoon. But I did manage to go outside for awhile and read my book. Other than that I  didn't do anything else except  watch TV. And there isn't much on there. Tonight I'll watch Frazier since he puts me to sleep.

 

My Day

For the first time this week I slept  through the night. What a pleasure. However, the weather wasn't as nice as it has been. There was no breeze and it was very humid. I didn't go out to read and relax. But best of all, tonight I will be sleeping in my  bed. The bathroom has to have a little more work but as long as I can use my room again I am satisfied.

I have to get up early tomorrow because Gary will be taking me to the hospital to have some blood work. I have to do that because I have an appointment with my general doctor this week and that's what he said I should do.

I hear that Walter Cronkite died. I'll miss him. I liked how he did the news. Nothing phony.Well, what can I expect at age 92.

 My Day

It's been another tiring day but I think the bathroom will be finished by tomorrow.  
Today was another sunny day although it was a little too warm. However, I did go out to relax (as if I work hard) and read. I did read for awhile but then got too tired so I just relaxed until it was dinner time. I missed watching Judge Judy today. Not that it's so exciting but there isn't much on. I usually watch the news, politics. But it gets tiring. Anybody have a good suggestion?

I'll call it a night now.

I logged in and am now writing another journal. Let me know if you can read it.

I haven't written in quite awhile, but I am back. This is going to be a rough week. We are re-doing the bathroom, completely. We can't use the downstairs bathroom so during the day my daughter has to take me upstairs, which isn't easy. The steps are very difficult for me. I am not complaining, just telling the facts. :) It's been quite a day. And the dogs don't like being closed in a room until the workers are gone.

I can't paint now so I just read or watch TV. But I am glad to be back on LJ. I hope I hear from my friends.

Goodnight.

I am finally settled into my nice, clean, comfortable room. I slept in my new bed for the past few nights and it is very comfortable. I did't fall off. I also bought a bookcase and have two new end tables.

I started another book today. The writing is fascinating. I am reading Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser. I can't remember if I ever read any of his books before and I am enjoying this one. I think I will be reading more of his books in the future.

Today I went back to my painting. I have been away from that for a week. We were busy shifting furniture around.

My new bed was delivered yesterday. It looks great with it's new blanket and pillow. And, because it's small. the room looks BIGGER. And last night, I fell asleep a few minutes after i made myself comfortable, and slept all night waking up about 11 AM.

I found time to read for awhile and finished the book I was reading. It's called
An Unpardonable Crime. It's a novel about Edgar Allan Poe, so even though the
author uses that name, it's all fiction. That's strange, isn't it? But I enjoyed it very much. It was wwritten by Andrew Taylor. I never read anything by him before so I'll have to try another of his books.

We have been having lovely sunny weather.

What a Day! The background first.
I am changing rooms in this house; I am moving from my current bedroom to the room n ext to mine which is about 2 feet bigger. Adam doesn't live here anymore, and Randy is moving out when he gets married. The wedding is June 17th. So we have choices. :) And that's why I am moving to the bedroom next to mine.

Today we went shopping. I decided to get a twin bed so I will have more room. And we bought one which will be delivered Tuesday. I also bought a new sheet set, a quilt, a rug and two end tables. Oh. I forgot to mention, earlier this past week the floor had been sanded and polished and looks wonderful; real hardwood floors. And today Gary moved everything from the old room to the new one, except we won't have the new bed until Tuesday.

What a day!!!

I am looking forward to Tuesday.

I finally finished Shelby's chair cover. I wasn't happy about my sewing, but it does go on the chair. However, Shelby hasn't gone on it, or smelled it. She ignores it. Trying to induce her to get on the chair we put one of her treats on it. She did go over and quickly took it in her mouth and walked away. Since then she hasn't gone near it. ...At least I did my job.

I went back to my painting and although I am occasionally frustrated, I was very happy painting instead of sewing.

We are having some nice weather now and I look forward to going out. It's still too chilly for me to stay out long. S
aturday is usually my longest day out and I am looking forward to that day.

It has been raining, raining, raining. This is supposed to be Spring. It's not only the rain, the temperature is much too low at this time of year. It's such dismal weather.

I have been working on a project that I believe is impossible for me. It's a slipcover for Shelby's ( one of our dogs) chair. First, we cut it wrong so I have a lot of sewing to do. By hand. And no matter how I measure the cloth, on the chair, it just doesn't come out right. But I am persistent, and I keep pinning and sewing. And the most irritating time is when I try to thread the needle! But I'll just keep on sewing until I am finished. I wonder if Shelby will notice how awful it will fit the chair.If she doesn't want to go near it, I'll know why.

I hope there is some sunshine tomorrow when I wake up.

A great day! Full of little interesting experiences. We went to a Tremendously large mall. It had an upstairs and a downstairs. And it was huge from one end to the other.I was exhausted just walking from the parking lot to the entrance. We had to stop at Lens Crafters first, and when that was taken care of we started to walk around, but I just couldn't walk any more. Viv kept insisting I should be in a wheelchair and they would push me around. I finlly gave in. Well, that was terrific! By that time it wa s 1:30 and we decided to have lunch. We went to Applebee's, still in the chair, parked the chair in
Applebee's and had a wonderful, tasty lunch. I had milk-fried shrimp with french fries, some cole slaw. DELICIOUS! Then we went to Sears, but we were downstairs at that time, and the women's clothes were upstairs, so we went to the elevator in Sears, but it was out-of-order. We stopped a man to ask how we could get upstairs and he thought about it, saw me in the wheelchair, and said "I'll take you to the freight elevator." We had to walk through their back piled with stuff, and into the large freight elevator. He came with us to walk us through all the boxes and to the door that took us into the proper part of where we wanted to be.
We bought tops, I bought two, white ones which I can wear with anything .We then left and walked around the mall. When we passed a Borders book store, we went in. We love to look for books. There was a gentleman sitting in the front and a sign which said he was the author of the books he had in front of him. Without saying anything to me, Viv went over, picked up one of the books and asked him to sign it for her mother. And he did. By this time I was nearby but didn't know what she was doing. She came over and handed me the book. Then she went looking for the new book Oprah is currently recommending. Meanwhile, I began talking to the author of the book I got from Viv. It's a Who Done It, and I told him those were my favorite books. The title of his book is The Will To Defy. We had a lovely conversation. He said it took him four years to write it. It's his first one. We wished him well and said goodbye.

By that time we decided to go home. But it was such a wonderful day, especially being able to spend about five hours in the mall, and not be exhausted. Actually, without the wheelchair I wouldn't have been there so long, and I would have speent my time on a bench and not seen anything in the mall.

I had a wonderful day.

It 's still cold, but sunny and the snow is melting away. I painted all afternoon. This painting, I think, will take a long time to complete. But that's OK. I have lots of time.

I made chicken cutlets for dinner. After we ate we went to the mall which was having a 'used book' sale. I wandered through the books and took six home. I didn't bring my book list so, hopefully I haven't read any of the books I chose.
But before browsing among the books, I stepped into JCPenny to have a battery put into my wrist watch.

Then home and I had tea and cake and was ready to watch our favorite show - watching people looking at houses for sale. It's a lot of fun for me because what people look for in houses is very different from when I went looking to buy a house. Kitchens and bathrooms seem to be most important. And have to be VERY
LARGE. Everything is so different than it was years ago. Lots of years. :)

Now to give a book or two the once-over.

It has been very cold, icy and snowy. The winter came back with a jolt! And I was looking forward to lovely Spring weather. Of course I didn't go out all week, but tonight we went our for dinner. I get too jittery walking in the snow but fortunately it's just a few steps to the car. And it really felt good to be outside, even for a few minutes.

Gary has a beautiful new plasm TV for his birthday. Randy put in somegadjet that has games on it. One of the games is bowling. Well, that excited me! It's the first game I came in contact with that could keep me busy for hours. Randy played with me last night and it was just like bowling on a lane. I had to get used to pressing the right buttons. I did OK but it will take a few more times for me to handle it smoothly. My first exercise that I love.

And after dinner tonight, we came home to find Brian and Michelle there. So I had another shot at bowling, with Brian this time. I didn't do as well tonight but who cares. I just like to bowl and move a little. Mmmmm good.

Then we watched Crime and Punishment, just the first half. I read the book, so I have been told, but I truly don't remember.

Strange things happen to the minds of the elderly.