2018 Travel
And, I forgot to mention my travel for last year:
Feb, Road Scholar, Albuquerque NM: New Mexico's Conversos and Crypto Jews. A study of the descendants of the Jews who left Spain during the Inquisition and ended up in NM!
May, Family wedding, Buellton CA: a great visit with my three cousins + spouses/significant other, eight of their offspring and last remaining aunt, Mom enjoyed it a lot, and I did, too.
Jun, Family reunion, Dallas TX: descendants of one of my Mom's sisters invited me to join them and we had a great time. Traveled up to OK to visit with other cousins and see the family shrines. Had a great time there, as well. I think I saw 11 of my first cousins and lots of 'once removed', (their offspring) as well as 2 of my Mom's first cousins in OK who are mine once removed, also. They shared some family photos which were found during various clean outs/downsizing efforts. I spread those around to our California kin when I got home. We were all thrilled to have them.
Sep, Transport my son, Pete, to Sequoia for his High Sierra Trail Trek: We stayed in the park for a few days so he could acclimate to altitude. We've been doing training hikes (he more than I but I did climb a few miles of Mt Pinos and reached the 8800' top). I waved goodbye and then home to provide airport transportation for my niece to go home to NOLA. Afterward I drove to San Jose to visit Mike and Katie and then down to Bakersfield (overnight break in very long and weird trip to pick up Pete). While in Bakersfield I visited the cemetery where our great grandparents are buried, wanted to make sure I could find the grave again. Then up to Lone Pine where I greeted Pete as he walked through the gate at Whitney Portal. That was one helluva hike. We stayed in LonePine for a couple of days so he could eat copious amounts of food and sleep in a bed as well as taking lots of hot showers. I always enjoy seeing my kids but I don't think I've been so happy since Pete came back from Desert Storm.
Oct, Road Scholar, Croatia. Seaside Hikes in Croatia. Wonderful. I've been thinking about another trip ever since. I'd especially like to see Dubrovnik again. A great group and wonderful Tamara was our guide. Croatia is beautiful.
Nov, no travel but more fires (in the East part of the county). The worst thing to happen, however, was the shooting of SGT Ron Helus, a former colleague of mine (he was a baby deputy when I was still working) and a colleague of my son. He was a hero. There are too many guns on the street.
I also visited Stolpmann Winery a couple of times for wine club events, I saw some art shows featuring some of my friends, tried some great new recipes with some spectacular successes and some awful failures.
I've been healthy and I'm enjoying life.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
2019 The New Me
Back again: it's been a couple of years and I'm ready to start a new phase of my life. My house remodel is just about finished: I made a bad design decision regarding a soapstone counter and farmhouse sink. I love the configuration but if I wasn't so cheap I would have hired a pro and I'm sure would have been discouraged from the decisions I made. Here's the deal: I wanted a huge farmhouse sink and since it was going to be fabricated by my stone 'guy' I could dictate the size. My guy had never worked with soapstone and, of course I hadn't either, so he made the sink as big as he could considering the custom cabinetry. It turns out that it is so big and deep that I can't have a garbage disposal. Also, the size dictated it being set about 4 inches from the edge of the counter and since it is so deep/wide/long, I actually cannot touch the back corner/windows which are above the sink area. Also, due to my choices and a little decision made by my cabinetmaker, I ended up with a under sink cabinet door which is too narrow for a plumber to fit into for any kind of work, including installation of my dishwasher. So, for the past year I've tried to decide if I can live with the results of my decisions. I decided that I could not, called my cabinet guy and asked for a price for demolition of corner cabinets, removal of soapstone and construction/installation of new cabinetry with corner sink of standard manufacturers dimensions. I explained that this was definitely my error and I wanted him to do the demo and remake because I'm hoping he doesn't have to use a sledge hammer to remove the beautiful custom cabinets which he fabricated and installed. I'll use them in the garage, if possible. Also, I understand that my soapstone is a lost cause. I'll be thrilled to death if I can salvage enough to use in the garage but I can't worry about it. I made my annual pilgrimage to the Ojai Music Festival Holiday House Tour in December and visited two EXTREMELY UPSCALE contemporary houses which each had zinc kitchen counters so, I'm going to have zinc tops installed over 3/4" plywood. I talked to my carpenter/remodeling king/silversmith and all around guru about zinc tops and he'll do them for me. With all of this, I'm still going to be under the estimate for a custom kitchen, simply because the cabinetmaker is so REA$ONABLE. And a very nice guy.
I'm loving my little house, which was my rent house for years. This is the one I bought when the real estate market tanked in the 'oughts'. I never lived in the house, did a quick and dirty remodel and rented it. It stayed rented until after my husband died and I needed to move into it myself. I no longer have a 3 car garage and a huge storage area, which hurts, and I miss the huge family room with wet bar and pool table (a fabulous buffet table/craft table/space for fabric and pattern layouts while sewing), but I don't miss the swimming pool nor the rodent problem from being on the edge of nowhere. I really do miss my neighbors, however. And the view of the Channel Islands...... And, of course, my dear old man.
BUT, life is good. I'm volunteering with Ventura County Long Term Care Services as a State Certified Ombudsman. I'm assigned to two skilled nursing facilities and three residential care facilities for the aged. The RCFE are also known as board and care homes. Mine are each populated by six developmentally disabled adults and they are wonderful. The homes are owned and operated by a woman who was a psych tech at Camarillo State Hospital and she hires the most wonderful staff. The homes are impeccably clean, the residents are happy, clad in fresh, clean clothing and well groomed. They attend adult day care Monday through Friday which I visit, as well. I'm so happy to have this assignment.
My skilled nursing facilities are great for the most part, also. I visit one large facility of about 175 residents and one smaller one of about 70 residents. The larger SNF is about a half mile from my house and is an upscale facility although there are many MediCal (California version of MediCaid) residents. My smaller facility is about 8 miles from my house and has lots of MediCal residents. I have a very large family and some of my relatives are MediCaid recipients. I can see the faces of my relatives in those elderly and infirm, whether MediCal or private. Also, some of the residents are younger than I am and have similar back/health problems... visiting them is incentive for sticking with the exercise and diet regime! I visit the SNF once a week and the RCFE once a month but since I don't have grandchildren, I'm a widow and my own Mom, age 97 TODAY, has a live in carer, I have time to spend in my facilities and I usually visit them more than once a week/month.
I'm also very aware of issues regarding dementia patients because of my years caring for my husband and watching my Mom with my step-father. I was lucky to have full time assistance but I spent a lot of time dealing with 'Sundowners' as well as the other issues of aging and illness.
If you haven't done it already, immediately invest in long term care insurance. I bought my policy when I was 48 or 49, I think. It will cover my expenses for 10 years and based on my family history, that's probably more than I need but most of my relatives didn't drink, smoke, or live in SoCal. Keeping fingers crossed that I didn't do too much damage.
Back to the nursing home for a minute: if you have a loved one in a facility the best thing you can do is visit and listen. The Ombudsman program is a federal program created during Nixon's term as POTUS (who knew?). Every county in every state is mandated to have ombudsmen but no federal or state funding is provided. If you suspect there are problems in the facility you visit, try to find the ombudsman (it should be searchable using Long Term Care Services or (name of state) Ombudsman. Also, there are survey results on line which you should be able to access. Talk to the Director of Nursing and the Activities Director. Talk to the Administrator. Don't make life miserable for your loved one but that person has a right to respect and appropriate care. Scrutinize the medication.
Lots of info on line. You can look at the CANHR website (advocates in California) for information about lots of hot button topics.
I'm sitting in bed typing instead of taking care of business so I'll sign off for now. I hate to say it but I am now dog-less. My boy, Archie, The Wonder Dog, joined his cohorts, Sugar (the original Frustrated Cockapoo) and Gloria (my true angel mutt and personal assistant) by crossing the Rainbow Bridge early in 2018. He was a dog of deep thoughts and unending loyalty. Not a brilliant canine but a wonderful companion.
So now I am truly alone in my little house and it is perfect.
tatafornow
I'm loving my little house, which was my rent house for years. This is the one I bought when the real estate market tanked in the 'oughts'. I never lived in the house, did a quick and dirty remodel and rented it. It stayed rented until after my husband died and I needed to move into it myself. I no longer have a 3 car garage and a huge storage area, which hurts, and I miss the huge family room with wet bar and pool table (a fabulous buffet table/craft table/space for fabric and pattern layouts while sewing), but I don't miss the swimming pool nor the rodent problem from being on the edge of nowhere. I really do miss my neighbors, however. And the view of the Channel Islands...... And, of course, my dear old man.
BUT, life is good. I'm volunteering with Ventura County Long Term Care Services as a State Certified Ombudsman. I'm assigned to two skilled nursing facilities and three residential care facilities for the aged. The RCFE are also known as board and care homes. Mine are each populated by six developmentally disabled adults and they are wonderful. The homes are owned and operated by a woman who was a psych tech at Camarillo State Hospital and she hires the most wonderful staff. The homes are impeccably clean, the residents are happy, clad in fresh, clean clothing and well groomed. They attend adult day care Monday through Friday which I visit, as well. I'm so happy to have this assignment.
My skilled nursing facilities are great for the most part, also. I visit one large facility of about 175 residents and one smaller one of about 70 residents. The larger SNF is about a half mile from my house and is an upscale facility although there are many MediCal (California version of MediCaid) residents. My smaller facility is about 8 miles from my house and has lots of MediCal residents. I have a very large family and some of my relatives are MediCaid recipients. I can see the faces of my relatives in those elderly and infirm, whether MediCal or private. Also, some of the residents are younger than I am and have similar back/health problems... visiting them is incentive for sticking with the exercise and diet regime! I visit the SNF once a week and the RCFE once a month but since I don't have grandchildren, I'm a widow and my own Mom, age 97 TODAY, has a live in carer, I have time to spend in my facilities and I usually visit them more than once a week/month.
I'm also very aware of issues regarding dementia patients because of my years caring for my husband and watching my Mom with my step-father. I was lucky to have full time assistance but I spent a lot of time dealing with 'Sundowners' as well as the other issues of aging and illness.
If you haven't done it already, immediately invest in long term care insurance. I bought my policy when I was 48 or 49, I think. It will cover my expenses for 10 years and based on my family history, that's probably more than I need but most of my relatives didn't drink, smoke, or live in SoCal. Keeping fingers crossed that I didn't do too much damage.
Back to the nursing home for a minute: if you have a loved one in a facility the best thing you can do is visit and listen. The Ombudsman program is a federal program created during Nixon's term as POTUS (who knew?). Every county in every state is mandated to have ombudsmen but no federal or state funding is provided. If you suspect there are problems in the facility you visit, try to find the ombudsman (it should be searchable using Long Term Care Services or (name of state) Ombudsman. Also, there are survey results on line which you should be able to access. Talk to the Director of Nursing and the Activities Director. Talk to the Administrator. Don't make life miserable for your loved one but that person has a right to respect and appropriate care. Scrutinize the medication.
Lots of info on line. You can look at the CANHR website (advocates in California) for information about lots of hot button topics.
I'm sitting in bed typing instead of taking care of business so I'll sign off for now. I hate to say it but I am now dog-less. My boy, Archie, The Wonder Dog, joined his cohorts, Sugar (the original Frustrated Cockapoo) and Gloria (my true angel mutt and personal assistant) by crossing the Rainbow Bridge early in 2018. He was a dog of deep thoughts and unending loyalty. Not a brilliant canine but a wonderful companion.
So now I am truly alone in my little house and it is perfect.
tatafornow
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